Protests have erupted in several Syrian cities despite the deployment of large numbers of troops, witnesses say.
Thousands of protesters clashed with security forces outside a mosque in central Damascus after Friday prayers.
More than 500 people are thought to have been killed in seven weeks as the government attempts to quell protests.
At least 2,500 people have been detained during the violent crackdown, which the US has described as "barbaric".
Protesters had vowed to make Friday a "day of defiance".
The European Union is to impose travel bans and asset freezes on 14 senior Syrian figures, EU officials say. The sanctions will come into force later this month.
The EU put Syria under an arms embargo last month.
Meanwhile, the UN says Syria has agreed to allow UN humanitarian teams into the country.
Stones and bullets In Friday's protests, five people were killed during a demonstration in Homs, Syria's third city and scene of a bloody crackdown last month, and one in Hama, which lies to the north, activists said.
"Five bodies were picked up in the Bab al-Sibaa area [of Homs]. There are scores of injured protesters," one told the Reuters news agency.
Prominent dissident Riyad Sayf - who has spent years in prison since President Bashar al-Assad came to power - was arrested, activists said.
There were reports of other protests, including in the Damascus suburb of Saqba, the town of Tal, north of the capital, and Baniyas.
In Tal, witnesses told Reuters news agency that security forces had fired at protesters.
Earlier, troops - including tanks - were deployed in a number of cities and towns in anticipation of renewed protests.
Numerous checkpoints were set up in Damascus and elsewhere, witnesses say. A heavy troop presence was reported in Homs, nearby Rastan, and the coastal city of Baniyas.
Hundreds of families were said to be fleeing Baniyas, fearing the city - like Deraa - could come under siege.
"It looks like they are preparing to attack the town, like they did in Deraa," one activist told the AFP news agency by telephone from the town.
Challenge to Assad Across Syria, protesters are calling for greater political rights and personal freedoms. Some are calling for the downfall of the regime of President Assad.
The unrest in Syria poses the most serious challenge to Mr Assad since he succeeded his father, Hafez, in 2000.
But one doctor, who planned to join those demonstrating, said the "indiscriminate killings and inhumane arrests have generated total disgust among the average Syrian".
"Soldiers with rifles no longer deter people. The propaganda that this regime is the only guarantor of stability no longer washes," he was quoted as telling the Reuters news agency.
Appeals A Red Cross team has arrived in Deraa carrying medical supplies and humanitarian aid.
The head of the Damascus office of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) said Deraa "is a priority for us, because it is the city that has been hardest hit by the ongoing violence".
A UN humanitarian team is also expected to visit the city, following an appeal to President Assad by UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon.
In Washington, state department spokesman Mark Toner said the US continued to "press Assad's regime to desist in its violent behaviour".
"We abhor the violence there," he told reporters.
"I think I called it barbaric, the measures that were taken the other day against the citizens of Deraa, and we urge Syria to end these kinds of actions against innocent civilians who are simply expressing their aspirations for a democratic future."
The Damascus Centre for Human Rights Studies (DCHRS) labelled the killings in Deraa a "massacre", saying snipers and anti-aircraft machine guns had been used to fire on unarmed civilians. Recent amateur video appeared to show dozens of unarmed protesters being shot and bleeding to death on the streets.
The Syrian government says it is taking action against "elements of terrorist groups... to restore security, peace and stability".
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