Syria

[winston]

Syria has not been in the good books of the West. So what's the chance that the West has got something to do with this ?

Arab unrest spreads to Syria as thousands march

DAMASCUS (Reuters) - Thousands of Syrians demanded an end to 48 years of emergency law on Saturday, a third straight day of protests emerging as the biggest challenge to Syria's rulers since unrest swept the Arab world this year.

"No. No to emergency law. We are a people infatuated with freedom," marchers chanted as a government delegation arrived in the southern town of Deraa to pay condolences for victims killed by security forces in demonstrations there this week.

Syria has been ruled under emergency law since the Baath Party, which is headed by president Bashar al-Assad, took power in a 1963 coup and banned all opposition.

The government sought to appease popular discontent in Deraa by promising to release 15 school-children whose arrests for scrawling protest graffiti had helped fuel the demonstrations.

An official statement said the children, who had written slogans inspired by uprisings in Tunisia and Egypt on walls, would be released immediately. The statement was a rare instance of Syria's ruling hierarchy responding to popular pressure.

Security forces opened fire on Friday on civilians taking part in a peaceful protest in Deraa demanding the release of the children, political freedoms and an end to corruption. Four people were killed.

On Saturday thousands of mourners called for "revolution" at the funeral of two of the protesters. Officials later met Deraa notables who presented then with a list of demands, most importantly the release of political prisoners.

The list demands the dismantling of the secret police headquarters in Deraa, dismissal of the governor, a public trial for those responsible for the killings and scrapping of regulations requiring permission from the secret police to sell and buy property.

Non-violent protests have challenged the Baath Party's authority this month, following the uprisings that toppled the autocratic leaders of Egypt and Tunisia, with the largest protests in Deraa drawing thousands of people.

The city is a center of the Hauran region, once a bread basket that also been affected by diminishing water levels in Syria, with yields falling by a quarter in Deraa last year.

Deraa is also home to thousands of displaced people from eastern Syria, where up to a million people have left their homes because of a water crisis over the past six years. Experts say state mismanagement of resources has worsened the crisis.

Source: Reuters US Online Report World News

[kennynah]

protests situation in syria is getting more pronounced..cnn just reported..

[winston]

A witness in the southern Syrian city of Daraa says a major military operation is under way.

Source: CNN International

[winston]

TOL:-

A lot of Syrian troops are at the borders of Turkey.

Will this escalate into something bigger ?

[iam802]

Syria...issue. Getting bigger?

http://blogs.aljazeera.net/liveblog/syr ... -2011-1612

Friday, July 15, 2011 - 16:12 - Syria
More than 120,000 protesters have taken to streets across Deir Ezzour, a sprawling tribal city in Syria’s eastern desert, a local activist told Al Jazeera.

For the first time, the city observed a full strike yesterday, said the activist, with almost all businesses closed, though government offices remain operational. The army remains deployed around the edges of the city, but military secret police yesterday shot and killed Amer Zamzam and wounded seven others, local activists confirmed.

The attack took place during a small protest in what residents have renamed Martyrs Square, formerly Bassel Square after President Bashar al-Assad’s deceased elder brother. Angered by the closing down of shops, the secret police had approached shop owners around the square, according to the activist who was present, demanding ‘Why are you shutting down? Are you with these bastards?’ referring to the protestors. Having failed to disperse the crowd with tear gas, they opened fire.

The activist said that during the funeral procession yesterday, video here, mourners had passed the Baath Party headquarters and seen dozens of armed men in camouflage, sparking fears the city would soon be under a military assault.

Protestors later held a sit in of around 15,000 people in the Dawwar el Madleje square, which citizen video shows lasted well into the night.

The activists said there was no evidence US Ambassador Robert Ford was visiting Deir Ezzour today, as reported earlier in the week, though a US embassy official, speaking to Al Jazeera from Damascus, confirmed Ford would be visiting other cities, despite drawing a furious reaction from the regime after visiting Hama last Friday

[kennynah]

Syria uprising...

EU enforcing sanctions on syrian government...

[kennynah]

Syria protests are heating up.... gun firings reported...

which country will now go "safe" the syrians??

[winston]

How come they have not send in Rambo yet ?

Syrian crackdown has killed 3,500: U.N.
by Khaled Yacoub Oweis

AMMAN (Reuters) - More than 3,500 people have been killed in Syria's crackdown on protesters, the United Nations said on Tuesday, as the military pressed its campaign to put down resistance against President Bashar al-Assad's rule in the city of Homs.

http://www.newsmeat.com/news/meat.php?a ... &buid=3281

[kennynah]

got any prize for invading syria or not? oil, gold, treasures? if not, why would these mercenaries enter syria?

[winston]

Any effect on the global economy ?

Aircraft Carrier CVN-77 Parks Next Door To Syria Just As US Urges Americans To Leave Country "Immediately" by Tyler Durden

Yesterday we reported that the Arab League (with European and US support) are preparing to institute a no fly zone over Syria.

Today, we get an escalation which confirms we may be on the edge.

Just out from CBS: "The U.S. Embassy in Damascus urged its citizens in Syria to depart "immediately," and Turkey's foreign ministry urged Turkish pilgrims to opt for flights to return home from Saudi Arabia to avoid traveling through Syria."

But probably the most damning evidence that the "western world" is about to do the unthinkable and invade Syria, and in the process force Iran to retaliate, is the weekly naval update from Stratfor, which always has some very interesting if always controversial view on geopolitics, where we find that for the first time in many months, CVN 77 George H.W. Bush has left its traditional theater of operations just off the Straits of Hormuz, a critical choke point, where it traditionally accompanies the Stennis, and has parked... right next to Syria.

http://www.zerohedge.com/news/aircraft- ... mmediately