Speaking in Damascus, Major General Robert Mood warned that no number of observers can achieve “a permanent end to the violence if the commitment to give dialogue a chance is not genuine from all internal and external actors.”

The UN estimates that the violence in Syria has killed more than 9,000 people.

A ceasefire brokered by UN-Arab League envoy Kofi Annan in April, which also paved the way for UN observers, has failed to stop the violence.

Both sides have flouted the cease-fire, raising concerns that the peace plan is ineffective in a conflict where the violence is spinning out of control.

“We are very serious, very serious and very committed to the Syrian people, innocent women and children, helping to regain the hope to return back to normality. But we must be given a real chance to do that from the fighting parties and their supporters,” Major General Mood said on Friday.

Video footage posted online continues to show the violence in areas around Homs, such as Rastan.

One video appears to show artillery shells and rockets being fired on Rastan.

Another shows a man, apparently injured by sniper fire, being dragged and carried into a house by others.

The footage cannot be independently verified because of reporting restrictions inside Syria.

…

 ?17.5.2012

…

Reporters Without Borders is shocked to learn of the death sentence passed today on the citizen journalist Mohammed Abdelmawla al-Hariri for “high treason and contacts with foreign parties”. He was arrested on 16 April just after giving an interview to the television station …

 Citizen journalist sentenced to death for Al-Jazeera interview – Reporters Without Borders

…
NOW! Lebanon
[local time]  22:02 Experts have been unable to assess damage to historic treasures in Mali and Syria caused by rebellions which have added to cultural chaos left by the Arab uprisings, a top UNESCO official said Friday. 21:10 Shots were fired from Syria toward Wadi Khaled in Lebanon, Future News reported Friday.
 20:52 Syrian security forces shelled a Free Syrian Army outpost along the border with Turkey, Al-Jazeera reported on Friday.
 20:44 One person was killed and others injured in the shelling of Hamouriyeh near Damascus by Syrian security forces, Al-Jazeera quoted activists as saying on Friday.
 20:26 UN leader Ban Ki-moon has no “hard” proof that Al-Qaeda was behind bomb attacks in Syria, but is very concerned that terrorist groups are taking advantage of strife in the country, his spokesperson said Friday.
 17:30 The Syrian Foreign Ministry sent a letter Friday to UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon complaining that “some Lebanese regions along the border with Syria harbor members of Al-Qaeda and the Muslim Brotherhood.”
 17:28 The head of the UN ceasefire mission in Syria said on Friday that no number of observers could halt the violence in the country unless there is a genuine commitment from all sides for peace.
 17:25 At least seven people were killed in violence across Syria on Friday, including two children and a woman, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.
 16:16 A YouTube video purportedly filmed on Friday in Hama shows anti-regime protesters chanting and waving pre-Baath Syrian flags
 16:04 An anti-regime protest took place in Latakia’s Bashrafa calling for freedom and the fall of the regime. (S.N.N)
 15:58 Large protests rocked Syria following Friday’s Muslim prayers, according to activists, with regime forces opening fire on the largest protest yet in Syria’s second city of Aleppo.
 15:57 Heavy gunfire heard in Hama’s Aleppo Road. (S.N.N)
 15:53 A YouTube video purportedly filmed on Friday in the Damascus town of Harasta shows anti-regime protesters chanting against President Bashar al-Assad.
 15:45 An anti-regime protest kicked off in the Aleppo neighborhood of Al-Shaar starting from the Abd al-Rahman Mosque. (S.N.N)
 15:45 A YouTube video purportedly filmed on Friday in the town of Binnish shows anti-regime protesters chanting, “Greetings to the University of Aleppo” which witnessed violence against students on Thursday and earlier in May.
 15:41 A YouTube video purportedly filmed on Friday in Daraa’s Kherbet al-Ghazaleh shows anti-regime protesters chanting in support of Aleppo.
 15:34 Syrian security forces launched a series of raids and arrests in the neighborhood of Al-Joubayleh in Deir az-Zour. (S.N.N)
 15:32 Syrian security forces deployed to the southern entrance of the bridge leading to Daraa’s Kherbet al-Ghazaleh. (S.N.N)
 15:30 Syrian security forces installed temporary checkpoints in the town of Saida in Daraa and opened fire on a car passing by the town’s Kuwait Hotel Road. (S.N.N)
 15:27 Syrian security forces opened fire on an anti-regime protest in the Homs neighborhood of Deir Baalba, wounding five protesters. (S.N.N)
 15:23 A YouTube video purportedly filmed on Friday in Syria’s Darbassiya shows anti-regime protesters chanting, “May God protect the Free Syrian Army.”
 15:14 A YouTube video purportedly filmed on Friday in Talbisa shows anti-regime protesters waving pre-Baath Syrian flags and chanting in support of Homs.
 15:10 Protesters took to the streets on Friday for the biggest demonstration in Aleppo since the uprising against Bashar al-Assad’s regime began in March 2011, monitors said.
 15:06 The Syrian army raided the Aleppo neighborhood of Al-Shaar and opened fire on protesters, Al-Jazeera reported.
 15:04 Anti-regime protests took place in the Latakia towns of Al-Kabani, Shalaf, Ain al-Qantara, Taouma and Douareka. (S.N.N)
 15:04 Syrian security forces opened fire on two men approaching an army checkpoint on a motorcycle in the town of Al-Sheikh Maskin in Daraa, wounding one. (S.N.N)
 15:03 Syrian security forces conducted arrests near the cemeteries of the town of Saqba outside Damascus. (S.N.N)
 14:59 Demonstrators gather again after Syrian security forces intervened to disperse their anti-regime protest in Edleb’s Kansafra. (S.N.N)
 14:53 An anti-regime protest kicked off in Edleb’s Kansafra. (S.N.N)
 14:53 An anti-regime protest kicked off in Deir az-Zour’s Al-Jarthi. (S.N.N)
 14:53 An anti-regime protest kicked off in Al-Ghouta al-Sharqieh near Damascus. (S.N.N)
 14:45 Syrian forces on Friday raided areas in Latakia, including Al-Saliba and Al-Achrafieh. (S.N.N)
 14:45 Syrian forces are heavily present in Damascus’ Al-Shaghour, where they are preventing protesters from leaving mosques. (S.N.N)
 14:44 Syrian forces on Friday attacked protesters in Artouz near Damascus. (S.N.N)
 14:44 An anti-regime protest kicked off in Edleb’s Khan al-Sabil. (S.N.N)
 14:37 A YouTube video purportedly filmed on Friday in Damascus shows anti-regime protesters chanting against President Bashar al-Assad.
 14:30 An anti-regime protest kicked off in Homs’ Talkalakh. (S.N.N)
 14:29 An anti-regime protest started from Al-Ashmar Mosque in Damascus’ Al-Midan. (S.N.N)
 14:28 Syrian forces opened fire on protesters in Al-Tadamon area of Damascus. (S.N.N)
 14:28 An anti-regime protest started in Damascus Al-Qadam neighborhood. (S.N.N)
 14:25 Heavy gunfire erupted in Aleppo’s Ming and the Syrian forces arrested a number of young men. (S.N.N)
 14:25 Kofi Annan, the special UN-Arab League envoy to violence-torn Syria, plans to return to Damascus “soon” to further efforts to find a peaceful solution to the crisis, his spokesperson said on Friday.
 14:21 An anti-regime protest kicked off in Aleppo’s Hardateen. (S.N.N)
 14:20 An anti-regime protest kicked off in Homs’ Deir Baalba. (S.N.N)
 14:21 Two anti-regime protests kicked off in Aleppo’s Anjara. (S.N.N)
 14:16 Syrian forces are shelling Homs’ Talkalakh. (S.N.N)
 14:16 Syrian forces opened fire on protesters in Kafr Batna near Damascus. (S.N.N)
 14:16 An anti-regime protest kicked in Aleppo’s Qobtan al-Jabal. (S.N.N)
 14:15 Syrian forces on Friday surrounded mosques in Daraa’s Ezraa . (S.N.N)
 14:11 Al-Jazeera is broadcasting a live anti-regime protest in the Aleppo town of Azaz.
 14:10 Syrian forces are heavily deployed in the city of Nawa in Daraa. (S.N.N)
 14:10 An anti-regime protest kicked off in Darayya near Damascus. (S.N.N)
 14:10 An anti-regime protest kicked off in Edleb’s Saraqeb. (S.N.N)
 14:10 Syrian security forces opened fire on protesters in Harasta and Douma near Damascus, activists told Al-Jazeera.
 14:08 An anti-regime protest started in Damascus Mezzeh. (S.N.N)
 14:08 An anti-regime protest started in Daraa’s Maaraba. (S.N.N)
 14:07 Al-Jazeera is broadcasting live footage of an anti-regime protest in the Damascus area of Al-Hama.
 14:04 An anti-regime protest started in Reqqa. (S.N.N)
 14:03 Syrian forces are shelling the Tariq Halab neighborhood in Hama, wounding nine people. (S.N.N)
 14:03 An anti-regime protest kicked off in Latakia’s Al-Haffa. (S.N.N)
 14:03 An anti-regime protest kicked off in Latakia’s Souq al-Daya. (S.N.N)
 14:03 Syrian security forces opened fire on protesters in the Aleppo neighborhood of Salaheddine, Al-Jazeera reported.
 13:58 Syrian forces are surrounding Al-Daqqaq mosque in Damascus’ Al-Midan while worshippers are protesting inside of it. (S.N.N)
 13:57 Anti-regime protests kicked off in the Edleb towns of Qoreen and Taftanaz. (S.N.N)
 13:57 An anti-regime protest kicked off in Daraa’s Saida village. (S.N.N)
 13:56 An anti-regime protest started in Aleppo’s Bayanoun. (S.N.N)
 13:55 A YouTube video purportedly filmed on Friday in Tariq Halab in Hama shows anti-regime protesters chanting on the street.
 13:49 Syrian forces on Friday arrested five children in Latakia. (S.N.N)
 13:49 A number of anti-regime protests kicked off in different areas in Hama, including Qalaat al-Madiq and Kafr Zita. (S.N.N)
 13:49 An anti-regime protest kicked off in Daraa’s As-Sabil neighborhood. (S.N.N)
 13:48 Anti-regime protests kicked off across Aleppo, including the city’s Dar Ezza and Halab al-Jadeeda neighborhoods. (S.N.N)
 13:43 An anti-regime protest started in Latakia’s As-Saliba. (S.N.N)
 13:43 An anti-regime protest started in Daraa’s Al-Hara. (S.N.N)
 13:43 An anti-regime protest started on Edleb’s Maarat an-Naaman. (S.N.N)
 13:40 Two anti-regime protests kicked off in Asali near Damascus. (S.N.N)
 13:38 Syrian forces are surrounding mosques in Daraa’s Jassem preventing worshippers from leaving them. (S.N.N)
 13:38 An anti-regime protest kicked off in Latakia’s Jabla. (S.N.N)
 13:38 An anti-regime protest kicked off in Daraa’s Ebtae. (S.N.N)
 13:38 An anti-regime protest started in the town of Samad outside Daraa. (S.N.N)
 13:37 An anti-regime protest kicked off in Latakia’s Al-Achrafieh neighborhood. (S.N.N)
 13:34 Al-Jazeera is broadcasting live footage of an anti-regime protest in the Daraa town of Ghoueiran.
 13:31 Syrian forces on Friday raided Aleppo’s neighborhood of Al-Shaar . (S.N.N)
 13:30 Syrian forces on Friday opened fire on protesters in Deir az-Zour’s Abu Kamal. (S.N.N)
 13:30 An anti-regime protest kicked off in Deir az-Zour . (S.N.N)
 13:30 A number of anti-regime protests kicked off in Aleppo’s neighborhoods including Al-Ferdaws and Bustan al-Qaser. (S.N.N)
 13:30 Al-Jazeera TV is broadcasting live footage of an anti-regime protest in the town of Al-Harak in Daraa.
 13:29 Syrian forces on Friday opened fire on protesters in Daraa’s Sheikh Maskeen. (S.N.N)
 13:29 Syrian forces on Friday raided Daraa’s Jassem . (S.N.N)
 13:29 An anti-regime protest kicked off in Edleb’s Ariha . (S.N.N)
 13:26 Two people were killed by security forces’ gunfire in the city of Douma near Damascus, Al-Jazeera quoted activists as saying.
 13:25 Al-Arabiya TV is broadcasting a live anti-regime protest in Edleb.
 13:24 An anti-regime protest started in Duma near Damascus. (S.N.N)
 13:24 An anti-regime protest started in the Daraa town of Naima. (S.N.N)
 13:23 Anti-regime protests started in Edleb’s Jabal al-Zawiya. (S.N.N)
 13:22 An anti-regime protest started in Damascus’s Al-Maydan neighborhood. (S.N.N)
 13:22 Syrian forces on Friday surrounded mosques in Aleppo’s Marja neighborhood to prevent anti-regime protesters from taking to the streets. (S.N.N)
 13:21 Heavy explosions rocked Hama’s Tariq Halab neighborhood on Friday. (S.N.N)
 13:18 An anti-regime protest kicked off in the Aleppo town of Dabeq. (S.N.N)
 13:18 An anti-regime protest started in Aleppo’s Hayyan. (S.N.N)
 13:16 A number of anti-regime protests started in different areas in Aleppo, including Al-Sikari, Al-Atareb and Salaheddine neighborhoods. (S.N.N)
 13:14  Anti-regime protests kicked off in Hasaka. (S.N.N)
 13:12 An ant-regime protest kicked off in Aleppo’s Manbij. (S.N.N)
 13:12 An ant-regime protest kicked off  in Al-Aridi neighborhood in Deir az-Zour. (S.N.N)
 13:11 An ant-regime protest started in Aleppo’s neighborhood of Seif ad-Dawla. (S.N.N)
 13:11 An ant-regime protest started in Aleppo’s Masaken Hanano . (S.N.N)
 13:00  An anti-regime protest started in Aleppo’s Kobani .(S.N.N)
 13:00  An anti-regime protest kicked off  in the city of Abu Kamal in Deir az-Zour. (S.N.N)
 12:58 A YouTube video purportedly filmed on Friday shows an anti-regime protest in the Damascus neighborhood of Rokeneddine.
 12:55  The Fatima Al-Zahrae Mosque in Hama was shelled on Friday. (S.N.N)
 12:47 Syrian forces on Friday raided the Daraa town of Al-Sanamayn. (S.N.N
 12:44 Syrian forces on Friday opened fire on worshippers who were heading to a mosque in Daraa’s Nemer village.(S.N.N)
 12:32 Syria forces on Friday were deployed in Reqqa’s streets to confront Friday’s anti-regime protests. (S.N.N)
 12:30 Activists said on Friday that a blast rocked the Tadamon district in Damascus, Al-Arabiya reported.
 12:26 An anti-regime protest kicked off in Aleppo’s Masakin Hanano. (S.N.N)
 12:23 An anti-regime protest kicked off in Aleppo’s Marja neighborhood. (S.N.N)
 12:19 Syrian forces present in the Damascus neighborhood of Jawber were reinforced on Friday. (S.N.N)
 12:18 Syrian authorities have sentenced to death for “treason” an activist who was arrested in April and “brutally tortured,” a Syrian human rights group said on Friday.
 12:10 A YouTube video purportedly filmed on Friday in the Homs town of Rastan shows how the area is being shelled.
 12:00 A number of explosions rocked the Hama neighborhood of  Al-Hamidiya. (S.N.N) 11:42 A YouTube video purportedly filmed on Friday in Al-Sabina near Damascus shows anti-regime protesters chanting in support of the Syrian uprising.
 11:40 A YouTube video purportedly filmed on Friday  in the Damascus neighborhood of Al-Aasali shows anti-regime protesters chanting in support of the Syrian uprising and against President Bashar al-Assad. A number of people are seen carrying placards with some of them addressing the international community.
 11:35 Syrian forces on Friday raided Al-Ramel al-Janoubi neighborhood of Latakia. (S.N.N)
 11:23 Six people have so far been killed in Syria on Thursday, activists told Al-Arabiya TV.
 11:11 Syria forces received reinforcements on Friday in the city of Bab al-Hawa in Edleb. (S.N.N)
 11:06 Four people were killed by the Syrian army’s shelling on the Homs town of Rastan, activists told Al-Arabiya TV.
 10:50 Syrian forces on Friday were deployed in the village of Enkhel in Daraa. (S.N.N)
 10:45 Syrian forces on Friday were deployed in Daraa’s Nemer village. (S.N.N)
 10:38 Syrian forces on Friday opened fire on protesters in Aleppo, Al-Arabiya television quoted the Local Coordination Committees as saying.
 10:36 Syrian forces on Friday morning intensified the shelling targeting Homs’ Rastan, Al-Arabiya television quoted the Local Coordination Committees as saying.
 10:32 Syrian forces have been carrying out arrest operations in the Daraa town of Sheikh Maskeen since Friday morning. (S.N.N)
 10:15 Syrian anti-regime activists called for Friday protests under the slogan, “heroes of Aleppo University,” in solidarity with students who demonstrated despite brutal repression against the university.
 10:00 Syrian forces on Friday opened fire in Edleb’s Ariha. (S.N.N)
 8:30 MORNING LEADER: Syrian National Council chief Burhan Ghalioun said on Thursday he will step down to avert divisions within the opposition bloc, after activists on the ground accused him of monopolizing power.
 8:00 Syrian forces on Friday shelled Edleb’s area of Jabal al-Zawiya. (S.N.N)
 8:00 Syrian forces on Friday shelled the Homs neighborhood of  Al-Hamidiya. (S.N.N)
 7:30 UN leader Ban Ki-moon said Thursday he believes Al-Qaeda committed a major bomb attack in Damascus that left dozens dead, and that up to 10,000 people have now been killed in Syria.
…

BBC:  Syria protests ‘grip Aleppo city’

Syrian activists report thousands at protests in the city of Aleppo, which has so far largely stayed loyal to the president since the uprising began.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said several people were injured by tear gas and live ammunition.

Protests were reported elsewhere, a day after activists called for rallies in solidarity with students in Aleppo.

Observers say anti-government sentiment is rising there, after security forces killed students in a raid in early May.

Videos posted by activists show hundreds of people taking part in anti-government rallies in various parts of Aleppo.

Syria’s second city has so far not experienced the violence seen in other cities during the uprising and has remained largely loyal to the government of President Bashar al-Assad since protests began in March 2011.

Analysts say its ability to keep control of Aleppo is one of its key tests.

Separately, the UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon has said that Islamist militants from al-Qaeda must be behind two deadly suicide car bomb attacks in the capital on 10 May.

Mr Ban also said the death toll in the Syrian crisis now stands at 10,000 people.

‘University of revolution’

Syrian activists reported protests on Friday in Damascus, Homs and Idlib.

On Thursday, activists at Aleppo University streamed their rally live on the internet.

State TV said government forces had foiled an attempt to blow up a booby-trapped car carrying approximately 600 kg of explosives in the eastern province of Deir Ezzor on Friday.

The Friday protests in Aleppo came a day after students held a large rally at the city’s university.

Activists streamed their rally live on the internet on Thursday. They were demanding the removal of Mr Assad and his government during a visit by UN observers.

Footage showed scores of demonstrators chanting loudly. A YouTube clip apparently from the same rally shows students climbing on top of a UN vehicle.

A voice could be heard in the background saying in English “the university of the revolution”.

Another YouTube video, filmed through the windscreen of a car, appears to show a demonstrator being beaten by a group of men wielding sticks.

‘Dampening effect’

Nearly 260 unarmed UN observers have been deployed in Syria to monitor a ceasefire, which has largely collapsed since it was brokered in March by UN and Arab League representative Kofi Annan.

The UN secretary general said their deployment had some “dampening effect” on the violence, but not enough to halt it.

“We are trying our best efforts to protect the civilian population,” Mr Ban added.

Last week’s suicide car bomb attacks in Damascus killed 55 people and injured 372 – the deadliest attack on the city since the uprising against President Assad began.

Syrian officials have blamed “foreign terrorists” for the twin bombings.

Earlier this month Syria sent a list of 26 names to the United Nations of foreign nationals it had apprehended, claiming most of them were members of al-Qaeda.

…

Reuters: Syria forces kill two in Damascus as thousands rally

Forces loyal to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad shot two protesters in the capital Damascus on Friday and fired in the air to break up thousands of anti-government demonstrators in the commercial hub of Aleppo, activists said.

It was the second consecutive day of street protests in Aleppo, Syria’s largest city, where a visit by U.N. ceasefire monitors a day earlier saw demonstrators mass outside the gates of the Aleppo University before security forces drove them off.

“The people want the fall of the regime!” chanted protesters who footage distributed by opposition activists showed marching through the streets in one of the biggest rallies in Aleppo since the start of the anti-Assad uprising 14 months ago.

In Damascus, activists said security forces shot and killed two protesters in the southern district of Tadamun, wounding at least five people, and that the central Syrian town of Rastan was shelled for the fourth consecutive day.

The revolt began as a peaceful protest movement but has become increasingly militarized as rebels fight back against Assad’s violent crackdown. Syria restricts media access, making it difficult to verify accounts of the unrest.

Similar rallies took place in several other cities across Syria as U.N. monitors struggle to oversee a shaky ceasefire aimed at pulling Syria out of bloodshed.

Video footage which activists said documented the Damascus incident showed a group of young men carrying a bleeding youth as the sound of gunfire rippled in the background. There was no independent verification of the account from Syria.

The protests came against the backdrop of crisis in the main formal opposition group, the Syrian National Council (SNC), an umbrella organization dominated by Islamists which has failed to win international recognition as the sole legitimate representative of opposition to Assad.

SNC head Burhan Ghalioun, an academic based in France, told Reuters on Thursday he would step down as soon as a successor was found, following charges that he failed to unite the organization with activists in the country.

Ghalioun’s opponents also fault him for acting as a secular front for a formal opposition in which Islamist groups have the strongest hand, while the insurgency is drawn from Syria’s Sunni Muslim minority and at time employs rhetoric demonizing the Alawite sect to which Assad belongs.

The head of the month-old observer mission – which earlier this week saw one of its teams caught in a gun and bomb attack that activists said killed at least 21 people – said it was slowing bloodshed, but could not stop it entirely.

“No volume of observers can achieve a progressive drop and a permanent end to the violence if the commitment to give dialogue a chance is not genuine by from all internal and external actors,” Major General Robert Mood told reporters in Damascus.

The United Nations estimated some 9,000 people had been killed since the start of the unrest, before announcing it could no track casualties. Syria says foreign-backed “terrorists” have killed about 2,600 soldiers and police.

(Additional reporting by Khaled Yacoub Oweis; Writing by Joseph Logan Editing by Maria Golovnina)

…

Guardian: 

• Friday protests have been taking place in Syria under the slogan “Heroes of Aleppo University” – in solidarity with students who have demonstrated despite brutal repression. Today’s demonstrations in Aleppo itself were the largest the city has seen so far, according to activists.

• UN secretary-general Ban Ki-moon has said he believes al-Qaida was responsible for the explosions that reportedly killed at least 55 people in Damascus last week. However, Robert Mood, head of the UN monitoring mission, says it is impossible to say who was to blame for the attack (see 3.41pm). Guardian journalist Martin Chulov, just returned from north-west Syria, says rebels there are scornful of the regime’s al-Qaida narrative (see 10.18) The influential Washington Institute thinktank has also joined those expressing scepticism about the role of jihadists in Syria (see 4.25pm).

• A UN monitor has expressed frustration at being being filmed by activists in Dera’a, advising them not to post clips of him to YouTube(see 12.35pm).

• The opposition stronghold of Rastan, between Hama and Homs, has come under more bombardment, according to video from activists (see 10.48 am).

16 May 2012: Abdulaziz al-Khair was a leading member of the Communist Action Party. He was persecuted and had to live underground for more than ten years. He was arrested and tortured in 1992, sentenced to 22 years and released in 2005. In 2007 he participated in founding the “Left Assembly”, which included the Communist Action Party, the Kurdish Left Party, the Body of Syrian Communists, the Marxist Democratic Assembly and the Coordination Committee of the Members of the Syrian Communist Party – Politburo. Read more

Syrian Uprising 2011 Information Centre: SUMMARY (14/05/2012): Assad’s forces continue to show the extent of their commitment to the Annan plan by launching new invasions of Kafar Zita and Morek in Hama countryside while the FSA beat back another attack on Rastan. Meanwhile, Assad probably already wishes that Aleppo University didn’t reopen yesterday. Things are back to how they were before the 10 days closure, with large protests on campus and students being tear gassed, beaten and detained by the regime’s thugs. At least 1176 martyrs have now fallen since the start of the “ceasefire” on 12th April. The EU has responded with new sanctions. Syria – Monday 14/05/2012 – Google Maps Read more