AMMAN – Thousands of Syrians called for the overthrow of President Bashar al-Assad on Sunday at a funeral for protesters killed by security forces in the southern town of Nawa, a witness said.
"Long live Syria. Down with Bashar!" mourners chanted, their calls audible in a telephone call during the funeral in Nawa, 25 km (15 miles) north of the city of Deraa where demonstrations against Assad's authoritarian rule first erupted last month.
"Leave, leave. The people want the overthrow of the regime."
The witness said four people were killed on Saturday in Nawa as they gathered to protest against shootings a day earlier.
At least 100 people were killed across Syria on Friday, the highest toll in five weeks of unrest, when security forces shot protesters demanding political freedoms and an end to corruption in their country, ruled for 41 years by the Assad dynasty.
Activists described Friday's killings as a turning point which exposed the hollowness of Assad's announcement that he was lifting a 48-year state of emergency and abolishing a hated state security court.
At least 12 more people were killed on Saturday at mass funerals for the slain protesters, and rights campaigners said secret police raided homes near Damascus and in the central city of Homs on Sunday, arresting activists.
Assad assumed power when his father died in 2000 after ruling Syria for 30 years. The hostile chants in Nawa on Sunday reflect a steady hardening of the demands of protesters who first called for greater freedoms but now seek his overthrow.
Despite deepening his father Hafez al-Assad's anti-Israel alliance with Iran, clawing back Syrian influence in Lebanon and backing militant groups Hezbollah and Hamas, Assad has kept Syria's front line with Israel quiet and held indirect peace talks with the Jewish state.
International condemnation of Assad has also intensified. Western criticism was initially muted because of lingering hopes that Assad might implement genuine reform and because revolution in Syria would reshape the political map in the Middle East.
"I deplore the increasing violence in Syria, and am appalled by the killing of demonstrators by Syrian security forces," British Foreign Secretary William Hague said on Sunday, advising all British nationals to leave Syria.
U.S. President Barack Obama urged Assad on Friday to stop the "outrageous use of violence to quell protests." Syrian authorities, who blame the violence on armed groups, dismissed Obama's comments.
Turkey called for "maximum self-restraint" and the continuation of reforms. Reuters
