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Syrian govt warns Syrians not to protest


Arabic writing on a burnt car reads:" pay attention, you are in Banias not in Israel.
Down with the regime, the "Shabiha" which is a term used in Syria
to describe pro-government thugs" in the port city of Banias, Syria.

Syrian security forces opened fire before dawn on hundreds of anti-government protesters staging a sit-in, shooting live ammunition and tear gas before chasing them through the streets for hours, witnesses said Tuesday.

There were casualties but the exact number was not immediately clear.

"They shot at everything, there was smoke everywhere," an activist in the central city of Homs told The Associated Press by telephone, asking that his name not be used because he feared for his personal safety. "I saw people on the ground, some shot in their feet, some in the stomach."

The streets were largely deserted by early afternoon, with people staying inside their homes.

Hundreds of people had gathered Monday at Clock Square in the center of Homs, bringing mattresses, food and water to the site for an Egypt-style standoff. They vowed to stay until President Bashar Assad is ousted - a brazen escalation of the monthlong uprising against the country's authoritarian regime.

An eyewitness said police used loudspeakers to call on protesters to evacuate the area around 2 a.m. Shortly afterward, security forces moved in, firing first tear gas, then live ammunition at fleeing protesters.

"They went up to people's homes, they arrested many," a Homs resident said by telephone. "We heard ambulances all night."

Three people in Homs confirmed the account, all of them asking for anonymity for fear of government reprisals.

The witnesses' accounts could not be independently confirmed because Syria has placed tight restrictions on media outlets and expelled foreign journalists.

At least 200 people have been killed over the past month as security forces have launched a deadly crackdown on a growing protest movement, human rights groups say. The government has coupled dry promises of reform with brutal tactics to quell the unrest, using the widely despised security forces and unleashing pro-regime thugs known as shabiha.

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The world burns and obama contents himself with slandering Paul Ryan, calling him an evil man who will not protect autistic children or children with Down's Syndrome during his so-called budget speech where an invited Ryan was sitting front row center.
Now he goes on the road to do more of the same. I don't think he is sane. AND I don't think he cares if the whole world comes to an end tomorrow as long as he has his fun today.

808 posted on 04/19/2011 5:16:09 AM PDT by MestaMachine (Note: I do NOT capitalize anything I don't respect...like obama and/or islam...but I repeat myself.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 807 | View Replies ]


To: Cardhu

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2707239/posts

Syria ‘lifts emergency law’
Al Jazeera ^ | Aprile 19th 2011 | Cal Perry

Posted on Tuesday, April 19, 2011 11:37:50 AM by Cardhu

Syria’s government has passed a bill lifting the country’s emergency law, in place for 48 years, just hours after security forces fired on protesters.

Tuesday’s move is a key demand of pro-reform demonstrators who have been holding protests across the country for weeks.

A senior lawyer said Bashar al-Assad, Syria’s president, was yet to sign the legislation, but that his signature was a formality.

According to the country’s official SANA news agency the government also abolished the state security court, which handled the trials of political prisoners, and approved a new law allowing the right to peaceful protests.

However the interior ministry also passed a law that says citizens must obtain permission to demonstrate, the agency said, hours after the ministry imposed a total ban on political gatherings.

Syria’s emergency law gave the government a free hand to arrest people without charge and extended the state’s authority into virtually every aspect of citizens’ lives.


809 posted on 04/19/2011 8:53:48 AM PDT by MestaMachine (Note: I do NOT capitalize anything I don't respect...like obama and/or islam...but I repeat myself.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 808 | View Replies ]

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