A Syrian human rights group says the country's security forces have killed 18 people, including an eight-year-old boy.

Ammar Qurabi heads the National Organization for Human Rights in Syria.

Syria won't run for UN rights council seat

Kuwait said Wednesday it will replace Syria as a candidate for a seat on the UN's top human rights body.

But Syria said it will run for a seat on the Geneva-based Human Rights Council in 2013, when Kuwait was supposed to be a candidate.

The Kuwaiti and Syrian ambassadors announced the swap after the 53-member Asian Group met behind closed doors and endorsed the deal.

Syria's UN Ambassador Bashar Ja'afari told reporters his government's decision to delay its candidacy had nothing to do with the current unrest in the country and was not the result of pressure.

"It's a sovereign decision based on the Syrian government's will to reschedule the timing of our candidacy ... based on reconsidering our priorities on the list of UN candidacies," he said.

Syria was one of four candidates selected to fill four open Asian seats on the Human Rights Council in the May 20 secret-ballot election in the UN General Assembly.

Source: The Associated Press

He said 13 people were killed in tank shelling on a village outside Daraa, the southern city where the Syrian uprising began in mid-March.

Five others were killed in the central city of Homs.

Since the revolt started, more than 750 people have been killed and thousands of Syrians have been detained.

The city of Homs has seen some of the largest anti-government demonstrations in recent days.

One witness reported hearing loud explosions and automatic gunfire throughout the night and early Wednesday, adding that residential areas were being shelled.

Activists, speaking to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity, said security forces also opened fire on anti-government protesters in southern Syria Tuesday night, killing at least three people.

Rights groups say more than 750 people have been killed since the government crackdown began in mid-March.

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon urged Syria Wednesday to curtail mass arrests of anti-government protesters.

Ban said President Bashar al-Assad should "heed the calls of the people for reforms and freedom."

At a news conference in Geneva, he also called for an "immediate, verifiable ceasefire" in Libya and an end to attacks on civilians.

With files from The Associated Press