北車英文 | 菁英站前校世界新聞專欄中東悲歌敘利亞停火之路變數重重

Ex-Syrian army commander calls for air strikes on Assad troops

APAYDEN, Turkey (Reuters) - A former army commander who now leads a military council trying to organise armed resistance to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad said air strikes on forces spearheading his military crackdown would be the only way to avoid a protracted civil war.

Western and regional powers grappling with how to support the year-long uprising against Assad should shed a reluctance for military action and consider air strikes to force out the Alawite ruling elite, General Mustafa al-Sheikh told Reuters.

This would preserve the structure of the armed forces and incur less bloodshed than arming the mostly Sunni Muslim rebels, as advocated by Saudi Arabia and other Gulf states, the Sunni commander said.

"You will not need a long air campaign. Seventy percent of the Syrian military is already out of action and air strikes would be a message to the Syrian people that the international community is really with them," he said, referring to Sunni soldiers who make up the bulk of the army and tens of thousands of whom are now confined to barracks.

Western powers have little appetite for military intervention in Syria and the NATO military alliance has ruled out a repeat of last year's air campaign in support of rebels who toppled Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi.

Sheikh said chaos was brewing in Syria because many civilians were joining the rebels after their relatives were killed, imprisoned or tortured by Assad's Alawite led-forces.

"They're badly outgunned and still want revenge. They will be emboldened if they get serious weapons. Nothing will control them," he said during an interview at a dusty camp for defecting Syrian officers near the border with Syria.

Sheikh pointed to people in a nearby tent paying condolences to an officer from Hama province. Twelve of his relatives were hacked to death in an attack by Alawite forces on the Sunni village of al-Latmana this week, Sheikh said

"How do you expect his family to react? What do you expect the relatives of those who were raped and tortured to do? The regime is inviting revenge," Sheikh said.

The United Nations says Syrian forces have killed 9,000 people since the uprising against Assad erupted in March last year. Syria blames foreign-backed militants for the violence and says they have killed at least 2,500 soldiers and police.

Syria has agreed to withdraw forces from cities before a ceasefire on Thursday, but has insisted on written guarantees from rebels and regional powers for a halt to opposition violence. Bloodshed has continued unabated, casting doubt on the proposed truce

今天是敘利亞政府軍實現停火的最後期限，但因巴沙爾政權的節外生枝，停火計劃恐遭擱淺。在錯綜復雜的國內外形勢下，敘利亞危機的政治解決之路仍然充滿重重變數。

敘利亞，人類文明發源地之一，希臘、羅馬、波斯、埃及、鄂圖曼土耳其與阿拉伯文明處處可尋；當地百姓和善好客，造訪過的人很難忘懷。

2011年初，敘利亞爆發大規模反政府示威，至今已上萬人死於政府暴力鎮壓，霍姆斯市戰況最烈，遭到軍隊猛烈砲火攻擊。或許大家要問，為何中東老是陷於恐怖暴力循環？我很簡單地說明一個再清楚不過的事實，如果這些地區沒有石油利益，歐美強權根本懶得浪費時間介入，那些把持利益的政客還有假宗教人士也不會鬥得你死我活。（馬儁人，2012）

TM6F_A4EG5QDPA535p_hETl72eJkfbmt4t8yenImKBVaiQDB_Rd1H6kmuBWtceBJ