Hundreds of Syrians have been massing on the northern border with Turkey, preparing to cross over if the army advances further into the area after seizing the town of Jisr al-Shughour.
Syrian military sources have told the BBC the army plans to move on the nearby town of Maarat al-Numan.
It says it is pursuing armed men who escaped the weekend offensive. State media said there was heavy fighting.
Turkey has already taken in thousands of refugees from northern Syria.
The government said it was trying to restore order after 120 security personnel were killed in Jisr al-Shughour last week.
Residents say they died after a mutiny and fighting between security forces.
Syria has prevented most foreign journalists from entering the country, making it difficult to independently verify reports from there.
The BBC's Owen Bennett-Jones, who is on the Turkish side of the border with Syria, says more than 5,000 refugees have registered with officials.
However, another 5,000 have entered the country unofficially, he says, while hundreds more are massed at the border, waiting for the army's next move.
Many of them are reluctant to abandon their vehicles or livestock, our correspondent says, and will only cross if the army advances into the area. Others are waiting for relatives.
Human rights activists and residents said troops began bombarding Jisr al-Shughour early on Sunday. Helicopter gunships were also seen hovering overhead.
But speaking to the BBC, an army general denied any shelling. The troops were only after those responsible for the killings of security personnel earlier this week, the general insisted.
The army has now taken control of the area.
A BBC Arabic correspondent embedded with the Syrian military says tanks and armoured vehicles have taken up positions inside the town. Buildings still bear the marks of clashes, and wheat fields have been burned.
Syrian TV showed images of what it described as a mass grave in Jisr al-Shughour
However, state media report that only two "armed members of terrorist gangs" were killed in the offensive, while the army says one soldier was killed and four wounded.
A military spokesman told our Arabic correspondent that armed men from Jisr al-Shughour who fled to Maarat al-Numan would be dealt with in a military operation in the next few days.
Separately, the bodies of 10 security personnel were recovered from a mass grave. Correspondents who witnessed the exhumation said four had been beheaded, and most of the bodies were riddled with bullet wounds.
There are continuing but unverifiable reports of army defections, with the latest saying an officer and 50 men had changed sides rather than fire on civilians in Jisr al-Shughour.
'Forced to flee'
US officials say the crackdown has created a humanitarian crisis, and called for the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) to be given access to Syria.
"No-one is aware of the real magnitude of the problem and this is a big issue, because it does not allow us to know the size of the problem and then to act accordingly," ICRC spokesman Hicham Hassan told the BBC.
On the Turkish side, two camps are already full of refugees and a third is filling up rapidly.
"The situation is grim. People were forced to flee with a few possessions. We are relying on the Turkish authorities for everything," Mohammed, one of those in the border area, told the BBC.
"No-one knows when it will be safe to return to our homes. When we return, people expect to find their homes destroyed and bodies unburied."
Protests against President Assad, who succeeded his father Hafez in 2000, began in mid-March and have spread across the country.
Human rights groups say more than 1,200 people have been killed in the crackdown.
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The Syrian army has begun operations to "restore security" to the town of Jisr al-Shughour and the surrounding area, state TV says.
Earlier in the week, the government said 120 security personnel had been killed in the north-western town.
The announcement, and the deployment of troops in the area, has prompted a flow of refugees to neighbouring Turkey.
Turkish PM Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Syria was committing "atrocities", in remarks quoted by Turkish media.
Turkey says more than 2,000 Syrians have crossed the border seeking refuge from the anticipated crackdown in Jisr al-Shughour.
Syria's government has blamed the deaths in the town on armed groups, but there are reports of a mutiny among security forces.
Syrian state TV said armed men had prepared defences and set fire to crops and trees around Jisr al-Shughour in order to slow the army's advance.
Activist websites have carried reports from people in the area saying there was heavy gunfire in a village where barricades of burning tyres had been set up to block the road to the town.
Syria has prevented foreign journalists, including those from the BBC, from entering the country, making it difficult to verify reports from there.
It is not clear how much resistance the Syrian troops can expect to meet in Jisr al-Shughour.
Some of the government newspapers have been suggesting there may be as many as 2,000 armed men in the area.
Syrian state TV has been running telephone intercepts of conversations between people inside the town suggesting first of all that the place is deserted but also that armed men have been withdrawn.
It could be that they will be rolling into a ghost town.
One way or another, the long-promised operation does now, at least according to official outlets, appear to be under way.
There has been no word from the other side at this stage, probably because communications and electricity have been cut off in the area.
In other developments:
Reports say two protesters have been shot dead in the southern province of Deraa, after security forces in vehicles opened fire on protesters
Eyewitnesses in the central city of Hama tell BBC Arabic that thousands of protesters are gathering in al-Aassi Square, the main square in the city centre - there is no security or police presence at all
Security forces disperse a gathering in front of al-Hassan Mosque in the centre of Damascus following Friday prayers
There are protests in the cities of Homs, Hasska, al-Qamishili and al-Amood. Gunfire has been heard in Bab Amr, a suburb of Homs
Conflicting accounts
The BBC's Jim Muir, in Beirut, Lebanon, says the events in Jisr al-Shughour present a massive challenge to President Assad.
Syrian state TV has been preparing for the security operation in the town by widely broadcasting the movement of troops in the area, prompting many residents to flee.
The action against Jisr al-Shughour is in response to claims by Damascus that armed gangs killed 120 members of the security forces there after protests against President Assad's rule.
State TV has been broadcasting images of what it says are soldiers and police shot dead in the town.
The government says local residents requested the army's intervention to restore peace and quiet.
But dissenting accounts say the violence was sparked by deserting soldiers, and that loyal troops have massacred peaceful civilians.
Human rights groups say more than 1,100 people have been killed since protests against President Assad began in March, and it now appears several hundred security forces may also have died.
Turkey's Prime Minister Erdogan has previously been reluctant to criticise Syria, but in an interview quoted by Anatolia news agency, he said the Assad regime was committing "atrocities" against anti-government demonstrators.
"They are not acting in a humane manner. This is savagery," he said in a TV interview on Thursday.
The unrest in Syria has prompted a split within the UN Security Council, where France and Britain have proposed a resolution to condemn the government's actions.
But other nations on the council, including Brazil, China and Russia, say such a resolution - which does not propose concrete action - could further inflame tensions in an already volatile region.
The UN human rights chief, Navi Pillay, and the Pope have urged Damascus to show restraint, with Ms Pillay strongly condemning the Syrian government.
The Syrian army has moved against other cities that have seen anti-government protests, including Deraa, Baniyas, Rastan, Latakia, Homs, Hama and some Damascus suburbs.
Anti-government activists have promised to mount widespread protests after Friday prayers.
One Facebook page was billing it a "Day of Tribes", in an attempt to draw in more of Syria's powerful tribes to the protests, says our correspondent in Beirut.
'Dodging soldiers'
The Red Crescent has set up a tent city to house Syrian refugees across the border in the Turkish town of Yayladagi and there are plans to set up a second camp in Altinozu.
A Turkish official told the BBC the influx of Syrians was sharply increasing and the latest arrivals included several dozen wounded people.
Most of the refugees were too frightened to speak to the BBC's Owen Bennett-Jones, who is in Yayladagi.
But one man, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said he had made a three-hour trek from Jisr al-Shughour, dodging Syrian soldiers along the way.
He said an estimated 30,000 Syrian soldiers were massing near the town - but added that hundreds of soldiers had also deserted and were also gathering on the border hoping to make an escape into Turkey.
A Syrian government spokeswoman said there were no refugees fleeing to Turkey, just the normal traffic of people visiting relatives across the border.
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The reactor there was built for the express purpose of producing plutonium for possible use in nuclear weapons”
End QuoteGlyn DaviesUS Ambassador to IAEA
The IAEA began investigating the allegations in June 2008, but Syria has refused to co-operate and, with the exception of a one-off visit, has not allowed UN inspectors to Deir Alzour or related sites to verify the US claims.
Thursday's motion was proposed by the US and its Western allies who had asked the IAEA's governing body to find Syria in "non-compliance" with its international obligations.
According to AFP news agency, US Ambassador Glyn Davies told the closed-door assembly: "Syria's apparent attempt at constructing a covert, undeclared plutonium production reactor, a reactor with no credible peaceful purpose, represents one of the most serious safeguards violations possible."
He said the intentions of the structure at Deir Alzour were clear and that a resolution was the only responsible course of action.
"The reactor there was built for the express purpose of producing plutonium for possible use in nuclear weapons."
'Regrettable'
Syria's ambassador to the IAEA called the agency's move "regrettable" but pledged that the country would honour its obligations.
"I think Syria has always been committed to its obligations and to its duties and I think we will continue to do so," Bassam Al-Sabbagh said after the meeting.
Syria is a signatory to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), which gives it the right to enrich its own fuel for civil nuclear power, under inspection from the IAEA.
But it has also signed a safeguards agreement with the IAEA under which it is obliged to notify the UN's nuclear watchdog of any plans to construct a new nuclear facility.
The last country the IAEA referred to the Security Council was Iran, in February 2006.
The Security Council has the power to impose sanctions, a move it has taken in the case of Iran no less than four times.
However, diplomats are not convinced that this will happen in Syria's case due to opposition from both Russia and China.
The diplomatic move at the IAEA came a day after Britain, France, Germany and Portugal proposed a draft resolution condemning Syria's crackdown on protesters to the Security Council, despite the risk of a Russian veto.
Growing numbers of Syrians are escaping over the border into Turkey ahead of a feared government assault on the northern town of Jisr al-Shughour.
About 1,000 Syrians crossed the border overnight, a Turkish official said, bringing the total number of refugees in Turkey to about 1,600.
Pope Benedict XVI and the UN have urged Syria not to attack its own people.
It comes after the UK and France proposed a UN resolution condemning Syria's suppression of protests.
The draft stops short of authorising concrete action, but even so it is not clear when or if it might be put to a vote, correspondents say.
Russia and China have now said they strongly oppose the draft resolution, with Moscow saying Syria must settle its internal conflict without any foreign interference.
"The situation in this country, in our opinion, does not pose a threat to international peace and security," a Russian foreign ministry spokesman is quoted as saying by Russian state media.
The anticipated crackdown on Jisr al-Shughour is in response to claims by Damascus that armed gangs killed 120 members of the security forces there.
It says local residents have requested the army's intervention to restore peace and quiet.
But dissenting accounts say the violence was sparked by deserting soldiers, and that loyal troops have massacred peaceful civilians.
Local Turkish officials seem unsure how to handle the influx. Police are preventing journalists from talking to the refugees, many of whom are being housed in a fenced and tightly guarded Red Crescent camp in the town of Yayladagi.
In the Turkish village of Guvecci, less than a kilometre from the border, trucks have been moving along the road that runs inside Turkey along the border to pick up people who had just got out of Syria. The same road occasionally has Turkish ambulances taking injured refugees for medical attention in Turkey
Local Turkish residents, many of them relatives of the Syrians, know when and where people are trying to cross the border because they are able to communicate by mobile phones fitted with Turkish SIM cards.
The Syrian authorities have disrupted local mobile phone networks.
Human rights groups say more than 1,000 people have been killed since protests began in February against the rule of President Bashar al-Assad, and it now appears several hundred security forces may also have died.
Hiding out
The BBC's Owen Bennett-Jones, who is in Guvecci on the Turkish side of the border with Syria, said on Thursday morning that trucks were arriving and disgorging passengers on the Syrian side every 10 or 15 minutes.
Some passengers were quickly seizing the chance to slip into Turkey under the eye of Turkish border guards who have been ordered by Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan to allow them in.
Other Syrians, our correspondent says, are hiding out in fields and orchards, waiting to see how ferocious the army campaign will be before deciding whether to move on to Turkey.
A Turkish official who spoke anonymously says the influx of Syrians is sharply increasing, and the latest arrivals have included several dozen wounded in security crackdowns.
Many are sheltering in a tent city run by the Red Crescent in the town of Yayladagi, with plans to set up a second camp in Altinozu.
Most of the refugees were too frightened to speak to our correspondent.
But one man, who spoke on condition his identity be concealed, said he had made a three-hour trek from Jisr al-Shughour, dodging Syrian soldiers along the way.
"The circumstances there are very difficult," the man told our correspondent. "They are planning to invade."
He said an estimated 30,000 Syrian soldiers were massing in a nearby village - but added that hundreds of soldiers had also deserted and were also gathering on the border hoping to make an escape into Turkey.
Another refugee said 13 or 14 tanks were now surrounding Jisr al-Shughour.
The refugees' testimony cannot be independently verified but appears to accord with the testimony of others, such as "Youssef", an unofficial spokesman for the refugees who spoke to the BBC World Service.
Most international journalists have been denied entry into Syria.
Reem Haddad said: ''They are fleeing from the armed groups who have massacred 120 people, there is no army in Jisr al-Shughour''
Reem Haddad, a spokeswoman for the Syrian information ministry, confirmed in an interview with the BBC that Syrian troops were gathering around Jisr al-Shughour.
But she said they had been asked by local residents to restore peace and quiet after the violence she blamed on "armed groups".
She said there was no influx of refugees into Turkey, but just the normal passage of Syrians across to the border to Turkish villages where their relatives lived.
The armed groups had cut off roads leading to Jisr al-Shughour, she added.
"No country in the world allows this to happen to it," said Ms Haddad. "The government has a presence and it must be felt."
'Deplorable'
The UN human rights chief, Navi Pillay, and the Pope have urged Damascus to show restraint.
Mr Pillay said Syria should halt "its assault on its own people", saying it was "deplorable for any government to attempt to bludgeon its population into submission".
Pope said Syria must recognise "the inalienable dignity of all people" if it wished to achieve stability.
The recent protests "show the urgent need for real reforms", the news agency AFP quoted him as saying.
The draft UN resolution submitted by Britain and France with the support of Germany and Portugal condemns the systematic violation of human rights in Syria. It demands an immediate end to violence, and access for humanitarian workers.
It stresses that the only solution to the crisis is through an inclusive and Syrian-led process, which correspondents say is an attempt to satisfy council members who want to avoid another Libya-style intervention.
THREE months in and the uprising in Syria is growing ever bloodier. Between Friday and Sunday over 150 people were killed in the biggest protests the country has seen yet. Most of Friday's dead were shot in the central city of Hama after thousands took to the streets for the second Friday in a row. Security forces shot dozens of unarmed protesters. On Friday the internet was cut across most of the country, making it difficult to get information out. The city has seen this kind of violence, and worse, before. In 1982 the then president Hafez Assad crushed the Muslim Brotherhood there, killing more than 10,000, and perhaps twice that.
Scores more were killed over the weekend in the restless northern town of Jisr al-Shoghour, just a few miles from the Turkish border, after tanks and helicopters reportedly bombarded the city. Jisr al-Shoghour is now braced for an attack. Many of its residents have fled. Hundreds are said to be fleeing to Turkey. Some of those injured in earlier clashes have already been taken across the border, afraid of seeking medical treatment at home. Their fears have been stoked by claims made by the government on Monday that 120 of its forces had been killed by "armed gangs" in the town, widely read as pretext for further crackdowns. The interior minister Mohammad Ibrahim al-Shaar said the state would react "decisively".
Exactly what happened in Jisr al-Shoghour remains unclear. Most are inclined to dismiss the government's version of events. But although the numbers may have been exaggerated—state media doubled, tripled and then increased the figure six-fold over the course of an hour—the government has sustained some casualties.
Some in the town—a tribal area which rose up against the rule of Hafez in 1980—admit taking up arms. But they deny killing large numbers of government troops. They say that most of those killed died in clashes between army and security forces and fighting within the security forces as increasing numbers defect. Last night Abdul Razaq Tlass, a soldier and relative of the former defence minister Mustafa Tlass who is believed to have helped shoehorn Bashar Assad into power, appeared on Al Jazeera to deny that soldiers are fighting armed gangs. He called on the army to stand by the people. Growing defections may cause the army to splinter but the military as a whole is unlikely to turn on Mr Assad, one of few ways the crisis might end without further bloodshed.
The world has so far hesitated to tell Mr Assad to go, afraid of what might fill the power vacuum. But that might change given that the regime itself is stoking a small minority of protesters to turn violent, trying to encourage sectarian tensions by arming Alawites and using sectarian language and making mischief on its borders. Arab countries remain ominously silent about the Syrian government's actions but France has now declared Mr Assad's rule illegitimate. Whether it can convince Russia and China to abstain rather than veto a forthcoming UN security council resolution is uncertain.
Correction: This post originally said that Turkey had been refusing people entry. That was incorrect. Sorry.
Considering the fact how the preponderance of observers, analysts, and experts, whether from inside or outside the country, believe the regime's demise remains a matter of time, one can only wonder the passive stance taken by the international community, which is presumably justified on the basis of Syria's regional sphere beyond its weight.
Doesn't Realpolitik require the West to intervene for the sake of ensuring whoever assumes power in post-Assad' Syria can play at least neutral role in perennially turbulent region?
"Violence at Palestinian camp funerals in Syria leaves 20 dead
Mourners clash with members of a Syrian-backed militant faction at the Yarmouk refugee camp. The faction is accused of having persuaded the Palestinians' relatives to join protests at the Golan Heights border that turned deadly."
This story is that Palestinians in a refugee camp got upset with a Syrian backed Palestinian faction for having lost family members to the Golan Heights protests. They weren't upset with Israel, but with a Syrian backed Palestinian faction. Which responded like Assad by shooting to kill.
"Once again, the Palestinian struggle has fallen victim to the agenda of an Arab regime."
That's the story to the south.
As for Syria itself, it becomes increasingly mad to seek to stabilize this regime; rather than seek a solution it encourages civil war. Perhaps Russia and China will object to toughness, but please encourage them to do so blatantly and publicly.
Mr Assad has proved that history repeats itself and no doubt if his father killed 20,000 of his own folks , how can he, as his true heir, be satiated with lesser gory and bloodshed. But the days of barbarous dictators are numbered and it is for the world to decide its threshold of tolerance but how many more innocents would be sacrificed at the altar of power-struggle before the world's conscience is aroused and the reign of such savage rascals is terminated .
No freedom of speech. Massacring it's citizens by the thousand, and where is the world? No boycotts by British universities, no demonstrations in Trafalgar square. Where are the motions in the UN, sanctions. A peace flotilla from Turkey. Riots in Bradford. It seems British muslims can blow people up on the underground, join the jihad and kill British soldiers in Afghanistan but war crimes against fellow muslims doesn't even get them out of bed.
What the trendy lefty, Guardian reading, Robert Fisk loving, tree hugging bunch don't realise is that the world doesn't function only according to western values and logic. There are other people in the world, whose civilisations were around long ago, like the Chinese or Islam where things work differently. You give them democracy and they don't always want it or know what to do with it. Sitting down to negotiate can be seen as a sign of weakness and as the Arabs say of themselves, " the only language an Arab understands is force. Anything else is seen as weakness." And into this the West enters like a bull in a china shop, usually leaving the situation worse than at the start. ok
I understand your situation buddy, believe me I'm in the same boat. Sigh... If we only had some oil or free press we could get help and save a few people, maybe get a good-intentioned invasion, or even better a good-intentioned that actually leaves after. Yeah I know, I'm dreaming, but we can hope can't we? Anyways hang in there, they can't shoot us all can they?
The left wing westerners in their naivety believe applying their values will solve all. Give everyone democracy and all is solved. Look what Hitler did after he was democratically elected, and the Hamas in Gaza won the elections and then threw the opposition off the rooftops and shot the rest. Problem is many of these places are not real countries but collections of tribes behind synthetic western made borders. Get rid of one dictator and his tribe, another will take his place, often worse.
Mother is closest to the daughter and I am not surprised that the behaviour may be linked to mom and daughter. Also the friends do have the influence on the us. I thank you Firozali A.Mulla DBA"Make sure you have someone in your life from whom you can get reflective feedback." --Warren Bennis "Feedback is the breakfast of champions." --Kenneth Blanchard "Advice is what we ask for when we already know the answer but wish we didn't." --Erica Jong Whatever makes man a slave takes half his worth away. -- Alexander Pope I thank you Firozali A.Mulla DBA
The Economist: 'Arab countries remain ominously silent about the Syrian government's actions...'.
As for the countries that already passed the regime change, Tunisia, and Egypt, their silence tells a lot about the nature of the change they are undergoing.
Had it been a real 'Arab Spring', those countries were the first to stand by the protesters in Syria's streets.
But they remain silent. Also the Arab League is at fault. it was fast to support Kadafi's removal. In Syria, however, the Arab League is silent.
What's happening in Syria is of fundamental significance to its neighbor Lebanon, far more than to Israel, Turkey, Jordan or Iraq. As the Syrian security apparatus is thrown into disarray the foundations below Hezbollah appear increasingly shaky. Even though it only has 10% of the vote in Lebanon it sets much of the agenda there through fear and intimidation. But it needs Syria apparently more than it needs to maintain its "resistance" aura. Which apparently was a sham all along. Resistance can't be limited to being just against Israel, obviously Hezbollah is on the wrong side of this conflict.
Lebanon is a huge sidestory that's worth covering.
Seems like commentators like A.Colfe have short memories. Funny, wasn't it Bush & Co.'s neocon philosophy that wanted to invade/premept countries and spread democracy in order to lower chances of Muslim extremism?
@Liu XiaoBo Liu sees the role of implanted Mossad and cyber crime FBI in Middle East's democratization mask.
If only the American intelligence organizations were even half as capable and effective as this suggests, what a very different world we would live in!
Syrian Town Braces for Military Assault Residents of the Syrian town of Jisr al-Shughur have been fleeing their village to Turkey and neighboring villages, fearing an intensified military crackdown. Rights groups say at least 42 civilians have been killed in fighting in the town. http://www.newslook.com/videos/320862-syrian-town-braces-for-military-as...
I'm not sure why it is that you suppose that "trendy lefty, Guardian reading, Robert Fisk loving, tree hugging bunch" don't understand that Western values don't necessarily apply to other countries.
If anything, when you speak of Westerners who do not get that a Jeffersonian type democracy may not work in Iraq or another nation with a dissimilar history and philosophy, you are describing Neo-Cons!
Obama's approach so far has been anything but a "bull in a china shop" type approach. But that is exactly the tact the far right took in Iraq. It was mainly us on the left who warned that this half-baked, Neo-Con philosophy towards Iraq was pollyannaish and dangerous.
I'm quite sure that President Obama and Secretary of State Clinton don't believe for a minute that a democracy will "solve all". But that doesn't and shouldn't preclude them from taking measures to show that we do not support Assad or another dictator - nor should it stop the West from championing democracy - in whatever form would best suit a given country. Or are you a supporter of the authoritarian Chinese model?
So, other than some interesting, revisionist type thinking, I'm not sure what you're getting at. Just allow thug nations to massacre their people? Is that it? I'm quite sure many on the right would criticize Obama if he followed that advice.
And by the way, I'd rather hug a tree than a smokestack any day of the week.
@D.Darko Ignore him, you can sum up his grasp of history with "Look what Hitler did after he was democratically elected". The fact that Hitler was never democratically elected doesn't really bother these types of people, only that everybody who doesn't see the world through their very narrow prism is somehow fundamentally flawed. I've found that instead of trying to engage in a factually based argument with these people, you can obtain the same effect by finding the nearest brick wall and repeatedly banging your head against it.
In this blog, our correspondents respond to breaking news stories and provide comment and analysis. The blog takes its name from newsbooks, the 16th-century precursors to newspapers, which covered a single big story, such as a battle, a disaster or a sensational trial
From time to time Turkish ambulances can be seen bringing those wounded in Syria for treatment in Turkey. The lightly wounded are kept in a camp right on the border and the more seriously injured are taken to hospital in the nearby city of Antakya.
Local residents on the Turkish side of the frontier say the flow of people began a month ago when some whole families moved to Turkey. The men then returned to Syria and local residents say many of those men have been involved in the fighting.
There are also makeshift camps on the Syrian side of the border, because Syrian villagers fearing their homes will come under army attack have set up tents in their fields.
The Turkish authorities seem keen to downplay the scale of the population movement. Refugees who are being provided for in official camps are not allowed to speak to journalists. Some information is coming from Syria because the Syrians are using Turkish SIM cards in their cell phones. The Syrian networks have been closed down.
Speaking at a news conference in Ankara, Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Turkey was monitoring the situation, and called on Damascus to act with tolerance.
Britain and France are stepping up pressure for a UN Security Council vote condemning the Syrian government's suppression of months of unrest.
Britain plans to present a draft resolution later on Wednesday, but unlike the case of Libya, the draft does not suggest military action against Damascus or sanctions.
'Burning tyres'
The BBC's Owen Bennett-Jones says Turkish ambulances are ferrying wounded evacuees from Syria into Turkey, with some being kept in a camp on the border and others being taken to a hospital in a nearby city.
Officially Turkey says 450 people have crossed the border, but accounts from local residents say the figure could be far higher, our correspondent says.
The Syrian government has declared it will act "with force" after it claimed on Monday that some 120 security force personnel were killed in Jisr al-Shughour by "armed gangs".
The reported attack came amid mounting tensions as dozens of protesters were killed across the country over the weekend.
The BBC's Jim Muir in neighbouring Lebanon says there are no reports of action in Jisr al-Shughour itself yet, but that troop movements and preparations have been reported.
Some activists are said to have erected barriers of rocks, tree trunks and burning tyres on the main approach road to try to block the advance of security forces.
"People were struck by fear and panic after the government statements last night, it's clear they are preparing for a major massacre," one Jisr al-Shughour resident told AP news agency.
UN text revised
British Prime Minister David Cameron said the draft resolution before the Security Council focused on "condemning the repression and demanding accountability and humanitarian action".
"If anyone votes against that resolution, or tries to veto it, that should be on their conscience," he added.
On Tuesday, a British spokesman at the UN said that a UN vote was likely to take place later this week or early next week.
Alain Juppe: "Bashar has lost his legitimacy to rule the country"
Earlier, French Foreign Minister Alain Juppe said it was "inconceivable that the United Nations remains silent" on Syria as the violence worsens.
However, some council members - like Brazil, South Africa and India - are afraid that the resolution could be the first step towards a Libya-style intervention, the BBC's Barbara Plett at the UN reports.
Britain and France have revised the text to take in their concerns, diplomats say.
The idea is to build enough support in the council to make it politically difficult for Russian and China - two heavyweights who oppose any action on Syria - to veto the resolution, our correspondent says.
In a separate development, Syria's ambassador to France has denied reports in the French media that she had resigned.
Appearing on French TV, Lamia Chakkour said a telephone interview in which she was reported to have quit was part of a campaign of misinformation against the government of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.
She has threatened to sue France 24, which admitted on Wednesday that it was probably the victim of a hoax.
Hundreds have been killed since protests began in February against the rule of Mr Assad, who took over from his father, Hafez al-Assad, in 2000.
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Residents of the Syrian town of Jisr al-Shughour are said to be fleeing ahead of an expected military assault, after the government said 120 security forces personnel had been killed there.
Residents still in the northern town have set up checkpoints to monitor any security operations, witnesses say.
The government says it will act "with force" to combat "armed gangs" that it blames for the recent killings.
Activists say the cause of the deaths is unclear, and may involve a mutiny.
Residents have posted messages on Facebook saying they fear a slaughter and appealing for help from outside.
They called on people to try to block roads leading to the town with burning tyres, rocks and tree trunks.
Syrian army tanks and troop carriers backed by helicopters were reported to be on the move.
'Shot in the back'
Activists insist the uprising against the regime of President Bashar al-Assad is peaceful and scorn the government's talk of armed gangs.
Dozens of Syrians who crossed the northern border into Turkey are being treated in hospitals in the south-east of the country for wounds they say they received in clashes with Syrian forces, Turkish officials say.
20km (12 miles) from the Turkish border to the north
In the remote, agricultural province of Idlib
Population: approx. 50,000
Mainly Sunni Muslim
One man who crossed the border in a serious condition died from gunshot wounds, a Turkish diplomat has told the AFP news agency.
Communications were cut to the area around Jisr al-Shughour on Monday and the details of the attack were impossible to verify. Syria does not allow foreign journalists to report on events.
But Syrian state television said hundreds of gunmen had taken over the town, which lies about 20km (12 miles) from the Turkish border.
It said "armed gangs" ambushed police and 20 officers died. It said another 82 personnel were killed when the town's security headquarters were overwhelmed, eight in a bomb attack on a post office and 120 overall.
Opposition activists said there had been fighting, but the situation was unclear and they feared the government was simply setting the stage for a new onslaught.
One told the Associated Press news agency that dozens of people had been killed in the past 24 hours - "a mix of civilians, police and security forces".
The BBC's Jim Muir in Beirut says some activist websites have suggested dissent or even mutiny within the security forces.
He says YouTube carried footage, said to be from the town, showing several dead bodies described as belonging to soldiers who had been killed by security forces for refusing to fire on the people.
One resident told BBC Arabic: "We don't have any kind of weapons. The soldiers were coming our way, then they were shot in the back by some Syrian security elements."
International pressure
State television says many civilians from the town have fled to nearby Latakia, and it carried interviews with people calling on the army to clear Jisr al-Shughour of "armed gangs" they said had been terrorising the town.
However, in messages posted on Facebook, residents appealed for help from the outside world, saying the "regime's gangs" were preparing to move in.
Our correspondent says one video posted on YouTube appeared to show the town square with a huge message written on the road saying "Jisr al-Shughour doesn't want the army to come in".
The government admitted it had lost control for "intermittent periods of time".
Alain Juppe: "Bashar has lost his legitimacy to rule the country"
But Interior Minister Ibrahim Shaar vowed: "We will deal strongly and decisively, and according to the law, and we will not be silent about any armed attack that targets the security of the state and its citizens."
An Islamist uprising in Jisr al-Shughour in 1980 against the late President Hafez al-Assad was brutally crushed with scores of deaths.
Meanwhile, France says it is ready to ask the UN Security Council to vote on a draft resolution condemning Damascus, despite a likely Russian veto.
Speaking in Washington, Foreign Minister Alain Juppe said Paris believed that strong support in the 15-member council might persuade the Russians "to change their mind".
"We think that it will be possible to get 11 votes in favour of the resolution and we'll see what the Russians will do," he said.
The draft resolution was drawn up by France, Britain, Germany and Portugal. The document condemns violence at the hands of the regime of President Assad and asks him to open Syrian cities to humanitarian teams.
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Syrian President Bashar al-Assad should face trial at a UN court over the "brutal" treatment of his people, Australia's foreign minister says.
Kevin Rudd said incidents such as the alleged torture and murder of a 13-year-old boy by security forces had robbed Mr Assad of any legitimacy.
President Assad invited the boy's family to meet him and promised an inquiry, state television said.
Activists say more than 1,000 people have died in weeks of protests.
The 13-year-old boy, Hamza al-Khatib, has become an icon of the anti-government uprising in Syria, says the BBC's Jim Muir.
Activists say he was detained by security forces and tortured to death, while the authorities insist he was shot dead during a demonstration.
Mr Rudd called it a "brutal act" and accused Mr Assad of taking "large-scale directed action" against his own people.
"I believe it is high time that the Security Council now consider a formal referral of President Assad to the International Criminal Court," said Mr Rudd.
Martyr to both sides
US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said the boy's death showed the regime was deaf to the voice of its people.
Clinton: "I hope this child did not die in vain but that the Syrian government will end the brutality and begin a transition to real democracy"
"I can only hope that this child did not die in vain but that the Syrian government will end the brutality and begin a transition to real democracy," she said.
Hamza Khatib is being hailed as a martyr, and his picture is now held aloft at demonstrations around the country and abroad.
He is being compared to the Tunisian market-seller Mohamed Bouazizi and Iranian pro-democracy protester Neda Agha Soltan whose deaths galvanised anti-government campaigns.
Hamza is also being called a martyr by the Syrian authorities.
State TV said the teenager's father and family were invited to meet President Assad, and they were quoted as saying he "engulfed us with his kindness and graciousness".
A man who identified himself as Hamza's father said: "The president considered Hamza his own son and was deeply affected."
'Mutilated body'
The boy went missing after a demonstration at an army barracks near Deraa in the south at the end of April.
Activists say he was captured and tortured to death, and that his mutilated body was handed back to his family four weeks later.
The government says he received three fatal gunshot wounds during the protest and died on the spot, but there was a delay in handing over his body because he was not identified.
Syrian state TV aired a programme about the teenager on Tuesday night in which a judge said death was due to "a number of bullet wounds without any indication of torture or beating on the body".
Coroner Akram al-Shaar blamed the state of the body on decomposition, adding: "There are no marks on the surface of the body that show violence, resistance or torture."
Human Rights Watch (HRW) published a report on Wednesday that said "systematic killings and torture by Syrian security forces" in Deraa could qualify as crimes against humanity.
"For more than two months now, Syrian security forces have been killing and torturing their own people with complete impunity," said Sarah Leah Whitson, HRW Middle East director.
"They need to stop - and if they don't, it is the Security Council's responsibility to make sure that the people responsible face justice."
Thousands of Syrian refugees have fled into northern Lebanon bringing with them tales of brutality by Syrian security forces in the town of Tal Kalakh, the BBC's Owen Bennett-Jones reports.
LATAKIA, Syria — Gangs of young men, some armed with swords and hunting rifles, roamed Sunday through the streets of a Syrian seaside city, closing alleys with barricades and roughly questioning passersby in streets scarred by days of anti-government unrest.
The scenes in Latakia, a Mediterranean port once known as a summmer tourist draw, were a remarkable display of anarchy in what had been one of the Mideast's most tightly controlled countries.
Syria has been rocked by more than a week of demonstrations that began in the drought-parched southern agricultural city of Daraa and exploded nationwide on Friday, with security forces opening fire on demonstrators in at least six places and killing dozens.
The government has also tried to calm the situation with concessions, and President Bashar Assad is expected to announce Tuesday that he is lifting a nearly 50-year state of emergency and moving to annul other harsh restrictions on civil liberties and political freedoms.
Member of Parliament Mohammed Habash told The Associated Press that lawmakers discussed the state of emergency during a Sunday night session and Assad would make an announcement about the issue on Tuesday. He offered no further details.
Ammar Qurabi, an exile in Egypt who heads Syria's National Organization for Human Rights, said there appeared to be divergent views within the Syrian leadership, with one branch that believes in a crackdown and another that believes in dialogue.
He said Assad must address the people and show some transparency as quickly as possible.
"People are asking themselves, where is he? why doesn't he make an appearance?" Qurabi said. "Assad must choose whether he wants to go the way of the Moroccan king, who has pledged to sponsor broad constitutional reforms, or the Gadhafi way. Which is it going to be?"
A top adviser to Assad offered the first hint of reforms in an announcement Thursday, saying the government had begun studying change to the emergency law and other measures. That pledge did not stop protests from erupting in cities across Syria the following day.
Some of the worst violence appears to have taken place in Latakia, a coastal city that is a mix of Sunnis living in its urban core and members of Assad's minority Alawite branch of Shiite Islam in villages on its outskirts, along with small minorities of Christians, ethnic Turks and other groups.
Witnesses told The Associated Press that large, religiously mixed crowds took to the steets of Latakia on Friday to express sympathy with protesters in the southern city of Daraa and demand greater civil liberties and political freedoms and an end to official corruption.
According to the witnesses and footage posted on social networking sites, shooting erupted after nightfall Tuesday that protesters blamed on security forces, and unrest erupted that continued until Saturday. Syrian officials said the government moved the army into Latakia in heavy numbers by early Sunday.
Syrian officials said 12 people had died in the city, and blamed the deaths on unidentified gunmen firing from rooftops.
An Associated Press photographer saw traces of what appeared to have been a serious battle in Latakia's main Sheik Daher square. Two police cars had been smashed and rocks and telephone cables torn from overhead poles were strewn across the streets and sidewalks.
The offices housing SyriaTel, the mobile phone company owned in large part by a cousin of President Bashar Assad, had been burned.
At one of the city's two hospitals, officials said they had treated 90 wounded people on Friday. The photographer saw many suffering from gunshot wounds to the hands or feet. Others were in critical condition.
Few cars or people were on the streets and shops were closed. Soldiers patrolled in heavy numbers, stopping virtually anyone seen carrying a bag. They pulled drivers to the side of the road to ask for identification papers and search their vehicles.
Just before sundown, gangs of 10 to 15 young men began roaming the streets, many armed with sticks and a few carrying guns or swords. Some of the gangs could be seen closing streets and alleys with metal barricades and large rocks.
Their allegiances could not be immediately determined, but pro-government groups of men in civilian clothes and armed with hunting rifles and other firearms also could be seen pulling over drivers, asking them for identification and the reason for their presence in Latakia.
The Baath party's office in Latakia did not appear to be burnt, despite reports from activists Saturday that it had been set ablaze, which the government had denied.
The Reuters news agency reported that two of its staffers had been missing in Syria since Saturday night, saying Beirut-based producer Ayat Basma and cameraman Ezzat Baltaji had been expected to cross into Lebanon by road and be picked up by a taxi.
Reuters said it had asked for Syrian officials' help in securing the journalists' safe return.
Syria's state of emergency has been in force since Assad's Baath party took power on March 8, 1963. It lets the government detain suspects without trial and exercise strict control over the media.
It also allows civilians to be tried in military courts.
Assad's decisions are effectively law but the state of emergency would have to be formally canceled by a presidential decree requiring approval of the cabinet. The decree would then be referred to a parliamentary committee for approval before actually going into effect.
The next scheduled cabinet meeting is Tuesday.
Habash, the lawmaker, told the AP before the parliament session Sunday that it might vote on a section of the constitution that mandates Baath party leadership of the nation. The amendment of the constitution's section 8 would open the way for the formation of parties besides the Baath and 11 other closely associated parties known as the National Progressive Front.
There was no word of such a vote after the session.
(This version corrects that activists, not the Syrian government, said Latakia Baath offices were burnt.)
Middle East 
Syrian TV showed images of what it described as a mass grave in Jisr al-Shughour 
Syria prepares response to 'massacre'
THREE months in and the uprising in Syria is growing ever bloodier. Between Friday and Sunday over 150 people were killed in the biggest protests the country has seen yet. Most of Friday's dead were shot in the central city of Hama after thousands took to the streets for the second Friday in a row. Security forces shot dozens of unarmed protesters. On Friday the internet was cut across most of the country, making it difficult to get information out. The city has seen this kind of violence, and worse, before. In 1982 the then president Hafez Assad crushed the Muslim Brotherhood there, killing more than 10,000, and perhaps twice that.
Refugees' tales of brutality
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