More deaths as Syrian protests continue

Aug. 26, 2011 Al Jazeera

Thousands flood the streets after Friday prayers, braving crackdown by
security forces.

Activists chose "patience and determination" as the theme of Friday's
protests across Syria [Al Jazeera]

Syrian security forces have opened fire on thousands of anti-government
protesters in eastern and southern towns, killing at least eight people in
an attempt to quell an uprising raging for the past five months.

The protests came on the last Friday of the holy month of Ramadan, a time
when many protesters hoped would serve as a breaking point for President
Bashar al-Assad's government. Instead, the government's crackdown has
intensified dramatically.

An activist with the opposition April 17 Movement in Douma, northeast of
Damascus, told Al Jazeera that security forces opened fire with live
ammunition and tear gas on a large protest of some 6,000 to 7,000 people
who marched through the streets.

"Worshippers from about six or seven mosques came together and marched to
the square of the Grand Mosque in Douma," said the activist, who calls
himself Mohammed al-Ali. "After about an hour people were heading home
when secret police and shabiha [thugs] arrived and opened fire."

A resident of Deir al-Zour said security forces opened fire to disperse
scores of protesters, killing two of them. He named them as 26-year-old
Marii Fathi and 22-year-old Oday Bahloul.

"There was shooting in Kanama Street near Jandol cafe and a white security
van took their bodies," he said, adding that another youth, Ibrahim
Mohammad al-Dukhoul, was taken to hospital with serious gunshot wounds.

In Nawa, a town in the southern Hauran Plain that has seen regular
protests, residents and activists said another protester was killed after
forces loyal to Assad shot at demonstrators coming out of a mosque.

'Stormed by tanks'

Human rights groups say Assad's forces have killed more than 2,000 people
since the uprising against his rule erupted in mid-March, touched off by
the wave of revolutions sweeping the Arab world.

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Activists and residents reported protests in cities and towns, many of
which have been stormed by tanks, stretching from Deir al-Zour province in
the east to Deraa in the south to the northwest province of Idlib.

They said demonstrations also cropped up in large cities such as Hama and
Homs along the main highway leading to Turkey, and in districts of the
capital Damascus.

"Muammar Gaddafi is gone, it is your turn Bashar!" shouted protesters in
the town of Hirak northeast of Deraa, buoyed by the apparent overthrow of
the Libyan leader by rebels this week, according to a witness who spoke by
phone to the reuters news agency.

Pro-democracy activists chose "patience and determination" as the theme of
Friday's protests across Syria.

Overnight killings

Activists earlier said security forces killed eight people across Syria
overnight, mostly as a result of attacks on street demonstrations.

The crackdown has led to broad condemnation and sanctions. Assad has
ignored international calls for him to step down, insisting that
"religious extremists" and "thugs" are driving the violence, not "true
reform-seekers".

Assad has exploited fears of chaos in Syria, with the regime portraying
him as the only man who can guarantee peace in a country with a mix of
religious groups.

The opposition, however, says the protest movement is free of sectarian
overtones and is simply demanding freedom and democracy.

Since Ramadan began on August 1, tanks have entered the cities of Hama,
scene of a 1982 massacre by the military, Deir al-Zourand Latakia on the
Mediterranean coast.

Attack on cartoonist

Meanwhile, the US condemned what it called a "targeted, brutal attack" on
Syria's most popular political cartoonist.

Ali Ferzat was attacked after he left his studio early on Thursday and was
beaten by masked gunmen who broke his hands and dumped him on a road
outside the Damascus airport.
Ferzat's Brother Asaad told Al Jazeera that his brother "was savagely
beaten" [Al Jazeera]

Ferzat's brother Asaad told Al Jazeera that his brother was kidnapped at
5am by five gunmen from outside his home and taken to the airport road.

"He was savagely beaten, they broke his fingers and told him not to
satirise Syria's leaders," Asaad said.

Ferzat, 60, who is also a longtime human rights advocate, earned
international recognition and the respect of many Arabs with stinging
caricatures that infuriated leaders including Iraq's Saddam Hussein,
Libya's Muammar Gaddafi and, particularly in recent months, Syria's Assad
family.

He drew cartoons about the uprising and posted the illustrations on his
private website, providing
comic relief to many Syrians who were unable to follow his work in local
newspapers because of a ban on his drawings.

This week, he published a cartoon showing Assad with a packed suitcase,
frantically hitching a ride with a fleeing Gaddafi. Another drawing showed
dictators walking a long red carpet that leads them, in the end, to a
dustbin.



Syrian forces kill 2 as tens of thousands protest

By ELIZABETH A. KENNEDY - Associated Press Aug. 26, 2011

BEIRUT — Syrian security forces killed at least two people as tens of
thousands of anti-government protesters flooded the streets on the last
Friday of the holy month of Ramadan, a time that many activists hoped
would become a turning point in the uprising.

But more than five months into the revolt against President Bashar Assad,
the conflict has descended into a bloody stalemate with both sides showing
no sign of giving in. Activists chose "patience and determination" as the
theme of Friday's protests across the country of 22 million.

"We are here to tell the regime that nothing is finished, nothing will
finish and we will not stay at home like you want us to," a protester told
The Associated Press by telephone from the central city of Homs, where he
said thousands poured into the streets.

He asked that his name not be published for fear of government reprisals.

The regime got a boost Friday from its ally in neighboring Lebanon, the
Shiite militant group Hezbollah. The group's leader, Sheik Hassan
Nasrallah, echoed the regime's claims that the unrest in Syria was being
driven by a foreign conspiracy seeking to destabilize the regime because
of its support for anti-Israel resistance groups.

"Those who are pushing toward sectarian strife in Syria want to destroy
the country," Nasrallah said in a nationally televised speech to mark the
last Friday of Ramadan.

Assad's backers portray him as the only man who can guarantee peace in a
country with a potentially volatile mix of religious groups. The
opposition, however, says the protest movement is free of sectarian
overtones and is simply demanding freedom and democracy.

Human rights groups say Assad's forces have killed more than 2,000 people
since the uprising erupted in March, touched off by the wave of
revolutions sweeping the Arab world. Friday has become the main day for
protests, despite the near-certainty that tanks and snipers will respond
with deadly force.

The government crackdown escalated dramatically at the start of Ramadan, a
time of introspection and piety characterized by a dawn-to-dusk fast.
Muslims typically gather in mosques during the month for special nightly
prayers after breaking the fast, and the Assad government used deadly
force to prevent such large gatherings from turning into more
anti-government protests.

The protesters still took to the streets, although generally in smaller
numbers.

The regime has banned most foreign journalists and placed tight
restrictions on local coverage.

Najib al-Ghadban, a U.S.-based Syrian activist and political science
professor at University of Arkansas, said the sweeping arrest campaign,
military crackdown and heavy security presence across Syrian cities
managed to keep a large number of protesters off the streets.

"This affected the protest movement but did not stop it," he told the AP.
"This proves that for protesters, there is no going back."

The swiftly crumbling regime in Libya also has buoyed the Syrian
protesters, who have taunted Assad with chants of, "You're next, Bashar!"

Many protesters also expressed solidarity with Ali Ferzat, 60, a renowned
political cartoonist who was grabbed after he left his studio early
Thursday and beaten by masked gunmen who broke his hands and dumped him on
a road outside Damascus. He was recovering Friday.

In Hama, Ferzat's hometown, a banner read: "Ali Ferzat, we are with you
'til death."

Ferzat earned international recognition and the respect of many Arabs with
stinging caricatures that infuriated dictators including Iraq's Saddam
Hussein, Libya's Moammar Gadhafi and, particularly in recent months,
Syria's autocratic Assad family.

State-run news agency SANA reported the attack against Ferzat Friday, and
said authorities were investigating the circumstances of the incident and
searching for the perpetrators.

Although the crackdown has led to broad condemnation and sanctions, Assad
is in no immediate danger of falling. Economic sanctions will chip away at
the regime, although a new U.S. ban on Syrian oil is not a significant
blow on its own as the U.S. has few business dealing with Syria. A
possible oil embargo by the European Union's 27 member states could
significantly slash the Damascus government's revenues, however.

Assad has promises a series of reforms, but the opposition has rejected
the overtures while his forces fire on peaceful protesters.

The Local Coordination Committees, an activist group that helps organize
the protests, said at least two people were killed Friday in the eastern
city of Deir el-Zour. Other activists confirmed the toll.

Protests also were reported in Idlib province near Turkey and the suburbs
of the capital, Damascus, along with the flash point cities of Homs and
Hama.

About 7,000 people were peacefully protesting in the Damascus suburb of
Douma, but security forces opened fire, wounding five, when the crowd
reached the central security building, activists said.

Sweeping arrests also were reported.

SANA said masked gunmen on motorcycles opened fire on a checkpoint,
wounding three policemen. It said police fired back, killing two of the
gunmen. In Douma, the agency said gunmen attacked the central security
building, wounding two of its security guards.