More than 50 killed as Assad defends Syria crackdown

Syrian forces backed by tanks killed more than 50 people on Sunday, activists said, as President Bashar al-Assad defended the state's duty to crack down on "outlaws." The new bloodshed came as Pope Benedict XVI and the Arab League added their voices to mounting international condemnation of Syria's brutal crushing of nearly five months of pro-democracy protests. Activists said security forces backed by tanks killed 42 civilians in the eastern city of Deir Ezzor and at least 10 more in the central town of Hula. "Forty-two civilians have been killed and more than 100 wounded in Deir Ezzor by gunfire from the armed forces and security agents," Syrian League for the Defence of Human Rights head Abdel Karim Rihawi told AFP. Rihawi said that 28 people were killed in Al-Jura neighbourhood of Deir Ezzor while 14 died in Huweika district, adding that "thousands of people have fled the city heading further north." In Hula in Homs district, at least 10 people were killed in an army assault with tanks, Rihawi said. "About 25 tanks and troop carriers entered Hula and carried out military operations," another activist, Rami Abdel Rahman, head of the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, said earlier. The Local Coordination Committees which organised the protests said on Facebook that snipers were posted on rooftops in Deir Ezzor "and they are firing on anything that moves," and also gave a toll of 42 dead. But Assad defended his security forces. "To deal with outlaws who cut off roads, seal towns and terrorise residents is a duty of the state which must defend security and protect the lives of civilians," he said, quoted by state news agency SANA. In contrast to Assad's reference to "outlaws," the pope called on Sunday for an adequate response to the "legitimate aspirations" of the Syrian people. "I am following with deep concern the dramatic and increasing episodes of violence in Syria that have led to numerous victims and grave suffering," he said in a weekly address to pilgrims. The Arab League also made its first official statement on the unrest, calling on Damascus to "immediately" stop the violence that has rocked the country since mid-March. Secretary General Nabil al-Arabi also urged an "impartial probe" into the bloodshed, warning against "chaos" and "religious strife" in Syria, a statement said. Arabi expressed his "increasing concern" because of "the deterioration of the security situation in Syria following the rise in violence and military operations in Hama, Deir Ezzor and several regions." On Saturday UN chief Ban Ki-moon phoned Assad to express similar concerns. Ban "expressed his strong concern and that of the international community at the mounting violence and death toll in Syria over the past days," UN spokesman Martin Nesirky said. The secretary general "reflected to the Syrian president the clear message sent by the (UN) Security Council and urged the president to stop the use of military force against civilians immediately." US and European leaders have pledged to consider new steps to punish Syria after security forces killed more than 30 people on the first Friday of Ramadan, the holy Muslim month of fasting. Syria's government has sought to crush the democracy movement with force, leaving at least 2,059 people dead, including 391 members of the security forces, according to the Syrian Observatory. The Assad regime has pledged reform and accused "armed terrorist gangs" of fomenting the unrest. On Saturday Foreign Minister Walid Muallem said "free and transparent" elections to a new parliament would be held by the end of 2011 and that the regime was committed to reform announced by Assad. Two days earlier Assad issued a decree allowing opposition political parties, and in April ordered an end to five decades of draconian emergency rule and abolished the feared state security courts. In June he said talks could lead to a new constitution and end his Baath party's monopoly on power. But the concessions have been largely dismissed by the opposition as a ploy to stave off world condemnation. When the protest movement began in mid-March, demonstrators rallied for greater freedoms. But they later demanded the fall of the regime, inspired by Arab uprisings that ousted the autocratic leaders of Tunisia and Egypt. Assad allies such as Turkey and Russia have also called for an end to the bloody crackdown. Turkey's Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu is due in Syria on Tuesday with the message that Ankara "has run out of patience," Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said. Assad adviser Boussaina Shaaban said Davutoglu would himself "receive a firm message" in Damascus.