Mass Funerals In Syria For Protester Deaths

Jeremy Thompson, Sky News Presenter, in Damascus

3 July 2011 at 5:56 am

The funerals have been taking place of those who died during some of the biggest anti-government protests yet seen in Syria since the uprising began 16 weeks ago.

Four were buried in the Bab Sbaa district of Homs, one of the cities at the heart of the opposition movement, as local residents and mourners filled the streets.

The funeral of another martyr, as they are known, took place in the nearby area of Khaldiah.

Activists reported 24 deaths across Syria during the latest protests , dubbed the 'Day of Departure'.

They laid the blame on government security personnel, including the much-feared secret police the mukhabarat.

On the streets they are nicknamed Shabia, meaning ghost in Arabic, because they are said to work in the shadows and are hard to identify.

The government has always strongly denied that they are behind any of the violence.

In the capital Damascus , residents of Qadam called a general strike, closing down shops, as they buried Rashed Duraid, who died in Friday's clashes.

They said it was a sign of solidarity with the anti-government protests.

For the first time since the uprising began, Sky News has been given footage of President Bashar al Assad out meeting his supporters in Damascus.

He was accompanied by his British-born wife Asma, confounding rumours that she had left the country and gone back to west London where she was brought up.

On Saturday President Assad sacked the governor of Hama after huge opposition rallies in the city on Friday.

Sky News sources suggested the president thought the governor had been 'too soft' and that had fuelled the protests.

In recent months he had also sacked the governors of Deraa and Homs, two other cities at the heart of the protest movement.

It's a clear sign of Syria 's embattled president trying to reassert his authority, undermined by weeks of protest.

But grassroots opposition leaders told Sky News today they had a political vision and were working with other groups on finding a peaceful solution to the current crisis.

But they emphasised that their vision for the future of Syria did not include Bashar al Assad as president.