Death toll rises as Syrian troops search out opponents

SYRIAN TROOPS yesterday continued their sweep for regime opponents in the port city of Latakia and reinforced units deployed in Homs and Hama.

Activists said the death toll during the four-day operation in Latakia had reached 35, including a 22-year old Palestinian mother of two.

Heavy machine-gun fire was reported from Latakia’s poor southern districts of al-Shaab, Tamra and Ramel where the camp for 10,000 Palestinian refugees is located.

Chris Gunness, spokesman for the UN Relief and Works Agency which cares for the refugees, said the agency has appealed to the Syrian authorities to allow staff into the area to learn what has happened to the Palestinians, most of whom are said to have fled.

Palestinian Liberation Organisation chief Yasser Abed Rabbo accused the Syrian military of shelling tin-roofed houses that offer no protection and called the Latakia operation “a crime against humanity”. Syria’s official news agency, Sana, said the military was pursuing “armed terrorists” from Ramel, detaining gunmen and dismantling mines and bombs.

Pro-government elements staged a demonstration in central Latakia, chanting slogans in praise of the president, Bashar al-Assad.

According to witnesses, when residents of targeted areas fled towards the city centre on Monday, hundreds were rounded up and taken to a sports stadium. Identity documents and mobile phones were confiscated and captives spent the night without food or water.

Opposition activists reported that security agents fired on protesters in Homs following Ramadan prayers late on Monday night, killing 12 and wounding 60.

Turkish foreign minister Ahmet Davutoglu has threatened unspecified “steps” if Syria’s government fails to halt the bloodshed immediately. Jordanian prime minister Maaruf Bakhit phoned his Syrian counterpart Adel Safar to urge Damascus to halt the carnage.

UN commissioner for human rights Navi Pillay is due to brief the UN Security Council on the situation at a meeting tomorrow.

Human Rights Watch has called on the EU to freeze assets of the Syrian oil and gas companies and the Central Bank of Syria until human rights violations cease.

External pressure on Dr Assad is unlikely to halt the crackdown on dissent, and sanctions cannot be expected to topple the regime unless the armed forces command mounts a coup, as happened in Egypt. Damascus, the capital, and Aleppo, the commercial hub, have not yet joined the protests.

The opposition remains fragmented, leaderless and, so far, unable to stage co-ordinated mass protests. Domestic opponents have, however, become increasingly organised and effective since protests erupted spontaneously five months ago.

The situation remains stalemated with the regime unable to crush the protests and the protesters unable to topple the regime. Mediation efforts have failed to launch dialogue and the government has not put forward reforms which opponents are prepared to discuss. Finally, both sides have gone too far to back down.

The government has too much blood on its hands while protesters fear arrest, abuse and imprisonment if they halt demonstrations without an amnesty guaranteed by an external power.