Apparently ceasefires don’t apply to snipers but present them with
an opportunity to take center stage once again. Assad snipers have not
disappointed and continue to earn their pay.
Thursday April 12, 2012
Death Toll: 22,
including 6 in Homs, 4 in Idlib, 2 in Rural Damascus, and 3 in Darra, Hama and
Aleppo.
News
Op-Eds & Special Reports
Ethnic Cleansing
While world leaders focus their attention on such macro-issues as Annan’s
Plan, on the micro-level, the madness continues to unfold. In the mountains along
the coast, where Sunni, Alawite, Christian, Kurdish and Turkmen communities
intermingle, pro-Assad militias have conducted a major raid against Sunni
communities (namely the villages of Al-Kabaneh and ‘Akko) near the town of
Slenfeh in Al-Akrad Mountain. The ensuing clashes left at least 2 dead and drove
hundreds away from their homes, as pro-Assad militias ransacked their homes. Another
troubling report from the Coast comes from the city of Jableh where local
activists say that walls have recently been constructed to separate Sunni and
Alawite neighborhoods. The Sunnis represent a little less than 30% of the local
population and seldom venture out of their neighborhoods at this stage, as they
are often subject to harassment and arrests. Pro-Assad militias, made up mostly
of Alawite inhabitants, periodically ransack and loot their shops.
The issue of ethnic cleansing in the coastal regions and surrounding mountains
is something that requires careful monitoring, because, regardless of what people
say about the viability or non-viability of an Alawite state, most pro-Assad
militias seem to have adopted a philosophy that calls for cleansing their traditional
strongholds of Sunnis, irrespective of whether the end product is the creation of
an Alawite state or not. It’s a philosophy inspired in part by pure sectarian vindictiveness
(preventative vindictiveness to be specific), and in another by a just-in-case
mentality. In either case, it’s a dire foreteller of things to come.
Some
in the opposition say that neither diplomacy nor military force alone will
bring down the Assad government. Ammar
Abdulhamid says they must be used together. "When there is an actual
threat of force or force being used, I think then we might see the possibility
of the Assads listening because they can see a threat," Abdulhamid
added. "They can see the
seriousness of the international community.
They don't just hear words." (Video)
Ammar
Abdulhamid, an influential Syrian human rights activist, told Fox News that
given Assad’s habit of breaking promises 'there was no reason for anyone to be
surprised by the turn of events.' Abdulhamid, who fled Syria in 2005 and has
since lived in the U.S. said members of the main opposition groups,
representing all political and religious backgrounds, helped draw up the new
six-point plan.
The
plan sets out measures to arm local rebel groups, establish safe havens for
civilians and providing international aerial support for resistance fighters. It
also calls for increased diplomatic pressure on Assad regime and encourage
defections by top government officials. The final point of the plan calls for
identifying countries that could provide future peacekeepers who could be
instantly dispatched to liberated territories and support opposition groups
with transition planning.
Video Highlights
Some of today’s martyrs:
Bayadah/Homs City http://youtu.be/vrthzENT1-g
The dead included two babies who local activists say were targeted by snipers http://youtu.be/X-abF4yj7zo The mother
was also killed http://youtu.be/1wqy7C0zxRo
Khaldiyeh/Homs City http://youtu.be/fIjyUIQeReg
Qoussour/Homs City http://youtu.be/pJE9R33Lv7E
Khan Shaikhoon/Idlib http://youtu.be/plH_UrLV89s
Qusayr/Homs another child killed http://youtu.be/elydxGlQpWM
Another injured http://youtu.be/y_3mJiPCrhA
In Homs City, there were no real halt in the pounding, only a decrease
in intensity http://youtu.be/clekba3lXBI
, http://youtu.be/M3PhQ5hLISg
Protesters in Aleppo University came under fire http://youtu.be/ROcIR4Xzsu4 So did
protesters in Arbeen/Damascus http://youtu.be/2edXW4MxG00
Refugees in the camp recently visited
by Senators McCain and Lieberman rallies against the leaders of the SNC shortly
after the Senators departure, calling them “liars” and “thieves,” and shouting “Down
with the National Council” http://youtu.be/6kxfIhpFuN0
None of the major figures in the SNC has so far paid a single visit to
any of the refugee camps in Turkey or elsewhere. In fact,
refugees say only a handful of SNC members have ever paid them a visit, and say
that they have not received any significant aid from the SNC or affiliated organizations.
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