Internet activists are urging regime opponents emboldened by the presence of observers to take to Syria’s streets Friday, a traditional day of mass protests, despite unrelenting bloodshed. The appeal comes as the toll in Syria rose again, with a rights groups reporting 10 new deaths on Friday and at least 27 civilians killed the previous day as Arab observers expanded their mission across the country. More than 250,000 anti-regime protesters took to the streets of Syria’s flashpoint northwestern province of Idlib after the main weekly Muslim prayers on Friday, a rights watchdog said. “More than 250,000 people protested across Idlib province in 74 locations after Friday prayers,” the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.
Bracing against planned mass demonstrations, Syrian security forces deployed heavily in the flashpoint southern province of Daraa, where protests against the autocratic regime of President Bashar al-Assad first erupted in March. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said security forces surrounded the Al-Bassam and Al-Omari mosques in the Daraa town of Inkhil as snipers took up positions on high grounds. “On Friday we will march to the squares of freedom, bare-chested,” the activists said on their Facebook page, adding they were ready to confront the regime’s “artillery and machinegun fire.”
The Observatory’s Rami Abdel Rahman said activists are determined to make their voices heard to the monitors despite the bloody crackdown which has killed more than 100 people since Monday when the monitors arrived.
“The Arab League’s initiative is the only ray of light that we now see,” said Abdel Rahman. “The presence of the observers in Homs broke the barrier of fear,” he said in reference to some 70,000 demonstrators who flooded the streets of the central city Tuesday as monitors entered the protest hub. Since then thousands have taken to the streets in different parts of Syria energised by the presence of the observers whose mission was accepted by Damascus earlier this month after weeks of stalling. The monitors are seeking to implement an Arab League peace plan to end a government crackdown on pro-democracy protesters. World governments have warned Syria against hiding the facts from the monitors. Earlier this week Dabi – a veteran Sudanese military intelligence officer – said the visit to Homs was “good” and that Syrian authorities were cooperating with the monitors.
His comments reportedly set off alarm bells within some ranks of the opposition who are unhappy with the choice of Dabi as the head of the mission. Meanwhile, Arab peace observers touring crisis-hit Syria have been closely tracked by intrepid activists who, armed with camera-equipped mobile phones, provide the only glimpse into spiralling violence.
