The news of a security clampdown by Syrian troops in Homs ahead of planned protests Friday quickly spread to Lebanon and was a cause for concern for many Syrians who call the central city home. "It just give me heartache to hear that our own army is seizing Homs and firing at people and arresting them," said Rami, 22, who is originally from Homs, but now studying at a university in Beirut.
"By using more violence the regime is losing the trust and support of people," Rami dpa. He asked that his real name not be used. Homs has been a flashpoint for mass protests against the government of President Bashar al-Assad since March.
More than 1,400 people have been killed by security forces since the protests began in Syria on March 15, according to human rights groups. But the numbers are difficult to verify as the government has barred the entry of most foreign media and international human rights groups.
"Day by day people are losing trust in their president. When the uprising started people were calling for reforms, now they are calling for the ouster of Assad," Rami said.
"I come from a wealthy family and we always had faith in this young president (Assad) who came to power and promised us reforms," Rami said, adding that he believed al-Assad wants to implement reforms, but had limited authority to do so.
The president was caught at a crossroads, Rami explained. "He wants to impose the reforms he promised the people, but some people within his own political system do not want them."
But without the reforms "the streets will continue to boil," he said. If more blood is spilled, it will never be stopped, he warned. Another Syrian student who identified himself as Shadi, and also comes from Homs, told dpa: "I think it's a critical point for Syria now. If the regime falls, I don't think it's to the benefit of anyone and Syria will be in chaos."
If this regime were ousted, Syria's different sects and tribes would start fighting each other, he said, in order to rule the country.
"I prefer stability to freedom, but if the regime continues to use force Syria will be heading to the unknown," Shadi said. "Maybe, I should say, I am deceived by the way Bashar al-Assad, who came to power in 2000 after his father, then president Hafez al-Assad died, is handling the current situation in Syria," he said.
"When he came to power, he gave us the impression that not just economic reforms will be implemented in the country but also political reforms (were) on his mind," Shadi said.
In a speech on June 20, al-Assad offered a raft of reforms: A new electoral law, a commitment to root out corruption, media reform, reform of municipal government, and the launch of a national dialogue.
A Syrian activist living in Beirut, who also did not want to be identified for fear of reprisal, told dpa, he doubted that the political reforms currently up for discussion will be implemented because "they will result in destroying the pillars upon which the ruling Baath regime was built in Syria."
He added, "Political reforms can never be possible while your own people are being killed in the streets (by) the hands of the army."