Damascus (Syria), Mar 22: Protests spread in southern Syria today as hundreds of people marched to demand reforms in a previously peaceful village, witnesses and activists said.
Troops and protesters faced off in a nearby city outside a mosque where demonstrators have taken shelter.
The government sought to contain the first serious intrusion of the Arab world's political unrest by firing the governor of the southern province of Daraa, where security forces killed seven protesters in the main city of Daraa over the weekend.
The governor's dismissal failed to quell popular anger and the protests reached the village of Nawa, where hundreds of people marched demanding reforms, an activist told The Associated Press.
The activist said troops were trying to reach the mosque in Daraa's historic centre where protesters have sought protection. He said protesters placed large rocks in the streets near the al-Omari mosque to block the troops.
There was a heavy security presence and most of the shops were closed elsewhere in the old quarter of Daraa, witnesses said.
A clip posted on YouTube showed several hundred villagers in Sanamein, near Daraa, chanting "Freedom!" while another showed dozens gathered in the Hajar Aswad neighborhood of the capital.
The authenticity of the videos could not be independently verified.
Protests also spread yesterday to the towns of Jasim and Inkhil near Daraa, witnesses said. Many demonstrators demanded the departure of provincial governor Faisal Kalthoum after security forces used tear gas, water cannons and later live ammunition to disperse the crowds, which first gathered on Friday.
Enraged residents then set fire to several government buildings in a startling outburst of unrest in one of the Middle East's most repressive countries. Kalthoum was fired today, a Syrian official said, speaking on condition of anonymity in line with regulations barring him from being identified by name.
Daraa residents accused Kalthoum, in office since 2006, of corruption and during a demonstration yesterday many chanted, "The people want to bring down the governor!" The Damascus-based National Organisation for Human Rights in Syria said authorities were continuing "arbitrary and random arrests" in areas that witnessed protests, adding that families of detainees said none have been freed. AP
