Syria bloodshed
Syria Violence: Rebels Warn Regime Amid Mounting Violence After Massacre Reuters

Australia has urged Western nations to consider military intervention in Syria over the Houla massacre which claimed the lives of at least 108 civilians, including 49 children.

In a move to turn the screws on the Syrian regime, Australia suggested military intervention could be an option.

The chorus of outrage was spreading among governments around the world as Japan became the latest country to expel Syrian diplomats in protest.

Australia's foreign minister Bob Carr said Canberra would consider a French proposal for military intervention in Syria.

"But you would need unanimity in the Security Council for that to take place, and you've got to take account of the criticisms of China and Russia - as is their right - of the way intervention was managed in Libya," Carr told AFP.

At the same time, Carr was cautious that this could give licence to the Syrian regime to step up the violence against anti-government forces.

"I'm not ruling out discussions on the subject (of a Syrian intervention), I just think in a spirit of candour I ought to share with you the reservations that are going to be expressed," Carr added.

France has been urging military intervention in Syria as the UN-brokered peace plan has failed to stop the bloodshed.

As pressure piles up on the Assad regime, Syrian envoys in western nations are to be sent packing in a move aimed at further isolating the discredited regime.

The United States, the UK, France, Canada, Italy, Spain and Australia have given hours or a few days for the envoys' departure from their soil.

UN and Arab League special envoy Kofi Annan who met Syrian President Bashar Assad urged Syria to stop the violence and said the situation has reached "tipping point."

"The Syrian people do not want the future to be one of bloodshed and division. Yet the killings continue and the abuses are still with us today," Annan said after the meeting.

The special envoy also insisted that the UN-brokered six-point peace plan was not implemented as it should have been and pushed for putting the plan in place.

Amidst warnings and diplomatic activity, outrage over the massacre continued.

"Bashar al-Assad is the murderer of his people. He must relinquish power, the sooner the better." Reuters quoted the new French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius as telling Le Monde.

Washington was equally strong: "We hold the Syrian government responsible for this slaughter of innocent lives," AFP reported the State Department spokesperson Victoria Nuland as saying. Syrian diplomat Zuheir Jabbour in the US has been given 72 hours to leave.