Poetic Obituaries: [Ibrahim] Qashoush's case was a rare,

targeted killing of a prominent activist--made more chilling by the clear intention to send a bloody message.

The 42-year-old Qashoush, a father of three boys, was a fireman in the central Syrian city of Hama who wrote poetry in his spare time, said a close friend, Saleh Abu Yaman. Before the uprising began in mid-March, he'd write about love or hard economic times.

"All the poems and songs he wrote were by instinct. He used to be sitting with his friends and then start reciting a poem," Abu Yaman said.

But once the protests erupted and spread, Qashoush turned his pen to the uprising.

from Associated Press: Songwriter of Syria uprising meets gruesome death

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