Russia, already facing international ire over its brazen support for the Syrian regime's crackdown on protesters, Friday chose to up its stakes in the year-long crisis by deciding to keep a permanent naval presence off Syria's coast. The naval presence is to match the growing number of Western warships monitoring the crisis, a top defense official said. “A decision has been taken to keep Russian navy ships permanently stationed near Syria's coast,” the RIA Novosti state news agency quoted a senior defense ministry official as saying. The unnamed source said the move was taken in response to the growing number of US warships in the region as well as those from European naval powers Britain and France. The defense source said several Russian warships — including those capable of landing ground forces in Syria — were now being prepared for Mediterranean Sea missions. The next warship sent to the region “could be the destroyer escort Pytlivy or one of the big amphibious assault ships,” the Russian defense official said. The Russian move comes during a fragile ceasefire in Syria, which buys Russian weapons and has been shielded from UN Security Council condemnation over its bloody clampdown on its opponents by Russian vetoes. Meanwhile, Syrian demonstrators took to the streets on Friday after opposition and activist calls for mass protests to challenge the commitment of President Bashar Al-Assad's government to a UN-backed ceasefire. Protesters staged a rally at Qadam district in Damascus, while another protest broke out in the town of Irbin, outside the capital, according to videos posted by activists on the Internet. In the eastern city of Deir Ezzor, protesters chanted “Freedom forever, against your wishes Assad,” according to the Local Coordination Committees activist group, which described the rally as the “largest in months.” Protests also took place in the northern city of Aleppo, as well as Zabadani and Douma in Damascus province, and Daraa, cradle of the uprising in the south. Activists urged Syrians from all religions and political movements and those who are “hesitant” to take to the streets. “Today, no one is excused, because it is a day for all Syrians,” said a posting on the Facebook page of The Syrian Revolution 2011 activist group, an engine of the uprising. The umbrella opposition Syrian National Council urged people to take advantage of the ceasefire to demonstrate against the Assad regime. “We call on the people to demonstrate and express themselves... The right to demonstrate is a principle point of the plan” of Annan, SNC chief Burhan Ghalioun said.
