Syrians in Malta call for Bashar 'to go'

A group of about 40 Syrian men this afternoon protested in Republic Street, Valletta, calling on the international community to intervene to stop the haphazard shooting of innocent civilians in Syria.

They chanted calls for President Bashar Assad to go and carried flags of their homeland. The aim of their protests, they said, was to encourage their family and friends at home and keep up their spirits.

When they arrived in front of the law courts, the Syrians prayed for those who died in the uprising and noted that more and more people were dying every day. Food was now also becoming scarce.

On Friday, 26 people were killed and 63 injured in Damascus as the government vowed to respond with an "iron fist" to security threats.

The dead included 11 policemen.

The regime touted the attacks as proof that it is being targeted by "terrorists". But the country's opposition demanded an independent investigation, accusing forces loyal to the Syrian regime of being behind the bombing to tarnish a 10-month-old uprising against Assad.

In the hours after the bombing, Syrian troops opened fire on demonstrators holding anti-Assad sit-ins in two parts of the country, killing one and wounding at least 20.