- Title: LEBANON: Pro and anti-Assad protesters clash at Syrian embassy in Beirut
- Date: 12th August 2011
- Summary: PRO- AND ANTI-ASSAD PROTESTERS CLASHING SECURITY PERSONNEL TRYING TO CONTROL SITUATION VARIOUS OF CLASHES
- Embargoed: 27th August 2011 13:00
- Keywords:
- Location: Lebanon, Lebanon
- Country: Lebanon
- Topics: Crime,International Relations,Politics
- Reuters ID: LVA9WFQ4DLVLYS8KTSJ2H13305IL
- Story Text: Clashes broke out between pro- and anti-Assad protesters in Beirut on Thursday (August 11) as both groups gathered to demonstrate outside the Syrian embassy.
While one side called for an end to the regime of Bashar al-Assad, the other side chanted their support for the Syrian president.
The demonstrations in the Lebanese capital came as Damascus stepped up its military campaign to crush anti-government protests inside Syria.
On Thursday, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said it had the names of five people killed and 16 wounded in morning raids by security forces backed by tanks on Qusair, near the Lebanon border, after overnight protests calling for Assad's removal.
Another activist group, the Syrian Revolution Coordinating Union, said it had identified at least nine people, including a woman and a baby, killed by random gunfire in Qusair.
At least 1,700 civilians have been killed in the unrest, rights groups say, and a series of military assaults on cities and town since the start of Ramadan 10 days ago has sharpened international condemnation.
Syria says 500 soldiers and police have died in the bloodshed, which it blames on "armed gangs" and "terrorists". - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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