Syrian opposition figures said yesterday their “massive grassroots revolution” would break the regime unless Syrian President Bashar Assad leads a transition to democracy, even as authorities intensified their crackdown on the country’s uprising.
The statement from an umbrella group of opposition activists in Syria and abroad called the National Initiative for Change said a democratic transition would “safeguard the nation from falling into a period of violence, chaos and civil war.”
“If the Syrian president does not wish to be recorded in history as a leader of this transition period, there is no alternative left for Syrians except to move forward along the same path as did the Tunisians, Egyptians and Libyans before them,” the statement said.
The opposition is getting more organized as the uprising gains momentum, but it is still largely a grassroots operation. There are no credible opposition leaders who have risen to the level of being considered as a possible successor to Assad.
A relentless crackdown since the middle of last month has killed more than 400 people across Syria, with 120 dead over the weekend. That has only emboldened protesters who started their revolt with calls for modest reforms, but are now increasingly demanding Assad’s downfall.
On Monday, the army sent tanks into Daraa, 130km south of Damascus, and there have been reports of shooting and raids there and in areas across the country ever since. Daraa is where the uprising began last month.
Yesterday, witnesses and human rights activists said the army also deployed tanks around the Damascus suburb of Douma and the coastal city of Banias, where there have been large demonstrations in recent weeks.
One Douma resident said security agents were going house-to-house, carrying lists of wanted people and conducting raids. If the agents did not find the person they were looking for, they took his relatives into custody, the resident said.
Two funerals were planned yesterday, he said.
In Banias, a witness said the army redeployed tanks and armored personnel carriers near the main highway leading into the city.
Residents contacted by -reporters spoke on condition of anonymity out of fear for their safety.
Syria has banned nearly all foreign media and restricted access to trouble spots since the uprising began, making it almost impossible to verify the dramatic events shaking one of the most authoritarian regimes in the Arab world.
Amnesty International said the UN Security Council must refer the situation in Syria to the International Criminal Court.
“The Syrian government is clearly trying to shatter the will of those peacefully expressing dissent by shelling them, firing on them and locking them up,” Amnesty International secretary-general Salil Shetty said.
‘IN A DIFFERENT PLACE’: The envoy first visited Shanghai, where he attended a Chinese basketball playoff match, and is to meet top officials in Beijing tomorrow US Secretary of State Antony Blinken yesterday arrived in China on his second visit in a year as the US ramps up pressure on its rival over its support for Russia while also seeking to manage tensions with Beijing. The US diplomat tomorrow is to meet China’s top brass in Beijing, where he is also expected to plead for restraint as Taiwan inaugurates president-elect William Lai (賴清德), and to raise US concerns on Chinese trade practices. However, Blinken is also seeking to stabilize ties, with tensions between the world’s two largest economies easing since his previous visit in June last year. At the
UNSETTLING IMAGES: The scene took place in front of TV crews covering the Trump trial, with a CNN anchor calling it an ‘emotional and unbelievably disturbing moment’ A man who doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire outside the courthouse where former US president Donald Trump is on trial has died, police said yesterday. The New York City Police Department (NYPD) said the man was declared dead by staff at an area hospital. The man was in Collect Pond Park at about 1:30pm on Friday when he took out pamphlets espousing conspiracy theories, tossed them around, then doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire, officials and witnesses said. A large number of police officers were nearby when it happened. Some officers and bystanders rushed
Beijing is continuing to commit genocide and crimes against humanity against Uyghurs and other Muslim minorities in its western Xinjiang province, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a report published on Monday, ahead of his planned visit to China this week. The State Department’s annual human rights report, which documents abuses recorded all over the world during the previous calendar year, repeated language from previous years on the treatment of Muslims in Xinjiang, but the publication raises the issue ahead of delicate talks, including on the war in Ukraine and global trade, between the top U.S. diplomat and Chinese
RIVER TRAGEDY: Local fishers and residents helped rescue people after the vessel capsized, while motorbike taxis evacuated some of the injured At least 58 people going to a funeral died after their overloaded river boat capsized in the Central African Republic’s (CAR) capital, Bangui, the head of civil protection said on Saturday. “We were able to extract 58 lifeless bodies,” Thomas Djimasse told Radio Guira. “We don’t know the total number of people who are underwater. According to witnesses and videos on social media, the wooden boat was carrying more than 300 people — some standing and others perched on wooden structures — when it sank on the Mpoko River on Friday. The vessel was heading to the funeral of a village chief in