DAMASCUS: Syria sought Tuesday to contain the first serious intrusion of the Arab world’s political unrest by firing the governor of a southern province where a government crackdown killed seven protesters over the weekend.
Residents of the city of Daraa had been demanding his departure after security forces violently suppressed three straight days of protests by thousands of people calling for political freedom and an end to corruption.
Forces used tear gas, water cannons and later live ammunition to disperse the crowds, which first gathered on Friday.
Enraged residents then set fire to several government buildings in a startling outburst of unrest in one of the Middle East’s most repressive countries.
The provincial governor, Faisal Kalthoum, was fired on Tuesday, a Syrian official said, speaking on condition of anonymity in line with regulations barring him from being identified by name. Daraa residents accused Kalthoum — in office since 2006 — of corruption. During a demonstration Monday, protesters chanted, "The people want to bring down the governor."
In a sign the unrest was spreading, video footage posted on the Internet showed new anti-government protests in a suburb of the capital, Damascus, and a village in southern Syria.
One clip on YouTube showed several hundred villagers in Sanamein chanting "Freedom!" while another showed dozens gathered in the Hajar Aswad neighborhood of the capital.
Syrian activists who reported the protests said they took place Monday evening. The activists spoke on condition of anonymity because they feared government reprisals. The authenticity of the videos could not be independently verified.
In Geneva, the UN’s human rights office urged Syria to investigate the death of protesters in Daraa. Rupert Colville, a spokesman for the Geneva-based office, said the government "should carry out an independent, transparent and effective investigation into the killings."
Colville said Tuesday that protesters had the right to express their grievances and be heard by the government.
Meanwhile, hundreds of protesters gathered in the Syrian town of Daraa Tuesday amid tight security, an activist said, as anti-regime demonstrations entered their fifth day.
"Around one thousand protesters gathered in and around the Omari mosque shouting anti-regime slogans, amid a heavy security and army presence," said the activist in Daraa, 100 kilometers (60 miles) south of Damascus.
They formed a human shield around the mosque to prevent security forces from approaching it, he added.
An AFP photographer and videographer in Daraa said their car was stopped in the old town and they were beaten by security forces, who seized their equipment. After being taken in for questioning, they received an apology from the authorities, but had still not found their equipment.
The photographer said soldiers were manning checkpoints at all entries to the town and were cross-checking the identity cards of all travelers with a list of names they had compiled.
