The opposition Syrian National Coalition has rejected Russian demands that, for an international conference, there should be no pre-condition of the departure of President Assad.
"We have been very clear that any transitional period must start with the departure of Assad and the heads of the security services," Khalid Saleh, the spokesman of the SNC, said Tuesday.
Saleh also said the Free Syrian Army must receive "major shipments of weapons" and "must be able to control more areas of Syria before we start thinking about the conference".
2110 GMT:Damascus. An opposition Facebook page has claimed "a number of 120mm heavy caliber mortars...in a joint operation coordinated with battalions operating in Damascus".
Targets included the Presidential Palace, Damascus International Airport, and security buildings.
"The operation comes in conjunction with the second anniversary of the start of our revolution, which is a revolution of freedom and dignity against the despotic regime of the criminal Bashar al-Assad," the statement said.
35 martyrs were reported in Tal Brak in Hasakeh in a massacre that was committed by the regime forces; 34 in Damascus and its Suburbs; 18 in Daraa, 11 in Homs; 11 in Aleppo; 6 in Raqqa; 5 in Hama; 4 in Idlib; 1 in Qunaitera; and 1 in Jableh.
1823 GMT: Bahrain. Gulf News Daily reports that three of the seven men accused of attacking security forces with Molotov cocktails in Abu Qawa in February --- seriously injuring one policeman --- were in prison at the time of the attack, according to their defence lawyer. The paper quotes lawyer Shazlan Khamis as having told the High Criminal Court yesterday:
My three clients were convicted of participating in an illegal gathering and were in jail at the time of the attack, the investigating officer had initially claimed they were on the run, but that's not true because they were jailed.
The investigating officer on the case says that "secret sources" revealed to him the identity of all seven men, adding that "they were already in jail for another case when we questioned them."
1815 GMT:Bahrain. A final verdict was expected today in the case of the 28 Bahraini medical professionals facing misdemeanour charges (see 0615 entry). However, in court the judge postponed the case until September 4th, reports Human Rights First, adding that the delay is so the judge can "consider allegations of torture against the medics during their detention last year". Commenting on the decision, Brian Dooley of Human Rights First said:
“Justice delayed is justice denied even longer for these medics who should not be on trial in the first place. Today’s delay shows the dictatorship is refusing to listen to international calls for reform by continuing with these politically-motivated trials. The medics should all have been acquitted today and investigations opened into who tortured them in custody.”
The NGO also quotes the reaction of neurosurgeon Nabeel Hameed, one of the 28:
Our suffering continues and our future is unclear. All the medics are disappointed as it means our lives continue in suspended animation.
Tuesday, May 21, 2013 at 20:13 | 