Arab ministers impose travel sanctions on Syrian officials

Arab finance ministers have agreed to impose sanctions on Syria including a ban on its senior officials' travel and suspension of trade links after Damascus ignored a deadline to end a violent crackdown on opposition protesters.

Some Arab leaders offered haven for Assad: U.S.

Some Arab leaders have told the United States they are willing to provide safe haven to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad to hasten his "inevitable" departure from power, a senior US official said on Wednesday.

Tanks deploy in east, Syrians flee assault on north

People dig out bodies of 10 security men killed and buried by armed groups in Jisr al-Shughour, according to the Syrian news agency, in this still image taken from video June 12, 2011


Thousands of Syrians fled the historic town of Maarat al-Numaan to escape tank forces thrusting into the country’s north in a widening military campaign to crush protests against President Bashar al-Assad.

In the tribal east, where all of Syria’s 380,000 barrels per day of oil is produced, tanks and armoured vehicles deployed in the city of Deir al-Zor and around Albu Kamal on the border with Iraq, a week after tens of thousands of people took to the streets demanding an end to Assad’s autocratic rule.

“The army is coming, find safety for yourselves and your families!” residents said mosque loudspeakers announced on Tuesday in Maarat al-Numaan, a town of 100,000 that straddles the main north-south highway linking Damascus with Syria’s second largest city, the merchant hub of Aleppo.

Syrian forces pushed toward Maarat al-Numaan after arresting hundreds of people in nearby villages close to Jisr al-Shughour, residents said.

Syrian government denies mass grave claims - Unrest in Syria: 'Mass grave discovered in Deraa'

Students in Syria's second-largest city called for a nationwide strike today amid a government crackdown on democracy protesters, some of whom alleged Tuesday that they had discovered a mass grave of ...