Syrian protesters plan 'day of rage'

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http://www.breakingnews.ie/world/syrian-protesters-plan-day-of-rage-491747.html

Syrian protesters plan 'day of rage'

01/02/2011 - 17:00:38

Syrians are organising campaigns on Facebook and Twitter that call for a " day of

rage " in the capital Damascus this week, taking inspiration from Egypt and

Tunisia in using social networking sites to rally their followers for sweeping

political reforms.

Like Egypt and Tunisia, Syria suffers from corruption, poverty and unemployment.

All three nations have seen subsidy cuts on staples like bread and oil.

Syria's authoritarian president has resisted calls for political freedoms and

jailed critics of his regime.

The main Syrian protest page on Facebook is urging people to protest in Damascus

on February 4 and 5 for " a day of rage " . It says the goal is to " end the state

of emergency in Syria and end corruption " .

The number of people who have joined Facebook and Twitter pages calling for

protests on Friday and Saturday is still relatively small, and some are believed

to live outside the country.

Social networking sites were integral to rallying protesters in Tunisia and

Egypt.

Facebook is banned in Syria, which makes organising more difficult - even though

many Syrians manage to access the social networking site anyway.

More than 2,500 people have joined the page calling for the protests, with

another 850 joining a page in favour of President Bashar Assad.

Mr Assad, a 45-year-old British-trained eye doctor, inherited power from his

father Hafez in 2000 after three decades of authoritarian rule.

He has since moved slowly to lift Soviet-style economic restrictions, letting in

foreign banks, throwing the doors open to imports and empowering the private

sector.

But Mr Assad has not matched liberal economics with political reforms and

critics of the regime are routinely locked up, drawing an outcry from

international human rights groups.