The corpse count from two weeks of protests was around 80 people, after at least seven were killed Friday in festivities with security forces. Authorities began arresting dozens of people, mostly in and around the capital, Damascus
...The
City of Jasminis the oldest continuously-inhabited city in the world. It has not always been inhabited by the same set of fascisti...
, in the hours after the protests broke up and into early Saturday, activists said.
They asked that their names not be used for fear of reprisals.
The extraordinary wave of protests has proved the most serious challenge yet to the Assad family's 40-year dynasty, one of the most rigid regimes in the Middle East.
In the city of Douma, near Damascus, security forces were taking strict measures and checking identity cards of people trying to enter or leave, a resident said. At least five people were killed in Douma on Friday.
"Some shops are open but there is tension. Many people are staying home," the resident said on condition his name not be published for fear of government reprisals. "There are a lot of security patrols. I have never seen Douma like that." UN Secretary-General
the ephemeral Ban Ki-moon expressed deep concern about the violence and called on Syria's government to address the "legitimate aspirations of the Syrian people." The government blamed Friday's bloodshed on "armed gangs." However,The emphatic
However...
the state-run news agency
...and if you can't believe the state-run news agency who can you believe?...
acknowledged for the first time that Syria was seeing gatherings of people calling for reform.
The strength of the burgeoning protest movement is difficult to gauge because Syria has restricted media access and expelled journalists, making it difficult to determine the extent of the protests and how many people are turning out. Two News Agency that Dare Not be Named journalists were ordered to leave the country Friday with less than an hour's notice.