Syrian troops fought intense battles Friday with hundreds of fellow soldiers who have turned their weapons against the regime of President Bashar Assad, revealing the increasingly militarized nature of an uprising started months ago by peaceful protesters.
Across the country, tens of thousands of demonstrators took to the streets as they do each Friday, braving gunfire by government forces. At least 11 protesters were killed and scores were wounded, human-rights groups said.
LIBYA: Rights group urges opposition not to abuse Khadafy supporters.
Human Rights Watch called on Libya’s new rulers to stop armed groups from rounding up suspected Moammar Khadafy supporters and abusing them, saying Friday that some detainees reporting beatings and electric shocks had the scars to prove it.
The New York-based rights group said it had visited 20 detention facilities in Tripoli and interviewed 53 inmates. Five were considered “high value” because of their positions in Khadafy’s government, the report said, without elaborating.
EGYPT: Rallies call for end to emergency laws.
Thousands of Egyptians took to the streets nationwide Friday to call on the military rulers to put an end to emergency laws dating back to the rule of ousted President Hosni Mubarak and blamed for some of that era’s worst human-rights abuses.
The rallies in Cairo’s Tah rir Square, the epicenter of the protests that forced Mubarak out of office in February, and in Alexandria and other cities were held under the slogan “Reclaiming the Revolution.”
Denver Post wire services
