Thousands of Syrians call for the overthrow of Assad

THOUSANDS of Syrians called for the overthrow of President Bashar al-Assad yesterday at a funeral for protesters killed by security forces in the southern town of Nawa, a witness said.

“Long live Syria. Down with Bashar!” mourners chanted during the funeral in Nawa, 25km north of the city of Deraa where demonstrations against Assad’s authoritarian rule first erupted last month.

“Leave, leave. The people want the overthrow of the regime,” they shouted.

The witness said four people were killed on Saturday in Nawa as they gathered to protest against shootings a day earlier.

At least 100 people were killed across 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 and in the central city of Homs yesterday, arresting activists.

Assad assumed power when his father died in 2000 after ruling Syria for 30 years. The hostile chants in Nawa yesterday reflect a 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 held indirect peace talks with the Jewish state.

International condemnation of Assad has intensified. Western criticism was initially muted because of lingering hopes that Assad might implement genuine reform.

“I deplore the increasing violence in Syria, and am appalled by the killing of demonstrators by Syrian security forces,” British Foreign Secretary William Hague said yesterday, advising all British nationals to leave Syria.

US President Barack Obama urged Assad on Friday to stop the “outrageous use of violence to quell protests”.

Syrian authorities, who blame the violence on armed groups, dismissed Obama’s comments.

Turkey called for “maximum self-restraint” and the continuation of reforms.

A rights campaigner said security forces shot dead at least one civilian yesterday as they deployed in the coastal town of Jabla following a pro-democracy protest the previous night.

The weekend protests stretched from the port city of Latakia to Homs, Hama, Damascus, its suburbs and southern towns. The death toll rose to around 350, with scores missing since the demonstrations broke out on March 18, rights campaigners said.

Demonstrators have been using the Internet to get out pictures of the violence, many of which have been explicit.

In a move unthinkable in Syria just five weeks ago, two Deraa lawmakers in Syria’s rubberstamp parliament resigned on Saturday to protest against the killing of protesters.