Syrians took to the streets after Friday prayers in the capital Damascus, Banias on the coast, Latakia port and the southern city of Daraa, where the unprecedented protests challenging Assad's 11 years in power began in March.

Witnesses in the Damascus suburb of Douma said at least six people were killed by the security forces. They fired tear gas at the protesters to disperse them before firing live rounds, said a witness who did not want to be identified.

The death toll could be more than 10, said the witness, but he identified only four of those killed: Ibrahim Mubayed, Ahmad Rajab, Fuad Ballah and Mohammed Alaya. The two others were one from the Khuli family and another from the Issa family.

Dozens of people were also wounded and the security forces arrested some of the wounded and prevented them from going to hospital for treatment, the witness added.

In the southern village of Sanamen, near the flashpoint city of Daraa, at least three people were killed when security forces opened fire to disperse a protest, a human rights activist said. But he could identify only one of the victims, Yasser Al-Shumari, in his 20s, who was shot dead as he entered Sanamen with a group of protesters from two nearby villages, Ankhal and Jassem.

The official state news agency SANA reported calm across the country, adding there had been peaceful calls for reform and several gatherings supporting "national unity stability."

In his first public appearance since the demonstrations began, Assad declined Wednesday to spell out any reforms, especially the lifting of a 48-year-old emergency law that has been used to stifle opposition and justify arbitrary arrests.

"Thousands gathered today in Daraa, spontaneously, after Friday prayers in Daraa from all the mosques, rejecting the president's speech," said political activist Abu Hazem, who spoke to Al Arabiya television from Daraa.

Assad, who became president after his father Hafez Assad died in 2000, had predicted the popular revolts seen in Tunisia and Egypt would not spread to Syria, saying the ruling hierarchy was "very closely linked to the beliefs of the people."

But for the last two weeks thousands of Syrians have turned out demanding greater freedoms in the tightly controlled state, posing the gravest challenge to almost 50 years of monolithic Baath party rule.

Dozens of people have been killed in the unrest, which could have wider repercussions since Syria is in the thick of the Middle East conflict, maintaining an anti-Israel alliance with Iran and supporting armed groups Hamas and Hezbollah.