Meanwhile, In Syria

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ErnestM

Original Poster:

11,615 posts

266 months

Monday 21st March 2011
quotequote all
Didn't want to hijack the Yemen topic...

http://www.cnbc.com/id/42187727

My favourite bit...

"Security forces opened fire on Friday on civilians taking part in a peaceful protest in Deraa demanding the release of 15 schoolchildren detained for writing protest graffiti, political freedoms and an end to corruption. Four people were killed.

An official statement said "infiltrators" claiming to be high ranking officers had been visiting security stations and asking security forces to fire at any suspicious gathering.

Citizens should report anyone suspected of trying to fool the security apparatus "into using violence and live ammunition against any suspicious gathering", the statement said."

In other words. "It wasn't us. Honest."

andy_s

19,397 posts

258 months

Monday 21st March 2011
quotequote all
Yeah - saw that last night, straight from the Gaddafi/Saddam/Mugabe/Amin/Chavez handbook of PR.

What next - the demonstrators were all AQ anyway...?

Puggit

48,355 posts

247 months

Monday 21st March 2011
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Quiet thread - I think there's a case of Middle East uprising fatigue!

Prince Jefri

1,971 posts

168 months

Monday 21st March 2011
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No oil - Not interested.

andy_s

19,397 posts

258 months

Monday 21st March 2011
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Another day, another dinar.

Mermaid

21,492 posts

170 months

Monday 21st March 2011
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Syria protests spread, authorities pull back


A crowd chants anti-regime slogans during a funeral procession for a protester killed in Dara, south Syria, March 20, 2011.
Credit: Reuters/Reuters TV
By Khaled Yacoub Oweis
DAMASCUS | Mon Mar 21, 2011 12:02pm EDT
(Reuters) - Unrest spread in southern Syria on Monday with hundreds of people demonstrating against the government in the town of Jassem, activists said, but authorities did not use force to quell the latest protest.
Security forces killed four civilians in demonstrations that erupted last week in the town of Deraa, in the most serious challenge to President Bashar al-Assad's rule since the 45-year-old succeeded his father 11 years ago.
"This is peaceful, peaceful. God, Syria, freedom," chanted the protesters in Jassem, an agricultural town 30 km (20 miles) west of Deraa.
The authorities appeared to adopt less heavy-handed tactics, choosing not to intervene against protests demanding freedom and an end to corruption and repression, but not the overthrow of Assad. The ruling Baath Party has banned opposition and enforced emergency laws since 1963.
In Deraa, hundreds of black-uniformed security forces wielding AK-47 assault rifles lined the streets but did not confront thousands of mourners who marched at the funeral of 23-year-old Raed al-Kerad, a protester killed in Deraa.
"God, Syria, freedom. The people want the overthrow of corruption," they chanted.
The slogan is a play on the words "the people want the overthrow of the regime," the rallying cry of revolutions that overthrew the veteran rulers of Tunisia and Egypt and have spread across the Arab world.
The mourners later gathered at al-Omari mosque in the old quarter of Deraa. Troops set up checkpoints at the entrances of Deraa and were checking identity cards. Syrian Justice Minister Mohamad Ahmad Younis went to the city hall in an effort to calm emotions and open a dialogue with protesters.
Security forces opened fire last Friday on civilians taking part in a peaceful protest in Deraa to demand the release of 15 schoolchildren detained for writing protest graffiti, political freedoms and an end to corruption.
Authorities released the children on Monday in a sign they were hoping to defuse tension in the border town, which witnessed more protests after Friday's crackdown.
Local notables have also demanded the release of political prisoners, the dismantling of secret police headquarters in Deraa, the dismissal of the governor, a public trial for those responsible for the killings and the scrapping of regulations requiring secret police permission to sell and buy property.
Deraa's secret police is headed by a cousin of Assad, who has emerged in the last four years from isolation by the West over Syria's role in Lebanon and Iraq and backing for mostly Palestinian militant groups.
Assad has strengthened Syria's ties with Shi'ite Iran as he sought to improve relations with the United States and strike a peace deal with Israel to regain the occupied Golan Heights, lost in the 1967 Middle East war.
But he left the authoritarian system he inherited intact.
His father sent troops to the city of Hama in 1982 to crush the armed wing of the Muslim Brotherhood, killing thousands in the conservative religious city.

France, which has been a strong proponent of rehabilitating Syria's ruling elite in the West, urged Damascus "to respond to the Syrian people aspirations with reforms.
"France calls on Syria to respect its international commitments on human rights, especially regarding freedom of opinion and speech," the French Foreign Ministry said

MiniMan64

16,867 posts

189 months

Monday 21st March 2011
quotequote all
Prince Jefri said:
No oil - Not interested.
This is the pertinent point.

See Zimbabwe for reference.

Puggit

48,355 posts

247 months

Monday 21st March 2011
quotequote all
MiniMan64 said:
Prince Jefri said:
No oil - Not interested.
This is the pertinent point.

See Zimbabwe for reference.
Syria does have a modest oil industry (some of the oil fields are extensions of those in northern Iraq).

Just as importantly, a stable and friendly Syria could be used for a short-cut to the Med for oil-fields in Iraq and potentially even the Caucasus.

Zaxxon

4,057 posts

159 months

Monday 21st March 2011
quotequote all
MiniMan64 said:
This is the pertinent point.

See Zimbabwe for reference.
Syria and Zimbabwe may have obnoxious dictators, but Libya has a scumbag that has constantly supported terrorism and cause problems throughout the world.

Oil or no oil, it was only a matter of time before this sthead was taken to task, it just amazes me that it took this long.

MiniMan64

16,867 posts

189 months

Monday 21st March 2011
quotequote all
Zaxxon said:
MiniMan64 said:
This is the pertinent point.

See Zimbabwe for reference.
Syria and Zimbabwe may have obnoxious dictators, but Libya has a scumbag that has constantly supported terrorism and cause problems throughout the world.

Oil or no oil, it was only a matter of time before this sthead was taken to task, it just amazes me that it took this long.
You reckon?

This is not exactly an old picture...


Mermaid

21,492 posts

170 months

Monday 21st March 2011
quotequote all
MiniMan64 said:
You reckon?

This is not exactly an old picture...

Tony was so far up Gaddafi's rear that he needed a snorkel. It would not surprise me if he has been doing business with Gaddafi.

MiniMan64

16,867 posts

189 months

Monday 21st March 2011
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And people wonder why Labour are being so supportive to the goverment over this action.

Mermaid

21,492 posts

170 months

Monday 21st March 2011
quotequote all
MiniMan64 said:
And people wonder why Labour are being so supportive to the goverment over this action.
yes

It's the job of the opposition to question. They did not today in the House of Commons and instead couched their language to defend their dodgy actions.

MiniMan64

16,867 posts

189 months

Monday 21st March 2011
quotequote all
Mermaid said:
MiniMan64 said:
And people wonder why Labour are being so supportive to the goverment over this action.
yes

It's the job of the opposition to question. They did not today in the House of Commons and instead couched their language to defend their dodgy actions.
I'm amazed that none of the tabloids haven't made a much bigger deal of the Daffy/Blair links.

MX7

7,902 posts

173 months

Monday 21st March 2011
quotequote all
Puggit said:
Just as importantly, a stable and friendly Syria could be used for a short-cut to the Med for oil-fields in Iraq and potentially even the Caucasus.
I don't think there's any chance of our relationship with Syria becoming too good.

By the way, we need a few more 'oil' posts. They really are an incredible insight, and not tedious at all....

ErnestM

Original Poster:

11,615 posts

266 months

Monday 21st March 2011
quotequote all
Zaxxon said:
MiniMan64 said:
This is the pertinent point.

See Zimbabwe for reference.
Syria and Zimbabwe may have obnoxious dictators, but Libya has a scumbag that has constantly supported terrorism and cause problems throughout the world.

Oil or no oil, it was only a matter of time before this sthead was taken to task, it just amazes me that it took this long.
Syria is also Hezbollah's banker and gun dealer... (along with Iran)

Mermaid

21,492 posts

170 months

Monday 21st March 2011
quotequote all
ErnestM said:
Zaxxon said:
MiniMan64 said:
This is the pertinent point.

See Zimbabwe for reference.
Syria and Zimbabwe may have obnoxious dictators, but Libya has a scumbag that has constantly supported terrorism and cause problems throughout the world.

Oil or no oil, it was only a matter of time before this sthead was taken to task, it just amazes me that it took this long.
Syria is also Hezbollah's banker and gun dealer... (along with Iran)
It's just as well that Israel does not have a banker/gun dealer. wink

WhoseGeneration

4,090 posts

206 months

Monday 21st March 2011
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Oh dear, the sooner the Internet is taken down the better.
"So much easier before it existed".
Said politicians, dictators and royal families.

Mermaid

21,492 posts

170 months

Thursday 24th March 2011
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Reform promised in Syria

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-128536...

24 March 2011 Last updated at 16:50

Syrian leaders have pledged to introduce reforms to meet the demands of protesters, after days of violence in the country's south.

Officials promised to study the need for lifting the state of emergency, in place since 1963, which gives security forces sweeping powers.

Several protesters have been killed in the city of Deraa in recent days.

The government said it would investigate and bring to trial those suspected of the killings.

Mermaid

21,492 posts

170 months

Friday 25th March 2011
quotequote all