Syrian tanks defy Arab League agreement

Syrian tanks mounted with machine-guns fired on a city at the centre of the country’s uprising yesterday, defying the agreement between the Syrian government and the Arab League to end nearly eight months of bloodshed, activists said.

At least nine people were killed in the fire and other violence in Homs, according to two main Syrian activist groups. A crackdown on dissent and what appears to be growing sectarian bloodshed has turned Homs, Syria’s third-largest city, into one of the country’s deadliest areas.

The opposition vowed to flood the streets today to test whether the regime will stop using force against protesters.

“May Friday be the day where all streets and squares become platforms for demonstrations, and for the peaceful struggle toward achieving the downfall of the regime,” said a Syrian activist coalition called the Local Co- ordinating Committees.

The uprising shows no signs of stopping despite a crackdown that the UN estimates has killed some 3,000 people.

The latest bloodshed cast a pall over the Arab League accord announced on Wednesday.

Under the plan, the Syrian government agreed to pull tanks and armoured vehicles out of cities, stop violence against protesters and release all political prisoners. Syria also agreed to allow journalists, rights groups and Arab League representatives to monitor the situation in the country.