On air at 1100GMT: Syrian crackdown.....a new phase?
| 10:10 UK time, Tuesday, 7 June 2011
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This topic was discussed in World Have Your Say on 7 June, 2011. Listen to the programme.
Conversations about Syria have spiked in the pt 24 hours with news that the northern Syrian town of Jisr al-Shughour is bracing itself for an attack by government forces. It follows claims that dozens of its police and security forces were killed in attacks there.
fpmag‎ tweets
Darkness in Syria: If Assad falls and the Muslim Brotherhood rises. #news #politics
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AnonymousSyrian‎ tweets
If Asma Al Assad of #Syria had any COURAGE and HUMANITY, she would dissociate herself from her husbands' actions.
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An estimated 1,200 civilians have already been killed since the uprising began in March. It looks like a crackdown in the town is likely after authorities rapidly
Initially the state news agency, Sana, said 28 personnel had been killed, including in an armed ambush and at a state security post. It revised the figure up to 43, 80 and then 120 within the space of an hour without an explanation. The claims can't be independently verified as all foreign journalists are banned from the country.
It's a hugely confusing picture. Amateur footage and eyewitnesses have depicted scenes of plain-clothes security forces and the army shooting at peaceful protesters. Residents have posted messages on Facebook saying they fear a slaughter and appealing for help from outside.
The 91Èȱ¬'s Jim Muir in Beirut says some activist websites have suggested dissent within the security forces, even a mutiny.
He says YouTube carried footage, said to be from the town, showing several dead bodies described as belonging to soldiers who had been killed by security forces for refusing to fire on the people.
Meanwhile France is prepared to ask the UN Security Council to for its brutal handling of the uprising against Bashar al-Assad's regime.
for you to keep up to date with events.
It reports that it's received a video statement, from one Syrian army officer who has deserted. He says he witnessed crimes against civilians who were just trying to protect themselves.
Meanwhile a
Amina Abdullah, as she blogs, saw her rise to fame profiled in The Guardian newspaper just a few weeks ago, in an article which called her an "unlikely hero of revolt in a conservative country".
On Twitter, Amina's friends and supporters are tweeting in solidarity, using the hashtag #FreeAmina, and a Facebook page has been set up.
It's very difficult to contact people inside Syria and get them to come on air, because we don't want their safety to be compromised. But we're hoping to speak to Syrians around world as well as keeping track of comments on social media sites and get sense of what is happening.
