DAMASCUS, Syria, April 1 (UPI) -- Syrian sources said there were no clashes between demonstrators and security forces after Friday prayers, though witnesses reported gunfire in Damascus.
Syrian forces prepared for a Day of Rage after Friday prayers. Syrian revolutionaries using social networking Internet sites called on "every citizen and every free man" to take to the streets for freedom, al-Jazeera reports.
The official Syrian Arab News Agency acknowledged there were gatherings reported in parts of the country. Protesters in Daraa, the scene of violent clashes last week, chanted slogans in support of accelerated national reforms.
"SANA reporters mentioned that no clashes took place between the prayers and the security forces," the news agency said.
Police reportedly used live fire against protesters gathered in a suburb of Damascus and one person was allegedly struck in the head by a rubber bullet, CNN reports. Witnesses told the news agency that police had blocked off the city center.
Syrian President Bashar Assad was expected to unveil a series of reforms in a speech Wednesday but offered only veiled remarks on the demands of the people. A national committee was formed, however, that was tasked with studying lifting a state of emergency in place since 1963.
The U.S. State Department announced it was calling in U.S. citizens to avoid non-essential travel to Syrian and Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., chairman of the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations, said any violence targeting peaceful demonstrators was "unacceptable."
