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.

quote:

Western journalists return to Syria


Return of press for first time since being expelled in March suggests Syrian regime willing to engage in propaganda war

A trickle of western journalists is being allowed back in to Damascus – under close supervision by government minders – suggesting Syrian president Bashar al-Assad's regime is sufficiently concerned about its hold on power to be willing to engage in a foreign propaganda war.

Sky News anchor Jeremy Thompson was reporting from Damascus on Friday, and CNN's Arwan Damon, who is of Syrian and American descent, broadcast from the capital on Thursday. The Sunday Times has a reporter in the country, but declined to confirm their identity on Friday.

Foreign journalists were expelled from the country shortly after unrest began in March, and have been concentrating their efforts on the Turkish border, where Syrians have been gathering in refugee camps to escape military crackdowns.

Speaking during a government-arranged tour of the apparently quiet streets of Damascus today, Thompson said: "The very fact that we are here, the first foreign journalists to be allowed visas in three or four months ... suggests that the government is concerned that its message isn't getting out, that the rest of the world misunderstands what they're doing ... and if anything that the propaganda machine of the opposition... is winning the hearts and minds at the moment."

Thompson is hoping to speak to members of the Assad government in the next few days and claimed that the feeling within Damascus was that if he were to lose his grip on power "it could bring terrible instability and most people don't want that despite the protest movement in this country".

Thompson secured his 15-day visa shortly after an interview with Assad adviser Bouthaina Shaaban on Monday. Sky News executives spent the following days requesting permission to return to Syria from Shaaban, fellow Syrian spokesperson Reema Haddad and the Syrian embassy in London.

Head of international news Sarah Whitehead attributed the breakthrough to "good old-fashioned news gathering persistence".

It is understood there are no formal reporting restrictions, but Thompson will need to tread carefully. Whitehead said: "We are there because the Syrians have given us a visa and we hope to report as freely as we can but we'll have to see how it develops over the coming days."

Thompson currently anchors Live at Five with Jeremy Thompson. A seasoned foreign correspondent, he has reported on dozens of wars and conflicts for the BBC and ITN. In 1999, he was the first TV newsman to broadcast live as British peacekeeping forces rolled into Kosovo.

CNN's Damon filmed in Damascus on Thursday, accompanied by minders, and was shown street vendors selling pro-government paraphernalia and a restaurant speaker blaring music in praise of Bashar.

• To contact the MediaGuardian news desk email editor@mediaguardian.co.uk or phone 020 3353 3857. For all other inquiries please call the main Guardian switchboard on 020 3353 2000. If you are writing a comment for publication, please mark clearly "for publication".

quote:

Syrische oppositie wil maandag overleg

Opposanten van het regime in Syri� willen maandag overleg voeren om te bekijken hoe de crisis kan worden opgelost. Dit zei de voorzitter van de Syrische Liga voor de Mensenrechten, Abdel Karim Rihawi, vandaag. 'We spreken om te komen tot de formulering van een nationale strategie om de huidige crisis in Syri� te be�indigen', aldus Rihawi. Hij beklemtoonde dat hij niet namens 'de demonstranten in de straat' kon spreken.

Het zou gaan om ongeveer 100 personen die niet aan een politieke partij of beweging verbonden zijn, inclusief de schrijvers Fayez Sara en Louai Hussein. Sinds half maart slaat het regime van president Bashar al-Assad bloedig protesten tegen het bewind en voor democratie neer.

Volgens mensenrechtenactivisten zijn sinds half maart 1332 burgers gedood. Ook zouden 341 leden van de politie, de geheime diensten of strijdkrachten zijn omgekomen. Deze cijfers zijn exclusief de vier doden die zaterdag zijn gemeld.

Militairen hebben in Kassir, in de omgeving van de stad Homs, twee burgers doodgeschoten volgens activisten. In Kiswah, ten zuiden van Damascus, schoten militairen op een begrafenisstoet. Daarbij vielen twee doden. De begrafenis was van een van de 18 mensen die vrijdag zijn doodgeschoten tijdens grote betogingen tegen het regime.

quote:

Syria reinforces northern border as Turkey loses patience with Assad

Advance on Khirbet al-Jouz seen as a warning after Ankara seeks reforms and end to crackdown on Syrian protesters

Syrian officials have ordered military units to step up patrolling near the Turkish border in a warning to its increasingly irate northern neighbour not to establish a buffer zone inside Syria.

Diplomats in Ankara and Beirut believe the Syrian advance on the border village of Khirbet al-Jouz, initially portrayed as a sweep against dissidents, was a veiled threat to Turkey, which is steadily turning on President Bashar al-Assad as his regime's crackdown on dissent continues.

In the wake of Assad's speech last week, Turkish officials gave him one week to start reforms and stop the violent suppression of protests, which is estimated to have killed more than 1,400 people in less than four months. At least 18 were killed and dozens more wounded during nationwide protests on Friday – a relatively low toll compared with the past few Fridays. But the pattern of activists being attacked by the security forces remains the same.

British government officials travelled during the week to the south of Turkey to interview Syrian refugees. A Foreign Office official told the Observer that diplomats are compiling accounts of what happened in Jisr al-Shughour and the villages around it during the first two weeks of this month, when the Syrian army mounted a series of raids, followed by an assault that led almost every resident of the 41,000-strong town to flee, first for the nearby hills, then to Turkey.

Among the allegations being investigated are claims that Iranian soldiers operated alongside Syrian units – especially the Fourth Division of the army, which is led by Assad's brother Maher and has a reputation for ruthlessness.

The European Union last week adopted sanctions against three leading officers of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps, among them Qassem Suleimani, commander of the elite Al-Quds force, who is widely regarded as the leader of all the Iranian military's clandestine missions abroad.

A senior diplomat in Beirut said on Friday that intelligence agencies had evidence that Iran sent weapons to Syria, but had not yet determined whether there had been an actual Iranian presence at demonstrations.

In a further sign of Turkish unease with Damascus, officials from the country's Red Crescent who run the five refugee camps along the border no longer seem to be banned from talking to reporters. Embarrassment to Syria has clearly become less of a concern.

Refugee accounts are being used to compile a referral to the international criminal court, which will be asked to prosecute Assad and key regime officials for crimes against humanity. The referral is being prepared by several rights groups, including Insan, which is also compiling testimonies from defecting Syrian soldiers.

Turkey's growing diplomatic anger at Syria has made Istanbul an attractive hub for the Syrian opposition movement, which has received scores of defectors in recent weeks. Beirut, which is less than three hours' drive from Damascus and offers easy access to Syrian citizens, is now considered too dangerous for anti-regime dissidents. "It is a clearing house only," said one Syrian activist who directs a network of dissidents across the border. "There are many ways that the regime can get to people here – they don't even have to be here themselves. They just use their proxies."

One Syrian journalist who fled to Beirut has told the rights group Avaaz of his capture by Lebanese military intelligence officers. The journalist says he was seized from a coffee shop in Jounieh, 25km north of Beirut. He said he was first asked by a stranger to step outside for a conversation, then seized and taken to a fetid barracks where he was interrogated for several days.

"During the days I spent in Beirut, some other Syrian activists were kidnapped and extradited to the Syrian security police," he said. "The Lebanese authorities have also captured the few fugitive Syrian soldiers who had fled Syria through the borders, and then turned them in to Syria, claiming that it had to because of the security agreement signed between the two countries."

At least 1,000 refugees crossed into Lebanon at the Wadi Khalled border point on Friday, including five men with gunshot wounds, after an assault on the Syrian city of Homs, according to Lebanese officials. A resident of the border village told the Observer that Syrian army units had opened fire towards the wounded as they attempted to enter Lebanon.

quote:

A report in the Sunday Telegraph says:

In a worrying sign for Mr Assad and his ability to portray the uprising as a provincial sign show, there is growing evidence that the protest movement is closing in on his two principal strongholds [Aleppo and Damascus]...

After mosque prayers on Friday, when the biggest demonstrations traditionally take place, at least 20 protesters were killed across the country. But, for the first time, a majority of the fatalities were on the outskirts of Damascus.

The capital's residents are all too aware of the rising tension. "Damascus is not the place it was even a week ago," one of its inhabitants, Rami, said. "Anything can happen anywhere now.

quote:

Op maandag 27 juni 2011 14:36 schreef Monidique het volgende:

[..]

Khaddafi is een Libi�r. Zijn leger bestaat voornamelijk uit Libi�rs.

quote:

Op maandag 27 juni 2011 16:38 schreef t-8one het volgende:

[..]

Die huurlingen blijven het wel lang volhouden vind ik.

quote:

Syrian army defector says he was told to shoot unarmed protesters

During a month stationed in Deraa, neither Wasid nor any of his fellow conscripts saw a single armed demonstrator

Wasid, a young Syrian conscript, set off for the town of Deraa in late April filled with the zeal of a soldier going to war. "We were going to fight terrorists," he said.

But less than a day after arriving in Deraa, Wasid was making plans to defect.

The Syrian regime has cast the uprising as a conflict between a loyal military and a large and highly mobile group of heavily armed foreign-backed insurgents, roaming the country attempting to ignite sectarian strife.

Over three hours in an Istanbul safe house, the 20-year-old soldier described events in the southern town where the wave of dissent that has swept Syria first broke out. The young defector's account starkly contradicts the official narrative.

"As soon as we got there, the officers told us not to shoot at the men carrying guns. They said they [the gunmen] were with us. I couldn't believe what I was hearing. It had all been lies."

In the month they were stationed there, neither Wasid nor any of his colleagues saw any demonstrators with weapons in Deraa or the nearby town of Izraa.

And instead of confronting armed insurgents, the unit was given orders to shoot protesters.

"I could not believe what I was hearing – to leave alone the people carrying guns. It shocked me," he said. "We are soldiers and soldiers do not shoot at civilians."

In the weeks leading up his deployment with the Syrian army's 14 division, commanders had given regular briefings on the "violence" ahead. Wasid was convinced he would soon be in combat.

"When we were at the base in Damascus before we left for Deraa, we were not allowed to watch television at all, except for two hours each day when we could watch Rami Makhlouf's channel," he said [Makhlouf, a tycoon, is president Bashar al-Assad's first cousin].

"All they showed were armed groups roaming the villages. I found out later that these groups were on our [the regime's] side – they were the Shabiyeh."

According to Wasid, the Shabiyeh – ghosts – were the only civilian gunmen in town. Their group has strong links to the military and has developed a reputation over recent bloody months of being willing to do dirty work in troublesome towns and villages.

"The first day we arrived there, 24 April, the Shabiyeh came to the base to speak with our officers. It was clear that the relationship was close."

Wasid showed the Guardian his military ID and application for refugee status, copies of which have been kept.

He does not want his real name or photograph used out of fear that his family may be targeted for reprisals.

After many weeks of military crackdowns, the government is now on a diplomatic and media offensive.

Officials are pushing their version of events to a few correspondents who were last week allowed to enter Syria for the first time since March.

The official account has given particular emphasis to claims that Sunni Islamic groups have either initiated or hijacked the uprising's agenda.

"I never saw an Islamist or anybody that resembled one," said Wasid. "And nor did anyone else with me."

He estimated that about 30% of his unit were disaffected with the military.

But neither dissent nor defection are easy in Syria, where conscripts are paid $9 (�6) each month.

"One guy – I only know his name as Wael, he was from the east – told an officer that what we were doing was wrong. The next day he was killed. They said he had been shot by terrorists."

Nevertheless, by 25 May, Wasid and 20 others had mustered the courage to attempt to escape.

He ditched his military fatigues – and the sniper rifle which he had never used – and ran with the group to the highway, where a van took them to Damascus.

"Once we got there, we agreed we would go separate directions. I stayed in Damascus for three days and then left for Turkey. I don't know where the others went."

He crossed the border in the Kurdish northeast of Syria and made his way by bus to Istanbul, where the UNHCR and rights group Avaaz are providing him with help.

Wasid's testimony will be used in a referral to the international criminal court being prepared by another group, Insan.

Four other defectors from Deraa have made their way to Amman in recent days and are also briefing investigators.

Defections have been regularly reported during the uprising, but on a small scale.

Apart from the apparent mutiny of half a base in the northern town of Jisr al-Shughour (where Syrian officials claim soldiers were massacred by terrorists), none of the defections have been large enough to pose a threat to command and control of the army.

Wasid says his anger is directed not at the government, which he believes betrayed him, but at his army colleagues who stayed behind despite also seeing what he had seen in Deraa.

"There were around 100 people each week killed there. They were civilians.

"If I see my colleagues again, not only will I tell others what they have done, but I will find their families and tell them too. And then I will hurt them."

quote:

Op dinsdag 28 juni 2011 13:04 schreef anabolefreak het volgende:

[..]

Arme mensen, ze gaan gewoon vrijwillig terug, ze gaan de dood tegemoet, het wrede syrische leger zal ze opwachten en doden........ Of toch niet?

Wel vreemd he dat mensen die eerst vluchten nu vrijwillig terug gaan....
En dat terwijl men ons probeert te doen geloven dat het leger daar iedereen afmaakt.. Of zou het leger dan daadwerkelijk gewapende bendes hebben uitgemoord/verjaagd zodat deze mensen weer veilig terug durven te gaan?

quote:

Op dinsdag 28 juni 2011 13:23 schreef anabolefreak het volgende:
De syrische oppositie overlegt publiekelijk in Damascus over hoe verder te gaan..... :

Syria opposition figures meet in Damascus

En ze worden niet eens zomaar doodgeschoten? wow!

quote:

Op dinsdag 28 juni 2011 13:27 schreef anabolefreak het volgende:

[..]

En maar zeggen dat er geen hervormingen worden doorgevoert...

quote:

Op dinsdag 28 juni 2011 13:34 schreef anabolefreak het volgende:

[..]

Door wie? onder welke omstandigheden? gewapend of ongewapend?

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Op dinsdag 28 juni 2011 13:33 schreef anabolefreak het volgende:

[..]

actie - reactie.

Ondanks dat een kleine minderheid demonstreet krijg je natuurlijk toch wel resultaat als je het land een aantal maanden frustreert . Feit is echter wel dat men de zittende overheid nu een kans moet geven dingen door te voeren.

quote:

Op dinsdag 28 juni 2011 13:39 schreef Papierversnipperaar het volgende:

[..]

Oh, dat weet je niet? Je hebt dus alleen maar een mening en een voorkeur, en je zoekt of verzint "feiten" om die te ondersteunen.

Duidelijk

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Op dinsdag 28 juni 2011 13:50 schreef anabolefreak het volgende:

[..]

jij weet het blijkbaar wel?? of neem je ook alleen maar aan wat ooggetuigen roepen?

quote:

Syria: US-backed plan for reform leaves Bashar al-Assad in place

US state department encouraging discussion of draft document which circulated at opposition talks, sources say

The US is promoting a "roadmap" for political reforms in Syria which would transform the regime of Bashar al-Assad but leave him in place for now – despite demands for his overthrow during the country's bloody three-month uprising.

Syrian opposition sources have revealed that the US state department has been discreetly encouraging discussion of the unpublished draft document which circulated at an unprecedented opposition conference held on Monday in Damascus. The US ambassador is urging dialogue with the regime, the sources say.

Assad would oversee what the roadmap calls "a secure and peaceful transition to civil democracy". It calls for tighter control over the security forces, the disbanding of "Shabiha" gangs accused of atrocities, the legal right to peaceful demonstrations, extensive media freedoms, and the appointment of a transitional assembly.

The carefully phrased 3,000-word document demands a "clear and frank apology" and accountability for organisations and individuals who "failed to accommodate legitimate protests", and compensation for the families of victims of repression. The opposition says 1,400 people have been killed since mid-March. The government says 500 members of the security forces have died.

It does not attack the president or other regime figures by name. It calls for the ruling Ba'ath party to be subject to a new law on political parties – though the party would still provide 30 of 100 members for a proposed transitional national assembly. Seventy others would be appointed by the president in consultation with opposition nominees – which will still leave Assad in a powerful position.

Several of the proposed measures have already been mentioned in public by Assad, fuelling speculation he is at least partially following through on some of the document's recommendations.

The roadmap is signed by Louay Hussein and Maan Abdelsalam, leading secular intellectuals in a group called the National Action Committee. Both men met the vice-president, Farouk al-Sharaa, before Assad's most recent speech, diplomats said. On Monday they chaired the Damascus conference, which had official permission, was attended by 150 people – and was publicly welcomed by the US.

Wael Sawah, another member of the group, is an adviser to the US embassy in Damascus but did not sign the text, apparently so as not to discredit it in the eyes of Syrians suspicious of foreign meddling.

Quiet US backing for the roadmap dovetails with public demands from Washington that Assad reform or step down. Robert Ford, the US ambassador, has been urging opposition figures to talk to the regime, said Radwan Ziadeh, a leading exile who insisted the strategy would not work. "They are asking Bashar to lead the transition and this is not acceptable to the protesters," he said. "It is too late."

Hillary Clinton, the US secretary of state, has said Assad is losing legitimacy and is not indispensable because of his country's strategic position in the Middle East. But the US has not called openly for his overthrow – in striking contrast to policy towards Muammar Gaddafi in Libya.

"It would be a big mistake if the Americans tried to influence this initiative and a mistake for the opposition to let them," warned a prominent Syrian intellectual with close links to the regime. "I would advise them to distance themselves from the US."

A US state department spokesman said: "We are encouraging genuine dialogue between the opposition and the regime but we are not promoting anything. We want to see a democratic Syria but this is in the hands of the Syrian people."

Opposition figures are deeply divided over the way ahead, though even those arguing for engagement with the regime are far from certain it will work: "The situation may be at such an impasse that it precludes opportunities for co-operation and political dialogue and the feasibility of any proposal for reconciliation," the text warns.

Worries are growing that the regime may be recovering its poise in the absence of significant defections from the military, government or business elite.

Joshua Landis, a Syria expert at the University of Oklahoma, said: "The US approach makes sense. Sanctions are a slippery slope and they're not going to intervene militarily in Syria. They have to explore what this regime is capable of."

Others warn Assad may be flirting with these ideas to buy time and improve his battered image. "This is a blueprint for reform in Syria that would leave the regime in place," warned one opposition figure. "It's the minimum to keep the west happy. The regime wants to co-opt the opposition and independent intellectuals to create an official opposition and sideline others and paint them as being in collusion with foreign enemies. How can I give legitimacy to Bashar al-Assad when there are a million people on the streets demanding he be removed?"

quote:

Syrian army sweeps through villages as protests gather pace

Activists dismiss government attempts to reclaim reform agenda and boost credibility as public relations campaign

Demonstrations intensified and a government crackdown continued on Thursday despite attempts by the Syrian regime to reclaim the reform agenda and boost its international credibility.

Activists dismissed the moves as a public relations campaign as the army swept through villages in the north-western province of Idleb. Tanks entered the villages of Ihsim and forces were gathered close to several other villages in the district of Jebel Zawiya, activists reported.

Ten people have been killed since Wednesday in the border area despite a report by Syrian state media agency Sana earlier this week that the army operation in the area had finished.

Earlier Sana said the army was chasing terrorists who the government claims killed 120 security agents in Jisr al-Shughour on 6 June, but activists insist troops are looking for army defectors.

Meanwhile, gunfire was reported in the southern city of Deraa, according to the Local Co-ordination Committees. A resident of Deraa said that for residents of the city "the regime has fallen". But she said the situation remained tense with army and security forces in control and curfews from 2pm to 5pm and from 10pm until the morning.

Elsewhere peaceful protests are being allowed. Army and security forces have withdrawn from the city of Hama, south of Aleppo, according to residents who described it as having been "liberated" for more than two weeks.

"There are currently no posters of the president, no security forces and no checkpoints," said one young woman.

More than 70 protesters were killed in Hama, Syria's fourth most populous city, on 4 June. Two members of the security forces were killed by angry mourners at the funerals that followed.

Wissam Tarif, of the human rights group Insan, claims the forces have withdrawn because they are overstretched. Syria's army is weak by regional standards and experts say it would struggle to cope with simultaneous mass uprisings.

But some commentators suggest Hama is being left as the government tries to calm the situation before dialogue and as international condemnation has grown.

Any crackdown would be likely to inflame a city deeply scarred by a previous crackdown in the 1980s. In the face of an Islamist uprising the government of then-president Hafez al-Assad launched a brutal army assault on Hama which killed at least 20,000 people, many of them civilians.

"But leaving the city for good is not a solution because huge protests now go on every night," said one resident.

Protests appear to be growing outside Hama too. A group of 300 lawyers protested outside the palace of justice in Aleppo, the northern commercial hub which has remained relatively quiet. Demonstrations were reported in at least three areas of the city on Thursday after the Syrian Revolution 2011 Facebook page called for 1 million people to come out. Protests also took place in Raqqa, a largely Bedouin city in the centre of the country.

On Wednesday the US treasury added new people to its list of sanctions on Syria, including head of the air force intelligence chief Major General Jamil Hassan.

quote:

A roadmap for Syria (in English)

Syrian sources have revealed that the US state department is promoting a roadmap for political reforms that would transform Bashar al-Assad's regime – but leave him in place

quote:

Honderdduizenden Syri�rs betogen tegen president Assad

In verschillende Syrische steden zijn vanmiddag volgens persbureaus en activisten honderdduizenden mensen de straat opgegaan om te demonstreren tegen het regime van president Bashar al-Assad. Bij de protesten vielen volgens activisten zes doden.

Niet veel vaker demonstreerden zoveel mensen in Syri� tegelijkertijd tegen het regime. Een anonieme activist zei tegen persbureau AFP dat alleen al in de centrale stad Homs vanmiddag rond de 400.000 betogers op de been waren. In Hama, een andere grote centraal gelegen stad, waren volgens activisten meer dan 200.000 mensen op straat.

Bij beschietingen door ordetroepen kwamen in Homs naar verluidt drie mensen om. Ook andere de grens met Turkije zijn volgens het Syrisch Observatorium voor Mensenrechten drie mensen gedood. Ordetroepen zouden daar geschoten hebben op Syri�rs die het land vanwege het aanhoudende geweld probeerden te ontvluchten.

De internationale druk op Syri� blijft intussen toenemen. De Amerikaanse minister van Buitenlandse Zaken Hillary Clinton zei vanochtend in Litouwen dat de tijd dringt voor het Syrische regime om serieus werk te maken van hervormingen. “Anders komt zijn regime tegenover een toenemend georganiseerde oppositie te staan”, aldus Clinton.

quote:

Op zondag 3 juli 2011 00:34 schreef SteelDogg het volgende:
De filmer word gewoon beschoten

quote:

Wel heel erg goed dat dit allemaal aan de rest van de wereld word getoond!!!!! Dit is Assad's grootste nachtmerrie geweest die nu aan het uitkomen is: Opstanden door heel Syri� heen die zo groot zijn dat ze amper neergeslagen kunnen worden!!

Zo moeten ze blijven volhouden want dit regime houdt niet lang stand meer!

quote:

Op zondag 3 juli 2011 00:54 schreef SteelDogg het volgende:
Idd maar hoe langer het duurt, des te groter en sterker de opstanden worden, en de internationale gemeenschap meer doet... In het begin ging alle aandacht naar Tunesi�, toen over op Egypte, daarna kwam Libi� (wat nog steeds bezig is maar eveneens niet lang zal gaan duren) en nu is Syri� aan de beurt......

quote:

Tanks rond Syrische stad Hama

Het Syrische leger heeft met tanks de stad Hama afgesloten, zeggen bewoners en activisten in de stad. Twee dagen eerder protesteerden tienduizenden in de stad tegen president Bashar al-Assad.

Tanks sluiten alle toegangswegen naar Hama af. Er zouden tientallen mensen in buitenwijken van de stad zijn gearresteerd en volgens mensenrechtenorganisatie Syrian Observatory for Human Rights kiest de regering nu blijkbaar voor een militaire optie in het neerslaan van de protesten.

In Hama waren twee dagen geleden 200.000 mensen op de been om het aftreden van president Bashar al-Assad te eisen. In het hele land protesteerden Syri�rs tegen de regering, zo zouden er in Homs zo’n 400.000 demonstranten de straat op zijn gegaan.

Een dag na de protesten is de gouverneur van de provincie Hama ontslagen. Assad heeft een decreet uitgevaardigd waarin zonder verdere toelichting Ahmad Khaled Abdulaziz uit zijn functie wordt ontheven, zo meldt Reuters.

quote:

Op zondag 3 juli 2011 14:23 schreef fusionfake het volgende:
Wie gelooft er nou serieus dat er hervormingen komen of dat Assad �berhaupt hervormingen wilt, wanneer er op vreedzame demonstranten met scherp wordt geschoten?

quote:

Syrian tanks 'pull back from Hama'

Residents say thousands assemble for a night rally despite electricity cuts designed to hamper protests.

Syrian tanks and armoured vehicles deployed at the entrances to the city of Hama have pulled back, residents said.

They headed north on Sunday after moving close to the city of 650,000 people.

The move comes two days after the city saw the largest protest against President Bashar al-Assad since an uprising began three months ago.

"The regime is using scare tactics, but the people of Hama are not bowing," one of the residents said.

He said tens of thousands of people assembled for a night rally at the main square on Sunday, despite electricity cuts designed to hamper protests.

Tens of people were earlier arrested in neighbourhoods on the edges of Hama and secret police patrols were seen in the city, residents said.

Meanwhile, activists and a resident said Syrian forces shot dead two protesters during a demonstration in a Damascus suburb.

"It was a usual night demonstration when a hail of bullets hit. Many were also injured," the resident, who gave his name as Abu al-Nour, told Reuters news agency by phone from the poor suburb where thousands of refugees from the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights live.

Troops advanced late on Saturday on Kfar Rumma village and made arrests in the district of Jabal al-Zawiyah, Rami Abdel Rahman of the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights told the AFP news agency.

"Ninety-seven military vehicles, including tanks and personnel carriers, carrying thousands of soldiers moved Saturday night towards Kfar Rumma," he said.

"Hundreds of residents emerged from their homes to confront them and prevent them from advancing, but the troops pursued their deployment to carry out their military operations."

Al Jazeera cannot verify reports from Syria because of restrictions on reporting in the country.

A resident of Hama said communication networks had been cut off in the city, a tactic that has been used by the military ahead of assaults on cities and towns elsewhere.

Security forces and gunmen loyal to Assad were seen in several neighbourhoods, he said.

The security presence had lessened in Hama since forces killed at least 60 protesters in the city a month ago, in one of the bloodiest days of the uprising against Assad. Residents said security forces and snipers had fired on crowds of demonstrators.

The move to deploy more force comes a day after Assad removed the governor of Hama, Ahmad Khaled Abdulaziz.

The opposition has deep roots in Hama. In 1982, under the rule of Hafez al-Assad, Bashar's father, the army stormed the city to crush a revolt by the Muslim Brotherhood, leaving about 20,000 people dead.

quote:

Syrische troepen vallen Hama binnen

Syrische troepen zijn de stad Hama binnengevallen, nadat duizenden anti-regeringsdemonstranten de straten waren opgegaan onder het uitroepen van de tekst: ‘Allah is groot’.

“Ten minste dertig bussen met militairen en veiligheidspolitie arriveerden vanmorgen in de stad”, aldus een inwoner van de stad tegen AP. Syrische troepen hadden de Hama gisteren al omsingeld. “De militairen schieten in het wilde weg”, aldus de inwoner via een telefoonverbinding.

Tanks in Kfar Roumah

Ondertussen zijn Syrische tanks het stadje Kfar Roumah in het noordwesten van het land binnengereden. Daarbij raakten zeker zes personen gewond. De actie is een van de pogingen van het leger om de opstand te onderdrukken. Het leger en de veiligheidspolitie is al een week zeer actief. In Hajar, een buitenwijk van de Syrische hoofdstad Damascus, schoten veiligheidsagenten gisteravond laat twee opstandelingen dood.

De opstand tegen president Bashar al-Assad houdt opmerkelijk lang aan. Inmiddels wordt er vier maanden gestreden. Het is de grootste opstand tegen het regime van de dynastie van Assad sinds de familie veertig jaar geleden aan de macht kwam. Er vielen volgens opstandelingen inmiddels meer dan 1.400 doden aan de zijde van de opstandelingen sinds maart. Het controleren van dergelijke uitspraken is moeilijk, omdat media massaal geweerd worden.

quote:

Doden bij anti-regeringdemonstraties in Syri�

In de Syrische stad Hama zijn vandaag zeker drie demonstranten door het leger doodgeschoten toen zij barricades opwierpen voor oprukkende tanks. Dat laat het Syrische Observatorium voor de Mensenrechten weten. “Er heerst een soort vastberadenheid om niet te wijken voor welke tank dan ook”, meldde directeur Rami Abdul-Raghman.

Inwoners van de stad probeerden met brandende autobanden en zandwallen de doorgang voor tanks van het Syrische leger te versperren, waarna laatstgenoemde het vuur opende. Volgens het Observatorium gedragen de inwoners van Hama zich “openlijk ongehoorzaam” tegenover autoriteiten.

De demonstraties tegen de Syrische president Bashar al-Assad houden inmiddels al vier maanden aan. Volgens opstandelingen zijn sinds maart meer dan 1.400 doden aan de zijde van de opstandelingen gevallen. Concrete gegevens ontbreken, omdat media massaal geweerd worden.

quote:

Op dinsdag 5 juli 2011 18:27 schreef johnnylove het volgende:
Geen idee hoe ik t anders dien te doen, maar dit....

http://www.vkmag.com/vide(...)_eigen_dood_in_homs/

quote:

Video clips highlighted by the leading dissident Ammar Abdulhamid purport to show protesters resisting the army.

One shows stone-throwing protesters in a stand off with soldiers who fire back.

شام - حماة - إطلاق نار مباشر على العزل 5-7 بالكلاشنكوف

Another appears to show protesters forcing a bus load of soldiers to retreat.

5 7 Hama أوغاريت حماة هروب قوات الأمن من شباب حماة الأبطال عند طريق حلب ج2

A third shows a similar scene of resistance.

5 7 Hama أوغاريت حماة هروب قوات الأمن من قبل شباب حماة الأبطال

quote:

‘Syrische troepen moeten demonstranten doden’

Leden van Syrische veiligheidstroepen hebben verklaard dat ze van hun superieuren orders krijgen om demonstranten dood te schieten, volgens Human Right Watch. De instantie maakt dat vandaag openbaar aan de hand van interviews met acht Syrische soldaten en vier leden van nationale veiligheidsdiensten.

De twaalf zouden inmiddels zijn overgelopen naar de oppositie en daarom hun verhaal doen. Onder orders van het regime van Bashar al-Assad sloegen ze demonstraties neer in onder andere Dera’a, Homs, Jisr al-Shoughour en hoofdstad Damascus. Ze participeerden in en waren getuigen bij het neerschieten en verwonden van tientallen demonstranten, volgens eigen verklaring.

Een lid van de veiligheidstroepen in Homs zegt tegenover Human Rights Watch:

“De demonstranten waren op het plein gaan zitten. Wij werden opgedragen ze met geweld te verwijderen. We waren samen met luchtmacht, leger en gewapende mannen die geen onderdeel uitmaakten van de troepen, maar wel het regime steunden. ‘s Middags kregen we het order… op de demonstranten te schieten. Het vuren duurde meer dan een half uur.”

“Er waren tientallen demonstranten gedood en verwond. Een half uur later arriveerden grafgravers en brandweerwagens. Ze haalden de lichamen weg, ik weet niet waarheen. De gewonden werden naar het militaire ziekenhuis van de stad gebracht. Daarna maakten de brandweerwagens het plein schoon.”

Alle ge�nterviewden verklaarden tegen HRW dat hun superieuren ze vertelden dat ze infiltranten en terroristen zouden bevechten. Ze waren verrast toen het ongewapende burgers bleken te zijn. Wie weigerde de orders op te volgen, liep het risico zelf gedood te worden.

De Syrische regering heeft niet gereageerd op de verklaringen.

quote:

12.00pm: Diplomatic relations between France and Syria are tense after a troubled weekend, writes Angelique Chrisafis in Paris.


The French foreign office summoned Syria's ambassador to France on Sunday night to express its outrage over violent protests outside the French embassy in Damascus over the weekend.

Demonstrators at the embassy and the French consulate in Aleppo had burned French flags, lobbed stones into the compound and destroyed cars in what France called "unspeakable acts" while the Syrian authorities stood by.

The violence came after the French ambassador to Damascus, Eric Chevallier, and his US counterpart, Robert Ford, visited the northern city of Hama in a show of solidarity for protesters on Friday. The Syrian government objected to the ambassadors' visits, calling them "blatant" interference in Syrian internal affairs.

quote:

3.05pm: The break-ins at the US and French embassies in the Syrian capital Damascus now appear to be over.

Reuters reports:

Unidentified people tried to break into France's embassy in Syria on Monday but failed, the French Foreign Ministry said.

The incident "is now finished," spokesman Bernard Valero said in response to a query.
He could not immediately give more details.

This photograph of the incident at the US embassy (left) appears on a pro-Assad Facebook group.

quote:

Op maandag 11 juli 2011 16:36 schreef Chooselife het volgende:

pro syrian ,pro bashar, syrian counculate ,newportbeach

Opvallend. Erg opvallend dit.

quote:

Op maandag 11 juli 2011 17:26 schreef Chooselife het volgende:

[..]

Het is in de VS.

quote:

US says Syria's Assad has lost legitimacy

Associated Press= WASHINGTON (AP) — Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton said Monday that Syrian President Bashar Assad has "lost legitimacy" as a leader interested in reform as the United States formally protested an attack on the U.S. Embassy and the American ambassador's residence in Damascus.

Clinton's comments fell short of demanding that Assad leave power but were some of the strongest public criticism yet by a senior U.S. official and demonstrated Washington's anger not only at the embassy attack but the Assad regime's continuing crackdown on opponents.

"From our perspective, he has lost legitimacy," Clinton told reporters at the State Department in a joint news conference with European Union foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton. "He has failed to deliver on promises he has made, he has sought and accepted aid from the Iranians as to how to repress his own people."

Clinton said there was a "laundry list of actions" that the Assad regime should be held accountable for. And she condemned the attacks on the U.S. and French embassies while demanding that Syria uphold its international treaty obligations to protect foreign diplomatic missions.

Earlier, the department summoned a senior Syrian diplomat to register the U.S. complaints in person and said it would seek compensation for damage caused when a mob of what it described as about 300 "thugs" breached the wall of the embassy compound before being dispersed by U.S. Marine guards.

Clinton cautioned Assad and his supporters that there was no truth to suggestions by some that the U.S. wanted to see the current regime stay in power for stabilities' sake.

"President Assad is not indispensible and we have absolutely nothing invested in him remaining in power," she said.

State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said it appeared a government-controlled television statement had instigated the violence, and Clinton warned Assad that he could not distract the international community from its brutal crackdown on protesters demanding reforms.

"By either allowing or inciting this kind of behavior by these mobs against American and French diplomats and their property, they are clearly trying to deflect attention from their crackdown internally and to move the world's view away from what they are doing," Clinton said. "It just doesn't work."

Nuland called the embassy attacks "absolutely outrageous." She said the mob had not breached the chancery building but had gotten onto its roof, spray painted graffiti and broken windows and some security cameras. In addition, she said protesters lobbed fruits and vegetables at the compound.

She said that Syrian security forces who are supposed to guard the mission were slow to respond to the attack. There were no injuries reported to embassy personnel, who are all accounted for, officials said.

After the crowd at the embassy was dispersed, the protesters moved to the residence of U.S. Ambassador Robert Ford and attacked it, causing unspecified damage, Nuland said.

Witnesses said the protesters smashed windows at the embassy and raised a Syrian flag on the compound. They also wrote anti-US graffiti referring to the U.S. ambassador as a "dog," the witnesses said. The protests were over visits by the U.S. and French ambassadors last week to the opposition stronghold of Hama in central Syria.

On Sunday, the State Department complained that pro-government demonstrators threw tomatoes, eggs and rocks at the embassy over the weekend to protest Ford's visit to Hama. There were no reports of injuries, but a senior department official said two embassy employees were pelted with food during the 31-hour demonstration.

Ford on Thursday visited Hama, where he was greeted by friendly crowds who put flowers on his windshield and olive branches on his car, chanting, "Down with the regime!" The State Department said Ford made the trip to express support for the right of Syrian people to demonstrate peacefully.

The Syrian government denounced Ford's visit, saying the unauthorized trip was proof that Washington was inciting violence in the Arab nation. The main headline of state-run daily Al-Thawra read, "Ford in Hama and Syrians are angry."

Last week, the Syria's ambassador to the U.S. was summoned to the State Department to hear concerns about reports of Syrian diplomats conducting video and photographic surveillance of people participating in protests in the United States. Authorities may have retaliated against some demonstrators' relatives in Syria, the department said in a statement on Friday.

The Obama administration has criticized Assad's government for its violent crackdown on peaceful protests against his 11-year rule. Clashes between protesters and Assad's supporters have resulted in the deaths of 1,600, in addition to 350 members of the security forces.

But the White House has so far refrained from calling for an end to the Assad family's four decades of rule, wary of pressing too hard as it tries to wind down wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and faces criticism for being part of the coalition battling Moammar Gadhafi in Libya.

Congressional Republicans have pressed the administration to withdraw Ford from Syria, an ally of Iran that supports the Islamic militant groups Hezbollah in neighboring Lebanon and Hamas in the Gaza Strip. The U.S. did not send an ambassador to Damascus for five years in protest of Syria's alleged role in the assassination of a political leader in Lebanon.

quote:

Kiss Of ‘Democratic’ Death: Israel’s Plot To Take Down Syria I

This is the first of a 2-part series that exposes the 'Syrian Revolution' as a destabilization operation commanded by the usurping regime of Israel and assisted by its allies in Washington D.C., Paris, London, Riyadh and other faces hiding behind masks of friendship and neutrality. This selection deals with the 40+ years of history that led to the unprecedented events unfolding now and how Tel Aviv and Riyadh have once again joined hands in modern day to eliminate Syrian Resistance once and for all...

quote:

Op dinsdag 12 juli 2011 10:49 schreef RobertoCarlos het volgende:

[..]

Goede bron!!

quote:

Also like the poison dart frogs, the Angel’s Trumpets and the blue-ringed octopuses, the beauty of ‘democracy’ is merely a front for the venom that lies beneath an eye-pleasing exterior. A venom that can kill. A venom that has killed. In the millions. Democracy is the kiss of death, bringing ruin, pillage and desecration while cloaked in the garments of freedom, equality and higher-learning. If democracy was an entity of female origin, it would be the succubus of mythological lore. If it were of male origin, it would be the incubus. And the easterners, Arabs and Africans, can speak for millennia about what this demonic ‘democracy’ actually represents. Syrians beware, ‘democracy’ is targeting you now; heed the lessons of the past, taught in blood by your oppressed brothers and sisters.

quote:

Medewerker NRC door Syri� uitgezet

De Syrische autoriteiten hebben gisteren NRC-medewerker Maarten Zegers tot ongewenst vreemdeling verklaard en op een vliegtuig naar Turkije gezet.

NRC Handelsblad meldt vanmiddag:

Hij werd aangehouden en geboeid toen hij zijn visum wilde verlengen. De autoriteiten wilden geen reden geven voor hun actie, maar spraken onderling over “die journalist”, zei Zeegers vanochtend.

Zeegers studeert islamitisch recht aan de universiteit van Damascus en schrijft een boek over Syri�. Sinds enkele maanden doet hij voor de krant verslag van de onrusten in het land. In de krant verschenen zijn stukken onder de aanhef “Door een medewerker”, doordat de Syrische autoriteiten geen onafhankelijke buitenlandse verslaggeving toestaan.

Volgens de krant werd Zeegers urenlang in een kelder vastgehouden, samen met een Saoedische drugsgebruiker en een Indonesische prostituee, voor hij naar het vliegveld werd gebracht. Hij is naar eigen zeggen niet mishandeld.

quote:

Veiligheidstroepen Syri� vuren opnieuw op demonstranten

Syrische veiligheidstroepen hebben ten minste drie demonstranten gedood in de noordelijke stad Idlib. Ook in hoofdstad Damascus werd geschoten op demonstranten. Honderdduizenden Syri�rs zijn vandaag op de been om het vertrek van president Assad te eisen.

Al Jazeera spreekt van in totaal zeven doden in Idlib, Damascus en Deraa.

Een lid van de Syrische oppositie, Louay Hussain, laat vanuit Damascus aan persbureau Reuters weten dat de autoriteiten volgens hem reageren op de weigering van de oppositie deel te nemen aan gesprekken. Volgens Hussain wil het regime met een dialoog proberen de moorden in de doofpot te stoppen.

In Hama vond het grootste protest plaats. Daar hebben zich volgens bronnen van persbureau AP veel mensen uit nabijgelegen dorpen bij de protesten gevoegd.

Inmiddels zijn in Syri� volgens activisten al zo’n 1600 mensen gedood in een poging van het regime om de demonstraties tegen de regering de kop in te drukken.

Demonstraties in Jordani�

In de Jordaanse hoofdstad Amman zijn demonstranten in gevecht gekomen met de politie. Betogers eisen hervormingen van de regering, maar niet het vertrek van koning Abdullah, die de regering samenstelt.

Bij de gevechten in Amman zouden zeker acht gewonden zijn gevallen.

quote:

Op vrijdag 15 juli 2011 21:56 schreef Chooselife het volgende:
Syri�rs hebben het toch lang niet slecht?

quote:

Op zaterdag 16 juli 2011 12:53 schreef Monidique het volgende:
Ik lees over honderdduizenden mensen op de been, zie video's met gigantisch veel mensen. Filmpjes waarin mensen blijven demonstreren, ook al wordt er zwaar geschoten. Die geest, die krijg je absoluut niet meer in de fles. Dit regime is ten dode opgeschreven.

Frappant is dan weer dat er een klein moment was in Iran dat zulke demonstraties er ook waren, maar die zijn effectief neergeslagen uiteindelijk. De vraag die ik dan stel, is: waarom daar wel en hier niet? Wat zou dat verschil zijn?

quote:

Syri� belegert oostelijke stad, 'situatie is explosief'

Syrische tanks hebben een stad in het oosten van het land omsingeld. De aanleiding was een betoging van tienduizenden bewoners van al-Bukamal tegen president Bashar al-Assad, meldden activisten vandaag.

'De situatie in al-Bukamal is explosief', meldde een inwoner. Gisteren was een burger omgekomen toen veiligheidstroepen het vuur openden op een demonstratie tegen de president.

Eerder had het Syrische leger hard opgetreden in opstandige steden in het noorden.

quote:

Minstens dertig doden bij gevechten in Syrische stad Homs

Bij gevechten tussen aanhangers en tegenstanders van het Syrische regime in Homs zijn ten minste dertig doden gevallen in de afgelopen 24 uur. Dat meldt persbureau AFP.

De schermutselingen begonnen gisteravond na de moord op drie betogers, die vorige week door onbekenden ontvoerd werden. Gisteren kregen hun families de uiteengereten lichamen terug.

Vrijdag werden 32 betogers doodgeschoten bij massale antiregeringsdemonstraties in Syri�. Meer dan een miljoen mensen waren daarbij op de been.

Bij het geweld in Syri�, dat al sinds maart dit jaar aanhoudt, zijn volgens Human Right Watch meer dan 1.600 demonstranten doodgeschoten en tienduizend mensen gearresteerd.

quote:

http://www.guardian.co.uk(...)dle-east-unrest-live
Syria, Libya and Middle East unrest - live updates


8.28am: Welcome to Middle East Live.
Syria

Syria appears to have witnessed one of its bloodiest weekends since the uprising began.

• In the central city of Homs more than 30 people were killed in the last 24 hours, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.

Rami Abdul-Rahman, from the Observatory, told Bloomberg:

We were able to get a list of 30 names of civilians killed in Homs, but the number is higher than that.

• The eastern city of Abu Kamal (spellings vary) has been besieged by more 1,000 troops, some backed by tanks and others flown in on helicopters, according to the New York Times.

The Syrian forces surrounded the town and appeared to be preparing for a major military operation to quell dissent there, residents said.

Al-Watan, a pro-government newspaper, reported on Sunday that the situation in Albokamal was "explosive" and that the army was "preparing to intervene."

• The raid comes after reports that around 100 soldiers defected to the opposition Abu Kamal.

Video footage from the town purported to show residents celebrating the defection of the soldiers by clambering on to tanks and chanting the Egyptian revolutionary slogan "The people and the army are one hand".

Hundreds of Syria Soldiers Defect and Join Protesters - 7-16-11 Albu Kamal

Reuters report on incident is as follows: 7-17-11 :"Some 1,000 troops and security forces backed by tanks and helicopters surrounded Albu Kamal overnight, a poor eastern border crossing with Iraq, a day after Military Intelligence agents there killed five protesters, including a 14 year old boy, residents said.

The killings drove thousands into the streets, overwhelming soldiers and secret police. Residents said around 100 Air Force Intelligence personnel and the crew of at least four armored vehicles joined the protesters.

"The protesters returned several army personnel carriers today as a sign of good will. The regime knows it will meet tough resistance if it attacks Albu Kamal, and that Iraqi tribes on the other side of the border will rush to help their brethren," said one activist in the region, who declined to be named for fear of arrest.

Another activist said: "The whole of Albu Kamal went to the streets after the killings. Several armored personnel carriers moved into the center of the town to stop them, but ended joining sides with the human wave.""