13 dead as Syrian troops fire on rebels

BEIRUT -- Syrian troops intensively shelled rebel-held neighborhoods in the restive central city of Homs on Friday and killed at least 13 people, activists said. Meanwhile, Britain and France urged the opposition to unite and said it needs more international support to resist the deadly government crackdown.

Activist groups said tens of thousands of protesters poured into the streets after Friday prayers from Daraa in the south to Aleppo and Idlib in the north and Deir el-Zour in the east to areas around the capital Damascus. The Local Coordination Committees said security forces opened fire on some protests.

In Washington, Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton and EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton condemned the violence and demanded that President Bashar Assad step aside.

In Paris, British Prime Minister David Cameron said that "what is happening in Syria is appalling." "I'm not satisfied that we are taking all the action we can," he said at a joint news conference with French President Nicolas Sarkozy. The two leaders spoke a day after the UN General Assembly condemned human rights violations by Assad's authoritarian regime.

Cameron said Britain and France are working "to see what more we can do" to help the Syrian opposition.

In a joint statement, Cameron and Sarkozy pledged their countries "will continue to increase their engagement with the Syrian opposition, including encouraging the opposition to work together and to support the vision of an inclusive, prosperous and free Syria. "They urged the European Union to adopt new sanctions against the regime by Feb. 27 and offer "substantial" aid to Syria if and when Assad leaves.

Cameron also said Britain is sending food rations for 20,000 people, and medical supplies for those affected by fighting in Homs and elsewhere in Syria.