6 dead in new clashes in southern Syria city

[March 23, 2011]  DARAA, Syria (AP) -- New violence in a restive southern Syrian city killed as many as six people Wednesday, making it the deadliest single day since anti-government protests inspired by uprisings across the Arab world reached this country last week, an activist said.

The activist told The Associated Press that six people died in Daraa when security forces launched an attack near the al-Omari Mosque, where anti-government demonstrators have taken shelter. He said a paramedic was among the dead. The activist spoke on condition of anonymity, fearing reprisals.

Syria's state-run TV reported that four people died when "an armed gang" attacked an ambulance in Daraa. The dead included a doctor, a paramedic, a driver and a policeman, the TV said.

It showed footage of guns, AK47s, hand grenades and other ammunition as well as stashes of Syrian money which it said was seized from inside al-Omari mosque.

The conflicting information and the discrepancy in the toll of the dead could not be immediately reconciled. The latest attack is likely to raise tension in Daraa as security forces are now expected to intensify their crackdown on anti-government activists.

The Syrian government has sought to contain the first serious intrusion of the Arab world's political unrest by firing the governor of the southern province of Daraa, where security forces killed seven protesters over the weekend. But the dismissal failed to quell popular anger and the protests reached the province's village of Nawa, where hundreds of people marched demanding reforms on Tuesday, activist said.

The TV said security forces were able "to kill and wound" some of the attackers in Wednesday's incident and are chasing those who were able to flee. The report didn't provide more details.

A video posted on Facebook by activists showed an empty street, purported to be near al-Omari Mosque as shooting could be heard in the darkness. In the footage, a voice is heard shouting: "My brother, does anyone kill his people? You are our brothers." The authenticity of the videos could not be independently verified.

State TV denied that security forces had stormed the mosque.

Syria, a predominantly Sunni country ruled by minority Alawites, has been spared the wave of uprisings in the Middle East until now. Part of the reason is that the protesters know there will be a swift crackdown.

Like many Syrian cities, Daraa is home to ultra-orthodox Sunni Muslims.

In 2006, security agents arrested 16 Syrians during a three-day sweep in Daraa province, accusing them of membership to the banned Muslim Brotherhood.

Last week's unrest started with the arrest by security forces of a group of students who had sprayed anti-government graffiti on walls in Daraa, some 130 kilometers (80 miles) south of the capital Damascus.

Security troops trying to break up a demonstration calling for their release and for political freedoms killed seven people over several days of protests.

Also Wednesday, Abdul-Karim al-Rihawi, head of the Arab League for Human Rights, said several prominent activists have been arrested in the past two days, including well known writer Loay Hussein. Hussein had issued a statement calling for freedom of peaceful protests and expressed solidarity with the Daraa protesters.

Al-Rihawi said security agents picked up Hussein from his home in Damascus on Tuesday and confiscated his computer.

He said another activist, Issa al-Masalmi, was arrested in Daraa.

Meanwhile, authorities said that six women who were detained last week after protesting in front of the Syrian Interior Ministry in central Damascus would be released Wednesday.

The women were among 32 people, most of them relatives of political detainees in Syria, who were detained last Wednesday and charged by a prosecutor with hurting the state's image.

Al-Rihawi said the women would still have to stand trial despite their release.

[Associated Press; By BASSEM MROUE]

Copyright 2011 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.