UN rights chief warns of full civil war in Syria

The UN's top human rights official warned Friday that all-out civil war could engulf Syria unless countries that have backed international envoy Kofi Annan's peace plan rally around calls for an independent probe into the killing of more than 100 civilians last week.

As countries lined up at an emergency meeting of the UN Human Rights Council to express their horror about the Houla massacre, in which the global body said 49 children were among the dead, the UN 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. (AP)