Syrians hold rally as peace group tour flashpoint city

TENS of thousands of Syrians rallied in Homs yesterday against President Bashar al-Assad, emboldened by Arab peace monitors’ first tour of the city, after the army withdrew some tanks following battles that killed 34 people in 24 hours.

“There are at least 70,000 protesters,” Rami Abdelrahman of the British-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights told Reuters. “They are marching towards the city centre and the security forces are trying to stop them. They are firing tear gas.”

The observers want to determine if Assad is keeping his promise to implement a peace plan to end his uncompromising military crackdown on nine months of popular revolt that has generated an armed uprising, edging Syria towards civil war.