ARAB UPRISINGS:SHOTS WERE fired yesterday in the southeastern Syrian city of Deraa after funerals of people killed on Wednesday passed off peacefully. Security forces reportedly shot at youths trying to set fire to a statue of former president Hafez al-Assad. In nearby Sanamein village a witness told al-Jazeera 20 people were killed when villagers tried to reach Deraa.
In Damascus, Hama and Homs security forces broke up protests while pro-government demonstrators brandishing portraits of current president Bashar al-Assad rallied.
Deraa’s funerals were of six of the 37 people who were killed on Wednesday when army and police stormed a protest encampment at the Omariya mosque in the old town, boosting the death toll to 44 over the past week.
“Freedom is ringing out,” chanted the throng in Deraa, an agricultural town near the Jordanian border, where the detention of 15 teens spray-painting graffiti on walls sparked mass protests.
Presidential spokeswoman Bouthaina Shaaban said on Thursday that the protests were “legitimate” and announced that the government would meet the demands of activists who want an end to emergency laws in place since 1963, the right to form political parties, and an anti-corruption drive.
So far, protesters have largely steered clear of calling for the fall of Dr Assad who, unlike the Egyptian and Tunisian rulers, enjoys genuine popularity. After assuming power on his father’s death in 2000, he tried to introduce political reforms but was compelled to retrench by powerful figures in the politico-military establishment which has ruled Syria for 48 years.
Although the flowering of the “Damascus Spring” was brief, Dr Assad has gradually loosened the grip of the security state and opened up the economy. Analysts suggest that local protests within the context of regional uprisings could strengthen his hand against opponents of political reform. Although he has repeatedly called for an end to violence against protesters, hardline elements in the security forces have cracked down.
In Egypt, frightened off by a ban on demonstrations and strikes decreed by the government and enforced by the military, only 1,000 Egyptians attended the weekly protest in Cairo’s Tahrir Square. The law imposes a one-year prison sentence and a steep fine on instigators and participants in demonstrations.
Those who did attend the Tahrir Square demonstration called for revocation of the law and called for the speedy trial of former president Hosni Mubarak and other members of the ousted regime for corruption and human rights abuses. The failure of the democracy movement to marshal thousands was attributed to the feeling among many Egyptians that the uprising is over and the country should return to normal.
A few hundred metres from the square, 2,000 assembled in front of the television building to call for the dismissal of media figures who misled the public during Mr Mubarak’s 30-year reign and 500 Coptic Christians protested the authorities’ failure to arrest those who set fire to a church on March 4th.
Organisers were more successful in Alexandria, where after the noon mosque prayers thousands demonstrated against the anti-protest law. But they were assaulted by Muslim fundamentalists opposed to further mass action. They also called for the resignation of Prime Minister Essam Sahaf for being secular.
In Jordan’s capital Amman, demonstrators demanding reform and an end to corruption were injured when government supporters attacked with sticks and stones.
Several hundred protesters have set up a camp in a central square and vow to remain until King Abdullah grants their demands. Three dozen protesters were injured Thursday in clashes with pro-government elements.
