Syrian activists began to bury on Saturday scores of protesters killed the previous day in clashes with security forces. They also pledged more anti-regime rallies in the days to come, while President Bashar al-Assad vowed to continue the national crackdown against pro-democracy demonstrators.
The Syrian Revolution 2011, the main driving force behind more than six weeks of dissent, called for funeral ceremonies to be held across the country "for the martyrs" who fell on Friday.
"Your blood has paved the way for our freedom. We will pursue the road you traced for us with your blood," said a statement.
"And we vow that your blood will not have been spilled in vain. The martyrs are eternal, but the criminals will end up in the dustbins of history after being judged and punished by the people," it said.
The Facebook militants pledged new protests across Syria from Sunday at the start of what they called "the week of breaking the siege."
Demonstrations would take place in the southern protest hub town of Daraa, followed by rallies on Monday in the suburbs of Damascus, Tuesday in the northern towns of Banias and Jableh, Wednesday in Homs, Talbisseh and in Tall Kalakh on the border with Lebanon, and countrywide night vigils on Thursday.
Security forces have besieged Daraa and the northern Damascus suburb of Douma since last Monday.
At least 62 people were killed in a "day of rage" on Friday as protests gripped many Syrian cities and towns, the London-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights told Agence-France Presse in Nicosia, including 33 killed in Daraa alone.
Friday’s bloodshed came after demonstrators across the country again defied heavy military deployments, mass arrests and a ruthless crackdown on the biggest popular challenge to 48 years of authoritarian Baath Party rule.
The Committee of the Martyrs of the 15 March Revolution gave a slightly lower death toll for Friday, saying 56 people were killed, including 33 in Daraa.
But the group, which has been keeping tallies of deaths since protests broke out, said in a statement after Friday’s bloodshed that a total of 582 people have been killed since March 15. This represented a significant increase from earlier estimates that put the figure of victims at around 500.
As the violence raged, the United States blocked the assets of the president’s brother Maher al-Assad, who commands Syria’s feared Fourth Armored Division, and of several other top officials and its intelligence services.
"The United States strongly condemns the Syrian government’s continued use of violence and intimidation against the Syrian people," the White House said in a statement on Friday.
President Obama’s sanctions, which include asset freezes and bans on US business dealings, build on US measures against Syria in place since 2004, but they may have little impact since President Assad’s inner circle are thought to hold few US assets.
One official said the White House was "not ready" to call on Mr. Assad to step down because President Obama and his aides "do not want to get out in front of the Syrian people."
European Union officials at the Brussels headquarters of the 27-nation organization launched preparations for an embargo on the sale of weapons and equipment that might be used for internal repression. They also decided to put brakes on trade deals with Syria.
The EU will also "urgently consider further appropriate and targeted measures with the aim of achieving an immediate change of policy by the Syrian leadership", said EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton.
In Geneva, the UN Human Rights Council endorsed a US call for an investigative mission on the bloodshed as it voted for a resolution condemning the crackdown.
But President Assad’s embattled regime reiterated its running ban on demonstrations, despite lifting a decades-old law barring them earlier this month. The still-banned Muslim Brotherhood accused the Assad regime of "genocide."
Information Minister Adnan Mahmud told AFP the crackdown would continue, saying the "authorities are determined to restore security, stability and peace to the citizens."
The interior ministry urged Syrians not to join the protests and warned that unauthorized rallies would not be tolerated.