Today President of Syria Bashar Assad made a speech at the rally of his supporters. By some reports about a million people gathered at the Omayad Square in Damascus. For the first time in 10 months of antigovernment actions, the Syrian leader appeared in front of such a big audience. In his speech President Assad several times mentioned a failed conspiracy of external forces against Syria. However, he did not specify who the organizer of the conspiracy was. In this case, it could be both the West and Al Qaeda – in the recent months Syrian officials had named both. The Syrian leader is not happy with the League of Arab States (LAS) either. The Arab League mission is currently in Syria trying to stop bloodshed and start a dialog between Syrian authorities and opposition. Assad believes the Arab League has taken an anti-Syrian stand. Meanwhile, the information agency AP, quoting diplomatic sources and human rights activists in Syria, reports that after the observers of the Arab League mission proceeded to business, the cases of violence against opposition activists in Syria did not decrease, quite the contrary, they increased. According to the estimate of international observers, about 5,000 people were killed in Syria in 10 months both civilians and the military and police.
However, there is no guarantee that in case of power change in this country, Assad’s dictatorship – a regime that is quite loyal to the Christians and, in particular, to the Armenians, will not be replaced by a dictatorship of Islamists with all the ensuing consequences.
ARAM ABRAHAMYAN
