SYRIA: Four reported dead; president to start meeting with opposition
Hundreds fled across the Syrian border into Lebanon and three people were killed by military snipers in the western border town of Talkalakh Saturday, activists said, as embattled President Bashar Assad reportedly began arranging talks with opposition leaders.
Activists released the names of the three men killed Saturday, but the deaths could not be independently verified.
Syrian troops arrived to surround Talkalakh early Saturday and soon began shelling the city, particularly areas near the Lebanese border, activists said. News spread that more military vehicles were surrounding nearby cities and moving toward Talkalakh, leading many to flee to nearby towns or across the border, activists said.
Some residents were detained while others were injured crossing the border, activists said. At least one later died at a hospital in the Lebanese border town of Akkar, they said.
Lebanon’s interim Prime Minister Saad Hariri ordered government agencies to work with international aid groups to assist Syrians fleeing across the border, according to a statement released Saturday that said some of those who had arrived in Akkar were wounded.
At least 801 people have been killed since the protests began in March, according to Ammar Qurabi, head of the National Organization for Human Rights in Syria. United Nations officials reported last week that between 700 to 850 people have been killed since the protests began.
A government-allied newspaper reported Saturday that Assad had created a committee to start talking with the opposition. The committee will include Vice President Farouk Sharaa, Vice President for Cultural Affairs Najah Attar, presidential adviser Bouthaina Shaaban and assistant Vice President Maj. Gen. Mohammed Nassif, Al Watan newspaper reported.
-- Molly Hennessy-Fiske in Cairo
Photo: Hundreds of Syrians, including many women and children, fearing fresh violence as a result of anti-government protests, fled the country at the illegal Buqaya border crossing from Talkalakh to northern Lebanon's Wadi Khaled area Saturday. Credit: AFP / Getty Images
50 years of oppression, lies, humiliation and torture is enough , they fed us lies, separated us, made us lose trust and suspect each others, they numbed us inside so they can stay in power and suck our Syria's resources , NOW come to think of it, the Baath party IS the REAL enemy and THEY ARE the real occupier.
Posted by: sa | May 14, 2011 at 07:05 PM
American interests and values dictate that the US should favor support of the pro-democracy forces protesting against the Iranian-allied, terror-enabling Assad regime. But does the US have any confidence that these groups or individuals are actually "pro-democracy" or "pro-peace"? Events in Egypt, where events since the Revolution in Independence Square (Tahrir Sq) show that protests can become the vehicle for Islamists and other anti-democratic forces to assert power just as easily, leave room for doubt. We need more information about what these Syrians believe, what they want and how they see the future of their country and the region before letting sympathy alone become the basis for policy.
Posted by: Emptor Analytica | May 14, 2011 at 12:42 PM