Syrian troops besiege Hama

Dubai: Less than 24 hours after the sacking of the governor of Hama, security forces launched an intensive arrest campaign in the flashpoint city as tanks were deployed at the entrances, blocking entry and exit points, activists and residents told Gulf News Sunday.

The city, which on Friday saw the largest protest against the rule of President Bashar Al Assad since the uprising on March 15, is bracing for a deadly crackdown, the second in its history since the 1982 massacre in which about 30,000 people were killed during the late Hafez Al Assad's rule.

"The swift reaction to remove the governor a day after 500,000 protesters rallied in the city reflects the embarrassment felt by the regime and the fact that it has no solution to the crisis other than using force to crush the uprising," Ali Al Hamwi, a resident and member of the Coordination Committee of the Syrian Revolution in Hama, said.

Sunday afternoon, heavy gunfire was heard in the centre of the city of around 800,000 people.

Al Hamwi said this time round the regime cannot claim that infiltrators have killed security forces which invited the interference of the army.

"We held peaceful protests in Syria. The half-a-million strong rally went off peacefully without a security-related incident. The peaceful protests are evidence that the regime is the one that kills people and causes damage to public property," he said.

Turkey warning

Neighbouring Turkey has warned Al Assad against repeating "another Hama", in reference to the 1982 massacre.

In Damascus, about 40 of the 200 invitees attended the "national initiative" conference held at Semi-ramis Hotel yesterday, reflecting the poor response to the initiative by the vice-president's office to bridge the political divide.

"The conference descended into chaos and forced the withdrawal of several key participants," one attendee said.

Meanwhile, AFP quoted the Switzerland State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (SECO) that it has blocked 27 million francs (Dh116.7 million) worth of assets linked to the Syrian regime in an implementation of the financial sanctions against 23 key players in the Syrian regime in May.