Syrian forces resume brutal crackdown with raid on village

The operations in Sarameen, in northern Idlib province, were accompanied by similar raids in the village of Heet near the border with Lebanon, along with a military build-up just outside the central town of Rastan, which has become a hotbed of dissent against President Bashar Assad’s regime.

The prime minister of Turkey, a former close ally, warned Assad that his regime could face a demise like those in Tunisia, Egypt and Libya if the violent suppression of protests does not stop.

Syria has come under international condemnation for its crackdown on anti-government protests that began in March, and US and European leaders have demanded Assad step down.

The comments from Turkey were some of the bluntest warnings yet and were particularly biting because they came from a leader whose government had extensive diplomatic ties with Syria.

“The only way out is to immediately silence arms and to listen to the people’s demands,” said prime minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, speaking in his monthly address aired on Turkish TV.

“We have been watching the fate of those who did not chose this path in the past few months in Tunisia, in Egypt – and now in Libya – as a warning and with sadness.

“Demands for democracy and freedom are the people’s just demands. In today’s world, there is no place for one-man rule, for autocratic regimes and closed communities,” he said.

In Sarameen, at least one person was killed and more than 20 wounded during security raids, according to Rami Abdul-Rahman, head of the London-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, and the Local Coordination Committees, an activist group.

In the central town of Rastan, heavy machine gun fire by the security forces and the army was reported, sending residents fleeing out of fear the town would be stormed. Human rights groups say more than 2,000 people have been killed since March.

Meanwhile, Bahrain’s King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa is to dismiss charges against some people detained during crackdowns against Shiite-led protests and allow compensation to abused prisoners.

It came more than six months after his regime successfully cracked down on demonstrations seeking political freedoms with the help of Saudi Arabian troops. However he offered no clear concessions toward Bahrain’s Shiite majority and a special security court resumed the trial of 20 doctors and nurses who incurred the wrath of the authorities for treating injured demonstrators.