BEIRUT: Syrian police sealed off a southern city Saturday after security forces killed at least five protesters there. Residents of Daraa were being allowed to leave but not enter the city Saturday, said prominent Syrian rights activist Mazen Darwish. The quick cordon seemed aimed at choking off any spread of unrest after Friday's clashes and emotional funeral processions for the dead Saturday. President Bashar Assad sent a delegation to the southern city to offer his condolences to families of the victims, according to a Syrian official. Security forces launched a harsh crackdown on Friday's demonstrations calling for political freedoms. Protests took place in at least five cities, including the capital, Damascus. But only in Daraa turned deadly. Accounts from activists and social media say at least five people died in the gravest unrest in years in Syria. A Syrian official acknowledged only two deaths and told the Associated Press that authorities would bring those responsible to trial. The official said that even if an investigation shows security officers were guilty, they will be put on trial “no matter how high their rank is.” Four of the dead were buried in Daraa Saturday, according to Darwish, who said he was in contact with residents of the city. Thousands of people took part in the funeral under the watch of large numbers of security agents but there was no violence, he said. Later in the day, an activist in Damascus also in contact with Daraa residents said forces fired tear gas at mourners chanting “God, Syria and freedom only.” In Washington, US National Security Council spokesman Tommy Vietor said: “The United States strongly condemns the violence that has taken place in Syria.” Also Saturday, Abdul-Karim Al-Rihawi, head of the Arab League for Human Rights, said 10 women who were detained Wednesday after protesting in front of the Syrian Interior Ministry in central Damascus have begun a hunger strike.
