aerospace technology: Syrian army 'widens border sweep'

Wounded Syrian refugees help each other as they head toward an ambulance in a camp in the Turkish town of Yayladagi on 22 June 2011

So far nearly 12,000 people from the area have fled across the border into Turkey

Syria's military has moved into a village near the border with Turkey and another near the boundary with Lebanon, activists say.

Hundreds of Syrians, some with gunshot wounds, have fled into Lebanon, according to reports.

Disturbances were also reported as funerals were held for about 20 people estimated killed in protests on Friday.

Syrian dissidents plan a conference in the capital, Damascus, on Monday to discuss how to resolve the crisis.

The rebellion against the regime of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad has gone on for more than three months and is estimated to have left more than 1,300 protesters dead.

The village of Najia, near the border with Turkey, is the latest to have Syrian army troops and tanks move in, activists say.

Najia is near Jisr al-Shughour, the town where the government said earlier this month that 120 security personnel had been killed. Jisr al-Shughour has already been seized by the army.

The official Syrian news agency said the troops had completed their sweep of border villages without any shots being fired.

The latest operation comes days after the army took the village of Khirbet al-Jouz, which is also close to the Turkish border.

The Turkish authorities have been building a tent city on its border with Syria to shelter the arrivals.

They show no sign of readiness to come back, despite promises from the Syrian authorities that the situation is stable and there will be no retribution.

Further south, near the border with Lebanon, activists said the town of Qusair was attacked by security forces and the irregular pro-regime militia after a big demonstration there on Friday.

Funerals have been held for about 20 people reported killed in protests on Friday.

Footage posted online by activists appeared to show dozens of mourners in a procession for three of the dead in the Damascus suburb of Kaswa shouting "God is great" and "Bashar, get out".

Residents in the Damascus neighbourhood of Barzeh say a number of people have been arrested there and a curfew imposed, following unrest after Friday prayers.

A Syrian with relatives in Barzeh told the BBC that one dead protester had been used for propaganda purposes by the Syrian security forces.

They had put a gun in his hand and filmed him so that he could be depicted as a gunman on state television, he said.

Scores of dissidents and intellectuals critical of the regime are planning to hold a conference in Damascus on Monday, for the first time since the uprising began in March.

The BBC's Jim Muir in Beirut says that if the meeting goes ahead, it could be a sign of greater tolerance of dissent from a regime that says it is preparing comprehensive reforms.

President Assad ordered a general amnesty on Tuesday in a bid to quell the ongoing unrest, a day after offering a "national dialogue".