BEIRUT — Government troops opened fire Friday on demonstrators across Syria, opposition activists said, killing at least 20 people and raising questions about the viability of an Arab League-brokered peace pact designed to end the almost 8-month-old conflict.
The opposition called the attacks a violation of the fragile Arab League plan that Syria and other Arab nations agreed to Wednesday in Cairo.
“The Syrian regime breaks its promises,” proclaimed banners held aloft by protesters in the northwestern province of Idlib and seen on amateur videos broadcast by al-Jazeera, the pan-Arab satellite network.
Despite cold temperatures and rain, thousands of protesters in various locales took to the streets after the weekly Muslim prayer to renew calls for the resignation of President Bashar Assad. Opposition activists had urged people to come out Friday to test whether the Syrian government would abide by the terms of the Arab League-sponsored peace plan.
The accord calls for an immediate halt to violence, a withdrawal of armed security forces from Syrian cities, a release of political prisoners and a new “dialogue” between the government and its opponents. The Syrian government has vowed to comply.
But opposition activists say there has been no sign of compliance, suggesting that Damascus signed the pact in a bid to buy more time for an embattled regime.
There was no immediate comment Friday from the Assad administration, which announced a new “amnesty” for “insurgents” willing to turn themselves in to authorities and surrender their weapons. The opposition said it didn’t expect much of a response.
The United Nations, the Obama administration and other governments have condemned what they term a brutal regime crackdown on protesters that has led to the deaths of more than 3,000 people since anti-government rallies began in March.
Damascus has said Muslim extremists and other “terrorists” have conducted a campaign of sabotage, bombings and shootings, killing more than 1,000 security personnel.
