41 killed Tuesday in Syria, but official claims regime cares about civilians

While carnage mounts in the streets of Syria, the war of words rages on as well.
"We are not happy to see brothers killing each other," Syrian Foreign Minister Walid Moallem said, insisting that no regime cares more about the Syrian people than his government.
The foreign minister told reporters no one is dying in Syria because of hunger or sickness, and said that despite an "economic international boycott," his government is providing all necessary services.
His words fly in the face of opposition activists and world leaders who say the regime's sustained slaughter has killed thousands.
At least 41 people were killed across Syria on Tuesday alone, said the Local Coordination Committees of Syria, a network of opposition activists.
The deaths include 22 in the Hama suburbs, where hundreds were also injured during a fifth day of shelling, the LCC said. Twelve others died in the opposition stronghold of Homs, which has been pummeled by government forces for more than three weeks.
Another opposition group, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, said five members of the Syrian army were killed in pre-dawn clashes with defected soldiers in Daraa province.
The rash of morning deaths followed a particularly gruesome day Monday, when 144 people were killed across the country, the LCC said.
Meanwhile, international abhorrence of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's regime continues to escalate.
The U.N. Human Rights Council in Geneva is meeting Tuesday to hear more on a report saying Syrian government officials were responsible for "crimes against humanity" committed by security forces against opposition members.
And on Monday, the European Union slapped new sanctions against the Syrian government.

The EU will freeze the assets of seven al-Assad regime ministers, spokeswoman Susanne Kiefer said. Those ministers will also be denied entry into the EU.
In addition, the international body will freeze the Syrian Central Bank's assets in the EU. Legitimate trade will be allowed to continue, Kiefer said, but must be authorized first.
The decisions "will put further pressure on those who are responsible for the ruthless campaign of repression in Syria," Catherine Ashton, the EU foreign policy chief, said in a statement. "The measures target the regime and its ability to conduct the appalling violence against civilians. As long as the repression continues, the EU will keep imposing sanctions."
The LCC said about 9,000 people have been killed since the government launched its crackdown on dissidents in March. The Syrian government says that more than 2,000 members of its security forces have been killed by "terrorists" during that same period.
media outlets cannot independently verify opposition or government reports because Syria has severely limited access to the country by foreign journalists. But the vast majority of reports from the ground indicate that government forces are massacring citizens in an attempt to wipe out civilians seeking al-Assad's ouster.