Five die in Syrian strife as opposition backs protests

FIVE PEOPLE died yesterday in protests against the Syrian government as opposition leader Muhammad Rahhal revealed that the “revolutionary council” has decided to take up arms against the government.

“We made our decision to arm the revolution . . . because what we are being subjected to is a global conspiracy that can only be faced by an armed uprising,” he said, without admitting that protests have been used as cover for armed action by the Muslim Brotherhood and ultra-orthodox Sunni Salafis. He said confronting the Syrian regime “now requires arms, especially after it has become clear to everyone that the world only supports the Syrian uprising through speeches”.

He castigated Arab regimes as “cowards” for failing to tackle Damascus for trying to crush protests.

Meeting at Arab League headquarters in Cairo, Arab foreign ministers declared that stability in Syria is a “cornerstone” for regional security and ordered secretary general Nabil al-Araby to go to Damascus with the aim of presenting an initiative to resolve the crisis. The ministers urged President Bashar al-Assad to carry out “political and economic reforms” demanded by the protesters and “expressed concern and dismay about the dangerous developments which have led to thousands of casualties among Syrians. It is imperative to stop the bloodshed and resort to reason before it is too late.”

Opposition activists say 2,200 have been killed since mid-March.

While the Syrian government rejected the league initiative, opposition spokesman Mamoun al-Homsy dismissed the Arab mission, arguing that it “does not respond to the aspirations of the Syrian people and their expectations. Without pressuring the Syrian regime, there will be more bloodshed.”

The league met only hours after Iran, Syria’s regional ally, called on Damascus to deliver the “legitimate demands” of the people and said a power vacuum in Syria would be disastrous for the region.

Iran’s president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said Syrians “should have the right to elect and get freedom” and called for a timeline for implementation of reforms so that the West does not have a pretext to intervene in the country.

A Russian envoy is due in Damascus today in an attempt to defuse the crisis.

Regional analysts disagree over the prospects for the Syrian regime.

Joshua Landis, of the authoritative Syria Comment blog, argues: “President Assad will not be able to survive . . . [But it] is not clear how he will be pushed out. Today, he appears strong militarily . . . but the people are boiling.”

He suggested that the commercial elite and middle class, mainstays of the regime, would desert Dr Assad if the unrest continues.

Military expert Anthony Cordesman, of the Centre for Strategic and International Studies, a leading US think tank, said: “There is no overt uprising to back . . . You’re talking about a country with a real military machine . . . unlike Libya [where the military] is largely a facade.”