Residents of the Syrian city of Deraa say 

the army has seized control of a mosque associated

 with anti-government protesters. Witnesses said troops backed by

 tanks stormed the Omari mosque. As Western journalists

 have been denied permission to enter Syria,

 Owen Bennett-Jones reports from neighboring Lebanon.

Residents of Deraa say the assault on the mosque involved

 sustained heavy gunfire, after which the 

army placed gunmen on the mosque's roof.

 Deraa has been under a virtual siege since Monday.

 With no one allowed to hold funerals, 

bodies are being stored in makeshift morgues. 

But as the residents try to cope with their worsening conditions, 

the new Syrian Prime Minister Adel Safar has been talking

 about political reforms. He said new important legislation

 would soon be approved concerning the law of the parties

 and the media. Syria is currently a one-party state with

 a tightly controlled media.