Berlin Says 'No Reason' to Speculate on Military Option in Syria

Germany sees no grounds to speculate on a possible military intervention in Syria, its foreign minister said Wednesday, a day after France's president said armed force was not ruled out.

"From the federal government's point of view, there is no reason to speculate over military options," Guido Westerwelle was quoted as saying in an interview to appear in Thursday's issue of the Die Welt daily.

"We want to help the people in Syria and we want to prevent unrest spreading like wildfire in the region," added the minister.

He said the international community had to use "all political leverage" to bring an end to the bloodshed in Syria and ensure the implementation of the peace plan drawn up by U.N.-Arab League envoy Kofi Annan.

He called on those "who have hesitated to withdraw their support" from Syria to act decisively to isolate the regime in Damascus.

Germany, Britain, France, the United States and other Western nations have expelled Syrian diplomats in the wake of a massacre at the weekend in which 108 people, mainly women and children, were killed in the area of Houla, in central Syria.

French President Francois Hollande said Tuesday that the use of armed force could be possible in Syria following the Houla massacre, but that it had to be carried out under U.N. auspices.

German foreign ministry spokesman Martin Schaefer told a regular government news conference earlier Wednesday that Germany would not rule out further sanctions on the regime in Damascus as the international community seeks to increase the pressure to end the bloody unrest that erupted in March last year.

Angela Merkel's spokesman told the same briefing that the issue of Syria would "very likely" be a topic of discussion between the chancellor and Russian President Vladimir Putin when the latter visits Berlin on Friday.