Middle East launches in the Syrian city of locked - Aljazeera.net

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Gunfire in locked-down Syrian city - Middle East - Al Jazeera English .qodLinker{border-width:0px;border-style:none;}.qodLinker img{border-width:0px;border-style:none;} NewsIn DepthProgrammesVideoBlogsBusinessWeatherSportWatch Live AfricaAmericasAsia-PacificCentral & South AsiaEuropeMiddle EastFocusOpinionFeaturesInteractiveSpotlightBriefingsYour ViewsRiz KhanWitnessInside StoryListening PostPeople & PowerMore??Counting the CostNewsThe Business Blog??? Middle East Gunfire in locked-down Syrian city Reports of shooting as thousands protest in Homs while Syrian government claims country is facing "armed insurrection". Last Modified: 18 Apr 2011 22:09 Email Print Share Send Feedback

Gunfire has been heard in the Syrian city of Homs where thousands of anti-government protesters had gathered in the main square, a day after activists said at least 25 people were killed there.

An activist on the ground told Al Jazeera that security forces had opened fire on protesters. At least two people are reported injured while tear gas has also been used, according to Al Jazeera's correspondent in Damascus, Cal Perry.

Homs has been shut down by the army with three rings of checkpoints surrounding the city, our correspondent added. Security forces had given protesters until 2.30am to clear the square, but gunfire was reported at 2.15am.

Most of the square had been cleared with people scattering across the city, according to our correspondent. But protesters are afraid to go to hospitals, he says.

"They are afraid if they go to the hospitals the security forces will be waiting for them there and they will end up in detention," says Perry.

The latest protests against president Bashar al-Assad's 10-year rule come as Syria's interior ministry on Monday night said the country was facing an "armed insurrection".

The government blames armed gangs for the unrest and says several members of the security forces have been killed and wounded in days of violence.

"Some of these groups have called for armed insurrection under the motto of Jihad to set up a Salafist state," the ministry said in a statement. "What they did is an ugly crime severely punished by law. Their objective is to spread terror across Syria"

A protester who gave his name as Rami earlier told Al Jazeera that thousands people were staging a sit-in in the centre of Homs and would "continue to protest until the regime is overthrown".

Suhair Atassi, a prominent rights activist, said 10,000 people were at the square late on Monday night.

Some tents were raised and protesters said they had renamed the Al-Saa (Clock) Square 'Tahrir Square', in reference to the focal point of the uprising in Egypt which led to the ousting of former president Hosni Mubarak.

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Earlier in the day, thousands attended the funerals for protesters killed in Homs, shouting slogans against Assad, who succeeded his father as president in 2000, continuing an era of Baath Party rule stretching back to a 1963 coup.

Witnesses said mourners chanted "From alleyway to alleyway, from house to house, we want to overthrow you, Bashar," and "Either freedom or death,?the people want to topple this regime".

Monday's protests were the largest to hit Syria's third largest city since?protests in the country began?one month ago.

"I'm 45 years old. It's the first time in my life I break the barrier of silence, the first time I feel freedom," a protester who gave his name as Abu Omar told Al Jazeera.

"The regime does not wish us to enjoy freedom or dignity. For decades we've been ruled by an iron fist, by the force of weapon."

Demonstrations were also reported in the southern city of Daraa, in the Barzeh district of the capital, Damascus, and in Ain al-Arab in the mainly Kurdish north. About 1,500 people gathered at the Shaghour bridge between Aleppo and Latakia in the morning.

Homs violence

A?protester in Homs told Al Jazeera that protesters were killed after evening prayers on Sunday when a group of around 40?demonstrators gathered outside the Bab al-Sibaa mosque chanting "freedom".

The protester, who gave his name as Abu Haider, said seven cars pulled up to the protesters and men in civilian clothes jumped out and opened fire on the crowd without warning.

Pictures were posted online of people praying in
a square in Homs on Monday [Twitpic-Shantal7afana]

"First we were calling for reforms, now we're calling for regime change,"?he said. "No one will accept the death of the martyrs."

The nearby town of Talbiseh, where activists said five people were killed on Sunday, was sealed off by government forces on Monday.

Walid al-Muallem, Syria's foreign minister,?met foreign ambassadors earlier in the day and?told them that reforms are on their way and that peaceful protest will be tolerated, but?not destruction of government properties and other disruptive behaviour.

The latest developments came two days after Assad said Syria's decades-long emergency laws would be lifted within a week and also promised a number of other reforms.

Despite the apparent concessions, nationwide protests were held on?Sunday, which was Syria's Independence Day, commemorating the departure of the last French soldier 65 years ago.

Source: Al Jazeera Email Print Share Send Feedback Topics in this articlePeopleBashar al-AssadAbu HaiderAbu OmarSuhair AtassiSalafiHosni MubarakRamiCountrySyriaEgyptCityHomsDaraaAleppoTalbisehLatakiaDamascus Featured on Al Jazeera Nigeria: Ripe for a WikiLeaks revolution? Leaked cables helped expose high-level corruption, but will those revelations impact upcoming elections? Libya after the NATO invasion There can be no quick fix for a Libya caught between a loose-cannon despot and an opportunistic Western intervention. China's interests in Gaddafi Huge oil and financial deals play major part in Beijing's support for Libya's despot and halt to foreign intervention. Recognising Palestine? The efforts of the Palestinian Authority to push for statehood are nothing more than an elaborate farce, writer says.

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