By Bassem Mroue,Zeina Karam, The Associated Press | The Canadian Press

BEIRUT - Tens of thousands of protesters calling for the ouster of
President Bashar Assad's regime took to the streets throughout Syria
Friday, urging fellow citizens who have remained on the sidelines to
join them and warning those who are hesitant that they are indirectly
helping security forces kill more protesters.

Syrian troops trying to sweep them from the streets fired live
ammunition and tear gas, killing at least four demonstrators, activists
said.

The protests, which have become a weekly ritual after Friday's Muslim
prayer services, came hours after a bomb blast struck a major oil
pipeline in western Syria, causing oil to spill into a nearby lake.
State television called the explosion a terrorist attack by a group of
"saboteurs."

Opposition groups dubbed Friday's protests "Your silence is killing us"
in an attempt to mobilize sections of the population that have not yet
joined the protests and Arab leaders who remain silent on the crackdown
against Syria's uprising.

Friday's call reflected activists' disappointment at large sectors of
the population who have remained on the sidelines, robbing them of
enough momentum to form a serious threat to Assad's regime.

Since the uprising began in mid-March, the protests have been taking
place in relatively poor areas. The opposition has yet to bring out the
middle and upper middle classes in Damascus and Aleppo, the country's
two largest cities and economic powerhouses.

The wealthier classes have too much to lose from prolonged instability
and fear the downfall of the regime could lead to an even worse situation.

Authorities have waged a brutal crackdown that has killed more than
1,600 civilians since the protests began in mid-March, activists say.
Assad's government has sought to discredit those behind the protests by
saying they are terrorists and foreign extremists, rather than true
reform-seekers.

"These classes are for sure not happy with what the regime and its
security agencies are doing," said Omar Idilbi, a spokesman for the
Local Coordination Committees, which track the protests in Syria. "If
they are worried about the future they should come and take part in
making change. They should take part in the making of Syria's future."

The London-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said troops shot
dead four people in the coastal city of Latakia, the southern province
of Daraa, the western village of Moah and the eastern city of Deir
el-Zour. The Local Coordination Committees put the death toll at 10.

Also Friday, troops beat up protesters in the northwestern coastal town
of Banias and fired tear gas in several other locations. There were also
marches in the countryside around Damascus despite an intense crackdown
there in the past few days.

The scale of the bloodshed has prompted some soldiers to defect to the
anti-government side and even turn on their fellow soldiers, according
to witness accounts.

One such fight took place Thursday and Friday in Deir el-Zour, an
activist living there said. Tanks and troops moved into neighbourhoods
where anti-regime protests were common, and some soldiers among the 7th
Battalion of the 137th Brigade defected and clashes with loyal soldiers,
the activist said, speaking on condition of anonymity for fear of reprisals.

Security forces there shot dead at least three civilians after residents
tried to stop the troops' advance by placing roadblocks and stones in
their path, according to several rights groups. The Deir el-Zour
activist put the number of dead as high as seven.

Last week, Assad had fired and replaced the governor of Deir el-Zour
after massive anti-government demonstrations in the area.

The regime has banned nearly all foreign media and restricted coverage
of the uprising, making it nearly impossible to independently verify
events on the ground.

The pipeline explosion was the second incident to cause damage to an oil
line in a month and the second time this week that authorities accused
saboteurs of striking key infrastructure.

The pipeline carries crude from the oil fields in Deir el-Zour to a
refinery in Banias, the main point of export for Syrian oil.

State TV said the blast hit near the western town of Talkalakh near the
Tal Hosh dam, and left a 33-foot (10-meter) deep crater. The TV said the
"terrorist attack sought to cause oil to leak into the dam's waters in
order to damage agricultural crops in the area."

Oil Minister Sufian Allaw said 1,500 barrels of crude oil leaked from
the pipeline into the water. He told The Associated Press that the
pumping of oil was transferred to another pipeline without interruption
in the flow.

The area of Friday's blast, Talkalakh, is an opposition stronghold near
the border with Lebanon that was overrun by army tank units, security
forces and pro-regime gunmen in May after weeks of protests calling for
the president's ouster. Rights activists say around 35 people died in
the crackdown in Talkalakh.

Syria's oil exports are among the main earners of foreign currency for
the government, especially now that the uprising has hit the tourism
industry. Last year, tourism accounted for roughly 12 per cent of GDP
and brought in $8 billion in hard currency.

Syria produces about 350,000 barrels of oil per day as well as natural gas.

On July 13, a blast and a fire struck a natural gas pipeline in eastern
Syria. Some rights groups said it was an attack but the Oil Ministry
denied any explosion and said a fire erupted on a pipeline that was
under maintenance.

And last Saturday, authorities said saboteurs tied to the country's
uprising caused a passenger train to derail in central Syria, but
opposition figures dismissed the accusation.

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