Damascus // Hundreds of students staged an anti-government demonstration at Damascus university yesterday, clashing with regime supporters, amid growing indications the Syrian authorities are preparing to decisively crush an uprising before it gains further momentum.
The protest took place outside the university's faculties of science and sharia law in central Damascus, according to activists, with students demanding freedom and shouting their support for the city of Deraa, the epicentre of dissent against the ruling elite where dozens of protesters have been killed.
An eyewitness said a small group of students started chanting and were quickly joined by scores of their colleagues. "There were many people, probably hundreds, and then a group of pro-regime student demonstrators came and there were fights between them," the witness said.
Security forces were quickly rushed to the site and broke up the crowd, making a large number of arrests, according to the witness, who
also said he heard gunfire. Activists said one student had been killed but reports were conflicting last night.
Unprecedented public demonstrations began in Syria last month with tiny shows of dissent in the capital, before spreading across the country. But until yesterday Damascus itself had been largely quiet.
"It's significant to have such a large protest in the centre of the city; it's not like something in the suburbs or the provinces, it's harder to dismiss," said a Syrian political analyst, who spoke on condition of anonymity. "And this is the biggest anti-regime demonstration at the university in decades; there are thousands of students enrolled there and it's the first time the security has gone in like that."
According to students, smaller demonstrations in support of Deraa took place in a different faculty building two days ago, but security forces did not intervene in that instance.
Sheikh Imad Rasheed, the deputy dean of Damascus University's Sharia law department, was arrested by the Syrian authorities earlier this month. Mr Rasheed had dismissed government claims protesters were calling for improved material living standards, saying they were, in fact, demanding freedom.
At least 170 civilians have been killed in more than three weeks of unrest, according to human-rights monitors, and the prospects for further violence appear to be escalating rapidly.
The authorities announced that nine soldiers had been killed and more than 20 wounded in an ambush by "terrorists" near the port city of Banias on Sunday
The claim that militant forces are now strong enough to take on and defeat an army patrol deep inside Syria comes two days after the authorities said 19 unarmed police officers were killed in Deraa by gunmen.
Neither report can be independently confirmed. State television showed graphic footage of dead and injured security officers from Deraa on Sunday, as well as funeral proceedings.
Military units were deployed to Banias late on Saturday after Friday protests, with tanks stationed at oil facilities, according to residents. Troops had reportedly been pulled back to the outskirts yesterday, while funerals were taking place for four protesters shot the previous day.
Activists say pro-government gunmen were responsible for the deaths, but the authorities have blamed "conspirators". Syrian army units have already been sent to Deraa and Latakia in response to public demonstrations.
With the reports of security officers being killed, tough government rhetoric has further hardened, officials saying legitimate peaceful
protests have now been hijacked by malevolent, foreign-backed armed gangs.
On Saturday the government invited representatives from all foreign diplomatic missions in Syria to a rare collective briefing, at which officials explicitly said Islamic militant groups were carrying out attacks, according to one diplomat who attended.
"The message was that what is happening now is similar to what happened in the 1980s; we were told that [Islamic] fundamentalists are increasingly active," he said, on condition of anonymity in line with diplomatic conventions. "It was very ominous."
During the 1980s Syria faced a rebellion by Sunni militants who with training and materiel from neighbouring countries carried out a long and murderous campaign of bombings and shootings against secular government officials, the professional classes and members of religious minorities, including the ruling Allawite sect, a branch of Shiite Islam.
The extended and bloody revolt was eventually smashed in 1982 when government forces assaulted the militants in Hama, killing thousands of residents and destroying much of the city's old district with artillery barrages. Such merciless tactics were justified on the grounds there could be no negotiations with fanatical Islamic insurgents.
In contrast, this spring's uprising began with protesters peacefully demanding school children and political dissidents, jailed under draconian emergency laws, be released. But, after security units opened fire on a crowd in Deraa on 18 March, killing four people, the situation spiraled rapidly into bloodshed.
In addition to a security crackdown, the country's president, Bashar al Assad, has made a series of conciliatory steps, ordering an inquiry into the Deraa shootings, sacking unpopular local officials and releasing scores of prisoners. He has also tasked a committee to look at removing the hated emergency laws.
Those moves, however, have not satisfied demonstrators, who continue to insist on immediate sweeping reforms to Syria's autocratic system of government, unaccountable security services and corrupt business elite.
psands@thenational.ae
Demonstrations hit Damascus university
Students are Damascus university yesterday demanded freedom and shouted their support for the city of Deraa, the epicentre of dissent against the ruling elite .
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