Syrian policeman killed in unrest: SANA

DAMASCUS: A Syrian policeman was killed when violence flared during an anti regime demonstration in the central city of Homs on Friday, SANA news agency reported.

"The policeman was killed during a demonstration in Homs after Friday prayers. He was beaten with sticks and stones," the official agency reported on Saturday, adding he would be buried later in the day.

Tens of thousands of people staged pro-democracy protests across Syria on Friday calling for greater freedoms.

In the industrial city of Homs, baton-wielding police waded into a crowd of around 4,000 people who started demonstrating after weekly Muslim prayers and chanted "freedom, freedom," a political activist said.