SYRIA: Amateur video shows the Syrian city of Douma at night where protesters gathered after evening prayers to mourn residents killed recently by security forces

Record ID: 280177

  • Title: SYRIA: Amateur video shows the Syrian city of Douma at night where protesters gathered after evening prayers to mourn residents killed recently by security forces
  • Date: 28th January 2012
  • Summary: DOUMA, SYRIA (JANUARY 24, 2012) (REUTERS) DRIVING SHOT AT NIGHT IN DOUMA'S ALLEYS AND NARROW ROADS (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) UNNAMED MAN, SAYING: ''Douma has been treated unfairly by this regime and witnessed indescribable injustice. Since 1968, there has not been any urban development plan for Douma. In 1985, there was only one project to improve a neighbourhood and the re
  • Embargoed: 12th February 2012 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Syrian Arab Republic
  • Country: Syria
  • Topics: Conflict,Politics
  • Reuters ID: LVA4UVR2AG4MM4U2DZ2YEHRPM5NM
  • Story Text: It is a scene becoming increasingly familiar at night-time in Syria's Douma city, just outside the capital, Damascus.
    Residents gather en masse to protest well into the night -- as amateur video obtained by Reuters filmed on Tuesday (January 24) shows.
    Every time there is a death, Douma's residents go out onto the streets, using their anger as fuel for more protests against the Syrian government and a crackdown by its forces last Friday (January 20) and Saturday (January 21) that left twelve dead.
    The government says it has been cracking down on ''armed gangs''.
    Douma is 10 kilometres (eight miles) northwest of Damascus. It is the capital of the governorate of Rural Damascus that also includes flashpoint cities of Irbin, Harasta and Kisweh and Rankous and others.
    It is a poor city that has been abandoned by the government for a long time, one of its residents says as he drives through its narrow roads.
    ''Douma has been treated unfairly by this regime and witnessed indescribable injustice. Since 1968, there has not been any urban development plan for Douma. In 1985, there was only one project to improve one neighbourhood and the rest, three quarters of Douma, as you can see, is illegal building and slums. And the result is what you are seeing now," he said.
    In the centre of Douma, there is the Great Mosque, where thousands of residents of congregate for the protests.
    Nearby, a tent is set up for traditional mourning. Coffee and tea are served and the event is both a commemoration of those who died and a reason to continue to protest.
    A banner near the tent reads: ''Send the file...to the Security Council.'' Another neon sign reads: ''SOS, Douma.'' The Security Council was due to meet later on Friday to discuss a resolution against Syria's President Bashar al-Assad, ten months into a deadly uprising in which thousands have been killed.
    On Thursday (January 26), two days after the amateur video was filmed, Douma and its neighbouring cities were subject to a government crackdown. Clashes were reported between government forces and defecting soldiers who have formed the Free Syria Army.
    The city is in constant mourning, with daily killings.
    One mother described how her son had been killed by a sniper.
    ''I asked him: You don't want to have breakfast? He said: No, I had breakfast at my sister's. Then he left...I kept calling and calling him on his mobile...and then I couldn't connect to him anymore, and then they called me to say that a sniper had shot him...eight times, one of them in his face, and the rest all over his body. May God paralyse their arms, may God exact his revenge from you, Bashar. May God have his revenge from you Bashar al-Assad,'' the mother said, keeping her identity hidden to protect herself and her remaining children.
    The United Nations says 5,000 people have been killed in the security crackdown
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