Syrian Revolution 2014 ,The Syrian Revolution 2015

Syrian Scuds 'land near Turkish border'

2012-12-16T01:18:00.002-08:00

Syrian Scuds 'land near Turkish border'

Several Scud missiles fired at rebels by Syria have landed "fairly close" to the Turkish border, NATO's senior military commander said in a blog explaining why Patriot anti-missile batteries are being deployed to Turkey.

Friday's comments by US Admiral James Stavridis, NATO's Supreme Allied Commander Europe, were the first to confirm that Scuds have come down near the border of Turkey, a NATO member state.

Stavridis also described the situation in Syria as "chaotic and dangerous".

'Very worrisome'

US and NATO officials said on Wednesday that Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's forces had fired Scud-style ballistic missiles at rebels in recent days in what US officials described as an escalation of the 20-month civil war.

"Over the past few days, a handful of Scud missiles were launched inside Syria, directed by the regime against opposition targets. Several landed fairly close to the Turkish border, which is very worrisome," Stavridis wrote.

US, Netherlands and Germany to send two Patriot missile batteries to Turkey [Al Jazeera]

Syria on Thursday denied it had used Scud missiles in its fight against what it calls "terrorist groups".

Stavridis voiced particular concern about Scuds because they can be fitted with chemical warheads. Syria is known to possess chemical weapons.

"Given a number of recent cross-border incidents with artillery and mortars landing in Turkey and killing Turkish civilians, we are concerned with possible Scud missile activity inside Syria. Scuds ... are particularly worrisome because they can carry chemical payloads," he said.

Turkey has scrambled jets along its frontier with Syria and responded in kind when shells from Syria landed inside its borders. If any Scuds strayed over the border into Turkish territory, it could carry the risk of spreading the conflict.

Ankara twice this year has invoked Article 4 of the NATO charter which provides for consultations when a member state feels its security is threatened.

'Chaotic situation'

NATO agreed last week to Turkey's request to send Patriots to reinforce its air defences against possible missile attack from Syria. The United States, Germany and the Netherlands are to send six Patriot batteries in all.

"Syria is clearly a chaotic and dangerous situation; but we have an absolute obligation to defend the borders of the alliance from any threat emanating from that troubled state," Stavridis wrote.

In-depth coverage of escalating violence across Syria

The alliance said sending Patriots was purely defensive and that it has no intention of intervening in Syria, but Russia said it was a step towards NATO involvement in the war.

Stavridis said the Patriots would help defend "the population centres in southern Turkey" and he said he would retain "operational command responsibility" for the Patriots.

"I anticipate we'll begin moving the systems toward Turkey very soon, and hope to have systems in place in the coming weeks after final national decisions are made and assets are allocated to NATO Command," he said.

The Netherlands, which is sending two Patriot batteries and up to 360 personnel to operate them, expects its missiles to be operational by the end of January, Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte said on Thursday.

Leon Panetta, the US defence secretary, signed an order on Friday to send two Patriot missile batteries to Turkey with 400 American personnel.

Also on Friday, Germany's lower house of parliament approved the sending of two Patriot batteries and 400 soldiers to Turkey as part of the NATO plan.

Annan meets Assad in Damascus amid violence

2012-03-10T03:21:00.000-08:00

Annan meets Assad in Damascus amid violence

Former UN chief's mission to reach settlement in year-long crisis comes as government launches a fresh assault in Idlib.

Kofi Annan, the former UN secretary-general, has begun negotiations with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in Damascus amid a fresh assault by the government on a restive city in the country's northwest.

Witnesses told Al Jazeera that Syrian army tanks supported by soldiers on foot entered the city of Idlib at around 6am on Saturday, supported by artillery and mortar fire. Tanks on the southwestern edge of the city were also firing into Idlib, and helicopters were hovering overhead, they said.

Annan's high-profile mission to find a political resolution under the auspices of the Arab League and United Nations has met with disapproval from the country's most prominent opposition bloc, which has said that his visit will amount to a waste of time without military pressure on Assad's government.

Some Arab League members, most notably Gulf nations, have called for arming Syrian rebels and sending an peacekeeping force. On Saturday, Qatar called for recognising the SNC as the legitimate representative of the Syrian people.

China and Russia, after blocking Arab and UN resolutions seeking to usher an end to Assad's rule, are now seeking to negotiate with Arab leaders.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, in Cairo on Saturday to meet with Arab League foreign ministers, said Russia wants to bring about an immediate end to the violence in Syria but that the current approach from other nations was unrealistic because it only held Assad's government responsible.

Two-track diplomacy

Lavrov faced a tough audience, with many Arab countries angered by Russia's opposition to proposals to begin a transition from Assad's government or send in a peacekeeping force.

Qatar's representative criticised Russia and China, saying they sent the wrong signal to Assad and that "patience has run out".

He also called again for sending Arab peacekeepers into Syria.

Assad's crackdown has not abated since army troops recently pushed fighters out of Baba Amr, an opposition district in Homs, a western city near the Lebanese border.

On Friday, 54 people were killed acros the country, almost half of them during government raids in the nearby Idlib province, according to the London-based opposition activists' group, Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.

Ten people were killed by gun and mortar fire in Homs, and security forces shot dead others around the country during protests, the group said. Five more bodies were found in Baba Amr.

"Thirty tanks entered my neighbourhood at seven this morning and they are using their cannons to fire on houses," said Karam Abu Rabea, a resident in Homs's Karam al-Zeitoun neighbourhood.

This week's regular Friday protest marked the anniversary of Kurdish unrest in Syria in 2004 when about 30 people were killed.

Thousands of Kurds demonstrated in northeastern cities, YouTube footage showed, some carrying banners that read "Save the Syrian people".

Other clips showed hundreds of protesters in the Assali district of Damascus, burning posters of Assad's father Hafez al-Assad and chanting "God damn your soul, Hafez".

Speaking in the Turkish capital, Ankara, on Friday, Valerie Amos, the UN humanitarian chief, said she was "struck" by the devastation she saw during a visit to Homs on Wednesday.

She said she had made a request to the Syrian government for unhindered access to the worst-hit areas, but the government had asked for more time.

The Syrian government had agreed to join UN agencies in a "limited assessment" of the situation, she said.

The UN estimates that at least 7,500 people have died since protests first broke out a year ago.

US imposes sanctions on Syrian president alasad

2011-05-18T12:20:00.000-07:00

US imposes sanctions on Syrian president

US officials say sanctions are to increase pressure on Bashar al-Assad to end his violent crackdown on protesters.

Syrian rights activists say at least 700 civilians have been killed in two months of clashes [Reuters]

The United States is to impose sanctions on Bashar al-Assad, the Syrian president, and six senior Syrian officials for human rights abuses over their brutal crackdown on anti-government protests.
The White House announced the sanctions on Wednesday, a day before Barack Obama, the US president, was to deliver a major speech on the uprisings throughout the Arab world with prominent mentions of Syria
The sanctions are part of "an effort to increase pressure on the government of Syria to end its violence against its people and begin transitioning to a democratic system," a US official told the AFP news agency on the condition of anonymity.

In a letter to congressional leaders, Obama said he issued the new sanctions order as a response to the Syrian government's "continuous escalation of violence against the people of Syria".
Obama cited "attacks on protesters, arrests and harassment of protesters and political activists, and repression of democratic change, overseen and executed by numerous elements of the Syrian government".
The sanctions will freeze any assets Assad and the six Syrian government officials have in US jurisdiction and make it illegal for Americans to do business with them.

Syrian rights activists say at least 700 civilians have been killed in two months of clashes between goverment forces and protesters seeking an end to his 11-year rule.

Swiss sanctions
The US announcement came as Switzerland announced new sanctions against Syria on Wednesday, saying that it was following the European Union's lead in imposing an embargo on arms and equipment used for internal repression.

"The new edict on measures against Syria includes an embargo on military assets and equipment that could be used for internal repression," the Swiss economic ministry said in a statement.

"It also includes financial sanctions and travel restrictions on 13 people from the Damascus regime," it added.

The ministry said that through the new sanctions, "Switzerland is joining sanctions announced on May 9, 2011 by the European Union against Syria."
EU heavyweight Germany, meanwhile, is pushing for further sanctions against Bashar.
"Our demands are clear. Violence and repression against peaceful demonstrators must be stopped immediately," Guido Westerwelle, Germany's foreign minister, said.

Tighten sanctions
European governments agreed on Tuesday to tighten sanctions against the Syrian leadership, but said they would decide next week about whether to include Assad on the list.

The EU put 13 Syrian officials on its sanctions list in what it described as a move to gradually increase pressure.
Meanwhile, Dmitry Medvedev, the Russian president, said his country would not support any UN resolutions on the use of force against the Syrian government.

"As for a resolution on Syria, I will not support such a resolution even if my friends and acquaintances ask me about it," Medvedev told reporters during a rare news conference on Wednesday, arguing Syria must be allowed to settle its domestic affairs.
He did not specify what he meant, adding that such resolutions were open to interpretation.
Last month, Obama signed an executive order imposing a first round of US sanctions against Syria's intelligence agency and two relatives of Assad's for alleged human rights abuses.

Syria denies 'mass grave' claims , Syria mass grave

2011-05-17T06:23:00.000-07:00

Syria denies 'mass grave' claims

Syria's interior ministry has denied the existence of a mass grave discovered near Deraa, the southern city targeted by security forces in a crackdown on anti-government protests, according to the state-run SANA news agency.

The denial on Tuesday came a day after residents said villagers had found 13 bodies while digging on farmland.

"This information is totally false," an interior ministry official told SANA, adding that the reports were part of a "campaign of incitement" against Syria.

Deraa residents say hundreds of people have been missing since tanks and soldiers moved in last month to crush opposition to President Bashar al-Assad's 11-year rule.
They said villagers digging in farmland in the outskirts of the city uncovered the decomposed bodies of Abdullah Abdul Aziz Aba Zaid, 62, and four of his children.

The villagers also found the bodies of a woman, a child and six men, all unidentified, residents said on Monday.

It was not clear when they died, but Deraa residents said dozens of civilians were killed during the military assault on the city's old quarter.

"[The residents] discovered a mass grave in the old part of town but authorities immediately cordoned off the area to prevent residents from recovering the bodies, some of which they promised would be handed over later," a rights activist told the AFP news agency by phone on Monday.

Accounts of the mass grave could not be independently verified as Syrian authorities have all but sealed off the country to foreign journalists.
Syrian and international rights groups say Syrian forces have killed at least 700 civilians, including women and children, across the country since the protests broke out in Deraa on March 18.
Thousands march
In another development in Deraa and in other cities across Syria, thousands of protesters have begun demonstrating at night in order to avoid tough security measures that are in force during the day.

"Tel Kelakh is a ghost town. There are no doctors. Pharmacies are shut. Snipers are on the roof of the main
hospital. Phones, water and electricity are cut"
Mohammad al-Dandashi,
local resident

On Monday night, thousands of demonstrators marched through the Damascus suburb of Saqba at the funeral of Ahmad Ataya, who died of wounds inflicted when security forces fired at a pro-democracy rally in the capital last month.

It was the biggest protest in the Damascus outskirts since a security crackdown three weeks ago.

Authorities have blamed most of the violence during the wave of protests on armed groups backed by outside powers, who they say have killed more than 120 members of the security forces.

Witnesses in Deraa said tanks were still positioned at main city junctions and in the outskirts, but authorities had shortened the curfew by three hours, allowing people out on the streets until 5:00pm (1400 GMT).

The official Syrian news agency said Assad had met a delegation from Deraa and that they had discussed the "positive atmosphere there as a result of co-operation between the residents and the army".
Tanks deployed

Further north, at least 15 tanks deployed around Arida, near the border town of Tel Kelakh, which troops entered on Saturday after protests erupted against Assad, Their arrival prompted dozens of families to flee into neighbouring Lebanon.

An activists' protest group said at least seven civilians were killed in Tel Kelakh on Sunday when troops shelled the town and sniper fire killed one civilian on Monday, raising the death toll in the army's assault since Saturday to 12.

The Syrian state news agency said five soldiers were killed in confrontations with armed groups in Tel Kalakh.

One resident reported intermittent shelling of Tel Kelakh and bursts of machine gun fire on Monday, but the army appeared not to have advanced beyond the outskirts.

"Tel Kelakh is a ghost town. There are no doctors. Pharmacies are shut. Snipers are on the roof of the main
hospital. Phones, water and electricity are cut," Mohammad al-Dandashi told the Reuters news agency from the town by satellite phone.

A few families from Hilat, another border village, streamed into Lebanon on Monday, as did two wounded civilians from Tel Kelakh who were seeking medical care, family members said.

Lebanon sends reinforcements

For the past two months Syrian soldiers and police have been trying to quell demonstrations across the country calling for Assad's overthrow.

They have tended to crackdown on a flashpoint area for several days, using tank and rifle fire and mass arrests to subdue it, and then move on to another area.
Troops backed by armour have now deployed in or around towns and villages across the southern Hauran plain, the central province of Homs and areas near the coast. Security forces have also tightened their grip on Damascus and its suburbs.

The Lebanese army said it had sent reinforcements to the border, set up checkpoints and started intensive patrols to prevent "infiltration activities on both sides".

Syrian Revolution Video,Syria Revolution Video 2011 , Video of Syrian Revoluti

2011-04-24T23:25:00.000-07:00

Syrian Revolution Video,Syria Revolution Video 2011 , Video of Syrian Revolution

Protesters killed in Syria shooting | Syria Revolution

2011-04-24T23:16:00.000-07:00

Protesters killed in Syria shooting

A rights group says at least nine people have been killed in Jableh, a coastal city in Syria, where witnesses told Al Jazeera that security forces opened fire on protesters.

They said by phone from the city that some of the security men were in uniform, others in plain clothes.
Thousands of security forces accompanied by "other armed thugs" besieged Jableh and indiscriminately opened fire at civilians, Abu Ahmed, a Jableh resident, told Al Jazeera.

Citizens were "all unarmed and peaceful," and were "surprised" to see heavily armed forces, he said.
Another activist said the security forces ringed Jableh and started to open fire after a visit by a new regional governor who met local dignitaries in the mosque.

The injured from the earlier attack by security forces on residents continue to be unable to move from the Hamwi mosque, according to two activists who have spoken to those inside.
Snipers have shot at anyone attempting to leave the mosque where up to 18 injured people are trapped with little or no medical attention.

Rights groups have said that security forces have raided the house of doctor Zakraiya al-Akkad, a physician in Jableh, after he spoke with Al Jazeera about the killings in his hometown.

There were also reports of clashes going on elsewhere in Syria. In the town of Nawa, near Daraa, four people were injured when an unidentified gunman opened fired on security forces.
Security forces also detained dozens of opposition activists in Jableh, as authorities turned to pinpoint raids after days of bloodshed brought international condemnation and defections from President Bashar Assad's government.

The strategy, described by a rights activist, appeared aimed at rattling the opposition's leadership and showing that the state's ability to conduct arrest sweeps has not changed despite abolishing nearly 50-year-old emergency laws last week.

'Shoot-to-kill'
The rising level of violence, with more than 300 people reported killed since the uprising against Assad began five weeks ago, brought calls from the watchdog group Human Rights Watch for a UN inquiry.
Friday was the deadliest day to date with 118 killed.

"After Friday's carnage, it is no longer enough to condemn the violence,'' Joe Stork, deputy Middle East director for Human Rights Watch, said.

"Faced with the Syrian authorities shoot-to-kill strategy, the international community needs to impose sanctions on those ordering the shooting of protesters."

Security forces have targeted mourners
participating in funeral rites for the deceased

But Sunday's tactics also suggest a government effort to head off the round of protest marches.
The police raids, which began late Saturday, concentrated around the capital Damascus and the central city of Homs, a hotbed of demonstrations against Assad's authoritarian rule, Ammar Qurabi, head of the National Organisation for Human Rights in Syria, said.

"These people are not being arrested in a legal way. They are being kidnapped," Qurabi said, claiming the plainclothes security agents did not have formal arrest warrants.

Qurabi did not have full figures for those detained, but said at least 20 people were arrested in Homs.
A resident in the Damascus suburb of Douma said at least five people were taken into custody and authorities cut Internet and telephone lines.

Later, security forces moved into the coastal town of Jableh, claiming they were searching for weapons, said Qurabi. He cited witnesses saying that police and army units opened fire from rooftops even though there were no apparent threats and no protests in progress.

"I am terrified ... People in the street are getting shot,'' a resident of Jableh told The Associated Press by phone.

'Pre-planned operation'

"Jad", a Jableh resident, told Al Jazeera by phone that he and other injured citizens were stuck in a mosque, unable to leave due to gunfire outside.
"There are two municipal areas [in the city]. All the areas were cordoned and the security personnel were positioned in a very strategic manner as if this was a pre-planned operation."

Human rights groups estimate that at least 300 people have been killed by secrity forces since mid March

In the mosque is one killed and several injured from gunshots in the chest and lower limbs, Jad said.

The accounts could not be independently confirmed because Syria has expelled journalists and restricted access to trouble spots. Witnesses spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of reprisals.

Security forces have even targeted mourners participating in funeral rites for the deceased.

Assad has blamed most of the unrest on a "foreign conspiracy'' and armed thugs trying to sow sectarian strife.

The state-run news agency SANA said 286 police officers have been wounded since the uprising began. It did not give further details.

But possible cracks could be emerging from within.

Two members stepped down from the provincial council in the southern region of Daraa, which has the highest death toll in the country. The resignations came a day after two lawmakers and a religious leader from Daraa also turned their backs on Assad in disgust over the killings.

Such internal rifts have added resonance since nearly all opposition figures have been either jailed or exiled during the 40-year dynasty of the Assad family.

'Tyrant Bashar'

Protesters are demanding political reform and for an end to Assad's 11-year rule. The deaths come despite the lifting of decades-old emergency laws last week and human rights activists insist the state of emergency was only lifted on paper.

In the wake of the killings, about 3,000 residents of nearby Baniyas held a sit-in protest blocking the main road which links the port city of Latakia to Damascus, according to the London-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.

Earlier this month, Ban Ki-moon, the UN secretary-general, called Assad to say he was "greatly disturbed'' by the reports of violence. Many Western leaders, including President Barack Obama, have condemned Syria's harsh tactics to quell dissident.

Britain's Foreign Office advised against all travel to Syria because of the violence. It added that "in light of the deteriorating security situation, British nationals in Syria who have no pressing need to remain
should leave by commercial means."

In Jordan, 150 Syrians living in the kingdom protested outside their embassy in Amman. "Out, out with the tyrant Bashar Assad,'' shouted the group, which also burned a portrait of Assad.

Deaths reported in Syrian protests Gunfire and deaths reported amid more protests in Syria but identities of perpetrators and victims remains unclear.

2011-04-18T02:10:00.000-07:00

Deaths reported in Syrian protests Gunfire and deaths reported amid more protests in Syria but identities of perpetrators and victims remains unclear.

Deaths reported in Syrian protests

Gunfire and deaths reported amid more protests in Syria but identities of perpetrators and victims remains unclear.

Boys hold a banner in the port city of Baniyas. Protests took place in several cities across Syria on Sunday [Reuters]

At least five people are reported dead amid fresh protests near the restive Syrian city of Homs, but the identities of those killed remains unclear.

Government sources told Al Jazeera that two policemen were killed in the town of Talbiseh on Sunday while other reports claimed protesters had been killed.

Our correspondent Cal Perry, in Damascus, reported that more than a dozen people had been wounded in what officials said was a "co-ordinated attack from both rooftop sniper fire and fire from the ground".
He said it was unclear who was behind the firing. Officials blamed "foreign elements" while protesters said it was security forces dressed in civilian clothes.
"The situation is incredibly chaotic", he said.
The official news agency SANA reported that one policeman was killed in Talbiseh when "a group of armed criminals opened fire" on security personnel.

It said a military unit "returned fire" and killed three members of the armed groups and wounded 15.
Online activists told Al Jazeera that two civilians had been killed and many injured in Talbiseh. They said security forces opened fire as mourners gathered for a funeral for a person killed in protests a day earlier. Many people were arrested, they said.
They also said five protesters, including a 14-year-old boy, were killed when security forces and "government thugs" broke up a rally in Homs, using live ammunition.
Officials said "unknown assailants" were shooting from vehicles at people on the streets in Homs.
Al Jazeera could not independently verify the differing accounts.

Protesters beaten
Earlier on Sunday, about 300 anti-government protesters took to the streets in the southern city of Suweida. Witnesses said they were attacked and badly beaten by government supporters.
Mazen Darwish, an activist in Damascus, said two people had been injured and taken to hospital.
"Protesters were sitting in the square, chanting slogans for political freedom," he told Al Jazeera. "After a few minutes, people in civilian clothes attacked them."

There were also reports of demonstrations in Aleppo, Syria's second biggest city, in the coastal city of Baniyas, and in Homs.
Suhair Atassi, a rights activist, said on Twitter that 400-500 people were protesting in Aleppo, chanting slogans for national unity.
In the town of Hirak, outside the southern city of Daraa, thousands of mourners at the funeral of a soldier reportedly chanted slogans calling on the president to step down, Reuters news agency reported.

A relative of the 20-year-old soldier said his family was told he was accidentally electrocuted at his military unit
near Damascus but mourners believed he had been tortured by security forces.
Sunday's demonstration came a day after Bashar al-Assad, the Syrian president, said the country's decades-long emergency laws would be lifted within a week and also promised a number of other reforms.
Activists had called for protests across Syria on Sunday, which is Syria's Independence Day, commemorating the departure of the last French soldiers 65 years ago and Syria's proclamation of independence.
The Damascus Declaration, an opposition umbrella group, called for peaceful protests in all Syrian cities and abroad to "bolster Syria's popular uprising and ensure its continuity".

'Blood of martyrs'
In a statement posted on its website, the Damascus Declaration said the government was responsible for killing and wounding hundreds of Syrians who have been calling for their legitimate rights in the past month.
"The regime alone stands fully responsible for the blood of martyrs and all that will happen next in the country,'' the statement said.
Other activists also called for protests through social network sites.
Assad promised on Saturday to end the emergency law, which had been a key demand of the protests which began one month ago. But the president coupled his concession with a stern warning that further unrest will be considered sabotage.

An activist posted this picture online, saying
it showed a protest in Baniyas on Sunday

George Jabbour, a former member of the Syrian parliament who was an adviser to Assad's father, the former president Hafez al-Assad, said he thought the proposed reforms should be enough to quell anti-government demonstrations.
"It was greeted with, I suppose, satisfaction, by most people, maybe all. I'm glad he [said in his speech] that the lifting of emergency law will strengthen rather than weaken the security of Syria," he told Al Jazeera.
But our correspondent said what is more likely to keep protesters from the streets is gangs of armed pro-Assad protesters.

"The security forces by and large have been replaced by pro-Assad individuals who carry various instruments of destruction - pipes, sticks, at times AK47s," he said.

"On Friday, when I drove through a section of Damascus, there were a variety of individuals, two dozens perhaps, standing in the streets with pipes, and it was clear they were doing that to send a message - if you're going to protest, you're taking the risk to run into these forces and being beaten up."

Relatives' release urged
Within hours of Assad's speech on Saturday, about 2,000 protesters staged a sit-in in the suburb of Douma, demanding the release of relatives arrested on Friday during a major day of nationwide protests, activists said.
The official SANA news agency also reported around 2,000 people demonstrated in the southern protest hub of Daraa late on Saturday, chanting slogans for "freedom" and the lifting of emergency laws.
The laws - in force since 1963 - restricts public gatherings and movement, authorises the interrogation of any individual and the monitoring of private communications and imposes media censorship.
Assad has said armed gangs and a "foreign conspiracy" were behind the unrest, not true reform-seekers.
SANA said on Sunday that security forces seized a large quantity of weapons hidden in a lorry coming from Iraq. It reported that the weapons were confiscated at the Tanaf crossing on the Syrian-Iraqi border.
It said the shipment included machine-guns, automatic rifles, night vision goggles and grenade launchers.

Syrian Revolution Pictures, Picture of syria revolution,Syrian Revolution Pictures 2011

2011-03-28T09:39:00.000-07:00

Syrian Revolution Pictures, Picture of syria revolution,Syrian Revolution Pictures 2011

Syrian Revolution Video, Video of Syrian Revolution ,Syrian Revolution Video 2011

2011-03-28T09:25:00.000-07:00

Syrian Revolution Video, Video of Syrian Revolution ,Syrian Revolution Video 2011

syria protest 2011 video,Violence flares at Syrian protest video

2011-03-26T07:57:00.000-07:00

syria protest 2011 video,Violence flares at Syrian protest video

Anger in Syria over security crackdown ,Syrian Revolution 2011

2011-03-26T06:15:00.000-07:00

Anger in Syria over security crackdown

There is anger in Syria a day after a deadly security crackdown against anti-government protesters in the townof Daraa.

Protesters vowed to hit the streets on Saturday, despite a rising death toll in demonstrations that have put President Bashar al-Assad under unprecedented domestic pressure.

A Facebook group behind a string of demonstrations that have surfaced in Syria this month drummed up support for more rallies on Saturday.

"Today, Saturday... popular uprisings in all Syrian governorates," read a posting on The Syria Revolution 2011, which has garnered the support of over 86,000 fans.

People are set to gather today for funerals of those killed.

Al Jazeera's Zeina Khodr, reporting from Damascus, said people in Daraa are angry at the government for the violence and government will have to work hard to reconcile with the people of the area.

Security forces opened fire on anti-government protesters in the city of Sanamin near Daraa on Friday, killing at least 20 people, according to one witness.

"There are more than 20 martyrs .... they [security forces] opened fire haphazardly," the witness told Al Jazeera.

The crackdown has attracted the attention of the United Nations with Navi Pillay, the human rights commissioner, calling for an investigation and an immediate halt to violence, a message echoed by Ban Ki-moon, the UN Secretary-General.

Human rights group Amnesty International said on Friday that at least 55 people had been killed since protests erupted. However, government figure stands at 37.

Meanwhile, Syrian authorities have released 260 prisoners, mostly Islamists, from Saydnaya jail on Friday, a human rights lawyer said.

"These are prisoners who have completed at least three-quarters of their sentences and are entitled to be freed but the authorities rarely granted them that right before," the rights lawyer, who declined to be named, told Reuters.

Rula Amin, Al Jazeera's correspondent in Damascus, said Syrian forces on Friday apparently opened fire after protesters set fire to a statue of Hafez al-Assad, the late former president.

also showed protesters in the cental square of Daraa dismantling a portrait of his son, Bashar al-Assad, the current president.

Three people were also reported killed in Mouadamieh district of Damascus after a crowd confronted a procession of cars driven by supporters of president Bashar al-Assad, residents said.

Significantly, people do not want regime change at this point of time but want to protest peacefully to achieve their rights, our correspondent said. People want corruption to end, more political reforms and freedom of expressions, she said.

"The government promised reforms a couple of days ago and the real test for the government right now is to show that it is serious and these are not empty promises."

Malid Al-Abdeh, a Syrian journalist based in the UK, told Al Jazeera that people in Syria are afraid to call for regime change as they may face brutal repression or may be death penalty.

Regime supporters take to streets

Regime supporters also took to the streets in sizeable numbers on Friday, waving flags and images of al-Assad. A large crowd gathered in the evening outside Al Jazeera's bureau in Damascus, demanding to be shown on the network.

"Thousands and thousands are now out in the streets of the capital, driving around the capital, showing their support for President Aasad. There is no doubt the president does have support in this country. Bashar al-Assad is a popular leader," our correspondent said.

But Anas al-Abda, the chairman of the Movement for Justice and Development in Syria, told Al Jazeera that pro-government demonstrations were "most probably fabricated and organised by the regime".

Earlier, Reem Haddad, from the Syrian information ministry, told Al Jazeera that security forces had been given the order not to shoot at protesters "no matter what happens".

"But things took on a different hue because inside these peaceful demonstrations there was another group of people who were armed ... and were shooting at the security forces and were shooting at other citizens in Daraa. At the end of the day this became a matter of national security."

But an eyewitness told Al Jazeera that "there were no people carrying arms among demonstrators".

"What happened in the square ... was live ammunition, I was present myself and I saw the youth and other young demonstrators leading a peaceful demonstration.

"They were chanting slogans calling for freedom and transparency and an end [to] corruption."

'Day of dignity'

The latest clashes come after protesters demanding greater freedom called for a "day of dignity" on Friday following a week-long crackdown by pro-regime forces that has left dozens dead.

At least 200 people marched in the centre of Damascus after Friday prayers in support of the people of Daraa, scene of protests against Baath Party rule, Reuters reported.

Daraa, the main city of southern Syria, has become a flashpoint for protests. Officials have been on the defensive after protesters in the southern city were shot dead by police.

Syria protests: US and UN condemn armed crackdown,Syrian 2011

2011-03-26T05:34:00.000-07:00

Syria protests: US and UN condemn armed crackdown

There has been international condemnation of the Syrian government following reports that troops fired on peaceful demonstrators on Friday.

The US said Syria was trying to "repress and intimidate demonstrators", while UN chief Ban Ki-moon urged Damascus to exercise restraint.

Witnesses said dozens of people had been killed during the protests - this cannot be independently confirmed.
The rallies came a day after Syria said it would consider political changes.
Protests were staged in towns and cities across Syria, including the capital Damascus.

'Brutal response' In the US, White House spokesman Jay Carney said Washington was deeply concerned at what was happening in Syria.
"We strongly condemn the Syrian government's attempts to repress and intimidate demonstrators," Mr Carney said late on Friday.

Meanwhile, UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon telephoned Syrian President Bashar al-Assad to urge "maximum restraint".
Mr Ban also stressed that Damascus had an obligation to respect the fundamental rights of its citizens.
Amnesty International - which expressed fears that 55 people have died in Syria in the past week - also condemned the treatment of demonstrators by Damascus.

'God, Syria, Freedom'

Gunfire was heard in the city of Deraa, which has become the centre of a serious challenge to the regime of President Assad. The marchers who took to the streets in Deraa had attended funerals for some of the 25 protesters killed on Wednesday.

Some of the protesters started a fire under a bronze statue of Mr Assad's father, the late President Hafez al-Assad, witnesses reported.
Another group of protesters trying to reach Deraa were killed in the nearby village of Salamen when security forces opened fire.
A government official confirmed that at least 10 protesters had died, although witnesses said up to 20 people had been killed.

In Damascus, around 1,000 were reportedly continuing a protest into Friday night, vowing to stay until their demands had been met.
Earlier, hundreds marched on King Faisal Street chanting: "Peaceful, Peaceful, God, Syria, Freedom." This protest was broken up by security forces and many were arrested, reports say.
Another protest reported to the BBC by an eyewitness took place around al-Rifai near Qasar Sousah Square.

Supporters of Mr Assad were also staging large protests in the capital, and clashes erupted between the two sides.
In the central city of Hama, hundreds of people were said to have gathered on the city streets to chant "freedom".
In 1982, the Syrian army put down an uprising led by the Muslim Brotherhood in Hama. Rights groups believe that tens of thousands of civilians were killed when large parts of the city were destroyed in the military assault.

In Tall, witnesses quoted by the Reuters news agency said about 1,000 people had rallied to show their support for the Deraa protesters, and were chanting slogans denouncing members of the ruling Assad family.
Demonstrations which ended in violence were also reported in the cities of Latakia and Homs. One person was killed in each place, the Associated Press news agency quoted an activist as saying.
On Thursday, Damascus said it would consider political reforms, including the possible ending of emergency laws introduced in 1963.
The government also said it would put on trial those suspected of killing several protesters in Deraa.

Syrian Revolution 2011,Syria News 2011 , Deaths as Syrian forces fire on protesters

2011-03-26T05:26:00.000-07:00

Syrian Revolution 2011,Syria News 2011 , Deaths as Syrian forces fire on protesters

The bloody crackdown on protesters in Syria has left dozens dead as President Bashar al-Assad faces the greatest challenge to his 11-year rule.

Security forces opened fire on anti-government protesters in the city of Sanamin near Daraa on Friday, killing at least 20 people, according to one witness.
"There are more than 20 martyrs .... they [security forces] opened fire haphazardly," the witness told Al Jazeera on Friday.

Rula Amin, Al Jazeera's correspondent in Damascus, said Syrian forces apparently fired after protesters set fire to a statue of the late president, Hafez al-Assad.

also showed protesters in the cental square of Daraa dismantling a portrait of his son, Bashar al-Assad, the current president.
Reuters reported that heavy gunfire could be heard in the southern city of Daraa, the focal point for demonstrations against Bashar al-Assad's regime in recent days.
Three people were also reported killed in Mouadamieh district of Damascus after a crowd confronted a procession of cars driven by supporters of president Bashar al-Assad, residents said, according to Reuters.

Regime supporters take to streets
But regime supporters also took to the streets in sizeable numbers on Friday, waving flags and images of al-Assad. A large crowd gathered in the evening outside Al Jazeera's bureau in Damascus, demanding to be shown on the network.

"Thousands and thousands are now out in the streets of the capital, driving around the capital, showing their support for President Aasad. There is no doubt the president does have support in this country. Bashar al-Assad is a popular leader," said Al Jazeera's correspondent Zeina Khodr.
But Anas al-Abda, the chairman of the Movement for Justice and Development in Syria, told Al Jazeera that pro-government demonstrations were "most probably fabricated and organised by the regime".
Earlier, Reem Haddad, from the Syrian information ministry, told Al Jazeera that security forces had been given the order not to shoot at protesters "no matter what happens".

"But things took on a different hue because inside these peaceful demonstrations there was another group of people who were armed ... and were shooting at the security forces and were shooting at other citizens in Daraa. At the end of the day this became a matter of national security."

But an eyewitness told Al Jazeera that "there were no people carrying arms among demonstrators".

"What happened in the square ... was live ammunition, I was present myself and I saw the youth and other young demonstrators leading a peaceful demonstration.

"They were chanting slogans calling for freedom and transparency and an end [to] corruption."

'Day of dignity'
The latest clashes come after protesters demanding greater freedom called for a "day of dignity" on Friday following a week-long crackdown by pro-regime forces that has left dozens dead.

At least 200 people marched in the centre of Damascus after Friday prayers in support of the people of Daraa, scene of protests against Baath Party rule, Reuters reported.

Protests spread across Syria, with rallies also held in the central city of Hama and in Tel, near Damascus. According to our correspondent, numbers at these rallies ranged from hundreds of people to thousands.

Daraa, the main city of southern Syria, has become a flashpoint for protests. Officials have been on the defensive after protesters in the southern city were shot dead by police.

The crackdown has already attracted the attention of the United Nations with human rights commissioner Navi Pillay calling for an investigation and an immediate halt to violence, a message echoed by Ban Ki-moon, the UN Secretary-General.
Human rights group Amnesty International said on Friday that at least 55 people had been killed since protests erupted.

The US on Friday called on the Syrian government to end the use of violence against protesters and the arrests of human rights activists.
"We strongly condemn the Syrian government's attempts to repress and intimidate demonstrators," said White House spokesman Jay Carney.

Britain also expressed concern. "I call on the Syrian government to respect the people’s right to peaceful protest and to address their legitimate grievances. I call for restraint on all sides but in particular from the Syrian security forces. Violence is never the right answer to these situations." said Alistair Burt, a foreign office minister.
On Thursday, Syrian government announced that it would "study" ending emergency rule - in place since 1963 - and look into legalising political parties.
The current emergency law allows people to be arrested without warrants and imprisoned without trial.