20 feared dead as Syrian troops shoot protesters

Witnesses heard heavy gunfire in the city centre and there were reports of several casualties.

An activist in Damascus in touch with eyewitnesses in the village of Sanamein, near Daraa, said troops there opened fire on demonstrators who were trying to march to Daraa.

He said there had been witness reports of deaths, some claiming as many as 20 killed.

Tens of thousands of Syrians were taking to the streets across the country in the most widespread civil unrest in years. They defied crowds of government backers and baton-wielding security forces to shout their support of the uprising.

Thousands flooded Daraa’s central Assad Square, many from nearby villages, chanting “Freedom! Freedom!” and waving Syrian flags and olive branches.

Witnesses estimated more than 50,000 people were shouting slogans decrying presidential adviser Buthaina Shaaban, who promised earlier that the government would consider a series of reforms in response to a week of unrest in Daraa.

A human rights activist said thousands of people gathered in the town of Douma outside the capital, Damascus, pledging support for the people of Daraa.

Security forces dispersed the crowd by chasing them away, beating some with batons and detaining others.

Outside the famous Ummayad Mosque in Damascus, scores of people gathered, chanting pro-Assad slogans when a small group of people began shouting opposing slogans in support of the Daraa martyrs. Police dispersed the protesters peacefully.

Also in Damascus, about 200 people demonstrated after the Friday prayers near the central Marjeh Square, chanting “our souls, our blood we sacrifice for you Daraa,” and “freedom, freedom.”

They were chased by security forces.

In the city of Aleppo, hundreds of worshippers came out of mosques shouting “with our lives, our souls, we sacrifice for you Bashar” and “Only God, Syria and Bashar!”

Residents in the northern city of Homs said hundreds of people demonstrated in support of Daraa and demanded reforms.

More protests were reported in the coastal city of Latakia, and northern city of Raqqa. And in the western city of Zabadani, near the border with Lebanon, several people were detained after protesting.

Journalists who tried to enter Daraa’s Old City – where most of the violence took place – were escorted out of town by two security vehicles.

“As you can see, everything is back to normal and it is over,” said an army major.

Security forces appeared to be trying to reduce tension in Daraa by dismantling checkpoints and ensuring there was no visible army presence on the streets.

Rattled by the unrest, the Syrian government pledged to consider lifting some of the Middle East’s most repressive laws in an attempt to stop the weeklong uprising from spreading and threatening its nearly 50-year rule.

But the promises were immediately rejected by many activists who called for demonstrations around the country in response to a crackdown that protesters say killed dozens of anti-government marchers in Daraa.

Assad, a close ally of Iran and backer of Hezbollah and Hamas, has promised increased freedoms for discontented citizens and increased pay and benefits for state workers.

Shaaban, the presidential adviser, also said the Baath party would study ending a state of emergency that it put in place after seizing power in 1963.

The emergency laws allow people to be arrested without warrants and imprisoned without trial.

The death toll from the weeklong crackdown was unclear and could not be independently confirmed. Shaaban says 34 people had been killed in the conflict.