Perilous
Times
Tens of thousands of Syrians take to streets to urge fellow
citizens to join uprising
By Bassem Mroue,Zeina Karam, The Associated Press | The Canadian
Press
BEIRUT - Tens of thousands of protesters calling for the ouster of
President Bashar Assad's regime took to the streets throughout
Syria Friday, urging fellow citizens who have remained on the
sidelines to join them and warning those who are hesitant that
they are indirectly helping security forces kill more protesters.
Syrian troops trying to sweep them from the streets fired live
ammunition and tear gas, killing at least four demonstrators,
activists said.
The protests, which have become a weekly ritual after Friday's
Muslim prayer services, came hours after a bomb blast struck a
major oil pipeline in western Syria, causing oil to spill into a
nearby lake. State television called the explosion a terrorist
attack by a group of "saboteurs."
Opposition groups dubbed Friday's protests "Your silence is
killing us" in an attempt to mobilize sections of the population
that have not yet joined the protests and Arab leaders who remain
silent on the crackdown against Syria's uprising.
Friday's call reflected activists' disappointment at large sectors
of the population who have remained on the sidelines, robbing them
of enough momentum to form a serious threat to Assad's regime.
Since the uprising began in mid-March, the protests have been
taking place in relatively poor areas. The opposition has yet to
bring out the middle and upper middle classes in Damascus and
Aleppo, the country's two largest cities and economic powerhouses.
The wealthier classes have too much to lose from prolonged
instability and fear the downfall of the regime could lead to an
even worse situation.
Authorities have waged a brutal crackdown that has killed more
than 1,600 civilians since the protests began in mid-March,
activists say. Assad's government has sought to discredit those
behind the protests by saying they are terrorists and foreign
extremists, rather than true reform-seekers.
"These classes are for sure not happy with what the regime and its
security agencies are doing," said Omar Idilbi, a spokesman for
the Local Coordination Committees, which track the protests in
Syria. "If they are worried about the future they should come and
take part in making change. They should take part in the making of
Syria's future."
The London-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said troops
shot dead four people in the coastal city of Latakia, the southern
province of Daraa, the western village of Moah and the eastern
city of Deir el-Zour. The Local Coordination Committees put the
death toll at 10.
Also Friday, troops beat up protesters in the northwestern coastal
town of Banias and fired tear gas in several other locations.
There were also marches in the countryside around Damascus despite
an intense crackdown there in the past few days.
The scale of the bloodshed has prompted some soldiers to defect to
the anti-government side and even turn on their fellow soldiers,
according to witness accounts.
One such fight took place Thursday and Friday in Deir el-Zour, an
activist living there said. Tanks and troops moved into
neighbourhoods where anti-regime protests were common, and some
soldiers among the 7th Battalion of the 137th Brigade defected and
clashes with loyal soldiers, the activist said, speaking on
condition of anonymity for fear of reprisals.
Security forces there shot dead at least three civilians after
residents tried to stop the troops' advance by placing roadblocks
and stones in their path, according to several rights groups. The
Deir el-Zour activist put the number of dead as high as seven.
Last week, Assad had fired and replaced the governor of Deir
el-Zour after massive anti-government demonstrations in the area.
The regime has banned nearly all foreign media and restricted
coverage of the uprising, making it nearly impossible to
independently verify events on the ground.
The pipeline explosion was the second incident to cause damage to
an oil line in a month and the second time this week that
authorities accused saboteurs of striking key infrastructure.
The pipeline carries crude from the oil fields in Deir el-Zour to
a refinery in Banias, the main point of export for Syrian oil.
State TV said the blast hit near the western town of Talkalakh
near the Tal Hosh dam, and left a 33-foot (10-meter) deep crater.
The TV said the "terrorist attack sought to cause oil to leak into
the dam's waters in order to damage agricultural crops in the
area."
Oil Minister Sufian Allaw said 1,500 barrels of crude oil leaked
from the pipeline into the water. He told The Associated Press
that the pumping of oil was transferred to another pipeline
without interruption in the flow.
The area of Friday's blast, Talkalakh, is an opposition stronghold
near the border with Lebanon that was overrun by army tank units,
security forces and pro-regime gunmen in May after weeks of
protests calling for the president's ouster. Rights activists say
around 35 people died in the crackdown in Talkalakh.
Syria's oil exports are among the main earners of foreign currency
for the government, especially now that the uprising has hit the
tourism industry. Last year, tourism accounted for roughly 12 per
cent of GDP and brought in $8 billion in hard currency.
Syria produces about 350,000 barrels of oil per day as well as
natural gas.
On July 13, a blast and a fire struck a natural gas pipeline in
eastern Syria. Some rights groups said it was an attack but the
Oil Ministry denied any explosion and said a fire erupted on a
pipeline that was under maintenance.
And last Saturday, authorities said saboteurs tied to the
country's uprising caused a passenger train to derail in central
Syria, but opposition figures dismissed the accusation.