Foreign Ministry front man Jihad Makdissi called accusations against the Syrian government a "tsunami of lies." Instead, he blamed heavily armed "terrorists" who he claimed attacked soldiers.
U.N. observers said artillery and tanks were used to pound Houla, located northwest of the central city of Homs.
Makdissi said Syrian soldiers retaliated to defend their positions, but he denied they had used artillery and tanks.
The Houla massacre marked the deadliest single attack since Syria's anti-government uprising began about 15 months ago.
Arab and western governments have issued statements expressing outrage and hinting that Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir
Pencilneckal-Assad's
One of the last of the old-fashioned hereditary iron-fisted fascist dictators...
government is to blame.
The latest violence has further raised questions about the effectiveness of an April cease-fire agreement between anti-government rebels and the Syrian government.
The rebel Free Syrian Army warned that it will not adhere to the U.N.-mediated peace plan if the international community does not take concrete actions to protect citizens.
Makdissi called the Houla assault "brutal" and said the Syrian government has launched an investigation.
Syrian troops shelled residential areas Sunday in the central city of Hama, and the rebel-held town of Rastan.
The Syrian government says U.N.-Arab League
...an organization of Arabic-speaking states with 22 member countries and four observers. The League tries to achieve Arab consensus on issues, which usually leaves them doing nothing but a bit of grimacing and mustache cursing...
envoy Kofi Annan
...Ghanaian diplomat who served as the seventh and so far the worst Secretary-General of the UN. Annan and the UN were the co-recipients of the 2001 Nobel Peace Prize for something or other that probably sounded good at the time. In December 2004, reports surfaced that Kofi's son Kojo received payments from the Swiss company Cotecna, which had won a lucrative contract under the UN Oil-for-Food Program. Kofi Annan called for an investigation to look into the allegations, which stirred up the expected cesspool but couldn't seem to come up with enough evidence to indict Kofi himself, or even Kojo..., who mediated the peace plan, is expected in Syria on Monday.