Syrian troops take up fortified positions ahead of protests

On the eve of another round of large protests, US Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton slammed the government’s assault on demonstrators and said the violence showed Assad is weak, though she stopped short of saying he must quit.

“Treating one’s own people in this way is in fact a sign of remarkable weakness,’’ Clinton said during a trip to Greenland.

Assad, 45, is determined to crush the two-month-old uprising despite international pressure and sanctions from Europe and the United States. His government has led one of the most brutal crackdowns in the wave of popular revolts sweeping the Arab world.

Protest organizers were calling for more demonstrations today despite military operations and arrest raids meant to preempt the rallies.

“Authorities are detaining any person who might demonstrate,’’ said Rami Abdul-Rahman, director of the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.

In the northern city of Deir el-Zor, authorities placed cameras inside and outside the Osman bin Afan mosque, where many worshippers have been demonstrating after Friday Muslim prayer services, he said.

Abdul-Rahman added that many former detainees were forced to sign documents saying that they were not subjected to torture and that they will not take part in future “riots.’’

A Western diplomat said 2,000 people have been detained over the past two weeks, for a total of around 8,000 since the Syrian government launched its crackdown. The official, who demanded anonymity to share assessments of the situation in Syria, said Western nations believed that between 600 and 800 people have been killed.

A video dated April 27 in the southern city of Daraa emerged yesterday showing a sniper shooting two people on a motorbike, then preventing residents from rescuing them or getting close.

People in the street could be heard screaming “Traitors!’’ at the security forces.

Also yesterday, Syrian soldiers and tanks surrounded the city of Hama, to which Assad’s father laid waste in 1982 to stamp out an earlier uprising, an activist said. Forces also used clubs to disperse 2,000 demonstrators on a northern university campus on Wednesday night.

In the central city of Homs, a resident said, soldiers set up sand barriers with machine guns perched on top. He added that three tanks were still in the area, despite a report by the private daily Al-Watan that said the army has pulled out of the city after completing its mission.

Most witnesses spoke on condition that their names not be published out of fear for their personal safety.

The government has imposed a media blackout.