Activists Say 7 Killed by Syrian Security Forces in Homs

At least seven people were killed overnight by Syrian security forces in the flashpoint town of Homs, rights activists told Agence France Presse on Monday.

The deaths occurred when security forces opened fire with live rounds late Sunday to disperse demonstrators in the Bab Sba'a are of the town, 160 kilometers to the north of Damascus, witnesses said.

Two activists, who declined to be identified, spoke of seven dead, but a third said nine had died. They all agreed that some 20 people had been wounded.

Tensions had been running high since the announcement on Saturday that a man arrested a week earlier had died in custody.

"The security services handed back the body of Sheikh Faraj Abou Moussa a week after he was arrested in perfectly good health as he was leaving the mosque," an activist said.

On Sunday, in the nearby town of Talbisseh, at least four people were killed and more than 50 wounded when security forces opened fire on a funeral procession for a demonstrator killed on Friday, witnesses said.

The opposition had called for demonstrations on Sunday, the 65th anniversary of Syrian independence, after dismissing as inadequate proposed reforms by President Bashar al-Assad the previous day, when he promised to abolish stringent emergency laws in force for nearly 50 years.

Rami Abdel Rahman of the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said that cancelling "military courts" and revoking a law granting security agents immunity were also necessary.

And prominent Syrian human rights lawyer Haytham Maleh told AFP: "It is a step, but it is not enough. It must be accompanied by reform of the judicial system which is corrupted."

Maleh called for the release of political prisoners and said "interference by the security services in the lives of the citizens must stop."

"Demonstrators must be allowed to protest," said Maleh who was released under a presidential pardon in March after more than two years in jail.

At least 200 people have been killed by security forces or plain clothes policemen since the start of the protest movement a month ago, according to Amnesty International.