Syrian security forces arrest two opposition figures

SYRIAN TROOPS reinforced their positions in the centre of Deraa yesterday, forcing residents to remain in their homes where they confronted the troops with the chant, “Allahu Akhbar!”, or “God is Great.” Before dawn on Saturday, helicopters reportedly dropped paratroopers at the centre of the old town, where they seized al-Omari mosque, the hub of six weeks of demonstrations.

Four people were said to have been killed. Another five died in the port city of Latakia.

Security forces arrested two octogenarian opposition figures, Abdel Azim (81) from Aleppo and Omar Qashash (85) from Damascus and detained 11 women who took part in a silent march in the Salhiya district of the capital. The detentions coincided with the announcement by prime minister Adel Safar that the government would put forward a “complete plan” for political, judicial and economic reforms.

Protest organisers have called this the “week of breaking the siege of Deraa”, and urged Syrians to descend on the locked-down city of 75,000 with bread and medical supplies. Deraa has had no electricity or communications for a week.

A senior unidentified military commander who contacted the Los Angeles Times by e-mail revealed that the armed forces had been ordered to “use any means necessary” to crush the uprising in Deraa, the hub of the protests.

The crackdown on the region prompted another 138 members of the ruling Baath Party to resign; 200 had previously renounced their membership of the party, which has between 1.5 million and two million members.

Monitoring groups said that 66 were killed in Friday’s country-wide protests, 36 in Deraa when troops fired on people trying to reach the city on foot.

The Al-Sawasiah human rights organisation has put the death toll since mid-March at 560.

The secular opposition group, the National Initiative for Change, called on defence minister Ali Habib and chief-of-staff Daoud Rajha to follow the example of Egyptian generals by taking over and leading the transition to democracy.

The group said they should draft an interim constitution, form a temporary government, and adopt laws for elections and political parties. It is not clear, however, how much popular backing any of the disparate opposition groups actually have.

Although Syrians have taken up the slogan adopted by the Egyptian uprising – “As-shab yurid isqat al-nizam,” the people want the end of the regime – the Syrian revolt has no recognised leaders or unified objective. While Syrians condemn the regime violence, many would still support President Bashar al-Assad if he carried out reforms.

It is significant that the US did not include him when it announced the freezing of assets of his brother, Maher, commander of the fourth division deployed in Deraa; intelligence chief Ali Mamluk; and Atif Najib, a leading figure in the region.

While the US measures are unlikely to have an impact, the announcement by the UN Development Programme that it is deferring consideration of its 2012-17 emergency aid programme could be a major blow to Damascus, which depends on its funds and food to alleviate the distress of farmers driven from their land and homes by prolonged drought.