Regional pressure on Syria grows

8 August 2011 Last updated at 11:00 ET

Amateur video purports to show tanks moving through the city of Deir al-Zour

Syria’s neighbours are increasing diplomatic pressure on the country as the regime continues a violent crackdown on anti-government protests.

Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and Bahrain have all recalled their ambassadors while Jordan has called for dialogue.

Saudi King Abdullah has called on Syrian President Bashar al-Assad to urgently implement real reforms.

Government tanks have been pounding the eastern city of Deir al-Zour for a second day.

At least 50 people died on Sunday after the army launched a pre-dawn assault – activists said the explosions and gunfire resumed early on Monday.

Activists said that as in recent days, many people had been afraid to leave their homes or take injured people to hospital for fear of being attacked themselves.

Human rights activists say at least 1,700 civilians have been killed and tens of thousands arrested since the uprising began in mid-March. More than 300 people are believed to have died in the past week alone.

Access to Syria has been severely restricted for international journalists and it is rarely possible to verify accounts by witnesses and activists.

‘Depths of chaos’

In a statement on the Saudi-owned al-Arabiya channel, King Abdullah said that events in Syria were “unacceptable” for his country.

He said Syria had to choose between “wisdom” or being “pulled down into the depths of chaos and loss”.

“The kingdom of Saudi Arabia… demands an end to the killing machine and bloodshed and calls for acts of wisdom before it is too late,” he said.

“Syria should think wisely before it is too late and issue and enact reforms that are not merely promises but actual reforms.”

The BBC’s Jim Muir in Beirut says that by Arab diplomatic standards, it was a highly dramatic intervention by the Saudi monarch.

It is by far the clearest and toughest regional position Syria has met, and it comes from one of the most influential Arab powers, adds our correspondent.

King Abdullah also announced that his country had recalled its ambassador from Damascus for consultations.

That move was followed by Kuwait and then Bahrain.

Bahrain’s Foreign Minister Sheikh Khaled bin Ahmad al-Khalifa called for “a resort to reason”. In Kuwait, Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohammad al-Sabah said the “military option must be halted” and that “no-one can accept the bloodshed in Syria”.

Mr Sabah said the foreign ministers of Gulf states would meet soon to discuss the situation.

Jordan stopped short of condemning the violence, saying it would not interfere in Syria’s internal affairs, but Prime Minister Nasser Judeh has said the situation was “worrisome, unfortunate and sad”.

“We hope that dialogue is restored and reforms are achieved in order to get Syria out of this impasse,” he said in a televised statement.

The 22-member Arab League issued its first statement on Syria on Sunday. It said it was “alarmed” and called for an end to the violence.

On Monday the League’s head, Nabil al-Arabi said he hoped the crisis could be overcome “by peaceful means and by launching a serious dialogue towards the reconciliation that the people have been demanding”.

“When people take to the streets… and seek change, presidents and governments must reach that solution through dialogue without making use of violence or force,” he told reporters.

But he said “drastic measures” should not be expected, and stressed that the League would not take action itself.

Turkey is also stepping up the pressure, with Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu due in Damascus on Tuesday with a “tough” message for Mr Assad.

Meanwhile the top Sunni Muslim authority, Cairo-based al-Azhar, said the situation in Syria had “gone too far”.

“There is no other solution but to put an end to this Arab and Islamic tragedy,” said the grand imam of al-Azhar, Sheikh Ahmed al-Tayeb.

“The vast repression, the use of the highest levels of violence, arrests and intimidation represent an unacceptable human tragedy.”

Damascus has said its critics are ignoring the killings and destruction by “armed terrorist gangs”, and also ignoring the reform programme that the president has launched in a bid to defuse the crisis.

Hospitals closed

The assault on Deir al-Zour, about 450km (280 miles) east of Damascus, continued on Monday, with scores of tanks and armoured personnel carriers moving into several parts of the city.

State media said local leaders had called on the army to “protect the citizens and preserve public and private property”.

But Mohammed, a resident, told the Reuters news agency that armoured vehicles were shelling the al-Hawiqa district heavily with 76mm (3in) guns.

The al-Joura district, which straddles the Euphrates river, was also hit hard and thousands of residents of both areas had fled, he said.

“Private hospitals are closed and people are afraid to send the wounded to state facilities because they are infested with secret police,” added the resident.

One activist told the AFP news agency: “The army opened fire with heavy machineguns on al-Joura. Security forces then launched a search sweep, terrorising residents.”

The London-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights meanwhile cited residents as saying security forces had shot dead a mother and her two children as they tried to escape al-Hawiqa by car.

Troops armed with heavy weapons and backed by tanks also stormed the restive town of Maarat al-Numan, in the northern province of Idlib, at dawn on Monday, the Local Co-ordination Committees said.

“Forces entered the city from its eastern side and they are preventing the residents from entering or leaving the city.”

In many other parts of the country, protesters staged impromptu overnight rallies against the regime.

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