Dozens killed as Assad defends Syria crackdown
Syrian security forces backed by tanks killed at least 27 people on Sunday, activists said, as President Bashar al-Assad defended what he termed a crackdown on "outlaws" despite rising condemnation.
While the pope joined an international chorus of concern over the bloodshed, Assad on defended his security forces' deadly crackdown on anti-regime protests as the "duty of the state" to confront "outlaws." (AFP)
