Saudi heir's death brings conservative to fore (AP)

By ABDULLAH AL-SHIHRI and BRIAN MURPHY, Associated Press Abdullah Al-shihri And Brian Murphy, Associated Press – 1?hr?49?mins?ago

RIYADH, Saudi Arabia – Saudi Arabia's ruling monarchy moved into a critical period of realignment Saturday after the death of the heir to the throne opened the way for a new crown prince: most likely a tough-talking interior minister who has led crackdowns on Islamic militants but also has shown favor to ultraconservative traditions such as keeping the ban on women voting.

A state funeral is planned for Tuesday in Riyadh for crown prince Sultan bin Abdul-Aziz Al Saud, who died in New York at the age of 80 after an unspecified illness, the official Saudi Press Agency said.

Now, Saudi rulers are expected to move quickly to name the new king-in-waiting — which royal protocol suggests will be Sultan's half brother, Prince Nayef.

Moving Nayef to the top of the succession ladder would not likely pose any risks to Saudi Arabia's pro-Western policies and, in particular, its close alliance with Washington. But Nayef cuts a much more mercurial figure than Saudi's current leader, the ailing King Abdullah, who has nudged ahead with reforms such as promising women voting rights in 2015 despite rumblings from the country's powerful religious establishment.

Nayef, 78, has earned U.S. praise for unleashing the internal security forces against suspected Islamic extremist cells in Saudi Arabia, which was home to 15 of 19 of the Sept. 11 hijackers. Yet he brought blistering rebukes in the West for a 2002 interview that quoted him as saying that "Zionists" — a reference to Jews — benefited from the 9-11 attacks because it turned world opinion against Islam and Arabs.

Nayef also has expressed displeasure at some of Abdullah's moves for more openness, saying in 2009 that he saw no need for women to vote or participate in politics. It's a view shared by many Saudi clerics, who follow a strict brand of Islam known as Wahhabism. Their support gives the Saudi monarchy the legitimacy to rule over a nation holding Islam's holiest sites.

"Nayef is more religious, and is closer to the Saudi groups who are very critical of the king's decisions regarding women and other steps he's taken to balance out the rigid religious practices in society," said Ali Fakhro, a political analyst and commentator in Bahrain.

But it remains doubtful that Nayef — if ever made king — would outright annul Abdullah's reforms, which include the establishment of a coed university where both genders can mix. More likely, Nayef would put any further changes on hold, said Abdulkhaleq Abdulla, a political affairs professor at Emirates University.

"It's not good news for Saudis or for the region," he said. "(Nayef) is the security guy. He is the mukhabarat (secret police) guy. He is the internal affairs guy."

Although it's not certain that Nayef will be selected to succeed Sultan, the signs point clearly in that direction.

After Sultan fell ill two years ago, Nayef was named second deputy prime minister, traditionally the post right behind the crown prince. For the first time, however, the mechanism of picking the next No. 2 in the royal succession is not entirely clear.

Traditionally, the king names his successor. But this time it is possible that Abdullah will put the decision to the Allegiance Council, a 33-member body composed of his brothers and cousins. Abdullah created the council as part of his reforms and gave it a mandate to choose the heir.

Abdullah formed the council in order to modernize the process and give a wider voice. When it was created, it was decided that the council would choose the heir for the first time when Sultan rose to the throne, and his crown prince would need to be named. But it was not specified whether it would be used if Sultan died before the king.

The choice of whether to convene the council now will likely be made by the 87-year-old Abdullah, who is currently recovering from his third operation to treat back problems in less than a year.

"It is with deep sorrow and grief that the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah mourns the loss of his brother and Crown Prince, His Royal Highness Prince Sultan," the palace said in a statement announcing Sultan's death.

The announcement did not elaborate on his illness. According to a leaked U.S. diplomatic cable from January 2010, Sultan had been receiving treatment for colon cancer since 2009.

Sultan was the kingdom's defense minister in 1990 when U.S. forces deployed in Saudi Arabia to defend it against Iraqi forces that had overrun Kuwait. His son, Prince Khaled, served as the top Arab commander in the 1991 operation Desert Storm, in which U.S.-led troops drove the Iraqis out of Kuwait.

As defense minister, Sultan closed multibillion-dollar deals to establish the modern Saudi armed forces, including land, air, naval and air defense forces. On more than one occasion, the deals implicated several of his sons in corruption scandals — charges they have denied.

Sultan is survived by 32 children from multiple wives. They include Bandar, the former ambassador to the United States who now heads the National Security Council, and Khaled, Sultan's assistant in the Defense Ministry.

U.S. President Barack Obama called the prince "a valued friend of the United States" in a statement of condolence. "He was a strong supporter of the deep and enduring partnership between our two countries forged almost seven decades ago."

"He will be missed," said U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton during a visit to Tajikistan. "Our relationship with Saudi Arabia is strong and enduring and we will look forward to working with the leadership for many years to come."

Britain's foreign secretary, William Hague, said Sultan served his country with "great dignity and dedication."

Saudi Arabia has been ruled since 1953 by the sons of its founder, King Abdul-Aziz, who had more than 40 sons by multiple wives. Sultan was part of the aging second generation of Abdul-Aziz's sons, including Nayef, the full brother of the late King Fahd, who died in 2005.

While Nayef has taken only minor roles in foreign affairs, he has been outspoken in one of Saudi Arabia's chief regional concerns: ambitions by rival Iran to expand its influence in the Middle East.

Earlier this year, he blamed the Shiite power for encouraging protests among Saudi Arabia's minority Shiites.

Nayef also was involved in the kingdom's decision in March to send military forces into neighboring Bahrain to help crush pro-reform demonstrations led by tiny island nation's majority Shiites against its Sunni rulers — which Gulf Arab leaders accuse of having ties to Iran.

With Yemen, he has called for Saudi Arabia to take a harder line with embattled President Ali Abdullah Saleh, who was treated in Saudi Arabia after surviving a blast in June and later returned to Yemen.

In August, Nayef accepted undisclosed libel damages from Britain's newspaper The Independent over an article which accused him of ordering police chiefs to shoot and kill unarmed demonstrators in Saudi Arabia.

Nayef has chaired Cabinet meetings in place of Abdullah and Sultan. He also draws considerable prestige from being among the sons of Abdul-Aziz's most prominent wife, known as the Sudeiri Seven. Abdullah's predecessor Fahd also was among the seven.

"Nayef's closer links to the Wahhabi establishment may see a reversal of some recent reforms, especially regarding women," said Christopher Davidson, a lecturer at Britain's Durham University and an expert on Gulf affairs. "But more likely business as usual, I think, with no further major reforms."

___

Murphy reported from Dubai, United Arab Emirates. Associated Press writers Maggie Michael in Cairo and Barbara Surk in Manama, Bahrain, contributed to this report.

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Libyans urged to unite after death of Gaddafi (Reuters)

MISRATA, Libya (Reuters) – Libya's interim prime minister said he was resigning on Saturday and urged new leaders to seize a "very limited opportunity" and resolve rivalries now surfacing after Muammar Gaddafi's death.

With regional differences emerging about what to do with Gaddafi's still unburied body, the formal end to the war and the carve-up of power, Libya's outgoing premier said the coming days posed a crucial test of resolve for the new men in power.

Mahmoud Jibril said he would step down later on Saturday, after seven months as prime minister of the Western-backed rebel government now that the legal declaration of "liberation" was expected on Sunday following Gaddafi's killing on Thursday.

But in a parting shot at an international business forum in Jordan, he warned Libyans to avoid in-fighting if Libyans were to keep to a plan to hold their first free election next year.

Leaders required "resolve," he said, "in the next few days."

In Misrata, the curious and the relieved filed for a second day through a market cold store to view the body of Gaddafi, whose surprise capture and killing in his hometown of Sirte sparked joy - and renewed jockeying for postwar influence.

Visitors wore surgical masks against the stench, an image that may trouble some Muslims, for whom swift burial is a holy duty - even if few Libyans share the unease among their Western allies over what some believe was a summary execution.

Jibril said progress for Libya would need great resolution, both by interim leaders on the National Transitional Council and by six million war-weary people: "First," he said, "What kind of resolve the NTC will show in the next few days?

"And the other thing depends mainly on the Libyan people - whether they differentiate between the past and the future."

He added: "I am counting on them to look ahead and remember the kind of agony they went through in the last 42 years.

"We need to seize this very limited opportunity."

"LIBERATION"

The formal declaration of an end to war and of "liberation" from Gaddafi's rule was expected to be made by NTC chairman Mustafa Abdel Jalil on Sunday in the eastern city of Benghazi, the seat of the revolt inspired by the fall of autocrats in neighboring Tunisia and Egypt.

There have been several delays to the announcement. It will set a clock ticking on a plan for a new government and constitutional assembly leading to full democracy in 2013.

Jibril reaffirmed the plan was for elections to the body that will draft a constitution to be held in eight months.

Gaddafi's body remained in Misrata, bearing wounds assumed to have been inflicted by fighters from the city who hauled him from a drain in his hometown Sirte. A field commander in Misrata worried that trouble was brewing:

"The fear now is what is going to happen next," he said, speaking to Reuters privately, as ordinary Libyans, some taking pictures for family albums, filed in under armed guard to see for themselves that the man they feared was truly dead.

"There is going to be regional in-fighting. You have Zintan and Misrata on one side and then Benghazi and the east," the guerrilla said. "There is in-fighting even inside the army."

DIVISIONS

Comparisons with Iraq after Saddam Hussein are tempered by the absence of the Sunni-Shi'ite divide which ravaged that country. However, as in Iraq, there are vast energy resources at stake and international powers keen to exploit them.

Regional enmities thrive, as well as differences between Islamists and secularists and among those who once served Gaddafi - like NTC head Abdel Jalil - and others. There is also ethnic tension between Arabs and Berbers.

Gaddafi's surviving family, in exile, have asked that his body and that of his son Mo'tassim be handed over to tribal kinsmen from Sirte. NTC officials said they were trying to arrange a secret resting place to avoid loyalist supporters making it a shrine.

Unlike on Friday, Gaddafi's body was covered by a blanket that left only his head exposed, hiding bruises on his torso and scratch marks on his chest that had earlier been visible.

A Reuters reporter who viewed the body said Gaddafi's head had been turned to the left. That hid a bullethole that earlier could be seen on the left side of his face.

SUMMARY EXECUTION?

Gaddafi's family and international human rights groups have urged an inquiry into how Gaddafi, 69, was killed, since gory cellphone video footage showed him alive but being beaten and taunted by his captors. Jibril said on the day that Gaddafi was killed in "crossfire" in an ambulance taking him to hospital.

But an ambulance driver in Sirte told Reuters Gaddafi was already dead by the time he picked him up, and a local military commander in Misrata said "over-enthusiastic" fighters had taken matters into their own hands:

"We wanted to keep him alive. But the young guys...," he told Reuters. "Things went out of control."

The International Criminal Court at The Hague had wanted to try Gaddafi for war crimes and may yet be able to try his son Saif al-Islam if he is found. NTC officials believe he escaped from the last redoubt in Sirte, after French jets had scattered a convoy of dozens of vehicles trying to flee with his father.

Intelligence chief Abdullah al-Senussi, the third man wanted by the ICC, managed to reach Niger, officials have said.

Libyans also want to try some of the old guard at home.

Despite the qualms of some abroad, few compatriots are troubled by Gaddafi's bloody end, captured in clips of cellphone video broadcast around the world.

"People in the West don't understand the agony and pain that the people went through during the past 42 years," said Jibril, who added he felt "reborn" when he heard the news.

Abdulatif, a pilot, who came to see the body in Misrata, asked: "What would he tell the mother whose children were killed or the girls who were raped? If he lived and was killed a thousand times that would still only be a trifle."

Nonetheless, some Libyans have expressed unease at the way Gaddafi's body has been treated - Muslim custom dictates it should have been buried by sundown on Thursday - and at other matters of religion and respect for the dead.

Gaddafi's daughter Aisha, her mother and two of her brothers fled to Algeria after the fall of Tripoli. Aisha gave birth on the day she arrived.

The government in Algiers has angered the NTC by refusing to send them back. But an Algerian newspaper on Saturday quoted official sources saying that, following the death of the head of the family, they might now reconsider.

(Additional reporting by Taha Zargoun in Sirte, Barry Malone, Yasmine Saleh and Jessica Donati in Tripoli, Brian Rohan in Benghazi, Christian Lowe, Jon Hemming and Andrew Hammond in Tunis, Samia Nakhoul in Amman, Tom Pfeiffer at Dead Sea, Jordan, David Brunnstrom in Brussels and Lamine Chikhi in Algiers; Writing by Alastair Macdonald; Editing by Andrew Roche)

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UN says death toll in Syrian uprising tops 3,000 (AP)

BEIRUT – Thousands of Syrian protesters called on soldiers Friday to abandon President Bashar Assad's regime and join a dissident army numbering in the small thousands, as the top U.N. human rights official warned of a "full-blown civil war" in Syria, saying the death toll in the 7-month-old crackdown has passed 3,000.

Security forces opened fire at protesters, killing at least 11, including a 14-year-old boy, in what has become a weekly ritual of protests met by gunfire, according to activists.

Friday's protests, dubbed "Free Soldiers," were in honor of army officers and soldiers who have sided with the protesters and are reportedly clashing with loyalists in northern and central Syrian cities in an increasing militarization of the uprising.

"The army and people are one!" protesters shouted in the southern village of Dael, where most of the deaths occurred Friday. In other locations, some protesters held up banners that read: "Free soldiers do not kill free people asking for freedom."

"I will not serve in an army that destroys my country and kills my people," read a posting on the Syrian revolution's main Facebook page that was meant to encourage defections.

Friday's demonstrations were the most explicit show of support so far by the country's protest movement for the defectors. Faced with gunfire, bullets, mass arrests and a lack of willingness by the international community to intervene militarily, many Syrians now feel the armed dissidents are their only hope to topple Assad's regime.

The Free Syrian Army, as the dissidents are known, are led by an air force colonel who recently fled to Turkey. The group is said to include more than 10,000 members and is gaining momentum as the first armed challenge to Assad's authoritarian regime after seven months of largely nonviolent resistance.

Clashes between troops and gunmen believed to be defectors left at least 25 people dead on Thursday, according to the British-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. The group said heavy clashes also took place in a Damascus suburb Friday.

Analysts say that until the rebels can secure a territorial foothold as an operational launching pad — much like the eastern city of Benghazi was for the Libyan rebels — the defections are unlikely to pose a real threat to the unity of the Syrian army.

Still, the increased military operations have raised concerns that the country may be sliding into civil war.

International intervention, such as the NATO action in Libya that helped topple Moammar Gadhafi, is all but out of the question in Syria. Washington and its allies have shown little appetite for intervening in another Arab nation in turmoil. There also is real concern that Assad's ouster would spread chaos around the region.

Syria is a geographical and political keystone in the heart of the Middle East, bordering five countries with which it shares religious and ethnic minorities and, in Israel's case, a fragile truce. Its web of alliances extends to Lebanon's powerful Hezbollah movement and Iran's Shiite theocracy. There are worries that a destabilized Syria could send unsettling ripples through the region.

Arab League officials said Arab foreign ministers will meet in Cairo Sunday to discuss the situation in Syria after a request for an emergency meeting by the six-member Gulf Cooperation Council.

Several Gulf countries, including Saudi Arabia, have pulled their ambassadors out of Syria to protest the government's brutal crackdown on the protest movement.

A top U.N. official warned that the unrelenting crackdown by the Assad government could worsen unless further action is taken.

Navi Pillay, the U.N. high commissioner for human rights, said the death toll from seven months of anti-government unrest in the country rose above 3,000.

"The onus is on all members of the international community to take protective action in a collective and decisive manner, before the continual ruthless repression and killings drive the country into a full-blown civil war," Pillay said in a statement issued in Geneva.

While most in the Syrian opposition still reject military intervention, some now say it's a necessity.

"What we have unfolding in Syria now is a two-tiered revolution: an armed insurrection and nonviolent protest movement, and the champions of both are morally justified in their position and they need our support," said Ammar Abdulhamid, a U.S.-based exiled Syrian dissident.

He said external military intervention, including logistical and material support to the defectors, is a must to avoid a return to the status-quo.

"Yes, we should fear civil war, we should fear the bloodshed resulting from militaristic adventurism, but we should fear a return to the status quo even more," he wrote in his blog Friday.

Hozan Ibrahim, a spokesman for the Local Coordination Committees, an activist network, said Friday's protesters were not meant to encourage defections per se, because this may lead ultimately to the weakening of the army.

"What we want is for officers and soldiers to refuse orders to shoot at civilian protesters, and when that is not possible, to defect," he said.

Syria-based activist Mustafa Osso and the LCC said the protests on Friday spread from the suburbs of the capital, Damascus, to the southern province of Daraa, the northern provinces of Aleppo, Idlib and Hassakeh, and to the central regions of Homs and Hama, as well as to other areas.

The observatory and the LCC said 11 protesters died, including at least five in the southern village of Dael. Others, including a 14-year-old boy, were killed in a Damascus suburb, in the southern village of Inkhil and in the Aleppo countryside.

The U.N. human rights office estimates that more than 3,000 people have now been killed since mid-March — about 10 to 15 people every day. The figure includes at least 187 children. More than 100 people had been killed in the last 10 days alone, the global body said.

Spokesman Rupert Colville said hundreds more protesters have been arrested, detained, tortured and disappeared. Families of anti-government protesters inside and outside the country have also been targeted for harassment.

He said it was up to the U.N. Security Council to decide what action was appropriate.

But he added: "What has been done so far is not producing results and people continue to be killed every single day."

"Just hoping things will get better isn't good enough, clearly," Colville said.

___

AP writers Bassem Mroue in Beirut and Frank Jordans in Geneva contributed to this report.

___

Zeina Karam can be reached on http://twitter.com/zkaram

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What did Conrad Murray tell police after Michael Jackson's death? (The Christian Science Monitor)

Jurors at the trial of Michael Jackson’s personal physician heard portions of a dramatic tape recording on Friday of Conrad Murray’s first statement to police, given two days after the pop legend died of an overdose of the powerful anesthetic propofol.

The statement, introduced as evidence by prosecutors, has never before been released to the public. It provides Dr. Murray's moment-by-moment account of Mr. Jackson’s final hours.

Murray gave the statement with his lawyers present before toxicology tests showed that Jackson died of an overdose. After those results, Murray emerged as a suspect in Jackson’s death.

IN PICTURES: Michael Jackson – King of Pop

Murray admitted that in an attempt to help Jackson sleep he gave intravenous doses of two sedatives and propofol from 1 a.m. to about 11 a.m. on June 25, 2009.

The doctor said he had been treating Jacksona€?s chronic insomnia for more than two months by giving him nightly doses of propofol. He said he was worried that Jackson had developed a dependency, and he was trying to wean him from relying on the anesthetic.

“Three days before his death I started to wean Mr. Jackson from propofol,” Murray told the detectives. “I told him I wanted him to assume a more natural pattern of sleep.”

It didn’t work. Jackson was under intense pressure from his concert promoters – and ultimately his fans – to deliver spectacular performances in rehearsals and eventually in London. As the pressure intensified, so did Jackson’s insomnia.

It all came to a head at about 10:50 a.m. on June 25, 2009.

The crucial few hoursJackson had been complaining through the early morning hours of his inability to fall asleep. “All the time he complained that if he could not perform, he would have to cancel rehearsal,” Murray said. “It would not satisfy his fans if he was not rested well. There was a lot of pressure there.”

At one point Murray even checked the IV where he had administered two sedatives in four different doses. He said he wanted to make sure the connection was flowing into Jackson and had not leaked onto the bed.

Murray told police that by 10:40 a.m. Jackson was pleading for propofol, which he had nicknamed “milk.”

“He said, ‘Please, please give me some milk so I can sleep,’ ” Murray said on the tape. The detectives seemed to think for a moment he meant something quaint like milk and cookies. But Jackson’s request was for heavy sedation.

Murray eventually surrendered to Jackson’s wishes and said he injected 25 milligrams of propofol into Jackson’s IV.

“He fell asleep,” Murray said. “He was not snoring. I was a little bit hesitant that he would jump out of sleep.” He added: “He does that.”

Murray said he sat at Jacksona€?s bedside and monitored his heart rate and other vital signs until he felt confident that a€?everything was stable.a€

He said went to the bathroom and returned in about two minutes. “I came back to his bedside and it looked like he wasn’t breathing,” Murray said. “I was able to get a pulse. His body was warm. There was no change in color. I assumed everything happened very quickly.”

The doctor said he immediately started CPR and mouth-to-mouth resuscitation.

At one point he said he ran downstairs to try to get someone to help him with CPR. He said he called Jackson’s personal assistant on his cell phone and asked that security come help him. In addition, he gave an intravenous dose of the antidote flumazenil, which is administered to help wake overmedicated patients.

It didn’t work.

Murray told the detectives that he did not immediately call 911 or ask someone else to call because Jackson was his patient and he was doing the best he could. Eventually, when one of Jackson’s security guards arrived, Murray told him to call 911. The call was made at 12:20 p.m.

“I love Mr. Jackson. He was my friend,” Murray told the police. “He opened up to me in different ways and I wanted to help him as much as I can.”

The physician added, “He was a single parent and I always thought about his children, as I would think about mine.”

What it means for the trialAlthough it was offered by prosecutors, the tape recorded account presents some useful openings for Murray’s defense team.

Murray has been charged with involuntary manslaughter for his role in Jackson’s death. If convicted he faces up to four years in prison and loss of his medical license.

Murray’s lawyers maintain that the doctor did not administer a fatal dose of propofol. They suggest that Jackson – frustrated by his inability to sleep – somehow self administered the deadly dose.

In his June 27, 2009 taped statement, Murray told police that Jackson wanted to infuse the propofol into his own system. Jackson told Murray other doctors had allowed him to do so.

“I refused him that option,” Murray said on the tape. He said the anesthetic is so fast acting that self dosing would be dangerous.

The most important aspect of the tape recording for prosecutors is that it highlights an extremely selective account of Jackson’s final hours – particularly the critical minutes from 11 a.m. to the arrival of paramedics at 12:26 p.m.

According to prior witnesses and telephone records, Murray was talking on his cellphone to his office and his girlfriend during the critical hour between his injection of propofol into Jackson and his apparent discovery that Jackson was in danger at around 11:56 a.m.

It is unclear why 911 was not called immediately. It is also unclear why at certain moments during that crucial time Murray appeared to be trying to clean up drug vials and a drip bag before paramedics would arrive in Jackson’s bedroom.

Ultimately, the case against Murray will come down to the issue of whether he acted recklessly or instead provided appropriate care to Jackson.

“I took all precautions that were available to me,” he told the detectives. “I made sure there was oxygen at the bedside, that he was placed on oxygen every night.” He added that he used a finger tip oximeter to track Jackson’s heart rate.

But medical experts say it is unheard of to administer propofol in a residential bedroom. The anesthetic requires monitoring devices with alarms, a full array of resuscitation equipment, and the constant attention of a skilled anesthesiologist, they say.

The trial is set to continue on Tuesday.

IN PICTURES: Michael Jackson – King of Pop

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Texas's record as death penalty capital: a help for Rick Perry? (The Christian Science Monitor)

Texas Gov. Rick Perry has presided over more executions than any governor in US history, at 235 ... and counting. With convicted murderer Duane Buck scheduled to die in Texas by lethal injection Thursday night, pending last-minute appeals to the governor and the US Supreme Court, a legitimate question is whether that record on capital punishment will help or hurt Mr. Perry in his quest for the GOP presidential nomination.

Among conservative Republicans, Perry's status as top executioner is something to be applauded. During Monday's GOP presidential debate, audience members cheered when Perry said he has "never struggled" with any of the executions he has presided over in his 11 years in office. "In the state of Texas," he said, "if you come into our state and you kill one of our children ... you will face the ultimate justice."

It's not the number of executions, per se, that is a potential liability for his candidacy, say some analysts, but rather whether Perry's faith in the state's justice system is justified. In the Buck case, for instance, the condemned man's lawyers say irregularities during sentencing, allegedly involving racially charged testimony, warrant a reconsideration of the death sentence.

MONITOR QUIZ: How well do you know Rick Perry?

Perry "tends to emphasize the fact of conviction and present the other questions as technicalities,” says James Henson, director of the Texas Politics Project at the University of Texas at Austin. Such resolve plays well among Texans, who overwhelmingly support capital punishment. Moreover, voter concern about jobs and the economy vastly overshadows the matter of Perry’s death penalty record.

“There’s too much else going on right now,” Mr. Henson says. “In this environment, with the economy where it is, I’d be surprised if a lot of voters make a decision based on the death penalty.”

Capital punishment may matter more to moderate Republicans and independent voters in swing states. They may frame Perry’s record on executions as a character test, says Larry Sabato, director of the Center for Politics at the University of Virginia, in Charlottesville.

“Even people who favor capital punishment want to see each execution taken very seriously, and that includes libertarians who believe the ultimate violation of liberty is taking a life.… If someone is perceived as cavalier with human life, that will be a consideration,” says Mr. Sabato.

The Buck case is one of six that former Texas Attorney General John Cornyn, now a US senator, says need to be reopened because of racially charged statements made during sentencing hearings. Mr. Buck’s guilt is not in question – he was convicted in 1997 of killing two people – but his sentencing is under scrutiny because of a psychologist's testimony to jurors that black criminals are more likely to be repeatedly violent.

Bucka€?s attorneys are asking Perry to issue a 30-day reprieve so the matter can be further reviewed, and they are appealing to the US Supreme Court to intervene. At time of writing, neither the governora€?s office nor the high court had issued a response.

Because Perry is out of the state, Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst is set to preside over Buck's execution. Buck would be the second death-row inmate to die this week in Texas and the 11th this year.

Perrya€?s critics cite the case of Cameron Todd Willingham, executed in 2004 by lethal injection after being convicted of an arson that killed his three daughters. A leading fire scientist discounted the arson finding and suggested the fire could have been an accident, but Perry was not moved by his report to halt the execution. The case attracted national attention after a Chicago Tribune investigation highlighted a panel of experts who all agreed that the arson finding was wrongly applied.

What Perry has on his side is public opinion. Sixty-four percent of American adults favor the death penalty in cases of murder, compared with 29 percent who oppose it, according to a Gallup poll in October 2010, the last time the organization polled on the issue.

Perry is not likely to adjust his views on capital punishment, says Henson. “So far, it’s been more about modulation than moderation. I don’t think he’s moving to the center. Their strategy is, as much as possible, to run Perry as Perry,” he says.

If Perry were to win the GOP nomination, his hardliner approach on capital punishment is likely to join “a family of issues,” including creationism and global warming, that may “be lumped together as a combined source of vulnerability” for his campaign, says Bruce Buchanan, a political scientist at the University of Texas, at Austin.

a€?The swagger is appealing for people on the Republican side, but off-putting for people in the middle,a€

Election 101: 11 questions about Rick Perry and his White House bid

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UN: Death toll in Syria unrest at least 2,600 (AP)

GENEVA – At least 2,600 people have died in the six months of unrest that has swept Syria, the U.N.'s top human rights official said Monday, as a panel was named to investigate abuses in the Arab country.

The figure released by U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay adds to evidence that Syrian leader Bashar Assad is continuing his crackdown on anti-government dissidents despite international pressure.

"According to reliable sources on the ground, the number of those killed since the onset of the unrest in mid-March 2011 in that country has now reached at least 2,600," Pillay said. She added that her office continues to be denied access to Syria.

"The situation in Syria is still dire," Pillay told reporters after a speech at the U.N. Human Rights Council.

Last month, the Geneva-based body held an emergency meeting at which it voted overwhelmingly to demand Assad's government end its bloody crackdown.

"From the time that the Human Rights Council passed its resolution and the Security Council has addressed the matter, the situation in Syria has worsened and peaceful protesters have been killed," Pillay said, adding that she was "shocked" by the rising death toll.

The council on Monday named three independent experts to lead an international investigation of allegations of human rights abuses in Syria.

They are Turkish women's rights expert Yakin Erturk; former U.N. investigator for Myanmar Sergio Pinheiro of Brazil; and Karen Abu Zayd, a U.S. citizen and former head of UNRWA, the U.N. agency that aids Palestinian refugees.

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Battle for Afghanistan's Gambir Jungle: Into the 'Valley of Death' (The Christian Science Monitor)

Kunar, Afghanistan – [To read the first installment of this series, please click here.]

By late June, the US troops of Operation Hammer Down were ready to go, and they had terrorist training camps of the Pech River Valley in their sights.

The Pech Valley is the face of the war in eastern Afghanistan: remote, treacherous, and home to the legendary veterans of the battles against Soviet occupation in the 1980s. It has been called the "Valley of Death."

The region is a magnet for Taliban fighters who have sanctuary across the border in Pakistan, as well as home to local sympathizers who offer training camp space in their backyards to foreign fighters, according to US intelligence assessments. The camps bring money and prestige to organizers and their clans.

IN PICTURES: Battling the Afghan insurgency

Operation Hammer Down was to target the training camps in one of the Pech's adjoining valleys – the Watapur, which includes the pine forests and cave networks of what US commanders nickname the "Gambir Jungle." B Company of the 2nd Battalion, 3rd Brigade, 25th Infantry Division got the call.

In the Gambir Jungle, Sunday, June 25 arrived with B Company's 1st Platoon on the verge of its target. According to the 1st Platoon's global-positioning systems, the soldiers were 400 yards from Gambir – a village of mud huts, called kulats, surrounded by training camps.

First Platoon had been dropped off on a high ridgeline by helicopter just before midnight on June 24 and had taken eight hours to reach this point, each man carrying at least 60 pounds of gear down the rutted, steep slope.

RECOMMENDED: Will US exit strategy work in Afghanistan? Brutal valley emerges as test.

"You can't just stroll down the mountain," says Sgt. Elwyn Lovelace of the 1st Platoon. "You're trying not to fall or roll down the mountain."

As day broke, the platoon was poised on the edge of a gulch too deep to climb down and too wide to leap across. But it wasn't long before some Afghan National Army soldiers with the US forces found a natural land bridge.

As the US troops crossed it, a firefight began – one that would last four days.

In the first 30 hours on the ground in Gambir, nearly half of the roughly 40 men in 1st Platoon would be wounded, and three would be killed, including its commander.

By the end, the 1st would be "down to 15 guys," a soldier says. "We were what they call 'combat ineffective.' "

The initial firefight, however, was brief and, some thought, final. Troops had located the enemy in a nearby cave and the shooting had stopped.

But then the attacks began in earnest. Never before had Lovelace wondered, "Am I going to make it back today?" Yet in the hours to come, he says, it was a question he would ask himself repeatedly.

Some insurgent forces were shooting from beneath earth-colored blankets that masked their heat signatures from US Apache gunships. Others had begun to flank US forces in a classic L-shaped ambush, maneuvering up around the platoon.

Their fire was effective and devastatingly accurate. "Most of the guys who got shot got shot in the neck, face...," says Spc. Derrick Dickerson of 1st Platoon, his voice trailing off.

As the ambush of June 25 wore on, the toll on the 1st mounted. A company commander on the mission broke his ankle and had to be flown out. An Afghan Army soldier had been shot in the neck, and two other American soldiers had been shot in the neck and lip. And when the commander of the 1st Platoon, 1st Lt. Dmitri Del Castillo, went to higher ground to organize a medical evacuation, he was shot in the neck, too.

"Everybody's yelling, 'The LT is down!' " Dickerson says of the fatal shot. "It all happened so fast."

Nearby, in the gulch that first stopped the Americans' progress, another leader in the platoon, Staff Sgt. Nigel Kelly, was trying to load the body of an Afghan interpreter who had been killed onto a sling when he was shot in the hip.

Dickerson and a few fellow soldiers urged Kelly to move down with them into the gulch. Once there, however, they were stuck as they waited for a medevac. One helicopter tried to land but was chased away by rocket-propelled grenade fire. US attack aircraft couldn't fire on insurgents for fear of hitting their own soldiers, who were dangerously close. Despite the seriousness of Kelly's injuries, the only option was to wait.

"We couldn't move up that hill because we had no cover," says Dickerson. "We played dead and waited until dark, because that was the only option."

Dark was more than three hours away.

Battle for the Gambir Jungle:

Part 1, Tuesday: Soldiers' tales of an epic battle

Part 2, Wednesday: Into the 'Valley of Death'

Part 3, Thursday: First Platoon's 'last stand'

Part 4, Friday: A race against daybreak

Part 5, Saturday: What was it all for?

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Syrians call for Assad's death; 11 killed (AP)

By BASSEM MROUE and ELIZABETH A. KENNEDY, Associated Press Bassem Mroue And Elizabeth A. Kennedy, Associated Press – 24?mins?ago

BEIRUT – Tens of thousands of Syrian protesters shouted for President Bashar Assad's death Friday in a dramatic escalation of their rage and frustration, defying bullets and rooftop snipers after more than a week of intensified military assaults on rebellious cities, activists and witnesses said.

Security forces killed at least 11 protesters, according to human rights groups.

The calls for Assad's execution were a stark sign of how much the protest movement has changed since it erupted in March seeking minor reforms but making no calls for regime change. The protests grew dramatically over the five months that followed, driven in part by anger over the government's bloody crackdown in which rights groups say at least 1,700 civilians have been killed.

But with the regime shrugging off even the most blistering condemnation, the uprising has become a test of endurance as both sides draw on a deep well of energy and conviction. U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton on Friday urged countries to stop buying Syrian oil and gas or selling the regime weapons, saying those who still do so must "get on the right side of history."

In cities around Syria, protesters chanted, "The people want to execute the president!" during the now-familiar cycle of weekly demonstrations followed by a swift crackdown by the military, security forces and pro-government gunmen who operate on the regime's behalf.

Security forces broke up protests quickly around the capital Damascus, in the central city of Homs and elsewhere, firing bullets and tear gas. Some areas saw only limited demonstrations because soldiers deployed heavily in restive areas.

In a significant show of defiance, some of the largest protests Friday were on the outskirts of the central city of Hama and in the eastern city of Deir el-Zour, where government forces seized control in major military offensives during the past week. The fact that protesters still turned out was a signal that Assad's forces cannot terrify protesters into staying home.

However, within Hama, protesters struggled to turn out in great numbers after soldiers clamped down heavily in the streets, witnesses said. Snipers were stationed on rooftops, and troops surrounded mosques and set up checkpoints to head off any marches.

"There are security checkpoints every 200 meters (655 feet), they have lists and they're searching people ... the mosques are surrounded by soldiers," a Hama-based activist told The Associated Press by telephone, speaking on condition of anonymity for fear of reprisals.

Dozens of soldiers deployed in Hama's Assi Square, which had been the main converging point for hundreds of thousands of protesters in previous weeks, the activist said.

In the central city of Homs, more than a 1,000 soldiers, security agents and plainclothes policemen were deployed in the city's main square.

At least 11 protesters were killed across the country: Five outside the capital, Damascus; one each in Homs and Hama; two in the major northern city Aleppo; one in Deir el-Zour; and one in eastern Idlib province, according to multiple activist groups. Military raids earlier in the day killed at least two people.

"Where are the prisoners, Bashar? Free the prisoners, Bashar!" shouted protesters in the Mediterranean coastal city of Latakia, shown in amateur video posted by activists. Another video showed a crowd outside a mosque in the southern city of Daraa hit by clouds of tear gas after they chanted for the downfall of the regime.

The Associated Press could not verify the videos. Syria has banned most foreign media and restricted local coverage, making it impossible to get independent confirmation of the events on the ground.

The government has justified its crackdown by saying it was dealing with terrorist gangs and criminals who were fomenting unrest.

The military offensive reflects Assad's determination to crush the uprising against his rule despite mounting international condemnation, including U.S. and European sanctions.

A flurry of foreign diplomats have rolled through Damascus urging Assad to end a campaign of killing that rights groups say has killed more than 1,700 civilians and several hundred members of the security forces since mid-March.

"We believe that President Assad's opportunity to lead the transition has passed," Jay Carney, spokesman for President Barak Obama, told reporters traveling on Air Force One on Thursday.

But the U.S. and other nations have little power to threaten further isolation or economic punishment of Assad's pro-Iranian regime — unlike in Egypt, where Obama was able to help usher longtime ally Hosni Mubarak out of power.

On Friday, the Dutch Foreign Ministry said the European Union may decide in the next week or two to broaden its sanctions against the Syrian regime and state-run businesses.

Foreign Minister Uri Rosenthal has been lobbying his colleagues to expand the EU travel ban on Syrian officials — which now covers 35 people, including Assad — and to target Syria's telecommunications, banking and energy sectors. Syria gets about 28 percent of its revenue from the oil trade.

"We need to cut off the oxygen from the regime through its profitable public enterprises," Rosenthal said on the ministry's Web site.

But the bloody crackdown has continued, along with a nationwide campaign of arrests.

Security forces on Thursday detained Abdul-Karim Rihawi, the Damascus-based head of the Syrian Human Rights League, activists said. A longtime rights activist, Rihawi had been tracking government violations and documenting deaths in Syria.

He was picked up from a cafe in central Damascus along with a journalist who had been interviewing him, according to rights activist Ammar Qurabi.

Italy and France on Friday condemned the arrest and called for his immediate release.

"By its brutal and symbolic character, the arrest of Abdul-Karim Rihawi constitutes a new unacceptable decision by the authorities of Damascus," a French Foreign Ministry statement said.

The Syrian uprising was inspired by the revolts and calls for reform sweeping the Arab world, and activists and rights groups say most of those killed have been unarmed civilians. An aggressive new military offensive that began with the Muslim holy month of Ramadan at the start of August has killed several hundred people in just one week.

___

AP writer Zeina Karam contributed to this report. Bassem Mroue can be reached at http://twitter.com/bmroue and Zeina Karam can be reached at http://twitter.com/zkaram.

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US: bin Laden death ups terror risk for Americans (AP)

WASHINGTON – The Obama administration says Osama bin Laden's death has raised the risk of anti-American violence worldwide.

The State Department said in a global travel warning Tuesday that Americans should take precaution and maintain vigilance about terrorist threats, demonstrations and the possibility of violence against U.S. citizens.

It said al-Qaida and other groups are planning terrorist attacks against U.S. interests in Europe, Asia, Africa and Middle East.

The department said attacks may be in the form of suicide operations, assassinations, kidnappings, hijackings and bombings.

Americans should consider the potential for attacks on transportation systems and tourist infrastructure, it said. It noted such attacks in Moscow, London, Madrid, Glasgow and New York in recent years.

The department also warned Americans to avoid demonstrations in the Arab world because they can turn violent.

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Ga. mom gets probation in son's jaywalking death (AP)

MARIETTA, Ga. – A Georgia woman received a year of probation on Tuesday in the jaywalking death of her 4-year-old son, but the judge also made the unusual move of offering her a chance to clear her name at a new trial. The mother of two surviving children says she's satisfied with the outcome of the hearing.

Raquel Nelson was convicted by a jury this month of vehicular homicide for allowing her son to dart into the busy street north of Atlanta in April. She could have received as many as three years in prison — which would have been a much longer sentence than the one for the hit-and-run driver who struck the boy.

Nelson appeared happy as she left the court and thanked those who had helped and supported her.

"I'm walking out of here. I don't feel like I can be more satisfied," she said. "I'm ready to go home."

Judge Kathryn Tanksley gave the 30-year-old woman a sentence that also includes 40 hours of community service, but she made the surprising offer of a new trial. If Nelson is found innocent, her record would be cleared. Her attorney David Savoy said they plan to take the judge up on the offer.

The death happened as Nelson was attempting to cross a busy five-lane street in Cobb County to get to her apartment after getting off a local bus, Savoy said.

The stop is about three-tenths of a mile from the nearest crosswalk, so Nelson and her family routinely crossed the middle of the street. She led her family to a median in the middle of the road and as they waited for traffic to die down, her daughter bolted across the street and her son followed. She chased after them when a van struck.

The driver, Jerry Guy, was sentenced to six months after pleading guilty to hit-and-run.

Some have expressed outrage at the handling of the case. It's rare for someone to be tried and convicted on the homicide charge for crossing the street away from the crosswalk, a pedestrian advocate said.

"It's really cruel and a big waste of taxpayer money," said Sally Flocks, founder of PEDS, an Atlanta pedestrian advocacy group. "What is anybody going to learn from this? Raquel lost her precious son. The lesson she learned already is quit using transit and buy a car to get around. It's too dangerous to cross the streets here."

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Sheriff: Theme park policy ignored in vet's death (AP)

BATAVIA, N.Y. – A double-amputee Iraq War veteran who was hurled off a towering roller coaster to his death never should have been allowed on the ride, but park operators will face no criminal charges despite violating park policy, authorities said Wednesday.

Signs at the Ride of Steel roller coaster at Darien Lake Theme Park & Resort clearly state riders "must have two legs," Genesee County Sheriff Gary Maha said.

Sgt. James Hackemer died Friday when he was thrown from the last and second-highest of three hills on the coaster. He fell about 150 feet and landed on a grassy area at the park, which is between Rochester and Buffalo.

"He didn't have the physical attributes to hold him in," Maha said.

Investigators found no criminal activity, including intent. Yet the ride operators, who were not identified, "clearly knew" Hackemer shouldn't have been riding but offered no explanation for why they let him on.

"Darien Lake violated their own policies and procedures by letting him get on the ride," Maha said.

A promotional photograph taken automatically shows Hackemer's college-age nephew, Ashton Luffred, looking straight ahead in the moments after the accident, his face without expression and his hands on the safety bar in front of him. Authorities aren't releasing the photo.

Maha said Luffred was in a state of shock after the accident but told police Hackemer didn't say anything to indicate he was worried about falling off the ride.

Maha said park operators clearly violated policy by letting Hackemer on the ride but won't face criminal charges.

Civil liability could be determined later if a lawsuit is filed, he said. Hackemer's relatives have said they do not hold the theme park responsible.

Maha said the state labor department is still investigating the mechanics and safety of the ride but have indicated to him that the coaster was operating correctly.

Hackemer was missing all of his left leg and most of his right leg and was not wearing prosthetic limbs when he was thrown from the ride. The 29-year-old father of two had lost both his legs to a roadside bomb in Iraq in 2008 and was on a family outing when the accident happened.

A funeral service for Hackemer is planned for Thursday in his hometown of Gowanda. He will be buried at Arlington National Cemetery.

The car pulled into the loading station with the lap bar and seatbelt still in place, Maha said.

The ride is still closed pending the state labor department probe.

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Death toll in Volga sinking at 41 (AP)

KAZAN, Russia – Rescuers scoured the wide waters of a Volga River reservoir on Monday, searching with dimming hopes for survivors after an aged, overloaded cruise ship sank amid wind and rain. Forty-one people were confirmed dead, but more than 80 remained missing.

Emergencies Minister Sergei Shoigu was quoted by Russian news agencies as saying Monday that 208 people were believed to have been aboard the Bulgaria when it sank Sunday afternoon. That's nearly 75 percent more than the 120 the boat was licensed to carry, officials said.

As of mid-afternoon, 41 bodies had been found, including five children, according to the regional Emergencies Ministry office.

The ministry said 80 survivors were rescued, all of them Russian; it was unclear whether any foreigners were aboard. River cruise boats such as the Bulgaria are highly popular among Russian holiday-makers, conducting cruises ranging from a few days to two weeks.

Igor Panishin of the regional Emergencies Ministry was quoted by the state news agency RIA Novosti as saying survivors reported the ship was leaning to starboard as it made a turn and a wave washed over the deck. It sank within about eight minutes, he said. The agency cited local investigators as saying the ship was listing even when the voyage began, possibly because of unemptied sewage tanks, and that the port engine was malfunctioning.

The ship sank about three kilometers (two miles) from shore in about 20 meters (65 feet) of water, officials said.

Many children were aboard the boat, and Russian news reports quoted survivors as saying about 50 children had gathered in the ship's entertainment hall shortly before it sank Sunday afternoon.

"It happened very fast. Hatches and windows were knocked out," said Vladimir Shirybyryv, a friend of both survivors and missing people who was waiting at the river port in Kazan for word. Based on a surviving friend's account, he said: "Everyone who survived was covered with fuel oil."

One survivor told the national news channel Vesti 24 that other ships refused to come to their aid.

"Two ships did not stop, although we waved our hands," said the man in his 40s, who stood on the shore amid weeping passengers, some of them wrapped in towels and blankets. He held another man, who was weeping desperately.

President Dmitry Medvedev on Monday demanded a thorough investigation and declared Tuesday a day of mourning. He also called for a full technical assessment of the condition of all Russia's passenger vessels.

The Transportation Ministry says Russia has 1,568 registered passenger vessels — more than 100 are as old or older than 56-year-old Bulgaria.

Emergency teams and divers from neighboring regions rushed to the site of the tragedy, 450 miles (750 kilometers) east of Moscow.

The Volga, Europe's longest river, is up to 30 kilometers (19 miles) wide in places. The river is a popular tourist destination, especially in summer months.

The Bulgaria was built in 1955 in Czechoslovakia and belongs to a local tourism company. It was traveling from the town of Bulgar to the regional capital, Kazan. The sinking site is about 20 kilometers (12 miles) from Bulgar.

A tourism expert said the lack of partitions inside the Bulgaria made it vulnerable to breaches.

"In case of an accident these ships sink within minutes," Dmitri Voropayev, head of the Samara Travel company, told RIA Novosti.

Russia's Tourism Industry Union said the ship had not been inspected or retrofitted for years, according to the Interfax news agency.

___

Associated Press writer Jim Heintz in Moscow contributed to this report.

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Death toll up, Hama defies Syria army: activists (AFP)

DAMASCUS (AFP) – Security forces killed at least 11 people in Hama Tuesday while residents mobilised to keep Syria's army out, activists said as the United States urged the regime to withdraw from the flashpoint city.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, quoting medical sources, said the casualty toll had risen to 11 dead and more than 35 wounded in Hama, the hub of an anti-regime revolt which has been surrounded by the military.

"Heavy gunfire has been heard in several districts" of the city, it said.

The group said the body of one of those killed was dumped in the Orontes river of Hama, which is famous for its ancient watermills.

The activists, contacted by telephone from Nicosia, said a child was among three people shot dead by security forces on Monday on the outskirts of the city, north of Damascus, that is home to 800,000 people.

"Tanks are now posted at access routes to the city except for the northern entrance," said Rami Abdel Rahman, head of the London-based Syrian Observatory.

"Residents have mobilised. They're prepared to die to defend the city if need be rather than allow the army to enter," he told AFP.

"Residents have been sleeping on the streets and put up sand barriers and tyres to block any assault."

Another activist insisted that Hama, where as many as 500,000 people took to the streets for a demonstration on Friday against President Bashar al-Assad's regime, was putting up a "100 percent peaceful" resistance.

The US State Department urged the Syrian regime to withdraw its forces from Hama and other cities.

"We urge the government of Syria to immediately halt its intimidation and arrest campaign, to pull its security forces back from Hama and other cities, and to allow Syrians to express their opinions freely so that a genuine transition to democracy can take place," spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said.

She added Washington was "very concerned about the ongoing attacks against peaceful demonstrators in Syria."

"The government of Syria claims that it's interested in dialogue at the same time that it is attacking and massing forces in Hama, where demonstrations have been nothing but peaceful."

In Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, British Foreign Secretary William Hague emphasised "the importance of the Syrian government taking rapid and concrete action to stop the violence and change the situation."

Hague, who held talks with his Saudi counterpart Prince Saud al-Faisal on hotspots in the Arab world, said "I made clear my view that President Assad's proposals for reform need to be implemented quickly and fully if they are to be of any significance."

In the capital, about 70 serving and former MPs held a meeting Tuesday to discuss the crisis, in the third such gathering in a week.

Meanwhile, pro-democracy activists on their Facebook site, Syrian Revolution 2011, called for a nationwide general strikes on Thursday.

Assad, faced with a revolt since mid-March, sacked the governor of Hama province on Saturday, a day after the massive rally during which security forces kept out of sight.

Since security forces gunned down 48 protesters in the city on June 3, Hama has escaped the clutches of the regime, activists say. The next day, more than 100,000 mourners were reported to have taken part in their funerals.

Hama was the scene of a 1982 blood bath in which an estimated 20,000 people were killed when the army crushed an Islamist revolt against the rule of the president's predecessor and late father, Hafez al-Assad.

In Idlib province, northwest Syria, activists said security forces on Tuesday mounted an assault on the town of Kfar Nubol, the scene of several demonstrations against Assad.

"Tanks have been deployed at crossroads and snipers posted on rooftops of house and government buildings" in the town, said the Syrian Observatory.

It added more than 500 activists and "peaceful demonstrators" had been arrested since last Friday, including lawyer Mussab Barish who was detained in Idlib on Tuesday.

Security forces also arrested Bissan Hamed and three other activists Friday on their way to Lebanon, it said, adding dozens had been rounded up in the Damascus region, including young blogger Omar Asaad and activist Adham al-Qaq.

Assad has decreed two "general" amnesties since the start of the unrest almost four months ago and also lifted a state of emergency that had been in force for five decades.

Rights groups say that more than 1,300 civilians have been killed and 10,000 people arrested by security forces since mid-March.

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Assad sacks Hama governor, Syria death toll mounts (AFP)

DAMASCUS (AFP) – Syrian President Bashar al-Assad sacked the governor of Hama on Saturday, a day after hundreds of thousands rallied against the regime in the hotbed city, as activists said the latest crackdown cost 28 lives.

Anti-regime dissent billowed on Friday in response to a call by a Facebook group for massive protests to demand the ouster of Assad and his autocratic regime.

In Hama alone, 500,000 people took to the streets, without security forces intervening, activists said, calling it the single largest demonstration of its kind since the pro-democracy movement erupted on March 15.

Assad reacted to the affront by sacking the governor of Hama, a city with a bloody past where an estimated 20,000 people were killed in 1982 when the army put down an Islamist revolt against the rule of his late father, Hafez al-Assad.

"The Syrian president signed a decree today relieving Doctor Ahmad Khaled Abdel Aziz of his post as governor of Hama," said a news flash on state television.

Most of Friday's victims were killed in northwest Syria's Idlib province, where troops backed by tanks have swept through villages all week to crush dissent.

"Sixteen people were killed" in Idlib on Friday, Ammar Qorabi, the head of the National Organisation for Human Rights, said on Saturday.

Three of them were women who died when the army shelled a chicken hatchery in the village of Al-Bara, Qorabi said.

The London-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said dozens of arrests were made in villages of the Idlib region, including of the top Muslim cleric of Al-Bara.

And at least 20 people were arrested in the Daraya area near Damascus for having taken part in anti-regime protests.

Another 10 people were killed on Friday when security forces opened fire to disperse protests in several cities, including eight in the central protest hub of Homs and two in the Damascus neighbourhood of Qadam.

And one person was reported killed in Syria's second-largest city Aleppo and another in the Mediterranean coastal city of Latakia.

Friday's protests followed a call from the Facebook group The Syrian Revolution 2011, which urged people to rally, branding July 1 "the Friday of departure."

"We don't love you... Go away, you and your party," it said in a message addressed to Assad.

Qorabi, in a statement, said Friday's protests were the largest since mid-March and had spread to more Syrian regions.

"The number of protesters who took to the streets on Friday was one of the largest. Demonstrators marched in at least 268 Syrian regions compared to 202 regions last week," he said.

The head of the Syrian Observatory, Rami Abdel Rahman, spoke of 500,000 protesters in Hama.

Another activist said that "more than 400,000 marched" while a third said more than 200,000 people gathered in the city's Assi Square, stretching for more than a kilometre (nearly a mile), with security forces keeping out of sight.

There were similar scenes elsewhere across the country, including in Homs, another hotbed of protest and Syria's third-largest city, where one activist said "more than 100,000 people" rallied as tanks were deployed.

Homs was the focus of a report released on Saturday by the New York-based watchdog Human Rights Watch, which denounced a rising death toll there and security forces for "terrorising people."

Citing Syrian rights groups and witnesses, HRW said 21 people had been killed in a government crackdown in Homs since June 17.

"During the city?s ongoing protests, security forces have beaten protesters with clubs, vandalised private property and broken into homes where they suspected protesters had sought refuge," HRW said.

"Security forces dressed in civilian clothes have detained protesters repeatedly, often travelling in taxis to approach and detain people," it added.

"Syria?s authorities accuse protesters of being ?armed gangs,? but it is their security forces who terrorise people," said Sarah Leah Whitson, Middle East director at HRW.

More than 1,360 civilians have been killed in the crackdown against pro-democracy protests since mid-March, according to human rights groups, while thousands have been arrested.

The Syrian Observatory says 343 security force personnel have also died.

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