WaPo Mideast News - Human rights group says 42 people killed across Syria on Friday: BEIRUT — Human rights...http://tinyurl.com/455vzet
#emergency #news Syria has 'Friday of Anger' protests (upi) http://dlvr.it/Q7Grg #slingnews
"Friday of Anger" anti-government protests broke out in the Syrian capital of Damascus and in cities around the country, witnesses said. Armed troops and security forces were reported on the streets of Damascus, using tear gas as prayers ended, the BBC reported. Troops moved into flashpoint cities, including Daraa, the protests' epicenter about 60 miles south of Damascus near Jordan, Homs in the country's center and Baniyas in the northwest, residents said. In Daraa, there were reports of two people killed Friday, and of troops firing into the air to intimidate residents into staying indoors, the BBC said. "Friday of Anger" pro-reform demonstrations were called for "besieged towns" where Syrian troops moved in, "including with our brothers in Daraa," said a message on the Syrian Revolution 2011 Facebook page, which has about 157,000 followers and has emerged as an organizing force behind the opposition demonstrations. An Arabic message welcomed the sun, which the writer said was rising on "the morning of the revolution." Another message called on protesters to exhibit fearless "upright walking" as they faced another possible brutal government crackdown.
Daraa, where at least 42 people were reported killed by Syrian troops this week, had its water and power cut, the activists said. "The situation is worsening. We have neither doctors nor medical supplies, not even baby milk," Abdallah Abazid told the Ya Libnan Lebanese news Web site. The European Union is mulling sanctions and the U.N. Human Rights Council called a special session in Geneva Friday to draft a resolution calling on Syria and its supporters to end the violence. Syrian authorities say they are acting to restore security.
The threat of another brutal crackdown came as more than 200 members of Syria's ruling Baath party resigned in protest of the government's response to pro-reform demonstrators.
Most of the resignations came from party members in Daraa and Baniyas, the Los Angeles Times reported. There were reports of growing dissent within Syria's armed forces, the newspaper said. The pro-democracy movement erupted in Daraa six weeks ago after the arrest and torture of a group of teenagers accused of writing political graffiti opposing President Bashar Assad. It soon spread across the country.
Read more: http://www.upi.com/Top_News/World-News/2011/04/29/Syria-has-Friday-of-Anger-protests/UPI-55421304064000/#ixzz1KwCA0tIi
