Protests in Syria

[High_Gravity]

Syria Troops Enter Turkish Border Village: Activists

GUVECCI, Turkey -- Syrian activists said Thursday that troops backed by tanks and snipers have entered a village along the Turkish border as the regime expands its crackdown on a pro-democracy movement that has posed the gravest challenge to President Bashar Assad's rule.

Thousands of Syrian refugees have been flooding into Turkey as the government tries to crush the 3-month-old uprising. The regime blames foreign conspirators and thugs for the unrest, but the protesters deny any foreign influence in their pro-democracy movement.

The Local Coordinating Committees, which track the Syrian protest movement, said Thursday that tanks had entered Khirbet al-Jouz and snipers were spotted on rooftops. The group cited residents on the ground in the village.

Syria has banned foreign journalists and restricted local media, making it nearly impossible to independently confirm the accounts.

On Thursday, AP Television News journalists on the Turkish side of the border saw armed men near the village and an armored personnel carrier on its outskirts. It was not possible to see inside the village to confirm the activists' reports.

Nearly 100 Syrians who were living in makeshift tents on the Syrian side of the border fled into Turkey as the village was surrounded and Turkey deployed guards along the frontier.

The opposition estimates 1,400 people have been killed and 10,000 detained in the Syrian crackdown, drawing international condemnation and sanctions.

On Wednesday, the Syrian regime lashed out at European governments for threatening a new round of sanctions and accused the West of trying to sow chaos and conflict in the Arab nation.

But Foreign Minister Walid Moallem also reiterated the president's call for national dialogue and spoke of democracy over the horizon – a bold assertion after more than four decades of iron-fisted rule by the Assad family and months of bloody reprisals.

Syria Troops Enter Turkish Border Village: Activists

Wonder where all those muslim demonstrators are in the western countries? If some one said a quran was disrespected, they would be out by the thousands. When it is some muslim dictor murdering their own, the silence is deafening.???

No doubt, if Bashar was a Christian killing Muslims the uproar would be off the charts. But since he is a Muslim, they are fine as long as he keeps it in house.

 

[High_Gravity]

Syria Opposition Meet In Damascus

BEIRUT — Nearly 200 critics of President Bashar Assad met Monday in the Syrian capital for the first time during the three-month uprising against his rule, in a government-sanctioned gathering some activists complained would be exploited to give legitimacy to the regime.

The session began with the Syrian national anthem, followed by a minute's silence in honor of Syrians who have been killed in the protests.

Participants, some of them prominent opposition figures long persecuted by the regime, said that though the meeting was approved by authorities, it wouldn't include government representatives.

"We are meeting today ... to put forward a vision about how to end tyranny and ensure a peaceful and secure transition to the hoped-for state: the state of freedom, democracy and equality," Louay Hussein, a prominent writer and one of the organizers, said in an opening speech. Assad's regime should "perish," he added.

But some opposition figures and activists, both inside Syria and abroad, dismissed the meeting of 190 critics as an opportunity for the government to convey a false impression it's allowing space for dissent, rather than cracking down.

The opposition says some 1,400 people have been killed – most of them unarmed protesters – during the government crackdown on months of street protests.

"This meeting will be exploited as a cover-up for the arrests, brutal killings and torture that is taking place on daily basis," said opposition figure Walid al-Bunni. He told The Associated Press he was not invited to the conference because authorities had "vetoed" some names.

"We would have been happier if the organizers of the conference were free to invite whomever they wanted. As it is, this is not an opposition conference," he told the AP from Damascus.

An activists' group, the Coordination Union of the Syrian Revolt, also denounced the conference, calling it a "cheap ploy" that the government wants to exploit.

Syria Opposition Meet In Damascus

 

[High_Gravity]

Russia Urges Syria to Implement 'Real' Reforms

Russian envoy says Moscow wants Syria to implement "real" reforms and "put an end to violence" that has shaken the country since the start of a pro-democracy uprising in March.

Mikhail Margelov made the comments after meeting with a group of exiled Syrian opposition activists in the Russian capital on Tuesday.

The activists urged Russia to pressure Syrian President Bashar al-Assad into stopping a violent crackdown, now in its third month, on nationwide protests against his 11-year autocratic rule.

Margelov said Russia is "seriously concerned" about the situation in Syria and does not want it to descend into a Libya-style civil war. Russia has been a major supplier of weapons to Syria since the Soviet era.

Radwan Ziadeh, who heads the Syrian opposition delegation, is a Washington-based visiting scholar at George Washington University. He also leads the Damascus Center for Human Rights Studies.

Russia has rejected Western-led efforts to pass a United Nations Security Council resolution condemning Syria over the crackdown.

Last week, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said the Syrian opposition should focus on entering talks with the Assad government on proposed reforms.

The Assad government allowed more than 150 Syria-based intellectuals and opposition activists to hold a rare meeting in Damascus on Monday to discuss how to end the violence in the country.

It was the first such meeting since the uprising began and received coverage in the Syrian state-run media.

Russia Urges Syria to Implement 'Real' Reforms | News | English

 

[High_Gravity]

SYRIA: Brutal crackdown ravages northern cities, brings several casualties

Seven civilians were killed Wednesday as security forces stormed two northern towns in the larger governorate of Idlib, Agence France-Presse reported, citing a human rights activist.

Ammar Qarabi, president of the Syrian National Human Rights Organization, told Reuters that Syrian security troops, still loyal to the Syrian President Bashar Assad, entered the town of Rama and used tank machine guns against civilians, killing four.

Wissam Tarif, director of human rights organization INSAN, said "a military operation" was going on in Idlib and that the army entered three more towns early in the morning.

The northern town of Jabal Zawiya along the Syrian-Turkish border -- one of the first towns to participate in the months-long uprising against the 11-year rule of Bashar Assad -- also was the scene of nighttime security crackdowns.

"All of this violence comes a day after the regime said they would invite political opponents to discuss a framework for political reform in July. We do not accept invitations from murderers," said a member of the Syrian Local Coordination Committee, the uprising's main activist group, who preferred to remain anonymous.

Rami Abdel Rahman, head of the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, told AFP that soldiers were deployed in the villages to conduct house raids.

The Local Coordination Committees reported Wednesday that Syrian security forces also launched attacks on schools and universities breaking for the annual summer vacation.

Amateur footage posted on the Internet allegedly shows high school students protesting in the towns of Saqba, Homs, Madaya, Dara and Deir Ezzor on Wednesday demanding the overthrow of the regime.

In the video posted above, senior high school students take to the streets in Saqba.

"Leave us alone, we don't like you," they chanted, addressing the Syrian president. One banner in the large crowds reads, "Death rather than humiliation."

The Syrian official state news agency, SANA, reported "scores" of protesters from the General Union of Arab Students gathered in front of U.N.'s Damascus headquarters to "condemn" Western interference in the nation's internal affairs.

The uprising has dealt a damaging blow to the Syrian economy. The Syrian pound has fallen 15% in three months, Reuters reported Wednesday. Diplomats and businessmen reported that the staggering economy may be what makes or breaks Assad's chances for political survival.

SYRIA: Brutal crackdown ravages northern cities, brings several casualties - latimes.com

 

[High_Gravity]

Iran Foreign Ministry Says West is Exploiting Syria

Iran's foreign ministry spokesman says Western nations are exploiting Syria's uprising to protect Israel.

Ramin Mehmanparast says the U.S. and its allies are directing Syrians' complaints against the government to "break the foundations of any opposition" to Israel. He also denied Iran's role in helping to crackdown on Syrian protesters.

The comments come as the United States imposed sanctions against a Syrian police unit and key Iranian security officials in connection with Syria's brutal crackdown on anti-government protesters.

The U.S. Treasury Department announced Wednesday it has targeted the Syrian Political Security Directorate - one of the country's four main security services - and the head of Syrian Air Force Intelligence, Major General Jamil Hassan, for human rights abuses.

Washington also designated the chief of Iran's Law Enforcement Forces, Ismail Ahmadi Moghadam, and his deputy, Ahmad-Reza Radan, for providing expertise to aid in the Syrian government crackdown. Radan in April allegedly traveled to Damascus, where he met with Syrian security officials.

The sanctions freeze any assets those designated may have in the U.S. and prohibit any dealings with them by American citizens or companies.

State Department spokesman Mark Toner said the sanctions have a broad reach because they limit the ability for other international companies to do business with the targeted entities.

Syria has been in turmoil for three months as pro-democracy forces press President Bashar al-Assad's government to reform.

Rights activists say at least 1,400 civilians have been killed since the uprising began in March. The Syrian government says hundreds of Syrian security forces also have died in violence it blames on terrorist groups.

Iran Foreign Ministry Says West is Exploiting Syria | Iran | English

 

[High_Gravity]

Syrian Forces Take Mountainous Province Near Turkish Border, 11 Killed

BEIRUT, Lebanon -- Syrian army forces spread through a restive mountainous area near the Turkish border on Thursday as the death toll from a two-day military siege rose to 19 people, according to activists and a witness.

The action by Syrian troops in the northwestern area of Jabal al-Zawiya appeared to be aimed at preventing residents from fleeing to Turkey, where more than 10,000 Syrians have already taken shelter in refugee camps, activists say. The refugees have been a source of deep embarrassment to Damascus, one of the most tightly controlled regimes in the Middle East.

"They fear there will be sympathy for the people who are fleeing, and they are frightened that this will cause international pressure to mount on the regime," said Mustafa Osso, a prominent Syrian-based human rights activist.

Only five Syrians made it across the border Thursday, the lowest number in days, said Turkish officials. Over the past week, more than 10,000 Syrians rushed across, fleeing their army's violent crackdown against demonstrators.

Syrian activists say more than 1,400 people have been killed as President Bashar Assad tries to crush three months of nationwide protests. The regime disputes that death toll and says "armed thugs" and foreign conspirators are behind the unrest.

In Thursday's operations, Syrian forces were consolidating their hold on the Jabal al-Zawiya after two days of heavy shelling in the area, particularly in the village of Rameh, said Osso. That assessment was repeated by Lebanon-based activist Omar Idibi and an eyewitness who spoke on condition of anonymity, fearing reprisals.

They said most people were killed Wednesday and early Thursday. Idibi said the death toll was likely to rise as people were pulled out of rubble from smashed homes in some areas.

Idibi said part of the fighting was prompted by Syrian forces trying to hunt down several dozen comrades who abandoned their arms. Some rebelled while in Rameh village, while others split away from the armed forces in earlier fighting this month in the nearby town of Jisr al-Shughour.

"They haven't been able to flee to Turkey," Idibi said. "They are fleeing from the advance of the Syrian army," he said. Idibi said eyewitnesses told him that Syrian forces were trying to seal gaps in the border with Turkey to prevent people from escaping.

Syrian Forces Take Mountainous Province Near Turkish Border, 11 Killed

 

[High_Gravity]

Syria Forces Kill 3; Tens Of Thousands Protest

BEIRUT — Syrian activists say government troops have killed three more people in the northwest while tens of thousands have taken to the streets in the country's east, shouting for President Bashar Assad to leave office.

Rami Abdul-Rahman, the London-based director of the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, says the three were killed during a military operation early Friday in the Jabal al-Zawiya region near the Turkish border.

Syria-based rights activist Mustafa Osso says tens of thousands have staged protests on Friday in several eastern towns and cities, chanting: "Leave."

Syrian rights groups say more than 1,400 people have been killed in three months of nationwide protests. The regime disputes the toll, blaming "armed thugs" and foreign conspirators for the unrest.

Syria Forces Kill 3; Tens Of Thousands Protest

 

[logical4u]

Syria Forces Kill 3; Tens Of Thousands Protest

BEIRUT — Syrian activists say government troops have killed three more people in the northwest while tens of thousands have taken to the streets in the country's east, shouting for President Bashar Assad to leave office.

Rami Abdul-Rahman, the London-based director of the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, says the three were killed during a military operation early Friday in the Jabal al-Zawiya region near the Turkish border.

Syria-based rights activist Mustafa Osso says tens of thousands have staged protests on Friday in several eastern towns and cities, chanting: "Leave."

Syrian rights groups say more than 1,400 people have been killed in three months of nationwide protests. The regime disputes the toll, blaming "armed thugs" and foreign conspirators for the unrest.

Syria Forces Kill 3; Tens Of Thousands Protest

Did you see the President has sent drones into Somalia? I wonder when they will be in Syria (unless Russia made an agreement with the President that Syria is theirs)?

 

[High_Gravity]

Syria Forces Kill 3; Tens Of Thousands Protest

BEIRUT — Syrian activists say government troops have killed three more people in the northwest while tens of thousands have taken to the streets in the country's east, shouting for President Bashar Assad to leave office.

Rami Abdul-Rahman, the London-based director of the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, says the three were killed during a military operation early Friday in the Jabal al-Zawiya region near the Turkish border.

Syria-based rights activist Mustafa Osso says tens of thousands have staged protests on Friday in several eastern towns and cities, chanting: "Leave."

Syrian rights groups say more than 1,400 people have been killed in three months of nationwide protests. The regime disputes the toll, blaming "armed thugs" and foreign conspirators for the unrest.

Syria Forces Kill 3; Tens Of Thousands Protest

Did you see the President has sent drones into Somalia? I wonder when they will be in Syria (unless Russia made an agreement with the President that Syria is theirs)?

I don't know if we will put the drones into use in Syria, these drones are good at precision strikes on certain groups of terrorists but it is not enough to bring down a government, it takes a full scale invasion to do that like we did with Iraq, air strikes alone will not topple a tyrant, we can see that now in Libya. Using the drones in Syria at this time will probably cause more harm than good.

 

[logical4u]

Syria Forces Kill 3; Tens Of Thousands Protest

Syria Forces Kill 3; Tens Of Thousands Protest

Did you see the President has sent drones into Somalia? I wonder when they will be in Syria (unless Russia made an agreement with the President that Syria is theirs)?

I don't know if we will put the drones into use in Syria, these drones are good at precision strikes on certain groups of terrorists but it is not enough to bring down a government, it takes a full scale invasion to do that like we did with Iraq, air strikes alone will not topple a tyrant, we can see that now in Libya. Using the drones in Syria at this time will probably cause more harm than good.

Makes you wonder why the President sent drones into Libya and Somalia, it doesn't seem to be a good plan? It seems more like poking a hornet's nest?

 

[High_Gravity]

Did you see the President has sent drones into Somalia? I wonder when they will be in Syria (unless Russia made an agreement with the President that Syria is theirs)?

I don't know if we will put the drones into use in Syria, these drones are good at precision strikes on certain groups of terrorists but it is not enough to bring down a government, it takes a full scale invasion to do that like we did with Iraq, air strikes alone will not topple a tyrant, we can see that now in Libya. Using the drones in Syria at this time will probably cause more harm than good.

Makes you wonder why the President sent drones into Libya and Somalia, it doesn't seem to be a good plan? It seems more like poking a hornet's nest?

I don't know what the drones are doing in Libya but in Somalia they are there to kill high value terrorist targets, thats all. Drone strikes alone will not bring a regime to its knees.

 

[High_Gravity]

Syria Forces Advance Into Hama, Killing 11

BEIRUT -- Syrian security forces and gunmen loyal to the regime shot dead 11 people Tuesday as residents erected roadblocks to prevent the advance of tanks ringing the city of Hama, which has become a flashpoint of the uprising against autocratic President Bashar Assad, activists said.

Hama residents burned tires, set up sand barriers and other obstacles to block the military, said Rami Abdul-Rahman, the London-based director of the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.

"There is an open civil defiance in Hama," Abdul-Rahman told The Associated Press. "There is a kind of determination not to submit to any tanks or military vehicles."

He said at least 11 people were confirmed dead, citing accounts from doctors and witnesses.

On Monday, Syrian forces sealed off Hama and blocked the roads leading in, an apparent attempt to retake the city one month after security forces withdrew from it. About 300,000 people protested against the regime in Hama last week, a sign the city was spiraling out of government control.

Hama, which has a history of militancy against the Assad regime, was targeted by Assad's father and predecessor in a major government crackdown nearly three decades ago.

In 1982, the late Hafez Assad ordered his troops to crush a rebellion by Sunni fundamentalists, killing between 10,000 and 25,000 people, rights groups say.

The 14-week uprising against Assad has proved remarkably resilient despite a deadly government crackdown that has brought international condemnation and sanctions. Assad is facing the most serious challenge to his family's four decades of rule in Syria.

Activists say security forces have killed more than 1,400 people – most of them unarmed protesters – since mid-March. The regime disputes the toll, blaming "armed thugs" and foreign conspirators for the unrest.

Assad has promised a series of reforms that would have been unthinkable before the uprising, which was inspired by the revolutions sweeping the Arab world. He lifted the country's reviled emergency law, which gave the state a free hand to arrest people without charge, and said a national dialogue would start soon.

But the protesters, enraged by a growing death toll, are increasingly calling for nothing less than the downfall of the regime.

Syria Forces Advance Into Hama, Killing 11

 

[High_Gravity]

Syria War Crimes Investigation Should Be Sent To Court: Amnesty

BEIRUT — Syrian security forces may have committed crimes against humanity during a deadly siege of a western town in May, Amnesty International said Wednesday, citing witness accounts of deaths in custody, torture and arbitrary detention.

The London-based rights group called on the U.N. Security Council to refer the situation in Syria to the International Criminal Court.

The security sweep in Talkalakh, which lasted less than a week, contributed to a growing sense of desperation over the government's brutal crackdown on protests as the nationwide uprising against President Bashar Assad's authoritarian regime gained traction.

Amnesty's report came a day after Syrian security forces and gunmen loyal to the regime shot dead 14 people as troops advanced on the central city of Hama, which has become a flashpoint of the country's uprising. Activists said the troops opened fire Tuesday on residents who set up roadblocks made of sand barricades and burning tires to prevent tanks from ringing the city.

Hama has a history of militancy against the regime and was targeted by Assad's father and predecessor in a major government crackdown nearly three decades ago. In 1982, the late Hafez Assad ordered his troops to crush a rebellion by Sunni fundamentalists, killing between 10,000 and 25,000 people, rights groups say.

At the time of the operation in Talkalakh, The Associated Press interviewed residents who told of a catastrophic scene in the town of about 70,000, including sectarian killings, gunmen carrying out execution-style slayings and the stench of decomposing bodies in the streets.

Some activists have said the death toll from the May siege was as high as 36 people.

"The accounts we have heard from witnesses to events in (Talkalakh) paint a deeply disturbing picture of systematic, targeted abuses to crush dissent," said Philip Luther, Amnesty International's Middle East and North Africa Deputy Director.

The Amnesty report, issued Wednesday, said the attacks "appear to be part of a widespread, as well as systematic, attack against the civilian population," which would constitute crimes against humanity.

Syria War Crimes Investigation Should Be Sent To Court: Amnesty

 

[Ropey]

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dr-AXpBGCdU]YouTube - ‪Syria a Syrian protester shot by a sniper 22.4.11‬‏[/ame]

Yet PF cares only about the Arabs called Palestinians.

Why? Because it's not concern. It's simply a platform to further his agenda.

To end Israel and any Jewish power in the Middle East.

Care about Arabs? Not so much.

Not one post in any of the forums where Arabs are killing their own.

For shame.

 

[High_Gravity]

YouTube - ‪Syria a Syrian protester shot by a sniper 22.4.11‬‏

Yet PF cares only about the Arabs called Palestinians.

Why? Because it's not concern. It's simply a platform to further his agenda.

To end Israel and any Jewish power in the Middle East.

Care about Arabs? Not so much.

Not one post in any of the forums where Arabs are killing their own.

For shame.

He'd probably just say its Israels fault that Syria is melting.

 

[logical4u]

YouTube - ‪Syria a Syrian protester shot by a sniper 22.4.11‬‏

Yet PF cares only about the Arabs called Palestinians.

Why? Because it's not concern. It's simply a platform to further his agenda.

To end Israel and any Jewish power in the Middle East.

Care about Arabs? Not so much.

Not one post in any of the forums where Arabs are killing their own.

For shame.

He'd probably just say its Israels fault that Syria is melting.

Arab concern for each other is clear by all those charity dollars pouring into the Palestinians from those "wealthy" Arab nations (where poverty is like 80 percent).
The muslims want to say the west is evil, but when it comes time for action, who do they call?

 

[High_Gravity]

Syria Accuses U.S. Of Inciting Unrest

BEIRUT -- Tens of thousands of Syrians carrying olive branches and shouting for the downfall of President Bashar Assad's regime streamed Friday into a flashpoint city where the U.S. ambassador traveled to show his solidarity with protesters, witnesses said.

Two witnesses told The Associated Press that crowds were swelling in Hama, a central city that has become a focal point of the uprising and has drawn the largest crowds since the revolt began nearly four months ago.

"People are chanting, 'We only kneel to God,' one of the witnesses told the AP by telephone, as the sound of the crowd was heard in the background. He asked for anonymity, fearing for his personal safety.

Hama poses a potential dilemma for the Syrian regime because of its place as a symbol of opposition to the rule of the Assad family. In 1982, the late Hafez Assad ordered troops to crush a rebellion by Islamist forces, killing between 10,000 and 25,000 people, rights activists say.

A major offensive could make the city a fresh rallying cry for the opposition, but Assad's regime also does not want a repeat of last Friday's stunning rally, when an estimated 300,000 people protested.

U.S. Ambassador Robert Ford's trip to Hama on Thursday drew condemnation from the Syrian government, which said the visit was unauthorized and a clear sign that Washington was inciting unrest in the Arab nation. Relations between the U.S. and Syria are chronically strained over Assad's close ties with Iran.

"The presence of the U.S. ambassador in Hama without obtaining prior permission from the Foreign Ministry as stipulated by instructions distributed repeatedly to all the embassies is clear evidence of the U.S. involvement in the ongoing events in Syria," the state-run news agency reported Friday, citing an unnamed "official source" at the Foreign Ministry.

The U.S. is trying to "aggravate the situations which destabilize Syria," the statement said.

In Washington, State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said Ford "spent the day expressing our deep support for the right of the Syrian people to assemble peacefully and to express themselves."

Syria Accuses U.S. Of Inciting Unrest

 

[georgephillip]

"In June 1957 (Uri) Avnery suggested that Israel aid Palestinians in overthrowing the Hashemite monarchy in Jordan (a 'product of imperialism'); Israel would then form a federation with the new Palestinian Jordanian state.[11]

"In the late 1950s Avnery was among the founders of the group Semitic Action, which argued for a regional federation of Israel and its neighbors."

The overthrow of a Syrian tyrant today, combined with the creation of a Palestinian state in September, might form the nucleus for a 21st Century regional federation that doesn't require Semites to kill each others' children for Wall Street profits???

 

[Ropey]

Wake up George.

It's 2012.

 

[georgephillip]

I'm not the one trying to take back land my ancestors allegedly possessed two thousand years ago.

If it works for Jews, why not for Cherokee?

What cosmic sense of entitlement makes the Jew think he's the "chosen one?"