Diplomats expelled after Syrian massacre

BEIRUT -- As UN officials cited eyewitness accounts of gunmen slaughtering whole families in their homes, Western nations expelled Syrian diplomats yesterday in a coordinated move against President Bashar Assad's regime over the massacre of more than 100 people.

UN special envoy Kofi Annan met with Assad in Damascus to try to salvage what was left of a peace plan, which since being brokered six weeks ago has failed to stop any of the violence on the ground.

Survivors of the Houla massacre blamed pro-regime gunmen for at least some of the carnage as the killings reverberated inside Syria and beyond, further isolating Assad and embarrassing his few remaining allies.

"It's very hard for me to describe what I saw; the images were incredibly disturbing," a Houla man who hid in his home during the massacre told The Associated Press yesterday. Decapitated women and children were amid the carnage, he said.

Assad's government often deploys fearsome militias that carry out military-style attacks. They frequently work closely with soldiers and security forces, but the regime never acknowledges their existence.

UN peacekeeping chief Herve Ladsous said there are strong suspicions that pro-Assad fighters were responsible for some of the killings, adding that he has seen no reason to believe that "third elements" -- or outside forces -- were involved, although he did not rule it out.

The Syrian regime has denied any role in the massacre, blaming the killings on "armed terrorists" who attacked army positions in the area and slaughtered innocent civilians. It has provided no evidence to support its narrative, nor has it given a death toll.

Cranking up the pressure on Assad, the Obama administration gave Syria's most senior envoy in Washington, the charge d'affaires at the Syrian Embassy, 72 hours to leave the United States. Britain, Canada, Australia, France, Germany, Italy, Spain and Bulgaria also expelled Syrian diplomats.