I

ndonesia is urging the Syrian government to stop using force against its citizens following the killing of 80 civilians on Sunday by troops in Hama as the uprising against President Bashar al-Assad enters its fifth month.

“The use of force will never solve problems. There’s a need for a dialogue to reach a peaceful solution,” Foreign Ministry spokesman Michael Tene told The Jakarta Post on Monday.

“We hope all related parties in Syria will be able to solve their problems by peaceful means to reach the best possible solution for the people of Syria.”

Michael added that there were no reports that any of the more than 13,000 Indonesians living or working in Syria were victims of the violence.

From Amman, rights activists said 80 civilians were killed in Sunday’s tank-backed assault on the central Syrian city where Assad’s father crushed an armed Muslim Brotherhood revolt 29 years ago by razing neighborhoods and killing thousands, Reuters reported.

Syrian authorities have expelled most independent journalists since the anti-Assad unrest began in March, making it difficult to verify reports of violence and casualties.

On Monday, tanks shelled the northeastern district of Hama, killing at least four civilians, two residents said.

US President Barack Obama said he was appalled by the Syrian government’s “horrifying” use of violence against its people in Hama and promised to work with others to isolate Assad.

“Syria will be a better place when a democratic transition goes forward,” Obama said in a statement.

Several European countries condemned the Hama assault. Italy and Germany called for a UN Security Council meeting, while Britain ruled out any foreign military intervention.

The council was expected to hold closed-door consultations on Monday, a spokesman for Germany’s UN mission said.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel joined the international outcry over the violence.

“Chancellor Merkel condemns in the strongest of terms the Syrian government’s action against its own civilian population,” government spokesman Christoph Steegmans said.

“[She] explicitly urges President Assad to halt the violence against his own people immediately,” he added.

Security forces, dominated by Assad’s minority Alawite sect, had besieged the Sunni Muslim city of 700,000 for nearly a month before Sunday’s crackdown on the eve of Ramadhan.

Many people flock to mosque prayers at night during the fasting month, occasions which protesters might use to launch more frequent rallies.

In a letter to the military, Assad reiterated that Syria was facing a foreign conspiracy to sow sectarian strife designed to “tear Syria into small statelets that compete to satisfy those who worked to slice them up”.