"Syrian Free Army will protect me": Syria swings on opposing stances

Turkey is ready to act in unison with the Arab League if Syria fails to show good intentions to end an eight-month-old bloody crackdown, Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said on Friday.  

He told a joint news conference with his Italian counterpart Giulio Terzi that he was ready to attend a meeting of Arab League foreign ministers that could take place on Sunday and that he was continuing consultations with the European Union, NATO and U.N. Security Council members.  

The Arab League has threatened to impose sanctions on Syria unless it signs a deal on Friday to allow monitors into the country.  

Russia expressed opposition to sanctions against Syria's government on Friday and said it needs more information about a French proposal for "humanitarian corridors" in the country before taking a position.   

"At the current stage, what is needed is not resolutions, not sanctions, not pressure, but internal Syrian dialogue," Foreign Ministry spokesman Alexander Lukashevich told a weekly news conference.  

He spoke as Syria faced a Friday deadline to sign an Arab deal allowing monitors into the country or incur sanctions over its crackdown on protests including halting flights, curbing trade and stopping deals with the central bank.      

Lukashevich spoke cautiously about the French proposal for "humanitarian corridors" to alleviate suffering. "I think we will return to this question when more clarity emerges about what specifically is being discussed," he said.  

Security forces shelled the restive provinces of Homs, Idlib and Hama on Friday as Syria was a few hours away from a deadline to allow an Arab League observer mission into the country to halt the violence or be subjected to sanctions, activists said.  

The shelling occurred as the military mounted a wide scale search for army defectors. Shells rained heavily on neighbourhoods in the central province of Homs, which witnessed protests overnight, activists based in Beirut said.  

Over the past 24 hours, the shelling has killed more than 35 people in the province, among them a woman and two children, activists said early on Friday.  

If Syria fails to meet the deadline, the Arab League said it would meet on Sunday to decide what sanctions to impose on the government.  

The continued bloodshed came as the opposition prepared for demonstrations on Friday after weekly prayers under the slogan "The Syrian Free Army will protect me".