Syrian President Bashar al-Assad has been under pressure in recent weeks as anti-government protests have spread.
STORY HIGHLIGHTS
- State TV: Syria’s president appoints Adel Safar as prime minister
- Angry protesters gather in a Damascus suburb
- Funeral processions for four killed in unrest Friday are due after midday prayers
- The anti-regime demonstrations have resulted in a wave of arrests
(CNN) — Syria’s president appointed a new prime minister Sunday, state television reported, as angry protesters gathered for the funeral processions of four demonstrators killed on Friday.
President Bashar al-Assad appointed Adel Safar, a former agriculture minister, as prime minister Sunday.
The government resigned last week in the face of protests.
On Sunday angry protesters in the Damascus suburb of Douma chanted anti-government slogans as they gathered for processions expected to start after noon prayers, according to a human rights activist who asked not to be named for security reasons. The processions are for the four people killed in Friday clashes.
At least 10 people, nine of them in Douma, were killed on Friday, according to human rights activists.
Another person was killed in Al Sanameen near Daraa.
The anti-regime demonstrations pulsating across Syria resulted in a security hunt for armed snipers and a wave of arrests Saturday.
Syrian security forces were searching for members of an “armed group” that killed “a number of citizens and security forces” in Douma on Friday, the Syrian Arab News Agency reported on Saturday.
SANA reported that a girl was killed when the armed group opened fire on civilians in the city of Homs.
The agency cited an official source as saying that snipers from the group fired at citizens and security forces from rooftops.
“Security forces are pursuing the members of the armed group that terrorized the citizens through firing randomly,” SANA reported, citing the source without identifying the official or the alleged armed group.
Activists and witnesses dispute the government account, telling CNN that government snipers fired shots at unarmed protesters and government forces beat demonstrators.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said security forces in the volatile southern city of Daraa and in Homs arrested about 20 people on Saturday after demonstrations the day before.
Along with the protests in Douma, Daraa, Homs, and Al Sanameen, people also took to the streets in Latakia, Baniyas and Kamishli on Friday, activists told CNN.
Before Friday’s fighting, dozens of people were killed in the last two weeks across Syria, with many deaths reported in the southern city of Daraa, where popular demonstrations started, and the coastal city of Latakia, activists say.
CNN’s Yousuf Basil and Caroline Faraj contributed to this report.
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