SYRIA HAS adopted a carrot-and-stick approach toward protests in a bid to calm tensions ahead of today’s Muslim prayers when fresh demonstrations can be expected.
The army deployed more troops and tanks in the southern city of Deraa, the epicentre of demonstrations, where arrests continued and mass resignations were reported last night from the ruling Baath Party. Shooting was heard at the nearby Jordanian border post at Ramtha. Security agents conducted sweeps, detaining dozens of people in Douma, a working class suburb of Damascus, and the coastal city of Baniyas, both patrolled by tanks.
In the Damascus suburb of Maadamiya, however, barricades were dismantled, permitting residents to shop and visit relatives. Dozens of detained protesters have been released and no new arrests were expected.
The restoration of normal life in Maadamiya was complemented by the opening of dialogue by the government with notables from cities and towns where protests have taken place since the middle of March. Opposition figures attending a conference in neighbouring Turkey called on the authorities to halt “bloodshed and random arrests”.
They said Syria had to choose between freedom and prosperity and “injustice and oppression”.
Activists are preparing for fresh demonstrations today to maintain pressure on the 40-year Assad regime to institute democratic reforms or risk being ousted. The National Initiative for Change, an umbrella group representing activists in Syria and abroad, called for a democratic transition that would “safeguard the nation from falling into a period of violence, chaos and civil war.
“If the Syrian president does not wish to be recorded in history as a leader of this transition period, there is no alternative for Syrians except to move forward along the same path as did the Tunisians, Egyptians and Libyans.”
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported that 453 civilians and more than 50 soldiers have been killed since the uprising began.
The government has said that close to 300 soldiers had been injured and accused rebels of smuggling arms into Syria from Lebanon. Syria’s United Nations’ ambassador Bashar Ja’afari said armed elements had used demonstrations as cover for firing at the security forces.
He contended that President Bashar al-Assad had ordered troops and police to hold their fire unless targeted. He dismissed calls for an independent investigation into the unrest.
“We can undertake any investigation . . . with full transparency. We have nothing to hide. We regret what is going on, but you should . . . acknowledge that this unrest and riots, in some of their aspects, have hidden agendas.”
A draft statement condemning violence circulated by Britain, Germany and Portugal is set to be discussed by the UN Security Council last night. Five European Union member states – France, Germany, Italy Britain and Spain – summoned Syrian ambassadors in their capitals to lodge official complaints over the crackdown.
