@sehtawshDr. Salem Ehtawsh
Why Saudi Arabia does not do the same with Bahrain, Yemen and Libya; aje.me/nIEIVh
Syrian troops fired on mourners at a funeral and raided an eastern city, killing at least 50 people in an intensifying government crackdown on protesters. More than 300 people have died in the past week, the bloodiest in the five-month uprising against President Bashar Assad. Syria's Arab neighbors forcefully joined the growing international chorus of condemnation against Assad's regime for the first time on Sunday. The king of Saudi Arabia, whose country does not tolerate dissent and lent its military troops to repress anti-government protests in neighboring Bahrain, harshly criticized the Syrian government and said he was recalling his ambassador in Damascus for consultations. "What is happening in Syria is not acceptable for Saudi Arabia," King Abdullah said in a written statement on Monday. "Syria should think wisely before it's too late and issue and enact reforms that are not merely promises but actual reforms," he said. "Either it chooses wisdom on its own or it will be pulled down into the depths of turmoil and loss." The Saudi king's statement came the day after the Gulf Cooperation Council urged Syria to "end the bloodshed" as the international pressure mounts.
The 22-member Arab League, which had been silent since the uprising began, said Sunday it is "alarmed" by the situation in Syria and called for the immediate halt of all violence. The US envoy to Damascus, Robert Ford, who returned to Syria on Thursday, also said in a US television interview on Sunday that Washington will "try to ratchet up the pressure" on President Bashar al-Assad's regime.
Earlier in the day, Syrian forces have launched an assault on two towns, reportedly killing dozens of people in an increasingly violent crackdown on anti-government protests. According the Local Co-ordination Committees of Syria, an opposition human rights group, government forces killed more than 70 people across several cities. Activists also told Al Jazeera on Sunday that troops had killed at least 50 people in the eastern city of Deir ez-Zor alone.
