Syrian army units fire on each other as soldiers refuse to attack Friday prayers protesters

[Turborama]

Source: The Daily Mail & AP

Army units in Syria have clashed with each other over President Bashar Assad's orders to crack down on protesters.

Witnesses described army divisions refusing to shoot at protesters and then coming under fire themselves from other soldiers for disobeying orders.

The clashes were said to have occurred between the 4th Division, led by Assad's brother Maher, and the reservist 5th Division.

=snip=

Ausama Monajed, a spokesman for a group of opposition figures in the country, said clashes among soldiers have been taking place since Monday.

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1381891/Syrian-army-units-cracks-begin-appear-authoritarian-regime.html?ito=feeds-newsxml

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Syrian army units turn on each other amid crackdown
Possible sign that support for Assad slowly crumbling

By Elizabeth A. Kennedy and Diaa Hadid
Associated Press / April 29, 2011

=snip=

“There are some battalions that refused to open fire on the people,’’ Monajed said, citing witnesses on the ground in Daraa, a city of 75,000 near the Jordanian border.

“Battalions of the Fifth Division were protecting people, and returned fire when they were subjected to attacks by the Fourth Division,’’ he added.

The Fourth Division is run by the president’s brother, Maher.

The reports were corroborated by three witnesses in Daraa and an activist contacted by the AP. All four asked that their names not be used for fear of reprisals.

Full article: http://www.boston.com/news/world/middleeast/articles/2011/04/29/syrian_army_units_turn_on_each_other_amid_crackdown/

[cliffordu]

1. This seems to me to be a hopeful sign that the power structure is more

fucked up than previously thought.

Is this a good thing? I mean good in a relative world of shit situation??

[formercia]

5. "In the land of the Blind, the one-eyed Man is King."

This is how it ends.

[jpak]

2. ruh roh

n/t

[AtheistCrusader]

3. Oh shit, we better intervene!

Can't let a civil war/fight go down anywhere without sticking our junk in it.

[Turborama]

4. That's the 1st time I've seen that suggested.

Seriously.

[AtheistCrusader]

6. It's sarcasm.

Of course we won't intervene. Syria isn't a net exporter of oil anymore.

[Turborama]

7. I meant to add, "...even in jest".

[leveymg]

8. There was speculation/propaganda about it yesterday on RT - Russian "news" site

Someone reposted the broadcast in the DU Videos section.

I don't give it much credence.

[pampango]

11. The UN Security Council did discuss a condemnation of the Syrian government's use of force, but

it didn't come to a vote because China and Russia were going to veto it.

The UN has intervened in more than a dozen countries. It usually starts with a condemnation of a government's actions. Sometimes that's as far as it goes. Sometimes sanctions or inspectors or some equivalent tactic is used. Occasionally it goes as far as the Security Council authorizing military force like in the Ivory Coast and Libya.

I'd say that Bashar can thank Muammar for resisting long enough to, at least temporarily, sour some on the Security Council on the idea of officially condemning, much less intervening, when a government uses its military to shoot civilians.

[MercuryRepeater]

9. Assad is done if this is true.

[Turborama]

10. Up to 15 killed in clashes in Syrian cities as thousands protest

Source: USA Today

Update at 11:15 a.m. ET: Thousands chanting "We are not afraid!" demonstrated across Syria today, The Associated Press reports..

Al-Jazeera reports as many as 15 people killed in clashes around the country.

The AP quotes human rights activist Mustafa Osso, who compiles reports from sources around the country, as saying at least two people were killed and many others were wounded in a day of protests.

The deaths were near the northern city of Idlib and in the coastal city of Latakia — the heartland of the ruling elite, the activist reports.

Read more: http://content.usatoday.com/communities/ondeadline/post/2011/04/syrian-security-forces-open-fire-on-protesters-in-latakia/1

---

Al Jazeera English's Live Blog: http://blogs.aljazeera.net/live/middle-east/syria-live-blog-april-29


Protesters in Nawa, near Deraa, display banners appealing for water, food, medicine and phones

[Turborama]

14. Op-ed article on the mutiny and related videos...

Mutiny in the Syrian army? (Op-Ed & Related Videos)
With increasing military defections, the Syrian regime's violent crackdown may have backfired, analyst says.
http://english.aljazeera.net/indepth/opinion/2011/04/2011426115117817489.html

Syrian soldiers 'switching allegiances'(Video)
Footage shows injured Syrian soldiers allegedly shot for refusing to open fire on protesters.
http://english.aljazeera.net/video/middleeast/2011/04/2011428103516964680.html

[Guy Whitey Corngood]

12. This is big! nt

[Amonester]

13. Looks like 'The (good) boys won't take it anymore'

Hopefully. Finally.

Ass-ad is an ass, and they're beginning to see he's not gawd.

[pampango]

15. Montreal Gazette: "UN rights council finally condemns Syria"

http://www.montrealgazette.com/news/rights+council+finally+condemns+Syria/4701519/story.html

More than six weeks after the start of a brutal government crackdown on peaceful protests in Syria, the United Nations Human Rights Council on Friday issued the UN's first condemnation of the violence.

The U.S.-led proposal passed mainly with support from western European, African and Latin American countries on the 47-member council in Geneva - but only after Washington agreed to water down the measure.

Russia and China actively campaigned against the resolution, while Arab states on the council either abstained from the vote, or were absent - "probably not by accident," noted the Geneva-based monitoring group UN Watch.

The resolution authorizes an independent investigation into the killings and other alleged crimes. But the United States agreed to drop its initial call for the council president to appoint a commission of inquiry, accepting instead a "lesser mission" under the UN bureaucracy, UN Watch reported in a statement.