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| Protesters burn portraits of Syria’s President Bashar al-Assad during a rally in the Lebanese city of Tripoli yesterday |
Protesters found a heavier than normal security presence in Syria on the day after Gaddafi’s death, which could embolden protesters across an Arab world where unrest has toppled three autocratic leaders this year and challenged others like Assad.
Most of yesterday’s killings were in the central city of Homs and in Hama to the north, both hotbeds of anti-Assad protests and the targets of major military operations to put them down.
Homs, a city of 1mn, has also witnessed a nascent insurgency emerging after repeated attempts by tank-backed troops to suppress demonstrations calling for an end to 41 years of Assad family rule and more political freedoms.
“Gaddafi is finished. It’s your turn now Bashar!” shouted demonstrators in the town of Maaret Al Numaan in the northwestern province of Idlib, according to one witness.
“Prepare yourself Assad!” chanted protesters in the town of Tayyana in the tribal province of Deir Al Zor, on the border with Iraq.
Assad, an ophthalmologist who inherited power from his late father in 2000, strengthened ties with Gaddafi months before the tide of popular Arab unrest against repressive ruling elites erupted in Tunisia in December.
The two countries struck a series of co-operation deals and Assad later allowed a Syrian-based satellite station to broadcast messages from Gaddafi while he was on the run.
The opposition movements in Syria and Libya were drawn closer by what an activist called “enduring the same tyranny.”
Libya’s new rulers were quick and alone so far to recognise Syria’s opposition National Council, formed this month in Istanbul, as the legitimate authority in Syria.
“(Gaddafi’s) death has positively reflected on the protesters in Syria. It has given them more confidence that their struggle will eventually lead to the results they are expecting,” said Omar Idlibi of the grassroots Local Co-ordination Committee in Beirut, who is also a member of the National Council.
Activists and residents said Syrian authorities have stepped up security in several cities and towns including the Damascus suburbs and Talbiseh near Homs.
“(There is an) unprecedented presence of security today with snipers on rooftops and roadblocks inside the suburb,” an activist in the Damascus suburb of Saqba said.