Mass rally to mark 65 years of ruling Baath party скачать в хорошем качестве

Mass rally to mark 65 years of ruling Baath party

(7 Apr 2012) PLEASE NOTE: THE MATERIAL WAS FILMED BY AN AP TELEVISION CREW UNDER SUPERVISION OF THE SYRIAN AUTHORITIES 1. Zoom out from picture of the Syrian president Bashar Assad in Sabee' Bahrat Square to demonstrators 2. Pan demonstrators gathering in square, holding flags, banners and pictures of Assad 3. Zoom out from pictures of Assad and of his late father former president Hafez Assad (in military fatigues) carried by the demonstrators. 4. Zoom out from picture of Bashar Assad to demonstrators 5. SOUNDBITE: (Arabic) Vox Pop, no name available: "We are not against a multi-party system, but we will remain adhered to this party. We are with Syria; with the reforms proposed by the President" 6. SOUNDBITE: (Arabic) Vox Pop, no name available "We are present here to confirm that we are behind the leadership of the Baath Party, and behind the leadership of President Bashar Assad. We are loyal to the party, attached to our leader. We all are gathering, millions of us to confirm our love for the country and the president." 7. Logo of the Baath Party 8. SOUNDBITE: (Arabic) Vox Pop, no name available "Even though they cancelled the Article VIII (of the old 1973 Constitution which referred to the Baath party as the one which "leads the state and society"), we are still committed to our party. This party expresses our reality with the leadership of the president. We are still with him." 9. Wide of demonstration 10. Mid of demonstrators STORYLINE: Supporters of Syria's President Bashar Assad rallied in central Damascus on Saturday to commemorate the 65th anniversary of the foundation of his ruling Baath party. Thousands gathered in the central square of Sabee' Bahrat to express their loyalty to the party led by two generations of the ruling Assad family. Meanwhile on Saturday a Syrian government military offensive against rebel-held towns killed at least 28 people, according to opposition activists. Assad's supporters said they remained loyal to the Baath party, which under a new 2012 Constitution will lose its right to single party rule. Article VIII of the old 1973 Constitution stated that "The leading party in the society and the state is the Socialist Arab Baath Party." The abolition of this artcile is part of a series of recent reforms designed to appease the insurgency. "We are not against a multi-party system, but we will remain adhered to this party. We are with Syria; with the reforms proposed by the President," one of the demonstrators told an AP crew filming under supervision of the authorities. As Assad's supporters gathered in Damascus, activists said Syrian army tanks continued to shell northern towns just days ahead of an agreed truce. President Assad has accepted a cease-fire deadline brokered by international envoy Kofi Annan, which calls for his forces to pull out of towns and cities by Tuesday and for both government and rebels to lay down their arms by 6am local time (0300GMT) Thursday. However, satellite images of troop deployments posted online by the US have cast doubt on whether he intends to comply with an internationally sponsored peace plan. The escalating violence of the past few days has fuelled accusations that Assad is rushing to stamp out as much of the year-old uprising against him as he can before next week's cease-fire. The Syrian government said it has begun to withdraw forces ahead of the cease-fire but activists say no significant pullouts have taken place and troops, checkpoints and snipers remain in almost all major flashpoint towns and cities. Find out more about AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/HowWeWork Twitter:   / ap_archive   Facebook:   / aparchives   ​​ Instagram:   / apnews   You can license this story through AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/metadata/you...