In a speech before the Syrian Parliament, President Bashar al-Assad on Sunday condemned the “abominable” massacre of more than 100 people in Houla, saying even monsters could not carry out such acts.

Mr. Assad also promised that Syria’s 15-month-old crisis would end soon if its people pulled together.
His comments came a day after the joint United Nations and Arab League envoy for Syria, Kofi Annan, said that the specter of all-out civil war was growing daily in Syria and that the world needed to see actions, not words, from Mr. Assad.
In his hourlong address, Mr. Assad offered no specific response to Mr. Annan’s plea for bold steps to end the conflict.
Instead he repeated many of his earlier pledges to maintain a crackdown on opponents he described as terrorists added by interfering foreign governments and he again offered to sit down with opposition figures who have avoided armed conflict or outside backing.
“This crisis is not an internal crisis. It is an external war carried out by internal elements,” Assad said, looking relaxed as he spoke to parliamentarians. “If we work together, I confirm that the end to this situation is near.”
“The issue is terrorism. We are facing a real war waged from the outside,” Mr. Assad said. Terrorism was escalating, Mr. Assad said, despite political steps including last month’s election for parliament, whose new members he was addressing.
Thousands of people have been killed in a crackdown on protests against Mr. Assad, which erupted in March last year and have become increasingly militarized, destabilizing neighboring Lebanon and raising fears of regional turmoil.
Last month’s massacre in Houla of 108 people, mostly women and children, triggered global outrage and warnings that Syria’s relentless bloodshed — undimmed by Mr. Annan’s April 12 cease-fire deal — could engulf the Middle East.
Western powers have accused Syrian forces and pro-Assad militia of responsibility for the May 25 Houla killing, a charge Damascus has denied.
“What happened in Houla ...and what we described as ugly and abominable massacres, or true monstrosities — even monsters do not perpetrate what we have seen,” Mr. Assad said Sunday.
Authorities will maintain a crackdown against the armed opposition but were still ready for dialogue with political opponents, he added.
“We will continue firmly confronting terrorism, leaving the door open for those who want to return. I urge those who are still hesitant to do so, to take this step. The state will not take revenge.”
Abdelbaset Sida of the opposition Syrian National Council dismissed the speech as more rhetoric.
“Assad wants to remain the head of a repressive system at all costs. He does not want to admit that his time his over and that the Syrian people do not want him,” Mr. Sida said.
Mr. Annan told an Arab League meeting in Qatar on Saturday that Mr. Assad must make “bold and visible” steps immediately to change his military stance and honor his commitment to cease all violence.
Mr. Annan also criticized Mr. Assad for failing to comply with a peace plan to end the conflict and said his forces were carrying out atrocities, arbitrary arrests and other abuses.
The United Nations Security Council last week unanimously condemned the Syrian government for its role in the massacre of Houla. The 15-member Council approved a statement that, while not blaming the Syrian government directly for all the deaths, rebuked it for its use of tanks and artillery against civilians despite agreeing to an April 12 cease-fire.
The United Nations says Syrian forces have killed more than 9,000 people in a crackdown on protests against Assad. Syria blames the violence on foreign-backed Islamist militants it says have killed more than 2,600 soldiers and security force members.