Syria: Idlib is "New Baba Amr"
Activist says world seems to have forgotten about Syria’s plight.
Syria: Idlib is "New Baba Amr"
Activist says world seems to have forgotten about Syria’s plight.
As Syrian government forces continue to crush opposition in the northwest province of Idlib, IWPR Arab Spring editor Daniella Peled asked the spokesman for the Local Coordinating Committee in Jabal al-Zawiya to describe what was happening there.
What is the situation in Idlib now?
There has been shelling in Idlib for three consecutive days, with more than 200 martyrs and hundreds arrested and wounded. The Free Syrian Army is trying to defend civilians and it has destroyed two tanks and killed some regime soldiers, although we don’t know how many.
In the last few hours the Syrian army started bombing the northern neighbourhood of Idlib city with all kinds of projectiles. About 20 people have been killed.
In the village of Ayn Laroz, about 35 people including one woman have been arrested, and the regime is threatening to kill them in the next 24 hours if troops – one officer and two soldiers – who defected to the Free Syrian Army are not delivered back to them. And after all these other deaths, killing these 35 people will mean nothing to this regime.
Are many people fleeing?
Families in Idlib are trying to seek refuge in nearby provinces, or to get over the border to Turkey. But with the army besieging the city it’s very hard to move around. You can walk through the streets in Jabal al-Zawiya, for instance, and it’s as if there is no one left on the streets – or at least only people over 60. All the young men and women who can flee have done so.
Are there fears the regime is planning something similar to the recent assault on the Baba Amr area of Homs?
Idlib is already being called the new Baba Amr. It is seen by the regime as a very important province because the whole of the city and the surrounding countryside is against [President Bashar] al-Assad.
There are more than 160 demonstrations in different locations here every week, especially on Fridays. The Free Syrian Army is also strong here, because it’s close to Turkey and easy to escape over the border to seek refuge there. Although when I say strong, it’s not like a normal army – they only have a few Kalashnikovs and some other simple weapons, and they aren’t able to confront the regime with its tanks and planes. Still, they are trying as hard as they can to protect the people and defend the demonstrations, and to carry out some operations against the regime’s army now and then.
Are you still calling on the international community to get involved?
International intervention was very important to us and we have been calling for it since last September. But now I don’t expect any aid or any assistance from the international community. It’s obvious they don’t want to help us.
Maybe it’s because they are worried that if they help us get rid of the current regime, then Syria will fight Israel. But Syria is not a threat to Israel, not now nor after the revolution, even though the world doesn’t understand this.
After Assad goes, we will be part of the international community and we will stick to its laws. We want peace with Israel, too. Israel is now one of the strongest countries in the world, and whether we like it or not that’s a fact.
As for the region, Turkey is aiding the regime, if anything, and it’s only Qatar and Saudi Arabia who are helping us now. All the world is against us, and we don’t know why.
(Local Coordinating Committee spokesman’s name withheld for security reasons)
