Thousands of Syrians called for the overthrow of President Bashar al-Assad on Sunday at a funeral for protesters killed by security forces in the southern town of Nawa, a witness said. "Long live Syria. Down with Bashar!" the mourners chanted, their calls audible in a telephone call during the funeral. "Leave, leave. The people want the overthrow of the regime".
The witness said four people were killed on Saturday in Nawa, about 25 km (15 miles) north of the city of Deraa where demonstrations against Assad's authoritarian rule first erupted, when they gathered to protest earlier shootings. At least 100 people were killed in Syria on Friday, the highest toll in five weeks of unrest, when security forces shot protesters demanding political freedoms and an end to corruption in their country, ruled for 41 years by the Assad dynasty.
Activists described Friday's killings as a turning point which exposed the hollowness of Assad's announcement that he was lifting a 48-year state of emergency and abolishing a hated state security court.
At least 12 more people were killed on Saturday at mass funerals for the slain protesters, and rights campaigners said secret police raided homes near Damascus just after midnight on Sunday, arresting activists in the area. Assad assumed power when his father died in 2000 after ruling Syria for 30 years. The hostile chants in Nawa on Sunday reflect a steady hardening of the demands of protesters who first called for greater freedoms but now seek his overthrow.
Despite deepening his father Hafez al-Assad's anti-Israel alliance with Iran, clawing back Syrian influence in Lebanon and backing militant groups Hezbollah and Hamas, Assad has kept Syria's front line with Israel quiet and held indirect peace talks with the Jewish state.
International condemnation of Assad has also intensified. Western criticism was initially muted because of lingering hopes that Assad might implement genuine reform and because revolution in Syria would reshape the political map in the Middle East.
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