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Monday, May 9, 2011

Syrian forces fire on protesters as tanks roll into Banias


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Fears mount that regime of Bashar al-Assad is planning to repeat the siege tactics it deployed in Deraa

Protesters gather in the city of Banias, where Syrian tanks are reported to have opened fire on demonstrators. Photograph: Ho/Reuters

Syrian tanks rolled into the Mediterranean coastal town of Banias on Saturday and opened fire on demonstrators as President Bashar al-Assad continued the violent assault on his opponents.

A day after clashes with anti-government protesters that left at least 30 dead nationwide according to activists and an eyewitness, fears mounted that the Syrian regime was planning to repeat the siege tactics it deployed in Deraa, another key opposition centre.

Those fears were bolstered by reports yesterday that Syrian forces had shot dead four women demonstrating on a coastal road near Banias. Ammar Qurabi of the National Organisation for Human Rights said the women, part of a small all-female gathering, had been protesting against the siege and the cutting of power lines when they were killed by plainclothes security forces or pro-government gunmen. Their bodies were taken to hospital in a Sunni district of the besieged town.

“Banias is now surrounded from all all directions, not a single person can go in or out,” said a resident, who did not wish to be identified. He added that electricity and phone lines had been cut and residents were charging their mobile phones on car batteries. Activists said gunboats could be seen off the Banias coastline and gunfire was heard after tanks approached from three directions in the early hours.

As civilians made human chains to protect neighbourhoods, eyewitnesses added that Sunni rather than Alawite neighbourhoods were being targeted. Banias, which has an oil refinery and is the main point of export for Syrian oil, is a predominantly Sunni city close to the Jebel Ansuriya stronghold of Assad’s minority Alawite sect. It has a potentially explosive mix of religious groups and sects.

The latest attacks came in defiance of a US sanctions regime already imposed and despite the expected announcement that the EU will announce sanctions next week against 14 regime officials, although not Assad .

The eyewitness said an atmosphere of fear and apprehension had taken over the town, adding that two-thirds of the population had already fled, notably women and children.

Activists in touch with residents confirmed his account, saying the town, which has become a leading focus of anti-regime demonstrations, was now besieged. The activists also spoke on condition of anonymity, citing security concerns.

The moves came after human rights groups said at least 30 were shot dead in anti-government protests on Friday’s “day of defiance” and rights group Sawasieh raised the total death toll since mid-March to 800.

“The use of tanks makes us think they are planning to siege the city like Deraa,” said one analyst in the capital. Banias’s persistent restiveness – like that of the southern stronghold, which was surrounded by tanks on 25 April – has irked the government. And, like Deraa’s Omari mosque imam Ahmed Sayasna, Banias has a prominent cleric, Anas Airout, who has come out in support of the protesters.

As news of the tanks’ arrival broke in the capital on Saturday , supporters of the protesters said the international community’s response had been too slow, allowing a brutal crackdown to push to the limit the protesters’ resolve.

The international community, like Syrian protesters, has rejected military intervention and has struggled to find ways of putting pressure on the Assad regime.

On Saturday some Syrians in the capital expressed frustration at the lack of momentum, claiming that many more people wanted change than the protests numbers suggested.

“When a television show gets one complaint, you know there are 100 more who are unhappy but couldn’t be bothered to write,” said one young man who identified himself as Omar. “It’s the same here, but each protester may be worth 200 or 300 people who are too scared to come out.”

Katherine Marsh is the pseudonym of a journalist living in Damascus

source : www.guardian.co.uk

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THE METHOD TO ESTABLISH KHILAFAH

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Assalâmu‘alaikum wa rahmatullâhi wa barakâtuh.

Pembaca yang budiman, negeri ini seolah menjadi negeri segudang bencana; baik bencana alam maupun bencana kemanusiaan. Bencana alam ada yang bersifat alamiah karena faktor alam (seperti gempa, tsunami, dll), tetapi juga ada yang karena faktor manusia (seperti banjir, kerusakan lingkungan, pencemaran karena limbah industri, dll). Adapun bencana kemanusiaan seperti kemiskinan, kelaparan serta terjadinya banyak kasus kriminal (seperti korupsi, suap-menyuap, pembunuhan, perampokan, pemerkosaan, maraknya aborsi, penyalahgunaan narkoba, dll) adalah murni lebih disebabkan karena ulah manusia. Itu belum termasuk kezaliman para penguasa yang dengan semena-mena menerapkan berbagai UU yang justru menyengsarakan rakyat seperti UU Migas, UU SDA, UU Listrik, UU Penanaman Modal, UU BHP, dll. UU tersebut pada kenyataannya lebih untuk memenuhi nafsu segelintir para pemilik modal ketimbang berpihak pada kepentingan rakyat.

Pertanyaannya: Mengapa semua ini terjadi? Bagaimana pula seharusnya bangsa ini bersikap? Apa yang mesti dilakukan? Haruskah kita menyikapi semua ini dengan sikap pasrah dan berdiam diri karena menganggap semua itu sebagai ’takdir’?

Tentu tidak demikian. Pasalnya, harus disadari, bahwa berbagai bencana dan musibah yang selama ini terjadi lebih banyak merupakan akibat kemungkaran dan kemaksiatan yang telah merajalela di negeri ini. Semua itu tidak lain sebagai akibat bangsa ini telah lama mencampakkan syariah Allah dan malah menerapkankan hukum-hukum kufur di negeri ini.

Karena itu, momentum akhir tahun ini tampaknya bisa digunakan oleh seluruh komponen bangsa ini untuk melakukan muhâsabah, koreksi diri, sembari dengan penuh kesadaran dan kesungguhan melakukan upaya untuk mengatasi berbagai persoalan yang melanda negeri ini. Tampaknya bangsa ini harus segera bertobat dengan segera menerapkan hukum-hukum Allah SWT secara total dalam seluruh aspek kehidupan mereka. Maka dari itu, perjuangan untuk menegakan syariah Islam di negeri ini tidak boleh berhenti, bahkan harus terus ditingkatkan dan dioptimalkan. Sebab, sebagai Muslim kita yakin, bahwa hanya syariah Islamlah—dalam wadah Khilafah—yang bisa memberikan kemaslahatan bagi negeri ini, bahkan bagi seluruh alam raya ini.

Itulah di antara perkara penting yang dipaparkan dalam tema utama al-wa‘ie kali ini, selain sejumlah tema penting lainnya. Selamat membaca!

Wassalâmu‘alaikum wa rahmatullâhi wa barakâtuh.

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Ketika berbicara di televisi BBC, Perdana Menteri Inggris Gordon Brown menyerukan intervensi lebih besar dari Barat di Yaman dan menyerang tuntutan bagi kekhalifahan dunia di dunia Muslim sebagai sebuah “ideologi pembunuh” dan suatu “penyimpangan dari islam “.
Taji Mustafa, Perwakilan Media Hizbut Tahrir Inggris berkata: “Gordon Brown, seperti halnya Tony Blair yang memerintah sebelumnya, berbohong [...]

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بِسْـــمِ اللهِ الرَّحْمٰـــنِ الرَّحِيـــم Sia-sia Saja Menggantungkan Harapan Kepada Rencana-rencana Pemerintahan Partai Keadilan dan Pembangunan (AKP)! Pemerintahan Partai Keadilan dan Pembangunan...
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