 | That's a correct statement, but not in the way they intended ... |
Syria's Interior Ministry has blamed the murder of an outspoken Kurdish Muslim religious leader on criminals, while Kurdish parties charged he was tortured and killed by the authorities. Tens of thousands of mourners, meanwhile, turned out for the funeral of Sheikh Mohammad Maashuq al-Khaznawi near Qamishli in northeast Syria, Kurdish officials said. The sheikh had gone missing on May 10 and was believed to have been detained by Syrian police, according to Kurdish parties. The body was handed over to his family by the authorities early Wednesday. The 46-year-old Khaznawi "was killed at the hands of Syrian authorities," a spokesman for the banned party Yakiti said in a statement received by AFP in Beirut.
But an Interior Ministry official in Damascus, quoted by Syria's state news agency SANA, said the sheikh was kidnapped and killed by a criminal gang. "Five people kidnapped Sheikh Khaznawi in Damascus and took him off to Aleppo (to the north) where they killed him," the unnamed official said, without giving a motive. "The gang has been arrested," he said.
However, an official of the Kurdish Democratic Party in Syria, Nazir Mustapha, said the sheikh was seen at a military hospital in Damascus with "traces of torture" on his body. "The authorities should show the gang on television," said Mustapha.
| And an autopsy report, with photos ... |
The sheikh was widely popular in Syria, and was known for teaching that Islam and democracy are compatible. He was last seen leaving Damascus's Islamic Studies Center, of which he was vice-president. Human rights groups announced the disappearance of Khaznawi, while the authorities denied holding him. Syrian lawyer and human rights activist Anwar Bunni had said the authorities would be held responsible for his life. |