Syria Funeral Shooting: Forces Open Fire On Mashaal Tammo Mourners

[Amerigo Vespucci]

Source: The Huffington Post

BEIRUT — More than 50,000 mourners marched through the capital of Syria's Kurdish heartland Saturday in a funeral procession for one of the country's most prominent opposition figures a day after his assassination. Security forces fired into the crowds, killing five people, witnesses said.

Despite the gunfire, crowds pouring into the streets of Qamishli called on President Bashar Assad to step down, chanting, "Leave! Leave!" – adopting the cry of tens of thousands of other Syrian protesters in the country's nearly 7-month-old uprising. Some demanded Assad's execution; others ripped down a statue of his late father and predecessor.

Friday's killing of charismatic Kurdish opposition figure Mashaal Tammo by masked men who burst into an apartment and gunned him down touched off a wave of anger in Qamishli, at the center of Syria's Kurdish region.

"All of Qamishli is out today. The funeral is turning into a massive protest," Kurdish activist and lawyer Mustafa Osso told The Associated Press by telephone. The grieving cries of fellow mourners could be heard in the background.

Read more: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/10/08/syria-funeral-shooting_n_1001354.html

[pampango]

1. Two dead as Syrian troops open fire on thousands at Kurd leader's funeral

At least two people were killed when Syrian security forces opened fire on more than 50,000 people at the funeral of Kurdish opposition figure Mesha'al Tamo yesterday, reports said.

Several others were wounded in the shooting that came a day after nationwide rallies against President Bashar Al Assad, by the Syrian National Council (SNC), of which Tamo was a member.

The funeral for Tamo, who was gunned down in public in Qamishli in the north, turned into a mass rally with more than 50,000 demonstrators calling for fall of the Al Assad regime, the activists said.

Tamo founded the liberal Kurdish Future Party, which considers Kurds an integral part of Syria, and had been recently released after three and a half years in prison. His assassination also sparked indignation abroad.

http://gulfnews.com/news/region/syria/two-dead-as-syrian-troops-open-fire-on-thousands-at-kurd-leader-s-funeral-1.888182