An interview with the Australian Broadcasting Corporation. (Note: They confuse Maher Assad with his late Majd below. Majd has passed away of a drug over doze two years ago. In the audio interview I clearly say Maher).

MARK COLVIN: Well you heard Mr Rudd outline some of the background there about a country where the Ba’ath Party dictatorship has lasted for over 40 years. President Hafez al-Assad ruled over the country for most of that time, and in 1982 faced with an uprising in the town of Hama, he ordered one of the bloodiest crackdowns in the modern history of the Middle East. It may be one reason why Syrians have been slow to rise up. But after an attack on protesters in the town of Daraa this week, that’s expected to change later tonight; Friday, Syrian time. The President, Hafez al-Assad’s son Bashar, has made big promises, including dropping the restrictive 48-year-old emergency law. But that’s unlikely to be enough for the many who are expected to protest tonight. And the fast changing situation has emboldened exiled democrats like Ammar Abdulhamid. I asked him whether he wanted Bashar al-Assad and his family out of the country and if so where would they go? Continue reading “Syrian protestors want a regime change” →