http://www.nytimes.com/2011/08/13/world/middleeast/13syria.html

August 12, 2011

Security Forces Kill at Least 15 People in Cities Around Syria

By NADA BAKRI

BEIRUT, Lebanon -- Tens of thousands of Syrians in cities and towns around their country took to the streets on Friday after noon prayers shouting "We will not kneel" in a strong show of defiance against the government of President Bashar al-Assad, and at least 15 protesters were killed by security forces, human rights activists and residents said.

The demonstrations were smaller than those held in past weeks, but they were significant because they came after security forces took control this month of the country's two most restive cities, Hama in central Syria and Deir al-Zour in the east, in a military operation that activists say left hundreds dead. The demonstrations on Friday were a clear sign the armed forces could not intimidate protesters into staying home.

Hundreds of security troops were seen converging around mosques in a number of Syrian cities and towns, often firing in the air in an attempt to prevent departing worshipers from forming crowds. Some mosques in Hama were even closed. In one protest on the outskirts of Damascus, the capital, members of the security forces outnumbered the demonstrators.

"Today they were successful in dispersing the crowds by force," Saleh al-Hamawi, an activist from Hama, Syria's fourth-largest city and a linchpin of the uprising, said by phone. "But they failed to put fear in our hearts, which they are betting on."

The violence came amid new calls by the United States for countries with economic ties to Syria to "get on the right side of history" and distance themselves from Mr. Assad. But there were also indications that the United States and countries in Europe and elsewhere were not yet ready to clearly demand that Mr. Assad step down.

Diplomats say that Turkey, Syria's neighbor to the north, has given the Syrian government two weeks to inaugurate meaningful political change in a country that remains one of the region's most authoritarian. The Syrian government's steps have so far been dismissed by opposition figures as superficial.

"I wouldn't like to see you regret that you've been far too late in very little that you've done when you look back one day," said a letter to Mr. Assad from President Abdullah Gul of Turkey. It was carried to Syria by Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu during his visit this week and made public on Friday by Turkey's Anatolian news agency.

The largest protests on Friday took place on the outskirts of Hama, in Deir al-Zour, in Idlib Province near the border with Turkey and in Latakia in the north. The Local Coordination Committees, an umbrella group of activists who organize and document demonstrations, said protesters came under fire before gathering in bigger crowds.

"The security used a different tactic today," an activist who gave his name as Hozan said by phone. "They attacked crowds immediately as they came out of mosques."

Others corroborated what appeared to be a shift in strategy by the security forces. In Qaboun, a town on the outskirts of the capital, activists said hundreds of people were arrested as they tried to gather.

"We couldn't do anything today," said a 40-year-old protester there who gave his name as Ammar. "The number of security men was more than the worshipers in the mosque. The regime is cornered and it will do anything to stay in power."

The security deployment was especially intense in Hama, where hundreds of thousands had gathered in downtown Assi Square just weeks ago. Mr. Hamawi, the activist from Hama, said that almost every mosque in his city was surrounded by at least 15 security buses carrying 45 armed plainclothesmen loyal to the government and known as shabeeha, who were shooting in the air and at times toward the entrances of the mosques. The Local Coordination Committees said that at least two people were killed in Hama. Mr. Hamawi said that 40,000 people demonstrated in different parts of Hama and its surroundings on Friday, though they were prevented from gathering in a single march.

"The regime can stop us for a week or two weeks, but not forever," vowed another activist in Homs who gave his name as Abu Mohammed al-Hamawi.

In Homs, Syria's third-largest city, activists and residents reported that protesters had gathered after Friday's noon prayers in at least six neighborhoods, despite a government crackdown in the city and its surroundings. A resident from Homs reached by phone, who gave her name as Umm Janti, said that security men were roaming the streets hours before the noon prayers and that as soon as protesters began to gather, the security men began shooting at them. At least one person was killed.

"Curse your soul, Hafez, for the idiot you brought up," went a chant audible over the phone line. Mr. Assad inherited power from his father, Hafez, in 2000.

In addition to the deaths in Hama and Homs, the Local Coordination Committees said that four people were killed in Douma, on the outskirts of Damascus; four were killed in Aleppo, Syria's second-largest city; one in Saqba, another suburb of the capital; one in Deir al-Zour; and two in Idlib.

Rights groups say more than 2,000 people have been killed since the popular uprising against Mr. Assad's rule started in March. The government disputes their account of the uprising; it says that it is facing a foreign conspiracy and blames Muslim extremists for the unrest.

In Washington on Friday, Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton urged other countries to join in isolating Mr. Assad's government.

"In particular, we urge those countries still buying Syrian oil and gas, those countries still sending Assad weapons, those countries whose political and economic support give him comfort in his brutality, to get on the right side of history," Mrs. Clinton said after a meeting with Norway's foreign minister, Jonas Gahr Store.

Hwaida Saad and Anthony Shadid contributed reporting from Beirut, and Steven Lee Myers from Washington.