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World Service,3 mins

Syrian protesters 'call for Assad鈥檚 removal'

Newsday

Available for over a year

Videos have emerged from Syria apparently showing hundreds of protesters calling for President Bashar al-Assad鈥檚 removal. The unverified videos from the province of Sweida, a mainly Druze city, show protesters destroying a statue of his father, the former president Hafez al-Assad, at the weekend. Dr Zaher Sahloul is a Syrian-American who is the president of the humanitarian medical organisation, Med Global that delivers aid to northern Syria. He told Newsday: 鈥淭he situation in Syria has reached a tipping point with economic collapse鈥� people are fed up with the situation and the fact that there is no light at the end of the tunnel makes people go to the streets and demand change鈥� Twelve years ago when the Syrian crisis started, one American dollar equalled 50 Syrian pounds. Now, one American dollar equals 15,000 Syrian pounds. The average salary of most people鈥� is about $11 a month, which basically is enough for food for one day, so how can people survive? How can people plan for the future?鈥� (Picture: Shows protesters waving Druze flags in Sweida at a demonstration in August 2023. Credit: Reuters.)

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