SYRIA's violence has reached unprecedented levels of horror, with the Assad regime and the rebels "co-operating to destroy" the country, UN special envoy Lakhdar Brahimi said, as dozens of men were found massacred in the country's second city.
"Syria is being destroyed bit by bit," he said after making another failed attempt to convince the UN Security Council to take action.
Mr Brahimi's grim assessment came amid news of another large-scale atrocity, as the bodies of 70 men were found floating in a river near Aleppo.
Many of the men had had their hands tied and been shot through the head.
The identities of the men were unknown and the rebel Free Syrian Army and the regime blamed each other.
The incident was one of the worst massacres since killings in Houla last May in which 49 children were among 108 dead.
Some of those children had their throats cut or had been shot at point-blank range.
The UN believes an Alawite militia, working in co-ordination with Syrian soldiers, was responsible for the Houla massacre.
The UN estimates that more than 60,000 people have been killed in the 22-month conflict, and that more than 700,000 refugees have fled to neighbouring countries.
While Russia and China have refused to support any UN Security Council action to force Bashar al-Assad from office, Russia this week began distancing itself from the regime.
"With every day, with every week, with every month, the chances of him surviving are becoming less and less," Russia's Prime Minister Dimitri Medvedev told CNN.
"President Assad has made a mistake while carrying out political reforms.
"He should have done everything much faster, attracting part of the moderate opposition, which was ready to sit at the table with him.
"This was his grave mistake, and possibly a fatal one."
These comments suggest that the situation for the Assad regime is irretrievable.
Rebels now control large sections of the country, including most of the north, and regularly capture police or military installations around the country.
The regime appears to have decided to put its resources into defending the capital, Damascus.
Even there, however, rebels have taken control of certain neighbourhoods from which they periodically launch attacks into government areas.
The conflict began with pro-democracy protests inspired by other uprisings across the Arab world, but after a brutal crackdown by the regime, it turned into a civil war with the rebels forming the Free Syrian Army.
Turkey, once a strong ally of the Assad regime, has allowed weapons and fighters to cross into Syria, and Qatar and Saudi Arabia have given major financial support to the rebels.
However, Iran has given military assistance to the regime while Russia has given diplomatic assistance at the UN.
Russia has a major naval base in Syria and has been the major seller of weapons to the regime.
Mr Brahimi yesterday blamed both sides for the collapse of Syria.
"I sometimes say - of course the parties are very angry at me when I say - objectively they are co-operating to destroy Syria," he said in a media conference at UN headquarters.
"Only the international community can help, and first and foremost the Security Council - the tragedy does not have an end," he added.
"That is why I say the Security Council cannot continue to say we are in disagreement and must wait for better times."
