Mass anti-Assad protest in Homs as monitors visit

BEIRUT, (Reuters) – Tens of thousands of  Syrians in Homs rallied today against President Bashar  al-Assad, emboldened by Arab peace monitors’ first tour of the  flashpoint city, after the army withdrew some tanks following  battles that killed 34 people in 24 hours.
“There are at least 70,000 protesters. They are marching  towards the city centre and the security forces are trying to  stop them. They are firing teargas,” Rami Abdelrahman of the  British-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights told Reuters.
The observers want to determine if Assad is keeping his  promise to implement a peace plan to end his uncompromising  military crackdown on nine months of popular revolt that has  generated an armed uprising, edging Syria towards civil war.
Some protesters shouted “we want international protection”  in a video posted on YouTube apparently showing a street  encounter with the Arab League observers in which some residents  argued and pleaded with them to venture further into the Baba  Amr quarter, where clashes have been especially fierce.
Bursts of gunfire erupted towards the end of a video, after  a resident yelled at one monitor to repeat what he had just told  his headquarters.
“You were telling the head of the mission that you cannot  cross to the second street because of the gunfire. Why don’t you  say it to us?” the man shouted, grabbing the unidentified  monitor by his jacket.
Gunshots crackled nearby as two monitors and two men wearing  orange vests stood amid a crowd of residents, one begging the  team to “come and see; they are slaughtering us, I swear”.
Damascus has barred most foreign journalists from the  country, making it hard to check events on the ground.
The head of mission said the first visit was “very good”.
“I am returning to Damascus for meetings and I will return  tomorrow to Homs,” Sudanese General Mustafa Dabi said. “The team  is staying in Homs. Today was very good and all sides were  responsive.”
Activist reports just before the monitors arrived said up to  a dozen tanks were seen leaving Baba Amr but others were being  hidden to fashion a false impression of relative normality in  the city while observers were around.
“My house is on the eastern entrance of Baba Amr. I saw at  least six tanks leave the neighbourhood at around 8 in the  morning (0600 GMT),” Mohamed Saleh told Reuters by telephone. “I  do not know if more remain in the area.”
Al Jazeera television showed an estimated 20,000 Syrians in  a square in Khalidiya, one of four districts where there has  been bloodshed as rebels fight security forces using tanks.
They were whistling and shouting and waving flags, playing  music over loudspeakers and clapping. Women were advised to  leave because of the risk of bloodshed. But a speaker urged the  men to “come down, brothers”.
The protesters shouted “We have no one but God” and “Down  with the regime”. An activist named Tamir told Reuters they  planned to hold a sit-in in the square.
“We tried to start a march down to the main market but the  organisers told us to stop, it’s too dangerous. No one dares go  down to the main streets. So we will stay in Khalidiya and we  will stay here in the square and we will not leave from here.”