About 5000 Syrians take to streets for "Day of Martyrs"

PanARMENIAN.Net - Thousands of Syrians shouting "We want freedom!" marched Friday, April 1, in a southern city that has become the epicenter of an extraordinary protest movement as security forces deployed across the country, witnesses said by telephone.

Activists dubbed Friday a "Day of Martyrs" and called for mass demonstrations to honor more than 70 people killed during two weeks of protests in one of the most authoritarian regimes in the Middle East.

An eyewitness said by telephone that up to 5,000 people took to the streets in Daraa shouting "We want freedom!" and "The blood of martyrs is not cheap!" The account could not be independently confirmed, The Associated Press reports.

Security forces were heavily deployed in and around the city but did not immediately intervene to stop them, said the eyewitness, who spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of reprisals.