Syrian army shells villages after defectors attack

AMMAN?? Syrian troops shelled two northern villages on Thursday after an attack by army defectors on forces loyal to President Bashar al-Assad, local activists said, in an escalation of a military campaign to crush protests and a nascent armed insurgency.

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Eight villagers were injured when tank shells and heavy mortars fell for three hours on Tal Minnij and Maarshamsheh and surrounding farmland, the activists said.

Army defectors had earlier attacked a building housing security forces near army depots in the Wadi al-Deif area on the edge of the town of Maarat al-Numaan, 180 miles north of Damascus, they said.

Until now, Syrian troops have mostly been using heavy machineguns and anti-aircraft guns, employed as a ground weapon, on restless cities and towns to try to put down an eight-month uprising against Assad's rule.

The shelling followed a call by the uncle of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad for the leader to step down quickly to stop the country from spiraling into civil war.

"He has to go, but without leaving the country," Rifaat al-Assad told LCI television. He isn't responsible, it's a historical accumulation of many things, and I'd like him to convince himself to step down."

Rifaat al-Assad is a former military commander, widely held responsible for crushing an Islamist uprising in 1982 against then president Hafez al-Assad, Bashar's father, in which many thousands were killed.

Rifaat turned against the government in the 1980s and now lives in exile. Earlier this year, his son and Bashar's cousin Ribal, who lives in exile in London, urged the Syrian leader to attempt a rapprochement with opponents to avoid civil war and an outbreak of regional conflict.

On Thursday, Ribal told BBC radio the government just wanted to cling to power. "They don't want any dialogue, they are ready to do whatever," he said.

Story: Russia warns Syria is close to 'real civil war'

He called for the opposition to be united, to include all the country's different ethnic groups, sects and religions, as part of a process toward a peaceful transition. This could allow his cousin to "get out, if somebody could give him refuge," he said.

"I have been talking to people in the military and in the military secret service lately in Syria who also are tired and are against what is happening," he said. "They are tired of the violence that's being used against people."

Western countries are piling pressure on Bashar al-Assad to halt the violent crackdown on protesters against his government, which has cost more than 3,500 lives by a U.N. count, since demonstrations began in March.

The Arab League has suspended Syria and given it until the end of the week to comply with an Arab peace plan to end the bloodshed.

Copyright 2011 Thomson Reuters. Click for restrictions.

Source: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/45346881/ns/world_news-mideast_n_africa/

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