Anti-government protests in Syria have grown over the past six weeks ‘Scores die’ in Syrian protests
Anti-government protests in Syria have grown over the past six weeks Syrian activists are calling for further popular protests in the face of a security crackdown that they say has left hundreds dead.
Among those reported to be joining the appeal to stage a “day of rage” were the Islamist Muslim Brotherhood.
Demonstrations expected after Friday prayers would express solidarity with the city of Deraa, a focus of unrest.
There has been growing international criticism of the Syrian regime’s response to protests.
EU officials are due to meet in Brussels on Friday to discuss sanctions against President Bashar al-Assad’s regime, while the UN Human Rights Council is expected to hold an urgent meeting in Geneva on Syria.
Human rights activists in Syria say at least 500 people have died in six weeks of protests against the government of President Assad’s regime.
Analysis
The situation in Deraa is clearly becoming increasingly desperate. Around 120,000 people are trapped there.
Since Monday, they’ve been isolated by thousands of government troops and dozens of tanks. Water, electricity and phones have been cut off all that time. There are no medicines, and no access to medical facilities.
Demonstrations and shootings are reported from other parts of the country, with some Syrians even fleeing into Lebanon on foot to get away.
The ruthless crackdown has led more than 200 members of the ruling Baath Party to resign, most of them from the Deraa area. They said the security forces had destroyed all the values they had been brought up with. These are not national figures, but the public resignation and ringing denunciation was a rare sign of dissent from within the system.
A notice on the Facebook page Syrian Revolution 2011 called for a “Friday of Anger”.
“To the youths of the revolution, tomorrow we will be in all the places, in all the streets,” it said.
“We will gather at the besieged towns, including with our brothers in Deraa.”
The Muslim Brotherhood also called on people to take to the streets, in a statement sent to Reuters news agency.
“Do not let the regime besiege your compatriots,” said the statement, said to be the first direct appeal by the group. “Chant with one voice for freedom and dignity. Do not allow the tyrant to enslave you.”
There are reports that the government is also ordering state employees and party members to come out of the mosques and demonstrate in favour of President Assad.
The BBC’s Jim Muir, in neighbouring Lebanon, says one way or another, it will be a trial of strength, with the protesters saying that at this stage there can be no turning back.
In Deraa, at least 50 people are reported to have been shot dead, with some bodies still lying in the streets as it is seen as too dangerous to retrieve them.
Unverifiable video footage posted on the internet showed security forces clubbing a dead body in the street before dragging it away.
Witnesses said water, communications and power had been cut off.
Deraa is the southern city in which political protests began in Syria six weeks ago. A military crackdown was launched there on Monday, with security forces backed by tanks forcing their way into the centre of the city.
Syrian authorities say they are acting to restore security.
Foreign journalists have been banned from Syria and reports from inside the country are difficult to verify.
There are unconfirmed reports of divisions within the security forces and of soldiers refusing orders to fire on protesters.
On Wednesday, 200 members of Syria’s ruling Baath party resigned after issuing an angry public statement denouncing the repression.
The resignations – mostly from around Deraa – follow those of 30 Baath officials from the coastal city of Baniyas, north-west of Damascus.
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