The Syrian opposition has called for a general strike on Wednesday as the government denied reports that it has been burying anti-government protesters in mass graves, Aljazeera reported.
“Wednesday will be a day of punishment for the regime by the revolutionaries and the people of free will,” the Syrian Revolution 2011 opposition group said on its website.
“Let’s transform this Wednesday into a Friday (the regular day for protests), with mass protests, no schools, no universities, no stores or restaurants open and even no taxis.”
The U.S. and the EU said on Tuesday they were planning further sanctions against Syria over its brutal crackdown on pro-democracy protests.
EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton said more than 850 people, including women and children, have been killed in the unrest and at least 8,000 arrested.
Syrian villagers said on Monday they pulled 13 bodies, four of them children, from a meter-deep pit near the southern city of Daraa.
Deraa was the focus of pro-democracy protests against the regime of President Bashar al-Assad until troops backed by tanks moved in last month. Deraa residents say hundreds of people were killed or went missing in the crackdown.
The Syrian government has dismissed reports of a mass grave as “completely untrue” and part of a “campaign of incitement.”
MOSCOW, May 18 (RIA Novosti)