Arab world joins Syria condemnations
Arab-world outrage at Syria’s brutal crackdown has intensified as, for the first time, its neighbours joined the international chorus of condemnation against President Bashar Assad’s regime.
Meanwhile the death toll continued to rise as Syrian troops fired on mourners at a funeral and raided an eastern city, killing at least 59 people.
Even the king of Saudi Arabia – whose country does not tolerate dissent and lent its military troops to repress anti-government protests in neighbouring Bahrain – harshly criticised the Syrian government and said he was recalling his ambassador in Damascus for consultations.
More than 300 people have died in the past week, the bloodiest in the five-month uprising against Assad’s authoritarian rule. Not all were killed by bullets or tank shells: In the besieged city of Hama, where the government has cut off electricity and communications, a rights group said eight babies died because their incubators lost power.
Yesterday’s worst violence was in the eastern city of Deir el-Zour, where at least 42 people were killed.
“The city was bombed by all types of heavy weapons and machine gun fire before troops started entering,” an activist in the city said.
“Humanitarian conditions in the city are very bad because it has been under siege for nine days. There is lack of medicine, baby formula, food and gasoline. The city is totally paralysed.”
The government’s crackdown on mostly peaceful, unarmed protesters demanding political reforms and an end to the Assad family’s 40-year rule has left more than 1,700 dead since March, according to activists and human rights groups.
Assad’s regime disputes the toll and blames a foreign conspiracy for the unrest, which at times has brought hundreds of thousands of protesters into the streets.
The regime intensified the crackdown a week ago on the eve of Ramadan, the holy month in which many Muslims fast from dawn to dusk, then eat festive meals and gather in mosques for special nightly prayers. The government has been trying to prevent the large mosque gatherings from turning into more anti-government protests.
After sunset yesterday, thousands of people poured into the streets in areas around Syria, including the capital Damascus and its suburbs, the village of Dael in the south, the central city of Homs, Latakia on the Mediterranean coast and northern city of Aleppo, according to the Local Co-ordination Committees, a group of activists tracking the Syrian uprising.
There were reports of shootings but no immediate word on casualties, according to the LCC.
Syria’s crackdown had already drawn criticism and sanctions from the US and many other nations, but the latest attacks brought a new wave of condemnation.
Saudi King Abdullah demanded “an end to the killing machine and bloodshed”.
“Any sane Arab, Muslim or anyone else knows that this has nothing to do with religion, or ethics or morals; Spilling the blood of the innocent for any reasons or pretext leads to no path to ... hope,” the king said in a statement.
Abdullah accused the Syrian government of a disproportionate response, and said it must enact speedy and comprehensive reforms to avoid a future of chaos.
The 22-member Arab League, which had been silent since the uprising began, said yesterday it was “alarmed” by the situation in Syria and called for the immediate halt of all violence. On Saturday, the six-nation Gulf Co-operation Council criticised Syria’s “use of excess force.”
Turkey, which borders Syria and until recently was a close ally and a major trade partner, said it would send its foreign minister to Damascus tomorrow to deliver a strong message against the crackdown. Prime minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said his country’s patience was running thin and Turkey could not remain a bystander to the violence.
The statements signal that Arab states have lost patience with Assad and will no longer be silent. Sectarian divisions also play a role – Saudi Arabia is the major Sunni power in the Middle East and Syria is dominated by Assad’s minority Alawite sect, which rules over a Sunni majority.
Assad has brushed off months of criticism and sanctions, blaming armed gangs for the violence, and his government’s reaction to Turkey’s criticism was quick.
State-run TV quoted Assad adviser Buthaina Shaaban as saying that Turkey’s foreign minister “will hear stronger words because of Turkey’s stance that did not condemn until now the brutal killings of civilians, members of military and police”.
