Homs (AsiaNews / Agencies) - More than 20 thousand people gathered last night in Homs (pictured) calling for an end the regime of Bashar al-Assad violating the ban of the authorities, in a demonstration following the funeral of the twelve people killed April 17 by security forces. A police officer told the protesters who had gathered in the town square to disperse. Immediately after the police opened fire. They also fired tear gas canisters. Local sources say several people were killed or wounded.
A few hours before Syrian state television broadcast a statement by the Interior Ministry that the protests are "an armed uprising by armed groups belonging to the Salafist organizations, especially in Homs and Banias." Salafists belong to a radical current of Sunni Islam, which many Arab governments consider close to al-Qaeda. This statement was interpreted as the government's willingness to harshly repress the demonstrations.
Syrian President Bashar al-Assad , who came to power 11 years ago on the death of his father, promised on April 16 that he would put an end to emergency law in force for half a century, but his promises have done little to calm protests . One of the demonstrators in the square, which was renamed Tahrir Square (Freedom Square) in memory of the square in Cairo said that the protest is a sit-in and will continue indefinitely, until demands are met. According to some activists in Syria since the beginning of the protests over 200 people have been killed.
The United States has denied the recent revelations by Wikileaks that in recent years the U.S. funded the Syrian opposition. The State Department spokesman Mark Toner said yesterday that President Assad is facing "demands from his people to move in a direction of greater democracy," and therefore "must meet the legitimate aspirations of his people."