72 demonstrators killed, 200 others injured in Syria

BEIRUT, April 23 (Itar-Tass) -- The number of demonstrators killed in
Syria on Friday has grown to 72. Most of them were victims of a crackdown
on anti-government protests in Homs, Dera'a and the suburbs of Damascus.
More than 200 others were injured.
According reports from Syria, protesters came under fire from the
Syrian police and security services, some protesters choked on tear gas,
the National Committee on Human Rights said Friday.
According to the Committee, 15 people were killed in Dera'a province
and suburbs of Damascus, and 15 - in the city of Homs in the center of the
country.
According to the head of the National League for the Protection of
Human Rights, Omar al-Courbet, 30 people were killed in the suburbs of
Damascus. However, according to the national news agency SANA, the number
of casualties during the demonstration was "only 8 people killed and 20
others wounded." The protesters' actions were presented "as a criminal
attack by armed gangs."
Syria's Interior Ministry issued a statement stating that, under the
new law "formal approval from the authorities is required to conduct any
demonstrations."
As human rights activist Ayman Aswad said, the authorities failed to
bring down a wave of protests even by the announcement of the abolition of
the state of emergency.
"The people want real change - an amnesty, freedom of speech, a
multiparty system, an end to harassment by the police apparatus and a
general election," he pointed out. Aswad argues if President Bashar
al-Assad "really seeks to regain people's trust, he should distance
himself from the law enforcement agencies and abolish the political
monopoly of the ruling Baath Party."