Sunday, April 24, 2011

The police fired into the crowd again in Syria

The tension is growing in Syria, more than a month after the start of the protest movement of the regime of Bashar el-Assad. On Friday, the repression of demonstrations against the massive scheme has cost the lives of more than 80 people. Saturday, while tens of thousands of Syrians buried their dead in mourning of yesterday, the police were again fired on the crowd, killing at least thirteen people dead, witnesses said.

The organization of the Syrian Human Rights Saouassiah gives the figure of twelve civilians, but the toll could be much heavier. These latest deaths bring the overall balance disorders for over 300 deaths since they began March 15. Eyewitnesses and campaigners for human rights, new clashes took place in Damascus in the neighborhood and the suburb of Barzeh Duma particular, and in the vicinity of Izra'a in the South, where had place many funerals.

The funeral on Saturday were to be followed by a demonstration "huge" against power, had indicated an activist for human rights under cover of anonymity. But the "mavericks" posted on buildings and police fired into the crowd at the funeral procession pass. The authenticity of the documents is impossible to verify, but their number, diversity of the cities involved and the violence that emanates show an extremely tense situation across the country.

Punishment of Friday has already been renamed "Good Friday Massacre." "It snowballed and it grows each week. The anger rises, the street is boiling," he told an activist by telephone from the capital to the news agency. The funeral Barzeh: The Mufti of Deraa, the highest religious authority in this city in southern Syria where the dispute arose, also announced his resignation live on the Qatari channel.

"It is imperative that the authorities respond to all requests" of the people, "said Mufti Abdul-Rahim Abazid Rizik. The funeral Deraa: In a city known: The day of "Good Friday" - so called by opposition groups - has been one of the bloodiest since the start of the protest movement unprecedented March 15 and seen an unprecedented mobilization of protesters across the country.

Security forces opened fire to disperse thousands of protesters demanding the ouster of President Bashar el-Assad, the government has warned against any demonstration without permission two days before the announcement of the repeal the state of emergency. At least 82 protesters were killed and hundreds injured, including children and the elderly, according to activists of human rights who warned that the stock might rise.

The bloodiest day so far was March 23 in Dera where over 100 people had perished. One of the events of Friday: Russia has in turn called Saturday for an acceleration of reforms in Syria, with whom she has long-standing close ties. Moscow "is concerned about the escalating tensions and signs of confrontation that caused suffering to innocent people," the Russian Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

Syria, which was the main ally of the former Soviet Union in the Middle East remains a privileged partner of Russia in the region, and continues to buy most of its arms to this country. The Foreign Minister, Alain Juppe, has also condemned Saturday "indiscriminate and brutal repression" and called on Syrian authorities "to renounce the use of violence." "The leaders and the perpetrators of these crimes must answer for their actions.

This blind repression and brutal conflicts with the lifting of emergency rule," said in a statement the head of French diplomacy. The lifting of the state of emergency in force since 1963, passed Thursday by Assad, is the largest concession of the regime since the protests began. But in a statement, the activists grouped in the local coordinating committees deem useless without the release of thousands of political prisoners, most of which were not considered, and the dismantling of the security apparatus.

Activists have said that abolition of the monopoly exercised by the Baath Party to power and the creation of a democratic system were essential to stop the repression in Syria. Supported by his family clan and a pervasive security apparatus, Assad has absolute power and ignores the calls for regime change since he succeeded his father Hafez in 2000.

- On-line monitoring of the situation at the site of Al Jazeera

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