Syria: 2 killed by snipers, gov't buildings torched

Two people were killed and two others were wounded Saturday by unidentified snipers in the coastal city of Latakia in northwest Syria, a Syrian official told AFP.

Earlier on Saturday, another Syrian official said that "gunmen" had fired from rooftops on passersby in the same city.

Protesters set fire to offices of the ruling party in southern and western Syria on Saturday, burning tires and attacking cars and shops in a religiously mixed city on the Mediterranean coast, according to accounts by government officials, activists and witnesses.

Presidential advisor Bouthaina Shaaban told reporters that demonstrators attacked a police station and offices of the Baath party in the town of Tafas, six miles (10 kilometers) north of the city of Daraa, epicenter of more than a week of anti-government protests.

In the coastal city of Latakia, dozens of people protested before attacking the Baath offices, said Ammar Qurabi, an exile in Egypt who heads Syria's National Organization for Human Rights.

Dozens of people staged an anti-government protest before attacking the building in Latakia, said Ammar Qurabi, an exile in Egypt who heads Syria's National Organization for Human Rights.   

At least 55 people are believed to have been killed during a week of unrest in and around the Syrian town of Daraa, Amnesty International said Saturday.

More than a week of protests centered in the southern Syrian city exploded into nationwide unrest Friday when tens of thousands of protesters marched in cities, town and villages around the country, posing the greatest threat in decades to Assad's iron-fisted rule.

Troops and soldiers opened fire in at least six places, killing some 15 protesters, according to witnesses, activists and footage posted on social networking sites.

Assad pulled back police and soldiers from Daraa and released hundreds of political prisoners on Saturday in an attempt to appease demonstrators furious about the violent government crackdown on dissent.

EU condemnation

A resident told The Associated Press by telephone that security forces had withdrawn to the outskirts of Daraa, where protests demanding the release of youths arrested for spraying anti-government graffiti have spiraled into daily confrontations with security forces, who have repeatedly opened fire.

The Daraa resident said more than 1,000 people were holding a silent sit-in the al-Omari mosque, the epicenter of the protests. Protesters used the mosque as a refuge and ad hoc medical center until they were driven out in a government assault on Wednesday. They retook the mosque during clashes with government forces on Friday, witnesses said.

Meanwhile, European Union foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton strongly condemned Syria's violent reaction to the people's legitimate demands and called on authorities to meet the protestors' demands for urgent political and socioeconomic reforms.

Ashton said the use of force was wholly unacceptable and urged authorities to end the state of emergency.

The Associated Press and AFP contributed to this report

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