Syria: Down with President Bashar al-Assad!

Estimates place the number of dead in the city of Hama at 250 since the July 31 crackdown. After much prevarication by Russia and China, the United Nations did issue a somewhat watered down statement criticizing the Assad regime’s use of force against civilians but unfortunately the statement has no legal force and the Syrian government is free to continue to do what it’s doing. One newspaper quoted an unnamed Syrian as saying, “They only give us words, and words are not enough.”

While Assad issued a decree on Thursday, August 4 authorising the formation of political parties other than the ruling Baath party, it is difficult to see how this will assuage the protest movement which is sweeping across the country. As with Egypt, the people want nothing less than the current ruler gone but if Assad is at all following the news out of Egypt and the courtroom appearance of Hosni Mubarak, he be well aware of his own future if events in Syria parallel what started in Tahrir Square in Cairo.

The NY Times has reported a surprising criticism of the crackdown on democracy advocates as oil-rich Arab states called Saturday for Syria to bring an “immediate end to violence.” The newspaper said that the six Gulf Cooperation Council countries – Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates – issued a statement urging Syrian leaders to “resort to wisdom and introducing serious and necessary reforms that would protect the rights and dignity of the people, and meet their aspirations.”

Al Jazeera reported on Saturday that government tanks and armoured vehicles have been rolled out in force in the northeastern city of Deir ez-Zor and around Homs in central Syria. The deployment came after security forces killed at least 24 civilians on Friday in a nationwide crackdown on anti-government protesters.

Various news outlets are saying that opposition leader Walid al-Bunni, who was in hiding, has been arrested. Bunni, 48, a medical doctor, has apparently been jailed twice for several years over his political activities since Assad succeeded his father Hafez al-Assad in 2000. Bunni reportedly told Reuters that the uprising must remain peaceful, even as the death toll from the government crackdown rises. “There will be more martyrs, but the protest movement must remain nonviolent,” he added.

Turkey is not happy. On Tuesday, Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu flies to Syria to issue a stark warning that Turkey is going to sit on the sidelines if this crisis continues. Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan was quoted as saying, “We have been very patient until now, waiting to see whether we can fix this; whether they will listen to what we have been saying. But our patience is running out now.” This past Wednesday, Deputy Prime Minister Bülent Arınç went so far as to describe the Hama assault as “nothing short of an atrocity” and said Turkey “cannot remain friend with whoever committed this crime.”

Turkey is a close friend of Syria and has been saying all along that the protests are an internal affair and not their business. However there is growing criticism of Syria in the Turkish government and Erdoğan’s remarks may suggest Turkey could take action. “We are not allowed to remain a bystander to what happens in Syria. We are hearing voices coming from Syria and we definitely must respond by doing whatever we are required to do,” he said, reportedly without elaborating.

Uploaded by PBSNewsHour on Aug 5, 2011

News Wrap: Syrian Regime Proclaims Victory in Hama Crackdown

In other news Friday, the Syrian government continued to open fire on demonstrators calling for an end to President Bashar Assad’s regime. And at least seven people were killed by troops in a Mogadishu camp for famine victims when looting began during food distribution.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=45W3lTvgxO8

Uploaded by AlArabiya on Aug 6, 2011

Continuing Crackdown in Hama

Newly released video on a social media website shows tens of thousands of protestors across Syria on August 5th, the first Friday of Ramadan, in defiance of President Bashar Al-Assad’s bloody crackdown on protests in Hama and another close by city for six consecutive days.

Uploaded by MrHamaSyria on Aug 6, 2011

hama today, hama 6-8 , syria today , syria revolution , hama, syria

syrian goverment under bashal alasad fire hama city and damage cars and trucks and bulding!

Uploaded by infolivetvenglish on Aug 5, 2011

Syria ignores world calls to cease violence

Despite the UN Security Council’s condemnation of Syria for its ongoing attacks on civilians, reports said a number of civilians were killed and scores wounded by military forces during demonstrations in Damascus, in rural Daraa province in the south and in Palmyra in central Syria.

Wikipedia: Bashar al-Assad: 2011 uprising

May 18, 2011

U.S. President Barack Obama signed an Executive order putting into effect sanctions against Bashar Assad in an effort to pressure his regime “to end its use of violence against its people and begin transitioning to a democratic system that protects the rights of the Syrian people.” The sanctions effectively freeze any of the Syrian President’s assets either in the United States proper or within U.S. jurisdiction.

May 23, 2011

EU Foreign ministers agreed at a meeting in Brussels to add Mr Assad and nine other officials to a list affected by travel bans and asset freezes.

May 24, 2011

Canada imposed sanctions on Syrian leaders, one of which is Assad.

References

These previous articles have various videos collected from YouTube showing the conflict in Hama, Syria over the past few days.

Oye! Times – Wednesday, August 3, 2011

Syria’s Assad continues to battle his own people (videos)

The propaganda war has been ramped up as the Syrian government attempts to counteract the numerous amateur videos posted on YouTube purporting to show civilians being attacked. State television has been broadcasting footage of men armed with shotguns, staves and knives and one with an AK-47 rifle among demonstrators said to have been taking part in rallies in Hama. This is an obvious attempt to lend credence to Assad’s claim of extremist groups inciting violence but it in no way properly addresses the imbalance between these ragtag groups of citizens and the highly armed troops supported by tanks.

Oye! Times – Tuesday, August 2, 2011

Syria: Day 2 of Ramadan, Day 3 of attack on Hama (videos)

Assad has been quoted as saying that he lays the blame for the protests on foreign-inspired plots adding that extremist religious groups are exercising violence and terrorism.

Oye! Times – Monday, August 1, 2011

Syria faces condemnation but the killing continues

The Telegraph is reporting today that tanks have renewed their assault on the city of Hama. Syrian security forces are supposedly bombarding Hama while reportedly shooting at anyone who ventures out onto the streets and shelling the homes of those who do not. Pacify Hama and the protests at any cost seems to be the order of the day.

Oye! Times – Sunday, July 31, 2011

Syria: 150 killed in pre-Ramadan crackdown (videos)

News outlets are reporting that President Bashar al-Assad has decided to follow in his father’s footsteps by sending in tanks to crush the uprising in the central city of Hama. Hama was the scene of a notorious massacre in 1982 when the Ba’ath regime crushed an Islamist uprising that challenged the rule of the president’s father, Hafez al-Assad. At least 10,000 were killed then.

Wikipedia: Timeline of the 2011 Syrian uprising

The following is a timeline of the 2011 Syrian uprising, a series of major protests and unrest taking place in Syria, which began on 26 January 2011, influenced by concurrent protests in the region.

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