Syria

The Canada Press:

Death toll hits 120 after 2 days of unrest in Syria, human rights group says

..BEIRUT - The death toll from two days of violence in Syria reached 120 Saturday as security forces fired on tens of thousands of mourners who shouted for the regime's downfall during funeral processions, a human rights group said.

The mounting death toll prompted two Syrian lawmakers to resign in disgust over the killings. More than 300 people have been killed since the uprising against autocratic President Bashar Assad began more than five weeks ago.

The lawmakers, Nasser Hariri and Khalil Rifai, are from the southern region of Daraa that unleashed the protest movement in mid-March after teenagers were arrested there for scrawling anti-regime graffiti on a wall.

"If I cannot protect the chests of my people from these treacherous strikes, then there is no meaning for me to stay in the People's Assembly. I declare my resignation," Hariri told Al-Jazeera in an interview.

The resignations were exceedingly rare in Syria, where nearly all opposition figures are either jailed or exiled.

Ammar Qurabi, the head of Syria's National Organization for Human Rights, said 112 people were killed Friday and at least eight on Saturday. Friday was by far the deadliest day of the uprising.

But the bloodshed so far has only served to invigorate protesters whose demands have snowballed from modest reforms to the downfall of Assad. 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."

The heavy security crackdown on Friday and Saturday came after Assad warned a week ago that any further unrest would be considered "sabotage" after he made the gesture of lifting long-hated emergency laws, a step he ratified on Thursday.

It was a clear sign that regime was prepared to escalate an already bloody response, with nearly 300 already dead in more than five weeks.

The increasing bloodshed has drawn international condemnation.

In Washington on Friday, President Barack Obama condemned the latest use of force by Syria against anti-government demonstrators and said the regime's "outrageous" use of violence against the protesters must "end now."

Unrest was reported Saturday in Douma, a suburb of the capital, the southern village of Izraa and the nearby village of Sheikh Miskeen. 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.
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The Age:

11 mourners shot dead as Syrians bury their dead
April 24, 2011 - 12:34AM

At least 11 mourners were shot dead on Saturday as Syrians swarmed the streets to bury scores of demonstrators killed in massive protests and two MPs resigned in frustration at the bloodshed.

Activists said the death toll from Friday's nationwide protests could top 100, pending confirmation of a list of names, and expected fresh protests to form after the funerals.

Two independent MPs from the protest hub city of Daraa, Nasser al-Hariri and Khalil al-Rifai, on Saturday told Al-Jazeera television they were quitting parliament in frustration at not being able to protect their constituents.

Friday's deaths signalled no let-up from President Bashar al-Assad, whose forces used live ammunition and tear gas against demonstrators nationwide, witnesses and activists told AFP.

The bloodshed erupted as tens of thousands of demonstrators took to the streets for "Good Friday" protests to test long sought-after freedoms a day after Assad scrapped decades of draconian emergency rule.

The Syrian Revolution 2011, a driving force behind the protests, marked the tone on Saturday by posting on its main Facebook page a black banner with the word "Mourning" in English and Arabic.

It came as tens of thousands of mourners packed buses and headed for the southern town of Ezreh for the funerals of 18 people killed the previous day, a rights activist told AFP by telephone.

Another activist later said "12 martyrs were buried in Ezreh" and that two men -- Yasser Nseirat and Jamal Qanbar -- who were part of the funeral cortege heading for the town were shot dead by security forces.

Other activists spoke of five mourners killed in Ezreh and outside a hospital in Daraa, with the toll expected to rise.

"More than 150 buses left from Daraa and neighbouring villages to attend the funerals of 18 martyrs killed Friday in Ezreh," in Daraa province, an activist requesting anonymity said.

Daraa has been an epicentre of protests against the regime of Assad, who also scrapped the feared state security court on Thursday and signed a decree "to regulate" peaceful protests in the autocratic country.

Snipers also pinned down mourners in the northern Damascus suburb of Douma, killing at least five people on Saturday, a witness and a human rights activist there told AFP.

They opened fire from roof-tops as mourners marched from a local mosque to a cemetery, the sources said, adding that tens of thousands of people took part in the procession.

Activists also reported at least one person shot dead by security forces in the Barzeh district of Damascus.

A group called the Committee of Martyrs of 15 March Revolution issued a list of 82 names of people killed on Friday, but said the toll from the "massacre" could reach 100 as it tried to confirm more deaths.

Amnesty International, citing Syrian activists, said at least 75 people were killed when the "government launched its deadliest crackdown yet on demonstrators" seeking reform.

Friday's toll compared with killings on March 23 in the southern town of Daraa, when activists said 100 people died, Amnesty said.

The largest number of people were killed in Ezreh outside Daraa, and activists expected Saturday's funerals to be followed by a "huge rally against the regime."

Officially, Syria has blamed "armed gangs" for Friday's bloodshed, and state-run SANA news agency said security forces intervened using only tear gas and water cannon to prevent clashes between protesters and passers-by.

Eight people were killed on Friday in Ezreh and 20 others wounded "including security forces in an attack by criminal gangs," SANA said, adding that two policemen had died in Damascus and the central city of Homs.

The violent crackdown drew an international outcry.

Russia, Italy and Greece joined the chorus of condemnation from Washington, Paris, London, Brussels and UN headquarters in New York.

US President Barack Obama blasted Syria's "outrageous" use of violence, accusing Assad's regime of seeking Iran's aid in the brutal crackdown on the pro-democracy movement that erupted in Damascus on March 15.

"Instead of listening to their own people, President Assad is blaming outsiders while seeking Iranian assistance in repressing Syria's citizens through the same brutal tactics that have been used by his Iranian allies."

But a senior official in Damascus, quoted on SANA, rejected the charges, saying Obama's condemnation was "not based on an objective vision of the reality on the ground."

Iran also denied any involvement in putting down the protests.

UN chief Ban Ki-moon said Assad's government must "respect international human rights" and called for an independent probe into the killings, as France urged Syria to launch a "political dialogue without delay."

Russia, the first of Syria's allies to speak out, urged Damascus to accelerate "broad-scale political, social and economic reforms," saying Moscow views Damascus as its "friend."

Thousands of protesters chanting "freedom, freedom," and calling for the fall of the regime swarmed cities across Syria on Friday from Qamishli in the northeast to Daraa, witnesses said.

Protesters have said the decrees issued on Thursday were insufficient, insisting on the release of political prisoners and dissolution of Syria's security apparatus.

Asia One:

Two Syrian MPs quit parliament over bloodshed
AFP

DAMASCUS - Two Syrian MPs from the protest hub city of Daraa on Saturday told Al-Jazeera television they were quitting parliament in protest at the bloodshed in their country.

"I announce my resignation from parliament," Khalil al-Rifai, a deputy from the southern city said in remarks broadcast by Al-Jazeera.

The satellite channel said he became the second MP from Daraa to quit after Nasser al-Hariri, who earlier announced his resignation also on Al-Jazeera, saying he was frustrated because he could not protect his constituents.

Rifai echoed the sentiment, saying he could not "protect the people who brought me to parliament."

"I urge the president to intervene immediately," said Rifai, who became the first MP to quit since anti-regime protests in the country erupted on March 15.

At least eight people were killed on Saturday in Syria, activists and witnesses said, as tens of thousands took to the streets again to bury scores of people killed in massive anti-regime protests the previous day.

Many of those killed Friday and Saturday fell in the region of Daraa, in the south of the country.