U.S. Condemns ‘Outrageous’ Repression of Syria Protests

The White House condemned escalating repression of demonstrations in Syria Tuesday as "outrageous" and expressed concern about reports that the wounded were being denied medical care.

"We are deeply concerned by reports that Syrians who have been wounded by their government are being denied access to medical care," press secretary Jay Carney said in a statement.

"The escalating repression by the Syrian government is outrageous, and the United States strongly condemns the continued efforts to suppress peaceful protesters," he said.

The White House statement came as Syrian security forces locked down the town of Banias, scene of pro-democracy protests, and raked the nearby village of Baida with gunfire, witnesses told Agence France Presse.

The army has encircled Banias since Sunday, when regime agents opened fired on residents, particularly those in mosques, killing four people and wounding 17, according to witnesses.

Syrian students on Monday staged a rally, rare for Damascus, to express solidarity with protesters who were killed in a bloody weekend crackdown that left at least 30 civilians dead.

Protests erupted in Syria on March 15 calling for the regime of President Bashar al-Assad, who has been in power since 2000, to introduce sweeping political reforms.

"President Assad and the Syrian government must respect the universal rights of the Syrian people, who are rightly demanding the basic freedoms that they have been denied," the White House said.