Syrians ignore Al Assad promise

Beirut: Gunmen opened fire during a funeral for a slain anti-government protester on Sunday, killing at least four people on a day when tens of thousands of people took to the streets nationwide as part of an uprising against the country's authoritarian regime, witnesses and activists said.

Thousands of people waving Syrian flags and shouting "We Want Freedom!" took to the streets on Sunday in southern Syria, a day after President Bashar Al Assad promised to end nearly 50 years of emergency rule in an attempt to quell the growing uprising, witnesses said.

Activists had called for protests to mark Independence Day and to bolster the month-long uprising against the country's regime. More than 200 people have been killed as security forces tried to crush the protests using live ammunition, tear gas and batons over the past four weeks.

In focus: Unrest in the Middle East

Demonstrations erupted yesterday in the southern agricultural city of Daraa, which has become the epicentre of the protest movement, and the nearby town of Suweida about 130km southeast of the capital, Damascus.

Witnesses reached by telephone said tens of thousands of people were marching in Daraa, shouting "Whoever kills his own people is a traitor!" Others shouted "The people want to topple the regime," which was the rallying cry during protests in Egypt and Tunisia that ousted the countries' longtime leaders.

Activists beaten up

Another demonstration in Suweida drew about 300 people, according to witnesses. They said police beat up demonstrators with batons, injuring several of them.

The witness accounts could not be independently confirmed because Syria has placed tight restrictions on media outlets and expelled foreign journalists.

The demonstrations come despite promises by Al Assad to end the widely despised state of emergency rule by next week at the latest, and implement other reforms following more than a month of unprecedented — and growing — demonstrations.

But he coupled his concession with a stern warning that further unrest will be considered sabotage.

Al Assad says armed gangs and a "foreign conspiracy" are behind the unrest, not true reform-seekers.

On Sunday, Syria's state-run news agency said security forces seized a large quantity of weapons hidden in a truck coming from Iraq. Sana reported that the weapons were confiscated at the Tanaf crossing on the Syrian-Iraqi border, adding the shipment included machine-guns, automatic rifles, night vision goggles and grenade launchers.

Syria's leading pro-democracy group, the Damascus Declaration, urged Syrians to stage peaceful protests in all Syrian cities and abroad yesterday to "bolster Syria's popular uprising and ensure its continuity".

‘Not enough'

"The regime alone stands fully responsible for the blood of martyrs and all that will happen next in the country," the group said in a statement posted on its website.

Other activists also called for protests through social network sites.

Meanwhile, Germany said it will judge Syria's announced repeal of its emergency law when the move is actually made.

German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle said: "What's important are deeds, not announcements," said Westerwelle. "That is the only standard by which we will judge the Syrian government."

Westerwelle said that repealing the emergency law could only be a first step. In London, British Foreign Secretary William Hague welcomed the Syrian president's call yesterday for emergency law to be lifted, saying reforms were "necessary and urgent".