Fresh protests rattle Syria; death toll mounts

DAMASCUS: Fresh protests shook Syria on Monday as thousands took to the streets a day after 11 people were killed by security forces as the clamour for an end to martial law billowed, activists said.

Protests gripped the central city of Homs, the protest hub of Daraa in the south as well as in Jisr al-Shoughour near the northwestern city of Idleb despite pledges by the president to lift a draconian emergency law.

Activists have said Assad's vow on Saturday to lift within a week nearly five decades of emergency law were insufficient, and protests shook Syria again within hours of the presidential speech.

Protesters are also demanding the release of political prisoners and the end of the ruling Baath party's grip over the state and society as stipulated by the constitution.

Tens of thousands of mourners marched in Homs on Monday a day after security forces fired live rounds to disperse demonstrators in the Bab Sba'a area of town, killing at least seven people, activists said.

A sea of mourners swamped the city for the funerals of the seven people killed and their coffins were held shoulder high above the crowds, some open, others covered with Syrian flags, witnesses said. (AFP)