Israel Matzav

Syrians fleeing to Turkey

Hundreds of Syrians are fleeing the town of Jisr al- Shughour, on the Turkish border. Turkey has allowed the refugees into its territory.

Let's go to the videotape.



The Sydney Morning Herald reports.

More than 100 residents of Jisr al-Shughur fled across the border to Turkey, while others sought sanctuary in the churches and mosques of nearby villages. They escaped after receiving telephoned warnings that Maher al-Assad, the most feared man in Syria, was on his way at the head of a huge column of troops.

Witnesses in the surrounding Idlib province said the convoy comprised hundreds of tanks and thousands of soldiers, who kicked up huge plumes of dust as they sped past, in a dramatic escalation of the government suppression.

...

"The world seems to be standing by as a latter-day Genghis Khan marauds through the country," one activist in Damascus said. "Maher is a man with a proven record of butchery for butchery's sake. He takes a sadistic delight in inflicting human misery."

...

President Assad turned to his brother, who commands the army's Fourth Division and Republican Guard, after Jisr al-Shughur effectively became the first town to fall from government control since the 11-week uprising began. Syrian state television claimed that gunmen killed 120 members of the security forces over the weekend.

Activists say that scores of protesters were mown down by government helicopter gunships and armoured vehicles.

Maher al-Assad's reputation as the regime's "enforcer" was enhanced early on in the uprising after he was sent to quell dissent in the southern town of Deraa, where hundreds of people are believed to have died in the operation.

JPost adds:

Assad’s government has accused armed bands of killing scores of its security men in the northwestern town of Jisr al- Shughour and vowed to send in the army to carry out its “national duty to restore security” there. Troops with tanks have been deployed near the town, prompting many of its 50,000 people to flee.

Ankara’s state-run media reported that about 170 Syrians had crossed the Turkish border Wednesday. Turkish villagers said they saw Turkish troops and ambulances pick up Syrians who crossed earlier in the day, and some of the wounded were taken to hospitals.

Reuters journalists in Turkey saw tents on the Syrian side of the border. Adding the new arrivals to earlier figures from the Turkish Foreign Ministry, nearly 500 Syrians have crossed the frontier since March.

“We are monitoring developments in Syria with concern,” said Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who has long sought warm relations with Assad. “Syria should change its attitude toward civilians and should take its attitude to a more tolerant level. It is out of the question for Turkey to close its doors to refugees coming from Syria.”

The troop movements, after the government reported the loss of more than 120 men in what anti- Assad activists said was fighting among soldiers, have raised fears that violence could move to a new level. Rights groups say over 1,100 civilians have been killed since March in protests against 41 years of Assad family rule.

In Jisr al-Shughour, people have long memories of a mass killing in 1980, under Assad’s father. That proved to be a precursor to the suppression of an armed Islamist revolt in the city of Hama, in which many thousands were killed in 1982.

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At Jisr al-Shughour, residents have said since Tuesday that they were taking cover and bracing for attacks.

Residents said about 40 tanks and armored vehicles were about 7 km. from Jisr al-Shughour, which was now mostly empty, save for youth protesters.

Ali Haj Ibrahim said his son Bilal, who had volunteered to help the wounded over the weekend, was killed by security forces on Sunday on the outskirts of the town. Two machine gun rounds tore through his 26-year-old son’s chest and left shoulder.

“We are not taking condolences.

We consider his martyrdom a wedding feast for the defense of freedom,” he told Reuters.

A witness in Damascus said he saw 40 tanks and armored vehicles, along with trucks, able to carry about 400 troops heading north on Tuesday on a highway that leads to the major cities of Homs and Hama. Rights activists said tanks had entered restive districts of Homs.

At the United Nations on Wednesday, four European nations introduced a Security Council resolution condemning Syria.

Britain, France, Germany and Portugal handed the UN Security Council a draft resolution on Wednesday condemning Syria's crackdown on protesters, despite the risk of a Russian veto.

The UN ambassadors of the four European Union countries told reporters they presented the draft at a council meeting at which the 15-nation body was briefed by a senior UN official on the unrest in Syria.

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The United States, which diplomats say has been reluctant to risk a Russian veto of a UN condemnation that Syrian President Bashar Assad will almost certainly ignore, is not a sponsor of the resolution. However, US Ambassador Susan Rice said Washington had offered its "strong support for that text."

Russia and China, which both hold vetoes, have made clear they dislike the idea of council involvement, which they say could help to destabilize a strategic Middle Eastern country.

Several diplomats told Reuters they expected Russia to veto the draft resolution, though others said they thought Moscow could be persuaded to abstain, in which case China would likely follow suit.

"I hear that the veto is inevitable," one diplomat said.

Resolutions need nine votes in favor and no vetoes to pass. If Russia and China abstained, the draft would be adopted, even if Lebanon, South Africa, India and Brazil voted against it.

While Russia has long been an ally and key arms supplier to Syria, diplomats said the Russians made clear they did not want a repeat of the NATO intervention in Libya, which Moscow believes has spun out of control beyond the original UN mandate to protect civilians.

Wouldn't it be ironic if the UN fell apart over rank hypocrisy over Syria and not over the rank hypocrisy with which it relates to Israel? Heh.

Labels: Bashar al-Assad, Jisr al- Shughour, Syria, Turkey, United Nations Security Council

posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 8:23 AM