SANA, via/Agence France-Presse ? Getty Images
Syrians rallied in support of President Bashar al-Assad on Tuesday in Homs, about 100 miles from Damascus.
BEIRUT ? Tens of thousands of people took to public squares in Damascus and other major Syrian cities on Tuesday to pledge allegiance to President Bashar al-Assad in the latest government move to blunt an uprising that poses a grave challenge to his rule.
The rallies came a day after Mr. Assad offered a national dialogue and somewhat vague promises to bring about change in his government, one of the Middle East?s most authoritarian. Though some opposition figures said parts of the speech were encouraging, many more dismissed the initiative as a step that came too late and gave too little.
As the pro-Assad rallies gathered in Damascus and elsewhere, the government offered a broad amnesty for any crimes committed until June 20, a move Mr. Assad hinted at in Monday?s speech. It was the second such amnesty in a month, and though rights groups say hundreds of prisoners were released under the first one, a ferocious crackdown that has killed 1,400 people and led to the detention of more than 10,000, by activists? count, overshadowed any real change that the amnesty might have represented.
?This decision won?t do anything to alleviate the pressure from the street,? said Khalil Maatouk a lawyer and activist in Damascus. ?The amnesty should release all political prisoners. That would mean good intentions and indicate something new.?
Since the uprising erupted in mid-March in the poor southern town of Dara?a, the government has sought to stanch the dissent through tentative reforms, with little real impact so far, while deploying the full coercive force of the state. At times of crisis, the government has also organized rallies to demonstrate its public backing, and those convened on Tuesday in Syria?s biggest cities ? Damascus, Aleppo, Homs, Deir al-Zour and Hama ? as well as coastal cities and restive regions, appeared to be some of the biggest yet.
While Mr. Assad still enjoys support in Syria ? particularly among minorities, the middle class and business elite ? opposition figures said people were bused in and state employees forced to attend. Companies owned by figures allied with the government also insisted their employees go, they said. Syrian television declared that millions had taken part in the rallies, though the numbers, at least anecdotally, seemed smaller.
?We will sacrifice ourselves for you, Bashar!? some shouted. Others yelled, ?God, Syria and only Bashar.?
?I will stand with the president to end all those destructive elements that are hiding themselves amid peaceful demonstrators,? said Najwa Hiddar, a 20-year-old student from Damascus University. ?I think all Syrians stand with Assad.?
But even within the protest, there were voices of dissent. An employee of a private company forced by his manager to attend said he resented that, at a time of economic crisis, companies and the government came to a standstill for a political ploy.
?Me and most of my colleagues prefer to keep our mouths shut and participate,? said the man, who gave his name as Ali. ?We waste a work day to satisfy the regime.?
In several locales, counterdemonstrations were organized, and protesters occasionally clashed with government supporters. In Deir al-Zour, security forces began firing as rival crowds fought, and at least three people were killed, activists said.
In Hama, a large city in central Syria, security forces blocked antigovernment demonstrators from approaching the crowds convened in support of Mr. Assad?s rule.
?We wish you wouldn?t have talked,? activists quoted them shouting, in reference to Mr. Assad?s speech. ?The people want an interpretation of the speech!? others cried in a play on the slogan made popular in Tunisia, ?The people want the fall of the regime.?
Source: http://feeds.nytimes.com/click.phdo?i=046427e43a1ad987656c367057d44e48
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