bridget kendall, bbc news. >>> richard murphy is a former u.s.mbassador to syria and to saudi arabia. i sktd if there can still be a diplomatic solution to the crisis. >> i can only hope so because as the area moves toward increasing violence, the violence we see in syria today is starting to have echoes in leabnon and threatens the stab -- lebanon and threatens the stability in jordan and perhaps even iraq and turkey. >> apart from diplomacy, what other options are there without russia blocking everything that goes on in the united nations while it continues to block the majority opinion in the united nations? nothing can be done. if that wasn't there, what would the options actually be? >> well, what seems to have started is efforts to introduce arms into the opposition's hands, and that's been cited as an object of concern by the american side and i think by most of the european powers, also feeling that militarization of the present situation is going to hasten the worsening and the slide into a civil war. , a full-fledged civil war. because

the bbc's diplomatic correspondent bridget kendall starts our coverage tonight. >> more disturbing images from syria posted on the internet by opposition activists. factory workers, murdered, they said, by pro-government militias. an account u.n. observers inside syria haven't verified yet. but they did confirm the massacre last week at houla and today the u.n. human rights council blamed syria for it. urging an inquiry to investigate possible war crimes. >> these acts may amount to crimes against humanity and other international crimes. and maybe indicative of a pattern of widespread or systematic attacks against civilian populations. >> syria's envoy denied his government's involvement. blaming the massacre on rebel fighters. >> it is now a familiar pattern for armed terrorist gangs to carry out massacres, timed deliberately to lead to special sessions, hostile to syria like this one. >> from several parts of syria today, there's been video suggesting renewed shelling. here in homs. around houla where the massacre was, one activist from houla told us what being under siege felt like. >>

bridget kendall, "bbc world news." >> i asked our correspondent if he often thought describing the war in syria as civil war will change anything? >> no. one was doing that in response to a question. he explained the government is fighting to gain quite a bit of large chunks of territory it had lost in the country. by him, that would be considered civil war. but both sides in syria itself are rejecting that appalachian the government is saying this is the regime's effort to restore law and order. but it is also described as different readings. >> some are suggesting the rebel fighters who were in control of the town may have withdrawn over the bombard meant from yesterday. that said it's as though the regime is out to destroy town and the infrastructure. but the troops say they are continuing to pursue what it calls the remnants of rebel gangs. they were returned by angry villagers in niche, pro government villagers where support for the government is very strong in that area. but they said they ran over three of the villagers and refused to listen to their armed tanks ruling in that a

bridget kendall, bbc news. >> the executive director of the middle eastern north african division of north rights watch says international diplomacy could still help reduce the violence in syria. >> everybody wants more concrete mess ures but the challenge is how to get there. how do we get russia and china not to veto security council resolutions for more concrete measures that would include, for example, strict sanctions on the government or referral to the i.c.c. i think that the diplomatic measures are the art of what's possible in a very challenging political environment. >> do you think there's any way if you're looking at it ultra cynically, actually countries like the united states and france and great britain may be thinking that it suits them that russia is blocking any potential movement on the ground. because at the end of the day, everybody is scared of what may come after assad. >> i certainly hope not and one can always have a cynical assessment of everything. i think what matters is all of us who are not cynical and have good intentions do everything we can to halt th