About 300 people protested Tuesday outside the Syrian Embassy in Cairo to condemn the Syrian regime's use of violence against peaceful protesters in Deraa. Human rights activists stated that at least 38 people were killed in the Syrian city of Jabla, located in the northwestern part of the country, and Daraa after security forces stormed the cities with tanks and armored vehicles. The protesters, which included Egyptians and Syrians living in Egypt, gathered outside the Tahrir Cinema and then moved toward the Syrian Embassy, which played songs praising Syrian President Bashar al-Assad over the loudspeakers. The angered protesters chanted slogans against Syrian Ambassador to Cairo Youssef al-Ahmad until the embassy stopped playing the songs. The protesters demanded the ouster of al-Assad and chanted slogans such as “The people want to overthrow the regime” and “The people want the fall of Bashar." They also prayed for the people killed during protests in Syria. Three Central Security trucks had parked near the embassy, and eyewitnesses said they saw former State Security officers whom they recognized from the previous parliamentary elections. Activists on social networking sites on Monday had called for protests to condemn attacks on the southern Syrian city of Deraa and the random shooting of civilians, which led to deaths of at least 25 people in Deraa, 13 in Jabla and 12 in Moadamieh, as well as the arrests of 500 people in raids on various cities in Syria. Translated from the Arabic Edition
