Hillary Clinton: Syria Running Out of Time for Reform

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said on Friday that Syria is running out of time and will face increasingly organized opposition if it does not undertake reform.

Speaking at a news conference, she also said she was disheartened by reports of fresh violence in recent days and that the Syrian government’s decision to allow one opposition meeting in Damascus was not sufficient.

Hundreds of critics of President Bashar Assad met Monday in the Syrian capital for the first time since the start of three-month uprising against his rule, but the meeting was denounced by some activists as a government-sanctioned ruse to give legitimacy to the regime.

On Thursday, Hundreds of Syrians took to the streets in a pro-democracy protest in the country’s second-largest city Aleppo, before they were dispersed by security forces, activists told the German Press Agency DPA.

Omar Idlbi, a Syrian activist living in northern Lebanon told DPA that several protests were staged in Aleppo on Thursday.

He added that security forces dispersed the protests using batons.
"Aleppo is a key city and protests in such a city are very helpful for the Syrian Revolution," another activist who requested to remain anonymous, said.

Lebanese radio reported that pro-government protesters were chanting slogans supporting Syrian President Bashar Assad in Aleppo as well, holding a counter-rally as anti-government protesters demonstrated.

The protests Thursday came after the Syrian Revolution 2011 Facebook group called for anti-regime demonstrations to "light the spark of the revolution" in what it called “the Aleppo Volcano.”

The Syrian uprising, which started on March 15, has left more than 1,300 protesters dead and 10,000 detained nationwide, according to rights
groups and medics.

Hundreds of security personnel have also been killed.

Source: By Reuters, The Associated Press and DPA