Syrian party revolts over brutality

The resignations came in the southern province at the centre of the uprising against the regime.

Mustafa Osso said another 30 resigned in the coastal city of Banias. Most were lower-rank members.

Even though they are still small in scope – the Ba’ath party counts more than a million members in Syria – such walkouts were unimaginable before the uprising began.

Syria’s uprising against Assad’s authoritarian regime started in the southern city of Daraa, the provincial capital, on March 15.

Assad has tried to crush the revolt – the gravest challenge to his family’s 40-year ruling dynasty.

More than 450 people have been killed across Syria in the crackdown, with 120 dying over the weekend.

The head of the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, Rami Abdul-Rahman, said the latest updated death toll his group had was 454.

He said they have names of 68 soldiers who also died in the violence, raising the total to more than 500. He also said that since Wednesday, security forces carrying lists of wanted people have detained dozens around the country.

Witnesses said military operations were continuing in the city, with troops using heavy machine guns.

There are reports that the latest deaths include six-year-old girl Majd Rifai, hit by a sniper on the roof of her parents’ apartment. The city is still without telephones, electricity and water and lacked food and children’s milk formula.

It is also understood that authorities have detained Rasim Atassi, senior member of the Arab organisation for Human Rights.

Syria has banned nearly all foreign media and restricted access to trouble spots since the uprising began, making it almost impossible to verify the dramatic events shaking the regime.

Two residents in Daraa said that at least five army officers had sided with demonstrators, and conscripted soldiers sent into the city were quietly refusing orders to detain people at checkpoints and were allowing some people through to get scarce supplies.

But the Syrian government denied that there had been any splits in the military, which is seen as fiercely loyal to Assad.

The army also denied any defections.

Assad has blamed most of the unrest on a “foreign conspiracy” and armed thugs, not true reform-seekers.

Eyewitness accounts coming out of Syria have caused world leaders to increase their criticism of the Assad regime.

The governments of five European nations summoned Syrian ambassadors on Wednesday in a co-ordinated demand that Assad stop shooting at his people.

Germany said sanctions were possible if the crackdown did not cease – echoing remarks made by UK Foreign Secretary William Hague a day earlier.

The UN Security Council failed to agree on a statement circulated by the UK, France, Germany and Portugal condemning the violence in Syria.

During consultations, several members – including Lebanon – indicated they were opposed to the stance, council diplomats said.

US officials have said Washington has begun drawing up targeted sanctions against Assad, his family and his inner circle.

Yesterday six tanks rolled into the northern port of Latakia – a key city in the heartland of Syria’s ruling elite – and security forces opened fire on anti-government demonstrators wounding four, witnesses said.

In one Damascus suburb, security forces strengthened their control, fortifying checkpoints on roads into the area and setting up sand barriers. Troops were also using machine guns in an operation in Daraa yesterday.