What Will It Take to Convince Putin to Change Course?

Quoted by The Philadelphia Inquirer

Syrian opposition activists tell me that the Russian Embassy in Washington has scheduled several meetings with different factions of the external opposition. “The Russians offer power-sharing with Assad,” says a leading Syrian human-rights and pro-democracy activist, Ammar Abdulhamid. “They want to push the opposition to talk to the regime.”

Abdulhamid said Russian Embassy officials “told opposition activists: ‘The Americans won’t help you. You had better come to us.’ “

Arab World: Feigning Concern?

Cited by Jonathan Spyer, The Jerusalem Post

Syrian oppositionist Ammar Abdul-Hamid and the Christian Science Monitor newspaper, for example, first detailed the use of attack helicopters against civilian protesters in Syria on June 15, 2011.

Assad’s Failure to Stop Syria Massacres Puts Him in the Crosshairs

Quoted by Patrick Martin, The Globe and Mail – Canada

“All killings are now sectarian in character,” said Ammar Abdulhamid, a Syrian activist and fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies in Washington. “The killers are Alawites; the victims Sunnis.”

Death Toll Climbs Now in Hama Bombing

Quoted by Rhonda Parker, Examiner.com

However, as Washington-based Syrian pro-democracy advocate Ammar Abdulhamid stated on his Syrian Revolution Digest website, “This revolution is against the Assad regime not just against Assad, the sooner the Russians and Chinese understand that the better.”

For Tuesday’s death toll, Adulhamid also documents a total of 54; with 15 dead in the town of Hiffeh (Lattakia Province), 13 in Hama; 9 in Homs; 5 in daraa; 2 in Aleppo, 3 in Damascus and 1 in Hassakeh.