Witnesses: Syrian Forces Kill 6 In Crackdown

Syrian security forces fired on tens of thousands of mourners during funeral processions Saturday, killing at least six people following the deadliest day of the uprising against authoritarian President Bashar Assad.

The funeral processions for some 75 people killed Friday were highly charged gatherings, with people shouting slogans against the regime as they carried coffins through the streets.

Witnesses said security forces killed four people were killed in Douma, a suburb of the capital, and two in the southern village of Izraa. The witness account could not be independently confirmed because Syria has expelled journalists and restricted access to trouble spots. They spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of reprisals.

"They prevented us from continuing our way to the cemetery," said the witness in Douma, who said he was among at least 50,000 people taking part in the funerals there.

About 5,000 people were gathering near the Osman Ibin Afan mosque in Izraa, a southern village that was the scene of some of the worst violence Friday, witnesses said.

Syrian security forces fired bullets and tear gas Friday at tens of thousands of protesters across the country, in a clear sign that regime was prepared to escalate an already bloody response to more than five weeks of unrest. Some 300 people have been killed since the uprising began in mid-March.

In Washington, President Barack Obama said the violence was "outrageous" and called on Assad to obey the will of his people by giving them freedom of expression, association, peaceful assembly and the ability to choose their leaders.

Among those killed Friday were a 70-year-old man and two boys ages 7 and 10, according to Amnesty International.

The scenes of carnage were posted on the protest movement's main Facebook page.

In Izraa, a man ran through the streets carrying the body of a young boy, whose hair was matted with blood from a gaping wound on his head, as another child wept and shouted, "My brother!"

Six Syrian human rights groups said security forces had killed 76 protesters in different parts of the country Friday. The groups, including the National Organization for Human Rights in Syria, called on the government to set up a judicial investigation committee to try those who shot at protesters and to release all political detainees.

The highest tolls were in the central city of Homs, where 19 people were killed, and in Izraa, where 18 were shot dead, the human rights groups said.

The bloodshed so far has only served to invigorate protesters whose demands have snowballed from modest reforms to the downfall of the 40-year Assad family dynasty. Each Friday, growing numbers of people in multiple cities have taken to the streets despite the near certainty that they would come under swift attack from security forces and shadowy pro-government gunmen known as "shabiha."

Besides the government crackdown, Assad has been trying to defuse the protests by offering a series of concessions, granting citizenship to thousands among Syria's long-ostracized Kurdish minority, firing local officials, releasing detainees and forming a new government. The recent lifting of emergency laws ? which gave authorities almost boundless powers of surveillance and arrest ? had been a top demand.

But many protesters said the concessions have come too late ? and that Assad does not even deserve the credit, because the protest movement is forcing his hand.

Source: http://www.npr.org/2011/04/23/135653166/thousands-of-syrians-gather-ahead-of-funerals?ft=1&f=1009

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