Syrian security forces shot dead at least 30 demonstrators today during protests that broke out across the country in defiance of a military crackdown which has killed hundreds of people, a rights activist said.
Other activists reported demonstrations across Syria, from Banias and Latakia on the Mediterranean coast to the oil producing region of Deir al-Zor, Qamishli in the Kurdish east and the Hauran Plain in the south, one day after the United States told president Bashar al-Assad to reform or step down.
Syria has barred most international media since the protests broke out two months ago, making it impossible to verify independently accounts from activists and officials.
"No dialogue with tanks," said banners carried by Kurdish protesters who shouted "azadi", the Kurdish word for freedom, rejecting promises by the authorities for a national dialogue, a witness said.
Protests erupted in Damascus suburbs and the capital's Barzeh district, where two witnesses said security forces fired at protesters and chased them in the streets.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, which is based in Britain, said at least 831 civilians had been killed since the uprising against autocratic rule erupted in the southern city of Deraa nine weeks ago. It said at least 10,000 people had been arrested, including hundreds across Syria today.
Some protesters were calling for freedom, activists said, while others called for "the overthrow of the regime", the slogan of uprisings which toppled leaders in Egypt and Tunisia.
Human rights lawyer Razan Zaitouna said 12 people were killed in the town of Maaret al-Numan, south of Syria's second city Aleppo. Tanks had entered the town earlier in the day to disperse protesters.
She said another 11 were killed in the central city of Homs.
She said seven others were killed in Deraa, Latakia, the Damascus suburbs and Hama, where Assad's father, the late president Hafez al-Assad, sent the military to crush an armed Islamist uprising in the 1980s.
Amateur video uploaded by activists, who said it was filmed in Homs, showed scores of marchers scattering as gunfire erupted. A police car was left burning in the street.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said it had names of at least 21 protesters killed today.
The United States, which has condemned the crackdown as barbaric, imposed targeted sanctions against Mr Assad this week and US President Barack Obama said yesterday Syria must move away from "the path of murder and mass arrest".
"The Syrian people have shown their courage in demanding a transition to democracy," Obama said. "President Assad now has a choice: He can lead that transition or get out of the way."
Despite strong words from the White House, the West has so far taken only small steps to isolate Assad when compared to its bombing campaign against Libya's leader Muammar Gadafy, also accused of killing protesters.
The two-month uprising has posed the gravest challenge to Mr Assad's rule. In response, he has lifted a 48-year state of emergency and granted citizenship to stateless Kurds, but also sent tanks to several cities to suppress the protests.
The main weekly Muslim prayers on Fridays are a rallying point for protesters because they offer the only opportunity for large gatherings, and have seen the worst death tolls in unrest.
Syrian authorities blame most of the violence on armed groups, backed by Islamists and outside powers, who they say have killed more than 120 soldiers and police. They have recently suggested they believe the protests have peaked.
Activists reported shooting in Banias and the Damascus suburb of Saqba on Friday. Both were subjected to security sweeps earlier this month aimed at crushing dissent.
A witness said security forces fired teargas on protesters in the city of Hama, where around 20,000 people had gathered in two separate areas. Security forces also used teargas to disperse around 1,000 protesters in the town of Tel just north of Damascus, another witness said.
Since the protests first broke out in March, they have spread across southern towns, coastal cities, Damascus suburbs and Homs. The two main cities of Damascus and Aleppo have remained relatively quiet.
Western powers, fearing instability across the Middle East if Syria undergoes a dramatic upheaval, at first made only muted criticisms of Mr Assad's actions, but then stepped up their condemnation and imposed sanctions on leading Syrian figures.
The US Treasury Department said it would freeze any assets owned by Syrian officials that fell within US jurisdiction, and bar US individuals and companies from dealing with them.
The sanctions also applied to Syria's vice president, prime minister, interior and defence ministers, the head of military intelligence and director of the political security branch, but it was unclear which assets, if any, would be blocked.
An EU diplomat said the European Union was also likely to extend its sanctions on Syria next week to include Mr Assad.
Damascus condemned the sanctions, saying they targeted the Syrian people and served Israel's interests.
"The sanctions have not and will not affect Syria's independent will," an official source was quoted as saying on state television yesterday.
Reuters