Canada strongly condemned on Sunday "the brutal attack" in Hama by Syrian security forces "against peaceful protestors."
"The use of military force, including tanks, by the Assad regime to suppress the Syrian people?s calls for democratic reform is utterly indefensible," said Prime Minister Stephen Harper in a statement.
According to activists, Syrian forces killed nearly 140 people on Sunday including at least 100 when the army stormed the flashpoint protest city of Hama to crush dissent on the eve of Ramadan.
Harper added that Canada is concerned about reports that a key opposition official has been arrested and Harper said his government "calls for the immediate release of this individual, along with all others detained because of peaceful protests."
Opposition figure and chief of one of the country's largest clans, Nawaf Al-Bachir was arrested Saturday afternoon according to the Syrian League for the Defense of Human Rights.
"The use of military force, including tanks, by the Assad regime to suppress the Syrian people?s calls for democratic reform is utterly indefensible," said Harper.
"The status quo is not acceptable. The Syrian President is faced with a clear choice: deliver the reform that the Syrian people are asking or get out of the way so others can deliver it," he added.
The Syrian president replaced the governor of Hama after a record 500,000 protesters rallied in the opposition bastion on July 1 calling for the fall of the regime.
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 Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.
"The use of military force, including tanks, by the Assad regime to suppress the Syrian people?s calls for democratic reform is utterly indefensible," said Prime Minister Stephen Harper in a statement.
According to activists, Syrian forces killed nearly 140 people on Sunday including at least 100 when the army stormed the flashpoint protest city of Hama to crush dissent on the eve of Ramadan.
Harper added that Canada is concerned about reports that a key opposition official has been arrested and Harper said his government "calls for the immediate release of this individual, along with all others detained because of peaceful protests."
Opposition figure and chief of one of the country's largest clans, Nawaf Al-Bachir was arrested Saturday afternoon according to the Syrian League for the Defense of Human Rights.
"The use of military force, including tanks, by the Assad regime to suppress the Syrian people?s calls for democratic reform is utterly indefensible," said Harper.
"The status quo is not acceptable. The Syrian President is faced with a clear choice: deliver the reform that the Syrian people are asking or get out of the way so others can deliver it," he added.
The Syrian president replaced the governor of Hama after a record 500,000 protesters rallied in the opposition bastion on July 1 calling for the fall of the regime.
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 Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.
