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Saturday, March 26, 2011

20 protesters killed in the Syrian town, Sanamein

ELIZABETH JACKSON: The violent protests sweeping the Middle East show no sign of abating.

Big crowds have turned out in Yemen, Bahrain, Syria and Jordan, renewing calls for freedom and democratic reforms.

In Syria witnesses are reporting another mass shooting, with as many as 20 killed in the southern town of Sanamein, not far from where another mass killing happened on Wednesday.



The government there has promised to investigate the shootings, but it's little comfort to the victims' families.

Here's our Middle East correspondent Anne Barker.

(Sounds of protest)

ANNE BARKER: The brutal crackdown on Syrian protesters earlier this week, and reports of a possible massacre, have only fuelled a mounting rage.

Until now the protests had been confined largely to Deraa, in Syria's south.

But as Friday Muslim prayers ended, thousands across the country, spilled out of mosques and onto the streets in the capital Damascus and towns big and small, from Aleppo to Latakia, Hama and Homs.

All turned out in solidarity with those in Deraa, where as many as 100 people were reportedly shot dead on Wednesday.

Now, footage of yesterday's violence is emerging on the internet.

Witnesses at Sanamein, not far from Deraa, describe a second massacre, in which at least 20 people were killed as protesters came under fire from security forces.

Amateur video on the YouTube website, which can't be independently verified, shows a row of dead and bloodied bodies, and captures the grief of those around.

(Sounds of shouting)

The latest violence comes a day after Syria's president Bashar al Assad promised wide-ranging reforms to appease the protesters and quell the unrest.

They included an offer of higher wages for public servants, more freedoms, and a review of Syria's emergency laws, imposed 48 years ago, that restrict even basic human rights.

But if the eye witness accounts at Sanamein are true, the reforms were too little, too late.

President Assad's Ba'ath party has ruled for nearly half a century, and has a long history of brutal repression.

Human rights groups and western governments have condemned this week's violence.

Germany's foreign minister Guido Westerwelle has condemned Syria's leaders.

"The violence must stop immediately", he says. "The Syrian government must ensure that basic human and civil rights and principles in accordance with the rule of law, are respected."

And Rupert Colville, from the office of the UN Commissioner for Human Rights, says there must be an independent and impartial investigation into the killings.

RUPERT COLVILLE: We welcome the decision to investigate the killings and we reiterate our call for this investigation to be clearly independent and impartial. Those responsible for the killings must be held accountable.

ANNE BARKER: The Syrian Government on Thursday denied its forces were to blame for the shootings and it has promised those responsible will be put on trial.

Supporters of the president have staged their own pro-government rallies in Damascus.

This is Anne Barker reporting for AM.

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