Middle East
Syrian opposition vows to 'break the regime'
Activists say democratic transition will safeguard the country from "a period
of violence, chaos and civil war".
Last Modified: 27 Apr 2011 09:35
Syrian opposition figures have said their "massive grassroots revolution" will
break the regime unless Bashar al-Assad, the president, leads a transition to
democracy.
The statement on Wednesday from an umbrella group of opposition activists in
Syria and abroad called the National Initiative for Change said a democratic
transition will "safeguard the nation from falling into a period of violence,
chaos and civil war."
"If the Syrian president does not wish to be recorded in history as a leader of
this transition period, there is no alternative left for Syrians except to move
forward along the same path as did the Tunisians, Egyptians
and Libyans before them," the statement said.
The opposition in Syria is getting more organised as anti-government protests
gain strength, but it is stilll fragmented.
Meanwhile, witnesses said troops had poured into the Damascus suburb of Douma
overnight and were also deployed around the coastal city of Baniyas.
White buses brought in hundreds of soldiers in full combat gear into Douma, a
witness told Reuters news agency. Pro-democracy protesters have tried to march
from the suburb into the centre of the capital in the last two weeks but have
been dispersed by security forces.
More than 2,000 security police deployed in Douma on Tuesday, manning
checkpoints and checking identity cards to arrest pro-democracy sympathisers,
the witness, a former soldier, said.
He said he saw several lorries in the streets equipped with heavy machine guns
and members of the plainclothes secret police carrying assault rifles. He
believed the soldiers to be Republican Guards, among the units most loyal to
Bashar al-Assad, the president.
Diplomats said Assad had sent the Fourth Mechanised Division, commanded by his
brother Maher, into the city.
Death toll mounting
Late on Tuesday, the state news agency SANA reported the army "continued to
chase armed groups and extremists in Deraa who attacked military positions, cut
off roads and forced passers-by to stop so they could hit them."
Sawasiah, a Syrian human rights organisation, said electricity, water and
telecommunications were cut in Deraa and that tanks were firing at houses.
Also, supplies of blood at hospitals was starting to run low.
In the coastal city of Baniyas, thousands took to the streets on Tuesday,
chanting "freedom, freedom," amid reports that the army had been deployed in
the surrounding area.
At least 400 civilians have been killed by security forces since mid-March in
their campaign to crush the protests, Sawasiah said, adding that the United
Nations Security Council must convene to start proceedings against Syrian
officials in the International Criminal Court and "rein in the security
apparatus".
Sawasiah said security forces had killed up to 35 civilians since they entered
the southern city of Deraa at dawn on Monday.
The UN secretary-general has called for an independent inquiry into the deaths
of people he has described as peaceful demonstrators.
But Syria's UN envoy has said the country is perfectly capable of conducting
its own transparent inquiry into the deaths.
Ambassador Bashar Ja'afari told reporters that Assad had instructed the
government "to establish a national commission of inquiry and investigation
about all the casualties among civilians" and the envoy pledged "full
transparency".
"We have nothing to hide," he said.
"We regret what's going on, but you should also acknowledge the fact that this
unrest and riots, in some of their aspects, have hidden agendas," he said,
adding that some foreign governments were trying to destabilise Syria.
International pressure on Assad is mounting, with European governments urging
Syria to end the violence and the US saying it was studying more targeted
sanctions against the country.
Source:
Agencies
------------------------------------
Post message: [email protected]
Subscribe : [email protected]
Unsubscribe : [email protected]
List owner : [email protected]
Homepage : http://proletar.8m.com/Yahoo! Groups Links
<*> To visit your group on the web, go to:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/proletar/
<*> Your email settings:
Individual Email | Traditional
<*> To change settings online go to:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/proletar/join
(Yahoo! ID required)
<*> To change settings via email:
[email protected]
[email protected]
<*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:
[email protected]
<*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to:
http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
