BEIRUT, April 13 (Reuters) – At least three protesters were
shot dead by Syrian security forces on Friday on the second day
of a nationwide ceasefire meant to restore peaceful political
dialogue after 13 months of extreme violence, opposition
activists said.
The shootings occurred as demonstrators rallied against
President Bashar al-Assad, who has accepted the terms of the
United Nations-brokered ceasefire which took effect on Thursday.
Syrians took to the streets across the country in small
demonstrations after Friday’s Muslim prayers, trusting that the
two-day-old ceasefire would protect them from the army bullets
that have frightened off peaceful protesters for months.
Activists said state security forces were out in strength to
block streets in many cities to prevent protesters forming major
anti-Assad rallies.
One person was killed as marchers tried to converge on a
central square in the city of Hama. Security forces shot one
person dead as worshippers left a mosque in the town of Nawa in
the southern Deraa province, where the uprising began.
A third died from his wounds after he was shot by security
forces in the town of Salqeen in the northwestern province of
Idlib, the British-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights and
the anti-Assad Local Coordination Committees said.
Rallies filmed by activists were far smaller than the huge,
chanting crowds seen in major cities at the start of the
uprising 13 months ago and on several occasions in 2011, before
ruthless suppression drove all protest off the streets.
The activist Local Coordination Committees reported shots
fired at several locations on Friday to scare off crowds and
break up marches. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights quoted
activists as saying there was gunfire at one demonstration in
the town of Salqeen in northwestern Idlib province.
Its director, Rami Abdulrahman, said there was no sign of
any major demonstration taking place in the country. He
estimated the number of Assad opponents marching in public on
Friday totalled tens of thousands.
In the capital, Damascus, an activist reported a heavy
security presence across the city.
He said demonstrators were throwing stones at security
forces in Jobar district, and there were demonstrations in the
Barzeh, Kafr Souseh and Midan quarters. In the town of Deraya
outside Damascus one person was wounded when a sniper fired on a
demonstration, he said.
DEMO PERMITS NEEDED
Along with the ceasefire that began on Thursday and the
withdrawal of forces from population centres, U.N.-Arab League
envoy Kofi Annan’s six-point peace plan calls for talks with the
opposition aimed at a “political transition”.
In addition to the ceasefire, Assad has also agreed to
“respect freedom of association and the right to demonstrate
peacefully”. But he has not withdrawn troops, tanks and
artillery from urban centres as Annan’s plan demands.
Burhan Ghalioun, head of the opposition Syrian National
Council (SNC), said on Thursday he did not trust Damascus to
allow the renewal of protests after Friday prayers, a feature of
the uprising that has been subdued by violence in recent months.
“While we call on the Syrian people to protest strongly …
we ask them to be cautious because the regime will not respect
the ceasefire and will shoot,” he told Reuters.
The Syrian Interior Ministry said only pre-authorised
demonstrations would be permitted by police.
“This is ridiculous,” said an activist called Musab from
Hama city, a focus of opposition activity and government
bombardment along with Homs and Idlib. “They will not give you
permission and you will be taken to jail if you ask for it”.
