Witnesses: Syria clamps down on restive city

Syrian security forces have been accused of launching a violent crackdown in the city of Daraa.NEW: Muslim Brotherhood offers support for the protesters"The laws in force in Syria will be implemented," government warnsDaraa is the scene of tanks, helicopters, and mass arrests, witnesses sayResidents are afraid to go out to collect the dead, a witness says

(CNN) -- The Syrian government on Thursday warned its citizens not to participate in unlicensed protests, saying that "the laws in force in Syria will be implemented for serving the security of the citizens and the stability of the homeland."

The announcement came late in a day during which Syrian tanks and security forces swooped down hard on the restive city of Daraa, witnesses said.

Helicopters hovered as security forces fanned out across the besieged city, breaking into homes and making arrests. Streets were littered with dead bodies and dwellings had no water or electricity.

A city near the Jordanian border, Daraa is where the anti-government protests began and took hold last month. Now it is a test for police and soldiers attempting to quell protests and a government trying to cope with angry unrest.

Also Thursday, the Muslim Brotherhood entered the fray by offering support for the protesters.

"Hereby, we announce that we will be part of this national project led by the spectacular vision and the great spirit of the Syrian youth and we call upon all Syrians of all backgrounds to join in establishing a national project in which all Syrians achieve what they have dreamt of -- liberty, freedom and progress," the Islamic political group said in a statement.

Human Rights Watch said army troops and other security forces have killed more than 300 protesters since March 16. Other sources have cited higher numbers, and the government reports security personnel have also been killed.

Many of the deaths have occurred in and around Daraa, where heavy firing could be heard Thursday and smoke was seen rising from homes, mosques and schools.

Hundreds of snipers were stationed on the roofs of several buildings and security forces were shelling the city with mortars and anti-aircraft weapons, a witness said.

One witness said dozens of tanks rumbled across a bridge and fired shells, as people hurled rocks at the tanks and tried to stop them from moving into the old part of the city. Another witness said security forces making mass arrests detained a large number of young men.

A resident said people were too scared to take the wounded to hospitals since the streets were filled with security forces.

Residents have gone without electricity, milk and medicine for four days, said the witness, who asked not to be named for security reasons.

CNN was not able to independently confirm the accounts.

The unrest began in Daraa in March after teens were arrested for scribbling anti-government graffiti. People protested the arrests, security forces greeted the demonstrators harshly, and that emboldened more rallies.

Protests spread to other parts of Syria, where the same dynamic played out, despite promises and gestures of reform by the regime of Bashar al-Assad.

There's been an outcry in many international quarters due to the use of force against the peaceful gatherings. Human Rights Watch Wednesday urged Arab countries to "join international efforts to establish an independent international inquiry" into the issue.

"In recent days President Bashar al-Assad's government cut off access and communications with several cities, sending in tanks and troops in an effort to crush widespread public dissent," the group said.

The U.N. Security Council debated Syria on Wednesday but failed to agree on a response to the crisis.

The situation has even made its way into the planning for Friday's royal wedding in Britain of Prince William and Kate Middleton.

The entire Syrian diplomatic corps was invited to the event as a matter of protocol, but the British Foreign Office said Thursday that Syria's ambassador to the United Kingdom is now not welcome "in the light of this week's attacks against civilians by the Syrian security forces, which we have condemned."

CNN's Raja Razek and Nada Husseini contributed to this report

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New leader picked for restive Syrian province

Protesters gathered to demonstrate against the government of Bashar al-Assad on Tuesday, April 19 in Banias.NEW: Al-Assad lifts emergency law, abolishes special courtThe president swears in a new governor of HomsThe protest takes place after the government warns against public gatherings

(CNN) -- Syria's president lifted the country's 48-year-old state of emergency Thursday, one of three expected government moves aimed at fostering stability among a discontented populace.

But human rights activists question the government's intentions to follow through on reform because of the stiff police crackdown on peaceful protests.

President Bashar al-Assad issued a decree that tosses out the emergency law, a major demand of opposition members.

He also abolished the Higher State Security Court, a special court that prosecutes people regarded as challenging the government, another measure hated by opposition forces.

Al-Assad also issued a decree "regulating the right to peaceful protest, as one of the basic human rights guaranteed by the Syrian Constitution."

The moves come two days after the country's newly formed Cabinet approved the measures. The state-run Syrian Arab News Agency, SANA, called the legislation "strategic" and "part of the country's political reform program."

Despite the changes, there've been continuing clashes and tensions between security forces and protesters, who have taken to the streets since mid-March with a variety of grievances. Scores have died in bloody confrontations.

Groups like Amnesty International have welcomed the government's moves to lift the state of emergency and abolish the "notoriously unfair" security court that the 1963 emergency law "spawned."

The emergency law permitted the government to make preventive arrests and override constitutional and penal code statutes. The law barred detainees who haven't been charged from filing court complaints or from having a lawyer present during interrogations.

But, "the concessions now being made by the government have been achieved at a very heavy cost in human lives," Malcolm Smart, Amnesty International's director for the Middle East and North Africa, said on Tuesday when the Cabinet passed the decrees.

"There must be no more slaughter. Syria's president must take firm action now to stop the bloody crackdown by his security forces and ensure that those responsible for it are held to account."

"President Bashar al-Assad should match his action in lifting the emergency by establishing an immediate independent investigation into the unlawful killings and other violations committed by his forces, and by providing reparation to the victims," Smart added.

Demonstrators are demanding other changes, such as releasing political prisoners, lifting travel bans, and the right to establish independent political parties, said Najati Tayara, an activist in Homs.

Tayara, who says he hasn't been part of the demonstrations, is the spokesman for the Homs Center for Citizenship, a movement he said was recently created by young people from different backgrounds.

The group is calling for more freedom and a multi-party system in a society now controlled by the Baath Party.

Meanwhile, a new governor of Homs was appointed by the Syrian government. Al-Assad swore in Ghassan Abdul-Aal Thursday, according to the Syrian Arab News Agency.

There have been public protests, clashes between demonstrators and security forces, arrests, and reports of deaths in the city of Homs.

On Sunday, security forces reportedly killed 17 protesters, Amnesty International said. Police arrested political activist Mahmoud Issa late Tuesday, and people were reported killed in clashes after an overnight sit-in protest earlier that day.

Tayara told CNN the situation in Homs is quiet Thursday, but he noted that demonstrations have been staged on Fridays in recent weeks. He said there's no security presence in the city but there are security forces on the outskirts of impoverished neighborhoods.

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton singled out the region Wednesday in comments to reporters about Syria. She urged the governor to end violence, stop "arbitrary arrests, detentions, and torture of prisoners" and "begin a serious political process."

"We are particularly concerned about the situation in Homs, where multiple reports suggest violence and casualties among both civilians and government personnel," she said.

Abdul-Aal succeeds Mohammed Iyad Ghazal, who was relieved from his job after protests and citizen complaints, according to the Syrian Days website.

Raman Qubani, a 31-year old political activist, told CNN about 6,500 demonstrators from all religious sects and ethnic groups rallied in Ein al-Arab, near Syria's Turkish border.

They chanted "Allah, Syria, Freedom," but did not talk about toppling the regime.

In Aleppo, Syria's largest city, authorities arrested 35 people after a protest Wednesday, a rights group reported Thursday.

The demonstrators were taken into custody at the University of Aleppo, said Ammar Qurabi of the National Organization for Human Rights.

CNN's Rima Maktabi, Arwa Damon, Salma Abdelaziz, Yousuf Basil, Nada Husseini, and Hamdi Alkhshali contributed to this report

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