kl:12,46 15|05|2012 Sawtalkurd
Jordan
Threatens to Deport Refugees, Regime Releases Two Turkish Journalist with
Iranian Mediation
Top Stories
- The Syrian National Council decided not to participate in the Arab League’s opposition meeting in Cairo because the agenda was to begin dialogue with the Assad regime.
- Assad’s militiamen released two Turkish journalists detained two months ago after mediation by Iran.
- The EU imposed new sanctions on the Assad regime targeting two institutions and three individuals financing the regime.
Top Videos
- Morek, Hama: Military tanks and busses carrying hundreds of militiamen raid the town
- Damascus Suburb: Dozens of tanks and armoured vehicles raid the disaster-impacted towns, P2, P3, P4
- Homs: Assad’s forces shell the city, P2
Summary of Events
Reports claim that Jordanian authorities removed over fifty Syrian refugees from their camps and took them in intelligence services’ buses to the Syrian border after they went on a hunger strike in protest to their deteriorating humanitarian conditions. Protesters say their camps lack clean drinking water, food, and medicine for those who are ill. The Jordanian government retorted by raiding the camp and forced the refugees to end their strike. Those who did not comply were taken to the border and threatened with deportation to Syria.
Assad’s militiamen released two Turkish journalists detained two months ago. According to the journalists, they were detained in a small underground cell. The journalists were freed after Iranian officials mediated their release to Tehran, from where they were sent to Istanbul.
The Syrian National Council (SNC) announced it will not attend the planned Syrian opposition meeting hosted by the Arab League because its secretary general Nabil al-Arabi announced that the meeting will seek to begin dialogue with the Assad regime. Furthermore, the Arab League sent personal invitations to selected SNC members and not to the SNC as the representative of the Syrian people.
The EU imposed new sanctions on the Assad regime, targeting two institutions and three individuals who are financing the regime. The EU threatened to impose additional sanctions if the regime continued to violate the terms of the ceasefire. Meanwhile, Germany warned that the conditions in Syria might lead to a regional crisis, as the violence could easily spread to nearby countries, such as Lebanon.
Regime forces continued to violate the ceasefire, as they shelled the village of Ihsem in the province of Idlib, shelled the city of Daraa and the town of Lajat amid heavy fire, and opened fire in the town of Herak in the province of Daraa. They also raided the town of Kafarzeita with armoured units amid heavy fire in the province of Hama, opened fire at a demonstration in the city of Aleppo, conducted arbitrary arrests and sweeps under the cover of heavy fire in the neighbourhood of Qabun in Damascus and the suburbs of Erbin, Artouz, Malaiha, and Hamouriya, and shelled and opened heavy fire in the city of Quriya in the province of Deir Azzour.
UN observers toured the town of al-Bab in the province of Aleppo accompanied by multitudes of demonstrators. They also visited the neighbourhood of al-Joura in the city of Deir Azzour, where they were welcomed by an anti-regime demonstration, which led security forces to open heavy fire at them in order to disperse them.
Assad’s forces killed at least 16; most fell in the province of Homs, as regime forces killed nine and wounded at least 40 with its heavy shelling in the city of Rastan, and killed and wounded more as a result of its bombardment of the city of Homs and its heavy firing in the town of Houleh.
Peaceful demonstrations continued to go out in mass numbers, as new demonstrations and sit-ins took place in the universities of Damascus and Aleppo which resulted in security forces opening heavy fire to disperse them and conducting arbitrary arrests.