MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Syrian protestors torch courthouse and other government buildings

President Bashar al-Assad's, and before him his father have ruled with emergency law

Crowds have set fire to the courthouse and other buildings on a third straight day of demonstrations in the southern Syrian city of Daraa. Residents said one person was killed and scores injured when security forces used live rounds against protesters. Witnesses said dozens were also taken to be treated for tear gas inhalation at the main Omari mosque.

Thousands took to the streets on Sunday, calling for an end to corruption and 48 years of emergency law and to protest the killing of five civilians in a similar demonstration two days earlier.

The headquarters of the ruling Baath party was set ablaze as well as two phone company branches. One of the firms, Syriatel, is owned by President Bashar al-Assad's cousin Rami Makhlouf, who is under specific US sanctions for what Washington regards as public corruption.

“They burned the symbols of oppression and corruption,” an activist said. “The banks nearby were not touched.”

Allegedly protesters also tried to march on the home of the town's governor, but security forces used warning shots and tear gas to stop them.

“No. No to emergency law. We are a people infatuated with freedom,” marchers chanted as a government delegation arrived in the city to offer their condolences for victims killed on Friday.

Syrian authorities have announced that they would establish a commission to investigate the deaths. Damascus is trying to contain the unrest, to prevent it from spreading to other parts of Syria.

Friday's protest was fuelled by the arrest of 15 schoolchildren detained for writing pro-democracy graffiti inspired by the uprisings in Tunisia and Egypt. The children were arrested in Daraa earlier this month after graffiti appeared on school walls and on grain silos with phrases such as “the people want the overthrow of the regime”.

The government said in a statement on Sunday that the children would be released immediately. Daraa is primarily an agricultural community, and the economy has been hurt by falling water levels in recent years. The region also houses thousands of people who left their homes in eastern Syria because of an ongoing water crisis.