DAMASCUS, May 14, (AFP) - At least three protesters were shot dead in Syria on Friday despite an order from President Bashar al-Assad for security forces not to open fire on demonstrators, rights activists said.
The continuing repression came as the government announced plans to launch a “national dialogue” in response to the anti-regime protests that have rocked the country since March 15.
The United States expressed its “outrage” over the crackdown and three US senators urged President Barack Obama to expand sanctions against top Syrian officials including Assad.
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| Protesters with their fingers painted with the Syrian flag demonstrate after Friday prayers, on May 13, 2011, in front of the Syrian consulate in Istanbul. AFP |
Britain also summoned the Syrian ambassador in coordination with other European nations, warning of “further measures” if it fails to stop the crackdown.
Activist Nawar al-Omar said Fuad Rajab, 40, was hit by a bullet to the head when security forces fired to break up a demonstration in the central city of Homs.
Ammar Qorabi, head of the Syrian National Organisation of Human Rights, said a second demonstrator was also killed in Homs and a third shot dead in the Damascus district of Qabun as security forces dispersed a demonstration.
In Hama, the army used batons, tear gas and water cannons to scatter anti-regime rallies, but protesters succeeded in ripping down a town hall portrait of the president, an activist said.
And in the southern flashpoint town of Daraa, security forces fired warning shots to disperse thousands of anti-regime demonstrators, another activist said.
The gunfire erupted as thousands of demonstrators took to Daraa's streets after weekly Muslim prayers, said the activist in the town that was the scene of a massive 10-day military operation that ended last week.
In Ibtaa, a small village near Daraa, protesters demanded a new president, according to amateur videos posted online.
Other videos showed rallies in Aleppo, Syria's second-largest city, and the port city of Latakia, where demonstrators held up banners that read: “A dignified life, or death.”Thousands marched in the northern, mostly Kurdish regions of Qamishli, Derbassiye and Amuda, as well as in the Damascus suburb of Saqba, where security forces tore down anti-regime banners, activists told AFP. |
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