BEIRUT/DAMASCUS: Syria said Thursday it would set up a commission of inquiry into the death of French journalist Gilles Jacquier, killed by a shell in the flashpoint city of Homs Wednesday, official media said. “The governor of Homs, Ghassan Abdel Al, issued a decision to create a commission charged with investigating the circumstances of the terrorist attack that cost the life of the French journalist and eight Syrian nationals,” the official SANA news agency said.

The French government, human rights groups and the opposition earlier demanded an independent investigation into the killing of Gilles Jacquier while filming a pro-government rally in the restive city of Homs Wednesday.
Jacquier, who worked for France-2 Television, became the first Western journalist to be killed in the 10-month-old Syrian uprising.

He was among a group of 15 journalists on the government trip when they were hit by several grenades, and his death was likely to become a rallying cry for both sides.

The opposition called for protests in Jacquier’s honor Thursday, and activists said hundreds of people held demonstrations across the country in cold and rainy weather, demanding the downfall of President Bashar Assad.
Sympathizers held a candlelight vigil as Jaquier’s body was taken out from a Homs hospital to be transported to Damascus.

The government has said the attack shows the uprising is the work of terrorists, a narrative it has maintained since the start of the revolt against Assad 10 months ago. The opposition contends the regime is behind the bloodshed, to tarnish the uprising.

“The journalists were attacked in a heavily militarized regime stronghold – it would be hugely difficult for any armed opposition to penetrate the area and launch such a deadly attack,” said Wissam Tarif, a campaigner for online global activist group, Avaaz.

Nadim Houry, a senior researcher at Human Rights Watch, called for an independent, preferably international, investigation. “Yesterday’s case of the killing of the French journalist raises a number of questions, who launched the attacks, what was the purpose. The answer is we don’t know,” he said in an interview in Beirut Thursday. “So at this point, what’s important is again to launch a credible investigation.”

State-run news agency SANA said the government-organized tour for journalists comes in the framework of the Syrian government’s acceptance for the foreign media “to move freely” in Syria.

Syria has banned almost all foreign journalists from Syria since the start of the uprising in March, and only recently started issuing short-term visas for a limited number of journalists, who are allowed to move only accompanied by government minders.

French President Nicolas Sarkozy said his government “expects the Syrian authorities to shed light on the death of a man who was simply doing his job: reporting.”

“Syrian authorities [must] ensure the security of international journalists on their territory,” French Foreign Minister Alain Juppe said Wednesday.

British Foreign Secretary William Hague said the “deaths highlight once again the terrible price being paid by the people of Homs, as well as the courage of journalists who take great personal risks to bring to light what is happening to the people of Syria.”

And EU foreign affairs chief Catherine Ashton joined global press watchdog Reporters Without Borders in demanding a rapid inquiry.