The US missile attack caused heavy damage to one of Syria's biggest and most strategic air bases - but the impact on President Bashar Assad's military capabilities is limited.

More than 50 people were reported killed as Syrian forces intensified their crackdown on an eastern city today.

Syrian troops opened fire on protesters in the southern city of Daraa today as crowds set fire to a bronze statue of the country’s late president, reports say.

The Syrian government has pledged to consider lifting some of the Middle East’s most repressive laws in an attempt to stop a week-long uprising in a southern city from spreading and threatening its nearly 50-year rule.

President Bashar Assad, responding to weeks of intense pressure, announced today that Syria would move its troops to the Lebanese-Syrian border in a two-step pull-back that he said should satisfy international demands for a complete withdrawal.