FILE--In this April 30, 2012 file photo, Syrian security forces, background, hold their machine guns and surround anti-Syrian regime mourners, foreground, during the funeral procession of the activist Nour al-Zahraa, 23, who was shot by the Syrian security forces on Sunday, in Kfar Suseh area, in Damascus, Syria. The swaggering gunmen operate as hired muscle for the Syrian regime, clutching rifles and daggers as they sweep through towns and villages, seeking vengeance on enemies of Bashar Assad. Recruited from the ruling elite's Alawite sect, the militiamen known as "shabiha" carry out some of the most ghastly attacks of Syria's violent conflict, allowing the regime to deny any direct responsibility. Witnesses have blamed shabiha for the Houla massacre over the weekend. (AP Photo, File)
FILE--In this April 30, 2012 file photo, Syrian security forces, background, hold their machine guns and surround anti-Syrian regime mourners, foreground, during the funeral procession of the activist Nour al-Zahraa, 23, who was shot by the Syrian security forces on Sunday, in Kfar Suseh area, in Damascus, Syria. The swaggering gunmen operate as hired muscle for the Syrian regime, clutching rifles and daggers as they sweep through towns and villages, seeking vengeance on enemies of Bashar Assad. Recruited from the ruling elite's Alawite sect, the militiamen known as "shabiha" carry out some of the most ghastly attacks of Syria's violent conflict, allowing the regime to deny any direct responsibility. Witnesses have blamed shabiha for the Houla massacre over the weekend. (AP Photo, File)
GENEVA (AP) ? The U.N.'s top human rights official warned Friday that all-out civil war could engulf Syria unless countries back international envoy Kofi Annan's peace plan and calls for an independent probe into the killing of more than 100 civilians last week in the Arab country.
As countries lined up at an emergency meeting of the U.N. Human Rights Council to express their horror about the Houla massacre, in which the global body said 49 children were among the dead, the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights appealed for support for the six-point plan to halt the violence in Syria.
"Otherwise, the situation in Syria might descend into a full-fledged conflict and the future of the country, as well as the region as a whole could be in grave danger," Navi Pillay told the 47-nation council in a speech read out on her behalf.
It was the fourth time that the Geneva-based council called an urgent meeting on Syria, something the country's ambassador to the U.N. in Geneva, Fayssal al-Hamwi, said was a sign that some countries are trying to divide his country.
Al-Hamwi, too, condemned the massacre in Houla but blamed it on "groups of armed terrorists" seeking to ignite sectarian strife.
U.S. Ambassador Eileen Chamberlain Donahoe said there was no doubt that the regime of President Bashar Assad was responsible for the killing.
"There needs to be justice and accountability for those that committed these atrocities," she told the council.
A draft resolution proposed by Qatar, Turkey and the United States condemns the killings in Houla and states that "those responsible for serious violations of human rights must be held accountable," but doesn't suggest how.
European diplomats want the resolution to include a call for the U.N. Security Council in New York to consider referring the massacre to the International Criminal Court. This is something the rights council cannot do on its own.
And since Syria isn't a member of the ICC, under international law only the Security Council can refer it to the Hague-based tribunal.
"Mostly we are pressing for some stronger language on accountability," said Maria Ulff Moeller, a Danish diplomat whose country currently holds the rotating presidency of the European Union. "We can encourage the Security Council to refer the situation to the ICC, and it's something we are pushing for."
Human rights groups backed the EU position. "At this stage what we need is a strong resolution requesting ICC referral," said Juliette de Rivero, a spokeswoman for the group Human Rights Watch.
But other nations who favor sharp language critical of Syria are questioning whether the rights body should invoke the war crimes tribunal.
"Obviously we want to hold the violators accountable," said David Kennedy, a spokesman for the U.S. mission in Geneva. "Ultimately, though, it's not the role of the Human Rights Council to make recommendations to the Security Council."
The draft resolution also calls on Syria to allow the rights council's panel of experts to visit the country, something it has previously rejected.
The head of the panel, Brazilian professor Paulo Sergio Pinheiro told Brazil's O Estado de Sao Paulo newspaper on Thursday that "Houla is a warning of how a civil war would be."
He plans to present a report on the killings at a regular meeting of the council on June 27.
"The Syrians think that by impeding our access we won't be able to make it, but we have proven that we can do it," he was quoted as saying.
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