In Syria, Activists Report Shelling of City of Homs BEIRUT, Lebanon - Activists said on Saturday that two neighborhoods in the Syrian city of Homs were shelled overnight, as the United Nations struggled to iron out the details about the rapid deployment of international observers. The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said there were no immediate reports of casualties from the shelling in Homs. The report came after Syrians by the thousands marched through the streets of cities and towns across the country on Friday, testing the tenuous cease-fire. There were scattered reports of deaths and arrests linked to the demonstrations, which had been dubbed "A Revolution for All Syrians" by local organizers nationwide. Participants admitted to feeling somewhat tentative, sticking to back streets to avoid the security forces, snipers and tanks that were used to suppress the peaceful protest movement and that remained deployed around many central squares and major crossroads. But the marches were big and exuberant enough to remind demonstrators of the mass rallies that started in March 2011 to demand the ouster of President Bashar al-Assad. "We remembered the old days when we would protest in large numbers, when the whole city would protest," said Fares, an activist in Zabadani, near Damascus, reached via Skype. In Zabadani, as in many places, residents described a heavy police presence around mosques - the weekly Friday Prayer sermons have provided the kickoff for mass demonstrations since the beginning. "We didn't gather in one point, we kept moving," Fares said, with a lookout posted near security headquarters to raise the alarm when patrol vehicles moved onto the streets. We wanted to show the world that we are adhering to our demands. He asked to be identified by only his first name to avoid government reprisals. A video uploaded onto You Tube said to have been filmed in downtown Hama showed an extensive mob clapping their hands overhead in unison while chanting "Oh God, let our victory be fast!" Another from Homs was more pointed with the crowd yelling "We want your head, Bashar!" among other slogans. Women and children appeared in some videos - they had all but disappeared under the onslaught that has left at least 9,000 dead by the United Nations" count. Syria's official news media reported mass demonstrations across the country in support of Mr. Assad. The security forces were aggressive in some places, passive in others, a patchwork difficult to gauge from afar, as were the demonstrations themselves. Multiple checkpoints around Damascus were used to prevent public transportation from entering the downtown area, and security vehicles with Kalashnikov barrels protruding from windows slowly circulated in many areas. Security officers in one such vehicle shouted at a group of worshipers emerging from a mosque to hurry home. In the suburb of Maadamiah, as the funeral of a protester shot dead on Thursday began to turn into a mass protest, security forces blocked the route to the cemetery and shot toward protesters to disperse them, said Usama, an activist reached by telephone, who also used one name for safety reasons. Activists around the country reported that some demonstrators had been tear-gassed and others had been beaten, and there were a few reports of renewed shelling. But the violence was far less than in recent months, when scores were reported killed daily under the pounding of heavy weaponry. Both the lack of international news media representatives circulating across the country and the presence of security forces on the streets contradicted the six-point peace plan negotiated by Kofi Annan, the special envoy of the United Nations and the Arab League. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported eight people killed after the demonstrations started. In addition, a lieutenant was killed and 24 other officers and a few civilians were wounded when a roadside bomb destroyed a bus in Aleppo, according to state-run news media. It also accused "armed terrorist groups" - its shorthand for all opposition - with the assassination of a local Baath Party official near the southern town of Dara'a and the shooting death of a brigadier general overnight near Damascus. Hala Droubi contributed reporting from Beirut, Alan Cowell from London, and an employee from The New York Times from Damascus, Syria.