Unrest in the Arabworld---Syria.

Deaths reported as thousands protest in Syria

Protesters reportedly killed in the cities of Homs and Hama, as people across the country take to the streets. Last Modified: 06 May 2011 14:26 Email Print Share Send Feedback

Al Jazeera speaks to an exiled Syrian activist about how information from Syria is reaching the rest of the world Thousands of protesters have taken to the streets across Syria for another day of anti-government rallies, dubbed a "day of defiance". There were reports that five people had been killed in Homs and one in Hama, but Al Jazeera could not immediately verify the reports. "We were chanting 'The people and the army are one' and 'The people want to topple the regime'," a witness told Al Jazeera over the phone. "Then security and thugs opened fire."  The sound of continuous gunfire was audible over the phone, as well as people shouting "There are snipers on the rooftops". There were also reports of live ammunition being fired in the Damascus suburb of Tel, wounding several protesters. The military earlier deployed troops and tanks in flashpoint cities including Baniyas, Homs and Rastan and in some Damascus suburbs. In the Damascus district of Midan, protesters marched chanting "To heaven we go, one million martyrs". The daughter of Riad Seif, a prominent opposition leader, said her father had been arrested during the demonstration along with several others. "Around 1.30pm, someone told me that my father was arrested at the al-Hassan mosque," Jumana Seif told Al Jazeera. "A friend told me later that he [Riad] had been hit on his head by the security elements." She said her father had been participating in rallies in Midan every Friday since protests there began. 'Will never stop' Huge crowds were rallying in the coastal city of Baniyas, where there was a heavy army presence. "We are here today to say we don't want to die. We don't want to be humiliated and we will never stop," a protester told Al Jazeera. "Killing us and invading us with tanks will never stop us. Our souls will ascend to heaven calling for freedom". In the mainly Kurdish town of Amuda in the northeast, people were chanting "The Syrian people are one" and "Freedom, freedom, peaceful, peaceful". A doctor who planned to take part in the demonstrations said "indiscriminate killings and inhumane arrests have generated total disgust among the average Syrian". "Soldiers with rifles no longer deter people. The propaganda that this regime is the only guarantor of stability no longer washes," he told Reuters news agency. More than 1,000 people have reportedly been arrested in the last week. The army announced on Thursday that its forces were pulling out of Deraa, the southern city which has been under military siege since April 25. However, activists said the city remained under the army's control and surrounded by tanks. Footage emerging from the city showed massive destruction, with shelled buildings and burnt cars. Activists say scores of civilians were killed during the siege and that a severe humanitarian crisis had emerged, with shortages of bread, water and gas. Aid delivered UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said on Friday that Syria has agreed to allow UN teams to enter the country and check the humanitarian situation there. Aid workers from the Red Cross and Red Crescent delivered their first emergency relief supplies to Deraa on Thursday, according to a spokesperson for the organisation. Hicham Hassan said a convoy of two lorries carrying clean drinking water and two more with food and first-aid material accompanied a team of 13 experts from the Syrian Red Crescent and International Committee of the Red Cross. Click here for more of our Syria coverage Meanwhile, the US and Italy warned Syria that it would face penalties and increasing isolation if it does not halt violence against demonstrators. Hillary Clinton, the US secretary of state, said Syria had to know that there would be "consequences for this brutal crackdown". Diplomats said the European Union could reach a preliminary agreement on imposing sanctions on Syria's ruling hierarchy on Friday, but had yet to decide whether Bashar al-Assad, the president, should be included. Rights campaigners say army, security forces and assailants loyal to Assad had killed at least 560 civilians during seven weeks of pro-democracy demonstrations. The authorities blame "armed terrorist groups" for the violence, including the killings of civilians and members of the security forces. Syrian television has shown what it said were confessions of terrorists arrested in Deraa and caches of weapons it said were seized. Assad said the protesters were part of a foreign conspiracy to cause sectarian strife. Dorothy Parvaz, an Al Jazeera journalist, has been detained since she flew in to Damascus one week ago. The network and her family are calling for her immediate release. (source:http://english.aljazeera.net) ===============================================