11 Killed in Syria as Tehran Ups Pressure on Damascus

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Syria's military clampdown on protest hubs, and skirmishes pitting soldiers against armed gunmen, believed to be defectors, killed at least 11 people dead on Saturday, activists said.

Meanwhile, Iran, Syria's key ally, took a tougher stance against the regime of President Bashar Assad, openly condemning its crackdown on dissent that has left more than 3,000 people dead, most of them civilians, according to the United Nations.

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad condemned the "killings and massacre" in Syria in an interview with CNN, in the Islamic republic's strongest criticism of its neighbor’s deadly repression of protests calling for greater freedom and the fall of the Assad regime.

"We condemn killings and massacre in Syria, whether it is security forces being killed or people and the opposition," Ahmadinejad said, according to excerpts of the interview carried by the website of Iran's state broadcaster.

"We have a clear formula for Syria and that is for all sides to sit together and reach an understanding ... therefore these killings cannot solve any problems and in the long term it will lead to a deadlock," he added.

"When people are being killed, it paves the way for more quarrels ... There should be no foreign interference (in Syria)," Ahmadinejad was quoted as saying in what appeared to be an indirect warning to Washington.

The United States has repeatedly called for the U.N. Security Council to impose sanctions on Damascus and was strongly critical of vetoes by China and Russia earlier this month of even a watered-down draft threatening "targeted measures."

Tehran has been concerned about the possible collapse of its principal Middle East ally and had previously avoided speaking out against the regime's deadly crackdown, accusing instead its traditional foes Israel and the United States of stirring up trouble in Syria.

A shift in Iran could bode poorly for Assad's regime, which already lost the support of Turkey, one of its treasured allies in the region, over the violence of its security forces against a primarily peaceful protest movement despite recent reports of mounting armed resistance.

Clashes between the army and gunmen believed to be defectors on Saturday left one person dead in the northwestern province of Idlib, near Turkey, the rights groups said.

In Sermeen, also in Idlib, "a military conscript on leave visiting his family, was shot in the head by a sniper," the Observatory said.

Meanwhile, fighting in the flashpoint central city of Homs, focal point of a military clampdown this week, left an officer and two members of security forces dead, the Observatory said.

And in the southern province of Daraa, birthplace of the opposition, security forces "opened fire to disperse a demonstration, killing one citizen."

The civilian death toll in Homs was higher.

"The number of civilians who joined the caravan of martyrs of the revolution rose to six," in Homs, the Observatory said, adding the toll included one person who succumbed to wounds sustained the previous day.

The Britain-based watchdog said 114 civilians have been killed in Homs since the beginning of October and that at least 2,100 have been thrown behind bars.

On Saturday, on the outskirts of Damascus, "almost 5,000 members of the Syrian army and security forces stormed the districts of Zamalka, Hammuriyeh, Kafar Batna, Saqba, Erbine and Harasta, arresting dozens of residents."

Pro-democracy activists called for fresh demonstrations on Sunday under the banner "It is your turn," a reference to Assad, expressing their hope he will become the next Arab leader to fall.

"It seems that the death of Gadhafi closed a chapter," Jean-Yves Moisseron, a regional expert at France's Institute of Development Research, told Agence France Presse.

"If the situation stabilises in Libya, the pressure on Bashar al-Assad will be extremely strong," he said.

State media was mum about the death of Gadhafi, the third Arab leader overthrown by popular revolts this year.

Comments 9
Default-user-icon Truly Lebanese (Guest) over 12 years

Hafez El assad must be boiling in his grave...Bashar is really stubborn he does not understand that his people DO NOT WANT HIM and brute force will only leas to foreign intervention or civil war as non violent and civilised demonstrators will begin to lose patience.

Last time he was stubborn about facing the international community about Lahoud and killing Hariri he was thrown out of Lebanon, this time he will be thrown out of Syria.

Hope more defections and revolt of soldiers against their alawi commanders to finish it quickly otherwise the blood will spill to Lebanon

Default-user-icon Truly Lebanese (Guest) over 12 years

even Iran is letting him down, one must really be dumb like Micheal Aoun to believe the murderer Assad will survive.

I have good hope though as Aoun is the champion on the losing horse lol

Default-user-icon Gabby (Guest) over 12 years

OOps......to bad ya Tehran. You are too late. You should have thought of that long ago when you sent Quds forces and Hexx killers to Syria to beat and kill the people . It is too late now. Your Persian project in Syria is lost. Soon Lebanon will be lost for you too.

Thumb Abubakr over 12 years

where is jabal habal to give us his wisdom now ?

Default-user-icon Gabby (Guest) over 12 years

Good call Rastafarian. Where is Jabalcamel?? Maybe the filthy Zionist war department is working in Teheran too!!! Ha Ha Ha Ha.........!!!! Mayebe Mahmoud and the Big Aya are zionists too.

Camel boy......where are you????????

Default-user-icon Le PheneChien (Guest) over 12 years

@Habal: The zionist war department cnn is misleading and fabricating what our master has said.
God bless OJ Simpson as he will be our next master.

Default-user-icon majnoun (Guest) over 12 years

he's out at Sky bar enjoying the Lebanese way of life. He's takes saturday off cause he isn't paid.

Missing peace over 12 years

tehran is afraid for its regime more than caring about syria. they know if syria falls they may be the next on the list...

Default-user-icon marie (Guest) over 12 years

i bet habal ahbal is in the midst of the fighting killing all the unarmed syrian children and women! and he is proud of it too.....!