LEAD: Sixteen reported killed in Syria amid protesters' defiance

Nov 6, 2011, 15:17 GMT

Cairo-At least 16 civilians were killed Sunday by Syrian security forces as protesters defied government violence and took to the streets on the first day of the Muslim festival Eid al-Adha, according to an opposition group.

The renewed violence prompted the Arab League to call for another emergency meeting on Syria for November 12.

Eleven deaths occurred in the central province of Homs, said the General Syrian Revolution Committee (GSRC)

Homs, a focal point in the protests against the regime of President Bashar al-Assad, has been for weeks the target of a violent government crackdown, say opposition activists.

Five others were killed Sunday in the central city of Hama and the province of Idlib near the border with Turkey, added the GSRC.

Following Eid prayers, pro-democracy protesters demonstrated in several Syrian areas, demanding al-Assad's ouster, said opposition activists.

Footage posted on the internet Sunday showed what opposition claimed were demonstrators chanting against al-Assad in the al-Qaboon district of the capital Damascus.

An unspecified number of the demonstrators were injured when police and pro-government militiamen lobbed tear gas and fired on them, said the activists.

Security personnel allegedly encircled major mosques in some Syrian cities to prevent worshipers from joining anti-government protests.

Political prisoners, meanwhile, started an open-ended hunger strike to protest the Syrian government's failure to release them under an Arab League to end the unrest in the country.

It is hard to verify news from Syria as authorities have barred foreign media from the country.

In light of the renewed violence, the Arab League said it was to hold another emergency meeting on Syria next weekend.

The meeting is to be held in Cairo on Saturday, November 12, upon a request from Qatar, which heads an Arab League committee on Syria, to discuss the situation in the country, added the organization in a statement.

'Qatari Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Hamed bin Jassim today invited the Arab foreign ministers for the meeting in view of continued violence and the Syrian government's failure to implement its commitments under the Arab plan to solve the crisis in Syria,' said the statement.

Damascus accepted the plan at an emergency meeting in Cairo on Wednesday.

The plan foresees a complete halt to the violence, the release of detained protesters, and foreign media access to the country.

More than 3,000 people, including at least 187 children, have been killed in Syria since pro-democracy protests started in mid-March.