War Arrives in Damascus: One Activist’s Account
UN human rights investigators say the violence in Syria is spiralling out of control. (Photo: BBC Video)
Day-to-day life for Amer al-Sadeq, an activist with the Syrian Revolution Coordinators’ Union is far from secure. He’s seen up to 400 soldiers patrol his Damascus neighborhood. An unexploded ordinance sits outside his home. And Tuesday his President Bashar al Assad admitted that his country, Syria, is now in a “state of war.”
“I think it’s better he [Assad] put it this way. At least people will know that he’s at war against his own people,” says al-Sadeq.
Al-Sadeq blames Syria’s Alawite minority for most of the violence. And he doesn’t foresee a day soon when Alawites live peacefully alongside other Syrians.
“The Syrian people are very tolerant. But nobody is going to be tolerant to anyone who killed people without any discrimination,” he says. “We have taken many bullets with our bare chests. The opposition works day and night to win. Nobody can defeat the people, no matter how long it takes.”