Large crowd in al-Khaznawi funeral; gang that killed him captured
Syria, Politics, 6/2/2005

Thousands of Kurds gathered on Wednesday in al-Qamishli amid tough security conditions to attend the funeral of a man of religion who was killed in vague circumstance.

News reports said that thousands of Kurds gathered in al-Qamishli ( 775 Km to the north of Damascus) to attend the funeral of Sheiklh Muhammad Masouq al-Khaznawi who disappeared one month ago and his body was handed over to his family on Wednesday.

Sheikh al-Khaznawi, a moderate man of religion known not as opposition for the government, was seen on May 10th in the Islamic studies center in Damascus.

He is expected to be buried in the city's cemetery today after prayers on him at one of the city's mosques.

Meantime, one human rights activist in al-Qamishli said that 10,000 persons organized a silent demonstration that staged to the mosques where al-Khaznawi used to be the Imam of the worshippers, adding that the march was peaceful during which slogans were chanted describing al-Khaznawi as a martyr.

However, information about al-Khaznawi's death were contradictory. A source at the ministry of the interior announced that a gang that kidnapped and killed al-Khaznawi was arrested.

One official at the ministry of the Interior said on Wednesday that the security forces arrested a five member gang who kidnapped Sheikh al-Khaznawi from Damascus and took him to Aleppo, adding that members of the gang took him to Aleppo and killed him and buried him in Deir ezz Zour ( 430 Km to the northern east of Damascus.) The source indicated that the family of al-Khaznawi was fully informed on the details and steps of the investigation which led to the discovery of the crime, noting that al-Khaznawi was never arrested by any security side as rumored by certain media sides.

The Syrian parliamentarian Muhammad Habash said that two persons from the northern area killed Sheikh al-Khaznawi and they " admitted committing the crime and investigations continue with them." The secretary of the Kurdish democratic party in Syria Nazir Mustafa said that al-Khaznaqi body has traces of tortures. Mustafa Ð the secretary of the largest Kurdish party in Syria confirmed what was stated by a statement issued by the extremist Kurdish Yakiti party over the death of Sheikh al-Khaznawi.

Yakiti party statement said that Sheikh Muhammad Mashouq al-Khaznawi was killed at the hands of the Syrian authorities and that the body will be handed over after two hours to his family in al-Qamishli. " N.

Previous Stories:
  In a new change: Syrian official coverage for a sit in   (5/16/2005)
  Al-Assad meets tribes of north Syria, Syrian nationality for100,000 Kurds   (5/16/2005)
  Sit-in in Damascus deploring emergency law and special courts   (4/25/2005)

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