Syrian govt. denies responsibility for deadly attack

PanARMENIAN.Net - The Syrian government has denied responsibility for an attack that killed at least 85 people, including 34 children, saying that it was carried out by "terrorists", Al Jazeera reported.

Jihad Makdissi, the spokesman for the Syrian foreign ministry, also severely criticized foreign leaders for accusing the government of having committed atrocities "without any evidence".

He told a press conference that "hundreds of armed men" had attacked Houla, a cluster of villages in Homs province, on Friday and clashed with government forces.

"They used heavy weapons and anti-tank rockets," he said on Sunday. "That's why we lost some of our men from the security forces."

Makdissi said Syrian forces were trying to defend themselves but insisted that "no Syrian artillery or heavy weaponry" had been used in Houla. "Syria will continue defending its citizens," he said.

Earlier, UN chief Ban Ki-moon and UN-Arab League peace envoy Kofi Annan condemned the assault, calling it an "appalling and brutal" breach of international law.

Ban and Annan "condemn in the strongest possible terms the killing, confirmed by United Nations observers, of dozens of men, women and children" in Houla, UN spokesman Martin Nesirky said on Saturday.

"This appalling and brutal crime, involving indiscriminate and disproportionate use of force, is a flagrant violation of international law and of the commitments of the Syrian government to cease the use of heavy weapons in population centers and violence in all its forms," said the statement issued on behalf of the UN secretary-general and the Syria envoy.