13 mourners shot dead in Syria

At least 13 mourners were shot dead on Saturday as Syrians swarmed the streets to bury scores of demonstrators killed in massive protests.Deaths signalled no let-up from President Bashar al-Assad, whose forces used live ammunition against demonstrators nationwide, witnesses and activists said.The bloodshed erupted as tens of thousands of people took to the streets for “Good Friday” protests to test long sought-after freedoms a day after Assad scrapped decades of draconian emergency rule.The Syrian Revolution 2011, a driving force behind the protests, marked the tone on Saturday by posting on its main Facebook page a black banner with the word “Mourning” in both Arabic and English.Meanwhile, Daniel Saud, head of the Committees for the Defence of Democracy, Freedoms and Human Rights in Syria, was arrested at his home in the northwestern city of Banias.Russia, France, Germany, Italy and Greece joined the chorus of condemnation from Washington, Paris, London, Brussels and UN headquarters in New York.