Assad vows that pursuit of 'terrorist groups' will go on

Syrian forces will continue to pursue "terrorist groups", president Bashar al-Assad declared yesterday after Turkey's foreign minister pressed him to end a military assault aimed at crushing protests against his rule.

Syria "will not relent in pursuing the terrorist groups in order to protect the stability of the country and the security of the citizens," state news agency SANA quoted Mr Assad as telling Ahmet Davutoglu, who was on a visit to Damascus.

Mr Assad said: "But (Syria] is also determined to continue reforms … and is open to any help offered by friendly and brotherly states."

Speaking on his return from Damascus last night, Mr Davutoglu said Turkey would continue talking with Mr Assad in an effort to halt the violence.

Syria's army has defied international criticism of the regime's deadly crackdown on a five-month-old uprising, and the soldiers continued their raids on restive areas yesterday.

Mr Davutoglu said: "We discussed ways to prevent confrontation between the army and the people in the most open and clear way."

While the two men held talks in Damascus, Syrian forces killed at least 30 people and moved into a town near the Turkish border, an activist group said.

The National Organisation for Human Rights said most of the fatalities occurred when troops, backed by tanks and armoured vehicles, over-ran villages north of Hama. Four people were killed in Binnish, 20 miles from the border with Turkey.

Despite growing international condemnation, including a wave of criticism from the Arab world in recent days, Mr Assad's forces also pursued an offensive in the eastern city of Deir al-Zor, residents said.

Activists say at least 1,600 civilians have died since the uprising erupted in March, making it one of the bloodiest of the upheavals sweeping the Arab world.

Mr Davutoglu held six hours of meetings with Syrian officials, including a two-hour session alone with Mr Assad.

Neighbouring Turkey has grown increasingly critical of the violence, but earned a sharp rebuke on Sunday when an Assad adviser said Syria would not accept interference in its affairs.

Syria has seen five months of protests against Mr Assad's 11-year rule, inspired by revolts which overthrew leaders in Egypt and Tunisia earlier this year.

Last week Mr Assad sent troops and tanks to quell the mostly Sunni Muslim city of Hama in central Syria. The army launched a similar assault on Sunday against Deir al-Zor.

An armoured column also pushed towards the centre of the city yesterday, with troops storming houses and making arrests in the provincial capital of an oil region bordering Iraq's Sunni heartland, a resident said.

"They are now about one mile from downtown. When they finish with one district, they move to another," said the resident.

Turkish prime minister Tayyip Erdogan has described Syria's uprising as a domestic issue for Turkey, because of their 530-mile shared border.

Sunni Muslim power Saudi Arabia issued a blunt warning that he risked turmoil unless he stopped the bloodshed and adopted reforms. Kuwait and Bahrain followed the kingdom in recalling their ambassadors.

The withdrawal of envoys leaves Mr Assad with few diplomatic friends bar Iran. Western states have also imposed sanctions on his top officials, while states with close ties to Damascus, such as Russia and Turkey, have warned Mr Assad he is running out of time.

Nevertheless, no country has proposed military action such as that against Libyan leader Colonel Muammar al-Gaddafi.

Like most of Syria, ruled by Mr Assad's minority Alawite family, Hama and Deir al-Zor are mainly Sunni cities, and the crackdowns there resonate with Sunnis, who form the majority in the region and govern most Arab countries.