Fresh anti-Assad rallies in Syria

1 July 2011 Last updated at 17:53 GMT Pro-government rallies were also held after Friday prayers Hundreds of thousands of people have staged anti-government protests across Syria, despite an ongoing military crackdown, reports say.

Rights groups say at least five people were shot dead by government troops in the central city of Homs.

Protests were reported in the capital, Damascus, in eastern and western cities and in towns along the border regions.

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has warned time is running out for Syria's government to usher in reforms.

Speaking during a visit to Lithuania, she said President Bashar Assad would face more organised resistance to his rule unless the country saw "a genuine transition to democracy".

Human rights groups estimate that about 1,700 people have been killed in three months of anti-government protests.

Mr Assad has promised a dialogue on introducing political reforms but the protesters are calling for him to stand down.

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Hundreds of thousands are chanting 'Leave, leave, the people want the fall of the regime.' All of Hama is celebrating”

End Quote Hama resident 'God, Syria, Bashar' Hundreds of thousands of people were reported to have taken to the streets across Syria after prayers on Friday, following calls on social networks for fresh demonstrations.

Some opposition activists said as many as 3m people joined the demonstrations nationwide, but this figure cannot be independently verified.

In Homs, five people were reportedly shot dead and several injured as government troops fired on protesters - armoured vehicles were deployed in the Baba Amr district of the city, activists said.

Abdel-Karim Rihawi, president of the Syrian League for Human Rights, told AFP news agency tens of thousands of people had left mosques in Deir Ezzor, in the east, and taken to the streets.

Two people were reportedly killed during a protest in Damascus' suburb of Qadam.

Activists said more than 500,000 people were protesting in Hama, 210 km (130 miles) north of Damascus.

Mrs Clinton said she was "hurt" by reports of violence in Aleppo

One Hama resident told the BBC Arabic: "Hundreds of thousands are chanting 'Leave, leave, the people want the fall of the regime.' All of Hama is celebrating. There are people chanting from their windows and from the fronts of their homes. All of Hama is on the streets today."

Protests were also staged in Syria's second largest second city of Aleppo, where police fired tear gas against demonstrators, reports say.

Syria's state TV aired images of pro-regime rallies in the northern city.

It showed people waving national flags and chanting "God, Syria, Bashar and that's it."

'Genuine transition'

The Syrian Revolution 2011 group had called on protesters to turn out after Friday prayers, with the message to Mr Assad: "We don't love you... Go away, you and your party."

Pro-government rallies were also held in Damascus and several other towns on Friday, with marchers saying they backed Mr Assad's pledges to reform.

The latest anti-Assad demonstrations follow the death of three more civilians overnight in the north-western region of Jabal al-Zawiyah, activists said - two in the town of al-Bara and one in the nearby village of Brim.

AFP also quoted activists as saying there had been explosions on Friday in the coastal city of Latakia.

Speaking earlier on Friday, Mrs Clinton said the Syrian authorities "know what they have to do".

Protests have spread to Aleppo, Syria's second city, activists say

"They must begin a genuine transition to democracy and allowing one meeting of the opposition in Damascus is not sufficient action toward achieving that goal," she said.

''It is absolutely clear that the Syrian government is running out of time. There isn't any question about that.

"They are either going to allow a serious political process that will include peaceful protests to take place throughout Syria and engage in a productive dialogue with members of the opposition and civil society, or they're going to continue to see increasingly organised resistance."

Rights campaigners estimate that more than 1,350 civilians and 350 security personnel have been killed since mid-March as security forces try to stifle anti-government protests.

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'Pro-Assad rallies' held in Syria

21 June 2011 Last updated at 13:30 GMT State TV said there were pro-Assad protests taking place across Syria

Large rallies in support of President Bashar al-Assad are being held in cities across Syria, including Damascus, Deraa, Hama and Homs, state media say.

They also say Mr Assad has issued a decree granting a new amnesty for crimes committed before 20 June.

On Monday, the Syrian leader addressed the country, calling for a national dialogue and urging people who had fled to Turkey to return.

Monday's address was the third since pro-democracy protests began in March.

A state TV presenter said there were millions of Syrians across the country expressing support for the reforms announced by the Syrian president in Monday's speech.

TV images showed large crowds carrying Mr Assad's portraits and waving Syrian flags.

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Assad's promised reforms, if they are actually implemented, will lead to nothing more than a sham democracy”

End Quote Yasir al-Zaatrah Jordan's Al-Dustur On Monday, some anti-government protesters said reforms were no longer enough, and that the only solution was a change of regime.

Protesters also pointed out that there was no announcement on ending the violence, nor any mention of holding the security services accountable for the recent crackdown in the country.

The president ordered a general amnesty on 31 May for all political prisoners, including members of the outlawed Muslim Brotherhood.

Hundreds of detainees were released, but thousands more remain in jail, according to rights groups.

In Monday's speech, Mr Assad blamed recent anti-government protests on a small group of "saboteurs" who were exploiting popular grievances.

He also said Syria should deal with people's demands for reform and that a national dialogue would shape Syria's future.

Rights groups say at least 1,300 civilians have been killed in demonstrations since March, and more than 300 soldiers and police.

Fears and trauma Meanwhile, the UN refugee agency (UNHCR) says its representatives went on a government-organised visit of the town of Jisr al-Shugour on Monday.

Jisr al-Shughour is the town in the north-west of the country near the border with Turkey where the government claimed that 120 of its soldiers were killed earlier this month by armed gangs.

Villages were increasingly empty from around 40km away from Jisr al-Shugour, and there was no evidence of people working in the fields, the UNHCR said.

Jisr al-Shugour itself was almost deserted, with most shops shuttered and closed.

"Syrian refugees spoke to our team about their fears and trauma. Many had lost family members, who they said were either killed, missing or in hiding," UNHCR said in a statement.

"Our team heard accounts of murders, targeted assassinations, assaults, civilians getting killed in crossfire, torture and humiliation by the military.

"Most of these people had lost virtually all their belongings and property. In many cases, their livestock were shot, fields were torched, and homes and businesses destroyed or confiscated."

More than 10,000 Syrian refugees have crossed the Turkish border, and Ankara says another 10,000 are sheltering on the Syrian side.

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