Word: assad
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Dates: during 1980-1989
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...weeks, stories had reported that the ancient Syrian city of Hama had been severely damaged last month in a showdown between the radical Muslim Brotherhood and government troops loyal to President Hafez Assad. But the international press was never allowed near the city to view the destruction. Now, in these exclusive photographs obtained by TIME, the dimensions of the devastation are documented for the first time. Some areas, notably the old quarter and the Grand Mosque of Hama, were completely obliterated. High-rise apartment complexes were pocked with gaping holes, convincing evidence of the heavy weaponry employed to put down...
Hama is well known as a bastion of the Muslim Brotherhood, a militant Islamic organization that is dedicated to overthrowing Assad. Still, the government was hardly prepared for the ferocious rebellion that was touched off when security forces swept through the city looking for rebel hideouts. Brotherhood leaders suddenly decided to settle old scores with the ruling Baath Party, killing a number of party officials. Then they used the loudspeakers atop the city's minarets to call for an insurrection...
...army responded with tanks, heavy artillery, infantry and commandos who were helicoptered into the city. Diplomatic sources estimated casualties to be in the thousands. Deeply troubled by the events, Assad's regime has even charged that the rebels were aided by Jordan and the U.S. Hama, meanwhile, remained under virtual military occupation last week, closed off to the outside world...
...villages rushing to aid the rebels, and heavy artillery was wheeled up. In the end, the vicious fighting was house to house. The government said it had discovered an arms cache containing 1,000 machine guns. Some ob servers believe that the arms were supplied by opponents of the Assad regime in Jordan, Iraq and Lebanon, and were being stockpiled in preparation for a major challenge to Assad's rule...
...Brotherhood does not have a large following of its own in Syria, but has been directing an increasingly fierce terrorist campaign. Religious friction continues to smolder. Although the country is predominantly Sunni Muslim, Assad's minority Alawite sect dominates the government and armed forces. Assad has also been challenged by elements in his own military, most recently in January, when some 150 officers in elite air force and armored units were arrested on charges of plotting a coup. Still, Western diplomats in the Middle East believe that Assad remains in command. There were no signs last week that...