Syrian Forces Reportedly Fire On Protesters

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An image grab taken from a YouTube video posted Friday purportedly shows anti-regime protesters being doused by a fire truck in the northern Syrian port of Banias.

AFP/Getty Images

An image grab taken from a YouTube video posted Friday purportedly shows anti-regime protesters being doused by a fire truck in the northern Syrian port of Banias.

Syrian security forces opened fire on protests around the country Friday in the latest sign the conflict could be moving toward a long and bloody stalemate as President Bashar Assad shrugged off tighter sanctions and U.S. calls to step aside. Activists said at least nine people were killed, while one put the toll as high as 17.

The clashes indicate neither side appears able to tip the scales in the two-month uprising. Assad's forces have waged a relentless crackdown on the opposition, but protesters continue to face down security forces with marches seeking to break the Syrian leader's authoritarian rule.

Human rights groups say more than 850 people have been killed in the clashes and clampdowns.

Witnesses reported protests Friday in the central cities of Homs and Hama, as well as the Mediterranean ports of Banias and Latakia.

In Banias, a witness said security forces dispersed protesters with gunfire and sticks. Several people were wounded from beatings, including a woman who was taking video of the march. Another Banias resident said authorities imposed a curfew after breaking up the protest.

"They are arresting anyone they see on the street," he said.

Like most witnesses contacted by The Associated Press, the residents asked that their names not be used in fear of reprisals from the government.

Last week, mass arrests and heavy security kept crowds below previous levels seen during the uprising, suggesting Assad's sweeping campaign of intimidation was working. But the marches Friday suggested that opposition forces could be trying to regroup.

Rami Abdul-Rahman, directory of the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, said Friday's protests were more widespread and larger than the previous week.

"There were large numbers from the south to the north to the suburbs, and there were protests in besieged cities and towns," he said. "Despite the heavy security and military presence in almost all these places, people staged protests calling for freedom. This is very significant."

Also Friday, leading Sunni Muslim cleric Sheik Karim Rajeh, the imam of Damascus's Al-Hassan mosque, said he will no longer lead Friday sermons because security forces have been preventing people from going to prayers. The weekly demonstrations mostly kick off after prayers.

Syria has banned foreign journalists and prevented local reporters from covering trouble spots, making it nearly impossible to independently verify witness accounts.

Friday's death toll was reported Friday by one of the Local Coordination Committees in Syria, which help organize the protests. The groups said at least seven people were killed in Homs, one in the Damascus suburb of Daraya and one in the village of Sanamein in southern Syria. Syrian human rights activist Mustafa Osso later said the toll had risen to 17.

Syria is coming under increasing pressure to end the crackdown, but the government has brushed off the criticism and new U.S. sanctions that have targeted Assad and senior aides.

In an address Thursday on the Arab world uprising, U.S. President Obama said that Assad should lead his country to democracy or "get out of the way."

Syria's official news agency said Obama's speech amounted to "incitement." Syria has blamed the unrest on armed thugs and foreign agitators.

Source: http://www.npr.org/2011/05/20/136496102/syrian-forces-reportedly-fire-on-protesters?ft=1&f=1009

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