A firsthand account of Syrian atrocities.
By Nir T. Boms & Farid N. Ghadry
According to estimates, almost 100 Kurds were killed in the riots that followed a soccer match in the city of Qamoshli, Syria last month. Over 1,300 Kurds are believed to have been arrested for treason, espionage, incitement, and disrupting the public order in the cities of Qamoshli, Ifrin, Dar-a Zhur, Aleppo, and Damascus.
1/9/2005
Nir Boms and Elliot Chodoff
Since he abruptly returned from Britain to Syria five years ago to inherit the regime from his ailing father, thirty-six year old Syrian strongman Basher al-Assad has rarely smiled in public. After all – running Syria is a serious business. But lately, it seems that Assad is showing the world a different face. While visiting Cairo last week to discuss the situation in the Middle East he actually cracked a half-smile.
Mar. 18, 2004
By NIR BOMS & ERICK STAKELBECK
Bashar Assad dodged another bullet by dispersing last weekend’s anti-government riots in northern Syria. And his Ba’ath Party continues to maintain a tyrannical grip over the lives of 22 million Syrians. For Syria’s democratic reformers, however, the widespread unrest may signify the calm before the storm.
Baathist oppression lives on in Syria.
March 25, 2004.
By Nir Boms & Erick Stakelbeck
While the anti-government riots that raged throughout the Kurdish-populated areas of Syria for much of the past week and a half appear to have subsided as of Monday, the recent unrest may prove to be the calm before the storm for Syria’s Kurdish pro-democracy advocates.
On March 21, amidst banners condemning the continued repression of Kurds by Syria’s ruling Baath party, some 50 protesters assembled in front of the Syrian embassy in Washington, D.C.