http://www.smh.com.au/opinion/contributors/assad-plots-his-next-move-in-liveordie-game-for-syria-20110329-1cepm.htmlAssad plots his next move in live-or-die game for Syria
Paul McGeough
March 30, 2011
The getting of wisdom on the road to Damascus has new meaning this week as 22 million Syrians hold their breath, waiting to see how nimbly the autocratic Bashar al-Assad believes he can bounce the Arab reform ball.
The signals are mixed - one day, not quite Mubarak; the next a bit Gaddafi-esque.
Last Wednesday, Assad unleashed lethal force - his security agencies are said to have killed more than 60 civilian demonstrators. By Thursday, he was Mr Reasonable - allowing officials to suggest that political and media reform was imminent and even an easing of the emergency rule which has straightjacketed Syrian society for half a century.
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Assad was rumoured over the weekend to have been about to address the nation. Instead he was missing in action and his goons were back in the streets - more arrests, more killings. Instead of embracing his people, his forces surrounded the small southern city of Daraa, which has been a focus of unrest for two weeks.
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http://www.smh.com.au/opinion/contributors/assad-plots-his-next-move-in-liveordie-game-for-syria-20110329-1cepm.html