Unrest spread in southern Syria with hundreds of people demonstrating against the government in the town of Jassem, activists said, but authorities did not use force to quell the latest protest. Security forces killed four civilians in demonstrations that erupted last week in the town of Deraa, in the most serious challenge to President Bashar Assad’s rule since the 45-year-old succeeded his father 11 years ago. The authorities appeared to adopt less heavy-handed tactics, choosing not to intervene against protests demanding freedom and an end to corruption and repression, but not the overthrow of Assad. The ruling Baath Party has banned opposition and enforced emergency laws since 1963. In Deraa, hundreds of black-uniformed security forces wielding AK-47 assault rifles lined the streets but did not confront thousands of mourners who marched at the funeral of 23-year-old Raed Al-Kerad, a protester killed in Deraa.
“God, Syria, freedom. The people want the overthrow of corruption,” they chanted. The slogan is a play on the words “the people want the overthrow of the regime,” the rallying cry of revolutions that overthrew the veteran rulers of Tunisia and Egypt and have spread across the Arab world.
Crowds set fire to a headquarters of the ruling Baath Party in the Syrian city of Deraa on March 20. The demonstrators also set ablaze the main courts complex and two phone company branches. One of the firms, Syriatel, is owned by President Bashar Al-Assad’s cousin Rami Makhlouf.