On the diplomatic front, Russia began circulating a draft UN
Security Council resolution it said was designed to resolve the conflict in
Syria. The draft calls for an end to all violence. The opposition Syrian
National Council said it would ask for international protection — but not
military intervention — for the Syrian people against the violence of the
regime of President Bashar Assad.
The Local Coordination Committees and the British-based
Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said one person was killed in the shooting
in the restive central city of Homs, and a man who was wounded in the southern
province of Deraa earlier in the day died of his wounds.
Friday's protests, which took place nationwide, came a day
after Syrian Army defectors killed 27 government security personnel in Deraa in
apparently coordinated attacks that were among the deadliest by rebel troops so
far.
The Observatory said more than 200,000 people marched in
different neighborhoods of Homs on Friday to denounce the regime. The
Observatory also reported shooting near a mosque in the eastern city of Deir El-Zour
but it was unclear if there were casualties there.
The LCC said anti-government rallies took place after Friday
prayers all across Syria — from Deraa to the suburbs of the capital, Damascus,
in Homs and Hama in the country's center, and to the north in the city of
Aleppo.
A Homs-based activist said security forces opened fire in
the air before the protesters came out of mosques, but as soon as they came out
to the streets the shooting stopped.
"It might be a goodwill gesture by the regime ahead of
the Russian initiative," the activist said, referring to Russian attempts
at the U.N. to end the crisis. "It looks as if the regime is showing tacit
approval of the Russian initiative."
Russia has criticized opponents of Assad's rule for
employing violent tactics. Western nations said the Russian draft did not go
far enough, because it contained no sanctions against the regime.
The umbrella group of Assad opponents began a three-day
session in Tunis with council leader Burhan Ghalioun saying their goal is to "invest
our struggle with more force and energy." Tunisian delegate Abdallah
Turkmani said the council will seek international protection for Syrians in the
line of fire.
