Syria dissidents meet on crackdown

In Rastan, seven soldiers and police were reportedly killed battling troops who had defected to the opposition.


At least 11 protesters died after thousands took to Syrian streets after Friday prayers, activists said.


Meanwhile, the US has rebuked Syria over an attack on US Ambassador Robert Ford on Thursday.


A US state department spokeswoman said the Syrian ambassador was summoned on Friday and told that "an attack on Ford is an attack on the United States", and said that the US had asked for compensation for the incident.


Mr Ford was pelted with stones and tomatoes by a mob loyal to President Bashar al-Assad ahead of a meeting with an opposition figure in Damascus.


'Restoring security'


Correspondents say the demonstrations in Syria, which began peacefully six months ago, are becoming increasingly violent as protesters grow frustrated at the lack of any tangible reform.


State news agency Sana quoted a military spokesman as saying that seven soldiers and members of law-enforcement agencies had been killed in Rastan, among them two officers, while 32 others were wounded.


"In a specific operation, the army units have successfully fulfilled their duties, arresting a number of the armed groups' members, seizing their weapons, explosives and different ammunitions," he said.


"The army members are pursuing the terrorist groups to restore security and stability to Rastan and its citizens," he said.


Reports from Rastan, a town of 40,000, indicate that army defectors have been fighting government forces to protect the protesters.


Correspondents say Syrian security forces have mostly remained loyal to President Assad, but deserters have formed their own units around Rastan, 180km (120 miles) north of Damascus, regarded as a recruiting ground for Sunni Muslim conscripts for the army.


The military is dominated by officers from the minority Alawite sect, of whom the Assad family are members, but most troops are Sunnis.


The UN Security Council remains divided over whether to threaten Assad's regime with sanctions over its deadly crackdown on dissent.


European nations on Friday dropped the word 'sanctions' from a proposed resolution on Syria in an attempt to temper Russian opposition.


France, Britain, Germany and Portugal instead called for 'targeted measures' in their draft text.


Russia and China have threatened to veto any resolution calling for punitive measures against Damascus.


On the ground, activists said those killed in Homs were shot dead by security forces, while about 250 tanks and armoured vehicles entered Rastan, a major city in the province and the scene of intense operations against army defectors.


'Five civilians and six military and security agents have been killed today in the village of Kafar Zita during clashes between soldiers and agents on one side and deserters on the other,' the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.


'Eight civilians were killed Friday in Homs province' by security force fire, the Britain-based watchdog added.


Much of the violence was in Rastan, about 180km from Damascus and a gateway to the north, where battles have raged since Tuesday between the army and deserters who refuse to fire on protesters.


Citing a local activist, the observatory said an army officer was shot dead by pro-regime gunmen 'for refusing to go to Rastan as ordered'.


Activists also reported protests in other locations including 10,000 people in Palmyra (Tadmur) in central Syria, as well as thousands in Hama, also in the centre, Idlib in the northwest and Zabadani, just north of Damascus.


Security forces opened fire against protesters, activists said, without indicating the number of casualties.


The office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights in Geneva has said the death toll from the bloody crackdown has risen to more than 2700 since March 15.