Residents said the Syrian army deployed on Monday at the entrances to the southern city of Deraa at a time when government officials tried to calm the situation in the wake of protests demanding freedom. Five civilians were killed during the protests.
The locals said Monday that soldiers set up checkpoints at the entrances to as the Syrian Minister of Justice arrived in the City Council.
Thousands of mourners attending the funerals on Sunday chanted slogans demanding political freedom and an end to corruption.
Meanwhile, the Beirut-based al Akhbar newspaper said that caretaker PM Saad Hariri's Future Movement is involved in funding the riots in Syria. According to the newspaper, figures close to Hariri from the north of Lebanon and the Bekaa have been financing activities which are aimed to stir controversy over Hizbullah in Syria.
It said there are rumors that three young Syrian men admitted they had received money from the Future Movement activists as well as posters of Hizbullah chief Hassan Nasrallah. They were asked to burn these posters during a rally which was due to be held in Syria, near the border with Lebanon. "
