Telegraph.
The latest killings have galvanised Western powers into launching a fresh attempt to save Syria sliding into sectarian war between the country's Sunni majority and the president's Alawite Shia sect.

Britain, France and the United States said they were working to introduce a United Nations Security Council resolution imposing sanctions on the Syrian government that would be binding for all member states.

Previous such attempts have been blocked by Russia and China.(Russia has rejected this too)

At the same time, Mr Annan has responded to Western warning that they were close to writing off his plan, which came into force in April, by acknowledging the need for major modifications to save it from total failure.

He has suggested forming a "contact group" bringing together Western and Middle Eastern states, as well as Russia and China, in the hope of ending the international rift over Syria and paving the way for Mr Assad's departure.

But a row immediately erupted after he proposed to include Iran in the group, justifying the move on the grounds that it was "an important country in the region" whose involvement was key to bringing about a solution to the conflict.

Western powers categorically rejected the notion, with Mrs Clinton accusing Iran of "helping to stage-manage the repression" in Syria in order to prop up Mr Assad, a fellow Shia and a key ally of Iran. Britain and France were similarly vocal in their opposition.

"Iran is a country which is supporting some of the unacceptable violence and supporting the Syrian regime in what it's doing to the Syrian people," Alistair Burt, the Foreign Office minister responsible for the Middle East, said.