In new protest, Syrian women block main highway

Associated Press, By ZEINA KARAM

A pro-reform in Syria activist, hold an Arabic placard read:"No to violence,
no to oppression and no to fanaticism", as she stands in front of the Syrian
embassy, in Beirut, Lebanon, on Tuesday April 12, 2011. Three pro-reform activists
stood in front of the Syrian embassy in Beirut where they delivered a statement
supporting the people's demands and urging the government to extend its hand
to Syrians who want change. Shortly afterward dozens of pro-regime Syrians
arrived at the embassy and tried to attack the three men, who were later escorted
away under the protection of Lebanese policemen. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)

BEIRUT (AP) -- Thousands of Syrian women and children holding white flags and olive branches blocked a main coastal highway Wednesday, demanding authorities release detainees picked up during a crackdown on opponents of President Bashar Assad's authoritarian regime, witnesses said.

The crowd - unusual because it was dominated by women and young children - demanded the release of hundreds of men who have been rounded up in the northeastern villages of Bayda and Beit Jnad and surrounding areas in recent days.

"We will not be humiliated!" the crowd shouted Wednesday, according to witnesses who spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of reprisals. They were gathering along the main road between the coastal cities of Tartous and Banias.

Protests erupted in Syria almost one month ago and have been growing steadily, with tens of thousands of people calling for sweeping reforms. More than 200 people have been killed during nearly four weeks of unrest, said Syria's leading pro-democracy group, the Damascus Declaration.

In an apparent attempt to calm the women's demonstration, authorities released about 100 of the detainees and brought them to the area where the protesters had gathered, prompting cheers and ululations, a witness said.

But the protester, who asked not to be identified for fear of reprisals, said the sit-in will continue until all the men are released.

Also Wednesday, activists said student protesters turned out at Damascus University in the capital and in Aleppo University in the country's north. Another protest was reported outside the state-run news agency's offices in the capital.

The reports lacked detail and they could not be immediately confirmed.

Assad blames the violence on armed gangs rather than reform-seekers and has vowed to crush further unrest.

He has made a series of overtures to try and appease the growing outrage, including sacking local officials and granting Syrian nationality to thousands of Kurds, a long-ostracized minority.

But the gestures have failed to satisfy protesters who are demanding political freedoms and an end to the decades-old emergency laws that give the regime a free hand to arrest people without charge.

Details about what happened in recent days around Bayda and Beit Jnad were sketchy because the Syrian government has placed severe restrictions on the media and has expelled reporters, including journalists from The Associated Press.

But residents and activists say hundreds of men, young and old, were arrested Tuesday as security forces and pro-government gunmen attacked the villages in northeastern Syria in a move to crush the growing dissent there.

Witnesses and members of the Syrian opposition said security forces used automatic rifles in the two villages. An eyewitness told The Associated Press on Wednesday that at least one person was killed, and hundreds of others detained.

Several activists confirmed the death.

The detentions, which apparently included teenagers, have enraged residents. The witness said security forces forced the men to chant pro-Assad slogans.

The eyewitness accounts could not be independently confirmed. The electricity in Bayda appeared to have been cut.

The two villages are several miles (kilometers) from the port city of Banias, which the army has sealed off during days of unrest. Security forces killed four protesters in Banias on Sunday.

Friday marked the single bloodiest day of the uprising, with 37 killed around the country.

The Syrian government Wednesday denied a Human Rights Watch report that Syrian forces prevented the ambulances from helping the injured last Friday in the southern town of Daraa and in Harasta, near Damascus.

An Interior Ministry statement said unidentified gunmen shot at people, and prevented ambulances from transporting the wounded to hospitals.

State-run television aired purported confessions by three members of a "terrorist cell" Wednesday, saying they received money and weapons from a Lebanese lawmaker to instigate protests in Syria and create chaos across the country.

The lawmaker, Jamal Jarrah, laughed off the Syrian-aired confessions and denied any involvement. His Future Movement bloc also denied the claims, saying it had no direct or indirect involvement in events in Syria.

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