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Rights Group Says 44 Killed in Syrian Protests

   VOA News  May 21, 2011
   An image grab taken from a video posted on YouTube, May 20, 2011, shows
   a Syrian soldier pointing his rifle and firing at anti-regime
   protesters during a demonstration in Hama, north of Damascus

Photo: AFP

   An image grab taken from a video posted on YouTube, May 20, 2011, shows
   a Syrian soldier pointing his rifle and firing at anti-regime
   protesters during a demonstration in Hama, north of Damascus

   A Syrian rights group has raised the estimated death toll from a Friday
   crackdown on anti-government protests in the country to 44.
   The National Organization for Human Rights said Saturday that most of
   the deaths took place in the western province of Idlib and the central
   region of Homs, after Syrian security forces cracked down on
   demonstrators. Witnesses and activists had earlier reported about 30
   deaths.
   On Friday, news organizations quoted witnesses in several cities who
   said security forces used live ammunition on demonstrators who took to
   the streets to rally against President Bashar al-Assad's government.
   The accounts could not be independently verified as Syria has banned
   foreign journalists from the country.
   Syrian rights activists say more than 850 civilians have been killed
   since mid-March, when protesters began calling for democratic reforms
   and Assad's ouster. Authorities have arrested at least 7,000 people as
   part of a government crackdown.

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

   1. http://twitter.com/VOAMidEast
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