Activists: Five killed by security forces, dozens arrested

A picture of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad flies in the wind on a rainy day in Damascus Human rights activists have confirmed that five people were killed in Daraa, Homs and Damascus suburbs. Meanwhile, Jasim city saw four explosions on Friday afternoon. Activists said that three people were killed on Friday, in Homs as a result of the heavy shelling by the security forces, on the second day after the approval of the Arab league’s plan to pull out the army from the city.
Security forces have also fired with heavy machine guns and artillery Baba Amro neighborhood,the general committee of the revolution has confirmed that there is a heavy presence of the Syrian forces tanks in Homs. One man and a woman were reported killed.
Syrian protesters have called for mass rallies across the country on Friday to denounce what they saw as a “conspiracy” between the Arab League and the President Bashar Al-Assad’s regime to circumvent demands for major political change.
 Local coordination committees urged Syrians to stage “sweeping protests” in all Syrian cities on Friday and to “continue the struggle until the fall of the regime.
The committees expressed doubts over the regime’s willingness to implement the reform plans, citing the death of 25 civilians by security forces on Thursday, a day after the Syrian government agreed to cease violence.  They have also called for a peaceful demonstration on Friday under the name “Allah Akbar”.
They said the Arab League initiative was only giving time for Assad to kill more protesters.
Asanmeen is one of the towns to have seen massive protests against the Assad regime on Friday.
The UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights stated that one was killed and five injured in Kanaker when security forces fired at civilians. Dozens are reported to have been arrested in Banyaas, including four children who were allegedly realted to Observatory manager the Rami Abdel Rahman, despite not taking part in the demonstrations.
This follows Syria’s announcement that they would comply with the Arab League’s plan to end the ongoing violence in the country.
Najib al-Ghadban, a member of the SNC, said implementation of the initiative would mean the end of the government and Assad was not likely to let that happen.
"This regime is notorious for manoeuvering and for giving promises and not implementing any of them." Ghadban said on Wednesday.
On Thursday, the United States said Syria will only deepen its international isolation if it fails to abide by the Arab League deal.
 State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said the 22-member league could be forced to toughen its position toward Damascus as countries like Russia and Turkey did after they gave Syria a chance to end the bloodshed.
Nuland highlighted reports of more civilian deaths at the hands of Syrian troops a day after the Assad’s regime pledged to withdraw its forces from protest hubs under a deal with the Arab League, saying the signs were “not encouraging”.
 “We have not seen any evidence that the Assad regime intends to live up to the commitments that it’s made,” Nuland said as she welcomed the league’s efforts to stop the bloodshed.
 Under the Arab League plan, the regime must stop the violence, release detainees and immediately grant unrestricted access to journalists and Arab League monitors.
 Those terms are the standard by which “we will judge this, and we have not seen it yet,” Nuland said.
 The spokeswoman dismissed fears that the Arab League, by dealing with the Assad regime, is giving Damascus more time to kill protesters in a crackdown that UN officials say has claimed more than 3,000 lives since mid-March.
 “I would say that actually the opposite is true, that as the United States says, Assad needs to step aside, because he’s clearly made a choice here,” Nuland said.
 In August, U.S. President Barack Obama and key European leaders called for Assad to step down and tightened sanctions on his regime after saying it had squandered chances to reform.
 “We will predict that, if he (Assad) doesn’t meet his promises to the Arab League, the Arab League is going to feel that they had promises made, promises broken, and they’re going to have to react,” Nuland said.
 “So from our perspective, what has happened through Assad’s own action is that the community of countries pressuring him, making their voices heard, is growing.”
 She noted that other countries like Turkey and Russia have tightened their screws on Assad.
 After initially taking a softer line, Turkey announced plans to impose sanctions against the Assad regime, while Russian President Dmitry Medvedev told the Syrian leader for the first time last month to either accept political reform or bow to calls for his resignation.
But Russia has vetoed a UN Security Council resolution threatening action against Syria.
Members of the Syrian National Council (SNC), an opposition group, have voiced serious scepticism over Syria's implementation of the deal.