Syrian troops shell restive city, add troops

Syrian army tanks shelled the old quarter of a city at the heart of the country's six-week-old uprising Sunday and rolled in more reinforcements to the area, which has been under siege for nearly a week, said an eyewitness.
Residents appeared to remain defiant: Unable to leave their homes, they chanted ``God is Great!' to each other from their windows, infuriating security forces and raising each other's spirits.
``Our houses are close to each other, so even though we can't go outside, we stand by the windows and chant,' said a Daraa resident, speaking to The Associated Press by satellite phone. ``Our neighbours can hear us and they respond.'
Daraa has been without water, fuel or electricity since Monday, when the regime sent in troops backed by tanks and snipers to crush protests seeking an end to President Bashar Assad's authoritarian rule.
Tanks and armoured personal vehicles have cut off neighbourhoods, and snipers nesting on rooftops throughout the city have kept residents pinned in their homes. Other areas of the country also have come under military control, but Daraa has faced the most serious stranglehold.
The death toll has soared to 535 nation-wide from government forces firing on demonstrators action that has drawn international condemnation and US financial penalties on top figures in his regime.
Tanks fired shells into the heart of Daraa's ancient Roman quarter Sunday, said a resident who lives on the outskirts of the city. He said he could identify the weaponry because he was a former soldier.
Men were forbidden to leave their homes but women were allowed out in the early morning to search for bread, he said, speaking on condition of anonymity for fear that Syrian forces would identify him.
The witness' accounts could not be independently verified. Syria has banned nearly all foreign media and restricted access to trouble spots, making it almost impossible to confirm the dramatic events shaking one of the most authoritarian regimes in the Arab world.
In addition to the military siege, security forces continued their arrest campaign of activists and suspected demonstrators, said Damascus-based activist Razan Zaitouneh, who is in hiding with her husband.
``They want to paralyse the (protest) movement,' Zaitouneh said Sunday.
Zaitouneh said security forces arrested her husband's 20-year-old brother to pressure the couple to turn themselves in. She said the arrest happened on Saturday afternoon after the young man was checking on their house in Damascus.
``He called us saying they (security forces) are banging heavily on the door. He was terribly frightened and he said they would rip off the door,' Zaitouneh said.
An hour later, Zaitouneh said the young man called them again, clearly shaken. ``He said: come, I want to see you it was clear he was under pressure to talk to us,' she said. They have not been able to contact the young man since.