Syria: cousin of Syrian president Bashar al-Assad given travel ban

A cousin of the Syrian president has been banned from traveling abroad as the government says it is investigated the violence gripping the country.

Bashar al-Assad, Syrian President 

 

  

The move appears to be an attempt by Bashar al-Assad to show that he is serious about investigating the bloodshed.

State-run SANA news agency said the ban was imposed on Brig. Gen. Atef Najib, who ran the security department in the southern province of Daraa.

The uprising erupted there in mid-March after the arrest of 15 teenagers who scrawled anti-government graffiti.

Judge Mohammed Deeb al-Muqatran of the Special Judicial Committee says the travel ban is precautionary in order for Najib to be available for questioning. 

Al-Muqatran was quoted as saying on Monday that "no one has immunity, whoever he is."

On Sunday a mass grave containing the bodies of at least 10 soldiers was discovered by Syrian troops in a town stormed by government forces in the north of the country. 


At least four of the corpses in the grave, found outside the military police headquarters in the town of Jisr al-Shughour, near the Turkish border, had been decapitated or struck on the head by an axe, according to those present.
The government claimed the bodies, all still in uniform, were evidence of an attack by "armed gangs" on security forces it said claimed 120 lives last week.
But residents and some defecting soldiers who have fled over the border claimed that the dead were local recruits shot by their officers for refusing to open fire on peaceful protesters. 

They also claimed that the army, which moved in under cover from helicopters and tank fire, had used brutal tactics to recapture the town at the weekend.
"The soldiers told us that they would kick us into the sea," Mohammed Migdem, 60, told The Daily Telegraph, waving his arms angrily.


"They killed my uncle's son and I helped lift several dead bodies into cars with my own hands. There is a war going on in Syria against the people."
Witnesses also described how they had seen two boys trying to escape who were killed by fire from government tanks.
The unrest in Syria has claimed 1,500 lives since March, according to human rights groups, with no sign that the regime is managing to deter opposition.
There were even demonstrations at the weekend in the capital, Damascus.
Britain, France and America have led international criticism of the violence, but lack of support from the Arab League has made outside intervention likely.
China and Russia have also so far opposed a motion of condemnation at the United Nations.
"There is no prospect of getting through the UN a resolution such as the UN resolution 1973 on Libya," William Hague, the foreign secretary, said on Sky News. That resolution authorised the no-fly zone currently in place against Col Muammar Gaddafi's forces.
"In the case of Libya there was a clear call from the Arab League for action, and that was a transformative intervention. There is no such call in the case of Syria."
Mr Hague added that Syria was "undoubtedly being assisted by the Iranian government" through supplying "equipment" and advising how to crush protests.

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Syria's Assad blames unrest on saboteurs, pledges reforms

 

  Syrian President Bashar al-Assad said on Monday "saboteurs" were behind unrest against his rule and that political accommodation could not be reached with gunmen.

In just his third speech since the demonstrations began four months ago, Assad appeared tense as he pledged to pursue a national dialogue on reform and held out the prospect of expanding a recent amnesty.

But he said: "We have to distinguish between (protesters, and others who have legitimate demands) and saboteurs. The saboteurs are a small group that tried to exploit the kind majority of the Syrian people to carry out their many schemes."

No political solution was possible with people carrying weapons, he said.

As Syrian forces swept through the northwestern border region with Turkey, blocking refugees fleeing a military crackdown, Assad called on the 10,000 who have already crossed the frontier to come home.

"There are those who give them the impression that the state will exact revenge, I affirm that is not true. The army is there for security," he said in the speech at Damascus University.

A committee on national dialogue will meet in the next few days and invite more than 100 personalities to discuss the criteria and mechanism for constitutional reform, he said. He set a one-month target date for presenting recommendations.

Syria's military operation along the Turkish border follows the biggest protests in four months of anti-Assad unrest on Friday which a violent clampdown has failed to quash.

Security forces shot dead up to 19 protesters on Friday, rights groups said.

In addition to the more than 10,000 Syrian refugees now in Turkey, a further 10,000 are sheltering close to the border just inside Syria in the olive groves and rich farmland around the town of Jisr al-Shughour, Turkish officials said.

But Syrian human rights campaigner Ammar al-Qurabi said the army was now stopping those still inside Syria from leaving.

"The Syrian army has spread around the border area to prevent frightened residents from fleeing across the border to Turkey," he told.

Qurabi also accused pro-government forces of attacking people trying to aid the refugees as they fled.

The violence so close to its border challenges Turkey's foreign policy of "zero problems with neighbors" that has seen it befriend the Middle East's autocratic rulers while presenting itself as a champion of democracy.

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Turkey has pledged to keep his borders open to refugees and has called the Syrian government crackdown "savagery," but beyond words, it is not clear whether Ankara's rapprochement with Damascus has earned Turkey any influence with Assad to halt the violence.

REFUGEES "FEAR GETTING SHOT"

Syrian troops and gunmen loyal to Assad seized the town of Bdama, only 2 km (1.2 miles) from Turkey on Saturday, burning houses and arresting dozens, witnesses said.

"There are roadblocks everywhere in Bdama to prevent people from fleeing but villagers are finding other routes through valleys to escape to the Turkish border," said Omar, a farmer from Bdama who managed to reach the border area.

"We received no bread today. There was one bakery operating in Bdama but it has been forced to shut. The 'shabbiha' (Assad's gunmen) are shooting randomly," one refugee, a carpenter who gave his name as Hammoud, told Reuters by telephone.

"One man in Bdama was injured today and we managed to smuggle him to hospital in Turkey. But many fear getting shot if they attempt to cross the border," the refugee added.

Faced with troops firing live ammunition, Syrian protesters have taken to venting their anger against Assad at night.

Demonstrations erupted overnight in the cities of Hama, Homs, Latakia, Deir al-Zor, the town of Madaya near the Lebanese border, several suburbs of the capital Damascus and in Albu Kamal on the border with Iraq, witnesses and activists said.

Authorities blame the violence on armed groups and Islamists, backed by foreign powers. Syria has barred most international journalists from entering the country, making it difficult to verify accounts from activists and officials.

Syrian rights groups say at least 1,300 civilians have been killed and 10,000 people detained since March.

The Syrian Observatory for human rights has said more than 300 soldiers and police have also been killed. Other rights campaigners said dozens of security personnel had been killed by loyalist troops for refusing to shoot at unarmed civilians.

Even so, Russian President Dmitry Medvedev practically ruled out supporting a UN resolution condemning Syria's crackdown on pro-democracy protesters.

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Syrian troops 'widening' crackdown Kill 6 civilians in Ariha

Syrian refugees talk with a Turkish soldier in a refugee camp in the Turkish border town of Boynuegin in Hatay province yesterday.

 

 

 

Syrian security forces are reportedly widening an operation in the north of the country aimed at cracking down on anti-government protests.

Troops pushed towards the northern town of Maarat al-Numaan after detaining hundreds of people in a sweep through villages near the town of Jisr al-shaghur.



Meanwhile, army killed six civilians yesterday as it swept through villages around the flashpoint northwestern town of Jisr al-Shughur, a rights activist said.


"The armed forces are continuing their operations and the sweep of the villages near Jisr al-Shughur," which the army took by force Sunday, the activist said.


Refugees have poured across the Syrian border into neighbouring Turkey to escape the government's operation, the site of an intense military takeover on Sunday.


Nearly 7,000 Syrians have so far crossed the border with Turkey to escape the violence, and an estimated 10,000 more are waiting for the opportunity to cross.

Witnesses said those still in Syria had taken shelter among trees near the border since forces moved into the northwestern province of Idlib.

The uprising, now in its third month, seeks an end to Bashar al-Assad's one-party rule, more political freedom and an end to corruption and poverty.

Al Jazeera's Anita McNaught, in Guvecci on the Turkey-Syria border, spoke to Syrian refugees inside the camp in Turkey.

One of them said he saw two military helicopters hovering over Jisr al-Shughur and heard reports of indiscriminate shooting.

Another Syrian gave this account after Al Jazeera smuggled a camera into the refugee camp: "We were besieged in Jisr yesterday.
"We couldn't leave. They shot at everyone, I was shot in the chest, My cousin, who was with me, died.
"They cut our electricity and water. We were left with nothing, that is why we came to the Turkey border."

Syrian state television said army units fought "armed groups" on Sunday, but residents and activists said troops had clashed with mutinous soldiers defending the town alongside residents.

"Army divisions entered Jisr al-Shughur and purged the state hospital of armed groups," the television said.
"Two members of the armed organisations were killed, large numbers of them arrested, and lethal weapons in their possession were seized."

On the diplomatic front, a spokesman for David Cameron, the British prime minister, said on Monday that Recep Tayyip Erdogan, the Turkish leader, had expressed support for Britain's efforts to put pressure on Syria at the UN Security Council.

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SYRIA UNREST Copters open fire to disperse protesters

Syrian helicopter gunships fired machineguns to disperse pro-democracy protests, witnesses said, in the first reported use of air power to quell unrest in Syria's increasingly bloody three-month-old uprising. The use of the aircraft came on a day of nationwide rallies against President Bashar al-Assad, as unrest showed no sign of abating despite the harsh crackdown by his authoritarian state. The helicopters opened fire in a northwestern town after security forces on the ground killed five protesters, said the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. "At least five helicopters flew over Maarat al-Numaan and began firing their machineguns to disperse the tens of thousands who marched in the protest," one witness said by telephone. "People hid in fields, under bridges and in their houses, but the firing continued on the mostly empty streets for hours," said the witness, who gave his name as Nawaf. Syria's state television, in contrast, blamed violence in the area on anti-government groups. It made no mention of attack helicopters but said an ambulance helicopter had come under fire over Maarat from "terrorist armed groups," injuring crew. Britain, France, Germany and Portugal have asked the U.N. Security Council to condemn Assad, though veto-wielding Russia has said it would oppose such a move. Denouncing the Syrian government's actions, the White House said Friday's "appalling violence" had led the United States to back the European draft resolution at the United Nations. "The Syrian government is leading Syria on a dangerous path," the White House said. Foreign Minister Walid al-Moualem wrote to the Security Council accusing the opposition of violence and sabotage, Al Arabiya television said. Foreign governments were basing their views on "inaccurate information," it said. State television said earlier well-armed "terrorist groups" had burned police buildings and killed members of the security forces in Maarat al-Numaan, which lies 55 km (35 miles) south of Syria's second city Aleppo on the highway to Damascus. LETTER ASKING FOR HELP Moualem's letter asked for UN help to combat "extremism and terrorism." Damascus wanted dialogue with the opposition, the letter said. Syrian authorities have banned most foreign correspondents from the country and have repeatedly tried to portray anti-government protesters as armed and violent. "There were peaceful protests today (in Maarat) calling for freedom and for the downfall of the regime," one demonstrator said by phone. "The security forces let us protest, but when they saw the size of the demonstration grow, they opened fire to disperse us." "During the protest, two officers and three soldiers refused to open fire so we carried them on our shoulders. After that, we were surprised to see helicopters firing on us." The northwest border area, like other protest hotspots, is prone to tension between majority Sunni Muslims and Assad's Alawite sect, which dominates the Syrian power elite. The violence may reflect splits within the security forces, whose commanders are mainly Alawite and conscripts Sunni. Activists said Syrian forces had shot dead at least 33 at rallies across the country after Friday prayers. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon had been trying to call Assad all week but was told that the president was "not available." REFUGEES FEAR "SLAUGHTER" Thousands of civilians have fled from the northwestern border area into Turkey, fearing security forces' revenge for incidents in which 120 troops were reported killed this week. Local people said at least 15,000 troops along with some 40 tanks and troop carriers had deployed near Jisr al-Shughour. "Jisr al-Shughour is practically empty. People were not going to sit and be slaughtered like lambs," said one refugee who crossed the border into Turkey. A 40-year-old from Jisr al-Shughour, with a bullet still in his thigh, also described mutiny in Syrian ranks. "Some of the security forces defected and there were some in the army who refused the orders of their superiors," he said. "They were firing on each other." Human rights activists aired a YouTube video described as from a Lieutenant Colonel Hussein Armoush, saying he had defected with soldiers to "join the ranks of the masses demanding freedom and democracy." A Turkish newspaper said Ankara was looking into creating a buffer zone along the border as a contingency if hundreds of thousands of Syrians are driven out. The International Committee of the Red Cross urged Syria to allow its aid workers wider access to the civilian population, including the many believed wounded or detained. Rights groups say over 1,100 civilians have been killed since March in the revolt to demand more political freedoms and an end to corruption and poverty.

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U.N. rights boss calls on Syria to halt "assault"

 The top U.N. human rights official called on Syria on Thursday to halt its "assault on its own people" and said more than 1,100 people may have been killed and up to 10,000 detained since March.

Navi Pillay, United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, urged Damascus to allow a fact-finding mission into the country to investigate all allegations, including Syrian state television reports that 120 members of the security forces were killed by armed gangs.
"It is utterly deplorable for any government to attempt to bludgeon its population into submission, using tanks, artillery and snipers," she said in a statement.
"I urge the government to halt this assault on its own people's most fundamental human rights."
More than 1,000 people have been killed in three months of popular unrest in Syria, human rights groups say. On Wednesday, Britain, France, Germany and Portugal handed the U.N. Security Council a draft resolution condemning Syria's crackdown on protesters, despite the risk of a Russia veto.
"We are receiving an increasing number of alarming reports pointing to the Syrian government's continuing efforts to ruthlessly crush civilian protests," said Pillay, a former U.N. war crimes judge.
Local human rights groups estimated that more than 50 protesters were killed during a protest in the city of Hama last Friday. Pillay said it would seem that it was one of the bloodiest days since the uprising began.
She voiced concern at reports of civilians fleeing the northwestern town of Jisr al-Shughour after what she called threatening statements by government officials.
Syrian troops with tanks have deployed near Jisr al-Shughour, prompting many of its 50,000 people to flee. The government has accused armed bands of killing scores of its security men in the town and has vowed to send in the army.
More than a thousand Syrians have fled across the border into Turkey in the last 24 hours and have taken refuge in a tent camp, the U.N. refugee UNHCR said on Thursday.
On April 29, the U.N. Human Rights Council set up a fact-finding mission to investigate violations in Syria.
Pillay again urged Syria to allow the U.N. human rights investigators into the country to establish the facts. Members of her team are collecting evidence in the region but have yet to receive a greenlight from Damascus.
"So far we have not received any official reply from Syria -- either positive or negative," she said.

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Syria — Protests (2011)

Syria's harsh and stagnant dictatorship at first seemed immune to the wave of unrest that swept through most of the Arab world after the revolution in Tunisia in January 2011. But in mid-March, demonstrations broke out in several cities, and grew rapidly after security forces fired on protesters.

The country's president is Bashar al-Assad, the son of Hafez al-Assad, who ruled with an iron hand for three decades before his death in 2000. The Assads belonged to the Allawite sect, a minority that came to hold most of the top positions in the government and military. Under Hafez al-Assad, Syria was reviled in the West for its support of terrorist groups and generally isolated even from more moderate Arab countries. Bashar al-Assad from time to time made gestures toward greater openness. But it remained one of the region's most repressive regimes.

In February 2011, after the fall of Egypt's strongman, Hosni Mubarak, a handful of demonstrations were called in Syria. But the demonstrators were always outnumbered by the police, and were quickly arrested or dispersed. Large protests began in March in the southern town of Dara’a, where citizens were outraged by the arrest of more than a dozen schoolchildren for writing graffiti. More protests followed, in Dara'a and other parts of the country, although they never emerged at any size in the country's two largest cities, Damascus and Aleppo.

In Syria, Mr. Assad at first seemed to veer between offers of concessions and force. On April 16, he pledged to meet one of the demonstrators’ main demands by lifting the emergency law. But just days later, he launched what became a withering crackdown: security forces fired on demonstrators across the country, killing dozens, the army sent tanks into Dara'a and hundreds of government opponents were arrested or were reported to have disappeared. By May 31, human rights groups said that more than 1,000 had been killed and as many as 10,000 people were reported to be in custody or missing.

By early May, government officials spoke of gaining the upper hand, but demonstrations continued, if on a smaller scale, as the unrest settled into a bloody standoff of protest and reprisal. The protests seemed reinvigorated in early June by a video that showed the body of a 13-year-old boy from Dara'a who had been tortured and killed.

Even if it fails, the uprising has demonstrated the weakness of a dictatorial government that once sought to draw legitimacy from a notion of Arab nationalism, a sprawling public sector that created the semblance of a middle class and services that delivered electricity to the smallest towns. The government of Mr. Assad, though, is far different than that of his father, who seized power in 1970. A beleaguered state, shorn of ideology, can no longer deliver essential services or basic livelihood. Mr. Makhlouf’s warnings of instability and sectarian strife like Iraq’s have emerged as the government’s rallying cry, as it deals with a degree of dissent that its officials admit caught them by surprise.

Protest Timeline

June 6 Syria’s state news agency reported that “armed gangs” had killed 120 police and security personnel in multiple attacks on security forces in a northwestern town. The state broadcaster showed no images from the town, despite scrolling text on Syrian television that spoke of a “massacre” of security forces. Protesters could not be immediately reached in the area, but opposition activists repudiated any suggestion that antigovernment protesters had mounted such an attack.

June 5 Syrian military forces were reported to have killed 38 people in the northern province of Idlib over the weekend, demonstrators and rights activists said, as security forces appeared to redeploy from other towns to join the latest front in the harsh crackdown on a three-month-old popular uprising against the government of President Bashar al-Assad.

June 3 Syrians poured into the streets in some of the largest antigovernment protests yet despite the shutdown of much of the country’s Internet network. At least 40 protesters were killed in Hama, according to local activists. That report could not be immediately confirmed. The demonstrations were fueled in part by escalating anger over the torture and killing of a 13-year-old boy from the southern region of Dara’a.

June 1 Syrian military forces killed 42 people, including a 10-year-old boy and 4-year-old girl, in raids on a string of towns around the central city of Homs.

May 31 President Bashar al-Assad issued a general amnesty. Syrian state media reported that the amnesty would be broad and would include members of the outlawed Muslim Brotherhood, but details issued late in the day by the government indicated that it amounted to little more than sentence reductions for certain crimes.

May 30 A video of the mutilated body of a 13-year-old boy seized, tortured and killed by government forces has injected new life into the uprising.

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