Syria's Assad vows to continue iron-fisted crackdown
鈥� A daily summary of global reports on security issues.
Amid an increasingly violent uprising, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad has vowed that he will continue to crackdown on the opposition and that he will not step down.
The remarks come after the Arab League鈥檚 deadline for an end to government violence passed last night and as reports have surfaced that a ruling Baath Party building was attacked in Damascus. If the reports of the attack on the government building are confirmed, it would mark the first time violence from the uprising has entered the capital city.
鈥淭丑别 and the pressure to subjugate Syria will also continue,鈥� said Mr. Assad in an interview with the Sunday Times. 鈥淗owever, I assure you that Syria will not bow down and that it will continue to resist the pressure being imposed on it.鈥�
The Syrian president went on to say that he believed the government鈥檚 role was to 鈥渞estore stability and protect civilians鈥� by fighting those who have risen up against his government. 鈥淲e have to prevent militants from doing what they are doing now, killing civilians doing massacres, in different places in Syria,鈥� he said.
UN: 3,500 people killed since March
According to the United Nations, at least since the uprising began in March. Violence has risen as Syrian military units have begun defecting, providing more weapons to the opposition. Violence in Syria is difficult to verify as most foreign journalists are unable to enter Syria and those inside have extremely limited mobility, reports the BBC.
Reports that a building belonging to the ruling Baath Party was attacked remain unconfirmed, but the Free Syrian Army, made up of many military defectors has claimed responsibility for it. Initial reports indicate that the building was attacked with grenades.
鈥淚f it is true it indicates that things are getting worse, although the attack is the Syrian government,鈥� reports Sky News鈥� Stuart Ramsay in Beirut.
Civil war imminent?
As fighting intensifies, international leaders around the world have voiced concerns that a civil war in Syria is imminent and there are growing calls for more international pressure on Syria and potentially a military intervention like that seen in Libya.
鈥淚 think there could be a civil war with a very determined and that is, if not directed by, certainly influenced by defectors from the army,鈥� said Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in an interview with NBC.
As the situation continues its downward spiral in Syria, Libyans announced that they captured Seif al-Islam Qaddafi, the last member of the Qaddafi family who remained at large.
The events unfolding in Syria make the overthrow of Libya鈥檚 former leader Muammar Qaddafi seem like a writes Patrick Cockburn in an editorial in The Independent.
鈥淸T]he media's coverage has been misleadingly simple-minded and one-dimensional, giving the impression that all we are witnessing is a heroic uprising by the Syrian masses against a brutal Baathist police state,鈥� writes Mr. Cockburn. 鈥淏ut manipulation of the media by the opposition is also made easy by the lack of information from the country.鈥�
