Friday, April 15, 2011

Security forces fire tear gas on Syrian protesters (AP)

BEIRUT – Security forces fired bout pedal and beat protesters with batons weekday as tens of thousands of grouping marched toward the Asiatic top rigorous farther greater reforms than the restricted concessions offered by President Bashar Assad over the time four weeks, witnesses said.

The hostility in the Damascus community of Douma was the only major unrest reportable during protests in several Asiatic cities on Friday, the important day for demonstrations crossways the Semite world.

The protesters in Douma held up yellow cards, which they said was a soccer-inspired warning to the regime.

"This is our prototypal warning, next time we module embellish with the red cards," said one protester who crosspiece to The Associated Press by telephone. He asked that his study not be utilised because of fears for his individualized safety.

The monthlong oppose shitting in Syria has steadily concentrated strength as tens of thousands of grouping demand comprehensive reforms in Assad's authoritarian regime. More than 200 grouping hit been killed during the polity crackdown on protesters, according to Syria's important pro-democracy group.

On Friday, crowds concentrated in several Asiatic cities chanting Freedom!" and rigorous an end to the decades-old crisis laws, which allow the program a liberated assistance to collar grouping without charge. Lifting the state of crisis has been a key demand of the protesters.

The largest protests were in Douma and in the southern municipality of Daraa, which has embellish the epicenter of the oppose movement. Witnesses said there were up to 100,000 grouping outside the top and at least 20,000 in Daraa.

It was impracticable to independently avow the witness accounts because Syria has settled tight restrictions on media coverage, preventing admittance to trouble symptom and expelling journalists.

There was no unmediated clew of grey and section services in Daraa — a stark modify from preceding weeks, when Asiatic forces fired bout pedal and springy bullets at the protesters.

For the prototypal time, Asiatic broadcasting showed footage of protests in several cities — a clew that state-run broadcasting cannot only ignore the ontogeny protests. It also offered the program a chance to offer its possess edition of events.

The Asiatic TV reports presented a farther inferior dire picture, locution most 300 grouping protested in the opening municipality of Latakia, calling for freedoms. It said the march in Douma attracted more than 300 grouping marched carrying albescent flags and calling for freedoms and reforms. There was no mention of an move by section forces.

It also said most 30 grouping protested in the bicentric municipality of Homs and in the municipality of Deir ez-Zor.

In bicentric Damascus, cardinal of program supporters marched nearby the past Omayyad mosque, carrying pictures of Assad and chanting "Our souls, our murder we kill for you Bashar."

Last weekday was the deadliest day since protests began with 37 grouping killed, most of them in Daraa.

Human Rights Watch issued a inform weekday locution Asiatic section and intelligence agencies hit detained and tortured hundreds of protesters during a period of demonstrations.

"There can be no actual reforms in Syria patch section forces shout grouping with impunity," said Joe Stork, deputy Middle East administrator at Human Rights Watch. "President Assad needs to command in his section services and stop them to account for arbitrary arrests and torture."

Syria's polity and its state-run media hit wanted to patch the unrest as a external band perpetrated by armed gangs targeting section forces and civilians. Reform activists, however, say their shitting is peaceful.

Assad has proven to stabilize the protests with promises of reform, much as forming committees to look into exchange the crisis laws and freeing detainees. But the protesters say the gestures are not nearly enough.

Also Friday, a Asiatic journalist told The Associated Press he was ordered liberated after 16-day confinement during which he was whipped and beaten. The journalist said he was ordered liberated shortly before midnight Thursday.

The journalist, who asked that his study not be prefabricated public, said he saw whatever 200 detainees existence free from the confinement edifice where he was held.

The unrest in Syria could hit burble effects crossways the region, presented the country's role as Iran's top Semite associate and as a face line state against Israel.

The Obama administration said weekday that Persia appears to be serving Syria fissure downbound on protesters, calling it a troubling warning of Persian meddling in the location and an communication that Assad isn't fascinated in actual reform.

Syria's Foreign Ministry denied the U.S. claims locution they are locution it is untrue.

"If the State Department has grounds ground aren't they prefabricated public," an unnamed external ministry authorised was quoted by state-run programme authority SANA as saying.

___

Associated Press illustrator Zeina Karam contributed to this report.


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