Syrian tanks patrol city as army closes in on protesters

SYRIAN troops tightened control yesterday over flashpoints of protest against President Bashar Assad, who faced growing international calls to end violence that a rights group said had killed more than 450 people.

Tanks patrolled the southern city of Deraa, where the uprising against Mr Assad erupted nearly six weeks ago. Troops poured overnight into the Damascus suburb of Douma and security forces surrounded the restive coastal city of Banias.

Germany said yesterday it strongly supported European Union sanctions against the Syrian leadership, and the European Commission said all options were on the table for punitive measures against Damascus.

France summoned Syria's ambassador to protest at the violence and said Britain, Spain, Germany and Italy were doing the same. "Syrian authorities must meet the legitimate demands of their people with reforms, and not through the use of force," French Foreign Ministry spokesman Bernard Valero said. The United States, which imposed a limited economic embargo against Syria in 2004, says it is considering further targeted sanctions in response to the "abhorrent and deplorable" violence by security forces deployed against protesters.

A witness said early yesterday a convoy of at least 30 army tanks headed out from south-west of Damascus, near the Golan Heights frontline with Israel, in a direction which could take them either to Douma or to Deraa.

Overnight white buses had brought hundreds of soldiers in full combat gear into Douma, from where protesters have tried to march into the centre of the capital in the last two weeks, only to be stopped by bullets. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said it had names of at least 453 civilians killed during the protests across the country against Mr Assad's 11-year authoritarian rule.

Syria has been dominated by the Assad family since Bashar's father, the late President Hafez Assad, took power in a 1970 coup.

A resident in Deraa, where electricity, water and phone lines were cut when the army marched in at dawn on Monday, said fresh food was running out and grocery stores were giving away their produce. "It's mostly tinned food they are distributing to us," he said by telephone.

A relative said his neighbour saw a tank driving over the body of a young man in the main Tishrin Square on Tuesday. "They are telling us: 'You have to accept us and we will remain forever your rulers, whether you like it or not. And if you resist us, this is your fate'," he said.

He said the army push into Deraa was also a warning to other cities of what they could expect if protests continued."But God willing, we are steadfast and this only strengthens our resolve to get rid of them - not tomorrow, today," he added.

Diplomats said the unit Mr Assad sent into Deraa on Monday was the ultra-loyal Fourth Mechanised Division, commanded by his brother Maher. Reports from opposition figures and some Deraa residents, which could not be confirmed, said that some soldiers from another unit had refused to fire on civilians.