17 protesters killed near Daraa, says activist

Seventeen people were killed in Syria as they were heading to a protest in Daraa, according to a human rights activist, who said security forces opened fire on protesters in the city. Protests spread Friday from Daraa to Damascus, but the government said that the situation in the country was calm. 

Reuters/Khaled al-Hariri

The protesters were killed in the village of Sanamen as they were on their way to join protests in Daraa, according to a Daraa-based activist speaking anonymously to the AFP news agency. The information could not be independently verified.

The activist also said security forces on opened fire on protesters who were gathered near the home of Daraa’s sacked governor.

Demonstrators gathered in the capital, Damascus, on Friday, demanding government reforms. Police reportedly arrested five people.

Syria’s information minister said Friday that the situation was calm throughout the country. He told a Spanish radio station that “terrorists” responsible for unrest in Daraa were arrested and that their identities would be revealed soon.

"There is a totally peaceful climate in the Syrian towns and the terrorists have been arrested," Mohsen Bilal told Spanish radio Cadena Ser.

Rights groups say 100 people have died in clashes with police in Daraa, while the government put the death toll at ten.

Journalists were asked to leave the town Friday ahead of the funerals for two people killed in a shooting on protesters earlier this week.

Media rights group Reporters Without Borders condemned the move, calling it censorship. It said several journalists had been detained throughout the country.

France, meanwhile, called Friday for Syrian President Bashar al-Assad to lift a state of emergency that has been in place since 1963.

The regime announced Thursday night that it would release all activists who were arrested since anti-government demonstrations began a month. It also said it might lift a state of emergency in place since 1963.