Follow along with the video below to see how to install our site as a web app on your home screen.
Note: This feature currently requires accessing the site using the built-in Safari browser.
Prague, April 1 (CTK) - Some 20 people Friday met outside the Syrian embassy in Prague to support current protests against Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and the Baath governing party.
The demonstrators carried banners with appeals for freedom and democracy. They pointed out that many people died at demonstrations in Syria in the past few days.
"We are here to say it aloud, as Syrians who are living here in the Czech Republic, that we are support for those at home and that we do not agree with what is happening there," a young man, who works in Prague as a programmer, told CTK.
He recalled that at the beginning of the unrest people in the Syrian town of Dara went to the streets to protest against a brutal police raid on local children.
According to the demonstrators in Prague, the protests in Syria have claimed up to 250 lives and their number further increased Friday.
Outside the embassy in Prague, the demonstrators called on the Syrian government to terminate violence against civilians and allow people to live in freedom in their country.
Sharp protests against the Syrian government and president arose in the capital of Damascus and another three towns after afternoon prayers Friday. The police allegedly used tear gas against the protesters on the outskirts of Damascus.
Syrian activists called Friday the Day of Martyrs and invited inhabitants to take part in mass rallies in memory of the victims.
Al-Assad faces the most serious protests during his 11-year rule that broke out on March 18 and then spread all over the country. On Wednesday he blamed external forces for trying to destabilise the country. On Thursday he set up a legal committee to assess lifting the state of emergency, valid since 1963, by April 25.
Syrian opposition groups leading anti- government protests based in the country on Tuesday said authorities have offered to meet with them.
"High-level security figures gave the green light for mediators to set dates for separate meetings with opposition figures inside the country," an opposition source told the German Press Agency DPA.
Activists said they were ready to take up the offer for talks, provided "it is serious, and not to buy time."
But some activists, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the offer could be a ploy by security forces to find out more about the various opposition groups coordinating the protests.
Opposition groups were holding a series of public rallies in honor of those killed in recent crackdowns on demonstrations calling for reform.
On Tuesday, thousands of protesters gathered in the southern city of Daraa, according to the Facebook page of one of the groups, Youth Syria for Freedom.
"The regime is using the most brutal means to quell the protests," one activist told dpa by phone.
"They are arresting anyone without evidence, even children whose ages vary between 12 and 14," he said. The activist said security forces removed the nails of some of the children, in "torture" sessions when the demonstrations first started in mid-March.
"The world is only hearing 10 percent of what is really happening on the ground in Syria and the oppression this regime is exercising," he said.
Another Facebook group, Syrian Revolution 2011, which has some 100,000 supporters, has called for a rally against the ruling Baath Party, outside its Damascus headquarters Thursday.
In Damascus, prime minister-designate Adel Safar is holding consultations to form a new cabinet, the Syrian Al Watan newspaper reported Tuesday.
The newspaper, which is the mouthpiece of the government, said that the new cabinet will likely be formed next week.
AMMAN (Reuters) - Syrian security forces killed at least three pro-democracy demonstrators in the southern city of Deraa as protests against the rule of Bashar al-Assad flared in a number of towns after Friday prayers, witnesses said.
In the east, thousands of ethnic Kurds demonstrated for reform despite the president's offer this week to ease rules which bar many Kurds from citizenship, activists said.
Security men opened fire on thousands of protesters in Deraa, where protests first erupted last month before spreading across the country over the past three weeks. Local residents contacted by Reuters said at least three people were killed.
"I saw pools of blood and three bodies in the street being picked up by relatives in the Mahatta area," said one of the witnesses, who spoke to Reuters by telephone.
"The were snipers on roofs. Gunfire was heavy. The injured are being taken to homes. No one trusts putting his relative in a hospital in these circumstances," he added. Many protesters fear they would be arrested if taken to clinics.
Protests also erupted in the western city of Homs and gunfire was heard in the Damascus suburb of Harasta. The suburb of Douma, where protests have been sustained in recent days, was largely out of contact due to phone lines being cut, local activists said. Media are heavily restricted in Syria.
CAIRO -- Unlike the armies of Tunisia and Egypt, Syria's military will almost certainly stand by the country's leader as President Bashar Assad faces down an extraordinary protest movement.
Assad, and his father before him, stacked key military posts with members of their minority Alawite sect over the past 40 years, ensuring the loyalty of the armed forces by melding the fate of the army and the regime.
The power structure means there could be darker days ahead in Syria if the struggle for reform gathers steam. Analysts say the army would likely use force to protect the regime at all costs, for fear they will be persecuted if the country's Sunni majority gains the upper hand.
"If there is going to be a change in Syria, it is going to be a bloody change," said Hilal Khashan, a political science professor at the American University of Beirut. "Assad has the army, the intelligence and security agencies. These are strong agencies and they are specialized in internal oppression."
The uprising in Syria is one of the more astonishing in the region, given that the Assad family has kept an iron grip on power for 40 years, in part by crushing every whisper of dissent. But more importantly, they filled the country's most vital posts with Alawites, a branch of Shiite Islam that represents only about 11 percent of the population. Syria is overwhelmingly Sunni Muslim.
At least 80 people have been killed as security forces cracked down on three weeks of demonstrations that echo the uprisings spreading across the Arab world. In Egypt and Tunisia, the armies sided with demonstrators seeking to overthrow their entrenched leaders and provided the fatal blow each time.
However, Syrian protesters cannot count on such support. Nevertheless, activists have called for protests to continue this week to honor the "martyrs" who have died.
Human rights activists already have criticized the security forces' response to the protests. Human Rights Watch says the regime is using "unjustified lethal force against anti-government protesters."
"For three weeks, Syria's security forces have been firing on largely peaceful protesters in various parts of Syria," said Sarah Leah Whitson, Middle East director at Human Rights Watch. "Instead of investigating those responsible for shootings, Syria's officials try to deflect responsibility by accusing unknown 'armed groups.'"
BEIRUT -- A rare demonstration by hundreds of Syrian university students turned violent Monday when security forces beat up and arrested several protesters who were shouting for freedom and unity as the country's three-week uprising gathered strength despite a government crackdown, witnesses said.
Video footage posted online showed what appears to be plainclothes security forces beating protesters and forcefully pulling others away as they marched inside the campus of Damascus University. An activist in touch with students who witnessed the demonstration corroborated the footage, but he spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of reprisals.
"The Syrian people are one!" the students shouted in the video.
Protests erupted in Syria more than three weeks ago and have been growing steadily, with tens of thousands of people calling for sweeping reforms to President Bashar Assad's authoritarian regime.
More than 170 people have been killed, according to human rights groups.
International and Arab reaction to the violence in Syria had been relatively subdued, and U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has suggested America would not be getting involved.
She said late last month that Assad is a a "different leader" than Libya's Moammar Gadhafi, and that many members of Congress who have visited the country "believe he's a reformer."
But with the mounting casualties, others in the international community have begun voicing criticism.
France on Monday strongly condemned the violence in Syria, calling it "unacceptable," and called for immediate reforms.
BEIRUT Thousands of Syrian women and children holding white flags and olive branches blocked a main coastal highway Wednesday, demanding authorities release people detained during a crackdown on opponents of the regime, witnesses said.
The crowd unusual because it was dominated by women and young children demanded release of hundreds of men who have been rounded up in the northeastern villages of Bayda and Beit Jnad and surrounding areas in recent days.
"We will not be humiliated!" the crowd shouted Wednesday, according to witnesses who spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of reprisals. They were gathering along the main road between the coastal cities of Tartous and Banias.
Protests erupted in Syria almost one month ago and have been growing steadily, with tens of thousands of people calling for sweeping reforms. President Bashar Assad's government has responded both with brute force and promise of reforms.
More than 200 people have been killed during nearly four weeks of unrest, according to Syria's leading pro-democracy group, the Damascus Declaration.
In an apparent attempt to calm the women's demonstration, authorities released about 100 of the detainees and brought them to the area where the protesters gathered, prompting cheers and cries of triumph, a witness said.
The protester, who asked not to be identified for fear of reprisals, said the sit-in will continue until all the men are released.
Also Wednesday, activists said student protesters gathered at Damascus University in the capital and in Aleppo University in the country's north. Another protest was reported outside the state-run news agency's offices in the capital.
The reports lacked detail and they could not be immediately confirmed. Syria has expelled most foreign reporters and limits access to trouble spots.
Thousands Of Women Block Highway In Syrian Protests
BEIRUT Thousands of Syrian women and children holding white flags and olive branches blocked a main coastal highway Wednesday, demanding authorities release people detained during a crackdown on opponents of the regime, witnesses said.
The crowd unusual because it was dominated by women and young children demanded release of hundreds of men who have been rounded up in the northeastern villages of Bayda and Beit Jnad and surrounding areas in recent days.
"We will not be humiliated!" the crowd shouted Wednesday, according to witnesses who spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of reprisals. They were gathering along the main road between the coastal cities of Tartous and Banias.
Protests erupted in Syria almost one month ago and have been growing steadily, with tens of thousands of people calling for sweeping reforms. President Bashar Assad's government has responded both with brute force and promise of reforms.
More than 200 people have been killed during nearly four weeks of unrest, according to Syria's leading pro-democracy group, the Damascus Declaration.
In an apparent attempt to calm the women's demonstration, authorities released about 100 of the detainees and brought them to the area where the protesters gathered, prompting cheers and cries of triumph, a witness said.
The protester, who asked not to be identified for fear of reprisals, said the sit-in will continue until all the men are released.
Also Wednesday, activists said student protesters gathered at Damascus University in the capital and in Aleppo University in the country's north. Another protest was reported outside the state-run news agency's offices in the capital.
The reports lacked detail and they could not be immediately confirmed. Syria has expelled most foreign reporters and limits access to trouble spots.
Thousands Of Women Block Highway In Syrian Protests
Thousands Of Women Block Highway In Syrian Protests
BEIRUT Thousands of Syrian women and children holding white flags and olive branches blocked a main coastal highway Wednesday, demanding authorities release people detained during a crackdown on opponents of the regime, witnesses said.
The crowd unusual because it was dominated by women and young children demanded release of hundreds of men who have been rounded up in the northeastern villages of Bayda and Beit Jnad and surrounding areas in recent days.
"We will not be humiliated!" the crowd shouted Wednesday, according to witnesses who spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of reprisals. They were gathering along the main road between the coastal cities of Tartous and Banias.
Protests erupted in Syria almost one month ago and have been growing steadily, with tens of thousands of people calling for sweeping reforms. President Bashar Assad's government has responded both with brute force and promise of reforms.
More than 200 people have been killed during nearly four weeks of unrest, according to Syria's leading pro-democracy group, the Damascus Declaration.
In an apparent attempt to calm the women's demonstration, authorities released about 100 of the detainees and brought them to the area where the protesters gathered, prompting cheers and cries of triumph, a witness said.
The protester, who asked not to be identified for fear of reprisals, said the sit-in will continue until all the men are released.
Also Wednesday, activists said student protesters gathered at Damascus University in the capital and in Aleppo University in the country's north. Another protest was reported outside the state-run news agency's offices in the capital.
The reports lacked detail and they could not be immediately confirmed. Syria has expelled most foreign reporters and limits access to trouble spots.
Thousands Of Women Block Highway In Syrian Protests
It would be interesting to hear what the ME women really thought about these demonstrations, "democracy", and the islamic influenced governments poised to take power.
It would be interesting to hear what the ME women really thought about these demonstrations, "democracy", and the islamic influenced governments poised to take power.
It would be interesting to hear what the ME women really thought about these demonstrations, "democracy", and the islamic influenced governments poised to take power.
They would be thankful that their nation was returning to an Islamic based government.
Where they could once again assume their position as covered women who are protected under Islamic law.
BEIRUT Syria's president ordered the release Thursday of hundreds of detainees involved in a month of protests seeking to wrest political freedoms from one of the Middle East's most repressive governments.
The order, announced by state TV, signaled an attempt by President Bashar Assad to calm weeks of growing protest anger and pre-empt what is expected to be another day of large demonstrations on Friday.
Protests erupted in Syria a month ago and have steadily increased, with tens of thousands calling for sweeping political reforms from Assad's authoritarian regime. More than 200 people have been killed during in the government's crackdown, according to Syria's leading pro-democracy group.
The state TV announcement did not say how many protesters would be released or how many authorities were holding. It said the release order did not apply to those involved in "criminal acts" but that most of those taken into custody would be freed.
The country's new prime minister, meanwhile, announced his Cabinet two weeks after Assad fired the previous government in an earlier gesture that failed to contain the unrest.
Violence continued Thursday in a major port city where the government has waged a crackdown on several days of protests.
The state-run SANA news agency reported that snipers fired on a Syrian military patrol in Banias, killing one soldier and wounding another.
Syria's government and its state-run media have sought to cast the unrest as a foreign conspiracy perpetrated by armed gangs targeting security forces and civilians. Reform activists, however, say their movement is peaceful.
The SANA report had few other details about the shooting, and because of severe restrictions on independent journalists it was not possible to verify the information.
hes pissing in the wind, they will smell weakness, does he have his da-da in him? they are gonna make him prove it or....
Syria Forms New Cabinet; President Releases Hundreds Of Detainees
BEIRUT Syria's president ordered the release Thursday of hundreds of detainees involved in a month of protests seeking to wrest political freedoms from one of the Middle East's most repressive governments.
The order, announced by state TV, signaled an attempt by President Bashar Assad to calm weeks of growing protest anger and pre-empt what is expected to be another day of large demonstrations on Friday.
Protests erupted in Syria a month ago and have steadily increased, with tens of thousands calling for sweeping political reforms from Assad's authoritarian regime. More than 200 people have been killed during in the government's crackdown, according to Syria's leading pro-democracy group.
The state TV announcement did not say how many protesters would be released or how many authorities were holding. It said the release order did not apply to those involved in "criminal acts" but that most of those taken into custody would be freed.
The country's new prime minister, meanwhile, announced his Cabinet two weeks after Assad fired the previous government in an earlier gesture that failed to contain the unrest.
Violence continued Thursday in a major port city where the government has waged a crackdown on several days of protests.
The state-run SANA news agency reported that snipers fired on a Syrian military patrol in Banias, killing one soldier and wounding another.
Syria's government and its state-run media have sought to cast the unrest as a foreign conspiracy perpetrated by armed gangs targeting security forces and civilians. Reform activists, however, say their movement is peaceful.
The SANA report had few other details about the shooting, and because of severe restrictions on independent journalists it was not possible to verify the information.
Syria Forms New Cabinet; President Releases Hundreds Of Detainees
The lifting of the 48-year-old emergency law has been a key demand of the protesters. On Friday, tens of thousands of demonstrators rallied in the capital, Damascus, in one of the biggest turnouts since protests began. While he repeated his view that his country was facing a conspiracy, Mr Assad said he did not believe the lifting of the state of emergency would destabilise Syria. The Syrian leader told the cabinet a legal commission asked to examine the lifting of the law had come to its conclusions.
"I think the commission has finished its work, on Thursday, and the recommendations will be given to the government so that they become law immediately. I don't know how many days it will take you and I think that the maximum deadline for the lifting of the state of emergency will be next week," he said. The law bans public gatherings of more than five people. New security legislation would be introduced in place of the emergency law, he said, adding that the new government should also study ideas for a multi-party system and greater press freedom. The question now is whether the measures will be enough to persuade the demonstrators to go back to their homes, says the BBC's Owen Bennett Jones in neighbouring Lebanon, or whether they will simply encourage more protests in the hope of securing more reforms.
Batons and tear gas
Friday's protests in Damascus and other cities were among the largest in a month of unrest that has reportedly seen some 200 people killed. The unrest is the biggest challenge to the rule of Mr Assad, who inherited power from his father in 2000. Security forces used tear gas and batons to disperse tens of thousands of protesters - some calling for reform, others calling demanding the overthrow of Mr Assad - in Damascus. Thousands of people reportedly demonstrated in a number of other Syrian cities - including Deraa, Latakia, Baniyas and Qamishli - where violence has been previously reported.
More BBC News - Syria's al-Assad: Emergency laws 'to end next week'
BEIRUT Witnesses say at least five Syrian protesters have been killed during clashes with security forces.
Security forces fired live bullets and tear gas Friday at tens of thousands of people shouting for freedom and democracy in several areas across the country.
Witnesses said they saw at least five corpses at the Hamdan hospital outside the capital. All suffered gunshot wounds.
The witnesses spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of reprisals.
Security forces have launched a deadly crackdown on a monthlong uprising against Syria's authoritarian regime. More than 200 people have been killed.
THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. Check back soon for further information. AP's earlier story is below.
BEIRUT (AP) Syrian security forces fired live bullets and tear gas Friday at tens of thousands of people shouting for freedom and democracy, wounding about 10 people on a day that could be a major test of whether President Bashar Assad's promises of sweeping reform will quell the monthlong uprising.
Protesters flooded into the streets after prayers Friday in at least five major areas across the country.
"The people want the downfall of the regime!" shouted protesters in Douma, a Damascus suburb where some 40,000 people took to the streets, witnesses said. It is the same rallying cry that was heard during the revolutions in Egypt and Tunisia.
BEIRUT -- Syrian security forces detained dozens of opposition activists and others in raids Sunday launched less than a week after President Bashar Assad's regime abolished emergency laws used for decades to crush dissent, a human rights activist said.
The police sweeps, which began late Saturday, reinforce opposition claims that the repeal of the nearly 50-year-old state of emergency codes offers no protection against blitz-style detentions by Assad's forces.
Also Sunday, the watchdog group Human Rights Watch called for a U.N. inquiry into Syria's widening crackdown on opposition protesters that has left more than 120 dead people in recent days.
Ammar Qurabi, head of the National Organization for Human Rights in Syria, said the arrests concentrated on the capital Damascus and suburbs as well as the central city of Homs, which has been a hotbed of demonstrations against Assad's authoritarian rule.
"These people are not being arrested in a legal way. They are being kidnapped," Qurabi said, claiming the plainclothes security agents did not have formal arrest warrants.
Qurabi did not have full figures for those detained, but said at least 20 people were arrested in Homs. A resident in the Damascus suburb of Douma, said at least five people were taken into custody and authorities cut Internet and telephone connections.
One leading activist, Daniel Soaud, was among those taken into custody, but was released Sunday.
Qurabi said most of the detainees are expected to be brought before judicial authorities Monday and charged with demonstrating without permission.
Under the new rules that replaced the emergency laws on Thursday, Interior Ministry approval is needed to stage protest marches which is widely interpreted as simply creating a de facto ban on demonstration.
The last time Syrians took on their ruling Baathist regime it was 1982. The protesters then were Islamists from the Muslim Brotherhood and they were not peaceful. Hafez Assad was President. And there was no such thing as a camera phone. Assad mercilessly crushed the revolt in the city of Hama, killing perhaps 10,000 (the exact figure is not known) and, according to local lore, turned one mass grave into a car park, such was his contempt for those who dared defy him. On Monday morning, reports said tanks had rolled into and opened fire in the city Dara'a, the epicenter of the uprising; Syria also closed the nearby border with Jordan.
In 2011, Hafez's son and political heir Bashar Assad seems to be following in his father's footsteps, responding to calls for greater freedom with crushing force. Yet Syria 2011 is not Syria 1982. The regime is still ruthless, but this time the rebellion is not restricted to one city or one sect. The constant stream of amateur video spilling over social media is also documenting events despite the regime's best efforts to smother information by banning journalists and suggesting that, if there is not a future reckoning, there will at least be a future record.
There are other differences. While the father had time on his side (the Hama massacre was preceded by four years of on-off clashes), the son doesn't. The volume of international condemnation is rising, and domestically he may not be able to continue his ferocious crackdown without cracks in his regime or the military.
Minor divisions have already surfaced with the weekend resignation of two lawmakers and a mufti from the southern city of Dara'a, where the uprising began more than a month ago. Still, Assad won't lose sleep over the largely symbolic departures. "Threats to the regime can only come from the army and the security services," Ammar Qurabi, head of the National Organization for Human Rights in Syria, told TIME from Cairo. "They will not resign or try to change things because they are the ones committing the massacres."
The Assads, both father and son, have appointed co-religionists from their minority Alawite sect to the top positions in the military's brass, ensuring a close-knit protective shield based on kinship and shared interests. When protests erupted in Dara'a in mid-March, for example, it was the 4th Armored Division, led by Bashar's younger brother, Maher, that was deployed to quell the unrest. The fates of many senior officers are closely tied to that of the regime. Still, according to Radwan Ziadeh, a Washington-based Syrian dissident and visiting scholar at the Institute for Middle East Studies at George Washington University, lower-ranking officers are defecting. "They're not following orders," he told TIME. "The regime knows who it can rely on: the 4th and the Presidential Guards. We hope that the military will play a role," he added, "but if senior politicians don't resign, it won't encourage military commanders to do the same." There are at least 15 different security agencies, and so far they are showing few signs of abandoning Assad.
BEIRUT Residents of the southern Syrian city of Daraa braved sniper fire Tuesday to pull the bullet-riddled bodies of the dead from the streets and hide them from security forces, a day after a brutal government crackdown on the popular revolt against President Bashar Assad, witnesses said.
As heavy gunfire reverberated through Daraa, a Syrian human rights group said authorities detained dozens of people across the country, mainly in several Damascus suburbs, including the town of Douma and in the northern coastal city of Jableh.
A relentless crackdown since mid-March has killed more than 400 people across Syria, with 120 dead over the weekend, rights groups said. That has only emboldened protesters who started their revolt with calls for modest reforms but are now increasingly demanding Assad's downfall.
The Syrian army, backed by tanks and snipers, killed at least 22 people in a raid launched before dawn Monday on Daraa, where the uprising began more than a month ago. Security forces also conducted raids in the towns of Douma and Jableh.
World leaders expressed concern at the mounting bloodshed, with the United States starting to draw up sanctions against Assad, diplomats hoping to send a strong signal to Damascus from the United Nations, and the prime minister of neighboring Turkey telephoning the Syrian leader to urge restraint.
The assault on Daraa appeared to be part of new strategy of crippling, pre-emptive action against any opposition to Assad, rather than reacting to demonstrations.
It took more than a day for residents of Daraa to start pulling many of the bodies off the streets of Daraa, with rooftop snipers and army forces firing on people who dared to leave their homes. One man, Zaher Ahmad Ayyash, was killed as he tried to retrieve the bodies of two brothers, Taysir and Yaser al-Akrad, said a resident, who asked to be identified only as Abdullah for fear of reprisal.
The corpses were hidden away after they were retrieved from the streets, Abdullah said, suggesting that residents might face reprisal if troops discovered they had taken the bodies. As he spoke on the phone, gunfire popped in the background.
"We can't bury the dead in the cemetery because it's occupied by Syrian soldiers," said Abdullah. "We are waiting to find another place to bury them."
