Syrian TV: Train derails in central Syria

[July 23, 2011]  BEIRUT (AP) -- A passenger train derailed and caught fire in central Syria Saturday, killing the driver and injuring several passengers, after "saboteurs" tore out part of the tracks, state TV said.

The train, which was carrying around 480 passengers, was traveling from the northeastern city of Aleppo to the capital Damascus.

State TV said the saboteurs targeted the train, ripping up a section of the tracks at al-Souda near the central city of Homs. That caused the train to derail and the front carriage to catch fire, killing the driver instantly and injuring several others.

Syrian TV showed footage of several white-and-red carriages that had jumped the tracks and at least one overturned carriage.

Homs governor Ghassan Mustafa Abdul-Aal called it a "terrorist and criminal" act and said it was a "clear message" to everyone who says that the protest movement calling for the ouster of President Bashar Assad is peaceful.

Abdul-Aal did not elaborate or say what evidence there was to blame saboteurs, and there was no immediate indication who was behind the incident.

Syria is in the throes of an uprising against the Assad family's 40-year rule. Activists say more than 1,600 civilians have died in the government crackdown since the revolt began in mid-March.

The government blames the unrest on terrorists and foreign extremists, not true reform-seekers, and has taken pains to portray itself as the only guardian against civil war.

The regime has banned nearly all foreign media and restricted coverage of the uprising, making it nearly impossible to independently verify events on the ground or casualty figures.

The area of central Syria and Homs in particular has been at the heart of the uprising.

Hundreds of thousands of Syrians across the country defied the violent government crackdown Friday, insisting they will not be terrified into submission through bullets, mass arrests and more than four months of attacks by security forces. At least five people were killed, activists said, as security forces used batons, bullets and tear gas to disperse protesters in several places.

Friday marked a clear attempt by the opposition to present a united front.

"One, one, one, the Syrian people are one!" protesters shouted in the capital, Damascus, in what has become a weekly ritual, with hundreds of thousands of people flooding the streets across the country demanding Assad leave power.

The Syrian conflict has become a test of wills between protesters emboldened by the revolutions in Egypt and Tunisia, and an entrenched family dynasty.

Two special advisers to U.N. chief Ban Ki-moon warned that there was a "serious possibility" that Syria has committed crimes against humanity.

In a statement, Francis Deng, the adviser on preventing genocide, and Edward Luck, the adviser of the responsibility to protect civilians in conflict, pointed Friday to "persistent reports of widespread and systematic human rights violations by Syrian security forces responding to anti-government protests across the country."

[Associated Press; By ZEINA KARAM]

Zeina Karam can be reached on http://twitter.com/zkaram.

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