WarSclerotic

50 members of Syria’s ruling party in besieged town submit resignation – Haaretz Daily Newspaper | Israel News.

Resignation comes on day of rage that left 62 dead; White House calls Assad to ‘change course now,’ saying his actions warrant ‘strong international response.’

By Reuters

At least 50 members of the ruling Ba’ath Party in the besieged Syrian town of Rastan have resigned, a human rights campaigner in contact with the town said on Friday.

The Ba’athists’ resignation declaration was being read out at a demonstration in the town, 20 km north of the city of Homs, when members of military intelligence and gunmen loyal to President Bashar al-Assad fired at the crowd, killing 13 of them, he added.

	In this citizen journalism image made on a mobile phone and acquired by the AP, a Syrian boy carries a banner during an anti-government demonstration in Syria, April 22, 2011.
	Photo by: AP

A resident of Rastan, which has been surrounded by Syrian troops backed by armor for several days, also said that at least 13 people were killed at the demonstration, at which he said people demanded the “overthrow of the regime”.

Casualties have been reported throughout the country in Homs, Latakia and Rastan, in Syria’s latest ‘day of rage’ which left 62 protesters reportedly killed.

Earlier Friday, a hospital source reported that Syrian security forces killed 15 villagers at the entrance to the south-Syrian city of Daraa on Friday, saying they received the bodies of the villagers that were riddled with bullets.

A source at the hospital in Tafas, 12 km (8 miles) north west of the city, told Reuters that in addition to those killed, 38 villagers were injured and in hospital.

The official state news agency SANA said an “armed terrorist group” killed four soldiers and kidnapped two others in Daraa where Assad sent tanks and troops to crush resistance on Monday.

Syrian forces fired at thousands on protesters heading for the south Syria city that has become the epicenter of the six-week long protests that are shaking the rule of authoritarian President Bashar Assad, wounding dozens, witnesses said.

Protests erupted throughout Syria on Friday’s ‘day of rage’, defying violent repression which a Syrian rights group says has killed 500 people. The Muslim Brotherhood took an unprecedented step, officially endorsing and participating in demonstrations.

The latest violence broke out after Friday prayers as thousands of people hit the streets across the country demanding Assad’s removal and pledging support for the residents of Daraa, a city of 120,000 where the unrest originated on March 18.

In light of the ‘day of rage,’ the United Nations Human Rights Council held an emergency session on Friday by request of the United States.

The 47-member forum condemned Syria for using deadly force against peaceful protesters and launched an investigation into killings and other alleged crimes.

It also endorsed a U.S.-sponsored resolution by 26 votes to 9 with 7 abstentions.

“Member states came together to condemn the brutal tactics used by the Assad regime to silence peaceful dissent,” U.S. human rights ambassador Eileen Donahoe said in a statement.

Later Friday, the Whiter House, which issued new sanctions on Syria on Friday, called for President Bashar al-Assad to “change course now.”

“In addition to actions that we are taking, the United States believes that Syria’s deplorable actions toward its people warrant a strong international response,” White House spokesman Jay Carney said in a statement.

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