Syrian protests intensify

[Kuya]

Syrian forces have killed 41 civilians in an effort to crush pro-democracy protests, a human rights lawyer said, as opposition leaders met in Turkey to plot the downfall of Bashar al-Assad, the Syrian president.

Lawyer Razan Zaitouna said the 41 dead in Rastan, a town near Homs, included a four-year-old girl who was killed as government forces shelled the central town on Tuesday.

Five of the victims were buried in Rastan on Wednesday, she said. Syrian forces also killed nine civilians on Tuesday in the town of Hirak, according to Ammar Qurabi, a rights campaigner.

Meanwhile president Assad has launched a "national dialogue", freed hundreds of political prisoners and promised to investigate the killing of 13 year-old Hamza al-Khateeb in an attempt to blunt growing anger.

The opposition has previously dismissed calls for dialogue, saying that this can take place only once the violence ends, political prisoners are freed and reforms adopted.

The demand that prisoners be freed was partially met on Wednesday when, according to a rights activist, hundreds of detainees were released from prisons across the country under an amnesty declared by Assad on Tuesday.

Washington, which has been increasing pressure by slapping sanctions on key regime members, said the release of "100 or so political prisoners does not go far enough".

"The release of some political prisoners is not the release of all political prisoners. We need to see all political prisoners released," Mark Toner, the US state department deputy spokesman, told reporters.

More than 1,100 civilians have been killed and at least 10,000 arrested since protests against Assad's autocratic government erupted in mid-March, Human Rights Watch said.

Syrian opposition groups meeting in Turkey on Wednesday to plan for Assad's demise too snubbed the amnesty offer.

Syria has also denied that a boy aged 13, whom opposition activists say died under torture, had been abused by security forces, labelling the accusations as lies.

A medical report published by Syrian official media said three bullets killed teenager Hamza al-Khatib and that other apparent wounds on his body were due to decomposition, not security force brutality.

The activists said the boy had disappeared since taking part in a demonstration in the southern region of Daraa on April 29, which he decided to join after police killed his cousin.

The UN Children's Fund (UNICEF) has said that at least 30 children have been killed by gunfire since the revolt began. The government insists the unrest is the work of "armed terrorist gangs" backed by foreign agitators.

http://english.aljazeera.net/video/m...012973293.html

Link to the thread about the tortured kid that sparked new protests:

http://www.bluegartr.com/threads/105...ecurity-forces

[Viq]

Bummer. From the title I thought there was one Syrian guy that hates intensity.

[tyven]

serious question. does this impact hezbollah in any way? isnt syria one of their main supporters?

[Bregor]

Middle East Conflict Intensifies As Blah Blah Blah, Etc. Etc. | The Onion - America's Finest News Source

[Dimmauk]

Middle East Conflict Intensifies As Blah Blah Blah, Etc. Etc. | The Onion - America's Finest News Source

LOL!!

I think I can speak for everyone, cutting off dicks is not cool.

[Elvis]

god, i love the onion

[Kuya]

serious question. does this impact hezbollah in any way? isnt syria one of their main supporters?

Maybe a little. You have to remember that the bulk of the support comes from Iran.

[tyven]

an arab world is not a world i want to live in

[Zoolander]

I cannot overstate how impressive the Egyptian military looks in comparison to the rest of the Arab world after all this.

They're not doing a very good job leading the country, but yea...at least they had the balls to stand up and refuse to kill their own people. Integrity is rare these days.

Can't believe there have been no UN sanctions against Syria (well its totally believable, but so damn frustrating). Amazing how long the Syrian people have continued to protest despite the violence against them...really is impressive. As incredibly frustrating & difficult as it probably is for them, i'm glad they haven't been using arms in retaliation...it will just get more of them killed and potentially ruin their cause. Seems like all they can really hope to do is persevere.

[Kuya]

I thought there were sanctions against Syria already. Unless those were individual sanctions.

[Correction]

Sanctions probably wouldn't have the desired effect, as Syria doesn't have a lot of trade partners to begin with, and Iran would ignore any UN mandate.