Hariri Condemns Hama 'Slaughter': We Cannot Remain Silent
Former premier Saad Hariri condemned Sunday “the slaughter the Syrian city of Hama is being subjected to and all the bloody acts of killing in Homs, Idlib, Deir Ezzor, Daraa and several other cities and regions on the eve of the holy month of Ramadan.”
“These bloody incidents definitely contradict with all the intentions that want sisterly Syria and its defiant people to overcome the current crisis,” Hariri said in a statement.
More than 136 people were killed on Sunday, among them 100 in the flashpoint protest city of Hama, when the Syrian military launched an attack against several cities on the eve of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, human rights activists said.
“Silence at the Arab and international levels regarding what’s happening in Syria, especially in the city of Hama -- which suffered the most appalling massacres against its residents in the 1980s – does not pave the ground for the needed solutions, but will rather push towards further deaths among the ranks of the brotherly Syrian people,” Hariri warned.
“We in Lebanon cannot under any circumstances remain silent regarding these bloody developments in the Syrian arena,” Hariri added, calling on “all of those concerned to contain the situation in order to enable the Syrian people of making its choices freely and within their humanitarian rights.”
The former premier also hoped the Syrian people “will overcome the current painful crisis as soon as possible.”
Hama and the eastern oil hub of Deir Ezzor have been rallying points for pro-democracy protests since mid-March.
In 1982, an estimated 20,000 people were killed in Hama when the army put down an Islamist revolt against the rule of President Bashar al-Assad's late father, Hafez.
The president replaced the governor of Hama after a record 500,000 protesters rallied in the opposition bastion on July 1 calling for the fall of the regime.
Since anti-regime protests broke out, the crackdown on dissent has resulted in the deaths of more than 1,500 civilians and more than 360 members of the security forces, according to a Syrian Observatory toll.
More than 12,000 people are also reported to have been arrested.
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