Amman: Syrian forces killed two people Thursday when they fired at a pro-democracy protest in the provincial capital of Deir Al Zor, residents said.
The incident was part of an escalating crackdown against dissents in the tribal region bordering Iraq's Sunni heartland.
Military Intelligence agents also injured seven protesters who had gathered in the main square of the city on the Euphrates river in the remote northeast.
A statue of President Bashar Al Assad's brother Basel had stood in the square but security forces removed it two months ago to stop demonstrators smashing it.
"A crowd of 1,500 had shown up for the usual noon demonstration despite the intense heat. Thousands more have descended on the square after the killings, and there are now around 10,000 people there," said one witness, a computer programmer who declined to give his name for fear of arrest.
Despite being the centre of Syria's modest oil production, Deir Al Zor is among the poorest regions in the country of 20 million people.
Corruption
Little oil revenue is invested in the desert area and water shortages over the last six years, which experts say have largely been caused by mismanagement of resources and corruption, have decimated agricultural production.
This has weakened support for the Al Assad family, which has ruled Syria with an iron fist since 1970, among Sunni tribes in Deir Al Zor, whom the authorities had allowed to carry arms as a counterweight to a Kurdish population further north.
Two overnight explosions hit minor gas pipelines in Deir Al Zor on Wednesday, residents said. The official state news agency said a pipeline had caught fire due to dry weather or a leak.
"It is very difficult to hit those pipelines with more troops deploying in Deir Al Zor lately. People suspect the regime is behind the attacks to discredit the democracy cause after months of peaceful demonstrations," Shaikh Nawaf Al Khatib, a prominent local tribal leader, told Reuters by phone.
Assaults
Four villagers were killed on Wednesday in tank-backed assaults on at least four villages in the Jabal Al Zawya region in Idlib, activists said. "We are seeing a military escalation following the regime's political escalation," the activist in Idlib, who declined to be named for fear of arrest, said by phone.
He was referring to the arrest of thousands of Syrians in a crackdown that has intensified in the last two weeks, according to human rights campaigners.
Among those arrested was physician Ahmad Tuma, a respected opposition leader from Deir Al Zor, who was abducted from his clinic by Military Intelligence agents last week, his friends said.
Security forces arrested at least 30 people on Wednesday, including prominent film directors Nabeel Maleh and Mohammad Malas, known for works chronicling malaise under Al Assad family rule, and actress May Skaf, during a pro-democracy protest in Damascus on Wednesday, rights organisations said.
They were among a group of artists who issued a declaration this week denouncing state violence.
France for new curbs
French President Nicolas Sarkozy said Thursday he wanted further sanctions against the Syrian government after it continued to crack down on protesters.
"The attitude of the Syrian president is unacceptable ... we must strengthen sanctions against the regime which is applying the most brutal methods against its population," Sarkozy said in a television interview.
Paris has led efforts to pass a UN Security Council resolution condemning Syria's crackdown on pro-reform protests, saying President Bashar Al Assad has lost his legitimacy.
