Syrian crackdown

Germany called for more European Union sanctions against Syria on Monday, and urged the UN Security Council to discuss the government crackdown again this week.

Foreign Ministry spokesman Andreas Peschke said reports of the bombardments of Syria's port city of Latakia by its own forces gave a new reason to send a stronger message to Damascus.

"The current use of violence cannot be justified morally or under international law in any way," he said. "We are advocating for the Security Council to address the Syria issue again this week."

Violence in port city

Activists in Syria say Monday's assault on Sunni neighborhoods of Latakia killed one person. At least 23 others were killed in the city over the weekend. Warships and tanks joined the shelling in a crackdown against protesters opposed to President Bashar al-Assad.

As the country's anti-regime protests enter their fifth month, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said snipers were wreaking havoc in Latakia and the provincial town of Hula.

"The community of Hula is under siege. The army is carrying out raids and arrests under the cover of heavy gunfire," said the British-based rights group.

In Latakia, people are trying to flee but cannot leave the city because it is surrounded by Syrian troops. The best they can do is move from one neighborhood to the next, a witness told the Reuters news agency.

Latakia is a hotbed of dissent against the Assad regime, with around 20,000 people rallying every day to demand that the president step down.

Elsewhere, Syrian security forces surged into two Damascus suburbs overnight, cutting off communications, firing shots and making arrests.

Condemnation continues

The raid comes in defiance of demands by US President Barack Obama, British Prime Minister David Cameron and Saudi King Abdullah over the weekend that the Syrian regime "immediately" halt its brutal crackdown on pro-democracy protests.

In a telephone conversation, Obama and King Abdullah expressed their "shared, deep concerns about the Syrian government's use of violence against its citizens," the White House said in a statement.

"They agreed that the Syrian regime's brutal campaign of violence against the Syrian people must end immediately."

A spokesman for the British prime minister's office said Cameron and Obama, in a separate telephone conversation, "expressed horror at the brutal reaction of the Syrian regime to legitimate protests, particularly during Ramadan," the holy month in which Muslims fast from dawn to dusk.

European diplomats estimated in a UN Security Council meeting last week that 2,000 people had been killed - mostly civilians - and a further 3,000 had disappeared since an uprising against Assad's rule began in March.

Thousands have also fled across the border to neighboring Turkey. On Monday, Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu issued what he called Turkey's "final word" to close ally Syria, demanding an end to the violence.

Author: Gregg, Benzow, Darren Mara, Joanna Impey (AFP, Reuters)
Editor: Martin Kuebler