Syrian troops poised to crush protests

Syrian soldiers in tanks have rolled into flashpoint cities and set up sand barriers topped with machineguns as President Bashar al-Assad's deadly crackdown on dissent pulls the country deeper into international isolation.

The army and security services arrested dozens of people in the coastal city of Baniyas and the neighbouring villages of al-Beyda and al-Qariri, the London-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) said.

The Syrian Centre for the Defence of Prisoners of Conscience said prominent rights campaigner Najati Tayara was picked up in the central industrial city of Homs. The arrest came a day after Tayara reported shelling and gunfire had rocked Homs, Syria's third-largest city that has been the focus of a massive military operation since Monday.
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Activists, journalists and intellectuals were also detained in Damascus and the cities of Aleppo, Hama and Latakia, as well as smaller protest centres.

An activist in Baniyas said the city was like a ghost town on Thursday afternoon, with people afraid to go out for fear of arrest and with army checkpoints on every corner.

The Syrian Revolution 2011, a Facebook group organising protests against the government of President Bashar al-Assad, called for a Free Women Friday in support of arrested women demonstrators.Four women were killed during May 7 protests, activists said.

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on Thursday warned Syria it would face more international pressure over its crackdown on protests.

Mrs Clinton warned Mr Assad he faced increasing isolation over his government's actions, but gave no sign the Syrian leader himself would be sanctioned, as members of his regime have been.

Source: http://www.smh.com.au/world/syrian-troops-poised-to-crush-protests-20110513-1emcj.html