BEIRUT?? Syrian security forces fired live ammunition to disperse thousands who gathered in the streets in several parts of the country on Friday to test the regime's commitment to an Arab plan aimed at ending a crackdown on dissent, activists said.
The bloodshed is a challenge to the 22-member Arab League, which on Wednesday declared that it had won the regime's support for a plan which involved a cessation of violence against demonstrators.
The opposition has been skeptical about the plan, as well as any other deal which allows President Bashar Assad to retain his position, and called for a large turnout in Friday's protests to test whether or not the regime would in fact refrain from using deadly force.
So far, the security crackdown does not appear to be any more restrained than it has been on previous Fridays, when anti-regime protests are traditionally at their largest.
The British-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights and the Local Coordination Committees activist network said two people were killed in the morning amid heavy gunfire in the central city of Homs.
Additionally, a protester was killed in the town of Kanaker, 19 miles southwest of Damascus, according to activists.
"Lots of people fell on the ground with bullet wounds and we are afraid that some will not make it," Mohammad, a resident of Kanaker, said by telephone.
Batons, handguns, rifles
Several more were wounded in suburbs of the Syrian capital Damascus and the coastal town of Latakia as protesters began to gather after midday prayers.
In Latakia, an activist said he counted 13 security pick-up trucks surrounding the main Arsalan mosque. He said at least three protesters were wounded by security forces firing in front of the Bazar mosque in the center of the city.
"They were hit and taken by the security forces. In front of every mosque in Latakia there are several hundred security personnel touting either batons, handguns, or automatic rifles," he said.
In Maarat al-Numaan, a main town on the Damascus-Aleppo highway, a resident said troops manned roadblocks and snipers took positions on rooftops.
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"Freedom, freedom despite you Assad," shouted thousands of protesters in the town.
At least 18 people were reported to have been killed in a security crackdown in Homs on Thursday.
A resident of Homs said large marches set off following Friday prayers in most districts of the city, despite the heavy security presence and violence of the past days.
"They are big, they are calling for the downfall of the regime and they aim to show that the Arab League agreement is a joke," he said on condition of anonymity for fear of reprisals.
Arab League accord
Activists said Friday's protests were largest in Homs, Syria's third-largest city and home to some 800,000 people, where the crackdown has been at its deadliest.
Demonstrations were also reported in the southern province of Daraa and in the eastern cities of Deir el-Zour and Qamishli.
In the coastal town of Banias, security forces beat worshippers as they came out of the Abu Bakr al-Siddiq mosque, and blockaded dozens more inside the building so that they would not join the march, activists said.
The latest bloodshed cast a pall over the Arab League accord announced Wednesday in Cairo.
Under the plan, the Syrian government agreed to pull tanks and armored vehicles out of cities, stop violence against protesters and release all political prisoners. Syria also agreed to allow journalists, rights groups and Arab League representatives to monitor the situation in the country.
The proposal is the latest in a string of international efforts to ease the crisis, which has led to widespread condemnation of the regime and international calls for Assad to step down.
The uprising shows no signs of stopping despite a government crackdown that the U.N. estimates has killed some 3,000 people.
Assad, 46, still has a firm grip on power, in part because he retains the support of the business classes and minority groups who feel vulnerable in an overwhelmingly Sunni nation.
The government has largely sealed off the country from foreign journalists and prevented independent reporting, making it difficult to confirm events on the ground. Key sources of information are amateur videos posted online, witness accounts and details gathered by activist groups.
The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report.
Source: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/45162869/ns/world_news-mideast_n_africa/
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