Wednesday, April 27, 2011

Syrian troops reinforced pockets of protest

Syrian troops tightened security in the outbreak of protests against President Bashar al-Assad, who faced growing international pressure to end the violence that human rights groups say killed more than 450 already dead. Tanks patrolled the streets in the southern city of Dera, where the uprising against Assad began almost six weeks ago, soldiers took over the night the suburb of Douma, Damascus, and security forces around the volatile coastal city of Banias.

Germany said it strongly supported the sanctions against the Syrian government and the European Commission said it is considering all possible options to impose penalties on Damascus. France summoned the Syrian ambassador to protest the violence and said that Britain, Spain, Germany and Italy do the same.

"The Syrian authorities must meet the legitimate demands of its people to reform and not through the use of force," the spokesman said French Foreign Minister, Bernard Valero. United States, which imposed an economic embargo limited to Syria in 2004, said he is considering implementing new targeted sanctions in response to the "detestable and deplorable" violence by security forces to repress the demonstrators.

A witness said a convoy of at least 30 tanks headed on Wednesday from the southwest of Damascus, near the front line with Israel over the Golan Heights, direction or Dera Douma. At night, white buses carried hundreds of soldiers in combat uniforms Douma, where demonstrators tried to march toward the center of the capital in recent weeks but were held back by the bullets of the Syrian government.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said it had the names of at least 453 civilians killed during protests across the country. Syria has been dominated by the Assad family since Bashar's father, the late President Hafez al-Assad took power in a coup in 1970. The younger Assad kept intact the autocratic political system he inherited in 2000, while the family expanded its control over the unstable economy.

A resident of Dera, where the electricity, water and telephone are broken from the Army arrived on Monday morning, said the fresh food was running out and that the stores were giving away their products. "We are mainly distributing canned food," he said by telephone. A relative said a neighbor saw a tank rolling the body of a young man in the main square Tishrin on Tuesday.

"We are saying: We have to accept and let their leaders remain forever, although they dislike. And if they resist, this is your fate, "he said. The resident added that the entry of the army in Dera is also a warning to other cities about what could happen if they continue the protests." God willing, we are firm and this only strengthens our resolve to get rid of them, not tomorrow, today "he said.

Syria has blamed the violence by armed groups. The protesters say their activities have been peaceful and that security forces have fired on unarmed people. Attempts Assad to appease the discontent lifting the emergency law, while maintaining the abusive powers of the secret police and the monopoly power of the Baath Party, have not stopped the protests.

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