Syrian authorities make arrests following protests

BEIRUT: Syrian security agents have arrested dozens of people after thousands took to the streets throughout the country marches pro-democracy activists said Saturday.

At least seven people were killed Friday when security forces suppressed demonstrations, bringing the death toll from two weeks of protests to at least 79.

The authorities have started arresting people, mostly in and around the capital, Damascus, in the hours after the protests broke out and early Saturday, the militants said.

They asked that their names not be used for fear of reprisals.

The extraordinary wave of protests proved to be the most serious challenge to the rule of nearly five decades of Baath Arab Socialist Party, one of the most rigid regimes in the Middle East.

The government blamed Friday bloodshed "armed gangs". However, the news agency run by the government has acknowledged for the first time that Syria has been seeing gatherings of people calling for reform.

The strength of the protest movement growing is difficult to assess because Syria has restricted the access of media and journalists expelled, making it difficult to determine the extent of the protests and how many people are turning out.

Two Associated Press journalists have been ordered to leave the country on Friday, with notice of at least one hour