Anti-government protesters in Syria

More than 5,000 anti-government protesters in Syria have taken over the main square of the country's third-largest city, Homs, vowing to occupy the site until President Bashar Assad is ousted. The government, however, blamed the weeks of anti-government unrest in the country on ultra-conservative Muslims seeking to establish a fundamentalist state and terrorise the people in the latest official effort to portray the reform movement as populated by extremists.

The stand-off in Homs followed funeral processions by more than 10,000 mourners for some of those killed in clashes on Sunday that a rights group said left at least 12 people dead. It also brought a high-stakes challenge to security forces over whether to risk more bloodshed - and international backlash - by trying to clear the square.

The government has in the past blamed "armed gangs" seeking to stir up unrest for many of the killings, such as the ones who fatally shot seven people, including three army officers, on Sunday in Homs. On Monday, the Interior Ministry identified the gangs as "armed Salafi groups", referring to an ultra-conservative form of Islam that has its roots in Saudi Arabia and can be found all over the region.

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