Tunisia Withdraws Recognition of the Regime of Bashar Al-Aassad

By Mourad Anouar

In the wake of another bloody massacre in which over 200 people were killed and over 1,000 injured in the central city of Homs on Friday night by the Syrian regime, Tunisia decided on Saturday to expel the Syrian ambassador to Tunis and to withdraw its recognition of the regime of Bashar al-Assad as the legitimate representative of the Syrian people, announced the Tunisian presidency.

According to a statement on his Facebook page, the Tunisian president called on the president Assad to “step down in order to help spare Syrian blood.” Moncef Marzouki went on to say that “the only solution (for the crisis in Syria) is the removal from power of Bashar al Assad and the launch of a democratic transition.”

In an interview with Aljazeera on Saturday, Tunisia’s Secretary of State, Abdessalem Rafik, said that “Tunisia as it has been proactive in starting the revolution, it makes sense to be proactive in solidarity with our brothers in Syria.” “This is the most-expected attitude expressed by this government that derives its legitimacy from the revolution,”, he added.

He also hoped that most Arab country, especially Egypt, Morocco and the Gulf countries, would follow Tunisia in its step toward severing all ties with the Syrian regime.

Tunisia’s daring move came after Russia and China’s veto today to a U.N. Security Council resolution aimed at ending Syria’s bloodshed among concerns that Damascus might heighten its clampdown on the protestors who entered their nearly 11-month uprising.