Teen's Death Inflames Syria

The Daily Telegraph reports:

The Syrian regime is accused of torturing a second teenager to death, triggering a fresh wave of protest outrage after graphic footage emerged of the boy’s mutilated corpse.

And for the second time in a fortnight, residents of the town of Jeeza turned out in their thousands to bury one of their children after the authorities finally released the body of Thamer al-Sahri, a 15-year-old schoolboy who vanished six weeks ago.

Thamer was a close friend of Hamza al-Khatib, the 13-year-old who has become the most celebrated martyr of the 11-week uprising against President Bashar al-Assad. Hamza’s body was released last month.

It was covered in burns and scorch marks, evidence, activists say, that he was repeatedly tortured with electric shocks and cigarettes. His genitals had also been cut off, his neck broken, and his arms shot through.

The two boys are thought to have been together when they disappeared as the Syrian security forces embarked on a bloody operation to quell protests in the town, which had risen up in sympathy with the people of nearby Deraa, scene of some of the worst massacres yet witnessed in the revolt.

Thamer al-Sahri seems to have suffered a similar fate to his friend. His body was riddled with bullets and was missing an eye, several teeth and a large chunk of flesh in his lower face.