Syria death toll rises, Italy recalls envoy

The death toll in Syria's violent crackdown on opposition to President Bashar al-Assad in the city of Hama and elsewhere climbed on Tuesday, spurring Western efforts to pile diplomatic pressure on Damascus.

Tanks pounded residential neighborhoods across Hama, the scene of a 1982 massacre, after evening prayers on Monday, the first day of Ramadan, the Muslim fasting month, witnesses said.

Human rights campaigners said assaults by Assad's forces across Syria overnight and on Monday had killed at least 24 civilians, including 10 in Hama, where troops and tanks began a violent operation to regain control on Sunday.

That brought the total to about 134 dead throughout Syria in the past three days, 90 of them in Hama, according to witnesses, residents and rights campaigners.

Syria's state news agency said "armed terrorist groups" had killed eight policemen in Hama. The government blames such groups for most killings in the five-month-old revolt, saying more than 500 soldiers and security personnel have died.

The plight of Hama has prompted many Syrians to stage solidarity marches since the start of Ramadan, but Assad's tough response suggests he will resist calls for change that have swept Syria and much of the Arab world this year.More...