(Telegraph-UK) Richard Spencer - On Thursday, after a day-long battle, the rebels in a town near Homs managed to seize a police station and barracks of the Mukhabarat, the military intelligence. They blasted rocket propelled grenades at the buildings until the sides caved in. While the assaults on the cities might suggest the Syrian army is heading to victory in the semi-war, this area tells a different story, at least for now. After Friday prayers, the men of the town went in a procession from their mosques, funneling in to the main road in a huge column. A boy in a red bandana led the slogans. "Down with Bashar," he started off. "Thank you Allah," was the refrain from the hundreds if not thousands of men, boys and a small contingent of teenage girls following. "We want freedom!" Old women hurled rice and confetti from the upper stories of houses as the procession passed like a wedding.
2012-02-14 00:00:00Full ArticleBACK Visit the Daily Alert Archive