Brigadier-General Qasem Jamal Sulaiman, head of the inquirycommittee tasked with probing the controversial massacre of Syria'scentral village of Houla, said at a press conference that the armedgroups attacked several posts of the government troops in a bid toseize control of Houla and push it out of the government control. He said that the armed groups' attacks targeted two army bases inthe area, adding that the government troops responded inself-defense and did not leave their bases or enter Houla. He said that the targeted families were peaceful ones who neitherhave participated in any anti-government activities nor took uparms against the government, adding that the armed groups havesought to take revenge of those families for not joining attacks onthe government troops and also to spark international sympathy. Sulaiman stressed that "these are only initial assessment," and"the initial reports were based on testimonies from eye witnesses." He claimed that a number of dead bodies shown on TV belonged to thearmed men, who were killed in the clashes with the governmenttroops, adding that the images of the gunmen' corpses were aired ontendentious TVs as the images of victims. Syrian Foreign Ministry spokesman Jihad Makdissi said that hisgovernment had asked the head of the UN supervision mission inSyria to examine the massacre site, adding that the final reportswould be submitted to the international community once available. Makdissi said the investigation is still underway for more detailsand clues, adding that the investigation is transparent and thatthere is no need for international inquiry. He meanwhile said there were schemes from the higher levels in theinternational community to foment a sectarian rift in the country. The recent appalling attacks in Houla, a group of villages 25 kmnorthwest of the central city of Homs, had claimed the lives ofmore than 108 people, including at least 49 children under the ageof 10 and 32 women. The Syrian government and the opposition traded barbs overthe heinous attacks that did not even spare the children. As the Syrian government categorically denied any involvement ofits troops in the carnage and accused armed groups of carrying outthe killings, the opposition activists accused the governmentforces of shelling the village, adding that pro-government militiashave done the bulk of the killings after the army's allegedbombardment. The recent massacre has provoked once again calls for foreignintervention in the country, a choice most of the world countrieshave for long shown reluctance to bring up. Observers believe that last week's killings in Houla are thetipping point that has turned the table against the Syriangovernment and could be the spark that would call in foreignintervention. The massacre has drawn strong worldwide condemnation and more thanten countries including the United States decided toexpel Syrian diplomats following the massacre. On Wednesday, Syria's media, which reflects the government'sthinking, said Syria would not be intimidated by this"unprecedented hysteria," and accused the West of deliberatelyescalating the situation to enflame a civil war. It said the armed groups are getting bolder in influencing theworld to boost their own goals, mainly in calling in foreignintervention. French President Francois Holland said that France does not excludea military intervention in Syria and that this topic is not out ofthe questions. However, the White House on Tuesday said again that it did notbelieve the time was right for military intervention in Syria, andrejected calls by Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney formore direct steps to end Assad's rule. "We do not believe that militarization, further militarization ofthe situation in Syria at this point is the right course of action.We believe that it would lead to greater chaos, greater carnage,"White House spokesman Jay Carney said. The Houla incident was used by Western effort as a tool in buildingup pressure on Russia to neutralize its pro-Syria stand. Some observers believe that pressures have, to some extent, yieldedfruits, citing what they called the positive turnabout in Russia'sposition when Moscow, in an unusual move, condemned the massacreand held both the Syrian government and the opposition accountable. They contend that the Russian position on the Houla massacre is asymbolic change on the road of change. Others, however, warned against attempts to inspire too muchoptimism counting on a recent statement by Russian Foreign MinisterSeregy Lavrov in which he had said that he was astonished by recentappeals made by the head of the National Syrian Council, BurhanGhalyoun, on the UN Security Council to endorse militaryintervention in Syria. "This is a flagrant provocation for civil war," Lavrov said. Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Gennady Gatilov, meanwhile, saidWednesday that his country is "categorically against anyintervention in the Syrian conflict from the outside, as this wouldonly worsen the situation and would lead to unpredictableconsequences both for Syria itself and the entire." Gatilov added that Russia thinks any new UN Security Councilpressure measures on Syria are premature, asserting that Russiawill veto initiatives on foreign military interference in Syriansituation in the UN Security Council. Since the endorsement of the plan on April 12 and the deployment ofsome 300 UN military observers on ground to monitor the cease-fire,violence in Syria has been dramatically increased and the situationseems to be spiraling out of control. To protest the Houla massacre, some markets at the capital Damascusannounced a general strike and footage posted on local websitesshowed closed shops at several markets, mainly the Hamidiya souk inthe heart of the capital. I am an expert from wrist-watch-phones.com, while we provides the quality product, such as China Wrist Watch Cell Phone , Android TV Set Top Boxes Manufacturer, Wrist Watch Cell Phone,and more.
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