EGYPT: Pro and anti government Syrian demonstrators gather in front of the Syrian embassy in Cairo, divided over the fate of President Bashar al-Assad

Record ID: 280018

  • Title: EGYPT: Pro and anti government Syrian demonstrators gather in front of the Syrian embassy in Cairo, divided over the fate of President Bashar al-Assad
  • Date: 31st October 2011
  • Summary: PROTESTERS HOLDING SIGNS / RIOT POLICE CLOSE OF SIGN READING: GADDAFI HAS GONE AND NOW IT'S YOUR TURN PROTESTER BEATING ON DRUM (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) PROTESTER, NIZAR KHARAAT, SAYING: "Today, the regime has sent, at the expense of the Syrian people, thugs and has paid people to stand and cheer for him. The people standing here chanting, 'the people want the execution of
  • Embargoed: 15th November 2011 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Egypt, Egypt
  • Country: Egypt
  • Topics: International Relations,Politics
  • Reuters ID: LVADMI1P3GQNAZKYSBXDZAHX4JQ4
  • Story Text: Opponents and supporters of the Syrian regime squared off outside of the country's embassy in Cairo on Sunday (October 30) amidst spiralling violence in the country where a government crackdown on pro-democracy protesters has now killed over 3,000 people.
    Protesters calling for the fall of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad picketed the Syrian mission the day after security forces and pro-Assad militiamen reportedly killed at least 10 civilians, mostly in Homs, 140 km (85 miles) north of Damascus.
    Syrian security forces also reportedly killed 40 anti-Assad protesters on Friday (October 28).
    Demonstrator Lina Shama said that government supporters that were separated from them by a line of riot police were effectively advocating the continued killing of peaceful protesters.
    "This is the first time I've had a chance to learn about what being a 'supporter' means. Are they supporters of Bashar al-Assad? Are they supporters of the blood that is spilt daily in Syria? If they, in fact, are supporters of the bloodshed and the killings, then a police car must immediately arrest them all, because this means that they are accomplices in the killings. Today, the supporter is the killer, and those who say they support Bashar al-Assad mean they support more bloodshed. There is no such thing as support," she said.
    In a newspaper interview published on Sunday, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad warned that Western powers would cause an "earthquake" in the Middle East if they intervened in Syria, after some protesters demanded outside protection.
    Syrian officials were to hold more talks in Qatar with delegates of the Arab League, which wants to convene a dialogue in Cairo between the Syrian authorities and their opponents.
    The League's two-week deadline for the planned dialogue to start expires on Sunday, with Assad showing no signs of easing the crackdown, which is drawing increasing international outrage and criticism even from previously cautious Arab countries.
    Nizar Kharaat said that those who had come out to show their support for Bashar al-Assad were being paid to do so, and that the overwhelming majority of Syrians wanted him to step down.
    "Today, the regime has sent, at the expense of the Syrian people, thugs and has paid people to stand and cheer for him. The people standing here chanting, 'the people want the execution of Bashar' these are the true Arab, Syrian people; they reflect the true voice of the streets in Syria, nobody has paid them, they have sacrificed everything to speak out. But the others have been paid by the blood of the Syrian people, so they can come here and say his word. They, unfortunately, stay at 4 star hotels on Egyptian land and the steps that should be taken by the Egyptian government and Egyptian people is to kick these people, who do not represent the Syrian people, out," he said.
    Assad's remarks signal a determination to remain in power against an uprising that repression and offers of reform have failed to stall.
    In the wake of the spiralling death toll over the last three days, the Arab League issued its strongest condemnation of the violence yet, though it has not suspended Syria's membership as some opponents have called for.
    Supporters of al-Assad said the exiles protesting against him were misrepresenting the real situation inside of Syria.
    "In Syria, God willing, just as the President said, everything is well. We welcome internal opposition, but there is unpatriotic external opposition. There exists internal, patriotic opposition made up of liberals and secularists, dialogue with the internal opposition is acceptable in the framework of the state. But external opposition is unacceptable as well as all those who follow them. There are currently no divisions in the army, seventy of the personnel and you say they're divided? All over the world people flee from military service, these (seventy) have fled and have been made into an army of Free Syrians? We are the Syrian people and our word goes not those of others," said one man, referring to an anti-government militia that has reportedly set up base in neighbouring Turkey.
    Syria, a mostly Sunni Muslim country of 20 million, is ruled by members of Assad's minority Alawite sect, an offshoot of Shi'ite Islam, who also dominate the military, key sectors of the economy and a pervasive security apparatus.
    One activist group said fighters, thought to be army deserters, had killed 30 soldiers in clashes in Homs city and in an ambush in the northwestern province of Idlib on Saturday (October 29).
    In Sunday's interview, Assad compared the unrest with the 1980s, when his father, Hafez al-Assad, crushed Islamist and leftist challenges to his rule, killing tens of thousands of Syrians.
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