335 wanted people surrender in N Syria

DAMASCUS - As many as 335 wanted people turned themselves in to authorities in the northern province of Idlib Saturday amid renewed violence reported in other parts of Syria, state-run SANA news agency reported.

The Idlib province has emerged as one of the main battlegrounds between rebel forces and government troops. The clashes in Idlib, which is on the borders with Turkey, have sent thousands of people fleeing for their lives to neighboring Turkey.

Government troops have managed to dislodge most of the rebels in Idlib but are still quashing remnants of those fighters in the northern area, a well informed source told Xinhua recently.

Last week, Syria announced its approval of a six-point plan aimed at a cease-fire by Kofi Annan, the UN-Arab League joint envoy to Syria. However, the government has also requested a written guarantee that the armed groups will respond in line with the government's pledge.

Annan's six-point plan calls for the withdrawal of heavy weapons and troops from populated areas, a daily halt of fighting for the delivery of humanitarian aid and treatment of the wounded, and talks between the government and opposition.

On Saturday, Turkey's Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said that his country will wait "patiently" to see if Syria abides by its pledges to cease fire on the April 10 deadline, warning that Turkey may undertake certain "steps" if violence persists after the deadline.

Erdogan didn't spell details on what his "steps" might be, however, his government has been reportedly discussing the possibility of imposing a buffer zone along its borders with Syria.

In a report issued Saturday, the pan-Arab al-Arabiya TV cited an opposition activist Bahiya Mardini as saying that Turkey's Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu has promised to impose a buffer zone on the borders if Syria fails to abide by the UN deadline.

Mardini said Davutoglu made the remarks during a recent meeting with the Syrian opposition abroad.

Meanwhile, SANA said that competent authorities raided Saturday many armed groups' hideouts in the Douma suburb of the capital Damascus, adding that the raid resulted in confiscating large amounts of weapons and ammunition in addition to communication devices.

Unidentified number of gunmen were killed during the raid, SANA said, adding that government forces also arrested a number of the most dangerous wanted people.

In central Homs province, engineering units dismantled Saturday five explosive devices weighing between 10 to 40 kilograms that were planted in different areas at the Deir Baalabeh neighborhood.

Opposition activists said that Deir Baalabeh district and the Douma suburb were under a large-scale military operation over the past days.

The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said government troops stormed the village of al-Latamneh in central Hama province Saturday, killing at least 40 people.

Activists also reported heavy clashes with rebels in restive areas of Homs such as Rastan, Deir Baalabeh and Qusair.

The activists group reportedly put the overall death toll on Saturday at 87, while another opposition group the Local Coordination Committees put the toll as high as 121.

The opposition report couldn't be independently checked.

The UN estimated that more than 9,000 people have so far been killed in the Syrian conflict, including at least 500 children, while Syria says 6,044 have died, including 2,566 soldiers and police.