Friday protests erupt in Arab world,10 die in Syria

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Friday protests erupt in Arab world,10 die in Syria

SANAA/CAIRO | Fri Apr 8, 2011 10:53am EDT

(Reuters) - Protests erupted across much of the Arab world on Friday, the Muslim

day of prayer, with demonstrators dying in Syria and Yemen while Egyptians

staged one of the biggest rallies since President Hosni Mubarak's fall.

Syrian security forces killed at least 10 pro-democracy demonstrators and two

were shot dead in Yemen.

In Cairo's Tahrir Square, perhaps the spiritual home of the Arab protest

movement, crowds demanded Mubarak's prosecution as discontent with military rule

grows, but in Oman heavy security prevented a planned demonstration after Friday

prayers.

Friday has become a peak day of protest for many Arabs since popular demands for

freedom, democracy and an end to corruption began in Tunisia late last year and

spread across the region.

In Syria security forces killed at least 10 people in the southern city of Deraa

as protests against President Bashar al-Assad flared in several towns, witnesses

said.

In the east, ethnic Kurds demonstrated for reform despite Assad's offer this

week to ease rules which bar many of them from obtaining citizenship, activists

said.

Security men opened fire in Deraa, where the protests began last month before

spreading across the country, said residents.

" I saw pools of blood and three bodies in the street being picked up by

relatives in the Mahatta area, " said one of the witnesses, who spoke to Reuters

by telephone.

" There were snipers on roofs. Gunfire was heavy. The injured are being taken to

homes. No one trusts putting his relative in a hospital in these circumstances, "

he added.

NO ORDERS OR INTERVENTION

Violence also broke out in Yemen as crowds demanded the overthrow of President

Ali Abdullah Saleh. Two people were shot dead and 25 wounded by gunfire in the

southern city of Taiz, hospital sources said.

But Saleh appeared to reject any aspect of a Gulf Arab mediation plan for talks

with the opposition that would aim to end his 32-year rule. " The Yemeni people

are free to accept mediation from their brothers and friends, but they reject

taking orders or intervention, " Saleh said in a statement.

Elsewhere, the day of protest was more peaceful.

Tens of thousands of Egyptians in Tahrir Square demanded Mubarak's prosecution

and accused the military of being too slow to root out corruption from his era.

" Oh Field Marshal, we've been very patient! " chanted some of the demonstrators

in the square, hub of the movement that toppled Mubarak on February 11 and left

the army in charge, led by Field Marshal Mohamed Hussein Tantawi.

Friday's protest had swollen by early afternoon to at least 100,000, indicating

growing frustration with the army which has enjoyed broad support since it took

control of the country.

" It's a strong message that the revolution is not over yet and is still going on

and will not quieten down before its goals are realized, " said Hassan Nafaa, a

professor of political science and a prominent figure in the reform movement.

Heavy security prevented demonstrations after Friday prayers in the Omani city

of Sohar, where protesters camped out for over a month before forces moved them

out last week.

Checkpoints were set up across the city with dozens of armored vehicles blocking

access to protest areas. Residents' names were checked against a list and access

to mosques was restricted, while a helicopter flew overhead, witnesses said.

(Reporting by Mohamed Sudam, , Khaled al-Mahdital, Nick Macfie,

Saleh Al-Shaibany, m Karouny, Yara Bayoumy, Khaled Yacoub Oweis and

Suleiman al-Khalidi; writing by Stamp; editing by Samia Nakhoul)