Call for Syrian army to join 'revolution of freedom and dignity' against Assad regime

THE Syrian opposition yesterday called on the nation's army to join the uprising against president Bashar Assad, saying regime elements are targeting protesters and troops.

The opposition said on Facebook that protests planned for today will honour the "Guardians of the Nation," a reference to the army.

The call appears to be an effort to break a stalemate after nearly ten weeks of protests. During the uprisings in Egypt and Tunisia, the armed forces broke with the regimes and sided with the protesters.

Human rights groups say more than 1,000 people have been killed during the government's crackdown on dissent over the past two months, including dozens of soldiers. The regime blames the unrest on "armed groups", not reform-seekers.

A letter posted on the Syrian Revolution 2011 Facebook page said that people had taken to the streets to demands freedom, but "were assassinated by the same hands that assassinated our honorable soldiers".

"The revolution of freedom and dignity will continue, peacefully, until victory," it said, adding that the only "armed gangs" are security forces loyal to the regime and pro-government thugs.

Mr Assad appears determined to crush the revolt, though the crackdown has triggered international outrage.