The Secretary General of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) Professor Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu expressed his strongest condemnation of the barbaric massacre that claimed the lives of scores of children, women and men in the Syrian city of al-Houla, which was shelled with artillery, tanks and heavy weapons. Ihsanoglu also denounced the horrible crimes which were committed during this carnage, including the tying and slaughtering of children and killing of innocent citizens in sacred months. He stressed, in a statement posted on OIC website, that the perpetrators of these crimes are devoid of any human values and Islamic tenets, neglect all Islamic teachings which safeguard the sanctity, call for the protection of the human soul and forbid killing or harming of innocent people. He called for the perpetrators of these crimes to be punished and underscored the basic responsibility of the Syrian government to preserve the security and safety of the Syrian people. The Secretary General reminded that shedding of sacred blood is more prohibited during sacred months. He called on all Syrian parties to stop bloodletting. He also called on religious scholars in Syria and the Levant to condemn these horrendous crimes. The Secretary General appealed to all factions of the Syrian opposition to unite their ranks and shun differences hindering seriousness and effectiveness of their action at the domestic and international levels. Professor Ihsanoglu also called on OIC Member States re-evaluate their positions on the continued violent events in Syria. The Secretary General called on the Security Council to take decisive and urgent measures to stop the killing of innocent people and to condemn the massacre of civilians in Syria.