Activist: Syrian troops snatch, beat up cartoonist

By ELIZABETH A. KENNEDY - Associated Press | AP – 58 mins ago

BEIRUT (AP) — Syrian security forces attacked a renowned anti-regime cartoonist early Thursday in Damascus and left him bleeding along the side of a road, human rights activists said.

Ali Farzat, who is in his 60s, was hospitalized after passers-by found him "heavily beaten and physically abused," said Omar Idilbi, a spokesman for the Local Coordination Committees, an activist group that helps organize and track the 5-month-old uprising in Syria.

Farzat has said he had great hopes for President Bashar Assad when he became president in 2000, but in recent years he has become a vehement critic of the regime, particularly as the military launches a brutal crackdown on the country's protest movement.

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

Assad has shrugged off international condemnation and calls for him to step down, insisting that armed gang and thugs are driving the violence, not true reform-seekers.

The crackdown has led to broad international condemnation and sanctions, although French President Nicolas Sarkozy on Wednesday ruled out intervening in Syria without international backing.

"As for Syria, the conditions for a military intervention are not in place ... France will not intervene without an international resolution. That's the basis," Sarkozy said during a news conference in Paris with Mahmoud Jibril, the head of Libya's opposition government.

"That doesn't mean that we can let the Syrian people get massacred by a regime that disqualifies itself from one day to the next," he said.

Also Wednesday, the European Union imposed sanctions against an elite unit of Iran's Revolutionary Guard, saying the Quds Force is providing equipment and other support to help Assad crush the revolt.

The sanctions broadened the international pressure against Syria by directly targeting its key ally Iran, which the U.S. and other nations have accused of aiding the crackdown.

The EU's official journal, which published the statement, said the Quds Force "has provided technical assistance, equipment and support to the Syrian security services to repress civilian protest movements."

Other new targets of the sanctions include several Syrian generals and close associates of Assad's younger brother, Maher, who is believed to be in command of much of the crackdown. Hassan Turkmani, a former defense minister and special envoy for Bashar Assad, also was named.

The EU blacklist on Syria now contains 50 people and nine entities who face asset freezes and travel bans as punishment for one of the deadliest government crackdowns of the Arab Spring. Syria already is under broad sanctions from the U.S. and European countries, but calls for stricter measures have been on the rise.

Despite the harsh words, the Syrian crackdown continued.

Tanks stormed the eastern city of Deir el-Zour and made sweeping arrests there Wednesday, according to Syrian activists. Deir el-Zour is an oil-rich but impoverished region known for its well-armed clans and tribes whose ties extend across eastern Syria and into Iraq.

On Tuesday, European nations and the U.S. circulated a draft U.N. Security Council resolution seeking an arms embargo and other sanctions.

Syria has banned foreign media and restricted local coverage, making it impossible to independently confirm events on the ground. While widespread witness accounts and amateur video footage describe a brutal crackdown by security forces, Syria's state-run news agency says security forces are the real victims of gunmen and extremists.

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 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. The opposition took steps toward forming a national council Tuesday, but serious divisions have prevented them from presenting a unified front.

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Syrian president blames turmoil on 'conspirators'

AP – A Syrian sits in his shop to watch Syrian President Bashar Assad make a televised address from Parliament, …

By ZEINA KARAM, Associated Press Zeina Karam, Associated Press – Wed Mar 30, 3:09 pm ET

DAMASCUS, Syria – Syria's president dashed expectations that he would announce sweeping reforms Wednesday and instead took a tough line, blaming two weeks of popular fury on a foreign conspiracy.

Bashar Assad's own officials billed his speech as an introduction of major change and the turnaround infuriated protesters who vowed to keep up with their extraordinary cries for reform.

The conflicting messages also raised questions about a possible rift in one of the Middle East's most rigid regimes, where Assad and a tight coterie of family and security services hold all the reins power.

"Syria is being subjected to a major conspiracy," Assad said in his first public comments since the turmoil began, touched off by the arrest of several teenagers who scrawled anti-government graffiti on a wall. Human rights groups say more than 60 people have been killed since March 18 as security forces cracked down on the demonstrations.

Assad made only a passing reference to the protesters' calls for change, saying he was in favor of reform, but acknowledged there have been delays. "The question is what reforms do we need," he said, without offering any specifics.

Radwan Ziadeh, a visiting scholar at the Institute for Middle East Studies at George Washington University, said Assad missed an opportunity to distinguish himself from other dictators in the region who refuse to bow to public demands.

"I think Assad opted not to announce the reform measures in his speech today because he doesn't want to be seen as having succumbed to street pressure," Ziadeh said. "The language he used shows how out of touch he is with his people."

Social networking sites immediately exploded with activists calling on Syrians to take to the streets.

Within hours of Assad's speech, residents of the Mediterranean port city of Latakia said troops opened fire during a protest by about 100 people, although it was not immediately clear whether they were firing in the air or at the protesters. The residents asked that their names not be published for fear of reprisals.

Latakia, which has a potentially volatile mix of different religious groups, already has become a flashpoint for violence that could take on a dangerous sectarian tone in the coming days and weeks.

The anti-government protests and ensuing violence have brought Syria's sectarian tensions into the open for the first time in decades, a taboo topic because Syria has a Sunni majority ruled by minority Alawites, a branch of Shiite Islam.

Assad has placed his fellow Alawites into most positions of power in Syria. But he also has used increased economic freedom and prosperity to win the allegiance of the prosperous Sunni Muslim merchant classes, while punishing dissenters with arrest, imprisonment and physical abuse.

Assad, who inherited power 11 years ago from his father, appears to be following the same strategy of other autocratic leaders who scrambled to put down uprisings by offering minor concessions coupled with brutal crackdowns. The formula failed in Tunisia and Egypt, where citizens accepted nothing less than the ouster of the regime.

Assad fired his 32-member Cabinet on Tuesday in a move designed to mollify the anti-government protesters, but the overture was largely symbolic. Assad holds the lion's share of power in the authoritarian regime, and there are no real opposition figures or alternatives to the current leadership.

Rime Allaf, a Syrian associate fellow at London's Chatham House, said it was clear from Assad's speech that he did not want to show any weakness.

"On the issue of reforms, his message was: 'We will not be pressured, we're doing it anyway and we will let you know when we're ready,'" she said.

When the unrest roiling the Middle East hit Syria, it was a dramatic turn for Assad, a British-trained eye doctor who said in January that his country was immune to such unrest because he is in tune with his people's needs.

Assad does maintain a level of popular support, in no small part because of his anti-Israel policies, which resonate with his countrymen. And unlike leaders in Egypt, Tunisia, Yemen and Jordan, Assad is not allied with the United States, so he has been spared the accusation that he caters to American demands.

State Department spokesman Mark Toner told reporters in Washington that Assad's speech "didn't really have much substance to it."

"We expect (the Syrian people) are going to be disappointed," he said "We feel the speech fell short with respects to the kinds of reforms that the Syrian people demanded, and what President Assad's own advisers suggested was coming."

Although Assad has clamped down on political freedoms, many credit him with modernizing Syria and opening up the economy. He also is seen as relatively vibrant, at age 45. He and his wife, Asma, who recently was featured in a glowing profile in Vogue magazine, are often spotted driving around town, even photographed in Damascus riding bicycles with their three young children.

So far, few in Syria have publicly called on Assad to step down. Most are calling for reforms, annulling emergency laws and other stringent security measures and an end to corruption.

But Syria has a history of brutally crushing dissent — including a notorious massacre in which Assad's late father, President Hafez Assad, crushed a Muslim fundamentalist uprising in the city of Hama in 1982, killing thousands.

The unrest in Syria, a strategically important country, could have implications well beyond its borders given its role as Iran's top Arab ally and as a front line state against Israel.

Philip Luther, Amnesty International's deputy director for the Middle East and North Africa, said pinning the blame on a foreign conspiracy is a snub to the many Syrians who are calling for reform.

"He should be addressing the real problem — which is that his security forces have been firing live ammunition on protesters," Luther said.

Play Video Reuters – Syria maintains emergency law

• Slideshow:Unrest in Syria's Omari
• Play Video Video:Could Syria Derail Mideast Peace Efforts? FOX News
• Play Video Video:Leland Vittert With The Latest In Syria FOX News

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AP writer Bassem Mroue contributed to this report from Beirut, Lebanon.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20110330/ap_on_re_mi_ea/ml_syria

Kerajaan Syria letak jawatan

DAMSYIK: Kerajaan Syria yang berdepan dengan kekacauan politik sejak dua minggu lalu meletakkan jawatan semalam dan kerajaan baru akan dibentuk dalam masa 24 jam.

Dengan Presiden Bashar al-Assad berdepan dengan krisis paling buruk sejak menggantikan bapanya yang meninggal dunia pada 2000, puluhan ribu warga Syria berhimpun di pusat bandar raya Damsyik untuk menunjukkan sokongan kepada pemimpin itu, semalam.

Seorang pegawai kanan yang enggan dikenali berkata, kerajaan akan mengemukakan perletakan jawatannya hari ini (semalam) dan Kabinet baru akan dibentuk dalam masa 24 jam.

Kerajaan yang ada sekarang dibentuk oleh Perdana Menteri, Mohammed Naji Otri pada 2003. Kali terakhir ia dirombak ialah pada April 2009.

Syria dicengkam gelombang tunjuk perasaan yang semakin ganas sejak pertengahan Mac, meletakkan tekanan yang tidak pernah berlaku pada Bashar.

Penunjuk perasaan menuntut kebebasan bersuara dan pembaharuan.

Tunjuk perasaan menuntut perubahan kebanyakannya tertumpu di Daraa, wilayah selatan negara itu dan Latakia, bandar pelabuhan di utara.

Aktivis berkata, lebih 130 orang terbunuh dan ramai lagi cedera dalam pertempuran antara pasukan keselamatan dengan penunjuk perasaan.

Sementara itu, semua jalan menuju ke Dataran Bahrat di Damsyik dikawal ketat ketika penduduk Syria, termasuk kanak-kanak berhimpun sambil mengibarkan bendera dan menjulang gambar Bashar dan bapanya, Hafez al-Assad.

“Kami berada di sini untuk menunjukkan hasrat sebenar rakyat Syria dan untuk melindungi dan menyokong Bashar al-Assad, kata seorang wanita muda, Raghad. - AFP

http://www.hmetro.com.my/myMetro/articles/KerajaanSyrialetakjawatan/Article/index_html

Under pressure, Syria says more freedom possible

AP – Anti-Syrian government protesters flash V sign as they protest in the southern city of Daraa, Syria, …

By HUSSEIN MALLA and ZEINA KARAM, Associated Press Hussein Malla And Zeina Karam, Associated Press – 1 hr 49 mins ago

DARAA, Syria – The Syrian government pledged Thursday to consider lifting draconian restrictions on political freedom and civil liberties in an attempt to quell a week-long uprising that protesters say has left dozens fatally shot by security forces.

The pledges appeared unlikely to satisfy demonstrators in the southern city of Daraa, where thousands have been calling for liberty, defying the crackdown as they take to the streets for funeral marches.

Presidential adviser Buthaina Shaaban blamed the unrest on outside agitators but told reporters in the capital, Damascus, that President Bashar Assad's government would consider lifting a state of emergency, in place since 1963, that allows people to be arrested without warrants and imprisoned without trial.

She said the government was drafting a law that would allow political parties besides the ruling Baath party, and loosen restrictions on media. It is also raising salaries for public servants, giving them health insurance, and looking at better ways to fight corruption, she said.

Shaaban said Assad had given orders for security forces not to open fire in Daraa even if attacked but "there were, maybe, some mistakes."

Media access to the marches in Daraa was restricted but an Associated Press reporter heard sporadic bursts of gunfire echoing through the city in the afternoon. Almost all shops were shuttered, the streets were virtually empty and soldiers and anti-terrorism police stopped people at checkpoints and manned many intersections — the heaviest security presence since the unrest began.

An activist who is in contact with residents of Daraa told The Associated Press that massive crowds shouted "Syria, freedom!" as they marched toward one of the agricultural hub's main cemeteries.

Inspired by the wave of pro-democracy protests around the region, the uprising in Daraa and at least four nearby villages has become the biggest domestic challenge since the 1970s to the Syrian government, one of the most repressive in the Middle East. Security forces have responded with water cannon, tear gas, rubber bullets and live ammunition.

Abdul-Karim Rihawi, who heads the Syrian Human Rights League, said authorities had begun a campaign of detentions against activists, writers and bloggers in different parts of Syria.

Rihawi said the last to be detained was Mazen Darwish, a journalist who headed the independent Syrian Media Center. He said Darwish was summoned to a security office Wednesday noon and has not been seen since then. Also detained were well-known writer Loay Hussein and blogger Ahmad Hdaithi.

"These arrests will only increase tension," Rihawi said.

A statement posted Thursday on the Facebook page "The Syrian Revolution 2011" held Syrian authorities responsible for the violence and called on Syrians to hold protests in all provinces on Friday, which it dubbed "Dignity Friday."

A resident of Daraa who was reached by phone from Damascus said witnesses there reported seeing at least 34 people slain when police launched a relentless assault Wednesday on a neighborhood sheltering anti-government protesters, fatally shooting many in an operation that lasted nearly 24 hours.

He said at least 20 bodies were brought to Daraa National Hospital, and seven others taken to hospitals in neighboring areas. In the early evening, people from the nearby villages of Inkhil, Khirbet Ghazale and al-Harrah tried to march on Daraa but security forces opened fire and hit them with rifle butts as they approached. The resident said seven more were killed in that shooting. Hundreds were wounded, he said.

The resident spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of reprisals.

"It was a very difficult, bloody day," he said. "There is a state of undeclared curfew in Daraa, whenever troops see four or five more people gathered they open fire," he said.

"Daraa today is like a ghost town, we are very scared," he said. "Everything is closed and the streets are empty, everywhere you look there's security."

Troops were in total control of the area around al-Omari mosque, where protesters had sought shelter and most of Wednesday's fighting occurred. Syrian officials escorted a small group of photographers to the mosque to show they were now in control.

There were no traces of fighting inside the mosque, except for a broken door to an office.

Elsewhere, the only evidence of fighting were rocks that littered the streets and the remains of tires that had been set on fire by protesters the day before.

Ahed Al Hendi, a Syrian dissident and Arabic program coordinator for the U.S.-based human rights organization cyberdissidents.org, said at least 45 people were killed on Wednesday.

The Washington-based Al Hendi said he is in daily contact with Syrians inside Daraa and provided a list with the names of the 45 killed. The report could not be independently confirmed.

Al Hendi said he expected more protests Friday.

Shabaan blamed media "exaggeration" for inflated figures and said 34 people had been killed in the weeklong conflict in the city.

She said investigations were ongoing, adding: "There are indications and evidence of foreign funding and arms that were smuggled and given to some people but I cannot say yet which party was behind it."

An official at the Daraa National Hospital told The Associated Press by telephone that the hospital received a large number of casualties Wednesday and was "overwhelmed" with wounded people. He declined to say how many people were dead or hurt, saying he was not authorized to give out numbers or talk to the press.

He said the hospital had not received any new casualties since Wednesday night and that Daraa was "very quiet this morning."

Videos posted by activists on Youtube and Twitter showed dead and wounded people lying on a street in Daraa, as heavy gunfire crackled nearby and people shouted in panic.

One video showed a man with a bloodied face, apparently shot in the head, raising his index finger and saying "There is no God but Allah" — the credo Muslims are required to say before they die.

The authenticity of the videos could not be independently confirmed.

Play Video Reuters – Syrian forces fire on protesters

• Slideshow:Unrest in Syria's Omari

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20110324/ap_on_re_mi_ea/ml_syria

Thousands shout for freedom in southern Syria

AP – Anti-Syrian government protesters flash V sign as they protest in the southern city of Daraa, Syria, …

By HUSSEIN MALLA and ZEINA KARAM, Associated Press Hussein Malla And Zeina Karam, Associated Press – 1 hr 10 mins ago

DARAA, Syria – Thousands called for liberty Thursday in the southern Syrian city of Daraa, defying a deadly government crackdown as they took to the streets in funeral marches for protesters killed by police gunfire, an activist said.

Media access to the marches was restricted but an Associated Press reporter heard sporadic bursts of gunfire echoing through the city in the afternoon. Almost all shops were shuttered, the streets were virtually empty and soldiers and anti-terrorism police stopped people at checkpoints and manned many intersections — the heaviest security presence since the unrest began.

The activist in contact with residents of Daraa told The Associated Press that massive crowds shouted "Syria, freedom!" as they marched toward one of the agricultural hub's main cemeteries.

Others in Daraa held a sit-in in the al-Mahata neighborhood to protest the killing of residents in clashes between security forces and anti-government protesters, the activist said.

Inspired by the wave of pro-democracy protests around the region, the uprising in Daraa and at least four nearby villages has become the biggest domestic challenge since the 1970s to the Syrian government, one of the most repressive in the Middle East. Security forces have responded with water cannon, tear gas, rubber bullets and live ammunition.

Syrian police launched a relentless assault Wednesday on a neighborhood sheltering anti-government protesters, fatally shooting many in an operation that lasted nearly 24 hours, witnesses said.

A resident of Daraa who was reached by phone from Damascus said witnesses there reported seeing at least 34 people slain.

He said at least 20 bodies were brought to Daraa National Hospital, and seven others taken to hospitals in neighboring areas. In the early evening, people from the nearby villages of Inkhil, Khirbet Ghazale and al-Harrah tried to march on Daraa but security forces opened fire and hit them with rifle butts as they approached. The resident said seven more were killed in that shooting. Hundreds were wounded, he said.

The resident spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of reprisals.

"It was a very difficult, bloody day," he said. "There is a state of undeclared curfew in Daraa, whenever troops see four or five more people gathered they open fire," he said.

"Daraa today is like a ghost town, we are very scared," he said. "Everything is closed and the streets are empty, everywhere you look there's security."

Presidential adviser Buthaina Shaaban told reporters that 10 people were killed Wednesday in what she called an attempt to target Syria because it supports resistance against Israel.

"What is being targeted is Syria's position, Syria's security and ability to be a pillar of resistance against Zionism and U.S. schemes," she said.

She said the Syrian government had no objection to peaceful protests, and claimed that demonstrators in Daraa had attacked security forces.

"The demands of the people are being studied night and day and Syria will witness important decision that meet the ambitions of our people," she said.

Abdul-Karim Rihawi, who heads the Syrian Human Rights League, said authorities had begun a campaign of detentions against activists, writers and bloggers in different parts of Syria.

Rihawi said the last to be detained was Mazen Darwish, a journalist who headed the independent Syrian Media Center. He said Darwish was summoned to a security office Wednesday noon and has not been seen since then. Also detained were well-known writer Loay Hussein and blogger Ahmad Hdaithi.

"These arrests will only increase tension," Rihawi said.

A statement posted Thursday on the Facebook page "The Syrian Revolution 2011" held Syrian authorities led by President Bashar Assad responsible for the violence and called on the Syrian people to hold protests in all Syrian provinces on Friday, which it dubbed "Dignity Friday."

An official at the Daraa National Hospital told The Associated Press by telephone that the hospital received a large number of casualties Wednesday and was "overwhelmed" with wounded people. He declined to say how many people were dead or hurt, saying he was not authorized to give out numbers or talk to the press.

He said the hospital had not received any new casualties since Wednesday night and that Daraa was "very quiet this morning."

Videos posted by activists on Youtube and Twitter showed dead and wounded people lying on a street in Daraa, as heavy gunfire crackled nearby and people shouted in panic.

One video showed a man with a bloodied face, apparently shot in the head, raising his index finger and saying "There is no God but Allah" — the credo Muslims are required to say before they die.

The authenticity of the videos could not be independently confirmed.

In a tacit admission that the protests hitting the Arab world have reached Syria, Vice President Farouk al-Sharaa said in remarks carried by state-media that "the developments in the Arab world should should be a catalyst to build nations and not for undermining national unity."

Play Video Reuters – Syrian forces fire on protesters

• Slideshow:Unrest in Syria's Omari

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20110324/ap_on_re_mi_ea/ml_syria

Syria tentang sebarang campur tangan asing

DAMSYIK: Syria semalam berkata, negara itu menentang sebarang campur tangan negara asing ke atas Libya ketika Barat terus membincangkan langkah terbaik menangani konflik berkenaan.

Kenyataan Kementerian Luar Syria berkata, sebarang campur tangan asing hanya akan mencabul kedaulatan dan kemerdekaan Libya.

Dalam kenyataan sama, Syria juga membayangkan sikapnya mengkritik keganasan ke atas pemberontak.

“Syria menyeru Libya mengambil langkah perlu melindungi nyawa orang awam, selain menggunakan kebijaksanaan serta dialog bagi memenuhi kehendak rakyat,” kata kenyataan itu.

Setakat ini Damsyik mengambil sikap berdiam diri terhadap kebangkitan rakyat menyingkirkan pemimpin diktator di Timur Tengah.

Ketika ini, kumpulan antikerajaan menggesa komuniti antarabangsa menguatkuasakan zon larangan terbang di udara Libya bagi mengelak ia digunakan untuk mengebom orang awam.

Pentagon berkata, ada beberapa pilihan boleh dilakukan ke atas Libya, termasuk zon larangan terbang.

Bagaimanapun, Setiausaha Negara, Hillary Clinton, berkata larangan itu mestilah dibuat di bawah tanggungjawab Majlis Keselamatan Pertubuhan Bangsa-Bangsa Bersatu. - Reuters

http://www.hmetro.com.my/myMetro/articles/Syriatentangsebarangcampurtanganasing/Article/index_html

Bedilan misteri dari Jordan

SATU letupan berlaku dalam serangan tentera Israel di Rafah, Genting Gaza semalam.
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BAITULMAQDIS - Askar- askar Israel yang berkawal di lintasan sempadan dengan Jordan menjadi sasaran serangan misteri dari wilayah Arab itu, kata tentera Israel.

"Askar-askar kami ditembak oleh beberapa lelaki tidak dikenali yang berada di dalam sempadan Jordan," kata seorang jurucakap tentera Israel.

Menurutnya, tiada pihak yang cedera dalam kejadian itu dan askar-askar yang sedang meronda berhampiran pintu sempadan tersebut berbalas tembakan.

Bagaimanapun, satu sumber tentera Jordan menafikan ada tembakan dilepaskan dari wilayahnya dan mendakwa maklumat itu tidak benar.

Pada Ahad lalu, askar-askar Israel yang berada di Bukit Golan turut diserang oleh tembakan misteri dari arah Syria. - Reuters

http://www.kosmo.com.my/kosmo/content.asp?y=2009&dt=0114&pub=Kosmo&sec=Dunia&pg=du_03.htm

Hamas tidak akan kibar bendera putih

DAMSYIK – Seorang pegawai kanan pergerakan Hamas semalam menyatakan kumpulan itu tidak akan menyerah kepada tentera Israel.

Mohammed Nazzal yang memimpin Hamas di Damsyik, Syria turut berikrar bahawa askar rejim Zionis akan menyesali perbuatan mereka serta mengalami kekalahan teruk.

Lebih 700 penduduk Palestin terbunuh sejak Israel melancarkan serangan di Gaza pada 27 Disember lalu menerusi serangan udara, laut dan darat.

“Kami tidak akan kibar bendera putih, Jika mereka (Israel) ingin menyusup lebih dalam maka kami akan meningkatkan pertahanan termasuk melancarkan serangan dari rumah ke rumah, jalan ke jalan malah dari kampung ke kampung,” kata Mohammed.

Tambahnya, rakyat Palestin kini tidak mempunyai pilihan lain kecuali berperang menentang kezaliman Yahudi. – AP

http://www.kosmo.com.my/kosmo/content.asp?y=2009&dt=0109&pub=Kosmo&sec=Dunia&pg=du_04.htm