King Abdullah and Obama tell Syria killings ‘must end now’

Speaking by telephone, Obama and his key Arab ally in the region "expressed their shared, deep concerns about the Syrian government's use of violence against its citizens," the White House said in a statement.
"They agreed that the Syrian regime's brutal campaign of violence against the Syrian people must end immediately, and to continue close consultations about the situation in the days ahead."
King Abdullah and Obama also discussed ways of strengthening bilateral relations as well as major regional and international issues, the Saudi Press Agency said.
The call came after Saudi Arabia recalled its ambassador from Damascus on Monday and King Abdullah said the Syrian crackdown is not acceptable. "Syria should think wisely before it's too late ... and enact reforms that are not merely promises but actual reforms."
Kuwait and Bahrain followed suit this week, while the Gulf Cooperation Council and the Arab League condemned the violence that has left more than 2,150 people dead, including more than 400 members of the security forces, according to rights activists.
Despite the two leaders' appeal Saturday, Syria continued its bloody crackdown on dissent. Troops killed three people as tanks swept into a coastal city, activists said. The British-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said two people were killed and 15 wounded in heavy gunfire after around 20 military vehicles entered the Ramle district of Latakia, on the Mediterranean coast. Soldiers backed by loyalist militia known as Shabbiha were also deployed in the city's Sulaiba district, the group's head Rami Abdel Rahman said.
"They are arresting dozens of people," he said, adding that many people were fleeing the assault.
Troops and Shabbiha killed one person in the town of Qusair, near the Lebanese border, and made arrests in nearby Jousiyah village, he said. The bodies of four people arrested during an assault last week in the Houla Plain north of Homs city were returned to their families, he added.
Since the start of Ramadan in early August, President Bashar Assad has stepped up the military campaign, launching army assaults on the central city of Hama and the city of Deir Al-Zour.
After a wave of Arab criticism of Damascus last week, the Jeddah-based Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) accused Syria on Saturday of using "excessive armed force" and called on Damascus to stop the bloodshed.
OIC Secretary-General Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu urged Assad "to exercise utmost restraint through the immediate halt to the use of force to suppress popular demonstrations."
He called on Damascus "to engage in dialogue with all parties in Syria in order to agree on acceptable reform measures and to expedite their implementation."
Ihsanoglu "expressed the readiness of the OIC to play a role in this regard."
Turkey, which shares a border with Syria, has also expressed growing impatience with Assad's scorched earth policy, as has Russia.
Washington has steadily ratcheted up the pressure on Damascus, imposing new sanctions and saying Assad has lost all legitimacy, but the US government has so far stopped short of openly calling for Assad to step down.