<p>Among the dead from Saturday were four intelligence agents killed by gunmen who raked their car with gunfire, and two mutinous soldiers who died in clashes with regular troops in the central town of Shayzar, rights campaigners said.<br /><br />The latest bloodletting added to the more than 3,500 killed since mid-March, and came just hours before the passing of Saturday’s midnight (2200 GMT) deadline from the Arab League for Assad to end the crackdown or face sanctions.<br /><br />Call for restraint<br /><br />With rebel troops inflicting mounting losses on the regular army, Turkey and the United States both raised the spectre of civil war and Russia called for restraint.<br />But in an interview with London’s Sunday Times, conducted before the Arab League deadline lapsed, Assad said he was “definitely” prepared to fight and die for Syria if faced with foreign intervention.<br /><br />“This goes without saying and is an absolute,” he said.<br />The president said he felt sorrow for each drop of Syrian blood spilt but insisted Damascus must go after armed rebel gangs and enforce law and order.<br /><br />“The conflict will continue and the pressure to subjugate Syria will continue,” he said. “I assure you that Syria will not bow down and that it will continue to resist the pressure being imposed on it.”<br /><br />Pretext for intervention<br />Assad accused the Arab League of creating a pretext for Western military intervention, which he said would trigger an “earthquake” across the Middle East.<br /><br />But after talks with Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin in Moscow, French Prime Minister Francois Fillon said: “It is indispensable to increase international pressure. We have tabled a resolution at the United Nations. We hope it will find as wide support as possible.”<br /></p>
<p>Among the dead from Saturday were four intelligence agents killed by gunmen who raked their car with gunfire, and two mutinous soldiers who died in clashes with regular troops in the central town of Shayzar, rights campaigners said.<br /><br />The latest bloodletting added to the more than 3,500 killed since mid-March, and came just hours before the passing of Saturday’s midnight (2200 GMT) deadline from the Arab League for Assad to end the crackdown or face sanctions.<br /><br />Call for restraint<br /><br />With rebel troops inflicting mounting losses on the regular army, Turkey and the United States both raised the spectre of civil war and Russia called for restraint.<br />But in an interview with London’s Sunday Times, conducted before the Arab League deadline lapsed, Assad said he was “definitely” prepared to fight and die for Syria if faced with foreign intervention.<br /><br />“This goes without saying and is an absolute,” he said.<br />The president said he felt sorrow for each drop of Syrian blood spilt but insisted Damascus must go after armed rebel gangs and enforce law and order.<br /><br />“The conflict will continue and the pressure to subjugate Syria will continue,” he said. “I assure you that Syria will not bow down and that it will continue to resist the pressure being imposed on it.”<br /><br />Pretext for intervention<br />Assad accused the Arab League of creating a pretext for Western military intervention, which he said would trigger an “earthquake” across the Middle East.<br /><br />But after talks with Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin in Moscow, French Prime Minister Francois Fillon said: “It is indispensable to increase international pressure. We have tabled a resolution at the United Nations. We hope it will find as wide support as possible.”<br /></p>