Fresh protests in Syria after government accepts peace plan

Fresh protests in Syria after government accepts peace plan

Anti-government protests were renewed across Syria on Friday against President Bahsar al-Assad after he pledged to withdraw forces under a peace plan initiated by the Arab League (AL) to end months of bloodshed.

Shaky armature videos were aired by the pan-Arab al-Jazeera TV showing people holding protests in several Syrian cities and calling for the downfall of the leadership.

Opposition activists in and outside Syria said the sincerity of the regime will be tested by the weekend rallies.

Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said seven people were killed when security forces opened fire to disperse protesters on Friday.

However, Syria's state TV denied any killings on Friday, saying "those satellite TV channels are still carrying on with their campaign of incitement."

According to private Sham-FM radio station, armed groups opened fire at law-enforcement members in central Hama province, wounding five, including two in critical condition.

The report said protests emerged from three mosques in northern Idlib province. It said about 30 people tried to stage a rally in northern Aleppo province but they were dispersed by worshipers coming out of mosques there.

In eastern Deir al-Zour province, explosive experts dismantled two explosive devices with each weighing two kilograms.

Friday's protests came a day after 18 people were reportedly killed in central Homs that had been witnessing a flare-up of violence since Tuesday.

Online footage showed large-scale protests in Homs, Syria's third-largest city that has spearheaded anti-government rallies against the Assad regime.

A peace plan for ending the months-long Syrian political crisis was reached Wednesday between the Syrian government and the AL.

The plan calls for stopping violence and withdrawing military vehicles from streets, in addition to releasing detainees and holding a dialogue between the Syrian authorities and the opposition.

The Syrian opposition abroad showed no appetite in embarking on a dialogue with the Syrian regime and questioned its intention, accusing the regime of "trying to buy time," and calling for large- scale protests on Friday to challenge the regime pledge.

An official of the U.S. State Department said on Thursday that Washington has seen no evidence that Syrian President Bashar Assad intends to end the prolonged violence in the country despite the recently reached Arab League accord.

"We obviously thank the Arab League. We welcome its efforts to stop the Assad regime's brutal assault. But we have not seen any evidence that the Assad regime intends to live up to the commitments that it's made," said State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland in a regular briefing.

Syria said that some countries are behind the unrest in the country and it even fund the alleged armed terrorist groups that it blamed for killing hundreds of policemen and military personnel across the country since the start of violence in mid March.

Syria also said weapons had been smuggled into the country and reached the hands of those groups via neighboring countries.

Editor: Fang Yang

English.news.cn   2011-11-04 20:43:38 FeedbackPrintRSS
DAMASCUS, Nov. 4 (Xinhua)