Syrians defiant on first Friday of Ramadan

Beirut – Besieged Syrians took to the streets following noon prayers on the first Friday of the holy month of Ramadan.

Details are sketchy because foreign journalists are prohibited from entering the troubled country, but knowledgeable sources fear that many thousands have been killed in protracted shelling of Hama.

The death toll could rise dramatically. Security forces prevented convoys with food and medical supplies from entering the residential areas.

Syrian rebels are fighting for the sixth day in the streets of southern city of Dara'a and Homs, the nation's second-largest city, calling their demonstrations the “God is with us” marches. President Bashar al-Assad is putting up the fiercest opposition to calls for his ouster yet in the five-month-old uprising that is a part of the Arab Spring movement throughout the mideast.