Asharq Al-Awsat, Beirut, 16 Jan 2012 – The “General Committee of the Syrian Revolution” revealed yesterday that “security forces shot dead seven people in various parts of Syria” and that the “Syrian regime’s victims have exceeded the 6275 barrier since the outbreak of the revolution (on 15 March 2011) to this day.” It added that the “amnesty decree issued by Syrian President Bashar al-Assad shows the regime is in a predicament because it is the first presidential amnesty for the crimes against the state since the start of the revolution. It includes an amnesty for the crimes of carrying and possessing arms but is futile with the continued blockade of the cities and the killings and repression.”
While the situation on the ground remains tense despite the presidential decree, Abu-Ghazi al-Hamawi, member of the “Hamah Revolutionaries Council” stated to Asharq
Al-Awsat that “the military and security operations on the ground have not stopped.” He pointed out that “more than 20 tanks and more than 30 personnel carriers and armored vehicles raided (yesterday) the town of Kafr Nabudah in Hamah countryside to suppress a peaceful demonstration which led to six martyrs. The military forces are still deployed extensively in the town.” He disclosed that “this operation prompted several soldiers to defect and they clashed with their comrades after fire was opened on the unarmed civilians.” Al-Hamawi pointed out that “the intensive security deployment inside the city of Hamah remains. The snipers killed today (yesterday) the 16-year old Ahmad al-Nasan in the road for no reason at all.” He added that the “night demonstrations inside Hamah do not stop and are protected by elements from the Free Syrian Army [FSA]. The regular army does not dare to attack them at night for fear of falling into the FSA’s ambushes.”
Meanwhile, the situations in the city of Homs have remained the same. Abu-Ghalib al-Ayyubi, an official in the “Revolutionaries’ Coordination Council” said “the city’s neighborhoods are still under siege but all these repressive measures will not stop the peaceful revolution, drawing 100 lines under the word (peaceful).” He asserted to Asharq Al-Awsat that “the revolutionaries are protected by their brothers from the FSA”, adding that “these elements handed the [Arab observers] delegation the tank they captured from the regular army before few days to prove that those defending Homs are its citizens and sons and that there are no armed gangs according to the lies the regime is spreading.” He announced that “the presidential amnesty decree issued by the head of the regime (President Bashar al-Assad) has no value on the ground. But it contains recognition of the revolution and the crisis in which the regime is finding itself and that the decisive hour is now nearer.” He asked: “Is this amnesty for the purpose of getting more Shabiha out of prison to use them against the demonstrators?” He said: “Our priorities as revolutionaries are to get rid of Bashar al-Assad and his gang in a peaceful way but if he continues with the killing then we insist on international intervention and a repetition of the Libyan scenario. We will then be forced to deal with the devil in order to get rid of this regime and its gangs.”