Soldiers killed as crisis accelerates

BEIRUT (AP):

Army defectors ambushed dozens of Syrian troops and regime forces gunned down civilians during one of the bloodiest days of the eight-month-old uprising, which appeared yesterday to be spiralling out of President Bashar Assad's control.

Up to 90 people were killed in a gruesome wave of violence Monday, activists said. The extent of the bloodshed only came to light yesterday, in part because corpses lying in the streets did not reach the morgue until daylight.

As the bloodshed spiked, Assad's former allies were turning on him in rapid succession, a sign of profound impatience with a leader who has failed to stem months of unrest that could explode into a regional conflagration.

Turkey, Jordan and the 22-member Arab League all signalled they were fed up with Assad's response to the uprising and were ready to pressure him to go.