* 20:25 Al-Jazeera English correspondent Cal Perry (@calperryAJ) tweets<http://twitter.com/calperryAJ/status/56405820732223489>that the death toll in Daraa is 27, adding <http://twitter.com/calperryAJ/status/56406855412482048> that 20 bodies are in the morgue and the other seven have been returned to their families.
19:38 Rights activists say that 22 people have been killed in three Syrian cities, AFP reports. Map & Live updates on Syrias uprising * ** *http://www.nowlebanon.com/NewsArticleDetails.aspx?ID=253828* ** *A salute to the Syrian people * Obviously, the suddenly uncertain outlook in Syria must be a worry for Bashar al-Assad's Iranian and Hezbollah allies. A new Syria would have no reason to be friendly to Iran and Lebanon's Hezbollah, which have both fulsomely declared their backing for the Syrian autocracy and therefore for its murders, its criminality and its savage treatment of popular protest. Indeed, crowds of Syrian demonstrators have already *chanted "No Hezbollah, no Iran." *A new Syria will also not quickly forget those Lebanese who have hastened to comfort Bashar al-Assad and to endorse the dictatorship in Damascus and its stability of the gulag and the graveyard. To read more: http://www.nowlebanon.com/NewsArticleDetails.aspx?ID=259635#ixzz1J3W8kk7a Assads decision on Kurds is not enough, says Kurdish figure<http://www.nowlebanon.com/NewsArticleDetails.aspx?ID=259310> <http://www.nowlebanon.com/NewsArticleDetails.aspx?ID=259310>Opposition Kurdish Yekiti Party Secretary General Sheikh Aali said on Friday that Syrian President Bashar al-Assads decision to naturalize Kurds in Syria is not enough, reiterating his partys support for popular protests in the country. To read more: http://www.nowlebanon.com/Default.aspx#ixzz1J3ZpJre7 http://www.nytimes.com/2011/04/09/world/middleeast/09syria.html Deadly Violence Reported in Syrian Protests By LIAM STACK and J. DAVID GOODMAN<http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/people/g/j_david_goodman/index.html?inline=nyt-per> Published: April 8, 2011 <http://www.nytimes.com/2011/04/09/world/middleeast/09syria.html?pagewanted=all> - CAIRO Gunfire erupted after prayers in the southern city of Daraa on Friday as security forces across Syria<http://topics.nytimes.com/top/news/international/countriesandterritories/syria/index.html?inline=nyt-geo>moved to counter a third week of protests against the government of President Bashar al-Assad<http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/people/a/bashar_al_assad/index.html?inline=nyt-per>, according to witnesses and activists reached by telephone. There were conflicting reports of the number of dead in the town as well as who was shooting. One resident, reached by phone, said security forces had opened fire on thousands of protesters from a central bridge and killed more than 10 people. There are martyrs in the street, he said frantically before his line went dead. A Facebook group monitored by human rights activists in Syria said 24 had been killed and another 20 wounded. Syrian state media confirmed several deaths but blamed them on gunman who opened fire on a group of citizens, security forces and police as worshippers left Friday prayer. The media said one member of the security forces had been killed and dozens of civilians had been injured. The clash began as security forces on the bridge tried to keep two groups of protesters from joining together, the resident said. Chants of Peaceful, peaceful! rose through clouds of tear gas and the sounds of gunfire. In a separate incident, state television reported that unidentified gunmen opened fire on an ambulance as it transported an injured man to the hospital in Daraa, killing the driver. More than 10,000 protesters took to the streets of several cities, including the capital, Damascus, and a suburb where at least 15 protesters were killed last Friday in clashes with security forces. Protest organizers had called for demonstrations against Mr. Assads administration in several provinces in what they dubbed a Friday of Steadfastness. Across the Arab world, Friday has become the central day of protests against autocratic rule as worshipers pour from mosques after noon prayers on the Muslim holy day in a revolutionary upsurge that has toppled the leaders of Egypt and Tunisia and brought turmoil to other countries including Yemen, Bahrain, Jordan, Syria and Libya. In Yemen, more than 100,000 people converged on the capital, Sana, for rival demonstrations on Friday as the president, Ali Abdullah Saleh<http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/people/s/ali_abdullah_saleh/index.html?inline=nyt-per>, appeared to dig in and reject an offer from the regional Gulf Cooperation Council to mediate the terms of his departure. Meanwhile, tens of thousands gathered in Cairos central Tahrir Square, waving flags and demanding the prosecution of the ousted president, Hosni Mubarak<http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/people/m/hosni_mubarak/index.html?inline=nyt-per>, and his family in a sign of Egyptians growing frustration with the slow pace of change under the new military rulers. In Syria, the protests Friday included some in the eastern Kurdish areas, two days after Mr. Assad sought to quell unrest by offering Syrian nationality to the estimated 200,000 Kurds formerly classified by the government as stateless persons. Kurdish leaders and human rights activists rejected the move as political posturing. Hakeem Bashar, a Kurdish leader. said on Friday that thousands of people had gathered to demonstrate in Qamashli, one of the largest towns in the Kurdish northeast of the country. We want all of the demands that other Syrians in other parts of the country are making, Dr. Bashar said. These are national demands, but we are demanding them too because this is our country. We are Kurds, but we are also Syrians. Security forces have maintained a heavy presence in the capital, Damascus. Six buses carrying uniformed and plainclothes officers arrived at the Al Rifai mosque in the Damascus neighborhood of Kafr Souseh a center of protests last week, pulling open its doors and beating worshipers as they exited, said Wissam Tarif, director of a Syrian human rights group. Security forces scuffled with protesters and hauled others into the waiting buses as they chanted Freedom! Freedom! The new gatherings came after smaller groups demonstrated on Thursday in the towns of Daraya, Qaboun and Irbin, as well as in Douma, in memory of those killed last week. Last Friday, demonstrations in Douma erupted into violence when security forces opened fire on the crowd, killing at least 15 people, according to human rights groups. Most of the dead were shot by snipers. On Friday, villagers from surrounding Damascus suburbs marched in groups towards Douma, braving the heavy security along the roads and the threat of armed men at checkpoints outside the town. One march that set out from the village of Nasraba by mid-afternoon drew over 200 people chanting antigovernment slogans behind the leadership of a man in a beige gallabeya, or traditional robe, and a red and white checkered scarf. Liam Stack reported from Cairo, and J. David Goodman from New York. An employee of The New York Times contributed reporting from Damascus, Syria. [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] ------------------------------------ --------------------------------------------------------------------------- LAAMN: Los Angeles Alternative Media Network --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Unsubscribe: <mailto:[email protected]> --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Subscribe: <mailto:[email protected]> --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Digest: <mailto:[email protected]> --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Help: <mailto:[email protected]?subject=laamn> --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Post: <mailto:[email protected]> --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Archive1: <http://www.egroups.com/messages/laamn> --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Archive2: <http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]> --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/laamn/ <*> Your email settings: Individual Email | Traditional <*> To change settings online go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/laamn/join (Yahoo! ID required) <*> To change settings via email: [email protected] [email protected] <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [email protected] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
