A small taste of freedom in one part of Syria
In Syria, no place is safe as the Assad regime tries to crush the freedom movement. On Friday, there were street battles in Damascus. And in Syria's largest city, Aleppo, two suicide bombers hit government security compounds, leaving 28 people dead. The rebels and the Syrian government blame each other for the attack.
In the city of Homs, rockets and mortars have been raining down since Saturday, the day Russia and China vetoed a U.N. peace proposal.
Syria's dictatorship has banned independent reporting. But CBS News correspondent Clarissa Ward is with the rebels in northern Syria where Friday was the Islamic Sabbath.
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Across Syria, Friday is a day for prayer and protest. As they emerged from the mosque, the faithful called out for God to help them win their freedom.
Young boys led the chants. "We need a God-fearing president!" one boy cried.
From their neighborhoods, they marched together into the main square, part of an area known as the "free zone," where government forces have been pushed out.
After days of fighting and mourning, Friday offered a rare moment of relief. The rebels have managed to carve out a small enclave so that the people of this city can come out here without fear and celebrate what they this uprising is really all about: Freedom.
"We need freedom, we need freedom!" women chanted.
They burned photographs of the leaders of Russia and China, supporters of Assad's regime throughout its brutal crackdown. They pledged their support to the people of the city of Homs.
"With our soul and our blood," they swore. "We will avenge Homs." One person told Ward that all of the people of Syria are together as one.
As word spread that American journalists were present, Ward and her crew swarmed. Everyone had a story of loved ones lost.
"I want my brother, who [was] arrested and I don't know ... where is he now. Maybe he die, maybe he killed. I don't where is he," one woman, speaking in English, told Ward.
The woman handed Ward white balloons -- each one scrawled with the name of someone who has been killed during this uprising.
The fight in Syria is far from over. This city is surrounded on all sides by tanks and soldiers who could attack these people at any time. Yet in this square, the war seemed a little further away.
Pelley asked Ward what were some of the stories people from the square had told her.
"It was so striking," she said. "Almost every single person had a story they were so desperate to tell. Many people were carrying photographs of people in their family who were killed, other people telling us stories of husbands and brothers who have gone missing, who had been sent to prison. They haven't' heard from them in weeks. And they were just so desperate to get their message out there and they also so grateful for the opportunity to finally do so. So many people saying to us, 'Thank you so much for being here. We want the world to know what is going on in Syria and to see how we are suffering.'"
