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Syrian Opposition Plan Protests for Friday

   VOA News  May 27, 2011

   Syrian opposition activists have urged the army to support protests
   planned for Friday while three people were reported killed in an
   overnight rally.
   Activists are calling their planned demonstrations "Friday of the
   guardians of the homeland," a reference to the army.
   Meanwhile, rights activists and an opposition group say at least three
   people were killed in a late night protest in the southern village of
   Dael after security forces opened fire on demonstrators.
   Anti-government protesters recently had begun holding rallies at night,
   in an apparent bid to elude security forces.
   Reuters news agency says security forces also fired live rounds at
   hundreds of demonstrators who staged a Thursday night protest in the
   southern city of Daraa.
   Opponents of President Bashar al-Assad have continued to urge
   demonstrators to take to the streets after Friday prayers in spite of a
   deadly government crackdown on protests. Rights groups estimate that
   1,000 people have died in the crackdown.
   World powers are reacting to the violence. A group of European nations
   have put forth a draft U.N. Security Council resolution that would
   condemn Syria for its crackdown on peaceful protesters.
   The measure - backed by Britain, France, Germany and Portugal - also
   condemns what the sponsors call a "systematic violation of human
   rights" that includes killings, arbitrary detentions, disappearances
   and the torture of peaceful demonstrators.

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

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References

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