Syria: At Least Nine Killed In Funerals, Two MPs Quit

At least nine people were killed Saturday during protests in Syria. Four people were killed in the town of Douma, Al Jazeera reported after security forces and snipers opened fire on thousands of mourners who gathered to bury protesters killed on Friday.

Army and security personnel also shot at mourners at a funeral procession in the southern town of Azraa. Eyewitnesses said that five people had been killed there.

Tens of thousands of mourners gathered across the country on Saturday to attend funeral processions for the some 90 people who were killed during the deadliest day of protests in the country since the uprising against President Bashar al-Assad first started five weeks ago.

In protest of the violence, two Syrian politicians quit from parliament. One of them is Nasser Hariri from the southern town of Daraa.

International leaders condemned the Syrian government’s response to the protests, with US president Barack Obama terming it “outrageous”. The Syrian government on Saturday rejected Obama’s condemnation as not being “objective”, state television reported.