Crackdown continues in wake of Obama call

Syrian security forces opened fire on mass protests around the country yesterday in the latest sign the conflict could be moving toward a long and bloody stalemate.

The latest bloodshed suggests president Bashar al-Assad is determined to ignore a tightening of sanctions against his regime and a call from US president, Barack Obama, to step aside to aid peaceful reform.

Activists said that least 17 people were killed yesterday, including a ten-year-old boy.

The clashes indicate neither side appears able to tip the scales in the two-month uprising.

Mr Assad's forces have ruthlessly repressed the pro-democracy protests, but demonstrators have continued to defy security forces to take part in marches intended to secure Mr Assad's departure after 11 years of authoritarian rule.

Human rights groups say more than 850 people have been killed in the clashes and related actions by the security forces.

Witnesses reported protests yesterday in the central cities of Homs and Hama, outside the capital, Damascus, and in the Mediterranean ports of Banias and Latakia.

Last week, mass arrests and heavy security kept crowds below previous levels seen during the uprising, suggesting Mr Assad's widespread campaign of intimidation was working. But the marches yesterday suggested that opposition forces could be trying to regroup.

Syria is coming under increasing pressure to end the crackdown, but the government has brushed off the criticism and new US sanctions that have targeted Mr Assad and senior aides.

In an address on the Arab spring on Thursday, Mr Obama said that Mr Assad should lead his country to democracy or "get out of the way". Syria's news agency said Mr Obama's speech amounted to "incitement."

Sunni Muslim cleric Sheik Karim Rajeh, the imam of Damascus's Al-Hassan mosque, said yesterday he would no longer lead Friday sermons because security forces have been preventing people from going to prayers. The weekly demonstrations mostly start after prayers.