As a further military push by the Syrian army to take Homs appears imminent, Guy Verhofstadt, ALDE group leader, issued the following criticism of the International Community's failure to stop the slaughter.

"It is a great shame on the international community that another massacre is happening right before our eyes.  We cannot say that we did not see this coming, there are no excuses.  While the blame for the mass murder of civilians in Homs lies first and foremost with Assad, responsibility also lies with those countries that do nothing to stop it.   Assad has been strengthened by the veto in the UN Security Council last week by Russia and China - the UN has been neutered by two countries with appalling human rights records.  We cannot let this stop the International community from taking action." 

He continued:

"The European Union must push the international community hard to persuade Assad to step down and avoid further bloodshed. It should be made clear to him that military intervention must not be excluded in order to prevent the slaughter of the people of Homs.  We must give the opposition forces in Syria what ever support they need to protect themselves.  If we do nothing this time our place in history will be those that stood by and watched it happen"