Activists say 34 people killed in the city of Hama during one of the largest anti-government protest

[pampango]

Source: Aljazeera


Syrian children carry pictures of 13-year-old Hamza al-Khatib and hold candles during a protest

Syrian security forces have opened fire on one of the largest anti-government protests in the 10-week uprising so far, leaving at least 34 people dead in the central city of Hama, activists said.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the victims were killed on Friday as security forces dispersed a rally of more than 50,000 people in a city where thousands died in a failed 1982 revolt against the government.

The deaths came as president Bashar al-Assad's forces renewed their assault on towns seen as key to the demonstrations calling for an end to his family's 40-year rule.

Rami Abdul-Rahman, director of the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, said the Hama protest was among the largest yet in the uprising that began in mid-March. He said security forces also shot dead one person in the village of Has in the northern province of Idlib.

Read more: http://english.aljazeera.net//news/middleeast/2011/06/2011631419245574.html

[tblue37]

1. They never learn that they cannot kill their way to total security. nt

[Ghost Dog]

2. Hama remembers 1982 massacre

In 1982, Assad's army crushed a Sunni uprising by the Brotherhood in Hama over three weeks, flattening much of the city and killing between 10,000 and 25,000 people, according to Amnesty International estimates.

/... http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/jun/03/syrian-forces-kill-34-protesters