Reform rally disrupted in Syria

The pro-government demonstrators overwhelmed the reformist

A protest against the Syrian government in the capital, Damascus, has been disrupted by supporters of President Bashar al-Assad.

About 100 activists calling for reforms were chased away from a square by marchers wielding placards and sticks.

The protest, intended to mark 42 years since the imposition of emergency laws, came a day after a large pro-government rally in the centre of Damascus.

Syria is under intense pressure to ease its grip on political life in Lebanon.

Opposition protesters have been rallying in Beirut to demand the withdrawal of Syrian troops that have been stationed in the country since 1976.

On Tuesday, supporters of the Syrian presence in Lebanon responded with a massive demonstration in Beirut.

Pictures of Assad

Thursday's protest in Damascus was outnumbered and overwhelmed by "a flood of security agents wielding sticks and clubs", according to a rights group quoted by the Associated Press agency.

The protesters had been calling for democratic reforms, the release of political prisoners and for greater rights for the country's Kurdish minority.

Reports say they were charged by a group of about 500 government supporters, who arrived waving Syrian flags and placards bearing pictures of President Assad.

A pro-government demonstrator told Reuters news agency: "We came to tell them that the whole of Syria is behind the president."

"This is democracy. We came and they came and we are the majority."