Syrians kill fear & UN seeks probe on crackdown

Hundreds of people marched in two southern Syrian towns on Tuesday demanding freedom, the fifth straight day of demonstrations challenging the ruling elite.

The protests took place in the city of Deraa and the nearby town of Nawa, they said.

"Freedom, freedom. Peaceful, peaceful," shouted protesters who gathered near the Old Omari mosque in Deraa, which has become the main site of demonstrations in the city.

Mosque scene changed

The preacher of the Saladin Mosque was reflecting on the joys of Mother's Day, his sermon straying far from dramatic protests now gripping Syria, when a young man jumped up to the pulpit and grabbed the microphone.

"Why are you talking about this in these circumstances? Tell us about the political situation!" shouted the youth, before secret police arrested him and hurried him away.

The scene at the mosque in the lower income Damascus district of Ruknaldin, recounted to Reuters by worshippers who witnessed it on Friday, was striking in a country where pliant citizens have endured government-dictated sermons for decades.

In Damascus, as in the provinces, a barrier of fear which had blocked dissent is breaking down. Uprisings across the Arab world have not stopped at the door of one of its most hardline administrations.

For the first time, placards other than those glorifying Syria's ruling elite and the "historic achievements" of the Baath Party are being raised in the towns of the strategic Hauran plain south of Damascus.

A single word is etched on them -- "Freedom".

UN seeks probe

Meanwhile, the U.N. rights chief on Tuesday called on Syrian authorities to carry out a transparent probe into a crackdown on demonstrators over the weekend and to halt the excessive use of force.

"The government should carry out an independent, transparent and effective investigation into the killings of the six protesters during the events of 18 and 20 March," said Rupert Colville, a spokesman for U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay.

"We are greatly concerned by the recent killings of protesters in Syria and reiterate the need to put an immediate halt to the excessive use of force against peaceful protestors, especially the use of live ammunition," he added.

Colville stressed that the use of excessive force was a "clear violation of international law" and that perpetrators could be prosecuted.

"People have the legitimate right to express their grievances and demands to their government, and we urge the Syrian government to enter into a broad, meaningful dialogue with the protesters in an attempt to address those grievances," the spokesman added.

Thousands marched from March 18 for four straight days in Daraa, south of Damascus, defying teargas and even live firing by security forces.