Onrust in Syri� #6 - Waar vrijheid als muziek in de oren klinkt.

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Syrians vow to overcome violent crackdown by Assad's troops


'The violence is keeping many at home but it is not breaking the movement' – demonstrators refuse to bow to government pressure

"Every Friday he goes out and I fear he might not come back. We wouldn't know if he was dead or alive," says Ahmed's mother as the young man laces up his black running shoes. The university student straightens up and shouts goodbye to his family as he rushes out of the door to the mosque, promising to be back for lunch.

With the sound of gunshots echoing from a few streets away, Ahmed's mother sits on the sofa and quietly cries. Friday, the day of prayer for many families across the country, has become a day of anxiety over the past three months as children, brothers and fathers and, in lesser numbers, mothers and sisters, take to the streets.

The brutal suppression of protests has left more than 1,400 people dead, including soldiers and security men, since Syria's uprising started, according to estimates by human rights groups.

But rather than deterring demonstrators, the violence has bolstered their determination, adding to their anger at the government that they say offers them no hope.

The crackdown has been particularly intense in Homs, Syria's third most populous city about 100 miles north of Damascus. Regime tanks move around the neighbourhoods, leaving indents from their tracks on the roads lined by concrete low-rise buildings. Gunfire has become as common a sound on the streets as the ever-present honking of car horns, and the heightened security presence is obvious. But despite the violence, resistance has been fierce.

All around the country protests are dominated by young men such as Ahmed, lacking in work opportunities and dealing on a daily basis with corruption.

"We are meant to be able to buy a house before we get married but there are no jobs and everything has become expensive," says one man in Damascus, sitting in the courtyard of the house where he lives with his family. "We have neither a job nor can we start a family."

This anger is fuelling demonstrations from the hot and dusty eastern city of Deir Ezzor, where residents, many from powerful tribes, have come out in their thousands, to Deraa, the southern hub surrounded by agricultural lands where demonstrators still took to the streets even after their city was besieged. They are being aided by people of all backgrounds working behind the scenes, from family members to total strangers, women and men, young and old.

"They are trying to fight for their futures," says Ahmed's father, who often acts as a lookout while his son is on the streets. Although he fears for his son's safety, he supports the cause and would not stop him going out. "I too have had enough," he says.

His views are echoed by others of his age. Dressed in jeans and a checked shirt, a 50-year-old manual worker sitting on the balcony of one of many sandy-coloured block of flats in Homs says he has started a committee in his neighbourhood, trying to give a backbone to a spontaneous uprising not sparked by Facebook or any organised opposition. The committee draws posters and caricatures to take to the street and draws up slogans to emphasise unity between the religions.

The founder is trying to reach out to other small committees he knows have popped up in other areas of the city and in cities and villages beyond. "By showing we have a plan, more people, including doctors and professors, have come out," he says. "The violence is keeping many at home but it is not breaking the movement." Instead, he says, people are angry at citizens being shot dead.

The man, like most in Syria, asked not to be identified by name. He says rich families have been helping people from Bab al-Sbaa, his relatively poor neighbourhood, which has been among the most restive. "They are paying for rent and food so that people who have lost money because of the economy or have lost fathers in the violence don't have to worry," he says.

One such donor, a businessman father of two who asks that neither his name nor town is mentioned, runs prayer beads through his fingers as he explains how and why he is giving money to support people in besieged towns.

"I am appalled by the cutting off of towns such as Deraa and Rastan and I use relations and contacts from my work to find out what these towns need," he says. He has bought food and medicine for men to pick up and take to those places – often smuggled in using elaborate systems such as pulleys. "It is not just young people who want change," he says. "Perhaps I can best help this way."

From towns and cities across the country come reports of doctors moving round houses and setting up field clinics to help people too afraid to go to hospital, and religious leaders who have spoken out and tried to smooth relations between Syria's sects. Families have opened their houses to protesters fleeing from security forces, who are bussed into areas where protests break out.

"I was running away from the security agents and a woman opened the door and pulled me in," says one young professional, walking in the streets in the Damascus neighbourhood of Midan, an area of sweet shops and neon lights where families gather in the evening but which has turned into an area of chants and teargas on many a Friday. "I sat there until it was safe to go home."

Computer experts have been helping protesters upload videos to YouTube, which has become the primary way of getting out information. They have also made short films and cartoons mocking the regime. And, of course, activists have supported protesters by liaising with media and publishing information. This support is bolstering resistance to the regime and allowing protesters to go out on a daily basis.

In her office in Homs, a young mother prints paper signs with the date and location to take out to a women's demonstration. Wearing black jeans and a blouse, she adjusts her headscarf and pulls down her sunglasses to conceal her identity. She grabs a camera and heads out for the 20-minute protest that will keep her safe but show that women are supporting the anti-government movement.

Night protests have become routine, from the coastal city of Latakia to the Damascus area of Qaboun. For those too fearful to go outside, sit-ins are held inside private homes, taped, and the videos uploaded to the internet.

In Homs, Ahmed eventually returns home safely, eager to talk about another day on the streets. Between 500 and 800 people came out of his mosque, he says, others joined, they called for freedom and the toppling of the regime, then they broke off before security forces could arrive.

Smothered in relieved embraces from his family, Ahmed eats, simultaneously talking on his mobile to organise the next demonstration. Finished, he heads out to the gym – training, he jokes, to be able to sprint away quickly – as gunfire continues to ring out in the background.

All names have been changed to protect identity. Nidaa Hassan is a pseudonym for a journalist working in Damascus

SPOILER

Om spoilers te kunnen lezen moet je zijn ingelogd. Je moet je daarvoor eerst gratis Registreren. Ook kun je spoilers niet lezen als je een ban hebt.

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9.45am: ITV's Middle East correspondent John Ray managed to sneak across the border into Syria to film around the besieged town of Jisr al-Shughour.

"We can't go back to our homes, because if we went back the army and security would kill us," one resident of the town told him.

Ray and his cameraman filmed armed men in the area and makeshift rebel checkpoints. "We saw a few men with guns, but it doesn't amount to an armed uprising," Ray reported.

They also filmed a man in what appeared to an army uniform chanting alongside anti-government protesters.

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Op donderdag 16 juni 2011 11:15 schreef anabolefreak het volgende:

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LOL, dit was in damascus. Vandaag zijn er pro-Assad demo's in alle andere grote steden...

Welke rest van het land is tegen hem? ROFL. die 1%?

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Where the Arab spring will end is anyone's guess, writes the Guardian's Middle East editor Ian Black,

But it is striking how Arab unrest has become a permanent feature of the global landscape. It is unfinished business wherever it is happening.

For the moment Syria remains the most volatile country and the key place to watch. The Syria tycoon and opposition hate figure Rami Makhlouf is to give up his business interests, in a move being seen as a sign that the regime is wobbling.

Maklouf, is a cousin of the president Bashar al-Assad, a key figure in his inner circle and a target of protester's anger. They frequently chant slogan against him and in March tried to burn down the headquarters of his telecommunications business.

The decision comes as thousands of Syrian are again expected to take part in anti-government protests after Friday prayers.

Last month in an infamous interview with the New York Times Makhlouf said the regime will fight to the end.

Anthony Shadid, who conducted the interview, outlined the significance of Makhlouf's apparent removal from power.

The move, if true, would suggest that Assad was so concerned about the continuing protests that he would sacrifice a relative to public anger.

Diplomats also told Shadid that Assad is preparing to address the nation on Sunday.

Meanwhile, the Syrian writer Robin Yassin-Kassab argues that Turkey could intervene in the crisis to create a safe haven for refugees in north that could also act as a rebel base.

If many more refugees join the 8,500 who have fled to Turkey, [prime minister] Erdogan may order a limited occupation of Syrian territory to establish a "safe haven". That – the regime's inability to hold a section of the homeland – may prove a tipping point. It could also offer Syria its Benghazi, a base for organised resistance.

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Op vrijdag 17 juni 2011 14:11 schreef anabolefreak het volgende:

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iedereeen heeft wapens. en waar haal jij vandaan dat alawieten bewapend worden??

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Propaganda?
Heb je onder een steen geleeft ofzo? Niet meegekregen wat er in Irak gaande is?
Of heb je niet meegekregen dat er flink wat aanvallen zijn uitgevoerd op Koptische kerken.
En jij durft dat propaganda te noemen? Jij bent zeker zo'n figuur die de multiculti ook geslaagd vind en geen problemen ziet met bepaalde bevolkingsgroepen hier?

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Syria's richest man promises massive charity giveaway


Opponents dismiss announcement by Assad supporter Rami Makhlouf as violence follows Friday prayers around Syria

The announcement by Syria's richest man, regime heavyweight Rami Makhlouf, that he will give most of the profits from his business empire to charity has been met with widespread scepticism in Damascus and beyond.

Makhlouf has become a lightning rod for dissent against the Syrian regime as protesters again took to the streets in large numbers on Friday demanding an end to the excesses that they claim the 41-year-old tycoon represents and the ousting of the ruling family to which he is central.

Makhlouf's announcement is seen by some analysts as a sign that President Bashar al-Assad has become so concerned at the momentum of the protest movement that he is prepared to sacrifice his first cousin to retain power.

Syrian opposition figures and some Damascus residents, however, interpreted it as mere window dressing. "What Rami is putting on the line is nothing new," said opposition member Amr al-Azm, a professor at Shawnee University in Ohio. "This is not his fortune. He is the family banker and it was not their money to take in the first place."

A businessman in Damascus added: "This is a regime specialised in cosmetic change so I don't believe anything they say and do. If they were sincere they would start real reform with changes to the constitution."

Syrian leaders are facing increasing economic sanctions from the US and Europe, which have indicated they may target Assad's personal assets. "They have got rid of what assets could be grabbed [under sanctions] and are now clearing the decks of those that cannot," said Azm. "They are trying to explain it in a way that is useful to them."

"It makes no difference to us," said a Damascus office worker. "At this stage, people want the whole regime to go."

The announcement was made before Friday prayers, which for the past 12 weeks have been a precursor to demonstrations across the country. This Friday was no different, as security forces responded to protests with lethal force, reportedly killing at least 19 people.

Demonstrations took place in Hama, the commercial hub of Aleppo and the north-eastern tribal area, including the town of Deir al-Azzor, which has been largely free of the violence seen elsewhere in the country.

About 9,000 Syrians have now fled into southern Turkey in the face of the army's assault on the town of Jisr al-Shughour and nearby enclaves. Turkish media reported that Ankara may deploy soldiers beyond its border in an effort to protect civilians, who continue to stream from north-west Syria. The rights group Avaaz said it had compiled a list of 73 residents in Jisr al-Shughour who had been detained this week when they returned to their homes.

In a further sign that the instability in Syria is spreading, three people were killed in northern Lebanon on Friday as a standoff between Sunni Muslims and Allawites, who are from the ruling sect in Damascus, spiralled into violence. The Lebanese army sent in troops in an effort to calm the situation, which represents the most serious sectarian flare-up in Lebanon since the Syrian uprising began.

In an interview last month with the New York Times, Makhlouf warned of instability in neighbouring Lebanon and Israel if pressure on the Assad regime continued. His unusually candid remarks are thought to have angered Assad, who has repeatedly characterised the most serious threat to the four-decade regime as a subversive plot from foreign-backed armed gangs.

Assad's reformist credentials have rapidly eroded over the past three months, in which security forces have repeatedly attacked protesters, killing as many as 1,400 people. The embattled leader has indicated he will soon deliver a landmark speech, which advisers say could change the tone of the past four months.

An earlier speech he gave in late-March was poorly received outside of his power base and did nothing to quell the violence. Makhlouf's purported move from the regime's financial tsar to philanthropy is being seen as a preparation for the speech.

"They needed to sacrifice something," said Rami Nakhle, an opposition figure in Beirut. "So getting rid of Makhlouf was easy. But he isn't really going. If they put him on trial instead that would bring a positive reaction from protesters.

"So far it is just a new game, he was the symbol of corruption in Syria. He was managing the Assad family business. They need to prove to people through genuine signals that they are really moving towards reforms."

Nidaa Hassan is the pseudonym of a journalist working in Damascus

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Libanon zet leger in na gevechten havenstad Tripoli

In de Libanese stad Tripoli is het leger vandaag ingezet nadat er zeven doden vielen bij gevechten tussen Alawieten en soennitische moslims.

De twee groepen schoten met raketten en machinegeweren op elkaar. Daarbij kwam onder andere een Libanese soldaat om het leven. Volgens medische bronnen raakten zo’n 25 mensen gewond. Het leger werd vanochtend ingezet om de orde en veiligheid in de stad te handhaven. Soldaten patrouilleren door de stad en hebben wachtposten ingesteld.

In de tweede stad van Libanon braken de gevechten uit na demonstraties tegen het regime van de Syrische president Bashar al-Assad. Er zou aanzienlijke schade zijn aangericht in de stad, meldt persbureau AFP. Alawieten zijn een sjiitische-islamitische groepering uit het Midden-Oosten, waar Assad ook deel van uit maakt.

De afgelopen jaren was havenstad Tripoli het toneel van botsingen tussen de soennitische aanhangers van oud-premier Saad Hariri, die nu in de oppositie zit en de Alawietische aanhangers van Hezbollah die nu een meerderheid heeft in de Libanese regering.

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Tienduizenden bij begrafenissen in Syri�


Bij een begrafenis van twee betogers in de Syrische stad Deir ez-Zor waren vandaag zo’n 70.000 mensen aanwezig. De twee betogers werden gisteren in die stad gedood door veiligheidstroepen. Dit meldt persbureau AFP.

De menigte was boos en ze scandeerden leuzen tegen het regime van president Al-Bashar, meldt de directeur van het Observatory for Human Rights in Syri�, Rami Abdel Rahman.

Ook in Homs waren duizenden op de been bij een begrafenis van vijf mensen die gisteren werden gedood toen veiligheidstroepen het vuur opende op de demonstranten.

In Douma werd een betoger begraven, waar de aanwezigen een sit-in hielden bij de grote moskee in die stad.

Vrijdag werden grote anti-regeringsbetogingen gehouden in Syri�. Ze werden gewelddadig neergeslagen door de regering, waarbij zeker 19 mensen omkwamen volgens mensenrechtenactivisten.

Volgens de organisatie van Rahman zijn sinds het begin van de protesten in Syri� op 15 maart 1309 burgers en 341 leden van de veiligheidstroepen omgekomen.

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Syri� blokkeert hulproute vluchtelingen

Het Syrische leger heeft een grensdorp afgesloten dat brood en andere levensmiddelen leverde aan de duizenden Syrische vluchtelingen net over de grens in Turkije. Het leger heeft de bakker neergeschoten en de bossen rond het dorp Bdama in brand gestoken, meldde de 23-jarige Raka El-Abdu die uit het dorp is gevlucht.

Het dorp Bdama is nu grotendeels verlaten, vertelden getuigen vandaag. 'De mensen die zijn achtergebleven in het dorp, werken voor het regime.' Het leger heeft controleposten opgesteld op toegangswegen naar het dorp, enkele kilometers van de grens. De militairen arresteren iedereen die heeft gedemonstreerd.

De vluchtelingen krijgen toch nog eten en drinken. De Turkse regering is begonnen levensmiddelen te verstrekken, meldden hulporganisaties. Aan de Turkse grens staan tentenkampen met ruim 10.000 vluchtelingen uit Syri�.

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Rode Kruis en Syri� onderhandelen over humanitaire hulp

De president van het Rode Kruis gaat naar Syri� om te overleggen met de autoriteiten over hulpverlening. Dat maakte de hulporganisatie vandaag bekend.

Jakob Kellenberger arriveert vanavond in de hoofdstad Damascus. Hij zal twee dagen overleg voeren. In het land is sinds maart een opstand tegen het regime van president Bashar al-Assad gaande.

'De gesprekken zullen zich concentreren op de humanitaire situatie in Syri� en de rol die het Rode Kruis bereid is te spelen teneinde hulp te geven aan de mensen getroffen door het voortdurende geweld', aldus een verklaring van het Rode Kruis. Kellenberger spreekt onder anderen met de premier en de minister van Buitenlandse Zaken.

Op 10 juni riep het Rode Kruis de Syrische regering nog op de organisatie grotere toegang te geven tot de burgerbevolking, incluis mensen die gewond zijn geraakt of opgepakt door het leger.

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Syrische troepen houden vluchtelingen tegen

Syrische troepen vallen burgers aan die mensen helpen naar Turkije willen vluchten.

Dat melden Syrische mensenrechtenactivitsten aan persbureau Reuters. Volgens activist Ammara Qurabi blokkeren militairen en aanhangers van president Bashar al-Assad de wegen naar Turkije bij de noord-Syrische stad Jisr-al Shughour, waardoor duizenden mensen gestrand zijn.

Mensen die de vluchtelingen in de stad Bdama te hulp schoten, werden volgens Qurabi aangevallen. Syrische troepen zouden daar huizen in brand gestoken hebben en tientallen mensen gearresteerd hebben.

De Turkse regering riep donderdag Syri� op om onmiddellijk een einde te maken aan het gewelddadig optreden tegen vreedzame anti-regeringsbetogers. Ook willen de Turken dat het regime van Assad democratische hervormingen doorvoert.

Vrijdag werden grote anti-regeringsbetogingen gehouden in Syri�. Ze werden gewelddadig neergeslagen door de regering, waarbij zeker 19 mensen omkwamen volgens mensenrechtenactivisten.

Sinds het begin van het gewelddadige optreden van de Syrische regering tegen activisten en demonstranten zouden al meer dan veertienhonderd Syri�rs de dood hebben gevonden. Tienduizenden mensen zijn ingerekend, terwijl nog eens duizenden voor het geweld zijn gevlucht.

Omdat er nauwelijks journalisten in Syrie zijn, is berichtgeving vanuit het land lastig te vergaren en te controleren.

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Syrische oppositie vormt ‘Nationale Raad’

Politieke tegenstanders van de Syrische president Bashar al-Assad hebben een Nationale Raad opgericht met als doel het regime omver te werpen.

In een verklaring laat de raad weten dat de leden afkomstig zijn uit alle Syrische gemeenschappen. Ook zouden er veel bekende oppositieleden uit binnen-en buitenland lid zijn van de organisatie, meldt persbureau AFP. De raad roept alle Syri�rs op om Assad voor de rechter te slepen voor het geweld dat hij inzet tegen zijn volk.

Meer volgt.

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Op maandag 20 juni 2011 14:27 schreef anabolefreak het volgende:

[..]

Uhm,

Dat weet jij als Syrisch christen het beste? hoe oud ben je en hoe lang heb je in Syrie gewoont?, als je daar uberhaupt gewoont hebt. Heb je ooit wel eens een rechtszaak gevoerd daar? Waarschijnlijk weet je alleen iets van horen van.....

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Op maandag 20 juni 2011 14:25 schreef anabolefreak het volgende:

[..]

ja joh, natuurlijk.... jij hebt de wijsheid in pacht. Maar je hebt het mis,
Tja, moeilijk he, iemand die niet direct al die onzin gelooft van ooggetuigen.

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Op maandag 20 juni 2011 14:23 schreef anabolefreak het volgende:

[..]

En jij bent een PVDA'er?

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Wat is dit nu voor een non discussie??

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Activisten teleurgesteld, nieuwe protesten in Syri� na speech Assad

In Syri� is met grote teleurstelling gereageerd op de toespraak van president Bashar al-Assad. In verschillende steden gingen honderden mensen de straat op om hun onvrede over de uitspraken van Al-Assad te uiten.

De president zei vanochtend in een toespraak in het parlement dat Syri� het slachtoffer is van een buitenlands complot en dat extremisten en vandalen achter het geweld zitten dat het land al maanden in zijn greep houdt. In Irbin, een voorstad van Damascus, gingen zo’n driehonderd man na de speech de straat op. Ze riepen onder meer “Nee tegen een dialoog met de moordenaars.”

Syrische mensenrechtenactivisten reageerden eveneens teleurgesteld op de redevoering van Al-Assad. “De demonstranten veroordelen de speech die hen als saboteurs en extreminsten wegzet”, zei Rami Abdel Rahman van het Syrische Observatorium voor Mensenrechten. Persbureau AFP maakte naast de betoging in Irbin ook melding van nieuwe protesten in de grote centraal gelegen steden Aleppo, Homs en Hama en kuststad Latakia.

De Europese Unie kondigde nog tijdens de toespraak van Al-Assad aan dat strengere sancties tegen het regime van de president in voorbereiding zijn. In een verklaring lieten de EU-landen weten dat de “geloofwaardigheid en leiderschap” van de president afhangen van de hervormingen die hij belooft. Eerder kondigde de EU al de bevriezing van tegedoen en een visumverbod voor leden van het regime af.

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EU werkt aan zwaardere sancties tegen Syri�

De ministers van Buitenlandse Zaken van de EU-landen gaan de sancties tegen Syri� aanscherpen. Dat hebben zij vandaag laten weten na een bijeenkomst in Luxemburg.

Eerder legden de EU-landen Syri� al een wapenembargo op en werden Syrische tegoeden in het buitenland bevroren. Ook geldt een reisverbod voor president Assad en negen andere leden van zijn regime.

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Isra�l voorziet val van regime Syri�

Het regime van de Syrische president Bashar Al-Assad zal waarschijnlijk binnen zes maanden ten val komen.

Dat voorspelt de Isra�lische minister van Defensie Ehud Barak, meldt persbureau AP. De regering van Assad heeft volgens Barak alle legitimiteit verloren door de gewelddadige onderdrukking van de protesten tegen zijn regime. Volgens de minister is er “geen weg terug”. Barak gaf een toespraak in Parijs tijdens de Paris Air Show.

‘Onrust Syri� schuld van buitenlands complot’

Vanochtend gaf Assad een toespraak in het parlement waarin hij zei dat Syri� het slachtoffer is van een buitenlands complot en dat extremisten en vandalen achter het geweld zitten dat het land al maanden in zijn greep houdt. Hierop gingen honderden burgers de straat op om hun onvrede over de uitspraken van Al-Assad te uiten.

Sinds het begin van het gewelddadige optreden van de Syrische regering tegen activisten en demonstranten zouden al meer dan veertienhonderd Syri�rs de dood hebben gevonden. Tienduizenden mensen zijn ingerekend, terwijl nog eens duizenden voor het geweld zijn gevlucht.

EU maakt voorbereidingen om sancties Syri� uit te breiden

De Europese Unie bereidt zich voor om de sancties tegen Syri� verder uit te breiden vanwege het aanhoudende geweld tegen de oppositie. In een verklaring laat de EU weten dat het “de beperkende maatregelen” tegen het regime van president Bashar al-Assad uit wil breiden om “een fundamentele verandering in het beleid van het Syrische leiderschap” te forceren. Diplomaten verwachten aan het eind van de week een beslissing over de nieuwe sancties, meldt persbureau AP.

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VS willen “geen woorden, maar daden” van Syri�

De Verenigde Staten willen dat de Syrische president Bashar Al-Assad zijn woorden waarmaakt en hervormingen doorvoert in het door politieke onrust geteisterde land.

Ook noemen de Verenigde Staten de beschuldiging van Assad, dat Syri� het slachtoffer is van een buitenlands complot en dat extremisten en vandalen achter het geweld zitten, “onzin”. Dat meldt persbureau Reuters.

Assad: ik werk aan hervormingen, maar stabiliteit is nodig

Tijdens een toespraak bij de universiteit van Damascus zei Assad vanmiddag dat een deel van de betogers “gerechtvaardigde eisen” heeft. Hij liet weten dat hij werkt aan hervormingen, maar benadrukte dat deze niet zullen slagen zolang er geen stabiliteit is in het land.

Volgens het Syrische ministerie van Justitie gaat Al-Assad de komende tijd uitzoeken of de recentelijk verleende amnestie aan politieke activisten kan worden uitgebreid. Hij beloofde een Nationale Raad voor Dialoog op te richten om hervormingen met alle partijen in het land te bespreken en kondigde aan actie te gaan ondernemen tegen corruptie, een nieuwe kieswet op te stellen en de grondwet te willen wijzigen.

Volgens activisten die met persbureau AFP spraken, gingen demonstranten na de toespraak van Assad de straat op om te protesteren tegen zijn regime.

Oppositie vormt Nationale Raad tegen Assad

Onder andere Groot-Brittanni� en Frankrijk staan achter een ontwerpresolutie voor de VN-Veiligheidsraad om het geweld van het regime van Assad te veroordelen. Gisteren lieten politieke tegenstanders Assad in een verklaring weten dat zij een een Nationale Raad hebben opgericht met als doel het regime omver te werpen. De raad roept alle Syri�rs op om te helpen om Assad voor de rechter te slepen.

Sinds het begin van het gewelddadige optreden van de Syrische regering tegen activisten en demonstranten zouden al meer dan veertienhonderd Syri�rs de dood hebben gevonden. Tienduizenden mensen zijn ingerekend, terwijl nog eens duizenden voor het geweld zijn gevlucht. Naar schatting worden er meer dan tienduizend Syri�rs in Turkije opgevangen in vluchtelingenkampen.

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Op maandag 20 juni 2011 21:01 schreef Chooselife het volgende:
Omdat zelfstandig denken niet meer tot onze mogelijkheden behoort

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Op maandag 20 juni 2011 21:37 schreef Chooselife het volgende:

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Er staat onze.

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Op maandag 20 juni 2011 22:16 schreef Chooselife het volgende:

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Wat gaaf dat jij geen beperkingen hebt. Ik ken een professor, die wil je heel graag onderzoeken. Voor geld!

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Op maandag 20 juni 2011 22:32 schreef Chooselife het volgende:


De VS verliezen niets tot nu toe. Hun dependances blijven bespaard.

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Opnieuw generaal pardon gevangenen Syri�

De Syrische president Bashar al-Assad verklaart opnieuw een algemeen generaal pardon voor gevangenen van misdaden toe te kennen. Het zou gaan om misdaden die tussen 30 mei en 20 juni begaan zijn.

Het nieuws komt van het Syrische persbureau SANA. Op 31 mei kondigde de president ook al een generaal af voor zo'n 10.000 politieke gevangenen. Hij kwam daarmee tegemoet aan de eisen van de betogers die al maanden demonstreren tegen zijn regime.

Gisteren sprak Assad het volk toe in een op televisie uitgezonden redevoering. Hij bood geen enkel uitzicht op een uitweg uit de bloedige impasse. Hij stelde geen hervormingen door te voeren, zolang er sprake is van chaos in zijn land.

Steun achterban
De achterban van Assad ging vandaag massaal de straat op in Damascus om hem te steunen. De demonstranten trokken naar het Omeyyadesplein met Syrische vlaggen en portretten van de president. Ze riepen onder meer: 'We zullen ons voor je opofferen, Bashar'. Ook in de noordelijke stad Homs zouden aanhangers van Assad de straat zijn opgegaan.

Protesten
In Syri� protesteert de bevolking al maanden tegen het repressieve bewind van Assad. Hij laat zijn veiligheidsapparaat keihard optreden tegen de demonstranten. Er zijn al meer dan 1600 doden gevallen. Meer dan 10.000 Syri�rs zijn naar Turkije gevlucht. Duizenden mensen zijn opgepakt.

quote:

Op dinsdag 21 juni 2011 14:11 schreef abdalfawaz het volgende:
De regering laat het Rode Kruis ook toe in het land..

"De onderhandelingen met de regering waren eerlijk en zakelijk" aldus nos.nl

quote:

http://nos.nl/artikel/249(...)uis-toegang-toe.html
De Syrische regering geeft het Rode Kruis meer toegang tot burgers die zijn getroffen door het geweld in het land. Dat heeft de president van het Rode Kruis gezegd na twee dagen van overleg met het regime. Er wordt nog gesproken over het bezoeken van gevangenen.

Volgens directeur Kellenberger van het Rode Kruis verliep het overleg met de Syri�rs eerlijk en zakelijk. Hij zegt er scherp op toe te zullen zien dat Syri� zich houdt aan de afspraken.

Volgens de VN zijn enkele dorpen in het noorden vrijwel verlaten. Er melden zich dagelijks duizend nieuwe vluchtelingen aan de grens met Turkije, zegt de VN.

quote:

1.33pm: 1.33pm: Pro-regime supporters have clashed with anti-government protesters in the eastern city of Deir Ezzor, and the central city of Hama, according to activists.

An email from the opposition group the Local Coordination Committee of Syria said the pro-regime supporters started the violence.

In Hama it claimed:

Pro-Assad demonstrators were brought from Hama suburbs to Al-Assi Sq. to attack pro-freedom protesters, then a clash happened and security forces opened fire casing many casualties among protesters.

quote:

Doden bij botsingen tussen pro- en anti-Assad betogers in Syri�

Bij confrontaties tussen pro- en anti-regeringsdemonstranten in twee Syrische steden zijn vanmiddag vier doden gevallen. Niet eerder kwamen voor- en tegenstanders van president Al-Assad zo hevig met elkaar in aanvaring.

Sinds vanochtend zijn in verschillende Syrische steden tienduizenden aanhangers van de president op straat om hem hun steun te betuigen. Activisten vertelden persbureau AP dat het veelal om georkestreerde betogingen ging. In de centrale stad Homs zouden in een aantal wijken vuurgevechten zijn uitgebroken tussen pro- en anti-regeringsbetogers. Twee mensen kwamen daarbij volgens ooggetuigen om en nog eens zes raakten er gewond. Syrische ordetroepen zouden een aantal van de gewonde anti-regeringsbetogers hebben gearresteerd.

Naast Homs vielen ook in de oostelijke stad Deir el Zour twee dodelijke slachtoffers als gevolg van botsingen tussen tegenstanders en sympathisanten van president Al-Assad. De staatstelevisie liet vanochtend ook beelden zien van pro-regeringsdemonstraties in hoofdstad Damascus, de tweede stad Aleppo en de zuidelijke stad Deraa, waar halverwege maart de volksprotesten begonnen. Tijdens de betogingen droegen de demonstranten Syrische vlaggen en foto’s van de president met zich mee.

De Franse premier Fillon stelde vandaag dat de VN-Veiligheidsraad niet langer kan zwijgen over het geweld in Syri� en dat voor alle landen de tijd is gekomen om hun verantwoordelijkheid. Fillon deed zijn uitspraken tijdens een persconferentie met premier Poetin van Rusland, een land dat tegen bemoeienis met de situatie in Syri� is. Poetin noemde ingrijpen in Syri� geen begaanbare weg.

quote:

Op dinsdag 21 juni 2011 19:53 schreef abdalfawaz het volgende:
Dat maakt de situatie inderdaad zo gecompliceerd. Mijn idee is dat er nog een zeer aanzienlijk deel van de bevolking Assad liever ziet blijven. Bij hem weet je wel wat je krijgt, wat te doen als hij en zijn regime wegvalt? Ik vrees een enorme chaos..

quote:

Op dinsdag 21 juni 2011 19:59 schreef abdalfawaz het volgende:

[..]

Ik denk dat de machtsbasis van Assad groter is. Ik denk dat hij meer sympathie heeft en veel steviger in het zadel zit dan Mubarak zat.

quote:

Arab League chief admits second thoughts about Libya air strikes

Amr Moussa, who played central role in securing Arab support for Nato strikes, calls for ceasefire and 'political solution'
[...]

Nonetheless, he added, "we are outraged by all that has happened in Tunisia, in Syria, in Libya, in Yemen … We are really worried about the situation. The vast majority [in the Arab League] is not comfortable with what is going on in Syria."

The Syrian president, Bashar al-Assad, faced a dilemma and could be losing the initiative, Moussa said. "[His] chance is eroding. It is a race. You have to change as fast as you can. It is a race between reform or revolution."

[...]

quote:

Op dinsdag 21 juni 2011 20:15 schreef ChristianLebaneseFront het volgende:

[..]

Volgens bepaalde Fokkers allemaal agenten van de geheime dienst.

quote:

Op woensdag 22 juni 2011 09:54 schreef anabolefreak het volgende:

[..]

Assad hoeft niet eens met chaos te dreigen.
De mensen hoeven alleen maar naar Irak,Lebanon en Egypte te kijken...

[..]

quote:

Opgelost? met aanvallen op de koptische christenen?? je bent een beetje naief....

quote:

Op woensdag 22 juni 2011 11:00 schreef anabolefreak het volgende:
dat zeg ik niet, maar het is er zeker niet beter op geworden....

quote:

Er zijn meerdere aanvallen geweest, plus datgene wat je niet in het nieuws hoort.

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Afijn, in Egypte zal de tijd het leren....
Syrie is toch net ff een verhaal apart.
Ik heb in egypte geen grote pro Mubarak demonstraties gezien

quote:

Op dinsdag 21 juni 2011 14:45 schreef Papierversnipperaar het volgende:
The Guardian:

[..]

Flashback:

quote:

Syri� wordt 'ongekend voorbeeld van democratie'

De Syrische minister van buitenlandse zaken Walid Moallem heeft vandaag gezworen binnen drie maanden een 'ongekend voorbeeld van democratie' in Syri� te presenteren. Het is een vergaande belofte in het door onrust geplaagde land.

'Wij zullen een toonbeeld van democratie bieden', zei Moallem in zijn toespraak. 'Er zal sociale gerechtigheid zijn, gelijkheid voor de wet en aansprakelijkheid.' De beloftes van Moallem gingen een stuk verder dan de onduidelijke toezeggingen die de Syrische president Bashar Assad maandag deed.

De minister riep tegenstanders van het regime op terug te keren naar hun vaderland om de politieke dialoog aan te gaan. Hij beloofde dat 'zelfs de grootste tegenstander' van de regering niet wordt gearresteerd.

Moallem ging ook in op de beschuldigingen van de Verenigde Staten dat Iraanse troepen Syri� helpen de opstand in het land neer te slaan. 'Er is politieke steun van Iran en Hezbollah. Ze willen allebei dat de rust in Syri� weerkeert en ze steunen de hervormingen die door president Assad zijn aangekondigd', zei Moallem. 'Maar er is geen sprake van militaire steun.'

Charmeoffensief
Moallem haalde ook uit naar de Europese sancties tegen het Syrische regime. Hij zei dat 'we zullen vergeten dat Europa op de kaart staat'.
Assad ligt in binnen- en buitenland steeds meer onder druk. Demonstranten eisen zijn vertrek en lijken allerminst bereid met het regime te onderhandelen, met name omdat eerdere onderhandelingen geen enkel resultaat boekten. In dit licht kan de toespraak van Moallam dan ook worden gezien als een soort charmeoffensief, bedoeld om naar buiten toe vertrouwen uit te stralen.

Het geweld in Syri� heeft de afgelopen maanden naar schatting 1400 levens ge�ist. Tienduizend mensen zijn door het regime opgepakt en achter de tralies verdwenen.

quote:

Syrian embassy accused of threatening protesters in UK


UK activists say Assad agents have visited and intimidated them at home as campaigners fear for their Syrian families' safety

Claims that Syrians involved in anti-government protests in the UK have been threatened and intimidated by agents of the Assad regime have prompted discussions between Scotland Yard and Foreign Office officials.

Syrians who have protested in London say they have received phone calls and visits to their homes, while members of their families in Syria have been threatened.

One man described how the country's secret police had visited his parents' home warning them to stop him taking part in any further demonstrations after he was photographed outside the embassy in London. Another said he had been warned not to mix with the demonstrators by a Syrian official after a protest this month.

The demonstrators say that although the embassy does not have the power to arrest expatriates, the regime can attempt to control their behaviour by intimidating and detaining their relatives, or threatening to arrest them if they return to Syria.

The Foreign Office said it had been made aware of claims that Syria's embassy has photographed protesters, and that those images have been shown to their families in Syria in an attempt to harass them.

"We are looking into these reports and discussing them with the police. We urge anyone who's been the subject of any intimidation to report it to the police," said a Foreign Office spokesman.

The Syrian embassy denied the claims, insisting it served the entire Syrian community, irrespective of an individual's political beliefs or actions. But a friend of three people whose families have been persecuted said that they were "extremely frightened" and were deciding whether to press ahead with their claims against the Syrian regime.

"It has to be understood that this is extremely serious for these people and their families," said the London-based activist, who did not want to be named for fear of reprisals. "They are worried about what has happened and the publicity around them and what that could mean for their families. They are considering carefully what to do next."

A spokesman for the Metropolitan police said it had no knowledge of any complaint being made against the Syrian embassy, but added it was aware of the allegations. The Foreign Office urged any of those who felt they had been intimidated or threatened to come forward.

"Any such action [by the Syrian embassy] would be wholly wrong and unacceptable," said a spokesman. "We've taken action in the past against diplomats whose activities were inappropriate and contrary to the interests of the UK, and we would do so again."

Since the start of the Arab spring a number of regimes have been accused of intimidating their UK-based citizens. In April the Foreign Office condemned the Bahrain government when students on scholarships in Britain had their funding withdrawn after attending anti-government protests. The students said the regime had put intense pressure on their families after they were photographed attending a peaceful protest in Manchester in solidarity with the country's pro-democracy movement.They said they feared their relatives could suffer beatings and torture as a result of the Bahrain government's crackdown and that they were likely to be arrested upon their return.

In May the UK expelled two Libyan diplomats over allegations they were operating against UK-based demonstrators opposed to Muammar Gaddafi. The Foreign Office refused to comment on the behaviour which led to the expulsion of the diplomats and their dependants, but it was widely reported that they are suspected of seeking to intimidate pro-opposition Libyans .

quote:

Syria accuses EU of meddling as it imposes sanctions

Syria calls measures the equivalent to 'war' while promising to turn country into model democracy

Syria has lashed out at international "meddling" in its internal affairs and lambasted new EU sanctions that also target the commander of the al-Quds force of Iran's revolutionary guards, accused by the west of helping crush the unprecedented unrest.

Walid al-Moallem, Syria's foreign minister, called the sanctions the equivalent to "war", while promising to turn the country into a model democracy.

He accused EU states of trying to "plant strife and chaos" after they agreed to extend punitive measures against Bashar al-Assad's regime in response to the repression of protests that has cost 1,400 lives in three months.

The Guardian has learned that the sanctions target General Qassem Soleimani, commander of the elite al-Quds, who is already subject to US sanctions. Moallem denied that Tehran or Syria's Lebanese protege Hezbollah had been involved.

He singled out France for harbouring ambitions derived from its history as Syria's colonial ruler and urged Turkey to "reconsider" its increasinglyown hostile stance. Moallem blamed al-Qaida for killings of security personnel. Around 300 soldiers and other members of the security forces have been killed, alongside civilian casualties, in this bloody chapter of the Arab spring.

The minister's comments showed the Syrian regime flexing its muscles amid the overwhelmingly negative reaction to reform proposals Assad made in his speech on Monday. The US called for "action, not words" in response to that address – only Assad's third since the crisis began.

"We will forget that Europe is on the map and we will look east, south and towards every hand that is extended to us," Moallem said in a televised speech. Russia and China are continuing to block western attempts to pass a UN security council resolution condemning Syria.

British officials dismissed his remarks. A Foreign Office spokesman said: "It is the regime's own brutal repression of peaceful protest that is harming the Syrian people and the Syrian economy. We will continue to increase the pressure on President Assad and those around him until they recognise that the legitimate aspirations of the Syrian people must be met with reform not repression."

The new EU sanctions target individuals and companies in Syria's business community to increase economic pressure on the regime, as well as on Soleimani and two other Iranians accused of "providing military equipment and support".

Syria is no stranger to international isolation. During the 2003 Iraq war many in Washington regarded it as an easy target for criticism. Tensions were heightened in 2005 when Lebanon's ex-prime minister Rafiq al-Hariri was assassinated – though Damascus always denied responsibility.

"Most Syrians would be horrified at the thought of reliving the isolation endured by Syria in the 80s and part of the 90s," said Rime Allaf, a Syrian analyst at the Chatham House thinktank in London. "While the idea of foreign intervention is overwhelmingly rejected by regime fans and critics alike, diplomatic pressure is to be expected from Europe."

But analysts believe the regime still thinks it can contain this crisis through a mixture of repression and reform.

Moallem promised reforms that would allow Syria to "give lessons for others in democracy". A draft law to regulate new political parties, potentially ending Ba'athist dominance, has been published. After Assad's speech, state media announced a presidential decree granting amnesty to prisoners, excluding political detainees.

But domestic opposition, which appears to be slowly growing, rejected the pledges as insincere and too little, too late. "The parties law is not bad," said one opposition analyst who asked for anonymity. "But no one really believes that the regime will allow true power-sharing because it will ultimately lead to its downfall."

It is equally unclear who will take part in a national dialogue. The Local Co-ordination Committees (LCC), a group of grassroots opposition activists, rejected calls for dialogue as a way to "gain more time" for the regime. Veteran opposition figures who had been meeting the government, including Louay Hussein and Michel Kilo, have refused to continue.

Meanwhile, the LCC said security forces had raided Damascus University dormitories on Tuesday night and again on Wednesday morning making arrests, smashing computers and leaving one student dead.

The raid came after at least people were shot dead by pro-government forces in Homs, Hama and Deir Ezzor on Tuesday amid rising tensions as pro-regime rallies and anti-regime demonstrations poured onto the streets.

quote:

Syri�rs ontvluchten geweld grensgebied met Turkije

Honderden Syri�rs zijn de grens met Turkije overgestoken om een aan een aanval van het Syrische leger te ontkomen. De escalerende militaire campagne is gericht op de tegenstand tegen president Bashar Al-Assad. Dit meldt persbureau Reuters.

Een van de vluchtelingen, een boer uit Jisr al-Shugour, zegt dat men in paniek is. Volgens ooggetuigen stromen de vluchtelingen Turkije binnen bij Guvecci. De meesten komen uit de regio Khirbet al-Joz.

Nu al zijn duizenden Syri�rs het buurland ingevlucht na aanvallen op dorpen en steden verder in het zuiden. Het zou gaan om meer dan tienduizend mensen in de laatste twee weken. In Turkije zijn vier offici�le kampen geopend voor de vluchtelingen.

quote:

Turkey tells Bashar al-Assad to cease Syria repression

Recep Tayyip Erdogan asks president to sack brother and military mastermind as more refugees cross the border

Tension between Turkey and Syria is worsening as thousands of refugees from repression by president Bashar al-Assad flee across the border

Officials in Ankara were watching closely as Syrian forces deployed in a village close to the border, Khirbet al-Jouz, after Turkey had flatly rejected an appeal from Damascus to moderate its increasingly angry public comments about the crisis.

Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Turkey's prime minister, has attacked the repression as "savagery" and urged Assad to sack its military mastermind, his brother Maher, and implement genuine reforms in the spirit of the "Arab spring".

But Erdogan has so far failed to demand that the Syrian president stand down – as he did with Egypt's Hosni Mubarak and Libya's Muammar Gaddafi.

Still, officials, diplomats and analysts say that a bilateral relationship that has flourished politically and economically in recent years is now badly, perhaps irreparably, damaged.

"The rapprochement between Erdogan and Assad has pretty much broken down," said Fadi Hakura of the Chatham House thinktank in London. "Turkey is becoming ever more strident and direct, and this is causing deep unease in Damascus."

On Wednesday the Syrian foreign minister, Walid al-Moallem, publicly urged Turkey to reconsider its hostile stand, but the Turkish ambassador immediately dismissed the call.

"The relationship has become very frosty," said Hugh Pope, Istanbul director for the International Crisis Group. Erdogan had been urging Assad to make domestic changes since before the uprising began in March.

Ahead of Assad's speech on Monday, Ersat Hurmuzlu, an adviser to president Abdullah Gul, said Assad had a week in which to act – but Turkish officials were left disappointed by Assad's lacklustre performance.

"We had high expectations that the Syrian president would deliver," said a senior Turkish official. "But we were disappointed."

The Turkish-Syrian honeymoon began when Erdogan came to power in 2003, and cooled Turkey's once close relations with Israel while making overtures to the Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas.

Following his re-election this month he vowed to reach out to the Middle East and beyond to promote "justice, the rule of law ... freedom and democracy", distancing himself from the traditional stabile friendships with Arab dictators.

"When Turkey has to make a choice between regimes and people," the senior offiical said, "it will always be on the side of the people."

British officials describe a "meeting of minds" when David Cameron spoke to Erdogan last week. The US and Britain say that they hope a policy rethink in Ankara will also include a distancing from Iran and its alleged nuclear ambitions.

"The Turks are increasingly unhappy with what is happening in Syria," said a western diplomat. Another consequence has been a renewed warming of relations with Israel after the row over the Gaza aid flotilla last year, when a Turkish ship was boarded on the open seas by Israeli commandos and nine activists killed.

Syria was furious last month when Turkey hosted a high-profile conference of Syrian opposition activists in Antalya.

Turkish officials deny any plan to create a "security zone" on the border – a sensitive step given memories of Ottoman days (and the Turkish border province of Hatay, which Syria continues to claim as unjustly ceded in a plebiscite), and especially without an international mandate.

Turks recognise the change that has taken place. "Turkey's close rapport with the US regarding ... Syrian politics shows Turkey has completely parted company with Assad," commented Nihat Ali �zcan in the Hurriyet daily.

"Erdogan doesn't want another diplomatic crisis in the context of Syria, like the one instigated by the nuclear issue with Iran. We can say that he is ideologically much closer to the Muslim Brotherhood than Assad."

The US has praised Turkey for its "big heart" in helping refugees. "But clearly, Turkish patience appears to be wearing thin, and we share all of their humanitarian and political concerns," said a US state department spokesman.

"Erdogan is in a very challenging position," Hakura added. "He is trying to react to facts on the ground in Syria, but at the same time he hasn't called on Assad to step down. The more violence escalates, the more difficult his position will be."

quote:

Aleppo: Syria's sleeping giant stirs

As the uprising enters its fourth month, Syria's second city is becoming increasingly unsettled.

On the surface, all seems calm in Syria's second city.

Traffic and tourists might not be bustling along Aleppo's ancient thoroughfares in the abundance they once did, but to a casual observer there appears little sign that the turmoil of Syria's four-month old uprising has made much of an impact on its largest city.

But talk to shopkeepers, hotel managers and traders in Aleppo's famous covered souk and one soon finds grumblings of dissent.

For in the Syrian capital of commerce, no one is making money anymore, threatening to undermine the key pillar of a long established pact between Aleppo's Sunni merchant class and the imposed stability of the Alawite-led regime.

"Where are you, Halab?" chanted thousands of protestors, using the city's Arabic name, exasperated by Aleppo's conspicuous quiet while streets in towns and cities across the country filled with demonstrators every Friday since mid-March.

The answer is an interlocking mix of political, religious and economic interests which the regime has been largely successful in co-opting and which have kept Aleppo quiet, but which appear, as the uprising enters its fourth month, to be coming increasingly unstuck, threatening what analysts describe as the regime's Achilles heel.

"If Aleppo were to rise up, it would mean that one of the metrics by which the West is charting the fall of the Assad regime would have been met," said Andrew Tabler, a Syria expert at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy.

A student at Aleppo University was beaten to death by security forces during a pro-democracy demonstration on June 17, activists said - the first death of a protester there since the uprising began and a grim example of the length the regime will go to impose its stability on the country's largest city.

Mohammed el-Ektaa was among a small group of students who held protests on the university campus before being attacked by secret police and pro-Assad thugs, known as shabiha, said a member of the Syrian
Revolution Co-ordinators' Union (SRCU), an activist network in the city.

Mohammed's body was returned to his family by secret police shortly after the attack. Another student was also beaten and arrested during the protests, said the SRCU, while secret police broke into student dormitories making arbitrary arrests. The SRCU member said he had seen one student jump from his third floor room to avoid being arrested.

Students have been at the vanguard of attempts to bring Syria's nationwide protests against the Assad family's 41-year-dictatorship to Aleppo, a city of some four million, one of the largest in the Levant.

'Security touring the mosques'

Though predominantly Sunni Muslim, increasingly religiously conservative and - during the bloodiest days of Iraq’s civil war - a producer of the murky jihadist preacher known as Abu Qaqa, who called for the slaughter of Americans in Iraq, Aleppo's mosques have long been controlled by the secret police of the Alawite-led regime, an offshoot of Shia Islam.

Since its military crushed an armed rebellion in Aleppo led by the Muslim Brotherhood in 1980, the regime uses the state-run ministry of religious endowments to appoint Aleppo's preachers, ensuring worshippers at Friday prayers never again hear the call to turn against their own rulers.

Though an advocate of violent jihad in the name of Islam, Abu Qaqa, a Kurd, was allowed to preach in his Aleppo mosque unhindered by the secret police, until he was gunned down in September 2007 after reports surfaced he had delivered a list of Sunni extremists to state intelligence.

Today, however, the murky relationship between the regime and Aleppo's preachers is being challenged by a message less easily drowned out in violence.

"The people are becoming angrier every week and the government is not giving much, just some promises. Every Friday I feel some worshippers want to demonstrate but I call on them to be quiet," said a prominent Muslim scholar who preaches at one of Aleppo's largest mosques, asking to remain anonymous fearing regime reprisals.

"To see hundreds of students demonstrating, even if they are small demonstrations, is symbolic: They are the young and educated. Some sheikhs [preachers] told me they cannot control their people any more and security men are touring around the mosques every Friday. It's only a matter of weeks and Aleppo will see big demonstrations."

A second, even more significant pillar of the regime's control over Aleppo now also appears to be beginning to crumble as well: the economy.

Sitting at the end of the Silk Road, the ancient trading route between Asia and the Mediterranean, Aleppo is one of the oldest centres of commerce in the world.

Specialising in textiles and industry, modern Aleppo's economy is largely shaped by its access to, and competition with, the vast market of Turkey, just 50km north.

Flood of Turkish imports

For decades Aleppo's original Sunnis merchant families did very well trading with their co-religionists in Turkey while maintaining stability in the city as part of a deal with the Alawite-led regime of Damascus.

But from 2004, Aleppo's industries have been hit hard by a flood of imports from Turkey following a free-trade agreement between the two nations, built on Bashar al-Assad's personal friendship with Recep Tayyip Erdogan, the Turkish prime minister.

Today, however, Erdogan accuses President Assad's regime of "savagery" against its own people, leading regional calls for the regime to end its brutal crackdown.

"The regime has bribed a lot of Sunni business interests, leaving them to do business while being protected by the security apparatus," said Imad Salamey, assistant professor of political science at the Lebanese American University (LAU) and an expert on Syrian affairs.

"But eventually the bourgeois will come to feel the regime can no longer provide them with economic stability and that business as usual is no longer viable. They will no longer feel committed to the existing system. I think it’s a matter of time."

In a speech at Damascus University on June 20, Assad acknowledged that the greatest challenge facing his regime as it attempts to crush the uprising "is the weakness or collapse of the Syrian economy."

"Aleppo was one of the areas that suffered extensively from the regime's bloody crackdown on the Muslim Brotherhood, so the fear factor still remains," Tabler, of the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, said.

"When added to the interests of the city's merchants and traders, it's not surprising protestors have not come out in force. But as the protests have moved into Aleppo's hinterland, this will put the fear factor to the test."

As well as protests in Aleppo University, June 17 also saw pro-democracy protests in the Aleppo neighbourhoods of Salahedeen and Seif al-Dawali. It was the second Friday of protests in Seif al-Dawali.
"Although it is slowly, it is very important to see Aleppo joining the uprising," an opposition leader in the city said.

In the villages north of Aleppo, a witness estimated around 5,000 protesters had turned out across Tal Rifaat, Hreitan, Mareaa and Aazaz. In Hreitan protesters called on local residents to join them in the streets, chanting: "The one who not participate has no conscience."

A week before, on June 10, the first protests had spread from Hreitan, 10km north of Aleppo, to Akhtareen, 13km northeast of the city, where several thousand gathered to call for freedom and support Jisr al-Shughour, which is less than 100km west of Aleppo.

Massive layoffs imminent

Sitting behind his desk in a lavishly decorated office, a photograph of President Assad hanging on the wall, a 45-year-old Sunni businessman from Aleppo's Old City cautioned that the economic consequences of the crisis in Syria could soon fuel further protests.

"Today I am losing money as no one wants to buy garments and textile. Syrians are buying bread and food stuffs as they are worried about the future. I am seriously considering having to sack or give unpaid vacation to a third of my workforce," he said.

Late last month Assad had met a delegation of Aleppo business leaders, said the textile factory owner. The businessmen had urged Assad to end the crisis in Syria swiftly to avoid massive layoffs.

"The government promised to decrease fuel and electricity prices, but this is not enough for us," said the textile factory owner.

"The government looks to us as their partners who should help them in this crisis. But if the situation continues, Aleppo will feel the economic consequences and we will see demonstrations in the city."

In April, the International Monetary Fund lowered Syria's economic growth rate this year from 5.5 per cent to three per cent. The International Institute of Finance, an association of major global banks, paints an even bleaker picture, projecting Syria's GDP could contract by as much as three per cent in fiscal 2011.

Finally, the political pact that kept Aleppo, and much of Syria's population, bound to the regime for decades appears also to be coming unstuck in the demands and protests of the students who have led the opposition in the city.

Abdul Qader, 22, a student at Aleppo University's Faculty of Arts is one of those.

"During the last four decades, the Baathists were telling us that the government gives us, the citizens, everything for free or with a subsidised price and for that reason we should be silent," he said. "But now we get no free services and no bread so we want freedom."

quote:

Weer doden bij massaal protest in Syri�

Bij massaal protest tegen het bewind in Syri� zijn vandaag zeker 15 doden en tientallen gewonden gevallen. Dit is van mensenrechtenactivisten in het Arabische land vernomen. Na het vrijdaggebed zijn opnieuw tienduizenden mensen in diverse steden de straat opgegaan om het aftreden te eisen van president Bashar al-Assad.

Oppositiebewegingen hadden via sociale media zoals de Facebookgroep Syrische Revolutie 2011 opgeroepen tot nieuwe protesten. Veiligheidstroepen openden het vuur en doodden demonstranten in de hoofdstad Damascus en in de steden Kiswah en Homs.

Gewapende mannen
Veelal jonge Syri�rs komen al ruim 3 maanden in opstand tegen Assads alleenheerschappij. Keihard optreden tegen de betogers door leger en politie heeft in die periode volgens uiteenlopende schattingen al 1100 tot meer dan 1600 levens ge�ist. De Syrische staatstelevisie stelde vrijdag opnieuw dat de burgerdoden het gevolg zijn van 'gewapende mannen' die op leger en politie schieten.

Assad probeerde deze week opnieuw met vage beloftes de gemoederen te sussen. Hij zou een dialoog willen en bereid zijn tot hervormingen die de macht van zijn eigen Baathpartij inperken. Maar ondertussen zetten zijn troepen aan de grens met Turkije de aanval in op duizenden mensen die op de vlucht waren geslagen voor het geweld.

Toevlucht
De Turkse autoriteiten meldden vrijdag dat al bijna 12.000 Syri�rs hun toevlucht hebben gezocht in de Turkse grensprovincie Hatay. Vrijdag zijn naar schatting opnieuw 1500 mensen de grens overgestoken. Syrische troepen kwamen donderdag in actie in de grensstreek.

Langs de grens met Turkije bivakkeren ook duizenden mensen die het geweld in Syri� zijn ontvlucht, maar die de stap nog niet hebben willen nemen om de grens over steken. Ze worden enigszins bevoorraad vanaf Turks grondgebied. Onder de 12.000 vluchtelingen waren vijftig mensen dusdanig gewond geraakt dat ze na aankomst in Turkije in ziekenhuizen zijn opgenomen.

De leiders van de EU toonden zich vrijdag tijdens hun top in Brussel zeer bezorgd over de situatie in Syri�. Ze veroordelen 'in de sterkst mogelijke termen de voortdurende onderdrukking en het onaanvaardbare en schokkende geweld' van het Syrische regime tegen zijn burgers. Het regime roept daardoor twijfels op over zijn legitimiteit. De EU besloot donderdag al tot uitbreiding van zijn sancties tegen Syri�. De lijst van personen en bedrijven die gestraft worden met het blokkeren van Europese tegoeden en het opleggen van reisverboden wordt uitgebreid.

Rondreis
De Chinese premier Wen Jiabao is vrijdag aangekomen in Hongarije, tot volgende week de voorzitter van de Europese Unie. Wen zal tijdens zijn rondreis langs diverse EU-landen vermoedelijk ook spreken over de toestand in Syri�. Zijn gastheren Duitsland en Groot-Brittanni� werken aan een VN-resolutie die het optreden van het bewind tegen de volksopstand daar veroordeelt. China is gekant tegen de resolutie en kan, als permanent lid van de Veiligheidsraad, de tekst blokkeren.