Syrian regime imposed military solution against public protest, West pressures Assad

At the time when the Syrian regime imposed military solution against public protest ongoing since mid-March, the West increased its pressure on President Bashar al-Assad to stop the ‘repression’ of the protesters, with a high threat to lift what is happening in Syria to the UN Security Council.

In a speech marking the 66th anniversary of forming the Syrian Arab Army, President al-Assad praised the army for foiling the plots of the enemies of Syria and being a model in commitment to the nation's causes and a defender of its rights, state news agency SANA said on Monday.

Assad pointed out that the conspirators wished to cause sedition, but the Syrian people proved bigger than plots and managed to end sedition and make a responsible stand to explore the areas of weakness and deal with them, opening prospects of comprehensive reform that will not stop despite the financial, technological, diplomatic, media and military resources that are deployed against Syria.
  
In the speech, which SANA republished in English from the People's Army magazine, Assad said: "We will remain free in our national decision-making and sovereign in our international relations".

The Syrian President’s speech came as the Syrian army was launching a crackdown focused on the cities of Hama and Deir al-Zour, Abu Kamal leading to scores of deaths.

An official security forces said the army was targeting ‘armed terrorist groups’ in Hama who had cut off main and side roads in the city and attempted to isolate it from other provinces.

According to SANA, the source pointed out that while army units were carrying out this task, they were attacked by medium firearms while armed terrorist groups burned a number of police, army and security forces stations and vandalized public facilities.

The source said that these armed terrorist groups will be dealt with according to the developments, noting that all that was said about tanks entering the city of Hama is completely false.

Witnesses informed SANA that scores of gunmen were stationed on the rooftops of the main buildings in the streets of the city, carrying machine guns and RPGs and shooting intensively to terrorize citizens.

Western-backed agencies however alleged that Syrian security forces killed nearly 140 people in Hama. US President Barack Obama and European leaders condemned the crackdown as Germany and Italy called for an urgent meeting of the UN Security Council.