Turkey and Japan expelled Syrian diplomats on Wednesday, joining the U.S. and several other nations in protesting a weekend massacre of more than 100 people in Syria, including women and children. 
 
 French President Francois Hollande addresses reporters during a joint press conference with Benin and African Union President Thomas Boni Yayi, left, at the Elysee Palace in Paris, Tuesday May 29, 2012.... (Associated Press) 
 
 A demonstrator carries a sign reading "Thank you Germany" in front of the Syrian embassy in Berlin Tuesday, May 29, 2012. Governments around the world expelled ambassadors and top Syrian diplomats Tuesday... (Associated Press) 
 
 In this photo provided by the Syrian official news agency SANA, Syrian President Bashar Assad, right, meets with Kofi Annan, the U.N.-Arab League Joint Special Envoy for Syria, in Damascus, Syria. The... (Associated Press) 
 
 French President Francois Hollande addresses reporters during a joint press conference with Benin and African Union President Thomas Boni Yayi, unseen, at the Elysee Palace in Paris, Tuesday May 29, 2012.... (Associated Press) 
 
 The move came as Syrian forces bombarded rebel-held areas in the same province where the Houla killings occurred, although no casualties were immediately reported, activists said. 
 
 Survivors blamed pro-regime gunmen for at least some of the carnage in Houla as the killings reverberated inside Syria and beyond, further isolating President Bashar Assad and embarrassing his few remaining allies. The Syrian government denied its troops were behind the killings and blamed "armed terrorists." 
 
 The U.N.'s top human rights body planned to hold a special session Friday to address the massacre. 
 
 Damascus had said it would conclude its own investigation into the Houla deaths by Wednesday but it was not clear if the findings would be made public. 
 
 The Houla killings prompted Western nations to expel Syrian diplomats in a coordinated protest, with the United States, Britain, Canada, Australia, France, Germany, Italy, Spain and Bulgaria ordering top Syrian diplomats to leave on Tuesday. 
 
 Syria's state-run media on Wednesday denounced the diplomatic expulsions, which began Tuesday with announcements by the United States, Britain, Canada, Australia, France, Germany, Italy, Spain and Bulgaria, as "unprecedented hysteria." 
 
 Turkey, Syria's neighbor and a former close ally, joined the coordinated protest on Wednesday. Turkey has been among the most outspoken critics of the Assad regime. It closed its embassy in Damascus in March and withdrew the ambassador. Its consulate in Aleppo remains open. 
 
 The Foreign Ministry said it ordered the Syrian charge d'affaires and other diplomats at the Syrian embassy in Ankara to leave the country within 72 hours. The consulate in Istanbul will remain open for consular duties only. 
 
 "It is out of the question to remain silent and without any reaction in the face of this action, which amounts to a crime against humanity," the ministry said in a statement on Wednesday. "This grave crime against humanity by those who have attempted a massacre of civilians cannot go unpunished." 
 
 Japan also ordered the Syrian ambassador in Tokyo to leave the country because of concerns about violence against civilians. Japan's foreign minister, Koichiro Genba, said his country was not, however, breaking off diplomatic ties with Syria. 
 
 The announcements came a day after the United States, Britain, Canada, Australia, France, Germany, Italy, Spain and Bulgaria ordered top Syrian diplomats to leave. 
 
 U.N. special envoy Kofi Annan met with Assad on Tuesday in Damascus to try to salvage what was left of his peace plan, which since being brokered six weeks ago has failed to stop any of the violence on the ground. 
 
 The Al-Baath daily, the mouthpiece of Assad's Baath Party, said Syria won't be intimidated by such "violent rhythms" and would remain standing in front of such "ugly, bloody and dramatic shows." It added that "Syria will not tremble as they think." 
 
 The government's Al-Thawra newspaper also blasted the Western decision, calling it an "escalation that aims to besiege Annan's plan and enflame a civil war." 
 
 Tensions have escalated as more information emerges about the May 25 killings in Houla. 
 
 The U.N.'s human rights office said most of the 108 victims were shot execution-style at close range, with fewer than 20 people cut down by regime shelling. 
 
 U.N. peacekeeping chief Herve Ladsous said there are strong suspicions that pro-Assad fighters were responsible for some of the killings, casting doubt on allegations that "third elements" _ or outside forces _ were involved, although he did not rule it out. 
 
 On Sunday, Foreign Ministry spokesman Jihad Makdissi said a committee comprising the ministries of justice, defense and interior was set up to investigate the massacre and would have the job done within three days. 
 
 Meanwhile, activists said Syrian troops shelled restive suburbs of Damascus and rebel-held areas in the central city of Homs on Wednesday. 
 
 The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights and the Local Coordination Committees said at least five people were killed in the Damascus suburb of Douma. Both groups had no details about casualties in Homs, which is the provincial capital of the province that includes Houla. 
 
 ___ 
 
 Mroue reported from Beirut. Associated Press writer Albert Aji contributed to this report from Damascus, Syria. ||||| Image caption Syrian troops, tanks and artillery were all supposed to have been withdrawn to barracks in April 
 
 Hopes of a new international initiative over Syria have suffered a setback after a Russian minister ruled out any action by the UN Security Council soon. 
 
 Russia "categorically" opposed foreign intervention in Syria, he said, as outrage grew over the massacre of 108 people in Houla last week. 
 
 Turkey is expelling all Syrian diplomatic staff from Ankara, following similar moves by Western states. 
 
 UN observers have verified what appears to have been another multiple killing. 
 
 Thirteen bodies were found in al-Sukar, east of the city of Deir al-Zour, with their hands tied behind their backs and signs that some had been shot in the head from close range. 
 
 Maj Gen Robert Mood, head of the UN observer mission which recently deployed in Syria, said he was "deeply disturbed by this appalling and inexcusable act". 
 
 Thousands of people, perhaps as many as 15,000, have been killed since the revolt against the rule of President Bashar al-Assad began in March of last year. 
 
 Expulsions 'counterproductive' 
 
 China and Russia, which both wield a veto at the UN Security Council, have blocked two previous resolutions calling for tougher action on Damascus. 
 
 On Tuesday, French President Francois Hollande said military intervention authorised by the Security Council had not yet been ruled out. 
 
 Media playback is unsupported on your device Media caption Kofi Annan: "Syrian people do not want their future to be one of bloodshed and division" 
 
 The US state department expressed hope that the events in Houla might prove a "turning point in Russian thinking". 
 
 Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Gennady Gatilov said: "We have always said that we are categorically against any outside interference in the Syrian conflict because this will only exacerbate the situation for both Syria and the region as a whole." 
 
 Russia's foreign ministry said in a statement that the expulsion of Syrian diplomats from leading Western states seemed to be "counterproductive". "After all, vital [diplomatic] channels... end up being closed," it added. 
 
 A spokesman for China's foreign ministry reiterated Beijing's opposition to military intervention in Syria or forced "regime change". 
 
 Syria's main opposition group, the Syrian National Council, said Russia had chosen "to join ranks with the Syrian regime and to provide it with political cover", AFP news agency reports. 
 
 Turkey's move goes further than Tuesday's co-ordinated action by other states, which restricted their expulsions to the most senior staff. However, Syrian consular staff in Istanbul will remain. 
 
 In apparent retaliation for the diplomatic expulsions, Syria gave the Dutch charge d'affaires - one of the few remaining top-level Western diplomatic representatives in Damascus - 72 hours to leave. 
 
 In another development, Syria's honorary consul in California, Hazem Chehabi, resigned, saying he could not continue in his post after the "barbaric" massacre in Houla. 
 
 One of the opposition organisations monitoring the violence, the UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, reported 39 new deaths in attacks across Syria on Wednesday. The figure, quoted by AFP news agency, included 15 government soldiers. 
 
 Children and women 
 
 Troops, tanks and artillery were all supposed to have been withdrawn to barracks in April as the first step on the ground under six-point peace plan of UN and Arab League envoy Kofi Annan. 
 
 Taldou, Houla region The region of Houla, in the west of Syria, comprises several villages and small towns 
 
 The village of Taldou lies around 2km south-west of the main town, also called Houla 
 
 The area is in the province of Homs, which has seen heavy fighting in recent months 
 
 Houla's villages are predominantly Sunni Muslim, but the region is ringed by a number of Alawite villages - the sect of the Syrian president Bashar al-Assad Houla: How a massacre unfolded Press split on Syria mass killing Timeline: Syria's massacres 
 
 But it simply has not happened, says the BBC's Jim Muir in neighbouring Lebanon. 
 
 Amid the reports of continuing violence, it appears Mr Annan's talks with President Bashar al-Assad and opposition figures in Damascus on Tuesday have had no immediate impact on the ground. 
 
 Mr Annan's deputy, Jean-Marie Guehenno, is due to report to the UN Security Council on Wednesday on the talks with Mr Assad. 
 
 Forty-nine children and 34 women were among those killed in Houla last Friday and Saturday. 
 
 Witnesses have told the UN the vast majority of killings were committed by pro-government shabiha militiamen. 
 
 The UN Human Rights Council will hold a special session on Syria on Friday looking into the killings, officials said. ||||| U.N.-Arab League envoy Kofi Annan enters his car after his meeting with Jordan's Foreign Minister Nasser Judeh in Amman, May 30, 2012. x U.N.-Arab League envoy Kofi Annan enters his car after his meeting with Jordan's Foreign Minister Nasser Judeh in Amman, May 30, 2012. 
 
 Handout photo released by Syrian opposition's Shaam News Network shows UN observers at hospital morgue before their burial in central Syrian town of Houla on May 26, 2012. x Handout photo released by Syrian opposition's Shaam News Network shows UN observers at hospital morgue before their burial in central Syrian town of Houla on May 26, 2012. 
 
 x 
 
 VOA Russian Service's Yuliya Appel and Middle East Voices' Mohammed Elshinnawi contributed to this report. 
 
 The deputy to international envoy Kofi Annan, Jean-Marie Guéhenno, has briefed the U.N.'s 15-nation Security Council on the envoy's visit to Syria, prompting one diplomat to call the current situation a "low point in the conflict."After Wednesday's closed briefing, Germany's ambassador to the United Nations, Peter Wittig, told reporters that he hoped the "flagrant violations" like the recent massacre in Houla was an "eye opener for some members of the council." He added that Germany is "against the militarization of the conflict."​​​​Mr. Annan left Syria on Wednesday to attend talks with Jordanian officials. A U.N. official said the international envoy did not secure any major steps from the Syrian government to implement a faltering peace plan for the country."After 15 months of violence, only very strong signals will have an impact," Guéhenno told reporters. "Small diplomatic steps will not suffice."Russia's U.N. ambassador, Vitaly Churkin, whose country says it will veto any Security Council resolution that authorizes foreign military intervention in Syria, said after the briefing that Moscow is dissatisfied with the "current state of things."The U.N. observer mission in Syria confirmed the killings of 13 people in the northeastern province of Deir el-Zour. The mission said U.N. monitors found the bodies late Tuesday, with some of the dead appearing to have been shot in the head from short range and all having their hands tied behind their backs.U.N. observer chief, Norwegian General Robert Mood, said he is "deeply disturbed by this appalling and inexcusable act." He called on all parties "to exercise restraint and end the cycle of violence."​​International outrage has mounted since a massacre of more than 100 civilians took place in the central Syrian town of Houla last week.Diplomats in Geneva said the U.N. Human Rights Council plans to hold an emergency meeting on Friday to discuss the massacre. They said the United States, Turkey and Qatar led the push for the special session.Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak urged the international community to take tougher action against Bashar al-Assad's government."The events in Syria mean the world must take action -- not only by talking, but by acting," Barak said. "These are crimes against humanity, and it is impossible that the international community stand aloof."The U.S. Treasury on Wednesday announced it will freeze the assets of the Syrian International Islamic Bank to tighten economic pressure on the Syrian government.Several countries are expelling Syrian diplomats in protest of the Houla massacre. Japan and Turkey announced the step on Wednesday. They joined the United States, Australia, Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands and Spain, which announced the expulsions of Syrian diplomats on Tuesday​​The Syrian government retaliated on Wednesday by ordering the Dutch charge d’Affaires to leave Syria within 72 hours.Russia's U.N. ambassador on Wednesday called expulsions a "bilateral matter," but warned that they could be "misinterpreted by those who want to see foreign military intervention and fighting in Syria."In Beijing, Foreign Ministry Spokesman Liu Weimin said he is not aware of any Chinese move to expel or disrupt the work of Syrian diplomats in the country. "China opposes military intervention in Syria and opposes regime change by force," Weimin said.Annan's plan called on the Syrian government to withdraw heavy weapons from civilian areas and abide by a truce with rebels. But attacks by both sides have continued.Syrian activists said fighting between government and rebel forces on Wednesday killed at least nine people, five of them in the Damascus suburb of Douma. They said government troops shelled Douma and the central city of Homs, which also is an opposition stronghold. The casualties could not be independently confirmed.Abu Orouba, a media liaison for the opposition Local Coordination Committees of Syria, told VOA the situation across the country is dire."Annan’s plan is a real failure. As a Syrian citizen, I see that it failed to produce any result - actually none of its articles were implemented. Even the cease-fire requirement was not met," Orouba said. "If Annan’s plan is still on the table and the U.N. observers are still on the ground, why did this massacre take place? Why is there no cease-fire?"Political scientist Alexei Malashenko of the Carnegie Center in Moscow says the situation in Syria is so dead-locked that a solely diplomatic solution is becoming impossible.“[President Assad] is a nervous man, and, it seems, is so confident in himself that he has gone over the top in his actions,” Malashenko said. “The massacre in Houla is only the beginning; it will continue to get worse.” ||||| UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - If the U.N. Security Council does not take swift action to pressure Syria to end its 14-month assault on the opposition, member nations may have no choice but to consider acting outside the United Nations, the U.S. envoy to the world body said on Wednesday. 
 
 Speaking to reporters after international mediator Kofi Annan's deputy, Jean-Marie Guehenno, gave the 15-nation council a bleak assessment of the impact of Annan's efforts to halt the violence in Syria, U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Susan Rice said there were three ways the Syrian conflict could end. 
 
 The first would be if Syrian President Bashar-al Assad's government decided to comply with its obligations under Annan's six-point peace plan - stopping its military assaults on Syrian towns, withdrawing heavy weapons, returning troops to barracks and talking with the opposition on a "political transition." 
 
 The second option would involve the council taking action to pressure Damascus to fully comply with the Annan plan, she said. 
 
 Neither of those scenarios appear likely because Damascus has shown no interest in living up to its commitments and Russia has made clear that any Security Council moves to step up the pressure on Assad's government through sanctions are out of the question. 
 
 "In the absence of either of those two scenarios there seems to be only one other alternative, and that is indeed the worst case," Rice said, adding that it was unfortunately looking like "the most probable." 
 
 "That is that the violence escalates, the conflict spreads and intensifies," she said. "It involves countries in the region, it takes on increasingly sectarian forms, and we have a major crisis not only in Syria but in the region." 
 
 In such a case, Rice said, the Annan plan would be dead and the Syrian violence would become "a proxy conflict with arms flowing in from all sides." 
 
 "And members of this council and members of the international community are left with the option only of having to consider whether they're prepared to take actions outside of the Annan plan and the authority of this council," she said. 
 
 She did not specify what kind of "actions" she meant. The United States has led past military interventions that were not authorized by the Security Council, namely in Kosovo and Iraq. So far the United States and its Western allies have rejected military options and said they would not arm the rebels. 
 
 RUSSIA DEFENDS ARMS SALES TO SYRIA 
 
 German Ambassador Peter Wittig said council members expressed revulsion at the massacre at Houla last week, where more than 100 people, including many children were killed, probably by Syrian government forces and militia. 
 
 Wittig urged the council to consider a resolution that would sanction "spoilers" of the Annan plan and suggested that it think about whether the mission of unarmed observers should be expanded. 
 
 The British and French envoys also spoke of the need to intensify pressure on Assad's government. 
 
 But Russian Ambassador Vitaly Churkin said Moscow, which holds a veto on the Security Council, opposes the idea of ratcheting up pressure on Damascus in the form of U.N. sanctions. 
 
 "Our attitude toward sanctions, frankly, continues to be negative," he said, adding that Moscow wants countries doing so to stop supplying weapons to Syrian rebels. He also voiced concern about the increasing presence of extremists in Syria. 
 
 Asked about Russia's supply of weapons to Assad's government, Churkin said: "The weapons we may have provided to Syria under various contracts, which were concluded a long time ago, are fully in line with international law and do not contribute to the current armed violence in Syria." 
 
 The expulsion of Syrian diplomats from several countries, including the United States, could be mistaken as a precursor to foreign military intervention in Syria, Churkin said. 
 
 "I hope an effort is made not to allow this step to be misinterpreted as something which is basically a prerequisite of some kind of a foreign military intervention in the near future, which is not the case." 
 
 Syrian Ambassador Bashar Ja'afari complained about unilateral U.S., European and other sanctions, calling them "irresponsible acts." 
 
 Speaking to reporters in Geneva, Guehenno said that "in the council there is an understanding that any sliding toward a full-scale civil war in Syria would be catastrophic and the Security Council now needs to have that kind of strategic discussion on how that needs to be avoided." 
 
 He did not say what kinds of steps the council should take. Earlier he told the council via video link that the violence is unlikely to stop without political negotiations between the government and opposition, U.N. diplomats said. 
 
 (Additional reporting by Tom Miles and Stephanie Nebehay in Geneva; Editing by Anthony Boadle and Christopher Wilson)
– Turkey and Japan today joined a number of nations who have given Syrian diplomats within their borders the boot, as the head of the UN observers in Syria revealed that 13 bodies had been found with their hands tied in the country's east, reports Reuters. But the developments are unlikely to chip away at Russia and China's resistance to taking tougher steps against Syria. To wit, Russia's deputy foreign minister today announced that Russia is "categorically against" military intervention in Syria and noted that it would be "premature" for the UN Security Council to take any fresh steps. The BBC notes that, in light of Russia's veto power on the council, the latest remarks indicate there's little hope for new initiatives. And the overall lack of progress is only underscored by the fact that Kofi Annan this morning left Syria—without getting the government to agree to take any of the "bold steps" he was pushing, reports Voice of America. Writing for the Washington Post, David Ignatius thinks the answer is easy—Bashar al-Assad needs to go—and the reason why that's not happening is obvious: Vladimir Putin, who is "playing a cynical game of power politics." The focus shouldn't be on pressuring Assad, but on turning "up the heat on Putin," he writes.