A R A B I C A ارابيكا
>
SYRIAN ARMY
*AFP Arabic reports at least 16 Syrians were believed killed as the army pushed into new villages in northwest Syria, close to the Turkish border. “The soldiers deployed in the villages and began raids,” said Ramy Abdel Rahman, the head of the Syrian-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. Abdel Rahman said the government conducted a fresh round of opposition arrests on Wednesday, targeting members of the Socialist Union Party in Aleppo and the Kurdish Future Movement in the northeast.
SYRIAN DIPLOMACY
*The British government called in the Syrian ambassador to the UK, Samy Khiyami, after credible reports emerged of the Syrian government threatening dissidents living in Britain. The British government is concerned that embassy employees are using “methods of intimidation” against Syrian exiles in the UK.
SYRIAN RESISTANCE
*A video posted to YouTube called “We need you” is a dramatic recruitment ad to call on Syrians to help overthrow the Assad regime. “God’s will was written and the many obstacles were overcome,” the stark white writing reads against a black background. “The first obstacle: It was said the people would not stand up because they only know submission. But a group of heroes surprised the whole world and stood up.” In between the sentences, the editors cut in graphic footages of protesters being beaten and shot along with massive crowds chanting that the government should fall. At 2:36 into the video, crowds pull down from its plinth a statue of Hafez al-Assad, Bashar’s father who ruled Syria for nearly 30 years, longer than any other leader for more than a millennium. “We will not submit – that time is over,” the writing reads. “No fear after today. The Syrian people are one,” it says.
SYRIAN LAST CHANCES
*@SyriaParliament says, “Syrians: If this gang of thugs rules Syria, they’ll come back more corrupt and more criminal than before, and the security services will be even harsher. This is your last chance.”
EGYPTIAN DEJA VU
*Al Hayat reports that 590 people were injured during clashes between security forces and protesters in Tahrir Square. Protesters are demanding the ruling military leadership accelerate prosecutions of police and security officers accused of brutality.
AND HEZOBOLLAH?
*Thamer bin Hamad from Kuwait tweets, “Hezbollah will become a spider without legs if the bloody Syrian Baath Party falls.”
June 30, 2011
photo credit: illustir
