"December 12 is an important moment. All citizens must take part in the municipal elections and vote for the candidates they consider best capable of defending the public interest," wrote Al-Baath, the newspaper of the ruling party which has been in power since 1963.
Monday "is a crucial date and a very important step in the road to decentralisation and democracy," it added, stressing that these elections are a means for Syrians to "participate in decision-making and building the nation."
"We are in a working process, during which everyone must redouble their efforts... so that Syria remains a fortress of resistance and national unity," the newspaper continued. A special indelible ink will be used for the first time in the local elections "to prevent any fraud," said the Syrian local administration minister, Omar Ghalawanji.
On the ground, clashes between the regular army and a group of deserters shook the town of Saraqeb in Idlib province near the border with Turkey, a rights group said. "A vehicle carrying army troops was destroyed," said the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a watchdog based in Britain.
Also in Idlib, "military forces raided houses and arrested three militants," in the vicinity of Saraqeb, while "some 50 armoured vehicles, including tanks and troop carriers, came under attack in the village of al-Rami," it added.
Activist say more than 100 people have been killed in Syria since Saturday and the UN estimates that at least 4,000 have died since March when anti-regime protests erupted.
President Bashar al-Assad in a US television interview released Wednesday questioned the UN's toll and denied ordering the killing of protesters, saying that only a "crazy person" would do so.
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