Syria monitor says Assad loyalist 鈥榚xecuted鈥� in public

A Syria monitor said fighters linked to the Islamist-led transitional administration publicly executed a local official on Friday, accusing him of having been an informant under ousted strongman Bashar Assad. (AP/File)
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  • The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said fighters affiliated with the country鈥檚 new rulers executed Mazen Kneneh on Friday morning
  • Fighters shot Kneneh in the head on the street in Dummar

BEIRUT: A Syria monitor said fighters linked to the Islamist-led transitional administration publicly executed a local official on Friday, accusing him of having been an informant under ousted president Bashar Assad.
Contacted by AFP, the Damascus authorities did not immediately reply to a request for comment.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said fighters affiliated with the country鈥檚 new rulers executed Mazen Kneneh on Friday morning, describing him as 鈥渙ne of the best-known loyalists of the former regime.鈥�
Fighters shot Kneneh in the head on the street in Dummar, a suburb of the capital Damascus, said the Britain-based monitor.
It said he was 鈥渁ccused of writing malicious security reports that led to the persecution and jailing of many young men鈥� who were tortured in prison under Assad, whose rule came to an end on December 8.
A video circulating online, which AFP was unable to independently verify, purportedly showed the man鈥檚 slumped body tied to a tree trunk, his clothes bloodied from what looked like a bullet wound to the head.
Members of the public including children gathered around the body, according to the video, some filming with their mobile phones and others beating the body with sticks or high-kicking it in the head.
In recent days, Syrian authorities launched security sweeps targeting 鈥渞emnants of the regime鈥� of the deposed leader in several areas.
Anas Khattab, the new General Intelligence chief, has pledged to overhaul the security apparatus, denouncing 鈥渢he injustice and tyranny of the former regime, whose agencies sowed corruption and inflicted suffering on the people.鈥�