| By Al Jazeera Staff in | on May 13th, 2011. |
A member of Syrian community protests against Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in Bucharest, Romania's capital [AFP]
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- More on the violence in Talkalakh:
The Associated Press reports that the wounded who crossed the border in Lebanon included a 26-year-old man with a gunshot wound in his back, and two women, also suffering from bullet wounds.
The man who died in hospital was 30 years old.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, meanwhile, says that Syrian lawyer and human rights activist Catherine al-Talli was held by the authorities on Friday, while poet Ali Dirback was also held in the coastal city of Baniyas for reading a poem during an anti-government protest. - One of the people who was injured when the military opened fire on people fleeing the Syrian city of Talkalakh has died of his wounds in a northern Lebanon hospital, our correspondent reports. That brings the death toll from that shooting to four.
- These videos, posted by the Shaam News Network to YouTube, show anti-government demonstrations that took place on Friday in the cities of Hama and Maart respectively.
[image tweeted from @ermac]
Syrian army personnel are now being deployed in the eastern city of Talkalakh, activists said after officials said troops and tanks were being pulled out of Banias and Deraa.These military operations aim to quell anti-government protests that began on March 15.Security barriers were set up at the entrances of the Talkalakh and heavy gunfire was heard, according to activists' accounts.Security forces deployed in surrounding villages as well.
More than 8,000 people are attending the funeral in Homs of one of three protesters killed by security forces there yesterday, an eyewitness told al-Jazeera.
Mourners for Fouad al Rajoub gathered around one o’clock near Bab al-Dreib, said the eyewitness, and had begun making their way through the city chanting for the martyr and for an end to the siege on Homs, Banias and Deraa.The eyewitness said that due to the size of the procession the military had removed and relocated some of the checkpoints it has established throughout the city since mass anti-regime protests erupted there last month.“Everything is peaceful now but we will be passing government buildings and I fear the snipers will open fire on us,” he said.
Lebanese security officials say scores of Syrians have crossed into Lebanon fleeing violence in their country. Cracks of gunfire in the western Syrian town of Talkalakh could be heard on the Lebanese side of the border.
Syrians crossing that border say three have been killed and 19 others are wounded. Some of the wounded have been taken by the Lebanese Red Cross to hospitals.
The shooting in Talkalakh comes a day after Syrian security forces opened fire on thousands of protesters, killing at least six people.
Human rights groups say more than 775 people have been killed since the start of the protest movement in Syria in mid-March.- In an interview published in al-Hayat, a pan-Arab newspaper, Alain Juppe, the French foreign minister has said: "The use of tanks to respond to the demands of the people for more freedoms and democracy is unacceptable."
- These stills from YouTube videos have been distibuted by AFP, and show anti-government demonstrations that took place on Friday. The first is of a rally in Kafr Nabl, where protesters are carrying a sign praising international news networks for their coverage of the protests in Syria.
The second shows demonstrators in Hama tearing down a poster of President al-Assad from outside the town hall.
- Syrians living in Athens, Greece, held protests against Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's rule on Friday. Here are some photographs of those protests [Photo credits: AFP]
- This video, also released by the Syrian Free Press group, purports to show a demonstration held last night in the town of Ibta. Demonstrators are chanting "The people want the fall of the regime!", and "Exit! Exit!".
- This video, released by the Syrian Free Press group, purports to show a demonstration against the government held yesterday in Daraa.
- The United States has expressed "outrage" over Syria's violent crackdown on pro-reform protests, adding that the US is continuing to look for ways to apply pressure on the Syrian government.
"We continue to look at ways to apply pressure on the Syrian regime," Mark Toner, the spokesman for the US state department, told reporters.
"We continue to express clearly our consternation about the ongoing violence there and continue to make the point that the window is narrowing for the Syrian government to make any attempt to address the legitimate aspirations of its people," he said.
Responding to a question, Toner said that "consternation" may not have been "strong enough" a term, and said instead that it was the US' "outrage" that was being expressed. - Up to 850 Syrians may have been killed in a two-month military crackdown and thousands of demonstrators have been arrested, the United Nations human rights office said on Friday.
Rupert Colville, spokesman of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, said:
We again call on the government to exercise restraint, to cease use of force and mass arrests to silence opponents.
- Britain summoned the Syrian ambassador on Friday in coordination with other EU nations to warn of fresh sanctions against the regime if it fails to stop a crackdown on protesters.
In a statement, the Foreign Office said it had "called in the Syrian Ambassador Dr Sami Khiyami... to express the UK's strong concerns about the ongoing situation in Syria”.
Last month Britain withdrew Khiyami's invitation to the royal wedding of Prince William and Catherine. - The following picture was tweeted by @alkh81:
- Three US senators have urged President Barack Obama to expand sanctions against top Syrian officials including President Bashar al-Assad and call for him to quit power.
"At this critical moment, we believe President Obama's leadership is vitally important," said Republican Senators John McCain and Marco Rubio, as well as Independent Senator Joe Lieberman.
The senators denounced Assad's "ferocious and desperate attempt" to quell anti-government protests and urged Obama to say that his Syrian counterpart "has lost the legitimacy to lead, and that it is time for him and his regime to go." - The United States on Friday expressed its "outrage" over Syria's crackdown on protests, saying chances were narrowing for Damascus to respond to its people's demands for democracy.
Mark Toner, State Department spokesman, said:
We continue to look at ways to apply pressure on the Syrian regime. We continue to express clearly our consternation about the ongoing violence there and continue to make the point that the window is narrowing for the Syrian government to make any attempt to address the legitimate aspirations of its people.
- Syria said on Friday it would hold a "national dialogue" after two months of protests against President Bashar al-Assad and a military crackdown that has killed hundreds of people.
Adnan Hasan Mahmoud, information minister, said in a televised remark:
President Assad has met with local dignitaries and heard their views and opinions regarding what is happening in Syria. The coming days will witness a national and comprehensive dialogue in all the Syrian provinces.
- Syrian security forces and snipers opened fire on thousands of protesters on Friday, killing at least six people as mass arrests and heavy security kept crowds below previous levels seen during the two-month uprising against President Bashar Assad, activists have told Associated Press news agency.
A leading human rights activist said three people were killed in Homs, two in Damascus and one in a village outside Deraa, the southern city where the revolt began two months ago. He asked that his name not be used for fear of government reprisal.
An eyewitness told AP by telephone from Homs:
At first they opened fire in the air, but the people continued on their way, and then they shot directly into the crowd.
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