Half a million protest against Assad in Hama, joined by US and French envoys

About half a million people demonstrated in Hama on Friday to demand the departure of President Bashar Al Assad’s regime, activists said, as the US and French ambassadors travelled to the flashpoint city to show solidarity with the victims of the government crackdown.

Hundreds of people have fled Hama ahead of demonstrations Friday under the banner of “no to dialogue” with President Assad. More than half a million protesters gathered after weekly prayers to defy the regime, activists said.

Hama has seen some of the biggest demonstrations against Mr. Assad and was also the site of a brutal crackdown by his father nearly 30 years ago, painful memories of which were revived by Assad’s deployment of tanks outside the city this week.

Live footage on the Internet showed a large crowd in Orontes Square, some of them carrying a long Syrian flag.

The visit by US Ambassador Robert Ford was condemned by Syria as incitement and proof that Washington was playing a role in 15 weeks of unrest that have challenged Mr. Assad’s grip on power.

“The US ambassador met with saboteurs in Hama... who erected checkpoints, cut traffic and prevented citizens from going to work,” the interior ministry said in a statement.

“The ambassador incited these saboteurs to violence, to demonstrate, and to refuse dialogue,” with the government, it added.

US State Department spokesperson Victoria Nuland said the aim of the visit was to show “that we stand with those Syrians who are expressing their right to speak for change.”

“We are greatly concerned about the situation in Hama.”

Diplomats said on Friday that French ambassador Eric Chevallier also was in Hama to show support for the city.

Hama holds an important place in the revolt against the rule of the Assad’s family. In 1982, the late Hafez Assad ordered troops to crush a rebellion by Islamist forces, killing between 10,000 and 25,000 people, rights activists say.

Security forces withdrew from Hama last month after a fierce crackdown on demonstrators that killed some 65 people – apparently hoping to appease angry, grieving families. But anti-Assad protests swelled. The outpouring last week was the largest protest since the mutiny against Mr. Assad’s regime began.

(Mustapha Ajbaili, Night Editor of Al Arabiya English, can be reached at: [email protected])