"I don't know why, but we love the president very much, " said Housam Azar, a Saidnaya resident and organizer of the town's militia.

CNN: STORY HIGHLIGHTS

In 2002, in a northeastern Congo town called Kisangani, a militia killed at least 103 civilians.

WSJ: U.N. Peacekeepers at War in the Congo

But the students vowed to fight on, promising to march next on Jezzine, a town occupied by Israel's Lebanese proxy militia, the South Lebanon Army a force that is less disciplined and much more trigger-happy than its Israeli masters.

ECONOMIST: Israel��s mess in Lebanon

On June 26th a militia near Ras Lanuf, an oil-refinery town, blocked the main coastal road, demanding more seats for easterners in the national congress.

ECONOMIST: Libya��s election

In the town of Houla on May 25, the commission said, al-Assad's forces and militia allies were responsible for killing more than 100 civilians, nearly half of them children.

CNN: Organization of Islamic Cooperation suspends Syria