US hopes Russia will change mind about Syria

WASHINGTON - The United States said Tuesday the Syrian government was behind the massacre in the country's Houla village and hoped Russia would change its mind about the Syrian crisis.

"We're appreciative of the fact that the Russians are willing to have a full investigation (into the massacre), because we think it's undisputable what that investigation is going to show," State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said at a regular news briefing.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov on Tuesday called for "an objective and impartial" probe into the tragedy during his phone conversation with Kofi Annan, the UN-Arab League joint special envoy for Syria.

The United States hoped that it was a turning point in Russian thinking, Nuland said, referring to Russia's continuing reluctance to support tougher measures against Syria.

More than 100 people, including children, were reportedly killed in Houla on May 25. Opposition groups in Syria said the tragedy was a result of artillery fire from government forces, while Syrian authorities blamed terrorist and extremist groups for the killings.

Nuland blamed President Bashar al-Assad's regime for the massacre, and confirmed that the US State Department Tuesday morning "called in Syrian charge d'affaires Zuheir Jabbour and informed him that he is no longer welcome in the United States and gave him 72 hours to depart."

"We took this action in response to the massacre in the village of Houla," she said.

The spokeswoman said Washington and its allies will continue to explore other ways over the coming days to pressure the Syrian government economically, politically and diplomatically.

Annan met Syrian Assad on Tuesday, calling for a speedy implementation of his six-point peace plan to stop the violence across the country.