In a first official response to the Houla crime, Syria’s foreign ministry spokesman said Sunday that the Syrian government is not responsible for the massacre

It’s agreed upon among all parties and sides that a horrific massacre was committed in the Syrian towns of Houla and Teldo in Homs which claimed the lives of dozens of innocent women and children.

Contradicting Stories

Several contradicting stories were circulated since the news of the massacre was announced.

The so-called "Syrian National Council" directly accused the authorities of being behind the massacre and the United Arab Emirates was quick to call for an urgent meeting of the Arab League to discuss the matter. The council claimed that entire families were “slaughtered” by “regime mercenaries”, and that the hands of children were tied before being killed. But pictures of the massacre proved that nobody was “tied” or “slaughtered”. “Bullets trances were clear on the bodies, and on some others shrapnel from heavy shelling,” Syria Truth website said.

SANA news agency said terrorist groups related to Al-Qaeda committed the massacres.

Massacres Precede UN Meetings

In a first official response to the Houla crime, Syria’s foreign ministry spokesman said Sunday that the Syrian government is not responsible for the massacre.

"We completely deny responsibility for this terrorist massacre against our people," Jihad Al-Maqdissi told a press conference blaming terrorists for the deaths on Friday and Saturday.
  
Maqdissi announced that the government had opened an investigation and set up a military and legal committee to investigate the massacre where the results will emerge within days.

The foreign ministry spokesman assured that Syrian security forces were in case of self-defense in Houla, adding that pictures of the massacre show the methodology of brutal murders that are not the morality of the Syrian army.

While mentioning that these kinds of massacres always precede UN Security Council sessions, Maqdissi said that this time it coincided with UN-Arab League envoy Kofi Annan’s visit to Syria on Monday.

“Any side destroying calm in Syria, whether a regional or other country, is a partner in shedding the Syrians blood,” Maqdissi said, adding that the Syrian government want calm to prevail, and that it is committed to Annan's plan.
The head of UN observers mission in Syria Saturday condemned the "tragic and brutal" massacre in Syria, warning the prolonged violence could lead the country to a civil war.

Mood: Terrible Tragedy

Maj. Gen. Robert Mood, head of the United Nations Supervision Mission in Syria, issued a statement on Saturday in which he said UN observers went earlier Saturday to Houla, where they found more than 32 children under the age of 10 and over 60 adults were killed. "This is by whatever standard a terrible tragedy for each family, for the village and for the Syrian people," he said. "This indiscriminate and disproportionate use of force is unacceptable and unforgivable."