Reports of bloodbath in Syria
Anne Barker reported this story on Friday, March 25, 2011 08:09:00
TONY EASTLEY: The anger and discontent that has emerged in one state after another and spilled onto the streets in the Middle East and North Africa has surfaced in Syria with shocking consequences.
Reports are emerging of a bloodbath where dozens of anti-regime protesters were shot in the street allegedly by security forces in the country's south.
It's estimated at least 32 people have died in the past week but some witnesses say the figure is far higher.
Syria's president has offered concessions, mainly to improve living conditions. But as in other Arab states it may not be enough to appease his opponents.
Middle East correspondent Anne Barker reports.
(Sound of protesters and gunfire)
ANNE BARKER: Sounds and scenes like this are multiplying across the Arab world as ordinary citizens continue to rise up against entrenched and oppressive regimes.
Last week it was Yemen. Before that it was Bahrain.
Now it appears to be the turn of Syria - widely seen as one of the most oppressive regimes of all.
(Sound of protesters)
The southern Syrian town of Deraa has been the scene of growing protests in the past week against the decades long rule of president Bashar al Assad's Baath party.
(Sound of protesters and gunfire)
But as the number of protesters has grown so too has the crackdown against them.
Gruesome video is now emerging of a brutal attack purportedly by soldiers and secret police opening fire on scores of people near a local mosque.
(Sound of protesters and gunfire)
Amateur vision which can't be independently verified shows the dead and wounded lying on the streets in pools of blood and people running in panic as bursts of gunfire echo nearby.
(Sound of protesters and gunfire)
Hospital doctors say at least 25 bodies were brought in on Wednesday, all with bullet holes.
Many others say the overall death toll is much higher and one human rights activist puts the figure around 100.
One Syrian exile Mahmoud with family in Deraa spoke to the BBC.
MAHMOUD: People in plain clothes belonging to the regime, they are opening fire indiscriminately at civilians and trying to suppress this peaceful call for freedom, for rights, for their basic rights as citizens of this country.
ANNE BARKER: A day after the violence an estimated 20,000 people turned out for the funerals of some of the victims and vowed to continue their campaign.
(Sound of shouting)
"There is no God but Allah," they cry. "The blood of martyrs is not spilt in vain."
The protests in Syria began in Damascus last week.
They're the first open demonstrations in decades. A state of emergency declared in 1963 bans public gatherings.
But like their Arab cousins far and wide Syrians too want greater freedoms and democracy and they've lost much of their fear of president Assad's regime.
(Bashar al Assad speaking)
The president himself has denied involvement in the deaths at Deraa. Instead the government blames an armed gang for the violence.
In the past few hours he's offered a series of sweeping reforms to create more jobs and raise wages, improve living conditions and even review whether to lift the state of emergency.
At a press conference in Damascus a presidential spokeswoman Buthaina Shabaan outlined the reforms and she denied the government had ordered its forces to shoot at protesters.
BUTHAINA SHABAAN: The problem is with some media organs who wanted to exaggerate what happened.
ANNE BARKER: It's the Syrian president's word against that of his own people.
Reports are emerging of a bloodbath where dozens of anti-regime protesters were shot in the street allegedly by security forces in the country's south.
It's estimated at least 32 people have died in the past week but some witnesses say the figure is far higher.
Syria's president has offered concessions, mainly to improve living conditions. But as in other Arab states it may not be enough to appease his opponents.
Middle East correspondent Anne Barker reports.
(Sound of protesters and gunfire)
ANNE BARKER: Sounds and scenes like this are multiplying across the Arab world as ordinary citizens continue to rise up against entrenched and oppressive regimes.
Last week it was Yemen. Before that it was Bahrain.
Now it appears to be the turn of Syria - widely seen as one of the most oppressive regimes of all.
(Sound of protesters)
The southern Syrian town of Deraa has been the scene of growing protests in the past week against the decades long rule of president Bashar al Assad's Baath party.
(Sound of protesters and gunfire)
But as the number of protesters has grown so too has the crackdown against them.
Gruesome video is now emerging of a brutal attack purportedly by soldiers and secret police opening fire on scores of people near a local mosque.
(Sound of protesters and gunfire)
Amateur vision which can't be independently verified shows the dead and wounded lying on the streets in pools of blood and people running in panic as bursts of gunfire echo nearby.
(Sound of protesters and gunfire)
Hospital doctors say at least 25 bodies were brought in on Wednesday, all with bullet holes.
Many others say the overall death toll is much higher and one human rights activist puts the figure around 100.
One Syrian exile Mahmoud with family in Deraa spoke to the BBC.
MAHMOUD: People in plain clothes belonging to the regime, they are opening fire indiscriminately at civilians and trying to suppress this peaceful call for freedom, for rights, for their basic rights as citizens of this country.
ANNE BARKER: A day after the violence an estimated 20,000 people turned out for the funerals of some of the victims and vowed to continue their campaign.
(Sound of shouting)
"There is no God but Allah," they cry. "The blood of martyrs is not spilt in vain."
The protests in Syria began in Damascus last week.
They're the first open demonstrations in decades. A state of emergency declared in 1963 bans public gatherings.
But like their Arab cousins far and wide Syrians too want greater freedoms and democracy and they've lost much of their fear of president Assad's regime.
(Bashar al Assad speaking)
The president himself has denied involvement in the deaths at Deraa. Instead the government blames an armed gang for the violence.
In the past few hours he's offered a series of sweeping reforms to create more jobs and raise wages, improve living conditions and even review whether to lift the state of emergency.
At a press conference in Damascus a presidential spokeswoman Buthaina Shabaan outlined the reforms and she denied the government had ordered its forces to shoot at protesters.
BUTHAINA SHABAAN: The problem is with some media organs who wanted to exaggerate what happened.
ANNE BARKER: It's the Syrian president's word against that of his own people.
