At least 40 protesters killed after violent crackdown

Syrian anti-government protesters Damascus - Agencies   Syrian forces have killed at least 40 protesters as tens of thousands flooded the streets after Friday prayers, activists have said, despite President Bashar al-Asad's assurances that assaults on anti

-regime protesters had ended.
Meanwhile, Russia and Turkey dismissed growing calls led by US President Barack Obama for Asad to quit, offering the embattled Syrian leader rare support despite a damning UN report on his "apparent shoot to kill" policy.
On the political front, a group of "revolutionary blocs" formed a coalition vowing to bring down the regime and paid tribute to more than 2,000 civilians killed in a crackdown on protesters since mid-March.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said 15 people were killed, including an 11-year-old and a 72-year-old, in the southern province of Daraa, epicentre of the anti-regime protests that erupted March 15.
Six were killed in the central city of Homs, one in the Harasta suburb of Damascus and another in the capital's suburb of Douma.
 The Observatory said security forces opened fire on protesters, also wounding 25 people, in the Ghabagheb, Inkhil, Al-Herak and Nawa neighbourhoods in Daraa, but the official SANA news agency blamed the shooting on "armed men."
SANA said a policeman and a civilian were killed in Ghabagheb and six security forces wounded.
People poured into the streets of major towns as they emerged from the weekly prayers, with the largest anti-regime demonstration reported in Homs.
Around 20,000 in Al-Khalidiyeh demanded the ouster of Asad, said the Observatory, which also reported rallies in the eastern oil hub of Deir Ezzor, and in the northern cities of Latakia and Banias.
Some 10,000 people marched in the predominantly Kurdish cities of Qamishli and Amuda, according to an activist at the scene, while other protests took place in and around Damascus and in Hama in central Syria.
The Observatory said troops and security forces deployed in several areas to prevent protests from taking place, including in Latakia where pro-regime "shabiha' militias pounced on worshippers as they emerged from a mosque.
Security forces opened fire and conducted arrests to prevent protests from spilling into streets in Damascus neighbourhoods.
Friday's rallies put to the test a commitment given by Asad to UN chief Ban Ki-moon the previous day that his security forces have ended operations against civilians.
The Syrian Revolution 2011 Facebook group, one of the drivers of the protests, had called for the demonstrations under the slogan, "Friday of the beginnings of victory."
The civilian death toll from the security force crackdown on the protests has now passed 2,000, UN Under Secretary General B. Lynn Pascoe told the UN Security Council on Thursday.
And UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay told the council there was "reliable corroborative evidence" that Syrian forces are deliberately shooting anti-regime demonstrators.
Frustrated that international calls for a halt to the bloodletting were being snubbed by Damascus, US President Barack Obama on Thursday called for Asad to quit for the first time since the protests broke out.
"We have consistently said that President Asad must lead a democratic transition or get out of the way. He has not led. For the sake of the Syrian people, the time has come for President Asad to step aside," Obama said.
His call was quickly echoed by the leaders of Britain, France and Germany while Spain followed suit on Friday.
But Russia and Turkey disagreed.
"We do not share the United States and the European Union's point of view regarding President al-Asad and will continue to pursue our consistent and principled stance on Syria," the foreign ministry said in Moscow.
A government official in Ankara agreed and told AFP a call for Asad's ouster must come from the Syrian people themselves.
"First and foremost the people of Syria must tell Asad to go. This has not been heard in the streets of Syria," the official said.
"The Syrian opposition is not united and we haven't seen yet a collective call from Syrians to tell Asad to go, like in Egypt and Libya."
But the opposition announced Friday the creation of the so-called Syrian Revolution General Commission, joining 44 "revolution blocs" due to "the dire need to unite the field, media and political efforts" of the pro-democracy movement.
Meanwhile, the European Union added 20 new names to a list of Syrian individuals and businesses hit with sanctions, with a deal also now close for a ban on oil imports.
EU governments meeting in Brussels decided to prepare detailed plans for an embargo on the import of Syrian crude oil into the bloc and suspending assistance to Syria by the European Investment Bank.
"We acted pretty quickly and have now got an oil embargo in the works," said Michael Mann, spokesman for EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton.
European nations buy most of Syria's oil exports, which amounted to some 148,000 barrels a day in 2009, according to the US Energy Information Administration.
Meanwhile, the United Nations said a much-delayed humanitarian mission would go to Syria this weekend after the claims of a shoot-to-kill policy against protesters, stadium executions and children feared killed in government custody.
A Russian delegation was also due to visit Syria for talks with Assad and members of the opposition, Senator Aslambek Aslakhanov told Interfax news agency.

Syrian activists assured that security forces shot dead 40 protesters in each of Deraa, Homs and Harasta during the demonstrations "Fri Gospels" in Syria. According to activists, 20 were killed in Deraa, southern Syria  after security forces opened fire on worshipers in Sahaba Mosque in the Angel. While Turkey and Russia rejected calls by Western countries, headed by Syrian President Bashar al-Assad asking him to step down from power. Sources reported Friday evening that it was heard the sound of 4 explosions at Mezze military airport in Medmah Sham.