Syrian forces shot dead 20 people on Friday and flooded rural areas around Damascus with troops to try to end six months of demonstrations against President Bashar al-Assad, activists said.
Despite the heavy deployment, activists reported protests on the edges of the capital, the northern province of Idlib bordering Turkey and other parts of Syria. Banners proclaimed protesters were "on course to bring down the regime".
After storming several cities in August to crush protest centres, the Syrian army has swept through rural districts in recent weeks, hunting down activists and army defectors, carrying out widespread arrests and killing dozens of people.
State television broadcast an interview on Thursday night with one of the most prominent military deserters, appearing to recant claims made when he defected and saying he had never been ordered to fire on protesters.
It was not clear how Lieutenant-Colonel Hussein Harmoush, who announced his desertion in June, ended up back in Damascus. Turkey’s foreign ministry denied reports it had handed him over to Syrian authorities, saying it would be out of the question to return anyone against their will.