Hundreds of people marched in the south of Libya for a fifth day, protesting against the government of President Bashar al-Assad and chanting "Freedom, freedom. Peace, peace." The demonstrators gathered near the old Omari mosque in Dera and the nearby town of Nawa Hauran on the strategic plateau, near the border with Jordan, imitating a wave of uprisings that have overthrown Arab leaders in Tunis and Egypt.
"We want bread, but also freedom," said a neighbor of Deraa, where wheat yields fell last year by a drought that affected the rest of the country of 20 million inhabitants. Security forces killed four protesters when there were demonstrations on Friday in Dera and a 11 year old boy died after inhaling tear gas.
Authorities on Tuesday arrested a prominent activist who had supported the protesters, said the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. Loay Hussein, a political prisoner from 1984 to 1991, was taken from his home in the district Sehnaya near Damascus, said the independent panel said in a statement.
"His house was raided. The door was shattered. His whereabouts are unknown," said the group's statement. Vice President Farouq al-Shara said on Tuesday that Assad pledged to "continue the path of reform and modernization in Syria," the television channel Al-Manar in Lebanon. He added that he "can not be against any Syrian citizen," without elaborating.
In Geneva, the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights said that authorities "should put an immediate end to the excessive use of force against peaceful demonstrators, especially the use of live ammunition." One of the main demands of the demonstrators is to end what they call the secret police repression, which is addressed in the province of Deraa by a cousin of Assad, who faces the biggest challenge to his rule since he succeeded his father, Hafez al-Assad, in 2000. 
"We want bread, but also freedom," said a neighbor of Deraa, where wheat yields fell last year by a drought that affected the rest of the country of 20 million inhabitants. Security forces killed four protesters when there were demonstrations on Friday in Dera and a 11 year old boy died after inhaling tear gas.
Authorities on Tuesday arrested a prominent activist who had supported the protesters, said the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. Loay Hussein, a political prisoner from 1984 to 1991, was taken from his home in the district Sehnaya near Damascus, said the independent panel said in a statement.
"His house was raided. The door was shattered. His whereabouts are unknown," said the group's statement. Vice President Farouq al-Shara said on Tuesday that Assad pledged to "continue the path of reform and modernization in Syria," the television channel Al-Manar in Lebanon. He added that he "can not be against any Syrian citizen," without elaborating.
In Geneva, the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights said that authorities "should put an immediate end to the excessive use of force against peaceful demonstrators, especially the use of live ammunition." One of the main demands of the demonstrators is to end what they call the secret police repression, which is addressed in the province of Deraa by a cousin of Assad, who faces the biggest challenge to his rule since he succeeded his father, Hafez al-Assad, in 2000.
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