Syria: 'Protesters Shot Dead' In Hama

The number of people killed during anti-government protests in Syria has risen to at least 63, according to a human rights group.

:: Images of protesters in this video are from a social media website and the source cannot be verified.

The organisation Sawasiah said 53 demonstrators were killed in the city of Hama, one in Damascus and two in the northwestern province of Idlib.

Seven people were also killed in the town of Rastan in central Syria, which has been under a military assault and siege by tanks since Sunday.

Rami Abdul-Rahman, director of the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, said around 50,000 were protesting in Hama when security forces opened fire.

It was one of the largest anti-government protests so far in the country's 10-week revolt against President Bashar Assad's regime, he said.

"Because there are many people who have severe injuries, I expect the death toll to rise," Mr Abdul-Rahman added.

"These figures are not from all the hospitals," he said.

Syrians had taken to the streets throughout the country to demand President Assad step down, rejecting government concessions to free political prisoners and start a national dialogue.

In response, the regime has cut internet services across most of the country, activists have claimed, cutting off the lifeblood of a movement motivated by graphic YouTube videos of the crackdown and protests organised on Facebook.

Syria's state-run TV said three "saboteurs" were killed when police tried to stop them from setting a government building on fire in Hama.

The Syrian government blames armed gangs and religious extremists for the violence.

Britain has accused Syria of showing "an abhorrent disregard for human life".

Foreign Office Minister Alistair Burt called for an end to the "callous and brutal" response of the regime and said President Assad needed to show that his promises of a "national dialogue" and other reforms were serious.