Egypt gears up to host Barcelona Convention COP24 on Mediterranean Pollution in December    Egypt to host 3rd Global Conference on Population, Health and Human Development in November    Egypt to host inaugural AI Everything Middle East & Africa Summit in February 2026    Norway's wealth fund investments in Israel dominate election, could decide government    Egypt's military production, petroleum ministries drive projects to boost citizens' economic gains    Egypt implements EGP 12.7bn water, wastewater projects in Northwest Coast in 2024    Egypt backs UN plan for Libyan elections within 12-18 months    South Korea's Lee in Japan for talks ahead of crucial Trump meeting    Egypt, S.Arabia step up trade ties through coordination council talks    Egypt reviews progress on $200m World Bank-funded waste management hub    Egypt, ADIB explore strategic partnership in digital healthcare, investment    Egyptian pound down vs. US dollar at Monday's close – CBE    Egypt's FM, Palestinian PM visit Rafah crossing to review Gaza aid    Egypt prepares unified stance ahead of COP30 in Brazil    Egypt recovers collection of ancient artefacts from Netherlands    Egypt harvests 315,000 cubic metres of rainwater in Sinai as part of flash flood protection measures    Egypt, Namibia explore closer pharmaceutical cooperation    Fitch Ratings: ASEAN Islamic finance set to surpass $1t by 2026-end    Renowned Egyptian novelist Sonallah Ibrahim dies at 88    Egyptian, Ugandan Presidents open business forum to boost trade    Al-Sisi says any party thinking Egypt will neglect water rights is 'completely mistaken'    Egypt's Sisi warns against unilateral Nile measures, reaffirms Egypt's water security stance    Egypt's Sisi, Uganda's Museveni discuss boosting ties    Egypt, Huawei explore healthcare digital transformation cooperation    Egypt's Sisi, Sudan's Idris discuss strategic ties, stability    Egypt to inaugurate Grand Egyptian Museum on 1 November    Greco-Roman rock-cut tombs unearthed in Egypt's Aswan    Egypt reveals heritage e-training portal    Sisi launches new support initiative for families of war, terrorism victims    Egypt expands e-ticketing to 110 heritage sites, adds self-service kiosks at Saqqara    Palm Hills Squash Open debuts with 48 international stars, $250,000 prize pool    On Sport to broadcast Pan Arab Golf Championship for Juniors and Ladies in Egypt    Golf Festival in Cairo to mark Arab Golf Federation's 50th anniversary    Germany among EU's priciest labour markets – official data    Paris Olympic gold '24 medals hit record value    A minute of silence for Egyptian sports    Russia says it's in sync with US, China, Pakistan on Taliban    It's a bit frustrating to draw at home: Real Madrid keeper after Villarreal game    Shoukry reviews with Guterres Egypt's efforts to achieve SDGs, promote human rights    Sudan says countries must cooperate on vaccines    Johnson & Johnson: Second shot boosts antibodies and protection against COVID-19    Egypt to tax bloggers, YouTubers    Egypt's FM asserts importance of stability in Libya, holding elections as scheduled    We mustn't lose touch: Muller after Bayern win in Bundesliga    Egypt records 36 new deaths from Covid-19, highest since mid June    Egypt sells $3 bln US-dollar dominated eurobonds    Gamal Hanafy's ceramic exhibition at Gezira Arts Centre is a must go    Italian Institute Director Davide Scalmani presents activities of the Cairo Institute for ITALIANA.IT platform    







Thank you for reporting!
This image will be automatically disabled when it gets reported by several people.



Syria denies existence of mass grave
Published in The Egyptian Gazette on 17 - 05 - 2011

AMMAN - Villagers near Syria's southern city of Deraa have found two separate graves containing up to 26 bodies, residents said on Tuesday, and activists said the army continued a military assault on the border town of Tel Kelakh.
Syria denied the existence of any mass grave near Deraa, saying such reports were part of "campaign of incitement" against authorities tackling a two-month wave of protests against President Bashar al-Assad.
But state television quoted an Interior Ministry source saying that five bodies had been found near Deraa, the city where unrest first erupted in March and which troops and tanks stormed last month. It said officials were investigating.
Four residents told Reuters that villagers had contacted the local civil defence after finding two mounds of earth in wheatfields just outside Deraa's old city district. Under the mounds were 22 to 26 decomposed corpses, they said.
Their reports could not be verified because authorities have barred most international media from operating in Syria.
Since Assad sent tanks into Deraa three weeks ago to crush dissent, the army has moved into several other protest centres in the south of the country, around the capital Damascus and on the Mediterranean coast.
Syrian rights groups say at least 700 civilians have been killed by security forces and the United States has condemned the crackdown as "barbaric".
Washington and the European Union have imposed sanctions on senior Syrian officials, though they have yet to target Assad.
Syria has blamed most of the violence on armed groups backed by Islamists and outside powers, who they say have killed more than 120 soldiers and police.
In the latest crackdown, soldiers moved on Saturday into the town of Tel Kelakh, close to Lebanon's northern border.
Human rights campaigners said scores of people had been arrested since Monday and that Assad's forces were firing at several neighbourhoods in the city of 30,000 people.
Citing witnesses, the Local Coordination Committees, a main activists' protest group, said several people were killed in Tuesday's offensive, adding to 12 civilians already killed by army shelling, shooting and sniper fire in the last three days.
A Reuters correspondent on the Lebanese side of the border heard shooting and could see smoke rising from the village of Arida, which lies between Tel Kelakh and the border.
"They destroyed the houses, they cut electricity and water. The wounded are dying in our hands and the dead are strewn on the streets," a Tel Kelakh resident who would only call herself Umm Ahmed told Reuters by telephone.
She said she was hiding in a basement with seven families.
State news agency SANA said security forces clashed with "wanted armed terrorist members" in Tel Kelakh on Monday, killing several and capturing others, and seizing weapons, ammunition and military uniform. Fifteen members of the security forces were wounded, it quoted a military source as saying.
In her stone house just a few metres inside Lebanese land, Umm Fatima said she had sent her nine children to the nearby village of Wadi Khaled for safety.
"All night and day, there's gunfire. I'm so scared it will reach our homes �" I don't dare leave my home," she said.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said there were also
mass arrests in the cities of Homs, Deir al-Zor and Latakia, which security forces had "robbed of normality".
Assad, who trained as an ophthalmologist, has tried a mixture of reform and repression to stem the protests, inspired by uprisings across the Arab world.
Authorities said he intends to launch national dialogue talks, a gesture rejected by opposition leaders and the main activists' protest group who say first security forces must stop shooting protesters and political prisoners must be freed.
SANA news agency said Assad met a delegation from Deraa on
Monday and discussed implementing reforms.
The Facebook page Syria Revolution 2011 called for a general strike across Syria on Wednesday.
"Let us turn this Wednesday into a Friday," it said, referring to the day when most demonstrations take place after weekly Muslim prayers. It called for "mass protests ...no schools (open), no universities, no shops or restaurants, not even taxis."


Clic here to read the story from its source.