Diplomatic protection

Syria’s army has been prevented from storming the city of Hama as a result of a visit by the French
and US ambassadors, against a background of fears of a repeat of the 1982 massacres

A visit by the US ambassador to Syria to the city of Hama 220km north

of the capital Damascus on Friday led to a stand-off with the Syrian A Syrian flag is placed on
army and intelligence agencies in the city during what protesters there the US embassy building
called the "Friday of No to Dialogue". writes Bassel Oudat in Damascus after it was
attacked by Syrian
Residents of the city, which two weeks ago saw the largest-ever government loyalists
demonstrations in its history attended by nearly half a million people,
had been concerned that the Syrian army would try to storm the city,
something which was at least temporarily prevented by the visit by US Ambassador Robert Ford.

In response, pro-regime demonstrators in Damascus attacked the US and French embassies in the
city, waving pictures of Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad and chanting slogans including "we will
die for you, Bashar."

The demonstrations in Hama are part of the wave of protests that has been engulfing Syria since
residents of the southern city of Daraa took to the streets four months ago. Last Friday's
demonstration took place without bloodshed in Hama, though dozens of protesters were killed or
injured in other Syrian cities during demonstrations not attended by foreign diplomats.

Ford spent two days in Hama, and when he left his car was garlanded with flowers by residents and
followed by demonstrators on motorcycles. The US ambassador was not the only diplomat to visit
the city, since the French ambassador, Eric Chevallier, as well as senior diplomats from Turkey and
Germany, also visited at the same time, apparently without prior coordination.

The visits by Ford and Chevallier angered the Syrian authorities, a statement from the ministry of
the interior accusing Ford of "meeting with saboteurs in Hama" and "inciting them to protests,
violence and the rejection of dialogue".

The statement described Ford's actions as "deepening divisions and strife among the people of a
united Syria", the country's foreign ministry saying that Ford had visited the city without permission
and describing his trip as "irresponsible" and "clear proof that the US is involved in events in
Syria".

In response, US State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said that the US embassy had
informed the Syrian ministry of defence about Ford's visit before it took place and that Ford had had
to pass through numerous checkpoints.

Nuland denied that Ford had met with "terrorists", asserting that he had met "many ordinary citizens
demanding change in their country." A US embassy spokesman in Damascus said that Ford had
visited the city in order to express "solidarity with the right of the Syrian people to peaceful
demonstrations".

The Syrian government has long insisted that the demonstrations in Hama and elsewhere in the
country have been stirred up by armed militias hostile to the regime, but Ford said in a statement
that he had not seen evidence of the existence of these.
French Foreign Ministry spokesman Bernard Valero said in Paris that the visit of the French
ambassador to Hama had similarly been "to monitor events on the ground and show France's
support for the Syrian people".

The Syrian official media attacked the diplomats' visits, accusing Ford of being "a terrorist". In its
comment on the visit, the government-owned Al-Thawra newspaper said that there was
"coordination between ambassador Ford and the saboteurs" in the city, warning that the people of
Syria "would respond to the visit in their own way".

According to sources close to the American ambassador, Ford arrived in Hama on Thursday, before
returning to Damascus the next day. He was greeted on his arrival by "friendly demonstrators"
holding "olive branches and flowers" and chanting "down with the regime".

He met with 12 people in the city, discussing the demonstrators' political goals and vision for the
country. He also visited the Al-Hurni Hospital, where injured protesters had previously been taken,
the building being protected around the clock by demonstrators out of fears that the security forces
would try to storm the site and arrest the wounded.

Syrian security and intelligence forces first moved into Hama one month ago, with some 100
demonstrators being killed and dozens injured over subsequent weeks. Residents have thrown
stones at the security forces, blocked streets with burning tyres, and threatened revenge attacks on
security personnel.

The temporary retreat of the security forces from Hama encouraged protesters meeting in the city's
Al-Assi Square after Friday prayers to scale up their demonstrations, and on 1 July the city saw one
of the largest demonstrations against the rule of President Al-Assad since the beginning of the
demonstrations in March, with some half a million people taking to the streets and calling for an
end to the regime.

In response, the Syrian leadership fired the governor of Hama and appointed a general from the
military who had taken part in the suppression of protests in the city in 1982 in his stead. Thousands
of troops were deployed, and hundreds of tanks headed towards the city, as families began fleeing
out of fears of a potential military operation.

The Syrian opposition, which has declared its opposition to foreign interference in Syria, welcomed
Ford's visit to Hama, the Local Coordination Committees of the Syrian Revolution, an umbrella
group, saying that it was an opportunity for the world to learn about conditions in the country,
especially given the current media blackout and the ban on international human rights organisations.

"The visit by the two ambassadors to Hama is a form of pressure that could steer the Syrian regime
towards a political resolution," said Hassan Abdel-Azim, leader of the Coordination Authority of
the Democratic Opposition Parties in Syria, which brings together 18 opposition parties.

However, Abdel-Azim added that the "ambassadors have their own agendas, based on the strategic,
political and economic interests of the countries they represent. We rely on the Syrian people to
bring about change."

In 1982, Hama was the scene of massacres carried out by Syrian troops under the rule of former
president Hafez Al-Assad, father of Bashar, against Islamist demonstrators, killing nearly 30,000
people.
Rami Abdel-Rahman, director of the Syrian Human Rights Monitor, a pressure group, warned
against the army interfering once again in Hama, asserting that the city was "a red line" that could
set Syria ablaze.

"The Syrian authorities must think twice before sending the army and tanks into Hama," Abdel-
Rahman told Al-Ahram Weekly. "Most importantly, the demonstrations have been 100 per cent
peaceful, so how can the authorities justify repressive actions in front of the international
community if they use the army to suppress them?"

"Hama is where the 1982 massacres took place, and this should give the Syrian authorities pause for
thought," he said. "If the army goes in to suppress popular protests, the regime will enter a
dangerous stage as the people will be further enraged when the first martyr falls under the wheels of
a tank."

"The regime will be further isolated on the Arab and international stage, and Syria will be put in a
situation the outcome of which will be anyone's guess."

Earlier this week, city residents made a series of demands to the authorities in Damascus that they
said needed to be met before the city could return to normal.

First, the governor fired by Al-Assad two weeks ago would need to be reinstated; second, peaceful
protesters who had been detained would need to be released; and third, the security forces would
need to be withdrawn from the streets and peaceful demonstrations allowed in Al-Assi Square.

The protesters do not doubt that these demands will be rejected, as those from Daraa, Homs and the
Damascus area have already been. However, some observers believe that the visits by the US and
French ambassadors were meant to try to prevent the regime from reaching a point of no return in
its confrontation with the people.

Should this happen, then the West would be obliged to demand that the regime step down,
something on which there has as yet been no consensus.

While the visits have temporarily protected the population of Hama, drawing a red line that the
regime should not cross, they have also exacerbated the diplomatic crisis between Damascus, Paris
and Washington.