Thousands rally in Syria, defying forces

Four were shot dead outside Damascus as police fired on a crowd chanting "freedom."

DAMASCUS, Syria - Thousands of Syrians flooded the streets of several major cities Friday for a new round of antigovernment demonstrations, defying the security forces that used gunfire and tear gas to disperse them.

Four people were shot dead in Doama, a suburb of Damascus, when police opened fire on about 2,000 people gathered in a major square chanting "freedom," according to a witness who withheld his name for safety concerns.

Activists had dubbed Friday "the Day of Martyrs" to commemorate the more than 70 people killed during the unrest in recent weeks, and they used Facebook, Twitter, and other social media to mobilize mass demonstrations.

The protesters, who seek economic relief and the end of almost five decades of martial law, gathered in Damascus, the capital; the seaside cities of Latakia and Banias; and the southern city of Daraa.

But President Bashar al-Assad, who presides over one of the region's most repressive regimes, redoubled efforts to squelch dissent that began when his forces first fired on protesters March 18 in Daraa.

In Damascus, the largest gathering occurred at the Al-Rifai Mosque, where thousands of demonstrators were barricaded inside and tear-gassed by police. When mosque leaders struck a deal to allow everyone to go home peacefully, police nevertheless fired more tear gas as people exited the mosque, witnesses said.

Elsewhere in the capital, the streets were unusually quiet, and portraits of a stern-faced Assad in military fatigues and aviator glasses hung on walls and archways alongside the usual ones in which he is in civilian dress.

At the square outside the historic Umayyad Mosque - site of a large antigovernment demonstration last week - more than 1,000 government supporters chanted "God, Syria, Bashar" in front of news cameras.

On the road to Daraa, security forces set up checkpoints and required travelers to sign papers pledging they would not participate in protests.

But thousands gathered in restive Daraa, chanting "freedom." Government forces fired warning shots but were less aggressive than in recent days, witnesses said.

Daraa, epicenter of the protests, has been hard hit with a rise in commodity prices and economic suffering in a country where a third of the population earns less than $2 a day. A focal point of the unrest in Daraa has been the detention of teenage boys who spray-painted antigovernment graffiti.

In his first public appearance since the protests began, Assad went on state TV Wednesday to lay out a gradual path to reform but declined to detail when he would lift the 48-year-old emergency law that has been used to stifle opposition and justify detentions without trial.

The White House said Friday that Assad had a responsibility to take concrete actions that lead to democracy and greater freedom for Syrians.

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