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Protests Continue in Syrian Town for 3rd Day

   VOA News  March 20, 2011
   Photo, obtained by AFP through a third-party source, is said to depict
   protesters in Deraa, Syria, March 18, 2011

Photo: AFP

   The above photo, obtained by AFP through a third-party source, is said
   to depict protesters in Deraa, Syria, March 18, 2011

   Thousands of Syrians are protesting for a third day in a southern town
   where  security  forces killed at least four protesters on Friday, and
   reports say there have been new casualties.
   Witnesses in the town of Deraa say that security forces fired tear gas
   and bullets to disperse the protesters Sunday. A human rights activist
   says one person has been killed.
   The  demonstrators  are  calling  for political freedoms and an end to
   emergency   laws.    They   also  want  the  dismissal  of  officials
   responsible for mass arrests.
   Syrian  officials  said  a  government delegation is in Deraa to offer
   condolences  for  the  people  killed  by  security forces' gunfire on
   Friday.
   The  Reuters  news  agency  says  the  government also has promised to
   release some schoolchildren whose arrest for scrawling anti-government
   graffiti on walls helped to fuel the protests.
   Activists  in  Syria  have  been  seeking  greater  freedoms under the
   government of President Bashar al-Assad.

   Some information for this report was provided by AP, AFP and Reuters.
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References

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