Image caption Syrian troops, tanks and artillery were all supposed to have been withdrawn to barracks in April 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.” ||||| COPENHAGEN - U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton says continuing Russian support for Syrian President Bashar al-Assad is blocking United Nations action to end 15 months of violence and could help lead to civil war. Clinton is in Denmark, at the beginning of a one-week trip to Europe. 
 
 
 
 Secretary Clinton says "very strong opposition" from Russia is making it harder to put together an international coalition against President Assad. But, she says Washington is not giving up on such a coalition, because "every day that goes by makes the case stronger." 
 
 
 
 Clinton told a question-and-answer session with youth leaders in the Danish capital that, without Russian support, U.N. and Arab League envoy Kofi Annan cannot expand his mandate to push Damascus to confront what she calls terrible dangers. 
 
 
 
 Clinton says the continuing slaughter of innocent people by the military, by pro-government militia and by government opponents could become civil war. In a country already riven by sectarian divides. She says that could quickly become a regional proxy war. 
 
 
 
 "You have Iran deeply embedded in Syria," she said. "Their military are coaching the Syrian military. Their so-called Quds force, which is a branch of the military, is helping them set up these sectarian militias. And, you have Russia continuing to supply them arms." 
 
 
 
 Clinton says the threat of wider regional conflict is fed by cross-border security concerns in Jordan, Lebanon and Turkey. 
 
 
 
 "We know it could actually get much worse than it is. And, we are trying to prevent that," she said. "And, my argument to the Russians is they keep telling me they don't want to see a civil war. And, I have been telling them their policy is going to help contribute to a civil war. It is not a satisfactory answer yet, but we are trying to keep pushing all the pieces together to support Kofi Annan as an independent voice because the Syrians are not going to listen to us. They will listen, maybe, to the Russians. So we have to keep pushing them." 
 
 
 
 Russia's Interfax news agency Thursday quoted President Vladimir Putin's spokesman as saying Russia's position on Syria is well-known, balanced, consistent, and completely logical. Spokesman Dmitry Peskov says "it is hardly appropriate to talk about this position changing under someone's pressure." 
 
 
 
 U.N. chief Ban Ki-moon told a forum in Turkey Thursday that recent massacres of civilians could plunge Syria into a "catastrophic civil war" from which the country would never recover. ||||| BEIJING — China said Tuesday that it was sending an envoy to Syria after blocking a U.N. resolution earlier this month that threatened sanctions, and reiterated that it wants a political solution to the country's ongoing crisis. 
 
 Wu Sike, China's special envoy on the Middle East, will visit Syria and Egypt from Wednesday through Sunday, the Foreign Ministry said. 
 
 The uprising in Syria has proven remarkably resilient even though the government has tried relentlessly to crush the revolt. The United Nations says more than 3,000 people have been killed in the government crackdown on the protests, and international pressure has been building for Syrian President Bashar Assad to step down. 
 
 Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Jiang Yu said Tuesday that Beijing wants all parties in Syria to resolve the crisis peacefully. 
 
 "We believe the Syrian government should deliver on its reform pledges, respond to the people's appeals and that all parties should, in a constructive manner, actively participate in the political process," Jiang said in a regular briefing. 
 
 China and Russia vetoed the already watered-down Security Council resolution criticizing the Syrian government for suppressing protests because they objected to language that left open the possibility of sanctions against Syria. 
 
 The opposition movement driving Syria's 7-month-old uprising has mostly focused on peaceful demonstrations, although recently there have been reports of protesters taking up arms to defend themselves against military attacks. There have also been increasing reports of defections from the military, highlighting a trend that has raised fears that Syria may be sliding toward civil war. 
 
 The United States has pulled its ambassador out of Syria, arguing that his support for anti-Assad activists put him in grave danger. Syria responded quickly Monday, ordering home its envoy from Washington. 
 
 China and Russia have also been urging the chief U.N. nuclear inspector to scrap or delay U.S.-backed plans to reveal intelligence on Iran's alleged nuclear arms experiments, in a bluntly worded confidential document obtained Monday by The Associated Press. 
 
 Asked about the Chinese-Russian diplomatic note to International Atomic Energy Agency chief Yukiya Amano, Jiang would only say that China believes in resolving the dispute through dialogue. 
 
 "We hope the IAEA can uphold the just and objective position, bring into full play their professional advantage, engage in contact and interaction with Iran and play a constructive role for solving the Iranian nuclear issue through diplomatic means," Jiang said. 
 
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 Associated Press writer George Jahn contributed to this report from Vienna. 
 
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 Follow Gillian Wong on Twitter at http://twitter.com/gillianwong
– 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.