Growing dissent in Syria
Can street protests bring down the government of President Bashar al-Assad six months after the uprising began?
Thursday marks six months since the beginning of the uprising in Syria. More than 2,600 people have been killed and protesters have vowed to take to the streets to mark the milestone.
This comes amid another day of killings on Wednesday which saw at least eight anti-government protesters shot dead in northwestern Syria. Syrian dissidents also gathered in Istanbul, Turkey, on Thursday to form an opposition council.
But with the military crackdown failing so far to end the uprising, could these protests bring down President Bashar al-Assad’s rule?
Inside Story, with presenter Shakuntala Santhiran, discusses with Yaser Tabbara, a member of the Syrian National Council and a human rights lawyer; Nadim Shehadi, an associate fellow for the Middle East and North Africa programme at Chatham House; and Naim Salem, a professor of International Affairs and Diplomacy at Notre Dame University in Beirut.