Syria braces for mass demonstrations

[pampango]

Source: Aljazeera

Syrian opposition movements are readying for a day of rallies, dubbed "Friday of Martyrs", across the country even as authorities announced a raft of measures aimed at meeting some of the protesters' demands.

Facing increasing demands for reform, Syria's president has set up committees to look into the deaths of civilians during nearly two weeks of unrest and replace decades-old emergency laws. On Wednesday, Assad defied expectations that he would announce sweeping changes, instead blaming two weeks of popular revolt on a foreign conspiracy during his first public address since the protests began.

Within hours of Assad's speech, residents of the Mediterranean port city of Latakia said troops opened fire during a protest by about 100 people, although it was not immediately clear whether they were firing in the air or at the protesters. The residents asked that their names not be published for fear of reprisals. Latakia, which has a potentially volatile mix of different religious groups, already has become a flashpoint for violence that could take on a dangerous sectarian tone in the coming days and weeks.

The anti-government protests and ensuing violence have brought Syria's sectarian tensions into the open for the first time in decades, a taboo topic because Syria has a Sunni majority ruled by minority Alawites, a branch of Shia Islam. Assad has placed his fellow Alawites into most positions of power in Syria. However, he also has used increased economic freedom and prosperity to win the allegiance of the prosperous Sunni Muslim merchant classes, while punishing dissenters with arrest, imprisonment and physical abuse.

Read more: http://english.aljazeera.net/news/middleeast/2011/04/20114172324920128.html

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First I have heard that Syria has a Sunni majority, while Assad and the government are Shia. Kind of the opposite of Bahrain where the majority are Shia and the rulers are Sunnis.