By Khaled Yacoub Oweis
(Reuters) - Syrian forces shot dead at least 20 protesters
Friday, activists said, as tens of thousands demanded the overthrow of
President Bashar al-Assad, chanting "we will kneel only to God."
Defiant protest marches
unfolded across the country despite a military crackdown that has intensified
since the beginning of the fasting month of Ramadan, triggering sanctions and
condemnation abroad.
These included protests in the
cities of Hama and Deir al-Zor, both of which have been stormed in tank
offensives launched by Assad at the beginning of the Muslim holy month.
"Assad wants to finish
off the uprising before international pressure becomes too much for him. But
people have gone out of almost every major mosque in Deir al-Zor, meters away
from tanks that occupy every main square and roundabout," a resident said.
Another witness said a fire
broke out in the Harwil mosque after security forces shot at it. "The
whole neighborhood is echoing with the sound of bullets. Worshippers are
running to take cover in alleyways," he said by telephone.
Military Intelligence agents
fired live ammunition at protesters coming out of several mosques in Deir
al-Zor, killing three people, a doctor said, adding that a 66-year old man was
in a coma after a bullet hit him in the neck and went through his lung.
The doctor, who did not want
to be named, said at least 80 people had been killed in Deir al-Zor since
Sunday, when Assad's forces, backed by tanks, stormed the city, capital of an
oil producing province that borders Iraq's Sunni heartland.
"Most of the casualties
were hit by sniper fire. People blame Military Intelligence for the killings
more than the army. I think Military Intelligence personnel in Deir al-Zor will
have a rough time once the army withdraws," said the doctor, referring to
the feared secret police division, which is in charge of ensuring loyalty to
Assad among the army.
The Local Coordination
Committees, a grassroots activists' group, said among the deaths acrossSyria were six in the Damascus suburbs,
including a pregnant woman and a 16 year old boy, and two civilians in the
northern province of Idlib on the Turkish border.
The Syrian Observatory for
Human Rights said security forces killed four protesters in the commercial hub
of Aleppo and one man was killed by a sniper in the city of Homs.
Residents said four people
were also killed in Hama, just days after the army completed a week-long
assault on the city which became a symbol of defiance to Assad's rule after
huge crowds gathered weekly to demand his overthrow.
"Go, Bashar!"
protesters chanted in rallies held in the coastal cities of Latakia and
Baniyas, as well as across the southern province of Deraa where the uprising
against 41 years of Assad family domination first flared nearly five months
ago.
Syrian state television said
two members of the security forces were killed by gunmen in Douma, just outside
Damascus.
Syrian authorities have
barred most independent media, making it difficult to verify events on the
ground in the unrest, among a series of popular revolts against repressive
power elites across the Arab world this year.
Assad's forces have
intensified assaults on towns and cities across the country since the start of
Ramadan nearly two weeks ago to try to subdue mounting dissent against the
ruling family, despite threats of new U.S. sanctions and calls from Turkey and fellow Arab states to end attacks
on civilians.
Activists said at least 19
people were killed in raids near the Lebanon border and in the country's Sunni
Muslim tribal heartland Thursday. Assad's family belongs to the minority
Alawite sect that runs Syria.
At least than 1,800 civilians
in all have been killed in the military crackdown on protests against Assad,
human rights organizations say.
Syrian authorities say 500
soldiers and police have died, blaming the violence on "armed terrorist
groups."
CLINTON URGES CUT IN TRADE
TIES
U.S. Secretary of State
Hillary Clinton said Friday Syria would be better off without Assad and called
on nations that buy oil or sell arms to Syria to cut those ties.
"We urge those countries still
buying Syrian oil or gas, those countries still sending Assad weapons, those
countries whose political and economic support give him comfort in his
brutality, to get on the right side of history," she said.
Syria's oil industry, with
which the Assad has close links, generates most of the state's hardcurrency from crude output of 380,000 barrels
per day.
While Syria exports crude oil,
its refinery capacity is not sufficient to meet domestic demand for fuel.
Trading sources said Swiss oil traders Vitol and Trafigura agreed to supply
state firm Sytrol with 60,000 tonnes of gasoline this week.
The global campaign group
Avaaz urged European nations on Friday to impose immediate restrictions on
purchases of Syrian oil to "dry up" funding of Assad's forces. It
said over 150,000 Avaaz members had signed a petition to that effect.
Asked why the United States
had not called on Assad to step down, Clinton said Washington had been
"very clear" in its statements about Assad's loss of legitimacy, and
wanted other nations to add their voices.
Wednesday Washington imposed
sanctions on Syria's largest bank and its biggest mobile telephone company,
controlled by Assad's cousin Rami Makhlouf. The next day, U.S. Ambassador to
Damascus Robert Ford said more sanctions would follow if the Syrian authorities
did not halt the violence.
In addition to the Friday
protests, nightly Ramadan prayers, or "tarawih," which follow the
breaking of the fast, have given more Syrians a focus for daily protest
marches.
In neighboring Lebanon,
hundreds of people demonstrated in the northern, mainly Sunni Muslim, district
of Akkar in support of the Syrian protesters.
Regional powers Turkey, Saudi Arabia and Egypt have all applied pressure on
Assad to stop the violence.
Turkish President Abdullah
Gul warned Assad not to leave reforms until it is too late in a letter delivered
to the Syrian president earlier this week, Turkey's state-run Anatolian news
agency reported Friday.
(Additional reporting by Mariam
Karouny in Beirut;
Writing by Dominic Evans;
Editing by Myra
MacDonald)
Source : Reuters
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