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Edition: U.S. Article Comments (0) Full Focus Photos of the week Our top photos from the past week. Full Article Follow Reuters Facebook Twitter RSS YouTube Read Exclusive: EU calls emergency meeting as crisis stalks Italy 10 Jul 2011 Republican Pawlenty raps rival Bachmann 10 Jul 2011 Boehner: spending curbs, no tax hikes for debt deal 3:08am EDT Taxes still a stumbling block in debt talks | 3:08am EDT RPT-Coal miners say Australia carbon tax treatment unfair 10 Jul 2011 Discussed 102 Jury resumes deliberations in Casey Anthony murder trial 89 Asia pollution blamed for halt in warming: study 64 Obama faces new obstacles in high-stakes debt talks Watched Obama aiming for big debt deal Sun, Jul 10 2011 Royals wrap up North American tour Sun, Jul 10 2011 Royal humor ahead of Polo match Sat, Jul 9 2011 Syrian forces raid Homs, Hama; Assad starts dialogue Tweet Share this Email Print Related News Syrian opposition boycotts talks with government Sun, Jul 10 2011 U.S. and French envoys in Hama, 13 killed in Syria Fri, Jul 8 2011 U.S. ambassador in Syria's Hama ahead of protests Thu, Jul 7 2011 Syrian forces round up dozens in Hama Wed, Jul 6 2011 Syrian forces shoot dead 14 in Hama: activists Tue, Jul 5 2011 Analysis & Opinion The place with the mostage postage is… Global view: Gay rights Related Topics World » Syria » By Khaled Yacoub Oweis AMMAN | Mon Jul 11, 2011 2:26am EDT AMMAN (Reuters) - Syrian forces killed at least one civilian and injured 20 in Homs Monday during the heaviest raids on the city since troops deployed there two months ago to crush dissent against President Bashar al-Assad, residents said. The armor and tank-backed assaults on Homs, Syria's third largest city and hometown of Assad's wife Asma, came a day after the authorities held a "national dialogue" meeting boycotted by the opposition, who described it as lacking credibility. "Military raids and house to house arrests have become routine after protests, but this time they did not stop shooting all night in the main neighborhoods," said a resident of the Bab Sbaa district, a lecturer who gave his name as Iyad. Among hundreds of people arrested in Homs last week was Jalal al-Najjar, a prominent neurosurgeon, he added. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said armored vehicles fired machineguns on densely populated neighborhoods in Homs overnight and arrested several people. In the city of Hama, 50 km to the north, security forces mounted house to house arrests and shooting was heard, but there were no immediate reports of casualties, activists said. Human rights campaigners say hundreds of Syrians of all walks of life are being arrested across the country every week, adding to the more than 12,000 political prisoners in Syrian jails. Syria has barred most independent media from operating inside the country making it difficult to verify accounts by activists and authorities. In the last few days, security forces have arrested leading theater director Osama Ghanem in Damascus, 24-year-old journalist Omar al-Assad in the Jaramana suburb of the capital and veterinarian Abdelghani Khamis in Hama, they added. Shooting was heard across Hama overnight as security forces and gunmen loyal to Assad kept up raids on the city after killing up to 30 people last week. A large protest against Assad's rule took place in the center of Hama Friday, as the U.S. and French ambassadors visited the city in a gesture of international support. NATIONAL DIALOGUE The demonstrations have been spreading since the 45-year-old president ordered tanks into numerous cities and towns where protests have seen the biggest turnouts in a campaign that has killed at least 1,400 civilians since the uprising erupted in March, according to human rights groups. Under international pressure, including loss of support from his once enthusiastic ally Turkey, Assad has used a mix of military assaults and promises of reform to try to placate protesters and shore up support for his family, which has ruled the country of 20 million for the last 41 years. His vice president, Farouq al-Shara, whose role is ceremonial, opened a "national dialogue" meeting Monday, which was mostly attended by supporters of Assad. Shara said the authorities will open a "new page," hinting at allowing political parties, other than the ruling Baath Party, to operate. Opposition figures, who boycotted the two-day conference, said any reform would remain on paper as long as the security apparatus and Assad's loyalists continued to operate with impunity, using repression to try to stop demonstrations and arresting or shooting peaceful opponents. Assad, from Syria's Alawite minority sect, an offshoot of Islam, retains support from Iran and from Lebanon's Hezbollah, although the strengthening of alliances with regional Shi'ite powers have created disquiet among Syria's Sunni population, helping to fuel protests. Demonstrations in Sunni rural areas and the less mixed cities, such as Homs and Hama, have been the biggest, with a heavy security presence focused on preventing demonstrations in the capital Damascus and in the merchant hub of Aleppo. Human Rights Watch said in a report this week that security personnel it had interviewed "described receiving, and following, orders to shoot on protesters to disperse them." "The testimony of these defectors provides further evidence that the killing of protesters was no accident but a result of a deliberate policy by senior figures in Syria to use deadly force to disperse protesters," said Sarah Leah Whitson, Middle East director at Human Rights Watch. (Editing by Janet Lawrence) World Syria Tweet this Link this Share this Digg this Email Reprints We welcome comments that advance the story through relevant opinion, anecdotes, links and data. If you see a comment that you believe is irrelevant or inappropriate, you can flag it to our editors by using the report abuse links. Views expressed in the comments do not represent those of Reuters. For more information on our comment policy, see http://blogs.reuters.com/fulldisclosure/2010/09/27/toward-a-more-thoughtful-conversation-on-stories/ Comments (0) Be the first to comment on reuters.com. Add yours using the box above. 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Thomson Reuters journalists are subject to an Editorial Handbook which requires fair presentation and disclosure of relevant interests. NYSE and AMEX quotes delayed by at least 20 minutes. Nasdaq delayed by at least 15 minutes. For a complete list of exchanges and delays, please click here.

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