14-Jan-2012 - Syria rallies back army defectors

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13 January 2012 Last updated at 13:44 GMT Syria rallies in support of army defectors Syrian opposition activists have called for mass rallies in support of the Free Syrian Army, a group of army defectors seeking to topple the government. Demonstrations are reportedly already taking place in Aleppo, Deir al-Zour, Homs, Idlib and NFL jersey supply suburbs of Damascus. One activist group said five civilians had been killed, two of them children. On Thursday, the Free Syrian Army and the main opposition coalition, the Syrian National Council, agreed to co-ordinate their operations more closely. An SNC statement said a liaison office would be set up with the FSA to "maintain direct communications around the clock". The groups also agreed to devise a plan which would include "the reorganisation of FSA units and brigades, and the creation of a format to accommodate within FSA ranks additional officers and soldiers, especially senior military officials, who side with the revolution", the SNC added. The SNC initially opposed the use of force in the uprising against President Bashar al-Assad, while the FSA operated independently. It is impossible to verify how many army defectors have joined the FSA, but its leader, Col Riyad al-Asaad, has put the figure at 20,000. The group has said it is behind attacks on Syrian security forces, and the authorities have acknowledged mounting losses. The most senior military commander to have changed sides said desertions were wearing down the army, but that it could take the FSA more than a year to topple the president. "If we get 25,000 to 30,000 deserters mounting guerrilla warfare in small groups of six or seven it is enough to exhaust the army in a year to a year-and-a-half," Gen Mustafa Ahmed al-Sheikh told Reuters news agency on Thursday. The government says 2,000 security personnel have died combating "armed gangs and terrorists". The UN says more than 5,000 people have been killed by Syrian security forces since the uprising began in March. Gunfire On Friday, the UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human custom nfl jerseys Rights said security forces had killed one protester in the town of Ariha in the north-western province of Idlib, where more than 20,000 people were demonstrating in support of the Free Syrian Army. The group also said about 15,000 people had gathered in the Damascus suburb of Douma, and that there had been violence in the southern province of Deraa and the eastern region of Deir el-Zour. Explosions and heavy gunfire were also reported in the central city of Homs. The Local Co-ordination Committees, an activist group that organises and documents protests, said five civilians had been killed nationwide, including two in Aleppo, and one each in Homs, Hama and Deir al-Zour. The violence comes despite the presence of more than 160 monitors from the Arab League, who have been tasked with verifying the implementation of a peace initiative. In an interview with the BBC on Thursday, the Arab League's secretary general defended the observers, saying that they had helped to save lives. Nabil al-Arabi was responding to criticism of the mission, which one former monitor has called a "farce". Mr Arabi said the presence of the observers had encouraged more Syrians to take part in peaceful demonstrations. He added that he regretted President Assad's criticism of the Arab League in a speech this week and hinted they had exchanged sharp words in private. French casualty Meanwhile, Syrian border guards turned back several hundred activists who wanted to bring in humanitarian aid from Turkey. The guards said they did not have the right permits to enter the country. The activists, who called themselves the "Freedom Convoy to Syria", said they would stage a sit-in protest close to the border. A court in Paris has also opened an investigation into the death of a French television journalist in Homs on Wednesday. The Paris prosecutor has asked for an autopsy on Gilles Jacquier, whose body has been brought back to France. He was killed when a government-escorted convoy of journalists came under attack from rocket-propelled grenades. Mr Jacquier's employer has said there are "troubling" details about the circumstances of his death. "For instance.... why did the military nike nfl jerseys suddenly disappear when the first shots were fired?" asked Thierry Thullier, the head of news at France Televisions.

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