Arab foreign ministers discuss Syria after Friday “free men” protest

Syria forces killed 10 people on Friday as they fired on rallies supporting army defectors opposed to a crackdown that the UN said has killed more than 3,000 people.

"Ten demonstrators were killed today," Rami Abdel Rahman of the London-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights told reporters. The toll included seven in Dael on the outskirts of Daraa, a flashpoint town in the south; a demonstrator in Saqba on the outskirts of Damascus, one in the Al-Qadam neighborhood of Damascus and another on the outskirts of Aleppo.

"There were massive demonstrations in several Syrian cities despite a significant deployment of security forces," Rahman said, including a rally in Deir El Zor, "the largest since military operations ended there in August. Syrians also staged demonstrations in the northwestern province of Idlib, the central region of Homs, the coastal city of Latakia and Damascus, the Observatory said.

"The free men of the army do not kill the free men of the people who are calling for their freedom," The Syrian Revolution 2011.

On the other hand, Arab foreign ministers will hold an emergency meeting on Sunday in Cairo to discuss the situation in Syria, Al-Jazeera TV reported on Friday.

Gulf Arab states on Thursday had called for an immediate meeting of Arab League states to discuss the humanitarian situation in Syria and study ways "to stop the bloodshed and machine of violence", the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) said in a statement.

Al Jazeera did not say whether the meeting would be held at the Arab League headquarters in the Egyptian capital.