THE GUARDIAN: • At least 12 people killed in Latakia as unrest spreads
• State news agency blames violence on outside forcesThe Syrian army has been deployed in force in the port city of Latakia after two days of fierce anti-government protests in which at least 12 people were killed.
A government source blamed the deaths on "attacks by armed elements on the families and districts of Latakia", according to the official Sana news agency. But activists accused the military of opening fire on protesters in the city, where they say the offices of the ruling Ba'ath party have been torched.
Latakia is a majority Sunni town 220 miles north of the capital, and also home to the minority Alawite sect of President Bashar al-Assad, making unrest there particularly sensitive.
In a move to placate protesters, authorities said they had decided to lift the emergency laws. But the absence of a timetable has been widely viewed in Damascus as delaying tactics by the government. The emergency laws restrict public gatherings and authorise arrests on the basis of threats to national security.
Observers said significant changes were needed immediately to quell the spreading unrest. Until Friday, protesters had been concentrated in the southern Hauran region around the city of Deraa.
"This is a meaningless pledge to remove the emergency law when people can be detained by other laws," said Rime Allaf, a Syrian analyst at London's Chatham House. "Everybody is waiting for the president to speak and take some steps to tell the people he is in control." » | Katherine Marsh in Damascus and Saeed Kamali Dehghan | Sunday, March 27, 2011
