Syrian clashes leave at least 12 dead
At least 12 people killed in Latakia as unrest spreads
State news agency blames violence on outside forces
The Syrian army has been deployed in force in the port city of Latakia after two days of fierce anti-government protests in which at least 12 people were killed.
A government source blamed the deaths on "attacks by armed elements on the families and districts of Latakia", according to the official Sana news agency. But activists accused the security forces opening fire on protesters in the city, where they say the offices of the ruling Ba'ath party have been torched.
Latakia is a majority Sunni town 220 miles north of the capital, and also home to the minority Alawite sect of President Bashar al-Assad, making unrest there particularly sensitive.
In a move to placate protesters, authorities said they had decided to lift the emergency laws. But the absence of a timetable has been widely viewed in Damascus as delaying tactics by the government. The emergency laws restrict public gatherings and authorise arrests on the basis of threats to national security.
Observers said significant changes were needed immediately to quell the spreading unrest. Until Friday, protesters had been concentrated in the southern Hauran region around the city of Deraa.
"This is a meaningless pledge to remove the emergency law when people can be detained by other laws," said Rime Allaf, a Syrian analyst at London's Chatham House. "Everybody is waiting for the president to speak and take some steps to tell the people he is in control."
A Syrian spokesman said Assad, who has not addressed the nation since turmoil started to sweep the region two months ago, was expected to speak soon. His silence has angered many Syrians, who feel he has not acknowledged the seriousness of the crisis facing the regime's 43-year rule. "During the whole turmoil in the Middle East, he has not come out and spoken to us," said one resident in Damascus. "Now, many people have been killed here! and he has still not personally said a word."
In further moves to quell unrest, Syria's government is this week expected to resign, announce an amendment to article 8 of the constitution which defines the Ba'ath party as the "leading party in the society and the state", and a law preventing the detention of reporters.
But that promise came in the wake of a crackdown on the media. On Friday the Reuters bureau chief was deported, while scores of local journalists have reported being intimidated or detained. The lack of information is causing confusion in the country, with state media broadcasting the government line that has repeatedly blamed the past 10 days of unrest on outside forces.
"They are waging a war of propaganda," said a 32-year-old Syrian. "I am scared that many will choose to believe it. Meanwhile it makes those who realise just angrier and less willing to accept anything they say." Syria, which has a Sunni majority, is ruled by the minority Alawite sect. Fears of sectarian strife are one of the main stabilising factors for Christians, Druze and other minority groups. Despite the government's claims, largely nationalist slogans have been heard.
Meanwhile, reports said around 100 lawyers had marched in the southern Druze town of Sweida, calling for an investigation into the deaths of Syrians and an end to the crackdown in Deraa. Local human rights activists say more than 100 people may have been killed since the start of protests on 18 March, and scores more injured. Analysts say that time is running out for Assad to announce reforms to redeem a regime which is looking increasingly weak and confused. "People were not calling for revolution at first. They were calling for more freedom, something which the president can still deliver," said Allaf. But others say there may be no soft landing. "There are many who perhaps rightly believe that if you give an inch, demands will grow and soon there will be nothing left," said Joshua Landis, a Syria expert at Oklahoma University.
Iran's Irna state news agency reported from Damascus that a group of "agitators" had confessed on Syrian state television that they had been hired by Israel to create disturbance and insecurity in Syria.
Irna quoted the Syrian Sana state news agency as saying: "This group of people travelled a while ago to Israel and have been paid to send photos and videos taken from the unrest in Syria to foreigners." Iran's opposition says the reaction of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's government to the protests in Syria showed the hypocrisy of the Iranian regime, which has praised the pro-democracy movements abroad, except Syria, while refusing to allow a peaceful demonstration at home. At the same time, Israel said on Sunday it was worried that Iran might be participating in the suppression of protesters in Syria.
Katherine Marsh is a pseudonym for a journalist living in Damascus
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