Violent Clashes as Thousands Protest in Cities Across Syria

Security forces fired on protesters in Homs, one of Syria’s most restive locales, and the police and protesters fought in Deir al-Zour, a large city in the east. But thousands were permitted to demonstrate in Kiswa, a town south of Damascus, where demonstrators carried banners that read, “Leave!” and “The people want the fall of the regime.”

Some opposition figures had speculated that the government might try to bring down a death toll that surged past 100 on one Friday in anticipation of Mr. Assad’s speech, which may come as early as Sunday. Syrian officials have portrayed the address as significant, though many in the opposition said their expectations were low.

As the day wore on, the toll approached 22, the number killed last Friday.

“We want freedom and dignity but not under President Bashar,” said a 30-year-old farmer in Kiswa who gave his name as Abdel-Rahman. “He keeps promising for three months on reforms but all we see is more killing and suffering.”

The government’s crackdown has forced nearly 10,000 refugees across the northern border with Turkey and, on Friday, its repercussions spilled into Lebanon, where rival groups clashed after a protest against Mr. Assad in the northern city of Tripoli.

Three people were killed there, including an off-duty soldier, the police said. The clash erupted in a part of Tripoli that has often witnessed trouble between Sunni Muslims and Alawites, a minority heterodox sect that serves as the backbone of Mr. Assad’s rule.

The crackdown has brought international condemnation of a leadership that has ruled Syria for more than four decades. Diplomats have spoken of growing pressure on Mr. Assad, who has taken steps that have so far proved largely superficial, and Syrian officials have suggested that a more serious dialogue may ensue with opposition figures.

On Thursday, in a symbolic but humiliating episode, the country’s richest businessman, Rami Makhlouf, a reviled cousin of Mr. Assad, was forced to announce that he would devote himself to charity and avoid any new deals that brought him profit.

“You can’t do charity with the millions you stole from us,” read a banner carried by hundreds of demonstrators on Friday in Zabadani, a town on the outskirts of Damascus, the capital.

Since the start of the uprising in mid-March, the government and opposition have cast it in a different light. At times, government officials have acknowledged some of the protesters’ demands as legitimate, while insisting that armed groups have hijacked the movement. The opposition says the government is exaggerating the threat posed by armed groups and contends that the demonstrations are overwhelmingly peaceful.

Syrian state television said a policeman was killed and more than 20 were wounded when armed groups opened fire on them. It said six police officers were also wounded when gunmen attacked a police station in Deir al-Zour. Nawaf al-Bashir, an opposition figure in the city, said security forces killed two civilians there and wounded nine people.

The government has barred most foreign journalists from reporting in Syria, and it was almost impossible to reconcile the typically contradictory accounts.

Activists said the worst violence on Friday occurred in Homs, Syria’s third largest city and a center of the uprising, and the province of Idlib, a conservative Sunni Muslim region in the north that military forces have sought to return to the government’s control.

Activists said protests also occurred at the university in Aleppo and in other parts of the city, Syria’s second largest and a linchpin for the government’s durability. So far, the city has remained relatively quiescent, but activists said one protester had been killed there.

On the Turkish border, 200 refugees living in a makeshift tent city staged their own protest against the government, raising a banner that read “We hate you: Get away” and chanting “The people want the fall of the regime,” a cry voiced across the Arab world. Scores of children participated, waving branches plucked from the trees.

There were conflicting reports about the posture of the Syrian military, which has deployed to town after restive town. Some activists said that, in contrast to past weeks, the military did not participate in the crackdown on Friday, leaving the task to security forces and paramilitaries. Mr. Bashir said they had withdrawn from Deir al-Zour, where they had deployed just last week. Other activists said that they remained there and that additional military forces had begun an assault on the town of Dael, in southern Syria.

Hwaida Saad contributed reporting from Beirut, and Liam Stack from Guvecci, Turkey.

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13 Killed in Series of Blasts Across Iraq

BAGHDAD — Twelve explosions, including one that appeared to target a United States military convoy, shook Baghdad over the span of two hours on Sunday morning, killing at least 13 and wounding at least 62, according to an Iraqi security official.

The most deadly attack occurred in north Baghdad when a car bomb was detonated around 9 a.m. near the United States convoy, according to the security official. Shortly after the explosion, Iraqi police arrived at the scene and a suicide bomber detonated explosives, killing seven and injuring ten.

A spokesman for the United States military in Iraq said he had not received any reports that a convoy had been attacked.

The violence appeared to be part of a pattern in Baghdad. Last Sunday, insurgents throughout the city fired rockets and mortars at the heavily fortified Green Zone, detonated several explosives and assassinated government officials, killing six and wounding dozens. Sunday marks the beginning of the Iraqi work week.

The attacks on Sunday occurred in Sunni and Shiite parts of the city, including two in Sadr city, the strong hold of the radical cleric Moktada al-Sadr. Although attacks have significantly decreased in Iraq over the past few years, a consistent level of violence that the authorities don’t seem to be able to prevent remains, with deadly attacks occurring on a daily basis.

The first attack occurred around 7 a.m. when four road side bombs and a car bomb were detonated near the federal police headquarters in west Baghdad, killing two and wounding 15.

A bomb was then detonated near the convoy of a high ranking ministry of interior official in east Baghdad, killing one and wounding five. The official was not killed in the attack.

A roadside bomb was then detonated near a police patrol in east Baghdad, wounding six, including a policeman.

Road side bombs were then detonated near a hospital and market in Sadr city, killing two and wounding 14.

Two road side bombs were then detonated in the center of Baghdad, killing one and wounding 12. Among the wounded were six police officers.

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Security on Higher Alert Across U.S.

Although the Department of Homeland Security has not issued an alert, the agency remains at what the homeland security secretary, Janet Napolitano, has called a “heightened state of vigilance.” The State Department, on the other hand, has issued a worldwide travel alert to Americans.

In Philadelphia, the police commissioner, Charles H. Ramsey, has placed the department on “high alert,” increased patrols around religious buildings, and intensified security at tourist attractions and shopping malls, the police said.

“We haven’t added more personnel; we’re just doing more checks and asking our officers and citizens to be more aware,” said Lt. Ray Evers, a police spokesman.

The additional security includes hourly checks at some of the city’s synagogues and mosques, as well as arranging meetings with building superintendents and representatives of large businesses and manufacturers to remind them to report suspicious activity to the police, Lieutenant Evers said.

In Phoenix, officials said they had supplemented security at the city’s airport, municipal buildings and houses of worship and on its light rail system, said Scott Krushak, the coordinator for Phoenix’s Office of Emergency Management.

“We’re not doing it because we’ve had any threats, but because it is part of a ‘lean forward’ strategy we have here in the city of Phoenix,” Mr. Krushak said. “We are really relying on the community to tell us if they see anything.”

In Los Angeles, the police sent additional officers to the Staples Center for the Lakers playoff basketball game against Dallas on Monday, and officials said they intended to also supplement police patrols at Dodger Stadium. Even before the death of Bin Laden, security at Dodgers games had been stepped up after a fan of the rival San Francisco Giants was badly beaten in a stadium parking lot last month.

In addition, Lt. Andy Neiman, a police spokesman, said the police were paying particular attention to airports, ports and telecommunications hubs.

At Los Angeles International Airport on Tuesday, Debby Cummings, 44, who was on a flight from Detroit to visit friends in Los Angeles, said the security screening in Detroit seemed normal except that more passengers had been told to go through full-body scanners. Ms. Cummings said that she had not been overly concerned about flying, but that her 15-year-old son had worried the plane might explode.

“In Detroit they had two of the body scanners, which they were sending most people through, but other than that it was the same,” she said. “They only had one scanner before, and they didn’t used to make the majority of people go through it.”

In Chicago, the Police Department said it had sent additional officers to patrol around houses of worship, the Richard J. Daley Center, and at the United Center, where arena security personnel checked fans arriving to Monday night’s basketball game against Atlanta with handheld metal detectors.

Similar procedures were to be in place for an N.B.A. playoff game in Oklahoma City on Tuesday night and for all remaining basketball playoff games, officials said.

In Miami, the police have added officers with dogs at Miami International Airport, but many airports around the country, including those in San Francisco and Seattle, said they had taken no additional security precautions because the federal government had not issued a threat warning.

Timothy Williams reported from New York, and Ian Lovett from Los Angeles.

 

Security on Higher Alert Across U.S.

Although the Department of Homeland Security has not issued an alert, the agency remains at what the homeland security secretary, Janet Napolitano, has called a “heightened state of vigilance.” The State Department, on the other hand, has issued a worldwide travel alert to Americans.

In Philadelphia, the police commissioner, Charles H. Ramsey, has placed the department on “high alert,” increased patrols around religious buildings, and intensified security at tourist attractions and shopping malls, the police said.

“We haven’t added more personnel; we’re just doing more checks and asking our officers and citizens to be more aware,” said Lt. Ray Evers, a police spokesman.

The additional security includes hourly checks at some of the city’s synagogues and mosques, as well as arranging meetings with building superintendents and representatives of large businesses and manufacturers to remind them to report suspicious activity to the police, Lieutenant Evers said.

In Phoenix, officials said they had supplemented security at the city’s airport, municipal buildings and houses of worship and on its light rail system, said Scott Krushak, the coordinator for Phoenix’s Office of Emergency Management.

“We’re not doing it because we’ve had any threats, but because it is part of a ‘lean forward’ strategy we have here in the city of Phoenix,” Mr. Krushak said. “We are really relying on the community to tell us if they see anything.”

In Los Angeles, the police sent additional officers to the Staples Center for the Lakers playoff basketball game against Dallas on Monday, and officials said they intended to also supplement police patrols at Dodger Stadium. Even before the death of Bin Laden, security at Dodgers games had been stepped up after a fan of the rival San Francisco Giants was badly beaten in a stadium parking lot last month.

In addition, Lt. Andy Neiman, a police spokesman, said the police were paying particular attention to airports, ports and telecommunications hubs.

At Los Angeles International Airport on Tuesday, Debby Cummings, 44, who was on a flight from Detroit to visit friends in Los Angeles, said the security screening in Detroit seemed normal except that more passengers had been told to go through full-body scanners. Ms. Cummings said that she had not been overly concerned about flying, but that her 15-year-old son had worried the plane might explode.

“In Detroit they had two of the body scanners, which they were sending most people through, but other than that it was the same,” she said. “They only had one scanner before, and they didn’t used to make the majority of people go through it.”

In Chicago, the Police Department said it had sent additional officers to patrol around houses of worship, the Richard J. Daley Center, and at the United Center, where arena security personnel checked fans arriving to Monday night’s basketball game against Atlanta with handheld metal detectors.

Similar procedures were to be in place for an N.B.A. playoff game in Oklahoma City on Tuesday night and for all remaining basketball playoff games, officials said.

In Miami, the police have added officers with dogs at Miami International Airport, but many airports around the country, including those in San Francisco and Seattle, said they had taken no additional security precautions because the federal government had not issued a threat warning.

Timothy Williams reported from New York, and Ian Lovett from Los Angeles.

 

Security on Higher Alert Across U.S.

Although the Department of Homeland Security has not issued an alert, the agency remains at what the homeland security secretary, Janet Napolitano, has called a “heightened state of vigilance.” The State Department, on the other hand, has issued a worldwide travel alert to Americans.

In Philadelphia, the police commissioner, Charles H. Ramsey, has placed the department on “high alert,” increased patrols around religious buildings, and intensified security at tourist attractions and shopping malls, the police said.

“We haven’t added more personnel; we’re just doing more checks and asking our officers and citizens to be more aware,” said Lt. Ray Evers, a police spokesman.

The additional security includes hourly checks at some of the city’s synagogues and mosques, as well as arranging meetings with building superintendents and representatives of large businesses and manufacturers to remind them to report suspicious activity to the police, Lieutenant Evers said.

In Phoenix, officials said they had supplemented security at the city’s airport, municipal buildings and houses of worship and on its light rail system, said Scott Krushak, the coordinator for Phoenix’s Office of Emergency Management.

“We’re not doing it because we’ve had any threats, but because it is part of a ‘lean forward’ strategy we have here in the city of Phoenix,” Mr. Krushak said. “We are really relying on the community to tell us if they see anything.”

In Los Angeles, the police sent additional officers to the Staples Center for the Lakers playoff basketball game against Dallas on Monday, and officials said they intended to also supplement police patrols at Dodger Stadium. Even before the death of Bin Laden, security at Dodgers games had been stepped up after a fan of the rival San Francisco Giants was badly beaten in a stadium parking lot last month.

In addition, Lt. Andy Neiman, a police spokesman, said the police were paying particular attention to airports, ports and telecommunications hubs.

At Los Angeles International Airport on Tuesday, Debby Cummings, 44, who was on a flight from Detroit to visit friends in Los Angeles, said the security screening in Detroit seemed normal except that more passengers had been told to go through full-body scanners. Ms. Cummings said that she had not been overly concerned about flying, but that her 15-year-old son had worried the plane might explode.

“In Detroit they had two of the body scanners, which they were sending most people through, but other than that it was the same,” she said. “They only had one scanner before, and they didn’t used to make the majority of people go through it.”

In Chicago, the Police Department said it had sent additional officers to patrol around houses of worship, the Richard J. Daley Center, and at the United Center, where arena security personnel checked fans arriving to Monday night’s basketball game against Atlanta with handheld metal detectors.

Similar procedures were to be in place for an N.B.A. playoff game in Oklahoma City on Tuesday night and for all remaining basketball playoff games, officials said.

In Miami, the police have added officers with dogs at Miami International Airport, but many airports around the country, including those in San Francisco and Seattle, said they had taken no additional security precautions because the federal government had not issued a threat warning.

Timothy Williams reported from New York, and Ian Lovett from Los Angeles.

 

Thousands March Across the Middle East, Most Peacefully

Thousands in Oman marched through the southern town of Salalah, Reuters reported, after gathering for prayers in the parking lot of a mosque near a government office. It was the largest demonstration since late February, when protests in the northeastern port city of Sohar and the capital, Muscat, rattled the normally sleepy sultanate on the southeastern coast of the Arabian Peninsula.

“The Omani people are not afraid of protesting for as long as it takes for reform,” the cleric, Amer Hargan, told the crowd, Reuters reported.

Protests in Oman have focused their energy on official corruption and economic issues, such as better pay and relief from rising prices, rather than opposition to the four-decade rule of Sultan Qaboos bin Said. The Omani leader has responded in recent weeks with promises to increase government spending and create jobs.

In Yemen, more than a hundred thousand gathered in giant, dueling demonstrations in the capital, Sana, for the third Friday in a row as President Ali Abdullah Saleh continued to resist calls for his departure. Television images and photos posted to social media Web sites showed waves of antigovernment marchers surging through the streets of the capital and throngs rallying in support of the embattled president.

In the face of eroding international support for his 32-year rule, Mr. Saleh rallied supporters, telling them that he welcomed a regional plan to have him step down from power, but would agree to leave only “within the framework of the Yemen constitution,” the official Saba news agency reported, a stipulation that appeared calculated to put off any immediate departure.

The plan, finalized this week in meetings between Yemeni officials and representatives of the six-nation Gulf Cooperation Council, calls for the president to hand over power immediately and step down in 30 days, with new presidential elections 60 days later. It also calls for an immediate end to protests and allows immunity from prosecution for Mr. Saleh and his family. The opposition, reluctant to call off demonstrations, has yet to offer an official response.

Demonstrators also filled streets in the city of Taiz. Reuters reported security forces firing into the air to keep rival protests from clashing.

Friday, the Muslim holy day, has become a focal point for protests against autocratic governments across the Middle East since a wave of uprisings began this winter.

But the streets were empty in Jordan for the first Friday since Jan. 7, when demonstrators began gathering to demand changes in the kingdom. Organizers had called for demonstrations, but changed their plans after Islamic fundamentalists, the Salafis, echoed those calls.

“We did not want to give the government and the regime a chance to accuse the opposition of being in cahoots with the Salafis,” said Zaki Saad, the head of the political bureau of the Muslim Brotherhood, and a protest organizer. During demonstrations last Friday, Salafis armed with knives and rocks clashed with the police, wounding more than 80 police officers. “As a result of what took place last week, the political parties and the national parties who are calling for reform decided to cancel all their demonstrations until May,” he said.

Meanwhile, in Egypt, the country’s public prosecutor on Friday extended the detention of former president Hosni Mubarak another 15 days, to allow time for more interrogations, according to a spokesman in the public prosecutor’s office. Mr. Mubarak, 82, was first detained on April 13, a day after he was hospitalized in the Egyptian seaside resort of Sharm El Sheikh, where he has been staying since the three-week uprising that forced him to resign.

The former Egyptian autocrat, who ruled unchallenged for 30 years, faces accusations of financial corruption and ordering the killing of protesters. On Friday, a team of prosecutors was sent to question him, according to a statement issued by the public prosecutor’s office. Both his sons, Gamal and Alaa, were also arrested and are being held in a Cairo prison.

Reporting contributed by Mona el-Naggar from Cairo and Ranya Kadri from Amman, Jordan.

 

Thousands March Across the Middle East, Most Peacefully

 

Thousands in Oman marched through the southern town of Salalah, Reuters reported, after gathering for prayers in the parking lot of a mosque near a government office. It was the largest demonstration since late February, when protests in the northeastern port city of Sohar and the capital, Muscat, rattled the normally sleepy sultanate on the southeastern coast of the Arabian Peninsula.

“The Omani people are not afraid of protesting for as long as it takes for reform,” the cleric, Amer Hargan, told the crowd, Reuters reported.

Protests in Oman have focused their energy on official corruption and economic issues, such as better pay and relief from rising prices, rather than opposition to the four-decade rule of Sultan Qaboos bin Said. The Omani leader has responded in recent weeks with promises to increase government spending and create jobs.

In Yemen, more than a hundred thousand gathered in giant, dueling demonstrations in the capital, Sana, for the third Friday in a row as President Ali Abdullah Saleh continued to resist calls for his departure. Television images and photos posted to social media Web sites showed waves of antigovernment marchers surging through the streets of the capital and throngs rallying in support of the embattled president.

In the face of eroding international support for his 32-year rule, Mr. Saleh rallied supporters, telling them that he welcomed a regional plan to have him step down from power, but would agree to leave only “within the framework of the Yemen constitution,” the official Saba news agency reported, a stipulation that appeared calculated to put off any immediate departure.

The plan, finalized this week in meetings between Yemeni officials and representatives of the six-nation Gulf Cooperation Council, calls for the president to hand over power immediately and step down in 30 days, with new presidential elections 60 days later. It also calls for an immediate end to protests and allows immunity from prosecution for Mr. Saleh and his family. The opposition, reluctant to call off demonstrations, has yet to offer an official response.

Demonstrators also filled streets in the city of Taiz. Reuters reported security forces firing into the air to keep rival protests from clashing.

Friday, the Muslim holy day, has become a focal point for protests against autocratic governments across the Middle East since a wave of uprisings began this winter.

But the streets were empty in Jordan for the first Friday since Jan. 7, when demonstrators began gathering to demand changes in the kingdom. Organizers had called for demonstrations, but changed their plans after Islamic fundamentalists, the Salafis, echoed those calls.

“We did not want to give the government and the regime a chance to accuse the opposition of being in cahoots with the Salafis,” said Zaki Saad, the head of the political bureau of the Muslim Brotherhood, and a protest organizer. During demonstrations last Friday, Salafis armed with knives and rocks clashed with the police, wounding more than 80 police officers. “As a result of what took place last week, the political parties and the national parties who are calling for reform decided to cancel all their demonstrations until May,” he said.

Meanwhile, in Egypt, the country’s public prosecutor on Friday extended the detention of former president Hosni Mubarak another 15 days, to allow time for more interrogations, according to a spokesman in the public prosecutor’s office. Mr. Mubarak, 82, was first detained on April 13, a day after he was hospitalized in the Egyptian seaside resort of Sharm El Sheikh, where he has been staying since the three-week uprising that forced him to resign.

The former Egyptian autocrat, who ruled unchallenged for 30 years, faces accusations of financial corruption and ordering the killing of protesters. On Friday, a team of prosecutors was sent to question him, according to a statement issued by the public prosecutor’s office. Both his sons, Gamal and Alaa, were also arrested and are being held in a Cairo prison.

Reporting contributed by Mona el-Naggar from Cairo and Ranya Kadri from Amman, Jordan.