Syrian troops take mosque, 4 Dead

 Syrian army troops supported by tanks and helicopters Saturday took a prominent mosque which had been controlled by residents in a town in the South under siege, killing four people, a witness said.

The operation in the city of Dara came a day after President Bashar al-Assad has triggered a lethal force to suppress a revolt old month, killing at least 65 people, mainly in the border town.

Dara resident Abdullah Abazeid, declared that the assault on the mosque lasts 90 minutes, in which troops fired heavy machine guns and tank shells. Three helicopters took part in the operation, dropping parachutists on the mosque itself, he said.

The Omari mosque in the old city of the Roman-era town, had been occupied by residents of Dara.

Dara is at the heart of a six-week uprising and is under siege since Monday, when the Government first sent in tanks to crush the demonstrations.

Among the dead was Osama Ahmad, the son of the imam of the mosque, Sheikh Ahmad Sayasna, according to Abazeid. The other three were a woman and her two daughters were killed when a tank shell hit their house near the mosque, he said.

In another development in the region of Dara, 138 member of Assad that party ruling Baath resigned Saturday to protest against the repression. Lists of persons who have resigned, with their party rank, identity card numbers and signatures, were sent to the Associated Press by militants.

It was not possible to verify the authenticity of the lists of members of low rank. Earlier this week, another 200 mainly low-level Baath party in the province of Dara members resigned on the deadly crackdown.

In the early hours of the morning, military reinforcements poured into Dara, including 20 armoured tanks, four tanks and a military ambulance, a resident of the city told the AP.

The head of the Syrian Observatory of the rights of man, Rami Abdul-Rahman, said 65 people were killed Friday. with 36 of the dead in the province of Dara, 27 in the central region of Homs, one in Latakia and the other in the countryside of Damascus.

In all, 535 civilians have been killed since the uprising began in mid-March, he said.

An activist said authorities have asked the families of some of the people killed Friday to organize small funeral assisted by members of the family only. Similar orders received last week, but most people do not abide by them, added the activist.

The move appears to be an attempt by the authorities to avoid more bloodshed, with funeral in the weeks turned into demonstrations.

Ammar Qurabi, who heads the national organization for the rights of man in Syria, said authorities forced the families of the dead to sign documents saying that their relatives were killed by "armed groups."

He added that a hundred people in the region of Homs is missing which could mean that they have been killed, detained or injured.

Dara was without electricity, water and phones since Monday, with residents fleeing across the border. The uprising began in Dara, triggered by the arrest of adolescents who wrote anti-Government graffiti on a wall.

Sporadic firing was heard in the city on Saturday, mainly from the central zone, said another witness of Dara.

He said last week, troops were allowing women to go out to buy bread, but on Saturday, they were arrested.

In the coastal town of Banias, a resident said armed forces had withdrawn from the city centre after the positions it more early in the month.