Violence continues across Syria

Syrian forces have killed at least 30 people, including three children, after firing on anti-government demonstrations across the country during a planned national strike, activists have said.

Two boys, ages 10 and 12, were hit by stray bullets near government checkpoints on Friday in Homs, Syria's third-largest city and a hotbed of opposition to the regime, according to the London-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. Another activist group, the Syrian Revolution General Commission, said three defected soldiers had also been killed there.

Activists dubbed Friday the day of the "Dignity Strike" and had hoped to stage a mass display of civil disobedience. There were also reports of violence and arrests in Aleppo and Damascus, the capital.

Rami Abdul-Rahman, the head of the observatory, said the 10-year-old was shot as he crossed the street in the Bab Sbaa neighbourhood and the 12-year-old was struck as he walked in a crowd exiting a mosque.

Warning of 'massacre'

Seven people in total have died in Homs on Friday, according to the anti-government Local Co-ordination Committees, while government shelling struck three houses and gunfire left "many" injured in the Khaldiyeh neighbourhood, where well-known actress Fadwa Soliman led midday prayers.

The opposition Syrian National Council has warned of an impending "massacre" in Homs as it claimed thousands of troops and militiamen were encircling the city.

Security forces also reportedly fired on protests in the Damascus suburbs and the eastern city of Deir el-Zour. In the southern town of Daraa, activists said telephone and Internet lines were cut.

The reports could not be confirmed because Syria has banned most foreign journalists and prevented independent reporting. Accounts from activists and witnesses, along with amateur videos posted online, provide key channels of
information.

'Activists struggle for momentum'

The violence comes as the government tries to choke off a nine-month uprising demanding the ouster of President Bashar al-Assad, whose family has ruled Syria for more than 40 years.

Despite sanctions from the United States and European Union, increasing isolation from its Arab neighbours and a demand from the United Nations to allow observers in, Assad has refused to buckle to the pressure. The UN estimates more than 4,000 people have been killed in the government crackdown since protest began in March.

Activists had hoped to use the "Dignity Strike" as a means to regain momentum for a peaceful protest movement after sectarian kidnappings and killings escalated in Homs this week, said Al Jazeera's Rula Amin, reporting from Beirut.

"Some opposition leaders ... don't want to lose the mass protests, they don't want to lose the nature of this uprising as mass movement," Amin said. "They want students to stop going to school ... they want government workers to stop working eventually, they want to cut the highways."

But the opposition remains somewhat split between the Syrian National Council (SNC), an Istanbul-based body, and the National Co-ordination Committee for Democratic Change, which is based inside Syria and advocates dialogue with Assad.

"The problem at this point is that the Arab League is insistent on unifying everyone in the opposition," Louay Safi, an SNC member, told Al Jazeera, adding that his group represented the bulk. "The problem is some factions ... don't represent the revolutionary forces. They are traditional political actors."

Pipeline attacked

A major Syrian pipeline carrying oil to a refinery in Homs province was blown up Thursday in an attack the government blamed on terrorists, but the opposition accuses the government of playing on fears of religious extremism and terrorism to rally support behind Assad, who has portrayed himself as the only force that can stabilise the country.

On Wednesday, Assad claimed in a rare interview that he never ordered the brutal suppression of the uprising and insisted only a "crazy person'' would kill his own people.

Neighbouring Turkey urged Assad to punish his security forces and accept an Arab League observer mission if he is "sincere'' in his repudiation of violence against civilians.

"If he is sincere, he will punish the security forces, he will accept the Arab League observers and help change the atmosphere,'' Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said on Friday. "He still has the opportunity to do this.''

Turkey meanwhile moved to suspend a 2008 free trade agreement with Syria, which will lead to the imposition of taxes of up to 30 per cent on some Syrian goods, authorities said.

The move, like most of the economic measures taken against Syria, is likely to hit the business class, which until now has been one of the main props of the regime.

Syria already unilaterally suspended the free trade agreement, but Turkey's cabinet needed to approve the suspension so it can collect the taxes.

Customs and Trade Minister Hayati Yazici said Turkey is planning to encourage Turkish lorries to favour Iraqi and Jordanian routes to Middle East markets, bypassing Syria.

"We are having tensions with Syria,'' Yazici said. "Of course, our trade is important but our stance based on humanitarian values is above everything.''

Source: Al Jazeera and agencies