And Assad's killing goes on; 20 deaths on Friday.

Homs on Friday 1 November. The protesters carry the green/white/black Syrian flag from the pre-Baath period. (Reuters)

 Syrian security forces killed 20 people on Friday and protesters called on the Arab League to suspend Damascus's membership in response to continued violence, activists said.

Activists in Homs, which has suffered the highest death toll of any Syrian province since an uprising against President Bashar al-Assad broke out in March, said security forces killed nine civilians and one defecting soldier.

The other fatalities were in Hama, the old Roman city of Busra al-Sham in the southern Hauran Plain and in the northern province of Idlib, they said.

 The official news agency said "armed terrorist groups" killed two security police and four civilians in the provinces of Homs, Hama and Idlib and explosive devices were dismantled in several areas across the country.

In Homs on Friday, protesters waved the green, white and black flag used by Syria before the Baath Party seized power nearly 50 years go. "Proud Homs!" they shouted.

A YouTube video purportedly showed several teenagers in Busra al-Sham -- some throwing stones, others chanting "Bashar you are betraying your people" -- coming under automatic fire.

Another YouTube clip showed a boy lying on the asphalt with a blood-stained chest, murmuring as his friends urged him to say "There is no god but God," as a last rite.