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CAIRO — Military troops opened fire on protesters in the southern part of Syria
on Friday, according to news reports quoting witnesses, hurtling the
strategically important nation along the same trajectory that has
altered the landscape of power across the Arab world.

Tens of thousands of demonstrators in the southern city of Dara’a, on
the border with Jordan, and in some other cities and towns around the
nation took to the streets in protest, defying a state that has once
again demonstrated its willingness to use lethal force. It was the most
serious challenge to 40 years of repressive rule by the Assad family
since 1982, when the president at the time, Hafez al-Assad, massacred at least 10,000 protesters in the northern Syrian city of Hama.

Human rights groups said that since protests began seven days ago in the
south, 38 people had been killed by government forces — and it appeared
that many more were killed on Friday. Precise details were difficult to
obtain Friday because the government sealed o... >>>