BreakingNews: Syrian forces fire live ammunition at thousands of protesters near border with Jordan - Reuters

BreakingNews: Security forces kill at least 9 protesters across Syria today - Al Jazeera http://bit.ly/rgEpbK

BreakingNews: Syria update: Death toll for activists rise to 14, with scores wounded; 1 security officer also killed - Al Jazeera http://bit.ly/mRXIvy

Good thing Syria doesn't have signigicant oil exports, or they might have to stop murdering their citizens.

BreakingNews: Local coordination committees say Syrian forces kill 32 protesters, including 23 in Damascus, on Friday - @Reuters

BreakingNews: Exiled Syrian dissidents meet in Turkey, urge civil disobedience - @AJELive http://aje.me/p5IMlT

Loyalist troops besiege Damascus suburb after protests

Loyalist troops commanded by Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's brother surrounded a suburb in the capital Damascus on Wednesday, residents said, part of a campaign to crush growing protests against Assad's rule.

Troops and militiamen also stepped up assaults on residential neighborhoods in the city of Homs, another focal point for the protests where activists say forces killed at least 16 people on Tuesday.

"Hundreds of Fourth Division troops have sealed off all of Harasta's dozen entrances," said a resident of the conservative Damascus suburb of 150,000 people. "They are wearing combat fatigues, helmets, ammunition belts and carrying assault rifles. Water, electricity and phones have been cut."

The resident, who works as an engineer and managed to leave Harasta, told Reuters by telephone that troops had arrested tens of people. Activists say hundreds are arrested across Syria every day, with over 12,000 detained since the uprising against Assad's rule autocratic rule began four months ago.

Street demonstrations have spread from outlying towns and rural areas to major cities, despite the military assaults.

But a heavy security presence in Syria's largest city and commercial hub, Aleppo, and in central districts of Damascus have prevented any large protests.

The Fourth Division, under the direct command of Maher al-Assad, is drawn mostly from Syria's minority Alawite sect, the same as Assad. Together with the Republican Guards, it is among the best equipped units.

FOMENTING SECTARIAN STRIFE

Assad has said the uprising is a foreign conspiracy to sow sectarian strife. His opponents argue that the president has been playing on sectarian fears to maintain Alawite support and keep power for his family, which has ruled Syria for 41 years.

Syria's opposition said Assad would foment sectarian strife to try to stop the uprising from establishing democracy that would respect all groups' rights and identities.

Emadeddin al Rachid, of the opposition National Salvation Congress, said Syrians would not repeat mistakes made in neighboring Iraq, where fighting between Sunni and Shi'ite Muslims broke out after the fall of Saddam Hussein.

"Syria will not follow the path Iraq went down," Rachid told a news conference in Istanbul. "All Syrians are committed to the unity of the Syrian nation."

Since the uprising Assad has become increasingly isolated internationally, but Iran's Shi'ite clerical rulers have maintained their support, to the disquiet of Syria's majority Sunnis.

The West had sought to improve relations with Assad after Israel failed to defeat his ally Hezbollah in a 2006 war and after Hezbollah used force to defeat Western-backed Sunni factions in Beirut. Turkey also backed Assad in his efforts to seek peace with Israel.

But diplomatic pressure increased on Assad this week after Qatar, previously a supporter, shut its embassy in Damascus and the European Union said it was considering tougher sanctions.

Diplomats say Assad has a core of 30,000 troops from his minority Alawite sect. But the killings -- human rights organizations say Assad's forces have killed more than 1,400 civilians since the uprising -- is prompting some defections among the mostly Sunni rank and file of the 200,000 man army.

The casualties in Homs on Tuesday have concentrated in Khalidiya, a district inhabited by Sunni tribes from rural Homs, which is near the district of Nozha, where most of the Alawite dominated security forces and militiamen live.

Homs, the hometown of Assad's Sunni wife Asma, has seen an influx of Alawites in the last 20 years as the community tightened its grip on security and public jobs.

"Khalidiya is totally besieged by the military. We are cut off from the rest of Homs as if we are a separate country," said one resident, who gave his name as Abdallah.

The Syrian authorities have expelled most foreign journalists, making it hard to verify witness accounts or official statements.

BreakingNews: Blasts reported at military school in Homs, Syria - Reuters

BreakingNews: RT @AJELive: Syrian army colonel says he has defected together with "hundreds" of soldiers - AFP http://blogs.aljazeera.net/liveblog/syri.... #Syria

RT @BreakingNews: Tanks storm Syrian city of Hama - residents tell Reuters

BreakingNews: RT @SkyNewsBreak: AFP: Activist says at least 45 civilians killed by Syrian forces in tank assault on city of Hama

BreakingNews: RT @AlArabiya_Eng: Death toll up to 95 from #Syrian army attacks in #Hama #Alarabiya

Quote:

Scores of gunmen are on rooftops in the Syrian city of Hama and are "shooting intensively
to terrorize citizens", the Syrian State News Agency SANA said on Sunday.

Link above.

BreakingNews: Nail bombs injure 42 protesters in Damascus - Reuters

And the intense, unified Nato response to the repression and violence against pro-democracy protesters?....<crickets>

BreakingNews: Update: At least 142 dead in Syrian clashes - @AJEnglish http://english.aljazeera.net/news/middle....

BreakingNews: Syrian protester in Deir al Zur:"tanks still poised around the city... loudspeakers warn of army operation at 5am" - @AJELive

That's 10 pm ET.

BreakingNews: Update: 150 dead in clashes Sunday in Syria - @AlArabiya_Eng http://english.alarabiya.net/articles/20....

Drench-

Thank you for your continual updates on this and other news. I really appreciate your efforts.

ditto! ^^^^^

BreakingNews: Syrian tanks shell residential areas all over Hama, heaviest barrage of assault, according to witnesses - Reuters

BreakingNews: More on Syria shelling: 'The shells are falling once every ten seconds,' witness in Hama tells Reuters by phone http://af.reuters.com/article/commoditie....

Quote:

Despite the growing
violence in Syria, only one
senator stuck around to
question Robert Ford,
America's ambassador to
Damascus, about the
government-sanctioned
'slaughter' of civilian
protesters.

FoxNews.com

Quote:

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad has issued a decree
authorising a multi-party political system, state media
reported Thursday, a day after the U.N. Security
Council condemned the Syrian government's
crackdown on protesters.
The decree issued by Assad may have the power to
bring to an end decades of single-party rule by the
Baath Party in Syria, although it remains unclear how
the new law will be implemented.
The draft law was earlier passed by Syrian lawmakers,
the state-run Syrian Arab News Agency (SANA)
reported, and grants citizens the right to establish
political parties with the aim of contributing to political
life "through peaceful and democratic means."
However, the Syrian opposition has argued the decrees
are simply for show and will not bring about real
change.

CNN.com