AMMAN — Around 90 Syrians gathered outside the Syrian embassy on Tuesday to protest against the violence that took place in their country the previous day.
Two days ago, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said between 60 and 70 army deserters were gunned down as they fled their military posts in northwestern Idlib Province, while another 40 civilians were killed elsewhere, Agence France-Presse reported.
During yesterday’s demonstration, an unidentified man attacked the protesters, but security personnel brought the situation under control and referred the assailant and one protester, identified by his fellows as Abdul Latif Hasan, to the Bayader police station.
Mohammad Shanabo, a Syrian protester, called the incident an example of the “thuggish” behaviour of the Syrian regime and its followers.
“This thug was definitely paid. This shameful act reflects the thugs’ disrespect for Jordan and its laws,” he told The Jordan Times during the protest.
The Jordan Times contacted the Syrian embassy in Amman but no officials were available to comment on the incident.
Hisham Shami, the spokesperson of Coordinating the Syrian Revolution-Jordan, said the attack came as no surprise after the protesters received threats from the embassy.
The Public Security Department’s press office said an investigation is ongoing into the altercation and declined to comment.
During the protest, demonstrators chanted anti-regime slogans and expressed their support for Syrian military defectors.
A protester who identified himself as Abu Abdullah said Monday’s bloodshed demonstrated that the Syrian regime is not serious about ending the violence, although they have agreed to allow Arab observers into the country.
President Bashar Assad’s regime on Monday signed a deal at the Arab League headquarters in Cairo to accept observers to monitor a plan to end the bloodshed, AFP reported.
“The regime signed the deal to have enough time to kill and detain more people,” Abu Abdullah told The Jordan Times while holding the resistance flag, predicting that the regime will undermine the work of the observers.
Hiba Hamsi, who has been in Jordan for four years, said Monday’s killings show that the regime will not bring an end to the bloodshed peacefully.
Asma Bazbouz agreed, adding that the regime is trying to scare off the protesters by killing a large number of civilians — a tactic she asserted would not work.
“Whenever they kill one, the number of protesters will increase,” she said.