FRI 29 - 3 - 2024
 
Date: Apr 4, 2011
Source: The Daily Star
Thousands march in mourning in Syria

Monday, April 04, 2011


DAMASCUS: Thousands of Syrians marched through a Damascus suburb Sunday in mourning for those killed in recent protests, as the president appointed a former agriculture minister to form a new government as part of limited efforts to appease those calling for sweeping political change.
Human rights groups and activists say at least 10 people were killed during protests Friday in Douma, just outside the Syrian capital, and in nearby areas.


A witness told the Associated Press Sunday that thousands of people gathered for prayers before the funeral of eight of the victims at Douma’s Grand Mosque, which was at the center of Friday’s protests.
The crowds shouted “We want Freedom” and “Douma and Daraa, one hand,” in a reference to the drought-stricken and impoverished city in the south, where Syria’s protests began on March 18.


“The town is in mourning, all the shops are shut,” Muntaha al-Atrash, spokeswoman of the Syrian rights group Sawasiya (“Equal”), told AFP, adding that “at least 20,000” came to the Douma funerals, which passed off peacefully. “Protests will continue. The people will not stay silent any longer because the barrier of fear has been broken.”


The witness told AP the two other people killed in areas near Douma were also buried Sunday. All the coffins were draped with Syrian flags, he added. He said there was no sign of security forces in Douma Sunday.


President Bashar Assad named Adel Safar, agriculture minister in the government which resigned last week, to form a new Cabinet. Safar is seen as a respectable figure in a government that many had accused of corruption.
Under his watch at the Agriculture Ministry a water crisis that experts largely attribute to corruption and mismanagement intensified and led to the displacement of hundreds of thousands of people. Syria became a net grain importer.

 

The 58-year-old Safar holds a doctorate in agricultural sciences from a French polytechnic center and was the dean of Damascus University’s agricultural faculty from 1997-2000. He also heads the Arab Center for Dry and Arid Areas.
Safar’s government will replace the outgoing Cabinet of Naji al-Otari, whose resignation Assad accepted Tuesday. Two days later the president made a series of limited reform pledges, including setting up committees to replace emergency law with anti-terrorism legislation, and vowing to address Kurdish grievances.


Activists said protesters had come under attack by security forces as they left the Grand Mosque, chanting slogans for freedom. The troops hit people with clubs and threw stones before firing tear gas and live ammunition.
Authorities blamed Friday’s bloodshed on “armed gangs.”


Human rights groups and witnesses said a campaign of arrests was continuing Sunday as the regime tries to quash dissent. Ammar Qurabi, who heads Syria’s National Organization for Human Rights, said at least 500 people have been arrested since protests began. A Syrian official confirmed a wave of arrests Sunday, saying authorities had arrested the majority of “troublemakers” in Daraa and restored calm to the city after two weeks of unrest.
Also Sunday, lawyer and human rights activist Khalil Maatouk said authorities released Suheir Atassi, a longtime Syrian pro-democracy activist. – Agencies

 



 
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