International pressure continues to mount on Syria

Syria claims it will weather economic sanctions set by the Arab League, EU and Turkey International pressure is mounting on the Syrian government to stop its crackdown on dissent, with the European Union expected to expand its sanctions against the country's oil sector. Diplomats said a decision to add the state-owned General Petroleum Corporation, along with several other Syrian firms, to the list of sanctioned companies was expected on Thursday.
Measures could also be taken to ban selling of software that could be used to monitor internet and telephone communications.
Arab countries are also not holding back in their criticism of Damascus's crackdown that has led to a UN estimate of 3,500 deaths. Many activisists state the approximation is conservative.
The world's largest Islamic body on Wednesday urged Syria to "immediately stop using excessive force" against citizens, to avert the threat of foreign intervention.
The Organisation of Islamic Co-operation (OIC) also urged Syria to co-operate with the Arab League, which has imposed unprecedented sanctions on Damascus.
In a statement released after the group's meeting in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, the OIC urged "all parties in Syria to renounce violence and resort to peaceful means".
Separately, an Arab League committee met at the bloc's Cairo headquarters to decide on a list of Syrian officials who will be banned from Arab countries and whose bank accounts will be frozen.
Syrian Foreign Minister Wallid Al-Moallem denied Damascus' complicity in the bloodshed, indicating that armed terrorist groups were terrorizing citizens and massacring civilians and army members.
Seventeen people were banned from travel to Arab states, including President Bashar al-Assad's brother Maher, Egypt's
state news agency said. The list also included the defence and interior ministers, intelligence officials and senior military officers.
The committee was also due to decide on when to implement a decision to end all flights to and from Syria and a list of necessary foodstuffs that will be excluded from the ban on trade with Syria's government.
In response to the Qatari Foreign Minister's remarks, Al-Moallem said that Syria wasn't against singing the agreed protocol, did not want it as a ''subjugation contract''.
He added that Syria did not recognise the AL decisions issued as it was deliberately absented while suspending its membership and imposing economic sanctions on the Syrian people.
''Our problem with neighboring countries is that they are smuggling weapons and funding gunmen and training them in special camps while Syria is extending a hand of cooperation to these countries to control the borders,'' added Al-Moallem.
Al-Moallem also reviewed the decisions adopted by the Syrian leadership to carry out the comprehensive reform program with a clear timetable, which are set to be consummated by adopting a modern constitution that guarantees political pluralism and separation of powers.
''The comprehensive national dialogue is not restricted to the authority and opposition, but it has to engage representatives of millions of Syrians who have legitimate demands and don't belong to either side,'' Al-Moallem said.  
The Syrian government also announced the release of 912 political prisoners.
Further tightening regional pressure, Turkey has said it will suspend all financial dealings with Syria and freeze the assets of Assad's government.
Ahmet Davutoglu, the Turkish foreign minister, said on Wednesday that Assad's government had come "to the end of the road".
 He said Turkey will block the delivery of all weapons and military equipment to Syria.
"Every bullet fired, every bombed mosque has eliminated the legitimacy of the Syrian leadership and has widened the gap between us," Davutoglu said. "Syria has squandered the last chance that it was given."
Al-Moallem's response was that Syria was "more than capable of managing its own affairs than any other side and refuses to be taught by others or accept their dictates", stressing that Syria wouldn't cede its sovereignty and independent decision.
Syria's government has said the Arab League declared an "economic war" when it decided to impose sanctions.
Adnan Mahmoud, the country's information minister, said the cabinet looked at several measure to cope with the impact of sanctions.
He said Syrians should not fear shortages in basic commodities.
"The government reiterates its commitment to secure the provision of the needs of Syrian citizens with the existence of self-sufficiency and a strategic stockpile of basic commodities and food, which should assure the people and push away their fears of lacking any commodity from the markets," he said.
Mahmoud said Syria would also look to "friendly" markets that are not affected by the "American and Western" policies.
On the ground in Syria, the international criticism seemed to have little effect as violence continued on Wednesday.
Seven Syrian soldiers were killed by army renegades and six civilians were shot dead, according to the UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.
The group said clashes erupted in the southern town of Dael when security forces moved in during the early morning, and continued well into afternoon.
"Two security force vehicles were blown up. Seven [troops] were killed," Rami Abdel-Rahman, head of the observatory, said.
In the north of Syria, at least six civilians were shot dead when security forces broke up an anti-government demonstration in the city of Idlib, he said.
Activists in Syria claim 14 people were killed by security forces on Wednesday, including a nine year old child. The worst violence appeared to have occurred in the north west city of Idlib, according to the the Local Co-ordination Committees of Syria (LCCS). It said five people were killed in the city when security forces stormed Ibrahim Hanano Square.
It also claimed the security forces surrounded hospitals in the town to prevent those wounded from getting treatment.
Armed rebels fighting were also reported to have clashed with security forces in the flashpoint southern province of Daraa, a rights group reported.
"Violent clashes erupted between security forces and groups of (army) deserters" in the provincial protest hub of Dael, the Observatory said in a statement.
Electricity and telephone lines have been cut off in the area, said the statement which quoted a witness as saying the clashes were triggered by the arrival in the town by at least 30 armoured personnel carriers.
At least two government vehicles were destroyed in the fighting, according to the witness cited by the Observatory.
Saudi Arabia urged its citizens on Tuesday to quickly leave Syria to avoid getting caught in a military crackdown on months of popular protests, the Saudi state news agency reported.
The United Arab Emirates' airlines also decided to suspend flights to Syria next week under sanctions imposed by the Arab League.
Even Lebanon said it would enforce the Arab League sanctions on Syria despite not supporting them earlier, Economy Minister Nicola Nahhas told AFP Wednesday.
"We are committed to implementing the Arab League sanctions," Nahhas said, pointing out that the Syrian government in any case had no trade dealings with Lebanon.
Nahhas said the Arab League sanctions were clear in that while no transactions could take place with the Syrian government, that did not apply to the private sector.
He said Lebanese banks however would have no dealings with the Syrian central bank or any individuals targeted by the sanctions.
Lebanon, whose government is dominated by the pro-Syrian Hezbollah movement, disassociated itself from the vote at the Arab League.
Syria has long held sway in Lebanese politics and the revolt threatening the regime in Damascus has deepened a rift between the ruling pro-Syrian bloc headed by Hezbollah and an anti-Syrian opposition headed by Sunni ex-premier Saad Hariri.
The UK Foreign Secretary meanwhile accused Iran’s government of supporting repression in Syria. Entering the ministers’ meeting in Brussels on Thursday, foreign secretary William Hague said, “There is a link between what is happening in Iran and what is
happening in Syria.
European and Arab diplomats told Reuters on Wednesday the top United Nations human rights forum would announce on Wednesday a special Friday session that was expected to condemn Syria for crimes against humanity.
The move is partly designed to put pressure on China and Russia to take a stronger stand against Assad’s government.
The 47-member UN Human Rights Council’s third session on Syria in eight months is being convened days after a UN commission of inquiry said Syrian government forces had committed murder, torture and rape in their crackdown on pro-democracy protests.
         “This is very much being led by the Arab group. Some Arab ambassadors are at least as concerned as the European Union and United States and possibly more,” Britain’s ambassador Peter Gooderham told Reuters.
“There is no question that the resolution will be very hard-hitting at the Council's session on Friday,” he said. “It is all intended to build up the maximum pressure that the Human Rights Council can apply.”
An Arab diplomat in Geneva, who declined to be identified, told Reuters: “Arab support is there, the three Gulf Cooperation Council countries who are Council members - Qatar, Kuwait and Saudi Arabia - and Jordan. I’m sure Libya will be with us too.”
“It is meant to be a tool for later action in New York,” he said, referring to the General Assembly and Security Council.