Shi'ite cleric shot dead near Syria's Homs
BEIRUT : An influential Shi'ite cleric was shot dead in central Syria, a conflict monitor said today, with the faith's highest body in the country denouncing his 'assassination'.
Sheikh Rassul Shahud was the first Shi'ite religious leader to be killed since predominantly Sunni Islamists toppled long-time leader Bashar al-Assad in December, raising concerns for the safety of religious and ethnic minorities in the country.
His bullet-riddled body was found yesterday near Homs, said the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.
'Armed men fired on Sheikh Shahud, who was in a car near a checkpoint of the security forces' leading to his village of Mazraa, said the Britain-based monitor, which relies on a network of sources inside Syria.
The Islamic scholarly council representing Syria's Shi'ite community denounced his 'assassination' as a 'flagrant attack on the voice of moderation and unity, and a desperate attempt to sow discord'.
The statement, signed by the body's vice-president Adham al-Khatib, urged authorities to 'shed light on the circumstances of this heinous crime' and to 'prosecute its perpetrators and instigators so that they are punished'.
Shi'ites are estimated to number just 300,000 in Sunni-majority Syria, and the community was quick to offer support to the country's new authorities, with a delegation of dignitaries meeting interim president Ahmed al-Sharaa in March.
Shahud's killing comes after other recent incidents of violence targeting religious minorities, including massacres of Alawites along the country's coast, clashes with the Druze community in the south and a suicide bombing at an Orthodox church in Damascus.
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