Violence flares again in Syrian protests

A scenic seaside city echoed with gunfire as protesters defied government forces in Syria’s second day of nationwide unrest, burning tyres, attacking businesses and setting the offices of the ruling party aflame.

At least two people were killed by rooftop snipers in the religiously mixed Mediterranean city of Latakia, officials said, and President Bashar Assad’s government of minority Alawite Muslims blamed a major Sunni cleric in Qatar for inciting the unrest.