Stop Fundamentalism – The Syrian President has introduced a new Prime Minister in face of a 15 months dissent and uprising that has cost the lives of over 13,000 Syrians according to activists. Many of the victims of the violence have been women and children. A recent raid by government forced on the city of Hula left over one hundred civilians dead of which about 50 were children and at least 30 were women.
The introduction comes after so-called a parliamentary election that was boycotted by the opposition. A French Foreign Ministry spokesman called the elections to be a “show” and the appointment of the new Prime Minister to be “an evasion and a masquerade” to derail the call for democracy in Syria.
AP reports that last week, Western nations expelled Syrian diplomats in a coordinated move after the May 25 massacre in Houla which is a cluster of small villages in the central province of Homs. In a counter move, on Tuesday, Syria barred some U.S. and European diplomats, saying they were “no longer welcome.” The countries targeted by the order had already pulled their ambassadors from Damascus.
As the conflict grows more violence, there are fears of violence spilling across Syria’s borders.
In Lebanon on Wednesday, security officials told AP that Syrian troops had clashed with gunmen on the Lebanese side of the border, near the eastern town of Arsal.
