Major-General Robert Mood (centre) in the town of Al-Rastan, Homs province, Syria. Photo: UN/N. Singh

NY Times – New fighting was reported in the Syrian capital, Damascus, on Monday, a day after the government denied that it had used heavy weapons to attack a small farming community, where United Nations monitors documented substantial destruction in an assault that left scores dead and drew sharp international condemnation.

At the same time, Syria’s international isolation seemed to deepen as Morocco expelled the Syrian ambassador, the official Moroccan news agency said. The move followed a wave of embassy closures and other diplomatic display of displeasure designed to increase pressure by the United States, its Western allies, neighboring Turkey and some Arab countries in recent months.

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