The Syrian regime mounted a rally on Wednesday in Suweida to counter demonstrations denouncing Syrian President Bashar Al Assad that broke out in the mostly Druze city this week.
The pro-Assad rally in front of the governorate headquarters was the first loyalist response to the protests amid a collapse of the Syrian pound, which is triggering demonstrations of public discontent in regime areas unseen since 2011.
The official news agency said Suweida “witnessed today a mass patriotic stand” against American sanctions, which the regime blames for deteriorating economic conditions in Syria. Stiffened US penalties against dealing with the regime are due to come into effect next week.
The crowd “affirmed the national positions and the standing in one line against the terrorist and economic war Syria is being subjected to,” the regime’s media division said.
A smaller anti-Assad sit-in went ahead in a nearby square on the fourth consecutive day of sporadic anti-Assad marches in the city.
Suwayda24, a network of citizen journalists, released footage of dozens of young men and women at the sit-in, raising pictures of political prisoners in regime jails.
Situated between Damascus and Jordan, the Alawite-dominated regime considers Suweida a loyalist province. Its perceived loyalty, as well as other regions with the regime, is being tested by the collapse of the Syrian pound.
Currency monitor Syrian Pound Today said the pound is trading at 2,350, down from its 3,100 record earlier this week.
The exchange rate, however, remains a fraction of its 50 to the dollar value nine years ago.
One resident of Suweida, who declined to be named, told The National that many people in the city and the outlying towns "are on the verge of starvation".
The pro-regime rally echoed the regime’s response to the outbreak of pro-democracy demonstrations in March 2011, which marked the peaceful phase of the Syrian revolt.
The regime rushed loyalists into the streets of Damascus nine years ago to march in support of the president after mostly female civic figures organised the first pro-democracy protest at Marjeh Square in the city.
The authorities used the same tactic days later, after killing two demonstrators in Deraa, which marked the beginning of mass violence against the protest movement, triggering a backlash against the regime later in 2011 and the militarisation of the revolt.
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
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- Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
- Premier League-standard football pitch
- 400m Olympic running track
- NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
- 600-seat auditorium
- Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
- An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
- Specialist robotics and science laboratories
- AR and VR-enabled learning centres
- Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
Iraq negotiating over Iran sanctions impact
- US sanctions on Iran’s energy industry and exports took effect on Monday, November 5.
- Washington issued formal waivers to eight buyers of Iranian oil, allowing them to continue limited imports. Iraq did not receive a waiver.
- Iraq’s government is cooperating with the US to contain Iranian influence in the country, and increased Iraqi oil production is helping to make up for Iranian crude that sanctions are blocking from markets, US officials say.
- Iraq, the second-biggest producer in the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries, pumped last month at a record 4.78 million barrels a day, former Oil Minister Jabbar Al-Luaibi said on Oct. 20. Iraq exported 3.83 million barrels a day last month, according to tanker tracking and data from port agents.
- Iraq has been working to restore production at its northern Kirkuk oil field. Kirkuk could add 200,000 barrels a day of oil to Iraq’s total output, Hook said.
- The country stopped trucking Kirkuk oil to Iran about three weeks ago, in line with U.S. sanctions, according to four people with knowledge of the matter who asked not to be identified because they aren’t allowed to speak to media.
- Oil exports from Iran, OPEC’s third-largest supplier, have slumped since President Donald Trump announced in May that he’d reimpose sanctions. Iran shipped about 1.76 million barrels a day in October out of 3.42 million in total production, data compiled by Bloomberg show.
- Benchmark Brent crude fell 47 cents to $72.70 a barrel in London trading at 7:26 a.m. local time. U.S. West Texas Intermediate was 25 cents lower at $62.85 a barrel in New York. WTI held near the lowest level in seven months as concerns of a tightening market eased after the U.S. granted its waivers to buyers of Iranian crude.
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Killing of Qassem Suleimani
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Sole survivors
- Cecelia Crocker was on board Northwest Airlines Flight 255 in 1987 when it crashed in Detroit, killing 154 people, including her parents and brother. The plane had hit a light pole on take off
- George Lamson Jr, from Minnesota, was on a Galaxy Airlines flight that crashed in Reno in 1985, killing 68 people. His entire seat was launched out of the plane
- Bahia Bakari, then 12, survived when a Yemenia Airways flight crashed near the Comoros in 2009, killing 152. She was found clinging to wreckage after floating in the ocean for 13 hours.
- Jim Polehinke was the co-pilot and sole survivor of a 2006 Comair flight that crashed in Lexington, Kentucky, killing 49.
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Most F1 world titles
7 — Michael Schumacher (1994, ’95, 2000, ’01 ’02, ’03, ’04)
7 — Lewis Hamilton (2008, ’14,’15, ’17, ’18, ’19, ’20)
5 — Juan Manuel Fangio (1951, ’54, ’55, ’56, ’57)
4 — Alain Prost (1985, ’86, ’89, ’93)
4 — Sebastian Vettel (2010, ’11, ’12, ’13)
