Killings fuel more protests in Syria

  • 12 years ago
The people of Douma are mourning the deaths of 12 protesters last weekend killed in clashes with security forces just outside the Syrian capital of Damascus.
Fuelled by anger at a government that claims it's cracking down on armed gangs, mourners gathered to pay their respects by protesting.
Inside a traditional tent set up for wakes in the Muslim world, protesters were served tea. They sang chants and songs of "Revolution, you've woken the people."
But, for the mother of one man killed recently there was no singing, only anger.
"I kept calling and calling him on his mobile, and then I couldn't connect to him anymore, and then they called me to say that a sniper had shot him eight times, one of them in his face and the rest all over his body. May God paralyse their arms, may God exact his revenge on you, Bashar. May God have his revenge on you Basher al-Assad."
Residents of Douma say they were abandoned by the government more than 40 years ago. The city is poor and has little infrastructure, says this resident as he drives through its narrow roads.
''Douma has been treated unfairly by this regime and witnessed indescribable injustice, since 1968 there has been any urban development plan for Douma. In 1985, there was only one project to improve one neighbourhood and the rest, three quarters of Douma, as you can see, is illegal building and slums. And the result is what you are seeing now.''
The UN Security Council was due to meet later on Friday to discuss a resolution against Syria's President Bashar al-Assad, ten months into the deadly uprising in which thousands have been killed.
Authorities say they are fighting foreign-backed "terrorists" who have killed 2,000 soldiers and policemen.
Sarah Wali, Reuters

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