[everlastinge]

Global Times | May 31, 2012 01:20 | By Qiu Yongzheng in Syria and Xu Tianran in Beijing

Amid escalating tension on the Syrian crisis ignited by the carnage over the weekend that claimed the lives of more than 100 civilians,
China reiterated its opposition to military intervention in the country and regime change by force.

Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Liu Weimin said at yesterday's press briefing that all relevant parties should fully implement the
UN Security Council's resolutions and support UN-Arab League special envoy Kofi Annan's mediation efforts. "The Syria issue should be
solved through political dialogue," Liu said.

Annan yesterday called for unified international efforts to find ways to bring an end to the crisis and killing in Syria, reports said. The
appeal came after French President Francois Hollande suggested military action against Syria as an option.



Gennady Gatilov, Russia's deputy foreign minister, said a review now by the Security Council of any new measures on the situation would
be premature, AFP reported.

A Syrian rebel official alleged that the massacre must be connected to the Syrian army. However, Gennady Gatilov stressed that it could
also have been carried out by terrorist groups aiming to completely disturb the order in Syria, he told the Global Times, adding that it is
unreasonable for the government to be blamed, as they need as much support as possible from the people.

"Western countries have expelled the Syrian diplomats and called for Assad to cede power when it is still unclear which side carried out the
massacre. This clearly shows that the Western countries prefer the immediate downfall of Assad's government," Li said.

Following the strong reiteration by two veto wielding members of the Security Council, the US issued a guarded statement objecting to the
option of military action after expelling Syria's diplomat in Washington Tuesday.

"We do not believe that militarization, further militarization of the situation in Syria at this point is the right course of action," said White House
press secretary Jay Carney. "We believe that it would lead to greater chaos, greater carnage."