SYRIA:SYRIAN FORCES fired tear gas and shots into the air yesterday when demonstrators returned to the streets of the southeastern town of Deraa, epicentre of the unrest that has gripped the country for 10 days.
Some 4,000 people took part in the protests, calling for freedom and an end to the state of emergency imposed after the Baath Party took power in 1963.
This was, however, a dramatic drop in participation from last week, when tens of thousands poured onto the streets and squares of this drought-devastated agricultural town which once had been a Baathist bastion.
In the northern port of Latakia, residents have been arming themselves and establishing barricades and checkpoints in their neighbourhoods to prevent the entry of unknown men carrying clubs and hunting rifles.
These elements are suspected of staging sniper attacks on civilians last weekend, when at least 12 people, including 10 soldiers, were killed and many were injured during demonstrations of solidarity with the people of Deraa.
The formation of civilian self-defence groups could be a response to accusations levelled by government spokesmen that foreign elements, including Palestinians from nearby refugee camps, were fomenting sectarian conflict to destabilise the country.
Neighbourhood watch groups similarly sprang up in Egypt following the withdrawal of police from cities and towns by the Mubarak regime two weeks before its fall.
Latakia is a Sunni majority city with small numbers of Christians and Alawites, the former comprising 11 per cent of the population, the latter, a dissident Shia sect, comprising 13 per cent.
The villages surrounding Latakia, including the home of the ruling Assad family, are largely Alawite.
President Bashar al-Assad is expected to address the nation in the next two days. Vice-president Farouk al-Sharaa said he will reveal “important decisions” that would “please the Syrian people”.
He is expected to announce the lifting of martial law, a cabinet reshuffle and other reforms. Protesters have also been demanding the release of all political prisoners, free and fair parliamentary elections and an end to media censorship.
Turkish prime minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, a key ally of Syria, said he had spoken to Dr Assad and had urged him to “answer the people’s calls with a reformist, positive approach”.
“The Syrians told us they were working on political parties: we hope these measures are actually implemented rather than remaining promises,” he said.
