Protesters 'shot dead' by Syrian forces

Protesters 'shot dead' by Syrian forces

Reports of three people killed by security forces in southern village with fresh protests due after Friday prayers.

At least three people are reported killed in the southern Syrian town of Dael after security forces opened fire to disperse a demonstration, according to activists.

The three men were gunned down as they stood on rooftops chanting "Allahu Akbar" or "God is greatest", the London-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights told AFP news agency.

The killings came with further demonstrations expected on Friday after midday prayers, with pro-democracy advocates reaching out to the army to join their 10-week uprising that has been met with a fierce military crackdown.

As prayers ended, demonstrations were reported to be taking place in Idlib, in the country's north west, in Deir al-Zur in the north east, and in Qamishli, Amouda and Ras al Ain in the Kurdish areas in Syria's north.

At the demonstration in Deir al-Zur, security forces fired live ammunition at protesters demanding the "overthrow of the regim", the Reuters news agency reported, citing witnesses.

The fresh violence comes after human rights group Amnesty International accused Syrian security forces of deliberately killing hundreds of demonstrators in the city of Deraa.

Al Jazeera has obtained exclusive video that activists say shows the funeral of a 13-year-old boy in Deraa. Activists say he was arrested on April 29 while protesting with family and friends. He was not seen again until Wednesday, when his body was returned to the village.

The Syrian government's deadly crackdown has killed more than 1,000 people over the past two months, according to local co-ordination committees in Syria, which help organise the protests against the country's president, Bashar al-Assad.

The harsh crackdown has triggered international outrage and US and European sanctions, including an EU assets freeze and a visa ban on Assad and nine members of his regime.

G8 'appalled by deaths'

Group of Eight [G8] leaders attending a summit in France on Friday said they were "appalled" at the killing of peaceful protesters in Syria, and are considering "further measures" against the country.

"We are appalled by the deaths of many peaceful protesters as a result of the sweeping use of violence in Syria as well as by repeated and serious violations of human rights," the leaders said in the communique on Friday.

But the statement refrained from an explicit proposal, contained in earlier drafts of the document obtained by the Associated Press, to act against Damascus in the UN Security Council.

"Should the Syrian authorities not heed this call, we will consider further measures. We are convinced that only by implementing meaningful reforms will a democratic Syria be able to play a positive role in the region," it said.

The shift in language to a vaguer threat of "further measures" may reflect reluctance from Russia, which has a veto in the Security Council.

Both Russia and China have been reluctant to support any UN resolution condemning Syria. Russia has in the past accused NATO of going beyond their brief on the UN resolution in Libya.

More than 220 civil society organizations from across the Arab world appealed to the Security Council this week to adopt a resolution demanding an immediate end to the use of lethal force against protesters in Syria.

Ahmet Davutoglu, Turkey's foreign minister, meanwhile, called on Thursday for Syria to institute reform "shock therapy" in order to restore stability to the country. He said President al-Assad must implement a package of economic, security, judicial and political reforms.

Source: Al Jazeera and agencies