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Saturday night the online hacktivist collective Anonymous managed to successfully deface the website of Syria’s ministry of defence, plastering its homepage with YouTube videos purporting to show military brutality in clamping down on the arrests.

“To the Syrian people: the world stands with you against the brutal regime of [Syrian president] Bashar Al Assad,” the statement, posted in both English and Arabic, had read.

"Know that time and history are on your side — tyrants use violence because they have nothing else, and the more violent they are, the more fragile they become. No outside enemy could do as much damage to Syria as Bashar Al Assad has done. Defend your country — rise up against the regime!"

The website had been taken offline at the time of publication.