Syria: Protests Continue For Reforms
By KUNA
Gunmen have shot dead a Syrian national in the northern city of Homs bringing death toll of such violence since last Friday to 11, according to the official news agency, Sana.
The state-run news agency said on Saturday guards of a building housing headquarters of the Popular Army confronted and killed a number of attackers who attempted to burst into it in the town of Al-Sanamin, 50 km south of the capital.
It added that ten people also lost their lives during a demonstration that involved gunmen in the same town.
Sana said several Syrian cities and towns witnessed demonstrations in support for a package of reforms, recently declared by the Presidential Advisor, Buthaina Shaaban — namely lifting the state of emergency and increasing salaries of civil servants.
They have also witnessed demonstrations expressing solidarity with protestors in the southern town of Deraa and calling for reforms, eradication of corruption and penalizing influential law-breaking officials.
Officials say that up to 21 people have died in violent incidents in Deraa since a week ago.
In the northern city of Aleppo, according to local correspondents, dozens of locals held a protest at the Grand Mosque calling for freedoms. They also reported identical activities in the cities of Latakia and Homs.
President Bashar Al-Assad sacked the Governor of Deraa, Faisal Kalthoum, last Wednesday, against the backdrop of the public outcries for reforms and punishing the corrupt.
