| Submit your comments on this article |
| Syria-Lebanon-Iran |
| Syria's Assad reported to have ordered no shooting |
| 2011-05-13 |
| Interesting if true. Indicates a power struggle between the Assad clan and the army. Or a struggle between Bashir and Maher... (Reuters) - Syrian President Bashar al-Assad has ordered troops not to fire on pro-democracy demonstrators, a rights campaigner said, ahead of Friday prayers that have become a rallying point for protesters in an eight-week uprising. Louay Hussein said Assad's adviser Bouthaina Shaaban told him in a phone call on Thursday that "definitive presidential orders have been issued not to shoot demonstrators and whoever violates this bears full responsibility." Hussein was among four opposition figures who saw Shaaban this month and presented demands that included an end to violent repression of protesters and the introduction of political reform in the country, ruled by the Assad family since 1970. |
| Posted by:phil_b |
| #5 This is clearly opposition disinformation. When the regime stops killing its adversaries, it will collapse. The 20th century has seen Islam move towards literalist interpretations of the Koran - what we call fundamentalism. In fundamentalist (Sunni) Muslim eyes, having an Alawite government is worse than being ruled by Jews - Jews are merely people of the book, whereas Alawites are out-and-out heretics, and some Sunnis view Alawites as pagans as well. |
| Posted by: Zhang Fei 2011-05-13 14:29 |
| #4 Why shoot 'em when you can shell 'em with tanks? |
| Posted by: Ebbang Uluque6305 2011-05-13 12:08 |
| #3 Pencil-neck's a figurehead. |
| Posted by: mojo 2011-05-13 10:52 |
| #2 "Don't shoot em! *wink, wink*" It's called plausible deniability. Or, in plain English, bullsh*t. |
| Posted by: Spot 2011-05-13 10:39 |
| #1 I suspect this just reflects Assad's cowardice, in that he has a great fear of ending up like Saddam. So he is putting out that "It was all Goering's fault--I didn't know nuttin' about them camps!" |
| Posted by: Anonymoose 2011-05-13 09:36 |