Editorial
Deaths in Damascus
Regime must heed people's voice
The regime of President Bashar al-Assad has clearly opted for a violent suppression of anti-government demonstrations in Syria. That is rather ironic given that only days ago the Syrian strongman was busy giving every indication of heeding the people's voice and even went to the extent of lifting the decades-old emergency. With as many as a hundred people dead over two days as a result of deadly government attacks on protesters, Assad's overtures now have been rendered hollow. The lifting of the emergency has turned out to be a sham, with the regime not at all embarrassed about the severe measures it has taken to cling to power.
President Assad is making a huge mistake in assuming that such a ham-fisted way of curbing public protest will save his regime. There are the obvious lessons he ought to take from his neighbourhood. Egypt and Tunisia have sent their dictators packing. Libya's Gaddafi is earning opprobrium by waging war against his own people; and in Yemen, a beleaguered Ali Abdallah Saleh has however resigned. The lesson in all this is that across a wide swathe of the Middle East people have arisen in a spontaneous revolt against long-entrenched rulers. The problem is especially acute in Syria, where the Assad family has been in authority for more than four decades. The country, with its ubiquity of intelligence agents routinely keeping watch over citizens, has turned into a virtual police state. And no matter how higher and deeper the level of suppression of dissent, the regime is today in a vulnerable state.
The government's callous treatment of people can only galvanise them into heightened protests. The shootings have patently dented the credibility and legitimacy of the regime. Its continuation in power can only damage the future of Syria.
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