Thousands of Syrians attending the funerals of pro-democracy protesters called on Sunday for the removal of President Bashar al-Assad, witnesses said, in the latest outburst against his rule.
"The people want the overthrow of the regime," mourners chanted as they streamed out of the Big Mosque in the Damascus suburb of Saqba, according to one of the witnesses. The slogan echoed the rallying cry of uprisings in Tunisia and Egypt this year which swept out two of the most entrenched rulers in the Arab world. Assad has largely dismissed the protests as part of a foreign-backed conspiracy to sow sectarian strife in Syria.
Syrian authorities blame most of the upheaval on "armed saboteur groups", backed by Islamists and foreign powers, who they say have killed more than 120 soldiers and police. On Sunday, witnesses said mourners at Nour Mosque in the central city of Homs shouted "Leave, leave," at the funeral of six out of 11 people that rights groups said were killed by security services on Saturday.
"The shooting was in cold blood. People were streaming peacefully out of the cemetery," a resident of Homs said. In Saqba, a witness told Reuters by phone that mourners also chanted the name of "Martyr Ziad al-Qadi", reportedly killed when security forces fired live rounds at a demonstration in the suburb on Saturday. "A large demonstration (on Saturday) calling for the overthrow of the regime had been going on since the afternoon. It felt like the whole of Saqba took to the streets. Security forces entered in the evening and started firing," he said.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, which is based in Britain, said it had the names of 863 civilians who had been killed in shootings by security forces since the pro-democracy uprising erupted 10 weeks ago.
Syria has barred most international media since the protests broke out two months ago, making it difficult to verify accounts of the violence.
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