6 May 2011 Last updated at 13:25 GMT
Syria: 'Five killed in Homs', activists say
Syrians are defiant despite their government's refusal to listen to their views
Protests have erupted in several Syrian cities despite the deployment of large
numbers of troops, witnesses say.
Six people have been killed - five in Homs and one in Hama - while a prominent
dissident has been arrested, human rights activists say.
Thousands of protesters clashed with security forces outside a mosque in
central Damascus after Friday prayers.
More than 500 people are thought to have been killed in seven weeks as the
government attempts to quell protests.
At least 2,500 people have been detained during the violent crackdown, which
the US has described as "barbaric".
Protesters had vowed to make Friday a "day of defiance".
Meanwhile, troops and tanks have withdrawn from the southern city of Deraa,
where a human rights group says security forces carried out a 10-day "massacre".
Stones and bullets
Five people were killed during a demonstration in Homs, Syria's third city and
scene of a bloody crackdown last month, and one in Hama, which lies to the
north, activists said.
Protesters gather to show solidarity with Deraa, in the Syrian port city of
Baniyas 4 May Protesters demonstrated in the coastal city of Baniyas on
Wednesday
"Five bodies were picked up in the Bab al-Sibaa area [of Homs]. There are
scores of injured protesters," one told the Reuters news agency.
Prominent dissident Riyad Sayf - who has spent years in prison on charges of
"weakening national morale" - was arrested, activists said.
In Damascus, hundreds of security men, mostly in plain clothes, crowded outside
the al-Hassan mosque in the central Midan district and waited until the end of
Friday prayers, a reliable source told the BBC.
Immediately after the end of prayers, people angrily chanted anti-government
slogans and took to the streets nearby, where they clashed with security
forces, the source said.
When the protesters threw stones, the security forces responded by firing tear
gas and live rounds, the source added.
There were reports of other protests, including in the Damascus suburb of
Saqba, the town of Tal, north of the capital, and Baniyas.
In Tal, witnesses told Reuters news agency that security forces had fired at
protesters.
Challenge to Assad
Earlier, troops - including tanks - were deployed in a number of cities and
towns in anticipation of renewed protests.
Continue reading the main story
"Start Quote
The propaganda that this regime is the only guarantor of stability no
longer washes"
End Quote Syrian doctor
Numerous checkpoints were set up in Damascus and elsewhere, witnesses say. A
heavy troop presence was reported in Homs, nearby Rastan, and the coastal city
of Baniyas.
Hundreds of families were said to be fleeing Baniyas, fearing the city - like
Deraa - could come under siege.
"It looks like they are preparing to attack the town, like they did in Deraa,"
one activist told the AFP news agency by telephone from the town.
Across Syria, protesters are calling for greater political rights and personal
freedoms. Some are calling for the downfall of the regime of President Bashar
al-Assad.
The unrest in Syria poses the most serious challenge to Mr Assad since he
succeeded his father, Hafez, in 2000.
Foreign journalists are not allowed to enter the country, so it is difficult to
verify the reports of deaths.
But one doctor, who planned to join those demonstrating, said the
"indiscriminate killings and inhumane arrests have generated total disgust
among the average Syrian".
"Soldiers with rifles no longer deter people. The propaganda that this regime
is the only guarantor of stability no longer washes," he was quoted as telling
the Reuters news agency.
Appeals
A Red Cross team has arrived in Deraa carrying medical supplies and
humanitarian aid.
The head of the Damascus office of the International Committee of the Red Cross
(ICRC) said Deraa "is a priority for us, because it is the city that has been
hardest hit by the ongoing violence".
A UN humanitarian team is also expected to visit the city, following an appeal
to President Assad by UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon.
In Washington, state department spokesman Mark Toner said the US continued to
"press Assad's regime to desist in its violent behaviour".
"We abhor the violence there," he told reporters.
"I think I called it barbaric, the measures that were taken the other day
against the citizens of Deraa, and we urge Syria to end these kinds of actions
against innocent civilians who are simply expressing their aspirations for a
democratic future."
The Damascus Centre for Human Rights Studies (DCHRS) labelled the killings in
Deraa a "massacre", saying snipers and anti-aircraft machine guns had been used
to fire on unarmed civilians. Recent amateur video appeared to show dozens of
unarmed protesters being shot and bleeding to death on the streets.
The Syrian government says it is taking action against "elements of terrorist
groups... to restore security, peace and stability".
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