DAMASCUS, Syria (AP) - Hundreds of Kurds rioted at a funeral Saturday for victims of a soccer stadium stampede, vandalizing shops and state offices and shouting anti-government slogans - a rare protest in tightly controlled Syria.
Police fired shots into the air to disperse the crowd in Qamishli, a city 448 miles northeast of Damascus, where a soccer match a day earlier erupted into a melee between fans of rival Kurd and Arab teams. The death toll Saturday rose to nine, hospital officials said.
Saturday's riot broke out on the outskirts of Qamishli as a crowd of Kurds buried three victims of Friday's stampede. The mourners shouted slogans against Qamishli governor Salim Kabboul and attacked shops and government buildings, setting fire to a Department of Customs office, said Ibrahim al-Hussein, a lawyer in Qamishli.
Another witness, Elias Abraham, said shops and businesses quickly shut down for the day.
``Police fired into the air to disperse the angry crowds trying to protest in the main street,'' Abraham said.
Police also barred journalists from entering Qamishli. The pan-Arab television Al-Arabiya broadcast panoramic images showing a plume of black smoke rising from the city.
Spontaneous demonstrations are extremely unusual in Syria, where the Baath party has maintained tight political control for more than 30 years. A riot by Kurds would be especially sensitive for authorities.
Syria's government fears its Kurdish minority - which lives mostly in the underdeveloped northeast - could follow the lead of Kurds in neighboring Iraq and agitate for greater recognition. Syrian President Bashar Assad recently joined Turkey in warning against a Kurdish state in northern Iraq.
Of Syria's 18 million people, about 1.5 million are Kurds. But the constitution does not mention Kurds, and about 160,000 Kurds have been denied Syrian nationality, meaning they cannot vote, own property, go to state schools or get government jobs.
In Friday's riot, more than 100 people were injured at the stadium: Spectators inside were crushed in a stampede to escape an attack by rival fans; people outside were caught in a fight between the two teams' supporters. Eight of the wounded were still in the hospital Saturday, hospital officials said.
One of the teams involved, Al-Jihad, is a predominantly Syrian Kurdish soccer club. The other, Al-Fatwa, is predominantly Syrian Arab. The match was canceled.
Supporters of Al-Fatwa triggered the riot when they threw stones at players and fans of Al-Jihad shortly before the game was to start. Al-Jihad fans tried to flee, setting off a stampede, according witnesses.
When Al-Jihad fans outside the stadium heard what was happening inside, they surrounded a group of Al-Fatwa supporters and began attacking them. Police fired shots in the air, and some rioters responded by hurling stones, witnesses said. It was believed that four of the victims were killed inside the stadium, and five outside.
Syria's government had not commented on the violence Friday or Saturday. The official Syrian news agency SANA called Friday's clashes ``regrettable incidents'' that resulted in an unspecified number of casualties. It did not mention Saturday's riots.
Ten Syrian human rights groups issued a joint statement Saturday largely blaming police for the casualties.
``We hold the security apparatus, and those who ordered the firing (to disperse the crowds), mainly responsible for what happened,'' the statement said. It called for an immediate end to the violence.
The Committees for the Defense of Democratic Liberties and Human Rights in Syria issued a separate statement calling for ``self-restraint for the sake of the unity of the people and homeland.''
