The latest international push comes after 108 people were killed Friday in a rural area, Houla.

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Houla is different, because few tragedies have been as well documented and few have prompted such global revulsion.

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Earlier, the UN Human Rights Council said it wanted investigators to identify the perpetrators of the killings in Houla.

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"Houla was the global recognition of what they'd been up to, " he said.

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As for Houla, Annan called it a "terrible crime, " but said it is one of "many atrocities" in Syria.

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Sectarian tensions have been high in Houla, which is overwhelmingly Sunni and is surrounded by Alawite and Shiite villages.

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Mr. Assad's speech came after a week of mounting international pressure to hold the Syrian government accountable for the Houla killings.

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Post Houla, that brighter future seems a long way over the horizon.

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Al-Assad denies that his forces were behind the Houla killings.

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The UK has said the Syrian authorities must implement Mr Annan's plan which calls - among other things - for an end to violence by all sides, the freeing of political detainees and for aid agencies to be given access to Houla and other areas.

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