Syria deploys more forces to end unrest

Dubai: The Syrian regime on Tuesday poured more troops into cities where pro-democracy protests have been raging.

The bolstering of troops comes amid reports that soldiers have been exercising restraint after a two-day brutal crackdown that resulted in the deaths of more than 100 civilians.

More than 2,000 security police were deployed in Douma, a Damascus suburb, a witness told Reuters.

In focus: Unrest in the Middle East

Activist Abdullah Abazid told AFP from Daraa that “new army troops and security reinforcements have entered” Daraa.

Troops were firing on residents and a mosque and had laid siege to the home of top cleric Mufti Rizk Abdulrahman Abazeid, who quit last week over the protests.

But a new video uploaded on the Syria Revolution 2011 Facebook page on Monday indicates a dramatic change in the way the army is handling the protests.

Video footage

The video footage shows a group of young men and women taking to the streets of Daraa singing the army’s praises, saying that the people and the army are one. An army tank and a sniper on the roof of a four-storey building simply watch the group.

“There is a genuine change taking place in the city. The army is protecting protesters. But in Daraa, people are still without water and electricity. Their landlines and mobile phones have been disconnected,” Ali Al Mahmoud, a resident of Daraa, said in a telephone interview through a Jordanian line.

People are talking about defections in the army. “Soldiers refused to fire at people. We sang the national anthem in front of a group of soldiers and they saluted us. We are no longer scared of the army. They have killed more than 40 people in the city but today they refused to fire at us,” Al Mahmoud said.

The reports of defections by troops could not be independently verified.

European governments urged Syria to end violence and a rights group appealed for UN intervention in a bloody crackdown it said has killed 400 people since mid-March.

European pressure

Britain said it was working with its partners to send a “strong signal” to Damascus while France and Italy denounced the “unacceptable” situation.

Washington ordered non-essential embassy staff to leave.