Thousands of Syrians flooded the streets of several major cities Friday for a new round of anti-government demonstrations, defying security forces who used gunfire and tear gas to disperse them.
Four people were shot dead in Doama, a suburb of Damascus, when police opened fire on about 2,000 people who gathered in a major square chanting “freedom,” according to witnesses.
Activists had dubbed Friday “The Day of Martyrs,” to commemorate the more than 70 people who have been killed during unrest in recent weeks.
YEMEN: Demonstrations for, against president calm.
Tens of thousands of pro- and anti-government demonstrators took to the streets of the capital of Sana after noon prayers Friday in peaceful rival demonstrations that were among the largest since uprisings began here two months ago.
Soldiers and riot police swarmed Sana, and a military helicopter buzzed overhead as supporters of embattled President Ali Abdullah Saleh gathered in Sabyeen Square, urging him to defy his critics and remain in power. Many said they worried that if the president steps down, the ensuing political chaos would destabilize the country, the region’s poorest.
EGYPT: Rally held to “rescue the revolution” from Army.
As many as 50,000 people filed into Cairo’s now-celebrated Tahrir Square for a demonstration that had been billed as a “million-man march.” Their goal, leaders said, was to “rescue the revolution” and protest what many here regard as an attempt to block genuine change following the Feb. 11 ouster of President Hosni Mubarak.
Since Mubarak stepped down, Egypt has been run by the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces. The generals have promised parliamentary and presidential elections before the end of the year. But in the meantime, they rule by decree and, free of control by civilian courts, arrest people and try them in military tribunals.
JORDAN: 1,500 call for end to corruption.
Roughly 1,500 demonstrators gathered after Friday prayers outside City Hall in the capital of Amman to call for an end to corruption and greater freedoms. Although one protester was killed at a rally last week, Friday’s demonstration was orderly, due in large part to a heavy deployment of riot police.
Denver Post wire services
