May 4, 2011 – Syria in The News: A Roundup of International Reportage

Following the deaths of an estimated 73 people in after-prayers protests on Friday, and in the face of heightened international condemnation of the violence here, the Syrian government has adopted a different approach to quelling the country’s unrest: mass arrests. Activists now estimate more than 1,000 people have been arrested across the country in the last few days, while the death toll since the inception of the unrest on March 15 is now estimated at 632.

On Thursday, international media reported that hundreds of Syrians were fleeing the threat of violence and crossing the border into Lebanon. According to local media, however, the flight scenes were staged by international media.

 

On Friday the ‘day of rage,’ the country erupted in protests that were again met with force. International estimates now put the day’s death toll at 73. Protests were largest in Qadam just outside of Damascus, Homs, Daraa, Rustun, and Lattakia, but stretched across the country and, according to international media, included over forty cities and villages. Protests were also reportedly attempted in the capital Damascus though the turnout was small and demonstrators were quickly dispersed. Syrian protestors have largely stepped up their demands – some going beyond calls for reform, to instead push for the downfall of the government.

 

Nine members of Syrian security forces were also reportedly killed during the day’s events and state-run news indicates that 156 people were detained in and around Daraa – all accused of criminal or terrorist activities. 

 

On Friday, reports also emerged of more Syrians fleeing the violence and crossing into neighboring countries – including 243 who sought refuge in Turkey. Turkish officials are deeply concerned about the possibility of a mass exodus of Syrians from the country into Turkey. See here for a detailed assessment of the Turkish stance on the issue. 

 

Saturday morning brought more violence as soldiers stormed Daraa’s historic Omari mosque held by protestors. According to international media, four people were killed in the ensuing violence – including Osama Ayman, the son of the imam, Sheik Ahmad Sayasna. A woman and her two daughters were also killed when their home was struck during the attack which lasted 90 minutes. Just before the assault on Omari began, 20 armored vehicles, four tanks, and heavily armed troops waged an attack on the city.  International sources report that Daraa has been without running water, electricity or phone services since Monday April 25. Local media continue to strongly deny such claims. 

 

Funerals for protestors killed on Friday were also held across the country on Saturday. Tensions and anger continue to rise in conjunction with the death toll.

 

On Sunday May 1, Syrian military and security forces continued to carry out operations in Daraa and hundreds were reportedly arrested in home raids intended to capture “armed terrorist groups” – according to local media. Reports suggest that 30 people were killed in the city in the crackdown over the weekend. State media also reported that 149 people were arrested in Daraa by security forces “hunting those groups which have been terrorizing citizens”.

 

Sunday evening, Syria’s Interior Ministry issued a statement calling  “upon citizens who were misled into participation in or committing acts punishable by law including carrying weapons, disrupting security…to turn themselves in and hand over their weapons”. It continued, “those who turn themselves in will be exempted from punishment”.

 

On Monday, there were attempts by small groups of women to stage protests in Arnous Square in Damascus and in Kharbet Ghazal, a village just east of Daraa. 

 

Al Jazeera also came forward with information indicating that one of its journalists, Dorothy Parvaz, has been missing since her arrival in Damascus on Friday April 29. 

 

Early in the week, further arrests were also carried out in Daraa as well as across the country. International media report that mass arrests reflect the government’s new, less terminal approach to quelling the protest movement. Local media continue to assert that the government is detaining armed terrorists. Activists maintain that more than 1,000 have been arrested in recent days and perhaps more than 8,000 have been arrested since March 15. For a report by rights group Insan on arrests and detentions throughout the country, see here.

 

The city of Baniyas was also surrounded by security forces on Tuesday with international reports suggesting the northern and southern entrances to the city were blocked off. 

 

Nevertheless, reports from both international and local media suggest that the unrest and violence across the country has somewhat calmed or reached a stalemate over the last few days – a development that has led the Syrian Stock Exchange to rise for the first time in weeks.

 

For a detailed timeline of all major events in Syria over the last eight days, see here. 

 

 

“More Heat Than Light: The Complexities of Syria’s Violence” – by ‘Anna Haq’ (a pen name for a Syrian writer) – an op-ed that captures the contradictions present in international and local reportage on the unrest in Syria as well as the negative impact of the absence of a free press in the country. 

 

“Talking About a Revolution: An Interview with Camille Otrakji” – in Qifa Nabki (a Lebanese political blog) – an interview with Camille Otrakji, a Syrian writer based in Montreal who is an author and moderator for Joshua Landis’s Syria Comment as well as the founder of Creative Syria. Otrakji puts forth a view of the recent unrest and violence in Syria that is rarely captured by international op-eds and reportage. 

 

“How’s That Syria Engagement Policy Working Out, Mr. President?” – in The Washington Post, an article capturing the anti-Bashar sentiments of the American far right. 

 

“Six Syrians Who Helped Bashar al-Assad Keep Iron Grip After Father’s Death” – in The Guardian, profiles of the country’s key political, military and business figures.

 

“How Syria and Libya Compare: Why Intervene in Libya but Not in Syria?” – another article from The Guardian,  this one draws comparison between the leadership, GDPs, oil exports, FDI and military spending of Libya and Syria. 

 

“Hezbollah’s Most Serious Challenge” – in Foreign Policy – an assessment of how regime change in Syria would impact Hezbollah and how the group likely does or should think about Syria’s protest movement.

 

Politics & Diplomacy:

 

On Wednesday April 27, governments across Europe summoned Syrian ambassadors in a collective effort to express their condemnation of Syria’s violent suppression of the protest movement. Though much of the international community has been extremely vocal in its statements against the violence in Syria, there continues to be no consensus regarding how best to deal with the Syrian government. The UN Security Council (UNSC) met a number of times last week in an effort to put forth a formal response to the turmoil but hit a roadblock when Russia and China came out in opposition to any statement condemning the actions of the government. In a statement Russian Deputy Ambassador Alexander Pankin argued that recent events in Syria do “not present a threat to international peace and security”.

 

On Thursday, three key US Senators, Joe Lieberman (CT-ID), John McCain (AZ-R), and Lindsey Graham (SC-R), also came forward with a statement in condemnation of the violence and to intensify pressure against US President Barack Obama to “state unequivocally” that Assad must “go”.

 

On Friday, EU diplomats met in Brussels and agreed to impose an arms embargo on Syria. However, they did not reach a consensus on the issue of freezing the assets of, or placing a travel ban on, key Syrian officials. The logistics of the embargo, will begin to be coordinated on Monday May 2. EU officials anticipate having the measures in place by May 23. The Union’s foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton said in an official statement that the EU will “urgently consider further appropriate and targeted measures with the aim of achieving an immediate change of policy by the Syrian leadership.” Cyprus was apparently at the center to the EU’s failure to agree on an asset freeze, as it remains opposed to such measures. 

 

Members of the UN Human Rights Council also voted to “urgently dispatch a mission” to Syria to investigate the killings of unarmed civilians, among a host of other alleged grave crimes. The Council, based in Geneva, voted with 26 countries in favor of the move, and nine others against it, including Syrian allies Russia and China. Seven other countries abstained, while five were notably absent – including Qatar, Jordan, and Bahrain.

 

The US also officially imposed sanctions against key Syrian officials on Friday, through an executive order. Officials and organizations named thus far include: Maher al-Assad (brother of President Assad, and a brigade commander in the army’s 4th Armored Division); Atif Najib (cousin of President Assad and former head of the Political Security Directorate (PSD) in Daraa); Ali Mamluk (director of the  General Intelligence Directorate (GID); Syrian GID (the country’s central civilian intelligence service), and; Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps – Qods Force (IRGC-QF).  

 

The US continues to insist that Iran is supporting the Syrian government in its efforts to quell the protest movement. US sanctions against the Quds Force is no doubt the most controversial aspect of its move, as the government has not put forward any evidence of Iranian involvement in the current situation here in Syria. 

 

Over the weekend, Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu expressed strong concern about a possible Syrian refugee crisis on Turkey’s border whilst also discouraging any international consideration of a military intervention in Syria, noting that it would cause complex problems. Turkey has set up tents to host the estimated 250 Syrians who fled into Turkey over the weekend. 

 

According to a number of analysts, the turmoil in Syria could also have a serious impact on Hezbollah and Arab governments are coming under increasing pressure to take a stand against the violence in Syria. Though the Arab League is scheduled to meet on Thursday, the issue of the unrest in Syria is not on the agenda. The Arab League played a critically important role in securing an international response to the crisis in Libya. Yet, as the situation in Syria is more complex and destined to have far-reaching effects throughout the region, Arab states remain hesitant to weigh in. There is also concern that violence in Syria could spark turmoil and instability in Lebanon.

 

On Monday May 2, President Assad met with the Foreign Minister of the United Arab Emirates, Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed al-Nahyan, to discuss unrest throughout the region as well as Syria’s efforts to enact reform. A number of leaders in the region also expressed their continued support for the Government.

 

 

The hedge-fund manager of New York-based Traxis Partners LP, Barton Biggs, said in an interview on Bloomberg Television’s “In Business with Pimm Fox” on April 29, that he will not invest in Syria until there is a change in government. Biggs is a former chairman of Morgan Stanley Asset Management. He travelled to Syria in 2009 and met with President Assad. He said that he was “very impressed” with the President and equally disappointed that the potential for increased foreign investment in the country has remained largely untapped. According to Biggs, he and President Assad “talked specifically about a sovereign-debt issue, a private-equity fund”. He went on to say that “Syria’s financial position is very strong. They have very little sovereign debt outstanding, at least in 2010. They have a public-sector surplus. Everything could have happened. There was a very favorable response from investors.”

 

On Monday May 2, Starwood Hotels & Resorts Wordwide Inc. announced plans to open 41 new hotels over the next three years in locations across North Africa and the Middle East. Starwood is the third-largest such company in the US and manages 63 properties across the region. The company will open new properties in Syria – as well as in Egypt and Jordan. President of the company’s Africa, Middle East and Europe division, Roeland Vos, said in a statement at the Arabian Hotel Investment Conference in Dubai, “We’re in a cyclical business and things like what happened in Japan and the Middle East haven’t changed the way we think…We still see tremendous growth in the region.”

 

On Tuesday, according to international sources the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) decided to postpone a $38m plan over five years to support Syrian development initiatives. However, local media claim that such reports are false and that all UNDP plans and programs remain in place.

 

 

On Sunday May 3, Syria’s state-tun oil company, Syrtol, lowered its official selling price of Souedie crude (or Syrian Heavy) by $2.40 a barrel for May. Souedie crude is now to be priced at $13 a barrel lower than the Dated Brent benchmark – this compared with $10.60 for April. 

 

 

Unrest in Syria is beginning to impact transport services between the country and neighboring Jordan. The border near Ramtha recently closed, bringing associated transport services to a near halt.  According to a number of transport offices in Amman, Jordan, there has been a 95 percent decline in services originating in Jordan. The southern city of Daraa has been the scene of the most severe violence in the country – and it also serves as the main entry point to Syria from Jordan. Ordinarily, about 30 cars a day shuttle passengers between the two countries. At present, that number has been reduced to three.