Syrian political activist Ahmed Riyad asked the Egyptian youth to raise the Syrian flag in Tahrir Square during today's protests. He also asked Egypt's ruling military council to return the Syrian Ambassador to Cairo back to Syria, as he believes the ambassador has turned the Syrian embassy into a branch for Syrian intelligence. Riyad said the Egyptians and the Syrians have strong relations. He also said that the first demonstration asking former Egyptian president Gamal Abdel Nasser not to step down was in Syria. Post-revolution Egypt is the shelter for all oppressed Arabs, said Riyad, and Egypt's leadership will be restored once it has recovered from its crisis. Egypt's demonstrations today coincide with expected demonstrations in Syria under the title, ‘No dialogue Friday,' after yesterday's public strike, called for by the opposition. Syrian activists said many demonstrations were held in different Syrian cities last night to lift the siege on Hama city. According to a human rights source, 23 people were killed in the city after security forces attacked it. Hama held a public strike yesterday. All stores were closed, the streets were empty and security forces and tanks were stationed around the socialist resurrection party building. Some sources said the protestors started to negotiate with the security forces to remove all the checkpoints if the security forces released all the detained protestors. It should be noted that Amnesty International asked the United Nations Security Council to present the Syrian case to the criminal court after it was proven that the Syrian regime committed crimes against humanity in Syria's Talkalk village in May.
