25 Dead in Syria as Thousands Turn Out for Funerals of Blast Victims

At least 25 people were killed on Saturday several Syrian cities where the protests against President Bashar Assad's regime erupted in March, a rights group said.

Local Coordination Committees said that Syrian security forces shot dead 25 civilians in Homs, Daraa, Aleppo, Reef Damascus, and Idlib.

Meanwhile, Thousands of people on Saturday attended prayers in memory of the 44 people killed by suicide bombers in Syria's capital as charge and counter-charge swirled over who was behind the attacks.

The funeral prayers, at Damascus's central Omayyad Mosque, came as an Arab League delegation met Foreign Minister Walid Muallem to discuss the arrival of a team to oversee a deal aimed at ending nine months of bloodshed.

Mourners prayed before flag-draped coffins, while a crowd outside waved portraits of embattled President Bashar Assad and banners of the ruling Baath party as police stood watch.

Religious Affairs Minister Abdel Sattar al-Sayyed read a statement from Christian and Muslim religious leaders "denouncing the criminal attacks on Friday... and the murder, destruction and sabotage," part of a "dangerous plot against Syria."

"We call upon the Syrian people to be aware that Syria is being targeted, and affirm that we stand with them in the face of this plot. We reject any sort of extremism represented by terrorist organization."

The nature of that "terrorism" was hotly debated on Saturday, amid conflicting claims about who carried out the bombings.

Within minutes of the Friday morning explosions, state television said initial enquiries held al-Qaida responsible.

Not long afterwards, Deputy Foreign Minister Faisal Meqdad said "this is the gift we get from the terrorists and al-Qaida."

However, the government did not release details on how it reached such a conclusion so quickly.

Later on Friday, the opposition accused the government itself of carrying out the attacks.

Syria says more than 2,000 security force personnel have been killed in attacks by rebels since March.

There was no let-up in the bloodshed on Friday with human rights activists reporting at least 21 civilians killed, most of them by security forces.