Syrian Revolution                                                                الثورة السورية

Day 199: Thursday, 29 Sep 2011                                          اليوم ١۹۹: الخميس، ٢۹ أيلول/سبتمبر ٢٠١١

مهاجمة سفير الولايات المتحدة إلى سورية، وماهر غير قابل على إختراق الرستن

 Footage shown on a Syrian pro-Assad TV station shows protestors attacking a US embassy vehicle in Damascus

US Ambassador to Syria Attacked; Maher Assad Unable to Crush Rastan

 Today’s Top Stories

•                US Ambassador to Syria was pelted with tomatoes, trapped in an office, and vehicles of his convoy were seriously damaged.

•                At least 17 people were killed in Syria as Rastan continues to resist heavy attacks by Maher’s forces.

•                A 16-year-old schoolgirl was dumped in an orchard in the Damascus suburb of Douma, after she had been kidnapped, raped, and beaten by Shabbiha militiamen.

Today’s Top Videos

•                Severe torture marks on the bodies of Syrian detainees in Al-Bayada.

•                Severe torture marks on the corpse of fallen hero Yusuf Darwish in Idlib.

•                Organs of fallen hero Ahmad Abdo found stolen when his body was handed over to his family in Banyas.

Today’s Summary of Events

 U.S. Ambassador to Syria Robert Ford was pelted with tomatoes by Baath Union members in Damascus today as he arrived to a meeting with an opposition figure in Damascus. The Baathists tried to storm the office and broke a few door locks to scare the Ambassador and his guards. Ambassador Ford was trapped in the building for three hours before he could leave safely. This was not before the vehicles of his convoy were seriously damaged by the Baathists who hailed stones and rocks as well as bashed the cars with iron rods. The French Ambassador’s convoy was attacked in a similar way less than a week ago.

 Afterwards, Ford was defamed on Syrian TV and accused of hitting a child with his vehicle upon departure from the office where his convoy was attacked. The US embassy responded with a wire announcement stating that “we have seen reports that the U.S. Ambassador’s vehicle hit a child while leaving the scene of an assault by a mob today. There is no truth to that report. The Ambassador’s vehicle did not hit anyone. The Ambassador’s vehicle was accompanied by Syrian police vehicles throughout the drive back to the embassy.”

 In the meantime, Maher Assad’s Fourth Battalion remains impotent in the face of the Free Syrian Army (FSA) in Rastan, despite the use of Iranian and Hezbollah’s militiamen, snipers, warplanes, and heavy artillery. Syrian forces also used Iranian nerve gas, which left many civilians with partial paralysis, migraines, and partial blindness. At least seventeen deaths have been confirmed today as gunmen on board helicopters opened fire using heavy machineguns targeting any moving object in Rastan. The Khaled Bin Walid regiment of the FSA is still holding ground in Rastan, and has actually been able to drive the latest wave of Assad loyalists back, capturing many armored units, ammunition, and troops. An Iranian sniper was amongst those captured.

 The humanitarian conditions in most Syrian cities continue to deteriorate, as medical supplies are scarce, doctors and medics are targeted, water, fuel, and many basic primary supplies are cut off at many besieged areas in the country. The Homs districts of Deir Baalba, Bayada, Khaldiyeh, and Baba Amr are still under siege. The regime is letting police dogs loose on demonstrators in these areas. In Idlib, Assad militiamen kidnapped two girls, and news of the arrival of an Iranian civilian airplane packed with soldiers in a nearby military airbase had been circulating since the early morning.

 In the Damascus suburb of Douma, a 16-year-old schoolgirl was dumped in an orchard after she had been kidnapped, raped, and beaten by Shabbiha militiamen. The girl was transported to a hospital where doctors confirmed she was raped with extreme violence. The story fueled the city with massive demonstrations, and caused many defections in the army. Many schoolgirls have been kidnapped all over Syria this past week, some of them even by female security agents.

 Demonstrators continued to take to the streets all over the country, fuelled by student demonstrators who have formed a Union against the regime. Security forces continue to open fire indiscriminately at young demonstrators.