{"id":9654,"date":"2014-05-10T20:36:55","date_gmt":"2014-05-10T12:36:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/?p=9654"},"modified":"2014-06-12T12:35:18","modified_gmt":"2014-06-12T04:35:18","slug":"thousands-of-syrians-enter-homs-after-rebels-leave","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/2014\/05\/10\/thousands-of-syrians-enter-homs-after-rebels-leave\/","title":{"rendered":"Thousands of Syrians enter Homs after rebels leave"},"content":{"rendered":"<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" lang=\"en\">\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/t.co\/6CWBn33S7U\">http:\/\/t.co\/6CWBn33S7U<\/a>&#10;<a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/search?q=%23Homs&amp;src=hash\">#Homs<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/search?q=%23Syria&amp;src=hash\">#Syria<\/a>.&#10;The <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/search?q=%23mercenaries&amp;src=hash\">#mercenaries<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/search?q=%23alNusra&amp;src=hash\">#alNusra<\/a> and &quot;moderates <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/search?q=%23FSA&amp;src=hash\">#FSA<\/a> r left.&#10;<a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/search?q=%23Syrians&amp;src=hash\">#Syrians<\/a> r back to town. <a href=\"http:\/\/t.co\/VuxAiS4rWr\">pic.twitter.com\/VuxAiS4rWr<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; TRUE LOVE SYRIA (@confusion8888) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/confusion8888\/statuses\/465107172486291457\">May 10, 2014<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p class=\"ap-story-p\" style=\"color: #363636;\">\n<p class=\"ap-story-p\" style=\"color: #363636;\">\n<p class=\"ap-story-p\" style=\"color: #363636;\">HOMS, Syria &#8212; Thousands of Syrians streamed into war-battered parts of the central city of Homs for the first time in nearly two years Saturday, checking their homes after rebels left as part of a deal allowing them to safely withdraw as pro-government forces took the city.<\/p>\n<p class=\"ap-story-p\" style=\"color: #363636;\">Men, women and children fanned through the smashed ancient quarters of Homs, some in pickup trucks and bicycles, while most walked on a breezy, sunny day. A youth band banging drums and holding photographs of the Syrian President Bashar Assad marched through the area, adding a celebratory mood for those supporting his government amid the 3-year-old conflict.<\/p>\n<p class=\"ap-story-p\" style=\"color: #363636;\">Hundreds of rebels surrendered their stronghold in Homs to government forces in exchange for their safe passage to the nearby northern countryside as part of a deal that began Wednesday.<\/p>\n<p class=\"ap-story-p\" style=\"color: #363636;\">The some 2,000 rebels &#8211; as well as civilians living there- were badly weakened by nearly two years of blockade that caused widespread suffering and hardship.<\/p>\n<p class=\"ap-story-p\" style=\"color: #363636;\">The deal is widely seen as a victory for Assad weeks ahead of a presidential election that he is expected to win, giving him a mandate to continue his violent crackdown on rebels in the Syrian civil war, which activists say has killed more than 150,000 people.<\/p>\n<p class=\"ap-story-p\" style=\"color: #363636;\">Residents scavenged what they could from their homes Saturday, mostly clothes, dusty mattresses and some burned gas canisters, carrying them away in plastic bags and trolleys.<\/p>\n<p class=\"ap-story-p\" style=\"color: #363636;\">&#8220;My house was completely destroyed and burnt, but I found some photos,&#8221; said Sara Mousa, 49, a resident of the old Hamidiyeh district. &#8220;They will remain a memory for me of the beautiful days we had here.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p class=\"ap-story-p\" style=\"color: #363636;\">Some accused rebels of looting their homes. Smaller crowds made the journey Friday.<\/p>\n<p class=\"ap-story-p\" style=\"color: #363636;\">Others rushed to the area of Bustan al-Diwan, gathering to pray around the grave of an elderly, beloved Dutch priest who was shot to death in April in a rebel-held part of Homs.<\/p>\n<p class=\"ap-story-p\" style=\"color: #363636;\">Father Francis Van Der Lugt, 75, was a Jesuit, the same order as Pope Francis. His death underscored fears among many of Syria&#8217;s Christian and Muslim minorities for the fate of their communities as Islamic extremists gain influence among rebels seeking to topple Assad.<\/p>\n<p class=\"ap-story-p\" style=\"color: #363636;\">&#8220;I came to pray on his grave,&#8221; said Rasim Sayrafi, 40. &#8220;The father was a secular man who walked with Muslims and Christians, together and equally. I am here to remember that.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p class=\"ap-story-p\" style=\"color: #363636;\">&#8212;<\/p>\n<p class=\"ap-story-p\" style=\"color: #363636;\">Hadid reported from Beirut.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>http:\/\/t.co\/6CWBn33S7U&#10;#Homs #Syria.&#10;The #mercenaries #alNusra and &quot;moderates #FSA r left.&#10;#Syrians r back to town. pic.twitter.com\/VuxAiS4rWr &mdash; TRUE LOVE SYRIA (@confusion8888) May &hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":44,"featured_media":9678,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1145,17],"tags":[3145,2248],"class_list":["post-9654","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-headline","category-news-w","tag-homs","tag-syria","mauthors-albert-aji","mauthors-diaa-hadid","mauthors-the-associated-press"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9654","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/44"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9654"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9654\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/9678"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9654"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9654"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9654"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}