Syrian security men seized dozens of people who staged a brief pro-democracy march in Damascus Friday, March 25, as protests that have flared in the south inspired support in the capital.

But a day after President Bashar al-Assad, scion of half a century of Baathist rule, offered to consider granting political freedoms, thousands marched freely in the southern city of Deraa behind the coffins of protesters gunned down by Assad's forces.

"Freedom is ringing out!" chanted mourners for some of at least 37 people killed Wednesday, when security agents broke up a pro-democracy encampment at a mosque in Deraa.

Despite a continued heavy security presence in Deraa, close to the Jordanian border, thousands of protesters were arriving in the city from nearby villages, offering support to a movement which has tried to emulate Arab uprisings in Tunisia and Egypt.

Unrest in Deraa came to a head this week after police detained more than a dozen schoolchildren for writing graffiti against the government. In Damascus, a couple of protests by a few dozen people shouting slogans were broken up last week.

Friday, some 200 people shouted chants in support of the people in the south -- "We sacrifice our blood, our soul, for you Deraa!" - before plainclothes police and other security officers moved in to arrest them. Several hundred people yelled pro-government slogans nearby, close to Damascus's Old City, Reuters reports.