Saudi King breaks Arab silence on Syria

PRESIDENT Bashar al-Assad extended a tank onslaught in Syria’s Sunni Muslim tribal heartland, residents said, in an escalating crackdown on protesters that prompted an extraordinary rebuke from the Saudi king warning the Syrian leader to adopt reforms or risk defeat.

King Abdullah, an absolute ruler, broke Arab silence after the bloodiest week of the almost five- month uprising for more political freedoms in Syria, demanding an end to the bloodshed and recalling the Saudi ambassador from Damascus.

It was the sharpest criticism the oil giant has directed against any fellow Arab state since a tide of pro-democracy unrest began to sweep across the Middle East in January, toppling autocrats in Tunisia and Egypt, kindling civil war in Libya and rattling entrenched elites throughout the region.