President Bashar al-Assad "issued a decree discharging Ahmed Khaled from his position as the governor of Hama," Syrian state television reported on Saturday, July 2.

Saturday's announcement came after tens of thousands protested across Syria on Friday, calling on Assad to leave power. Human rights activists said that Syrian forces killed 28 civilians during massive anti-regime rallies and in shelling of villages in the northwestern province of Idlib.

The demonstrations, which followed Friday prayers, were among the biggest since the anti-government protests began in March. Protesters demonstrated in several cities, including the capital, Damascus. There, two people are reported to have been killed in the suburb of al-Qadam.

Video footage from the central city of Hama appeared to show tens of thousands of protesters gathered in a square. Opposition estimates of the actual number of protesters who took part in the demonstration ranged from 200,000 to half a million.

Quashing dissent

The Local Coordination Committees of Syria (LCC) reported that security forces used tear gas and electric batons to disperse a crowd of 3,000 protesters in the city of Allepo.

The deadliest single attack came in a village in Idlib province, near the Turkish border. Human rights lawyer Rasan Zaitouna told the Reuters news agency that 14 people had been killed when soldiers, supported by tanks and helicopters, stormed the village as part of the government's campaign to suppress dissent.

Another seven were killed during protests in the city of Homs, according to Zaitouna.

Different casualty figures

More than 1,300 civilians and 300 security personnel have been killed since the protests started earlier this year, according to the Syrian Observatory rights group. At least 10,000 people have been detained, according to human rights activists.

Figures provided by the Syrian authorities paint quite a different picture. They say 500 members of the police and army have been killed by gunmen, whom they also blame for most of the civilian deaths.

The casualty and other figures coming out of Syria are difficult to verify, due to the government's ban on most foreign journalists.

Author: Chuck Penfold (dpa, Reuters, AFP)
Editor: Toma Tasovac