DOZENS OF Syrian army deserters were shot dead yesterday as they tried to flee their base and defect to join the nine-month revolt against President Bashar al-Assad, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.
The British-based group, citing witnesses who survived the attack, said Syrian forces attacked the defectors with machine-gun fire.
One of the survivors said some 60 to 70 deserters were killed.
Meanwhile, violence continued for a fourth day in central Cairo, where troops briefly cleared Tahrir Square of democracy activists camped out since November 25th in protest at the military’s appointment of Egyptian prime minister Kamal Ganzouri.
The protesters returned, forcing troops to retreat behind barricades built across streets leading from Tahrir Square to parliament, the cabinet offices and the interior ministry.
The health ministry said three people had been killed, raising the toll since Friday to at least 14 dead and 700 wounded. A doctor at a field clinic in the square said six had died.
US secretary of state Hillary Clinton urged Egypt’s security apparatus to “respect and protect the universal rights of all Egyptians” and called on protesters to “refrain from acts of violence”.
UN secretary general Ban Ki-moon expressed alarm at the “excessive use of force by the security forces.”
Gen Adel Emara, a member of the ruling military council, said that intelligence had uncovered a plot to burn parliament and “topple the state”. He argued that troops had shown “restraint” in dealing with protesters.
However, Egyptians and foreign observers have been horrified at video showing soldiers beating and kicking a young woman stripped to her bra and jeans.
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