Syrian soldiers fire tear gas at crowd in Daraa

Former president Hafez al-Assad was on display...Image via Wikipedia
Guardian:

Security forces in Syria are reported to have fired teargas and fired shots in the air as anti-government protests flared again in the southern city of Deraa.

The unrest followed clashes in Latakia over the weekend in which at least 12 people died, and promises by the authorities to lift emergency laws restricting public gatherings and allowing arrests on the grounds of national security.

A witness told Associated Press that forces had fired teargas as up to 4,000 people protested in Deraa. He said security forces fired teargas at first. He also heard gunfire, although it appeared guns were being fired in the air.

A witness told Reuters news agency demonstrators had converged on a main square in the city, chanting "We want dignity and freedom" and "No to emergency laws".

Security forces have struggled to deal with unrest in the southern city and other centres but authorities have held out the prospect of decisions that would "please the Syrian people" in the next two days. An announcement by president Bashar al-Assad was promised by the vice-president Farouq al-Shara, speaking on Lebanese Hezbollah's al-Manar television. There were no details.

...
Of course there were no details, because the thing that would "please the Syrian people" would be fore the government to resign and allow free and fair elections. That is something it is unlikely to do.

It does appear they have quit using the Iranian snipers. They were certainly counter productive.
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