Syria army to quit protest town Thursday

Syrian troops which have kept a lockdown on the town of Daraa south of Damascus since April 25 after it became a focus of anti-regime protests are to pull back Thursday, General Riad Haddad told AFP. "The army has completed its mission in Daraa and is to begin withdrawing its troops in the next few hours," said the general, who is director of the military's political department. "This will be done in phases and life will return to normal in this town," he added. Separately a rights actvist said Syrian troops arrested more than 300 people in the town of Saqba just outside Damascus Thursday as they pressed an ironfisted crackdown on seven weeks of unprecedented protests.