The Syrian police sealed off the southern city of Dara’a on Saturday after security forces killed at least five protesters there in the first sign that the Arab world’s pro-democracy push is seeping into one of the region’s most repressive places.

Residents of Dara’a were being allowed to leave but not enter the city, said a prominent Syrian rights activist, Mazen Darwish. The quick cordon seemed aimed at choking off any spread of unrest after Friday’s clashes and emotional funeral processions for the dead on Saturday.

President Bashar al-Assad, who has boasted that his country is immune to the cries for change that have toppled leaders in Egypt and Tunisia, sent a delegation to Dara’a to offer his condolences to families of the victims, according to a Syrian official.

Mr. Assad told The Wall Street Journal in February that Syria was insulated from the upheaval in the Arab world because he understood his people’s needs and had united them in a common cause against Israel.

Serious disturbances in Syria would be a major expansion of the region’s unrest. Syria, a predominantly Sunni country ruled by minority Alawites, has a history of brutally crushing dissent.

Security forces began a harsh crackdown on Friday’s demonstrations calling for political freedoms. Protests took place in at least five cities, including the capital, Damascus. But only in Dara’a did they turn deadly.

Accounts from activists and social media said at least five people died.

A Syrian lawmaker from Dara’a, Khaled Abboud, blamed Islamic extremists for Friday’s violence but did not elaborate.

Four of the dead were buried Saturday, according to Mr. Darwish, who said he was in contact with residents of the city. Thousands of people took part in the funeral under the watch of large numbers of security agents but there was no violence, he said.

Later in the day, an activist in Damascus also in contact with Dara’a residents said security forces fired tear gas at mourners who were chanting, “God, Syria and freedom only.”

The London-based Syrian Human Rights Committee said that during the funerals, security forces raided some homes and detained people. Citing residents in the city, it added that troops were in full control of the streets.

The accounts could not be verified, and city residents could not be reached directly by phone.

Syria places tight restrictions on the movements of journalists when it comes to security issues, and state-run media and officials rarely comment on such matters.

(Source: NY Times)