U.N. Says Syria Execution Video Shows Apparent War Crime GENEVA - The United Nations said on Friday that a new video from war-torn Syria circulating on the Internet and seeming to show antigovernment fighters armed with rifles kicking and summarily executing a group of captured soldiers or militiamen could, if verified, represent evidence of a war crime to prosecute the perpetrators. "It looks very likely that this is a war crime, another one," Rupert Colville, a spokesman for the United Nations high commissioner for human rights, told journalists in Geneva, where the commission has its headquarters. United Nations investigators had already collected evidence of war crimes and crimes against humanity by government and rebel forces that could support prosecutions of those responsible by national or international tribunals, Mr. Colville said. The new video, if verified, could be part of that evidence, he added. "There should be no illusion that accountability will follow," Mr. Colville said. His remarks followed similar assessments on Thursday, when the video began circulating, by human rights groups who also called it evidence of a war crime and another indication that both sides were increasingly committing atrocities. The video, which could not be authenticated independently, appeared to have been made in Saraqeb, a town in Idlib Province in northern Syria that has been the scene of particularly brutal fighting between rebels and loyalists in the 20-month-old conflict. The antigovernment fighters, whose precise identities or affiliations were not clear, yell "Allah Akhbar!" or "God is great!" as they kick and herd the prisoners into a pile. "This shocking footage depicts a potential war crime in progress and demonstrates an utter disregard for international humanitarian law by the armed group in question," said Ann Harrison, deputy director of Amnesty International's Middle East and North Africa program. Ms. Harrison said, "We will continue to investigate the incident and once again urge all sides to respect the laws of war and to refrain from torturing, ill-treating or killing their prisoners." Nick Cumming-Bruce reported from Geneva, and Rick Gladstone from New York.