Syria vows to suppress 'armed revolt'

[Bosonic]

Source: AFP

The Syrian interior ministry has vowed to suppress what it called an "armed revolt" undermining security in the country, where protests demanding reforms have spread.

"The latest incidents have shown that ... armed Salafist groups, particularly in the cities of Homs and Banias, have openly called for armed revolt," the ministry said in a statement quoted by the official SANA news agency.

It accused such groups of killing soldiers, policemen and civilians, and of attacking public and private property, and warned that "their terrorist activities will not be tolerated".

Read more: http://news.smh.com.au/breaking-news-world/syria-vows-to-suppress-armed-revolt-20110419-1dly2.html

[TheWraith]

1. Go kick some security force ass, Syrian protesters. nt

[joshcryer]

4. Once that happens they'll be thrown under the bus.

So you don't really want that to happen (though I'd support any actions by the Syrian protesters to free themselves of tyranny, if Assad won't step down, then that may be the recourse, unfortunately).

[Baclava]

2. Syria's oil industry going downhill - - you know what that means - - so sorry

Syria's oil industry faces many challenges in the years to come. Oil output and production continues to decline due to technological problems and depletion of oil reserves.

If this trend continues, it is possible that Syria could become a net oil importer within a decade.


http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Syria's_oil_industry

[pampango]

3. The protesters certainly have arms. I've seen them. Two each, so it is an "armed" revolt. n/t

[TheWraith]

5. Don't underestimate arms.

Right here in the US, twice as many people are killed each year by hands and feet as by rifles.

[Rage for Order]

6. If the rebels truly are Salafists we may want to pull for the current Syrian government

The Salafists think Hamas and the Muslim Brotherhood are too moderate.

http://gulfnews.com/opinions/columnists/resurgent-salafist-movement-troubles-secular-egyptians-1.795632

If you had asked any secular Egyptian about the Salafist movement two months ago, they would likely have told you that they know next to nothing about it. When former president Hosni Mubarak was still in charge it was banned, its members barred from worshipping in the country's mosques. Egyptian Salafists maintained a very low profile foreswearing any political ambitions. Bearded and dressed as though they had just stepped out of the 7th century, their women shrouded in black except for their eyes, the zealots were sometimes seen on the city streets strolling in pairs but rarely in large numbers. But that was before the revolution.

In recent weeks, Egyptians have become alarmed by the rise of an ultra-religious, anti-Western Salafist group the Jama'a Al Islamiya that makes the Muslim Brotherhood look like a free-thinking, tolerant organisation by comparison. The Jama'a Al Islamiya made world headlines in 1997 when it was said to be implicated in the massacre of 58 western tourists visiting the Hapshepsut temple in Luxor and is believed to have conspired in the assassination of former Egyptian president Anwar Al Sadat. However, in 2003, with thousands of its members behind bars, the group publicly renounced violence and shunned the spotlight.

Salafists look down upon members of the Brotherhood as insufficiently devout and for watering down their beliefs to suit a political agenda. According to newspaper reports, they enjoy a substantial following outside urban areas and have been busy since Mubarak's ouster destroying shops selling alcohol and defacing Sufi shrines. Their foremost goal is to transform Egypt into an Islamic state run on Sharia law and the world into an Islamic caliphate.

On Friday, radical Salafists of Tawheed and Jihad group executed an Italian activist with the International Solidarity Movement Vittorio Arrigoni, a man who had spent years battling on behalf of the Palestinian cause and who arrived in the Gaza Strip on one of the boats that sailed to break the Israeli blockade. Like their Egyptian co-ideologues, the group behind Arrigoni's murder view Hamas as too liberal.

[muriel_volestrangler]

7. Syrian Troops Fire On Protesters In Homs

Security forces in Syria have fired on a crowd of thousands of protesters in the city of Homs

The demonstrators had gathered to call for the fall of regime only hours after the authorities said they would suppress any "armed revolt" in the country.

One activist described the security forces as "swarming" into Al-Saa Square early on Tuesday morning, where some 20,000 people were staging a mass sit-in insisting they would not leave until President Bashar al-Assad stepped down.

The shootings caused the protesters to scatter.

http://news.sky.com/skynews/Home/World-News/Syria-Troops-Fire-On-Crowd-Of-Thousands-Of-Protesters-In-City-Of-Homs/Article/201104315975176?lpos=World_News_Second_Home_Page_Article_Teaser_Region_0&lid=ARTICLE_15975176_Syria%3A_Troops_Fire_On_Crowd_Of_Thousands_Of_Protesters_In_City_Of_Homs