1.   To Syrians the high-tech observation posts on surrounding hilltops seem to laugh down at them, a boast about just who controls the Golan Heights.

2.   To Syrians, the high-tech observation posts on surrounding hilltops seem to laugh down at them, a boast about who still controls the Golan Heights.

3.   But on the surrounding hilltops guards with binoculars and Kalashnikov rifles keep watch, and prison guards insist no one has ever escaped.

4.   Police were keeping a close eye on villages and roads from surrounding hilltops, while others stood watch at heavily sandbagged positions at road junctions.