Angry Arab's correspondent in Syria, Akram, wrote to me:
"Fighting in the Syrian capital Damascus decreased. Calm is dominating the city. For the first time in weeks, the residents of the capital didn't hear the noise of the machine guns, the artillery and helicopters hovering in he sky.
In the morning, the streets witnessed a noticeable increase in traffic, though it didn't reach its usual levels. This is because the city is still almost entirely closed to people coming from the surrounding areas. Photos of the main squares of Damascus published yesterday by the state-owned news agency Sana, showed half empty streets in the most pivotal squares in Damascus. Commenting on the situation in Damascus, a friend said: We're like fishes in a transparent aquarium: we can see everything around us, and have the impression of having freedom of movement, but the fact is that we can't leave the aquarium, and no one outside can get in.
With the clashes declined, back to the scene the stifling crisis of alimentary materials and fuel supplies.Bakeries are overcrowded. Vegetables and fruits are available, but their prices have doubled several times. Cab drivers reported long queues of cars in front of the gas stations, while, people are still suffering a severe shortage of cooking gas where the price of the gas cylinder reached U.S. $ 28 compared with the official price of less than U.S.$ 6 (1 Dollar is 70 Syrian Pounds).
Meanwhile, there are worrying signs of civil tensions in the city, although they're still not completely visible:
"Fighting in the Syrian capital Damascus decreased. Calm is dominating the city. For the first time in weeks, the residents of the capital didn't hear the noise of the machine guns, the artillery and helicopters hovering in he sky.
In the morning, the streets witnessed a noticeable increase in traffic, though it didn't reach its usual levels. This is because the city is still almost entirely closed to people coming from the surrounding areas. Photos of the main squares of Damascus published yesterday by the state-owned news agency Sana, showed half empty streets in the most pivotal squares in Damascus. Commenting on the situation in Damascus, a friend said: We're like fishes in a transparent aquarium: we can see everything around us, and have the impression of having freedom of movement, but the fact is that we can't leave the aquarium, and no one outside can get in.
With the clashes declined, back to the scene the stifling crisis of alimentary materials and fuel supplies.Bakeries are overcrowded. Vegetables and fruits are available, but their prices have doubled several times. Cab drivers reported long queues of cars in front of the gas stations, while, people are still suffering a severe shortage of cooking gas where the price of the gas cylinder reached U.S. $ 28 compared with the official price of less than U.S.$ 6 (1 Dollar is 70 Syrian Pounds).
Meanwhile, there are worrying signs of civil tensions in the city, although they're still not completely visible:
- A resident of Al-Dweilla'a, a religiously mixed neighborhood resided mainly by low and middle income families, told me about armed young men patrolling the streets of the neighborhood at night adding that those young men are, originally, known to be trouble makers but their presence has become, increasingly, acceptable by the residents as it gives them a sense of security in these troubled times.
- In Jaramana, a Damascus suburb with a majority of Druze and Christians, passengers of a passing car opened fire killing a member of the "neighborhood committees" responsible for securing the town. There were reports, though unconfirmed, that the shooter was arrested and "lynched" by the residents.
- There were, also, reports, that couldn't be validated, about sectarian tensions between the residents of two Damascene quarters: Al-Shaghour (Sunni) and Al-Amine (Shiite)."
