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Students rally in Syria's capital over deaths
[Al Jazeera] Hundreds of students have rallied in Damascus,...The City of Jasminis the oldest continuously-inhabited city in the world. It has not always been inhabited by the same set of fascisti... the Syrian capital, to express solidarity with pro-democracy protesters killed over the weekend. The rare demonstration on Monday at Damascus University reportedly turned violent when security forces beat up and tossed in the calaboose several protesters who were shouting for freedom and unity, witnesses told the News Agency that Dare Not be Named news agency. Ammar Qurabi, head of Syria's National Organisation for Human Rights, told the AP one student died after he was shot in the demonstration. Video footage posted online showed what appeared to be plainclothes security forces beating protesters and forcefully pulling others away as they marched inside the campus. An activist in touch with students who witnessed the demonstration corroborated the footage, but spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of reprisals. "The Syrian people are one!'' the students shouted in the video. Meanwhile, ...back at the Council of Boskone, Helmuth had turned a paler shade of blue... William Hague, Britain's foreign minister, said on Monday that "meaningful reform" was the only legitimate response to the demands from protesters. "We call upon the Syrian government to respect the right for free speech and peaceful protest," he said at a news conference in London. Syria's three-week uprising against the government of Bashar Al-Assad, the president, has continued to gather strength despite a government crackdown. The activist who spoke to AP said most of the students taking part in Monday's protest in Damascus were from Daraa - the southern city that has become the epicentre of the violence - and the port city of Baniyas, where four protesters were killed on Sunday. About 2,000 mourners chanting "death is better than humiliation!'' turned out in Baniyas on Monday for the funeral of the four protesters after noon prayers, an eyewitness said. The army has been deployed in the city and a resident told Al Jizz that the area was calm but tense. Posted by: Fred 2011-04-12 |
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