A dozen protesters have been arrested amid violent scenes at the Syrian embassy in London as the United Nations failed to agree a resolution despite a new wave of killing by the Damascus regime.

Security forces opened fire at tens of thousands of mourners who turned out for the funeral of a slain Kurdish opposition leader in north-eastern Syria today, killing at least two people, activists said.

Syria’s government showed off TV and still images of burned buildings and empty rubble-strewn streets in Hama, the epicentre of anti-regime protests, claiming it was putting an end to the rebellion in the besieged city.

At least four people are reported dead as Syrian security forces pounded the city of Hama with tank shells and opened fire on protesters who streamed onto the streets across the country.

GUNMEN in plainclothes are randomly shooting people in the streets of the besieged Syrian city of Hama and families are burying their loved ones in gardens at home for fear of being killed themselves if they venture out to cemeteries, residents said.

Syrian troops tightened their siege on the city of Hama today drawing a fresh wave of international condemnation against a regime defying the growing calls to end its crackdown on anti-government protesters.

Syrian forces killed 24 people on the first day of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, a human rights group said today.

Tens of thousands of Syrians carrying olive branches and calling for the downfall of President Bashar Assad's regime have poured into the flashpoint city of Hama, where the US and French ambassadors travelled in a strong show of support for the protest movement.

Hundreds of residents of Hama set up makeshift roadblocks today to prevent the advance of Syrian tanks and soldiers ringing the city, a flashpoint of the anti-government uprising.

Syrian security forces opened fire in the central city of Hama injuring an Olympic boxing champion and at least 20 others as the government drive continued to crush pro-democracy uprising activists.

Hundreds of thousands of protesters flooded cities around Syria today – in what activists described as the largest outpouring against the regime of President Bashar Assad – and at least 14 people were killed in clashes, activists said.

Syrians ran for their lives today as elite army units swept through a northern province, expanding a deadly operation to crush signs of dissent against President Bashar Assad.

Syrian tanks today rolled toward the tense central city of Hama, still mourning the deaths of dozens of protesters.

Syrian security troops have stormed a protest sit-in near the capital Damascus, arresting about 200 people in the midnight raid, according to activists.

Troops opened fire on protesters in cities across Syria, and pro- and anti-government crowds clashed in the capital’s historic old city today.

Troops have opened fire on protesters in cities across Syria and pro and anti-government crowds clashed in the capital’s historic old city as one of the Middle East’s most repressive regimes sought to put down demonstrations that exploded nationwide demanding reform.

Protests have erupted in three part of Syria in the gravest unrest in years in one of the Mideast’s most repressive states, reports say.

Syria has blocked access to the social networking internet site Facebook over fears of Israeli “infiltration”.

Syrian president Bashar Assad was sworn in today for a second seven-year term in office.

Syrians voted for a second day today in tightly-controlled parliamentary elections that have been marred by opposition cries of farce and an apparent low turnout.

A top Iranian envoy was in Syria today for talks on the Israeli-Hezbollah conflict in a meeting that brought together the guerrilla organisation’s two key sponsors, according to Iranian news reports.

The Turkish man who shot Pope John Paul II offered in 2000 to capture al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden and planed to kill the late Syrian President Hafez Assad, a Turkish newspaper reported today, printing what it said were letters the gunman wrote.

Syria’s president has agreed to a proposal to halt violence along Israel’s northern border if Israel promises to end flights over Lebanon and not attack its territory, a senior Western diplomat says.

Syrian Prime Minister Mohammed Mustafa Miro resigned today – a move that had been expected since last month when President Bashar Assad said the country needed a reform minded government.

Nearly 300 Syrian intellectuals, engineers, lawyers and political activists have asked President Bashar Assad for comprehensive reforms to ostensibly buffer the country from American criticisms.

President Bashar Assad today arrived in Beirut on the first visit by a Syrian president to Lebanon in 26 years.