Syrian Police Open Fire on Protesters, Killing 17

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Source: NY Times

BEIRUT, Lebanon — Thousands of Syrians defied a ferocious crackdown and took to the streets Friday across the country in what appeared to be an invigorated moment in the nine-week uprising against the rule of President Bashar al-Assad. Human rights activists said at least 17 people were killed when security forces opened fire.

In an unsettling sign for the government, protesters gathered in greater numbers in the capital Damascus, which has remained relatively quiet until now. Thousands also took part in protests in Baniyas, a coastal town besieged by troops only weeks ago, though the army has said it recently withdrew forces from the area.

The turnout, though still far short of the mass demonstrations in Egypt and Tunisia, suggested that the government’s sweeping crackdown, in which hundreds have been killed and thousands were arrested, is proving incapable of crushing the dissent. Though the government has offered tentative steps at reform, opposition figures have demanded an end to the government’s violence, a step it so far appears unwilling to take.


Read more: http://www.nytimes.com/2011/05/21/world/middleeast/21syria.html

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