Syria condemns Houla massacre, Annan arrives in Damascus tomorrow

The spokesperson for the Syrian Ministry of Foreign Affairs Jihad al-Maqdisi condemned the horrible crime that took place in Houla, killing over 92 people including 32 children. Al-Maqdisi denied the Syrian authorities’ responsibility for the crime.           

In a press conference held on Sunday, al-Maqdisi announced that Syria established a “military judicial” committee whose mission is to investigate the massacre; “it is expected to issue the results of these investigations within three days.”          

Al-Maqdisi said that the Syrian Foreign Minister Walid al-Moallem briefed the U.N.-Arab League envoy Kofi Annan on the situation and the investigations conducted by the Syrian authorities.      

Al-Maqdisi assured that there is no additional information regarding the Lebanese hostages in Aleppo. In this regard, Syria announced that Annan will arrive in Damascus on Monday.        

In the field, the city of Rastan witnessed heavy shelling and fierce clashes between the regime's security forces and opposition brigades in many Syrian regions at dawn Sunday.     

8 civilians including a child and a girl were killed Sunday in clashes between Syrian security forces and opposition brigades in many Syrian regions, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.

The Observatory reported that 3 citizens were killed in Hama in the morning; one of them was a truck driver killed by sniper fire and the other two were killed by security operations carried out in the city’s neighborhood of Al-Sawaiq.          
       
The Observatory quoted an activist as saying that 30 shells were fired on the city in 15 minutes at dawn.            

In Damascus, a bomb struck a security vehicle in the upscale neighborhood of Mazzeh, causing casualties among security forces.

More than 13,000 people, mostly civilians, were killed in Syria since the beginning of the uprising against the Syrian regime.