My grandmother would have said yes! (Unfortunately she passed away about twenty years ago.) In any case, the Syrian dissidents known as the Attasy 8 discussed on this blog just two days ago have been released (or some them anyway). Ammar Abdulhamid reports from Damascus:
A few hours ago, the Atassy 8 were released. International and internal pressures seem to have paid off. As such, and rather than coming as a demonstration of strength, as it was intended to be, the entire move came as a further demonstration of the Regime’s weakness, confusion and lack of resolve.
Mr. Ali Abdallah, however, the leftist activist that had read the Muslim Brotherhood statement in the Forum is still under arrest and will reportedly be tried under Law 49 outlawing the Brotherhood and prescribing the death penalty against those who collaborate with it. The same fate seems to await the lawyer and human rights activist, Muhammad Raadoun.
Meanwhile, yesterday, the government arrested another well-known lawyer and activist, one Habib Salih. No reason was given for the arrest. Also, the official spokesman for the Atassy Forum, Mr. Habib Issa, jailed two years ago, is still in jail and is not expected to be released anytime soon. So are the MPs Riyad Seif and Mamoun Homsi. The same applies to scores of Kurdish, Islamist and secularist activists that have been arrested over the last few months and years. The promise that the President made less than a year ago to end the file of political detainees still goes unfulfilled, and still witnesses unexplained reversals.
There’s something about Bashar Assad that reminds me of Ubu Roi – only with real guns.
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2 Comments
1. Buddy Larsen:“talking about things that are understandable only weighs down the mind and falsifies the memory, but the absurd exercises the mind and makes the memory work.”
I think you’re right, Jarry had Bashir in mind, even if his radiant lion glory wasn’t quite yet manifest at the time. It could lead to Bashir being King of His Room in the Palace, as the people move on without him. But, right, for those guns.
May 30, 2005 - 11:10 pm 2. erp:I’m a grandmother, so I’ll be your grandmother’s proxy and tell you yes!!!! You did it with a little help from your friends in the blogging community. I’ll bet the Syrians were swamped with emails.
One person with a candle really can light up the world. Mazel tov.
May 31, 2005 - 8:40 am