Syria holds local polls as violence continues

Syrians are casting ballots in local elections, but turnout is expected to be low after activists called for a boycott of the polls.

The SANA state news agency showed pictures of people voting and reported that voters had "flocked" to the polls on Monday.

Almost 43,000 candidates are standing for 17,588 seats in the country's 1,337 administrative units.

Information Minister Adnan Mahmud told AFP news agency on Monday that the elections were part of a reform package pledged by the authorities to promote democracy and would be followed by legislative polls in February.

"These elections are taking place on time in line with a reform programme," Mahmud said.

"They are taking place although some are trying, in vain, to stop them through terrorist acts carried out by armed groups who are terrorising the citizens," he said.

"I voted because we want to contribute to the reforms [pledged by Assad] and chose the best" candidates, said Zeina, a 35-year-old woman, as she emerged from a polling state in the central Ummayad Square of Damascus.

Ahmad, a pro-government taxi driver, said the vote was essential "as a response to those calling for a strike".

However, an opposition organiser, speaking on condition of anonymity, said he did not expect a huge turnout.

"I am surprised that elections are taking place under such circumstances," he said. "Cities gripped by the uprising are not concerned by these elections."

The dissident said he expected voting to be limited to areas where protests against the Assad regime have been scarce or non-existent such as Aleppo, Syria's second city and economic hub.

There have been little or no opposition protests in large urban areas like Aleppo and in many part of the capital Damascus.

The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights on Monday said that authorities "forced dozens of people" in Idlib to go to vote despite raging violence in the northwestern province where three people were killed by security forces in an early morning raid.

Four other civilians were killed on Monday in the central province of Homs, the group said.

The elections and deaths come a day after Syria's opposition launched an open-ended "Strike for Dignity".

Dignity strikes

Syrians closed their businesses and kept children home from school in several parts of the country on Monday in a show of civil disobedience against the government.

A call by opposition activists for an open-ended general strike starting from Sunday, if widely heeded, could place added economic pressure on the government at a time when it is already struggling with growing international sanctions and isolation.

A resident of Homs, the epicenter of the uprising, said only shops selling essential goods were open on Monday.

"Only bakeries, pharmacies and some vegetable shops are open," he said, asking that his name not be used for fear of reprisals.

The opposition wants the strike to remain in force until the government pulls the army out of cities and releases thousands of detainees. And there were signs it was being widely observed in particular in areas that are centres of anti-government protest.

Most shops and schools were shut on Monday in the restive city of Homs and parts of the southern province of Deraa and the northwestern region of Idlib near the border with Turkey, activists said.

On Sunday, Local Coordination Committees (LCC) group said security forces were breaking into shops in Deraa province closed for the strike in an attempt to force them to open.

Al Jazeera's Nisreen El-Shamayleh, reporting from near the Jordan-Syria border, said that troops loyal to Assad were taking revenge against boycotting business owners.

"We heard reports that troops burned down at least 178 stores and shops in Deraa to try and take revenge against civillians who have shut down their stores and shops and are basically observing this general strike," she said.

Residents in the capital, Damascus, said business continued as usual on Sunday and Monday with shops, schools and other businesses operating normally.

Assad has spent years trying to open up Syria's economy, which helped boost a new and vibrant merchant class even as the political trappings remained unchanged. If the economy continues to collapse, Assad could find himself with few allies inside the country.

'Premeditated French accusations'

In another development likely to raise international pressure on President Bashar al-Assad, French Foreign Minister
Alain Juppe said on Sunday that Paris believed Syria was behind attacks that wounded French peacekeepers in neighbouring Lebanon on Friday.

While Juppe admitted "I don't have proof", he told France's told Le Monde newspaper: "We have strong reasons to think that this attack came from there

Jihad Makdisi, Syria's foreign ministry spokesperson, denied that Syria was behind the attacks.

"Syria has no link whatsoever with this act, which we condemn," he said in a statement on Monday.

Makdisi Juppe's statement was "part of premeditated French accusations made to mask the reality concerning Syria".

Lebanon's Hezbollah group also denied any role in the attack.

In a statement, Hezbollah urged Juppe to "correct his position and pay heed to the seriousness of such accusations which represent a great injustice, and which we completely reject".

Source: Al Jazeera and agencies