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http://www.nowlebanon.com/NewsArticl eDetails.aspx?ID=379199 by activists on their Facebook page, The Syrian Revolution 2011. 6. SYRIA Fear enters Damascus as conflict nears “My nerves are shattered. Every day people say the security forces are coming to carry out a raid,” said Hafiza, a cleaner who lives just outside Damascus. Hafiza, like most people in and around the Syrian capital, lives in fear that security forces will raid her home and arrest her sons. The deadly uprising that has gripped Syria for over a year has largely spared Damascus but in past weeks the bloodshed has also made its entry into Damascus. Last Sunday, security forces and troops stormed the district of Artuz, southwest of Damascus, Hafiza said. “There were tanks and artillery. A tank was posted on every street. They arrested 600 men, even 14-year-olds,” she said, voicing fear they would come one day for her own sons, aged 18 and 23. Ammar, a writer who lives in the Barzeh area of northern Damascus, is also terrified by the unrest that has reached the city. “Nowadays as soon as it gets dark I head home. My wife and I watch films every night to shut out the violence,” he said. “Damascus, here we come” was the rallying cry on Friday for anti-regime demonstrations across the country on the day of weekly Muslim prayers, as posted “But at midnight, gunfire breaks out and there are explosions until dawn.” Sayfa 39
He said protesters fill the streets of the old part of Barzeh every night to demonstrate against the regime. Officials said three army deserters were killed in the fighting, while 18 soldiers were wounded. A year after the start of a popular uprising against the regime of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, fear is everywhere in Damascus. Deadly car bombings have rocked the capital and clashes are on the rise. Each day pro-democracy activists report anti-regime protests in the center of Damascus, where demonstrators take to the streets despite the deployment of hundreds of security forces. YouTube videos show youths chanting anti-regime slogans in districts like Midan, Kfar Soussa, Barzeh, Bab Srijeh, Mazzeh, Doummar and Qdsaya, and calling for the arming of the rebel Free Syrian Army (FSA). The rebels appear determined to bring the conflict to the capital. On Thursday, an FSA spokesman said the group had set up a military council to coordinate hit-and-run strikes around Damascus. “I, Colonel Khaled Mohammed al- Hammud, announce the creation of the military council for Damascus and the region that will be in charge of FSA operations in this area,” the officer who deserted from the army said in an online video. He invited other “noble officers still in the ranks of Bashar’s army” to join the rebel force. For the first time, several hours of deadly clashes erupted last Monday in the upscale and heavily guarded neighborhood of Mazzeh, barely one kilometer (less than a mile) from the presidential palace. Some like Hussam, a merchant who sells curtains, fear that Damascus will be the scene of “the final battle” between the regime and the armed opposition. Hussam was badly shaken last week when two killer blasts ripped through Damascus Sayfa 40
Page 2 and 3: MIDDLE EAST BULLETIN 23 MARCH 2012
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Page 8 and 9: Kitab: holding the Summit in Baghda
Page 10 and 11: Pakistani FM: Islamabad Not to Succ
Page 12 and 13: started a reform initiative in the
Page 14 and 15: on Iran under the illusion that Ira
Page 16 and 17: “The Islamic Republic of Iran sup
Page 18 and 19: under the full control of the Pales
Page 20 and 21: important” year for a possible st
Page 22 and 23: “Why are these principles no long
Page 24 and 25: Hamas is an organization whose ideo
Page 26 and 27: 4. AFRICA and EGYPT Morocco to tack
Page 28 and 29: government spokesman Nasser al-Mana
Page 30 and 31: eassurance that "the opening of the
Page 32 and 33: opposition is striving to unite and
Page 34 and 35: each other's citizens and demarcati
Page 36 and 37: countries the freedom to move betwe
Page 38 and 39: 5. JORDAN and LEBANON Charbel: Bord
Page 42 and 43: killing at least 27 people, woundin
Page 44 and 45: They stress that “the last point
Page 46 and 47: touring flashpoint areas and are st
Page 48 and 49: 3) ensure timely provision of human
Page 50 and 51: "Three policemen were wounded and r
Page 52 and 53: "Saudi military equipment is on its
Page 54 and 55: while three others - including two
Page 56 and 57: Britain's Independent Commission fo
Page 58: Sayfa 57

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