Syrian troops dig in, crackdown continues

BEIRUT, Lebanon -- Syrian soldiers rolled into flashpoint cities in tanks and set up sand barriers topped with machine guns yesterday, as President Bashar Assad's deadly crackdown on dissent pulled the country deeper into international isolation.

On the eve of another round of large protests, Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton slammed the government's assault on demonstrators and said the violence showed Assad is weak, though she stopped short of saying he must quit.

"Treating one's own people in this way is in fact a sign of remarkable weakness," Clinton said during a trip to Greenland.

Assad, 45, is determined to crush the 2-month-old uprising despite international pressure and sanctions from Europe and the United States. His government has led one of the most brutal crackdowns in the wave of popular revolts sweeping the Arab world.

Protests organizers were calling for more demonstrations today despite military operations and arrest raids meant to pre-empt the rallies.

"Authorities are detaining any person who might demonstrate," said Rami Abdul-Rahman, director of the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.

In the northern city of Deir el-Zor, authorities placed cameras in and outside the Osman bin Afan mosque, where many worshipers have been demonstrating after Muslim prayer services on Fridays, he said.

Abdul-Rahman added many former detainees were forced to sign documents saying they were not subjected to torture and that they will not take part in future "riots."