Hundreds of students have rallied in Damascus, the Syrian capital, to express solidarity with pro-democracy protesters killed over the weekend.
The rare demonstration on Monday at Damascus University reportedly turned violent when security forces beat up and arrested several protesters who were shouting for freedom and unity, witnesses told the Associated Press news agency.
Ammar Qurabi, head of Syria's National Organisation for Human Rights, told the AP one student died after he was shot in the demonstration.
Video footage posted online showed what appeared to be plainclothes security forces beating protesters and forcefully pulling others away as they marched inside the campus.
An activist in touch with students who witnessed the demonstration corroborated the footage, but spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of reprisals. "The Syrian people are one!'' the students shouted in the video.
Meanwhile, William Hague, Britain's foreign minister, said on Monday that "meaningful reform" was the only legitimate response to the demands from protesters.
"We call upon the Syrian government to respect the right for free speech and peaceful protest," he said at a news conference in London.
Syria's three-week uprising against the government of Bashar Al-Assad, the president, has continued to gather strength despite a government crackdown.
The activist who spoke to AP said most of the students taking part in Monday's protest in Damascus were from Daraa - the southern city that has become the epicentre of the violence - and the port city of Baniyas, where four protesters were killed on Sunday.
About 2,000 mourners chanting "death is better than humiliation!'' turned out in Baniyas on Monday for the funeral of the four protesters after noon prayers, an eyewitness said.
The army has been deployed in the city and a resident told Al Jazeera that the area was calm but tense.
'Armed group'
A witness to Sunday's violence in Baniyas said "that armed gangs were shooting at army and residents at the same time. Residents alleged the gunmen were loyalists of the regime," Al Jazeera's correspondent in Syria said. [Reports is that 9 army memeber REFUSED orders to shoot demonstrators so they were executed, regime now kills the refusnics then blames them on this invisible mega force that entered the country and is killing not just people but the army as well. Anyone who still supports Syrian regime is as TERIBLE as those who support the Saudi or any other Arab regime that serves Israel and USA , hide behind the "resistance" caumeflage and justify crimes against humanity ]
The rare demonstration on Monday at Damascus University reportedly turned violent when security forces beat up and arrested several protesters who were shouting for freedom and unity, witnesses told the Associated Press news agency.
Ammar Qurabi, head of Syria's National Organisation for Human Rights, told the AP one student died after he was shot in the demonstration.
Video footage posted online showed what appeared to be plainclothes security forces beating protesters and forcefully pulling others away as they marched inside the campus.
An activist in touch with students who witnessed the demonstration corroborated the footage, but spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of reprisals. "The Syrian people are one!'' the students shouted in the video.
Meanwhile, William Hague, Britain's foreign minister, said on Monday that "meaningful reform" was the only legitimate response to the demands from protesters.
"We call upon the Syrian government to respect the right for free speech and peaceful protest," he said at a news conference in London.
Syria's three-week uprising against the government of Bashar Al-Assad, the president, has continued to gather strength despite a government crackdown.
The activist who spoke to AP said most of the students taking part in Monday's protest in Damascus were from Daraa - the southern city that has become the epicentre of the violence - and the port city of Baniyas, where four protesters were killed on Sunday.
About 2,000 mourners chanting "death is better than humiliation!'' turned out in Baniyas on Monday for the funeral of the four protesters after noon prayers, an eyewitness said.
The army has been deployed in the city and a resident told Al Jazeera that the area was calm but tense.
'Armed group'
A witness to Sunday's violence in Baniyas said "that armed gangs were shooting at army and residents at the same time. Residents alleged the gunmen were loyalists of the regime," Al Jazeera's correspondent in Syria said. [Reports is that 9 army memeber REFUSED orders to shoot demonstrators so they were executed, regime now kills the refusnics then blames them on this invisible mega force that entered the country and is killing not just people but the army as well. Anyone who still supports Syrian regime is as TERIBLE as those who support the Saudi or any other Arab regime that serves Israel and USA , hide behind the "resistance" caumeflage and justify crimes against humanity ]
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