Syrian tanks lead search for activists

Syrian troops backed by tanks have raided houses in the city of Hama, searching for activists behind five months of protest against President Bashar al-Assad, residents said.

The raids took place a day after security forces killed at least four people among crowds of demonstrators pouring out of mosques after marking the end of Ramadan, the Muslim holy month in which Mr Assad intensified a crackdown on protests.

Troops swept through several cities in Ramadan, killing scores of people and triggering Western sanctions and Arab criticism, without crushing the unrest in which the United Nations says 2,000 civilians have been killed.

The protesters have also failed to unseat Mr Assad, but they have been encouraged by the fall of Libya’s Colonel Muammar al-Gaddafi and rising international pressure on Syria, including a planned European Union embargo on the oil industry, which would disrupt vital inflows of foreign currency at Mr Assad’s disposal.

US President Barack Obama’s administration, which has already imposed sanctions on Syria’s oil industry and a state-owned bank, froze the US assets of foreign minister Walid al-Moualem and two other Syrian officials on Tuesday.

Hama has seen some of the biggest protests against 41 years of Assad family rule and was the first city assaulted during Ramadan.