The U.S. joined Britain, Germany, and other Western countries in expelling senior diplomats from Syria in response to the weekend assault that killed more than 100 civilians. Syria's government denies any responsibility for the attacks, the latest in a year-long struggle for control of the country.
NEAL CONAN, HOST:
Countries around the world expelled Syrian diplomats today, explaining that the representatives of a country that slaughters its own people are not welcome. United Nations observers confirmed the massacre of over 100 men, women and children, many of them children, in the village of Houla last Friday. U.N. special envoy Kofi Annan met with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in Damascus today to demand that his government abide by a cease-fire agreement that now lies in bloody taters.
Yesterday, the U.N. Security Council condemned the massacre but imposed no new sanctions, and violence spread across the border into Lebanon. Joining us now by phone from his home in Beirut is Rami Khouri. He directs the Issam Fares Institute of Public Policy and International Affairs at the American University of Beirut and serves as editor-at-large for the Beirut-based Daily Star newspaper. And, Rami Khouri, always good to have you with us today.
We're trying to get Rami Khouri on the line from Beirut and to talk about the latest developments in Syria. And again, Kofi Annan, the U.N. special envoy, was in Damascus today to meet with the Syrian president. This is, of course, Bashar al-Assad. In the meantime, we'll get Rami Khouri on the phone as soon as we can. In the meantime, joining us is Joshua Landis, director of the Center for Middle East Studies at the University of Oklahoma, with us from KGOU, our member station in Norman, Oklahoma. Nice to have you back on TALK OF THE NATION...
http://www.npr.org/2012/05/29/153926907/few-good-options-remain-to-end-syrian-attacks