EU condemns massacres by Syrian regime forces

EU High Representative Catherine Ashton Sunday condemned \"in the strongest terms the brutal massacre by the Syrian armed forces and its militias\" in the village of Al-Bayda and the town of Banyas, claiming the lives of dozens of people including women and children. \"This heinous act shows the responsibility of the Syrian regime in instigating sectarian violence and escalating the conflict,\" said Michael Mann, spokesman for Ashton, in a written statement. \"It is of outmost urgency that the regime responds to the repeated calls of the EU and the international community to engage in negotiations for a political settlement of the conflict,\" it noted. \"The High Representative reiterates the EU\'s firm position that there will be no impunity for those responsible for such crimes,\" added the statement. According to media reports Saturday, 77 people had died in Banyas, a day after 72 were killed at the village of Al-Bayda.