Forces loyal to President Bashar Assad killed eight people across Syria late Thursday evening in a sustained bid to crush street protests against his rule buoyed by the demise of Muammar Qaddafi's regime in Libya.              

Many of the deaths occurred as a result of attacks on street demonstrations demanding an end to the 41-year rule by the Assad family that have been breaking out daily after Ramadan prayers that follow the iftar, or breaking of the fast.

"Congratulations to the Libyan people," read signs carried by protesters who marched at night demanding Assad's removal in the town of Kisweh, just south of Damascus.               

"God is with us. The revolution is bringing together the free," shouted demonstrators in the resort town of Zabadani, west of the capital.             

Any power shakeup in Syria would have major regional repercussions. But Assad, from Syria's minority Alawite sect, still has alliances with an influential Sunni business class, and commands a hardened loyalist core in the army and security apparatus.       

A disruption would cut off a major source of foreign currency that helps to finance the security apparatus, and restrict funds at Assad's disposal to reward loyalists and continue a crackdown

The Syrian army is dominated by officers from the minority Alawite sect, the same sect as Assad, whose feared brother Maher controls the military. The rank and file are mostly Sunni, like the majority population in Syria.     

A U.S. State Department spokeswoman said the "regime's thugs focused their attention on Ferzat's hands, beating them furiously and breaking one of them - a clear message that he should stop drawing".      

The 45-year old Assad, who inherited power from his father in 2000, has pursued parallel policies of strengthening ties with Iran and Shiite Lebanese terror group Hizbullah, while demanding the return of the Golan Heights from Israel.    

In an interview with state television broadcast on Sunday, Assad said he was holding fast and refusing to bow to western pressure because, "reform for colonialist states among the West means to offer them all what they want and sell out all rights".            

Syria is a main land transport route from Europe to the Middle East, but businessmen said Turkish transit truck traffic to Syria has fallen sharply after Ankara, once a strong supporter of Assad, criticising his bloody repression against a five month uprising, which the United Nations said has killed 2,200 people.

The uprising has damaged other Syrian economic sectors, with investment taking a hit, tourist numbers falling, businesses laying off workers and the West stepping up sanctions on the Assad family and some of their business partners.            

European Union diplomats said on Wednesday the bloc's governments were likely to impose an embargo on imports of Syrian oil by the end of next week, although new sanctions may be less stringent than those imposed by Washington.