Syrian tanks occupy Hama square, shell city: residents (Reuters)

AMMAN (Reuters) – Syrian tanks occupied Orontes Square in central Hama after heavy shelling of the city on Wednesday, resident said.

“All communications have been cut off. The regime is using the media focus on the Hosni Mubarak trial to finish off Hama,” one of the residents told Reuters by satellite phone from the city, adding that shelling concentrated on al-Hader district, large parts of which were was razed during a 1982 military assault on Hama that killed thousands.

The square has been the venue of some of the largest demonstrations against President Bashar al-Assad’s rule during a five month street uprising for political freedoms.

(Reporting by Khaled Yacoub Oweis, Amman newsroom)

(The following story corrects the spelling of Orontes Square)

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