MIDDLE EAST

Syria Broadcasts Scenes of Hama

Tries to show rebellion defeated.

After a week of bloodshed in Syria, the country’s state media broadcast images of a besieged Hama on Friday, indicating that President Bashar Assad’s forces had beat down a rebellion and reclaimed control of the city that for two months was peacefully occupied by Syria’s opposition. The apparent message from Syria’s official news agency was that the government would continue to view rebels as illegitimate armed gangs. But the footage also showed that the violence in Hama was significantly worse than Assad’s regime previously admitted to the public. The scenes were broadcast as activists reported more shelling in the city, claiming it was preventing food and medical supplies from reaching residential areas, which could cause the city’s death toll to climb significantly.