Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir Pencilneckal-Assad
Supressor of the Damascenes...
's regime erupted in March, a rights group said, as U.N. chief the ephemeral Ban Ki-moon
... of whom it can be said to his credit that he is not Kofi Annan...
expressed concern
...meaning the brow was mildly wrinkled, the eyebrows drawn slightly together, and a thoughtful expression assumed, not that anything was actually done or indeed that any thought was actually expended...
about the mounting corpse count.
"Twenty-two people -- six deserters, a civilian and 15 members of the armed forces and security forces -- were killed and several dozen civilians were maimed in their homes," the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.
It said several of the civilians had been seriously maimed "during festivities in which both light and heavy machineguns were used in the town of Dael" in Daraa province.
The Britannia-based rights group also said that "security forces attacked the Omari mosque in Dael."
Earlier, the main opposition grouping the Syrian National Council appealed for an "emergency meeting for the Arab League
...an organization of Arabic-speaking states with 22 member countries and four observers. The League tries to achieve Arab consensus on issues, which usually leaves them doing nothing but a bit of grimacing and mustache cursing...
to condemn the bloody massacres ... and cooperate with the United Nations
...the Oyster Bay money pit...
in taking the necessary measures to protect Syrian civilians."
The SNC put the toll over the past 48 hours at 250 dead.
"The secretary general (Ban Ki-moon) remains extremely concerned about the escalating crisis and the mounting corpse count in Syria. As we have said repeatedly, the violence and killings must stop," U.N. front man Martin Nesirky told news hounds.
Nesirky said the U.N. was encouraged by Syria's signature of an accord to let Arab League observers into the country to monitor claims against President Bashir al-Assad's forces.
"Now it is critical for the government of Syria to extend its full cooperation to that mission," the front man added.
The U.N. said last week that more than 5,000 people had been killed in Assad's bloody crackdown on opposition protests, but concerns have been heightened by opposition accounts of more than 200 people killed in the past two days.
The new deaths come as an advance Arab League team prepares to head to Damascus
...Capital of the last remaining Baathist regime in the world...
on Thursday to prepare the arrival of about 500 observers.