The reported massacre of men, women and children by Syrian President Bashar al-Assads forces in the small town of Houla, near Homs, on Friday may end up becoming a turning point in the 14-month struggle against Assad and his regime. The incident may have sealed Assad's fate and shortened his rule of a country now on the brink of a bloody civil war. According to reports by U.N. observers, who as part of an Arab League initiative to solve the crisis were visiting the area at the time, the massacre began after the traditional Friday prayers, as residents left mosques in the village. Syrian forces shelled the residents using artillery, resulting in the deaths of at least 116 people a third of whom were reported to be children and injuring 300 others. Witnesses claimed that after the bombardment, soldiers and Shabiha gangs (legions of thugs loyal to the regime) gunned down men in the streets and murdered entire families in their homes. Images uploaded to the Internet showed bodies of children with bullet holes in their heads. A video released by the U.N. team in Syria on Sunday showed observers in Houla the day after the attack, meeting with local rebels and watching residents collect more bodies for burial. It also showed two destroyed armored personnel carriers, suggesting that local rebels put up more of a fight than officially acknowledged. "Many women and children were killed. We saw mothers who tried to protect their children and died together with them," a witness told the Al Arabiya news agency. "Where is the U.N., where is the world which must stop this massacre-" U.N. observers were in fact not far from where the incident occurred. Gen. Robert Mood, the head of the unarmed U.N. observer mission, visited Houla before the incident on Friday and warned that the situation could get out of control. After the massacre, Mood said, "Those behind these horrific attacks must be held responsible. U.N. observers who visited Houla counted 49 children and 34 women among the dead. The violence is destabilizing Syria and the country is on the threshold of civil war." The Syrian government rejected that narrative Sunday, painting a vastly different picture. Speaking to reporters in Damascus, Foreign Ministry spokesman Jihad Makdissi said Syrian security forces were in their local bases Friday when they were attacked by "hundreds of heavily armed gunmen" firing mortars, heavy machine guns and anti-tank missiles, staring a nine-hour battle that killed three soldiers and wounded 16. The soldiers fought back, but did not leave their bases, he said. "No Syrian tank or artillery entered this place where the massacres were committed," he said. "The security forces did not leave their places because they were in a state of self-defense." He blamed the gunmen for what he called a "terrorist massacre" in Houla and accused the media, Western officials and others of spinning a "tsunami of lies" to justify foreign intervention in Syria. Makdissi did not provide videos or other evidence to support his version of events, nor did he give a death toll. He said the government had formed a committee to investigate and share its findings with U.N. and Arab League envoy Kofi Annan, who is due to visit Damascus in coming days. Syria's state news agency, SANA, claimed that al-Qaida terrorists were responsible for the deaths of the citizens. Anti-regime activists scoffed at the government's version of events. One Houla activist said via Skype that the area had at most 300 fighters, that none had more than rifles and that they often lacked ammunition. "If we had anti-tank missiles, there would be no tanks left in the area," said Mohammed, declining to give his full name for fear of retribution. Activists reported shelling, gunfire and arrest raids in opposition areas throughout the country Sunday as well as clashes between regime forces and rebels in a number of areas. The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said security forces killed at least 14 civilians, while rebels killed nine soldiers. Activist claims could not be independently verified. The Syrian government bars most media from operating in the country. Britains Channel 4 is scheduled to air a program on Monday on an investigation it conducted which yielded evidence of the involvement of Assad's family in the massacres. Among other findings, the program will report that Assad's cousin instructed government troops to "shoot to kill" citizens who demonstrated in the city of Dara. Assad's brother was reportedly present when the order was given. The killings brought widespread international criticism of Assad and his regime, although differences emerged from world powers over whether his forces were exclusively to blame. The Security Council issued a press statement Sunday that condemned in the strongest possible terms" the killings in Houla. It blamed Syrian forces for artillery and tank shelling of residential areas. It also condemned the killings of civilians "by shooting at close range and by severe physical abuse," but avoided saying who was responsible for the attacks. The council's statement said the "outrageous use of force" against civilians violated international law and Syrian government commitments under previous U.N. resolutions to stop all violence, including the use of heavy weapons in populated areas. It said "those responsible for acts of violence must be held accountable," and asked the U.N. observer mission in Syria and Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon to investigate the attacks and report back to the council. Britain and France had proposed issuing a press statement condemning the attack on civilians and pointing the finger at the Syrian government for Friday's massacre. But Russia called for an emergency council meeting saying it first wanted a briefing by Mood. The massacre in Houla on Friday cast fresh doubts on the ability of the international peace plan put forward by Annan to end the crisis. In a letter to the Security Council, Ban said villages in the Houla area had been outside government control but surrounded by a heavy Syrian military presence. When U.N. observers visited the area on Saturday, Ban said they saw 85 corpses in a mosque in Taldou and "observed shotgun wounds and wounds consistent with artillery fire." He said "the patrol also saw artillery and tank shells, as well as fresh tank tracks" and observed that "many buildings had been destroyed by heavy weapons." At U.N. headquarters, Russia's Deputy U.N. Ambassador Alexander Pankin told reporters as he headed into the closed-door Security Council meeting that "there is substantial ground to believe that the majority of those who were killed were either slashed, cut by knives, or executed at point-blank distance." "We have to establish whether it was Syrian authorities ... before we agree on something," he said. A press statement is weaker than a presidential statement, which becomes part of the council record, or a legally binding U.N. resolution, but it must be approved by all 15 members and therefore reflects strong Security Council backing. Annan's peace plan for Syria, sponsored by the U.N. and the Arab League, is one of the few points of agreement among world powers about Syria's crisis, which began in March 2011 with protests calling for political change. As the government cracked down violently on the uprising, many in the opposition took up arms to defend themselves and attack government troops. The U.N. put the death toll weeks ago at more than 9,000. Hundreds more have been killed since then. Daily violence has marred the plan since a cease-fire was supposed to begin April 12. The Houla attack made Friday the deadliest day since the truce was announced, and has cast a shadow over Annan's visit. In another defiant move, Syria on Sunday denied permission for Annan's deputy to travel to Damascus with his boss, a senior Arab League official said. The rejection of former Palestinian Foreign Minister Nasser al-Kidwa was intended as a slap to the Arab League, which suspended Syria's membership and approved sanctions against it last year. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the issue. Annan's spokesman declined to comment. The Houla attacks caused outrage among American and international officials that Makdissi's comments Sunday failed to assuage. British Foreign Secretary William Hague said he would summon Syria's most senior diplomat in the U.K. on Monday so the Foreign Office could "make clear our condemnation of the Syrian regime's actions." Kuwait, which currently heads the 22-member Arab League, called for an Arab ministerial meeting to "take steps to put an end to the oppressive practices against the Syrian people." Switzerland's Foreign Ministry urged that an international inquiry be convened, saying the killings "could constitute a war crime." In Paris, the head of the exile Syrian National Council also condemned the killings. "The kids of Houla are the kids of all of Syria," Burhan Ghalioun told reporters. "Killing the kids of Houla is like killing the kids of all of Syria." U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton condemned the violence on Saturday, saying, "Those who perpetrated this atrocity must be identified and held to account. And the United States will work with the international community to intensify our pressure on Assad and his cronies, whose rule by murder and fear must come to an end." Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu echoed condemnations of the violence, and in an official statement said, "I would like to express my repugnance over the non-stop massacres of innocent citizens perpetrated by forces loyal to Syrian President Bashar Assad, massacres that continued in the village of Houla over the weekend, resulting in the deaths of dozens of innocent children. Iran and Hezbollah have a hand in the Syrian massacres and the world must take action against them as well." Defense Minister Ehud Barak also commented on the latest events in Syria, saying, "The massacre carried out by Assad's regime over the weekend in the Houla village and the murder of children, women and elderly people that has taken place over the past year require international intervention. Images of mangled bodies of children in Houla have shocked every human being. The barbaric acts perpetrated by Assad's regime and the support that Assad has received from Iran and Hezbollah obligate the world to put an end to it. The murderous acts taking place in Syria present another opportunity for us to observe the behavior of some our neighbors and understand why in this environment we must have a strong Israel Defense Forces constantly protecting the country." Annan's plan calls for eventual talks between all sides on a political solution to the crisis. The U.S. hopes Russia can use its influence with Damascus to press for a political transition similar to that seen in Yemen. In February, longtime Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh passed power to his deputy in exchange for immunity from prosecution. U.S. officials say Russia does not oppose a political transition in Syria in theory, but has not agreed to specific terms. The White House called for Assad's ousting as recently as Saturday. National Security Council Spokeswoman Erin Pelton said the attack in Houla served as a "vile testament to an illegitimate regime." According to U.S. Deputy National Security Adviser Ben Rhodes, Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev "did not dispute the fact that there needs to be a process of political transition" in Syria. "I think the question is, just how does that manifest itself-" Rhodes told reporters at a May 19 press conference.
