BBC News with Julie Candler

United Nations monitors have finally been able to enter the Syrian village of Qubair, the scene of Wednesday's alleged massacre by a pro-government militia. A BBC reporter travelling with them has described the scene of devastation: one house contained pieces of brain and congealed blood while in another the

stench

of burnt flesh still hung in the air. The findings were confirmed by Sausan Ghosheh, a spokeswoman who visited Qubair with the monitors.

"What we were able to see was some homes that were damaged from shelling as well as other

calibre

bullets. In addition to homes that were burnt, there seemed to be like bodies inside. There was a very heavy stench of burnt flesh as well as other body parts scattered around the village, and the blood flooded on the walls and floors."

The United States has expressed concern about reports that Russia could be helping Syrian institutions evade financial sanctions. After a visit to Moscow, David Cohen, a top US Treasury official, told the BBC he was concerned about reports that Russian banks are offering assistance to the Syrian central bank. He said there's evidence that financial sanctions against Syria are having an impact, but said the US is worried that Russia's close economic ties with Syria are

undermining

the sanctions programme.

The International Committee of the Red Cross says a million and a half people in Syria are in need of relief aid because of the conflict. That's half a million more than the UN's estimate. John McGuire is a spokesman for the International Committee of the Red Cross.