Syria promises free election, but opposition lost confidence in Assad

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The Syrian military tightened its suffocating siege on the city of Hama on Saturday in its drive to crush the main center of the anti-regime uprising in the country, even as the foreign minister promised that free parliamentary elections would be held by the end of the year in a gesture of reform.

Like previous reform promises, the new announcement is unlikely to have much resonance with Syria’s opposition, which says it has lost all confidence in President Bashar Assad’s overtures.

The four-year term of the current parliament expired earlier this year and Assad is expected to set a date for new legislative elections before the end of 2011.

Foreign Minister Walid al-Moallem pledged to press ahead with reforms and said the new parliament “will represent the aspirations of the Syrian people.”

“The ballot box will be the determining factor and it will be up to the elected parliament to review adopted draft bills to decide on them,” he said during a meeting he held with Arab and foreign ambassadors in Damascus.

But Syria was coming under increasing international criticism over the bloody siege of Hama, launched on Sunday after residents calling for Assad’s ouster took over the city of 800,000 and barricaded it against regime forces. Tens of thousands of protesters marched in cities around the country on Friday, met by gunfire from Syrian troops. Activists said Saturday that 24 people were killed.

Friday night, tanks shelled Hama, causing several casualties, one resident said. He said there were reports that a hospital was hit in the bombardment.

The resident sneaked out of Hama on Friday to try and get supplies and spoke to The Associated Press by phone Saturday from the city’s outskirts.

“I am trying to get back but it’s impossible, they’ve tightened the siege even more, not even an ant can go in or out today,” he said, speaking on condition of anonymity for fear of reprisals.

Authorities have imposed a media blackout on Hama and the reports could not be immediately confirmed. Electricity, internet and phone lines in the city have been cut for seven days, and residents have reported food and medical supplies dwindling, amid frequent shelling and raids. Rights group say at least 100 people have been killed, while some estimates put the number as high as 250.

Syria’s government broadcast images of buildings and empty rubble-strewn streets in Hama, claiming the military was putting an end to an armed rebellion launched by “terrorists.”

On Saturday, Gulf Arab countries broke their silence on the bloodshed, calling for an immediate end to the violence and for implementation of “serious” reforms in Syria.

In a statement posted on its website, the six-nation Gulf Cooperation Council expressed deep concern and regret for “the escalating violence in Syria and use of excess force.”

Germany’s foreign minister cast doubt on Assad’s future.

“I don’t think that there can still be a political future for Assad that is supported by the Syrian people,” Guido Westerwelle told the Frankfurter Allgemeine Sonntagszeitung, the newspaper reported Saturday in a preview of an article for Sunday’s edition.

“The massive use of force shows that the regime shies away from nothing to keep power,” he said.

In a sign that at least the U.S. was expecting things to get worse, the U.S. State Department on Friday urged Americans to leave the country immediately. The warning came as congressional calls grew for the Obama administration to impose severe new sanctions on Assad’s regime.

In a new travel warning, the State Department said Americans should depart Syria while commercial flights and other transportation are still available “given the ongoing uncertainty and volatility of the situation.” It noted that Syrian authorities have imposed tight restrictions on the ability of U.S. and other diplomats to move around the country.

Across the country, tens of thousands of protesters marched on Friday, chanting their solidarity with Hama and demanding the ouster of President Bashar Assad.

Located 130 miles (210 kilometers) north of the capital Damascus, Hama holds special significance for Syrians because of a 1982 massacre that sticks in the collective memory. In 1982, Assad’s father, Hafez Assad, ordered the military to quell a rebellion by Syrian members of the conservative Muslim Brotherhood movement there, sealing off the city in an assault that killed between 10,000 and 25,000 people.

Syria-based rights activist Mustafa Osso said at least 24 people civilians died Friday, most of them in Damascus suburbs when security forces opened fire during daytime protests and late night demonstrations following evening Ramadan prayers. He said five were killed in Hama and its surrounding countryside.

The toll was confirmed Saturday by the Local Coordination Committees, a key activist groups tracking the Syrian uprising. AP

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12 responses to “Syria promises free election, but opposition lost confidence in Assad”

  1. shankarees Avatar
    shankarees

    Don’t believe the sob!  You won’t have freedom unless Assad goes.

  2.  Avatar
    Anonymous

    Don’t believe the sob!  You won’t have freedom unless Assad goes.

  3. I think it pretty much over. GCC has spoken and all other arabs will follow soon if they want cash and petrol gifts from the GCC to continue flowing. The regime will be gone withing 90 days or we civial war will start.

    P.S The term of Parliament expired before the revolt started. Normally people have elections before the term expires not after unless youre trying to dissolve or weaken it…. Even free elections would not work because the president has all the power and will simply kill all that opposed him later on.

  4.  Avatar
    Anonymous

    I think it pretty much over. GCC has spoken and all other arabs will follow soon if they want cash and petrol gifts from the GCC to continue flowing. The regime will be gone withing 90 days or we civial war will start.

    P.S The term of Parliament expired before the revolt started. Normally people have elections before the term expires not after unless youre trying to dissolve or weaken it…. Even free elections would not work because the president has all the power and will simply kill all that opposed him later on.

  5. Patience2 Avatar
    Patience2

    This man Assad(and his relatives) is/are like 10 Kilos of Poop in a 5 Kilo sack.  It WILL explode.  And when it goes, you don’t want to be nearby.  Sadly, these people are showing that they are willing to take the land of Syria AND ALL it’s people with them!  It’s too bad they can’t be dealt with, somehow, before the ordinary people must REALLY suffer.

  6.  Avatar
    Anonymous

    This man Assad(and his relatives) is/are like 10 Kilos of Poop in a 5 Kilo sack.  It WILL explode.  And when it goes, you don’t want to be nearby.  Sadly, these people are showing that they are willing to take the land of Syria AND ALL it’s people with them!  It’s too bad they can’t be dealt with, somehow, before the ordinary people must REALLY suffer.

  7. with all the killings under his belt  and damging documentations and videos  to come  his doom is irreversable, not long a go no one thought that the syrians would have the fortitude to take him on but he miscalculated and weakened his position by not pre emptively reforming his country. but then again does any dictator ever leave te stage while the crowds are still cheering? 

  8. with all the killings under his belt  and damging documentations and videos  to come  his doom is irreversable, not long a go no one thought that the syrians would have the fortitude to take him on but he miscalculated and weakened his position by not pre emptively reforming his country. but then again does any dictator ever leave te stage while the crowds are still cheering? 

  9. 5thDrawer Avatar
    5thDrawer

    ‘Confidence’ died a long time ago …

  10.  Avatar
    Anonymous

    ‘Confidence’ died a long time ago …

  11. andre2011 Avatar
    andre2011

    My heart is every minute with the syrian people. With those killed by bachar terrorists. All arabs must understand that the SYRIAN PEOPLE are not only fighting for their freedom and democracy, they are fighting for the freedom and democracy of the Arabs and in particular those in Lebanon and Palestine. The tyrants of Syria are the ones Who created and supported Tyrancy in the Arab World. The Tyrants of Syria are the ones who created the techniques to assasinate, to massacre, to torture , to jail, to kill children. they are killing the syrian peole for asking for democracy. they killed Kamal Jumblat, Rafic Alhariri, burnt the right hand of Salim Alousi and killed him as well as many other lebanese and palestinians for talking about democracy in this arab world. Who Still supports such Tyrants????

  12.  Avatar
    Anonymous

    My heart is every minute with the syrian people. With those killed by bachar terrorists. All arabs must understand that the SYRIAN PEOPLE are not only fighting for their freedom and democracy, they are fighting for the freedom and democracy of the Arabs and in particular those in Lebanon and Palestine. The tyrants of Syria are the ones Who created and supported Tyrancy in the Arab World. The Tyrants of Syria are the ones who created the techniques to assasinate, to massacre, to torture , to jail, to kill children. they are killing the syrian peole for asking for democracy. they killed Kamal Jumblat, Rafic Alhariri, burnt the right hand of Salim Alousi and killed him as well as many other lebanese and palestinians for talking about democracy in this arab world. Who Still supports such Tyrants????

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