The US Ambassador to the United Nations, Susan Rice, accused Syria of “stepping up violence”.

The US Ambassador to the United Nations, Susan Rice, accused Syria of “stepping up violence”.

Rice was speaking after Lynn Pascoe, the UN under-secretary-general for political affairs. She said Pascoe has briefed the 15-nation Security Council behind closed doors that Syria was “accelerating its killing”.

"The under-secretary-general noted that in the days since the Arab League monitoring mission has been on the ground, in fact an estimated 400 additional people have been killed, an average of 40 a day, a rate much higher than was the case even before their deployment," Rice told reporters on Tuesday.

Rice added that these “killings” did not include the more than two dozen people killed in the terrorist suicide bombing that targeted Damascus last week.
"That is a clear indication that the government of Syria, rather than using the opportunity ... to end the violence and fulfill all of its commitments (to the Arab League), is instead stepping up the violence," Rice said.

For his part, Syria's UN ambassador, Bashar Jaafari, rejected Rice's allegations, saying the violence in the country was caused by terrorists and armed groups that were receiving support from foreign countries.