Syrian army sweeps into Latakia port

TANKS MOVED into the northern Syrian port of Latakia yesterday as Deraa, the hub of protests, remained locked down. Power and communications were cut and there was little food or water.

Tanks roamed the streets and snipers were positioned on rooftops to ensure the curfew was not broken. Security was also stepped up in the Damascus suburb of Douma, a hotbed of dissent, and dozens of arrests have been reported in the town of Madaya near the capital.

Latakia is particularly important for the regime because it is the capital of a province where the majority is from the heterodox Shia Alawite sect, the community of the Assad clan, dominant in Syrian politics for 40 years.

Fleeing shooting on the Syrian side of the frontier, 1,500 women and children seeking sanctuary have crossed on foot into northern Lebanon. The women from the remote Tel Kelakh region said their men were surrounded by government forces.

Two hundred members of the ruling Baath from the Deraa region have joined 30 from Baniyas to resign from the party in protest against the crackdown on dissent. They declared: “In view of the negative stance taken by the leadership of the Arab Socialist Baath Party towards the events in Syria and in Deraa, and after the death of hundreds and the wounding of thousands at the hands of the various security forces, we submit our collective resignation.”

At least 453 civilians and 51 soldiers have been killed, hundreds wounded and 500 detained.

Although, the number of resignations is small in a party with 1.5-2 million members and those involved are not of high rank, they are professionals and leaders in their communities. Their stand is unprecedented, because resignations from party ranks are rare.

There are unconfirmed reports that soldiers have either refused to fire on protesters or defected to the opposition, suggesting discontent in the military.

“Syrian Revolution 2011” has dubbed today a “Friday of Rage” and urged Syrians to demonstrate in support of Deraa and other towns occupied by tanks and troops deployed by the government. The Facebook entry called upon “youths of the revolution” to “gather at the besieged towns. We will not leave Deraa isolated.”

Activists were also instructed to go to Homs and Baniyas, cities where demonstrations have been staged since mid-March. Revolution 2011 is administered by Fida ad-Din Tariif as-Sayed Isa, a Sweden-based member of Syria’s outlawed Muslim Brotherhood.

The UN Security Council failed to agree on a statement condemning the repressive measures used by the Syrian government to crush protests. Among op- ponents of the statement were China, India, Lebanon and Russia, which argued that events in Syria do not pose a threat to world peace.

In Vienna, Yukiya Amano, head of the International Atomic Energy Agency, confirmed previous reports that the facility destroyed in an Israeli air raid near Deir al-Zor in 2007 was a nuclear reactor under construction. Syria has denied that the building was connected to a clandestine nuclear programme.