Tag: Syrian

Syrian troops arrested 300 people in a Damascus suburb on Thursday even as they pulled back from the protest hub of Daraa after a...

Syrian protesters pledged on Wednesday to press ahead with their "revolution" in the face of sweeping arrests by authorities, as France called for sanctions...

Anti-regime protesters called for permanent sit-ins across Syria from Tuesday as the authorities were reported to have arrested more than 1,000 people in their...

Troops and snipers killed six civilians on Saturday as Syrians prepared to bury scores of people killed in a “day of rage” and the...

DAMASCUS - At least seven people were killed when Syrian security forces fired into a crowd in the flashpoint town of Homs, as nationwide protests showed no sign of abating, rights activists said on Monday. The deaths occurred when security forces opened fire with live rounds late Sunday to disperse demonstrators in the Bab Sba'a area of the town, 160 kilometres (100 miles) to the north of Damascus, witnesses said.
Two activists, who declined to be identified, spoke of seven

WASHINGTON - The US government has been secretly financing Syrian opposition groups, including a satellite TV channel beaming anti-regime programming into the country, The Washington Post reported Monday.
Citing previously undisclosed diplomatic cables from WikiLeaks, the newspaper said the London-based Barada TV channel, which began broadcasting in April 2009, has ramped up operations to cover the mass protests in Syria.
Barada TV is closely affiliated with the Movement for

NICOSIA - A deal has been struck for Syria's army to enter Banias after deadly clashes in the coastal city, as several people freed after detention alleged they were tortured, a rights group said on Thursday.
The news comes after nearly a month of nationwide protests calling for greater freedom, political reform and the lifting of a draconian emergency law that have been harshly suppressed by security forces. "There was a deal on Wednesday between Syrian officials and city

AMMAN - Syria's main human rights movement said the death toll from pro-democracy protests against President Bashar al-Assad had reached 200 and urged the Arab League to impose sanctions on the ruling hierarchy.
Syria, the latest Arab country shaken by mass uprisings against authoritarian rulers, has witnessed unprecedented protests across the tightly-controlled country for the last three weeks.
Assad has responded with force -- witnesses say security forces have opened fire

AMMAN - Syrian security forces sealed off the coastal city of Banias overnight following pro-democracy protests and killings by irregulars loyal to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, witnesses said on Monday.
In the capital, students demonstrated at Damascus University's science college, students on the campus said. One activist said he received text messages saying security forces had killed one student and surrounded the campus. But a pro-government Facebook page said security

DAMASCUS - Syrian students rallied in Damascus on Monday to express solidarity with protesters killed over the weekend, as the army moved in on the flashpoint town of Banias. France and Germany, meanwhile, slammed the deadly assaults by security forces on anti-regime protesters and called on President Bashar al-Assad to make good on his promises of reform.
"Students rallied in solidarity with the victims of Daraa and Banias, chanting 'We will sacrifice our soul and blood for you

AMMAN - Syrian security forces opened fire on mourners near a mosque in the flashpoint city of Deraa after a mass funeral for pro-democracy protesters, two witnesses said on Saturday.
Security forces used live ammunition and tear gas to disperse thousands of people who were chanting freedom slogans after assembling near the old Omari mosque in the old quarter of the city, near the border with Jordan, the witnesses said. Dozens of people have been killed in a wave of protests

AMMAN - Syrian security forces killed at least three pro-democracy demonstrators in the southern city of Deraa as protests against the rule of Bashar al-Assad flared in a number of towns after Friday prayers, witnesses said. In the east, thousands of ethnic Kurds demonstrated for reform despite the president's offer this week to ease rules which bar many Kurds from citizenship, activists said.
Security men opened fire on thousands of protesters in Deraa, where protests first

DAMASCUS - Syria on Thursday granted citizenship to tens of thousands of Kurds on the same day that a legal committee completed draft legislation to replace nearly five decades of emergency rule.
A Facebook group also called for a "peaceful sit-in until freedom" at the Damascus headquarters of the Baath party to coincide with its 64th anniversary and urged countrywide "resistance on Friday to demonstrate despite our wounds."

DAMASCUS - The Syrian parliament is preparing to adopt major reforms in May, including an end to emergency rule, a politician close to the regime said Wednesday. "There will be an extraordinary session from May 2 to 6 in which social and political laws will be adopted in line with the reforms desired by the head of state," said the politician.
"Among them is new legislation that will replace the current emergency law," he said, adding that the proposed bill will be presented to

BEIRUT - Syrian President Bashar al-Assad has appointed Adel Safar, who served as agriculture minister in the government which resigned last week, to form a new government, an official Syrian source said on Sunday.
He said Safar was expected to announce his new cabinet within two days. Assad accepted the resignation of Naji al-Otari's government on Tuesday after a wave of protests in which witnesses and activists say 60 people have been killed.
The government has little

DAMASCUS - Syrian President Bashar al-Assad accepted his government's resignation on Tuesday after nearly two weeks of pro-democracy unrest that has posed the gravest challenge to his 11-year rule.
But the move was unlikely to satisfy protester demands since the cabinet has little authority in Syria, where power is concentrated in the hands of Assad, his family and the security apparatus. Tens of thousands of Syrians held pro-government rallies on Tuesday, awaiting a speech in

DAMASCUS - Syrian forces opened fire to disperse hundreds of protesters in Deraa calling for an end to emergency laws on Monday, but demonstrators regrouped despite a heavy troop deployment, a witness said. At least 61 people have been killed in 10 days of anti-government protests in the southern city, posing the most serious challenge to President Bashar al-Assad's rule. Assad has yet to respond to the demonstrations, which have spread to the port city of Latakia and Hama, but Vice