Syrian forces crack down on protesters

Syrian security forces swept into the coastal city of Banias on Tuesday, a protest leader said, taking control of another urban centre from demonstrators challenging the authoritarian rule of President Bashar al-Assad. "They moved into the main market area. The army has sealed the northern entrance and security forces (sealed) the south," Anas al-Shughri told Reuters.
"They armed Alawite villages in the hills overlooking Banias and we are now facing militias from the east," he said. Assad, a member of the minority Alawite sect whose family has ruled majority Sunni Muslim Syria for 41 years, is pursuing a violent crackdown on six weeks of protests which began with demands for greater freedoms and now seek his overthrow. Germany and Britain said they were seeking the imposition of European Union sanctions against Syrian leaders - after a US announcement of sanctions last week - and France said Assad should be among the targets for sanctions.