Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Liu Weimin in a regular press conference held on Monday

Editor's Note

	At least 90 people, including 32 children, were killed in a massacre in the Syrian town of Houla, near Homs, Friday, according to the Major General Robert Mood, head of the United Nations Supervision Mission in Syria. The bloody incident sparked international condemnation.

Latest News

	China backs Syria road map UN-Arab League joint special envoy Kofi Annan's arrival in the Syrian capital yesterday was overshadowed by the "appalling" carnage that killed 108 people, as China lent its support for the diplomat's latest proposal to restore peace. Annan said that those behind the killing in the central Syrian village of Houla on Friday and Saturday must be held accountable, urging Damascus to take "bold steps" to signal its intention to resolve the crisis peacefully.
	UN's Annan to eye ailing peace plan in Syria Monday The UN-Arab League joint special envoy Kofi Annan will set foot in Syria's capital of Damascus Monday to assess the implementation of his six-point peace plan, which was hardly pushed to the verge of collapse after a bloody massacre that killed more than 100 people in central Syria overnight Friday.
	Syria blames terrorists for large-scale carnage A Syrian foreign ministry spokesman denied yesterday the government troops' involvement in the deadly carnage that had left more than 90 people, including 32 children, dead in the central village of Houla two days ago.
UN General Assembly president condemns massacre in Syria President of the UN General Assembly Nassir Abdulaziz Al-Nasser on Sunday condemned "in the strongest possible terms" a massacre that killed more than 100 people in central Syria. Massacre is appalling, unjustifiable: Syrian envoy Bashar Ja'afari, the Syrian permanent representative to the United Nations, said here Sunday that the Friday and Saturday massacre in Syira, in which 108 people were confirmed dead by the UN observers, is "appalling and unjustifiable."

Int'l Reactions

	China has condemned the killing in Syria. The Foreign Ministry's spokesman said in a regular press conference, that the country demanded an investigation and called on relevant parties in Syria to implement the ceasefire agreement.
	The members of the Security Council condemned in the strongest possible terms the killings, confirmed by United Nations observers, of dozens of men, women and children and the wounding of hundreds more in the village of El-Houleh (Houla), near Homs, in attacks that involved a series of government artillery and tank shellings on a residential neighborhood.
	Syria foreign ministry spokesman Jihad Makdissi said, "We firmly deny the responsibility of government forces in this massacre that has occurred. We strongly condemn this terrorist massacre that targeted in a clearly criminal way Syria's people: women, children and old men." Syria said the massacre was carried out by "terrorists" after fighting between rebels and Syrian military forces. While the opposition claimed that government troops and pro-government militia carried out the slaughtering.
	US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said the US condemned the massacre "in the strongest possible terms". She described Friday's events as "a vicious assault that involved a regime artillery and tank barrage on a residential neighbourhood". Source: the Guardian
	British foreign secretary William Hague on Sunday called for an UN Security Council meeting in the coming days after the massacre in central Syria that left more than 90 people dead, including 32 children. "Our urgent priority is to establish a full account of this appalling crime and to move swiftly to ensure that those responsible are identified and held to account," he said
	Russia on Sunday questioned whether the Syrian government troops were behind the Friday massacre in the Middle East country, with the UN-confirmed death toll rising to 108. Deputy Russian permanent representative to the United Nations Alexander Pankin told reporters that Moscow was skeptical about suggestions that the Syrian government used such heavy weapons as tanks and artillery in the deadly attacks, in which more than 32 children under the age of 10 had been killed.
	Tunisia condemned the "horrible carnage" that took place late last Friday in Syria's central town of Houla, the official TAP press agency reported on Monday. "Tunisia, one of the first countries calling for unifying efforts with a view to emulate a Yemeni scenario in Syria, calls on the international community to exert pressure on the Syrian regime to accept the political solution, which is the only way likely to guarantee the Syrian unity and avoid military intervention," the TAP report quoted a communique released by the presidency as saying.

Viewpoints

Don't rush to conclusion of Syrian killing

The country badly needs to restore order, but chaos is encouraged by external influences, particularly the West. To them, toppling Bashar's regime is a precondition to ending Syria's unrest, but this request defies the local reality. Pushing it can only exacerbate the suffering of civilians. The West is actually exhausting Bashar by fostering the opposition. It is a disastrous strategy from a humanitarian angle.----------Global Times editorial

At least 90 people, including 32 children, were killed in a massacre in the Syrian town of Houla, near Homs, Friday, according to the Major General Robert Mood, head of the United Nations Supervision Mission in Syria. It is no longer a matter of Syrian internal affairs when so many innocent civilians, including children, were killed. It is obviously a typical crime against humanity. ----Wang Juntao (known as Lao Rong on Sina Weibo): Founder of 6688.com

@苏加菲: Many people have no bottom line concerning morality. We should have at least a basic moral consciousness. We can’t set a fire nor murder a person. We are too merciless if we still stand by when seeing our neighbor attacking his or her child. It is terribly inhuman.

冬天的树0408: The reason is simple. Will you call the police and stop your neighbor when you see a strongly-built husband beat his well-behaved wife and kid or just stand by their window and say “don’t beat them and be affectionate for them.”

lazy-Anne:  What killed the 32 Syrian kids is not only the war but also those who stood by and made dirty deals with the god of death. Some of them resorted to the deal in the name of their organization, some in the name of a nation while some even take world peace as an excuse. However, how can we ensure the peace of the world? Is it when the innocent kids were killed by human beings like ourselves every day?