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| 2005-05-22 00:33 |
| Syrian Kurds demonstrate over missing cleric |
| AFP |
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DAMASCUS, May 21 (AFP) - 16h00 - Some 10,000 Kurds demonstrated in northern Syria Saturday to demand news on the whereabouts of a Kurdish Muslim cleric widely believed to have been detained by Syrian police, a Kurdish leader said.
Sheikh Mohammed Maashuq al-Khaznawi has not been heard from since he left Damascus's Islamic studies centre, of which he is vice president, on May 10.
Hassan Saleh, secretary general of the Yakiti party, said he had issued an open call during the demonstration in the northern town of Qamishli for Syrian President Bashar al-Assad to "shed all possible light" on the disappearance.
On Wednesday, an interior ministry official denied claims that Khaznawi had been arrested.
Even so, human rights lawyer Anwar Bunni, who represents numerous opposition figures, said the authorities are "responsible for the life and liberty of Sheikh Khaznawi."
The sheikh, who teaches that Islam and democracy are compatible, is widely popular in Syria.
Syria is home to some 1.5 million Kurds, around nine percent of the population. They are fighting to have their language, culture and political rights recognised.
In March 2004, clashes pitted Kurdish protestors against Syrian security forces and Arab tribesmen in Qamishli and Aleppo. The Kurds said 40 people died, while the Syrian authorities gave a death toll of 25.
Hundreds of Kurds were arrested following the disturbances. On March 30 of this year, Assad ordered all of them released.
But Saleh said earlier this month that the pardon had not been fully carried out, and that "more than 100 Kurds still remain in prison."
He also claimed that the government was carrying out fresh arrests of Kurdish political activists. |
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