Syrian Forces Kill 4 More Protestors
Marking some three weeks of unrest in Syria, four protesters were killed on Sunday in the port city of Banias between Turkey and Lebanon. They were shot by Syrian security forces and pro-government gunmen.
Syrian state television reported that nine soldiers, including two officers, were killed in an anti-government ambush near the city on Sunday afternoon.
Both incidents follow some of the worst fighting in the three weeks of national protests against the Assad government. On Saturday, Syrian security forces fired live ammunition at protesters in two cities, and on Friday, they fired at funeral participants mourning some of the 37 protesters killed a day earlier.
U.S. President Barack Obama has sharply condemned the Assad government, but it appears that the U.S.is not quite sure how far to take this. On Thursday, Obama issued a statement "strongly" condemning the Syrian army’s violence against “peaceful protestors…I also condemn any use of violence by protestors… I call upon the Syrian authorities to refrain from any further violence against peaceful protestors. Furthermore, the arbitrary arrests, detention, and torture of prisoners that has been reported must end now… Until now, the Syrian government has not addressed the legitimate aspirations of the Syrian people.”
However, Obama and his advisors appear to be not clear on whether Assad himself needs to be replaced, as in other Arab countries, or just his old-guard advisors.
The Syrian government has ordered many journalists to leave the country, and has imposed other restrictions on news coverage. Tens of thousands of people are now numbered among those calling for governmental change, and over 170 of them have reportedly been killed so far.
Hosting Bulgaria's Foreign Minister Nikolay Mladenov in Damascus on Sunday, President Bashar Al-Assad did not promise to end the violence, but rather explained the reforms he plans to carry out in the social, political, and economic spheres.
Despite the unrest and uncertainty in Israel’s neighbor to the northeast, some dovish voices in Israel are still calling for the government to make peace overtures to Assad, even though it would certainly cost us the Golan Heights. On the other hand, as Arab affairs expert Guy Bechor writes on his website, “Woe would be us had we finalized an agreement with [the Assad] family and with this Syrian minority. We would have lost the Golan Heights forever and the Syrian regime would have settled the area with a million citizens spreading ‘resistance’ against Israel… The Assads are a brutal family of dictators that comes from an isolated ethnic minority... The Arab world is distancing itself from this family, and so are Syria’s citizens; it’s doubtful whether it will be able to cling to power for much longer. If Assad wishes to stay in power, he will have to fight his own people…”
