Reaching the capital

摘要

During four months of protests that have spread across the entire country, the city that has been most protected from the waves of popular rage is Damascus, the capital itself. Almost all the poor villages and suburbs surrounding it have been affected but the more prosperous central parts of the city have generally been kept off-limits to the protesters. This may now be changing, as the contagion of dissent seeps further into the heart of the capital.Midan, just south-west of the old walled city, has witnessed protests. The largely Kurdish district of Rukn al-Din, not far from the city centre, then erupted. Protests, so far quite small, have become more frequent in Mezze, to the west, and in the old city itself. On July 15th government forces, who have generally used tear gas and batons in the capital, fired live ammunition, killing at least 20 people. The security forces are now pinning down several districts of Damascus, ringing them with checkpoints. In the past few days they have made a series of raids and arrests.