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BEIRUT — U.S. and world leaders dramatically increasedpressure on Syria in the wake of a civilian massacre, with specialenvoy Kofi Annan declaring the country to be at a tipping point and urging itspresident to implement a peace plan that could fatally weaken hisgrip on power. Annan spoke Tuesday in the Syrian capital as a group of nations— including the United States, Britain , France and Australia — expelled Syrian diplomats in anorchestrated response to last week's massacre of more than 100people, the majority of them women and children, in the centralSyrian township of Houla. Most of the victims were initially thought to have died ingovernment shelling, but the U.N. human rights office said Tuesdaythat evidence indicated most were summarily executed in ahouse-to-house rampage Friday. The U.N. said residents who wereinterviewed blamed shabiha, pro-government militiamen who rights groups say have acted asregime enforcers and executioners. The Syrian government has denied responsibility for the massacre,whose graphic images of bloodied and mangled corpses have promptedglobal revulsion. State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland on Tuesday condemned what she calledan "absolutely indefensible, vile, despicable massacre." Nuland said the United States would look for ways to "tighten thenoose" around the regime of President Bashar Assad. Germany and Britain said they were expelling the Syrian ambassadorsto their countries, and the U.S. said it was giving the charged'affaires, the top Syrian diplomat in Washington, 72 hours toleave. Adding to the pressure, Army Gen. Martin Dempsey, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff , suggested in an interview with Fox News that escalating "atrocities" in Syria could lead to militaryintervention. The U.S. and its allies, which launched an intensive bombing campaign that helped bring down Libyan leader Moammar Kadafi last year, have generally downplayed the possibility ofintervention in Syria. Annan called on the government and "all government-backed militias"to "stop all military operations and show maximum restraint." "We are at a tipping point. The Syrian people do not want thefuture to be one of bloodshed and division. Yet the killingscontinue and the abuses are still with us today," he said. The special envoy did not say what consequences the governmentwould face for defying the peace effort. "For the sake of Syria, and for the region, we must end thisviolence and begin to restore hope in a political transition to ademocratic future," Annan said. It is still far from certain whether Western countries have theappetite to intervene. But some analysts said Syria's presidentappeared more boxed in now than at any time during the 14-monthrebellion. "Houla was really a watershed," said Fawaz Gerges, who heads theMiddle East Center at the London School of Economics . "Assad is in a very precarious position right now.... If I werePresident Assad in Damascus, I would think twice before I do thesame thing I have been doing for the past 12 months." Before Friday's massacre, Assad seemed to have reached a stableposition, pursuing what he called political reforms but which hiscritics dismissed as window dressing. Meanwhile, he used hispowerful security apparatus to put down the rebellious masses. Onthe international front, he could count on the protection of Moscow . But Russia is heavily invested in the U.N. peace plan, which calls for Assadto pull his troops and heavy weapons out of Syria's cities. The opposition has been skeptical of Annan's peace plan, generallyviewing it as a smoke screen for Assad to buy time and placate hisinternational patrons. Complying with the plan now, however, wouldcarry profound risks for Assad. The opposition will benefit if heis pressured to withdraw forces, allow freedom of expression andrelease political prisoners, all mandates of the U.N.'s six-pointpeace plan. True compliance would allow Syrians to demonstrate freely, ascenario that would open the door for opposition forces to exertcontrol over large parts of Syria that are sympathetic to theuprising. "For Assad, the Annan plan is political suicide," Gerges said. "Hecannot afford to pull out his armor. He cannot afford to allowdemonstrations on a daily basis. That means he will lose control.It would be like Tunisia or Egypt." On the other hand, if Assad does nothing he risks alienatingRussia, which has vetoed two efforts by the U.N. Security Councilto condemn his crackdown on protesters and stands in the way oftoughening economic sanctions, trade restrictions and otherpunishment already imposed on Syria. "Moscow has acquired a central role through the Annan plan, wantsto see it survive, and may realize that the conflict isdeteriorating to the point where [the plan's] sustainability couldbe compromised," said Peter Harling of the International CrisisGroup think tank. Russia may conclude "that this is the time topush for a genuine political solution." Russia and China did sign a nonbinding Security Council statementSunday that assailed Syria for the artillery and tank bombardmentof Houla. The massacre has reverberated in Syria, prompting a new round ofantigovernment demonstrations and a strike by shopkeepers inDamascus that could signal a weakening in the support for Assadamong the conservative merchant class, long a key pro-governmentconstituency. If Assad makes no concessions, he may also face renewedinternational calls for a buffer zone to be set up in western Syriato protect civilians. Such a zone, theoretically beyond the reachof Syrian government forces, would probably also be used as astaging area by rebel forces trying to oust Assad. The border region adjacent to Turkey, which already hosts thousandsof Syrian refugees and many rebel fighters, is a probable locationfor such a zone. And Assad may see renewed calls from Saudi Arabia and other Persian Gulf states to arm the rebels. Officials in thegulf nations had expressed concern about the danger to Syria'sSunni Muslims at the hands of Assad's security apparatus. Manysenior security officials, like Assad, are Alawites, adherents ofan offshoot of Shiite Islam. Most of the dead in Houla were said to be Sunnis, who make up themajority of Syria's population. patrick.mcdonnell@latimes.com Special correspondent Rima Marrouch in Amman, Jordan, contributedto this report. We are high quality suppliers, our products such as Spare Parts of Beauty Equipment , Q-Switched ND YAG Laser for oversee buyer. 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