U.N. Rights Panel to Seek Access to Syria GENEVA - The United Nations Human Rights Council was preparing to call on Friday for an international inquiry into last week's massacre of more than 100 Syrian civilians at Houla, challenging the assertion by Syrian authorities that it was the work of opposition gunmen. The United States, Turkey and Qatar were among members of the Geneva-based council calling for a special session on Syria in an attempt to increase international pressure on President Bashar al-Assad as intense discussions continued between members of the Security Council in New York on how to salvage the cease-fire plan negotiated by Kofi Annan, the United Nations special envoy. China and the Assad regime's key ally, Russia, have resisted calls in the Security Council for tougher sanctions against Syria. A draft of the resolution to be put to the Human Rights Council that circulated on Thursday condemned "the wanton killing of civilians by shooting at close range and by severe physical abuse by pro-regime elements." It also condemned a "series of government artillery and tank spellings of a residential neighborhood." The draft would require that commission of inquiry set up by the Human Rights Council last year to "publicly identify those responsible for these atrocities and hold them to account." Syria has never allowed the three-member commission to enter the country and the draft resolution demands that Syrian authorities grant "full and unfettered access" to conduct its work. Negotiations on the resolution were continuing on Friday morning, diplomats said, in an effort to bridge calls for stronger language on holding Syria to account for human rights violations and wording that might gain Russian and Chinese support.