Syrian army kills 100 in anti-govt crackdown on the eve of Ramadan

The crackdown on Hama came after more than 500,000 people rallied in the city on Friday following Muslim prayers during which a cleric told the congregation "the regime must go."

Activists also reported deaths in Deir Ezzor, Syria's main gas- and oil-production hub in the east which has become a rallying point for protests along with Hama.

At least 19 people were killed in Deir Ezzor, six in Herak in the south, and one in Al-Bukamal in the east, said Qorabi, adding most of those shot in Deir Ezzor were "hit in the head and the neck" by snipers.

Rami Abdel Rahman, the head of the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights meanwhile told AFP that protesters set ablaze 24 army troop carriers in the Masrib region west of Deir Ezzor.

"They threw Molotov cocktails on a military convoy to stop it from advancing on Deir Ezzor and set ablaze 24 troop carriers," he said.

The Syrian Revolution 2011, an Internet group that has been a driving force behind the protests, urged demonstrators to gather nationwide after Ramadan "taraweeh" evening prayers later Sunday "for retaliation protests."

At least 1,583 civilians and 369 members of the army and security forces have been killed since mid-March in Syria, according to the Observatory.

A US diplomat in Damascus told BBC World Service radio that the violence in Hama amounted to "full-on warfare" and an act of desperation.

"There is one big armed gang in Syria, and it's named the Syrian government," said JJ Harder, the press attache at the American embassy in Damascus.

And senior Republican Senator John McCain accused Syrian authorities of carrying out a "massacre" and told AFP "I hope that there will be a move to bring charges to the International Criminal Court."

Germany threatened to slap new sanctions on Damascus along with its EU partners as France warned that Syria's leaders "will have to answer for their deeds," and Italy called the Hama crackdown a "horrible act."

Criticism also came from neighbour Turkey, which said it was "deeply saddened and disappointed... by the current developments on the eve of holy month of Ramadan."

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