BEIRUT, (Reuters) – Tens of thousands of Syrians in Homs rallied today against President Bashar al-Assad, emboldened by Arab peace monitors’ first tour of the flashpoint city, after the army withdrew some tanks following battles that killed 34 people in 24 hours.
“There are at least 70,000 protesters. They are marching towards the city centre and the security forces are trying to stop them. They are firing teargas,” Rami Abdelrahman of the British-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights told Reuters.
The observers want to determine if Assad is keeping his promise to implement a peace plan to end his uncompromising military crackdown on nine months of popular revolt that has generated an armed uprising, edging Syria towards civil war.
Some protesters shouted “we want international protection” in a video posted on YouTube apparently showing a street encounter with the Arab League observers in which some residents argued and pleaded with them to venture further into the Baba Amr quarter, where clashes have been especially fierce.
Bursts of gunfire erupted towards the end of a video, after a resident yelled at one monitor to repeat what he had just told his headquarters.
“You were telling the head of the mission that you cannot cross to the second street because of the gunfire. Why don’t you say it to us?” the man shouted, grabbing the unidentified monitor by his jacket.
Gunshots crackled nearby as two monitors and two men wearing orange vests stood amid a crowd of residents, one begging the team to “come and see; they are slaughtering us, I swear”.
Damascus has barred most foreign journalists from the country, making it hard to check events on the ground.
The head of mission said the first visit was “very good”.
“I am returning to Damascus for meetings and I will return tomorrow to Homs,” Sudanese General Mustafa Dabi said. “The team is staying in Homs. Today was very good and all sides were responsive.”
Activist reports just before the monitors arrived said up to a dozen tanks were seen leaving Baba Amr but others were being hidden to fashion a false impression of relative normality in the city while observers were around.
“My house is on the eastern entrance of Baba Amr. I saw at least six tanks leave the neighbourhood at around 8 in the morning (0600 GMT),” Mohamed Saleh told Reuters by telephone. “I do not know if more remain in the area.”
Al Jazeera television showed an estimated 20,000 Syrians in a square in Khalidiya, one of four districts where there has been bloodshed as rebels fight security forces using tanks.
They were whistling and shouting and waving flags, playing music over loudspeakers and clapping. Women were advised to leave because of the risk of bloodshed. But a speaker urged the men to “come down, brothers”.
The protesters shouted “We have no one but God” and “Down with the regime”. An activist named Tamir told Reuters they planned to hold a sit-in in the square.
“We tried to start a march down to the main market but the organisers told us to stop, it’s too dangerous. No one dares go down to the main streets. So we will stay in Khalidiya and we will stay here in the square and we will not leave from here.”
