The Case for Regime Change in Syria (5)

According to reports coming out of Syria, security forces are currently laying siege to two different villages in the northern parts of the country, in the provinces of Idlib and al-Hassakeh to be specific. The two sieges are separate and have been instigated by two different sets of very local circumstances. In other words, there are no political overtones here.

Still, the two incidents are rather significant and quite ominous on two counts: the incompetence and corruption of the local authorities seem to lie at the heart of both incidents, and, in both cases, local authorities seem to be acting completely on their own, serving the interests of their various local leaders and being given a free hand by the central authorities. Continue reading “The Case for Regime Change in Syria (5)” →

Defiant Messages!

Crackdown against western-oriented activists in Syria is proceeding apace and has been for quite a few weeks now, as we all know. The latest installments were the March 24 arrest of Samir Nashar, the founder of a liberal party based in Aleppo and one of the internal opposition figures who took part in breaking the barrier separating the “inside” and the “outside” when he attended the opposition conference organized by the Syrian National Council in Washington, DC at the end of February 2005. Samir was released a week later and put under a travel ban. Continue reading →

Ali & His Sons!

The case of Ali Abdallah and his two sons Muhammad and Omar is probably the only case of a missing family of activists to emerge in Syria since the early eighties. The trio has gone missing for over two weeks and still there is no words as to their whereabouts or what security branch was responsible for their “napping.”

Activists are getting arrested left and right these days, but the silence surrounding the disappearance of these fellows is quite inexplicable. I have a very bad feeling about this. Continue reading “Ali & His Sons!” →

A Not So Flowery Revelation!

A flurry of conflicting reports about arrests, releases, harassments and hostage-takings against Syrian dissidents and their family members are streaming out of Syria.

Is this part of a new full-fledged crackdown? Or is it the usual round of intimidations and scare tactics? Well, it’s too early to tell really.

But, in view of the recently appointed hard-line cabinet, the former possibility seems to be the more likely one at this stage. Bashar & Co. seem to be consolidating their hold on the reigns of power in the country by way of preparing themselves for the worst. Continue reading “A Not So Flowery Revelation!” →