United Nations monitors arrived in the Syrian town of Haffeh on Thursday, the site of an alleged massacre where President Bashar al-Assad had prevented them from entering on Tuesday. U.S. officials charged that Russian-made weapons were killing civilians in Syrian “hourly.” But U.S. officials backtracked from earlier claims that Russia has been supplying the Syrian government with arms, with officials saying late Wednesday that the Russian-made helicopters were “not new.” Meanwhile, China’s foreign minister indicated problems with France’s proposed plan to enforce U.N. special envoy Kofi Annan’s peace plan, saying China opposed any plan “leaning toward sanctions and pressure.”
