DAMASCUS/RASTAN/DUBAI: The Syrian army met armed resistance in two towns Thursday, with activists reporting 19 killed in clashes, as Gulf Arab states called for an immediate meeting of Arab League states to discuss the “dire” situation in Syria.

The Gulf Cooperation Council said in a statement that the meeting should be held at foreign ministers’ level and discuss the humanitarian situation in Syria, and study ways “to stop the bloodshed and machine of violence.” They did not immediately announce a date for the talks.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, updating an earlier toll, said 10 people were killed in Banash town in Idlib province in the northwest.

“The Syrian army backed by tanks and armored troop carriers launched an assault this morning on the town of Banash and clashes took place with armed men who were apparently dissidents,” the rights group said.
The Observatory said the army also launched an attack on Taum village, to the east.

“Many houses were partly destroyed and people were wounded … while the noise of heavy machineguns and explosions could be heard in several parts of the town and ambulances seen racing through the streets,” it said.

Rami Abdul-Rahman, who heads the observatory, said six soldiers and two defectors were also killed Thursday in the southern village of Harra in Deraa province, where the uprising began. He said an army force appears to have been ambushed in Harra’s main square.

Syrian authorities have prevented journalists from independently visiting places of confrontation in the uprising and have banned all but a few foreign journalists from entering the country.
The government Thursday organized a trip for local reporters to the rebellious central town of Rastan, which is home to about 70,000 people.

Despite the reported violence, Syrian President Bashar Assad said Syria has “passed the most difficult period” and is now working to become “a model to be followed in the region.” The comments, to a visiting Lebanese delegation, were reported by the official news agency SANA.

In Brussels, the EU decided to freeze the assets of the Commercial Bank of Syria, in a new set of sanctions over the government’s brutal crackdown on protesters, diplomats said.
“Today’s decision is a direct consequence of the appalling and brutal campaign the Syrian regime is waging against its own people,” said EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton.

“Our measures are not aimed at the Syrian people, but aim to deprive the regime of financial revenues and the support base necessary to maintain the repression,” she said.
In London, the Foreign Office summoned the Syrian ambassador to London over alleged intimidation of exiled activists, Foreign Secretary William Hague said.

“The Syrian ambassador was summoned to the Foreign Office this morning and told that any harassment or intimidation of Syrians in our country is unacceptable and will not be tolerated,” Hague told Parliament.
Foreign Office Minister Alistair Burt said Britain would take “appropriate action” if there was evidence of harassment by Syrian diplomats and encouraged anyone who had experienced harassment or intimidation to report this to the police.

“They continue to investigate allegations and we are working with them closely,” he said in a statement.
A Syrian demonstrator in London told Reuters earlier this month that he had been called by the Syrian Embassy in June and warned over his protesting.

The Foreign Office previously called in Khiyami over similar allegations in June and France has said it will not tolerate Syria intimidating opposition activists on French soil. Khiyami denied that the London Embassy was involved in any harassment in his meeting with Geoffrey Adams, the political director at the Foreign Office, according to a Syrian Embassy spokesman.
Rights groups reported further raids Thursday against anti-Assad protesters.

The Local Coordination Committees, which act as umbrella groups for protesters seeking to bring down the president, said soldiers and security forces also carried out a raid on Homs in central Syria, where heavy gunfire could be heard.
Security forces have set up checkpoints and made more than 50 arrests during raids in Qusayr, near the city of Homs, the Observatory said.

The uprising against Assad’s rule began in mid-March amid a wave of anti-government protests in the Arab world that toppled autocrats in Tunisia, Egypt and Libya. Assad has responded with a fierce crackdown, which the U.N. says has left nearly 3,000 people dead.

Syria’s opposition movement has until now focused on peaceful demonstrations, although recently there have been reports of protesters taking up arms to defend themselves against military attacks.

An amateur video posted online by activists showed Syrian troops smoking cigarettes in an armored personnel carrier. A man could be heard in the background saying “Assad’s army enters the city of Banash on the morning of Thursday 13/10.”
Graffiti on the vehicle read “93rd Brigade” and “Bashar only.”

Suleiman Haddad, a member of the outgoing parliament and senior official with Assad’s ruling Baath party Thursday said a committee was formed to amend the constitution. He added that the new constitution will need to be ratified by parliament and later through a referendum.

Since the uprising began, Assad made promises of sweeping reforms but most have not been carried through and the opposition says they will accept nothing short of his departure.