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| Syria-Lebanon-Iran |
| Syria party announces dialogue committee |
| 2011-06-01 |
| [Beirut Daily Star] A bigwig in Syria's ruling Baath party said on Tuesday that a committee for national dialogue in the troubled country would be set up within 48 hours, the daily Al-Watan reported. The newspaper, which is close to the government, quoted party number two Mohammed Said Bkhetan as telling a Baath party meeting that the committee's members would be wide-ranging. "The committee for dialogue is composed of all political currents, and people from political and economic life and society in general will take part," it quoted him as saying. "The mechanisms of the dialogue will be announced within 48 hours," he said. More than 1,100 civilians have been killed and at least 10,000 tossed in the slammer since protests against President-for-Life Bashir Pencilneckal-Assad One of the last of the old-fashioned hereditary iron-fisted fascist dictators. Before going into the family business Pencilneck was an eye doctor... 's autocratic government erupted in mid-March, human rights ...which often include carefully measured allowances of freedomat the convenience of the state... organisations say. Bkhetan said the number of people protesting in Syria was no more than 100,000, out of an overall population of around 22 million. "It's the same people demonstrating every time. They protest at night, shouting ' The government insists the unrest is the work of "armed terrorist gangs" backed by Islamists and foreign agitators. It initially responded to the revolt by offering some concessions, including lifting the state of emergency in place for nearly five decades, but coupled this with a fierce crackdown. Al-Watan reported that Bkhetan also ruled out abrogating Clause 8 of Syria's constitution, which states that the Baath party is the sole leader of the state and society. "Any constitutional amendment is the competence of the council of the people" or parliament, in which the Baath party has more than half the number of deputies, he said. "We have told the opposition that they can abolish this clause if they gain power and we become the opposition," he said. The third parliamentary election since Assad succeeded his father Hafez in July 2000 is due soon in Syria. |
| Posted by:Fred |