Syria Releases 755 Prisoners
Associated Press
BEIRUT—Syria released 755 prisoners on Wednesday as Arab League monitors spent a second day in the Syrian city of Homs gathering accounts about the government's crackdown on dissent.
But President Bashar al-Assad's military is pressing ahead with a violent campaign to put down mostly peaceful protests, as troops in nearby Hama opened fire on thousands of unarmed protesters and killed at least six, according to activists. Activists said at least 39 people have been killed in the two days since the monitors began work.
The continuing violence—and comments by an Arab League official praising Syrian cooperation—have fueled concerns by the Syrian opposition about the one-month Arab League mission.
"This mission has absolutely no mandate, no authority, no teeth," said Ausama Monajed, a member of the Syrian National Council, the country's main opposition group. "The regime does not feel obliged to even bring down the number of casualties a day." .
The 60 Arab League monitors—the first Syria has allowed in during the nine-month antigovernment uprising—are supposed to be ensuring that the regime is complying with terms of a plan to end the crackdown on protests. The United Nations says more than 5,000 people have been killed in Syria since March.
The Arab League plan demands that the government remove its security forces and heavy weapons from city streets, start talks with opposition leaders and allow human-rights workers and journalists into the country. It calls for the release of all political prisoners.
The government released 755 prisoners following a report by Human Rights Watch late Tuesday accusing authorities of hiding hundreds of detainees from the monitors. It was the second concession in two days to the Arab League.
In the week after signing on to the Arab League plan Dec. 19, the Assad regime stepped up the crackdown and killed hundreds of people. The opposition suspects that Mr. Assad is only trying to buy time and to forestall more international sanctions and condemnation.
Despite the continuing crackdown, an Arab League official said cooperation by Syrian authorities with the monitors was "reassuring."
"The Syrian side is facilitating everything," Adnan Issa al-Khudeir told reporters in Cairo.
The Arab observers kicked off their mission with a visit on Tuesday to the central city of Homs, a city at the heart of the uprising.
Several from the team of 12 stayed in the city overnight, and the team continued work there Wednesday. There was no word on whether other teams went to different cities.
According to officials and activists, the monitors went to several districts including trouble spots in Baba Amr, Bab Sbaa and Inshaat.
Amateur video posted on the Internet showed the head of the team, Sudanese Lt. Gen. Mohamed Ahmed Mustafa al-Dabi, walking in Baba Amr and stopping to talk to people.
In one video, Gen. Dabi is seen talking to a man who accuses the regime of killing his 64-year-old brother, a former official of Mr. Assad's ruling Baath party, and his wife, and then blaming it on armed gangs. "Your excellency, they are killing influential people to draw a violent reaction from people," he tells Gen. Dabi.
Some amateur video showed the orange-jacketed observers in a white car, surrounded by people shouting for Mr. Assad's downfall and apparently objecting to the presence of a Syrian military escort in the car with them. Other video showed monitors visiting women and children who purportedly lost family members in recent violence.
There were no reports of firing on protesters in Homs during the visit on Wednesday. Troops did open fire on the crowds on Tuesday.
Images from Homs in the days leading up to the monitors' visit showed army defectors firing machine guns through holes in the outer wall of a bombed-out building. In another, a crowd fills the street for a nighttime demonstration behind a banner of the uprising's revolutionary flag.
On Thursday, the monitors are expected to visit Hama, Idlib and Daraa—all centers of the uprising.
In Hama, several thousand protesters were trying to reach the city's main square to stage a sit-in amid a heavy security presence when troops opened fire, activists said. Hama-based activist Saleh Abu Kamel said he had the names of six people who were killed. The number couldn't be immediately confirmed.
COPIADO : online.wsj.com
But President Bashar al-Assad's military is pressing ahead with a violent campaign to put down mostly peaceful protests, as troops in nearby Hama opened fire on thousands of unarmed protesters and killed at least six, according to activists. Activists said at least 39 people have been killed in the two days since the monitors began work.
Regional Upheaval
Track events day by day in the region.
"This mission has absolutely no mandate, no authority, no teeth," said Ausama Monajed, a member of the Syrian National Council, the country's main opposition group. "The regime does not feel obliged to even bring down the number of casualties a day." .
The 60 Arab League monitors—the first Syria has allowed in during the nine-month antigovernment uprising—are supposed to be ensuring that the regime is complying with terms of a plan to end the crackdown on protests. The United Nations says more than 5,000 people have been killed in Syria since March.
The Arab League plan demands that the government remove its security forces and heavy weapons from city streets, start talks with opposition leaders and allow human-rights workers and journalists into the country. It calls for the release of all political prisoners.
The government released 755 prisoners following a report by Human Rights Watch late Tuesday accusing authorities of hiding hundreds of detainees from the monitors. It was the second concession in two days to the Arab League.
On Monday, the army pulled some of its troops back from the city of Homs after bombarding it for days and killing scores of people. It allowed the monitors to visit, and as they came, tens of thousands of protesters poured into the streets, calling for the execution of Mr. Assad.
In the week after signing on to the Arab League plan Dec. 19, the Assad regime stepped up the crackdown and killed hundreds of people. The opposition suspects that Mr. Assad is only trying to buy time and to forestall more international sanctions and condemnation.
Despite the continuing crackdown, an Arab League official said cooperation by Syrian authorities with the monitors was "reassuring."
"The Syrian side is facilitating everything," Adnan Issa al-Khudeir told reporters in Cairo.
The Arab observers kicked off their mission with a visit on Tuesday to the central city of Homs, a city at the heart of the uprising.
Several from the team of 12 stayed in the city overnight, and the team continued work there Wednesday. There was no word on whether other teams went to different cities.
According to officials and activists, the monitors went to several districts including trouble spots in Baba Amr, Bab Sbaa and Inshaat.
Amateur video posted on the Internet showed the head of the team, Sudanese Lt. Gen. Mohamed Ahmed Mustafa al-Dabi, walking in Baba Amr and stopping to talk to people.
In one video, Gen. Dabi is seen talking to a man who accuses the regime of killing his 64-year-old brother, a former official of Mr. Assad's ruling Baath party, and his wife, and then blaming it on armed gangs. "Your excellency, they are killing influential people to draw a violent reaction from people," he tells Gen. Dabi.
Some amateur video showed the orange-jacketed observers in a white car, surrounded by people shouting for Mr. Assad's downfall and apparently objecting to the presence of a Syrian military escort in the car with them. Other video showed monitors visiting women and children who purportedly lost family members in recent violence.
There were no reports of firing on protesters in Homs during the visit on Wednesday. Troops did open fire on the crowds on Tuesday.
Images from Homs in the days leading up to the monitors' visit showed army defectors firing machine guns through holes in the outer wall of a bombed-out building. In another, a crowd fills the street for a nighttime demonstration behind a banner of the uprising's revolutionary flag.
On Thursday, the monitors are expected to visit Hama, Idlib and Daraa—all centers of the uprising.
In Hama, several thousand protesters were trying to reach the city's main square to stage a sit-in amid a heavy security presence when troops opened fire, activists said. Hama-based activist Saleh Abu Kamel said he had the names of six people who were killed. The number couldn't be immediately confirmed.
COPIADO : online.wsj.com
Nenhum comentário:
Postar um comentário