The Syrian army deployed on Monday at the entrances to the southern city of Daraa as officials tried to calm passions following protests for freedom in which five civilians were killed, residents said.

Thousands of mourners marched at the funeral of 23-year-old Raed al-Kerad who died on Sunday, the latest of five protesters to be killed by security forces. Mourners chanted slogans demanding political freedom and an end to corruption.

Open gallery view A crowd chants anti-regime slogans during a funeral procession for a protester killed in Dara, south Syria in this still image taken from video March 20, 2011. Credit: Reuters

"God, Syria, freedom. The people want the overthrow of corruption," they chanted.

The slogan is a play on the words "the people want the overthrow of the regime," the rallying cry of the revolutions that overthrew the entrenched leaders of Tunisia and Egypt and spread across the Arab world.

The mourners later gathered at the al-Omari mosque in the old quarter of Daraa near the border with Jordan.

Troops set up checkpoints at the entrances of Daraa and were checking identity cards. The Syrian justice minister arrived at a city hall.