Saudi king issues rare criticism of Syria

In a rare move, Saudi Arabia's King Abdullah issues a television statement recalling his ambassador to Syria and urging Damascus to "stop the killing machine and the bloodshed... before it is too late". Images and soundbites of Saudi and Syrian citizens living in Saudi Arabia reacting to the speech. 00:00:51 PRWINT CodeNameMMV358593_TEN FileNameMMV358593_TENVOX POPs (two)SHOTLIST: RIYADH, AUGUST 8, 2011 (SOURCE: AFPTV) VOXPOP 1 (man) Saudi Arabian citizen (Arabic, 11 sec): "What's happening to our brothers in Syria is a real massacre and this is what we expected King Abdullah to do." VOXPOP 2 (man) Syrian citizen living in Saudi Arabia(Arabic, 23 sec): "We were expecting this kind of reaction sooner, not only from the King of Saudi Arabia but from all the Arab leaders and the entire Islamic nation. We hope for the best for Syria. We are living away from our country but we watch the news on TV channels like everyone else and we hope for the best." 22 seconds of footage showing: -MS of TV screen showing a still image of King Abdullah on the Al Jazeera news channel -CU of laptop screen showing an Arabic news website -VAR shots of people sitting in a Syrian restaurant in Riyadh /// --------------------------------------- AFP text story: Syria-politics-unrest,3rdlead-WRAP Saudi Arabia recalls Syria envoy, Assad further isolated =(GRAPHIC+VIDEO)= ATTENTION - ADDS family killed /// DAMASCUS, Syria, Aug 8, 2011 (AFP) - Saudi Arabia recalled its envoy to Damascus and the Arab League condemned violence in Syria, leaving President Bashar al-Assad further isolated even as he defended his crackdown on "outlaws." Hours after the envoy's recall, rights activists said on Monday a mother and her two children were shot dead by security forces in the eastern city of Deir Ezzor, where 42 people were reported killed on Sunday in an army assault. The surprise move by Riyadh, the Arab world's Sunni Muslim heavyweight, marks a major escalation of international pressure on Assad's regime for its brutal repression of a pro-democracy uprising that has left more than 2,000 people dead. "Saudi Arabia announces the recall of its ambassador for consultations," King Abdullah said in a statement after Syrian security forces had killed more than 50 people on Sunday. The statement urged Damascus to "stop the killing machine and the bloodshed... before it is too late." "The kingdom does not accept the situation in Syria, because the developments cannot be justified," Abdullah said, urging "comprehensive and quick reforms." "The future of Syria lies between two options: either Syria chooses willingly to resort to reason, or faces being swept into deep chaos, God forbid," he said. "Large numbers of martyrs have fallen, their blood has been shed, and many others have been wounded... This is not in accord with religion, values and morals," he said. He reminded the Syrian government of Saudi support "in the past," but said that the Gulf kingdom had to take an "historic" decision. The US envoy to Damascus, Robert Ford, who returned to Syria on Thursday, said in a television interview on Sunday that Washington will "try to ratchet up the pressure" on Assad's regime. Ford, who infuriated Damascus by visiting the flashpoint protest city of Hama last month, also told ABC news that the violence against protesters was "grotesque" and "abhorrent." Security forces on Monday shot dead a mother and her two children fleeing the military assault on Deir Ezzor, the Syrian Observatory for Human rights cited residents as saying. "The woman and her two children were trying to flee the Huweika district for somewhere safer when they were targeted by a security patrol," it quoted residents as saying, adding that the father of the family was wounded. Activists said security forces backed by tanks killed 42 civilians in Deir Ezzor and at least 10 more in the central town of Hula on Sunday. "Forty-two civilians have been killed and more than 100 wounded in Deir Ezzor by gunfire from the armed forces and security agents," Syrian League for the Defence of Human Rights head Abdel Karim Rihawi told AFP. In Hula in Homs district, at least 10 people were killed, Rihawi said. Assad roundly defended his security forces on Sunday. "To deal with outlaws who cut off roads, seal towns and terrorise residents is a duty of the state which must defend security and protect the lives of civilians," state news agency SANA quoted him as saying. SANA also quoted an official military source as dismissing claims that the army was shelling Deir Ezzor with tanks as "completely false and untrue." The Arab League on Sunday made its first official statement on the unrest, calling on Damascus to "immediately" stop the violence that has raged since mid-March. Secretary General Nabil al-Arabi also urged an "impartial probe" into the bloodshed, warning against "chaos" and "religious strife" in Syria, it said. US and European leaders pledged to consider new steps to punish Syria after security forces killed more than 30 people on the first Friday of Ramadan, the holy Muslim month of fasting. Syria's government has sought to crush the democracy movement with force, leaving at least 2,059 people dead, including 391 members of the security forces, according to the Syrian Observatory. The Assad regime has pledged reform and blamed "armed terrorist gangs" for the unrest. Witnesses and activists on Monday reported tanks and troops entering Maaret al-Numan in Idlib province bordering Turkey and carrying out "a large number of arrests." Overnight, demonstrations were reported in the central city of Homs, with the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights saying security forces wounded at least one protester. A leading member of German Chancellor Angela Merkel's party Monday, meanwhile, called for a global boycott of Syrian oil and gas exports. "We only have economic sanctions left as a means to convince Assad that he must stop the violence and resign," Ruprecht Polenz, chairman of parliament's committee on foreign relations, told public broadcaster Deutschlandradio. burs-srm/bpz