Target Syria NWO's next acquisition The Middle East- WW III - Muslim Civil War

[Psalm 51:17]

http://news.yahoo.com/violence-rages-syria-holds-referendum-030825956.html

2/26/12

BEIRUT (Reuters) - At least 31 Syrian civilians and soldiers were killed on Sunday in bloodshed that coincided with a vote on a new constitution that could keep President Bashar al-Assad in power until 2028.
 
Assad's opponents see the referendum as a sick joke given Syria's turmoil. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said a military bombardment of opposition districts in Homs had killed nine civilians while rebels had killed four soldiers in clashes.
 
The British-based Observatory said eight civilians and 10 members of the security forces were killed in violence elsewhere in Syria, scene of what has become an increasingly militarised revolt against four decades of Assad family rule.
 
Voting took place in the referendum on a new constitution, which Assad says will lead to a multi-party parliamentary election in three months. The result is expected to be announced on Monday. Western powers described the vote as a sham.

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[Mark]

'US to announce aerial blockade on Syria'

US readies for possibility of intervention without UN resolution, Asharq Al-Awsat reports, citing US military official; plan to include humanitarian aid to Syrian refugees on Turkey's border

The Pentagon is readying for the possibility of intervention in Syria, aiming to halt Syrian President Bashsar Assad's violent crackdown on protesters, the newspaper Asharq Al-Awsat reported Saturday, citing a US military offical.

According to the official, the intervention scenario calls for the establishment of a buffer zone on the Turkish border, in order to receive Syrian refugees. The Red Cross would then provide the civilians humanitarian aid, before NATO crews would arrive from Turkey and join the efforts.

The measure would pave the way for the US to declare an aerial blockade on Syria.

The intercession is to be modeled after NATO's efforts in Kosovo, which brought an end to the Serbian control of the region. NATO's plan of action included prolonged aerial shelling.

The US' diplomatic efforts have yet to yield an effective international resolution that would stop the bloodshed. More than 100 protesters have died over the weekend alone, human rights activists said.

 Russia, China to join aid efforts?

According to Asharq Al-Awsat, the Pentagon does not anticipate a change of heart on the part of China or Russia, who have opposed foreign intervention or sanctions against Syria. But the US expects the two nations to join the humanitarian aid efforts, support a ceasefire between the Syrian regime and rebels and send special UN envoys to investigate the developments in the country.

The next step in the reported US Department of Defense plan would be to appoint a team of UN observers to monitor the humanitarian aid, and enter Syria. They would need aerial protection, which would eventually lead to an aerial blockade.

The military official said in the interview that the plan is a cautious one, and takes into account the Syrian air force's advanced capabilities.

In his most forceful words to date on the Syrian crisis, US President Barack Obama said Friday the US and its allies would use "every tool available" to end the bloodshed by Assad's government.

rest: http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4194506,00.html

[Psalm 51:17]

http://news.yahoo.com/u-n-rights-forum-condemn-syria-fourth-time-094859791.html

2/28/12

GENEVA (Reuters) - Syria's ambassador to the United Nations in Geneva stormed out of the U.N. Human Rights Council Tuesday after demanding angrily that countries stop "inciting sectarianism and providing arms" to opposition forces in his country.
 
Faysal Khabbaz Hamoui said sanctions were preventing Damascus from buying medicines and fuel and then abruptly left the Geneva forum's emergency debate called at the request of Gulf countries and Turkey, and backed by the West.
 
"We reaffirm to all those alleged friends of the Syrian people that the simple step to immediately help the Syrian people is to stop inciting sectarianism, providing arms and weapons and funding and putting the Syrian people one against the other," he said.
 
"Unjust and unilateral sanctions imposed by some countries on the Syrian people are preventing access to medicines, to fuel in all forms as well as electricity, and are also impeding bank transfers to buy these materials."

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[Mark]

[Psalm 51:17]

http://news.yahoo.com/syrian-forces-pounds-homs-block-aid-convoy-114637922.html

3/3/12

BEIRUT (Reuters) - Syrian forces renewed their bombardment of parts of the shattered city of Homs on Saturday and for a second day blocked Red Cross aid meant for civilians stranded without food and fuel in the former rebel stronghold, activists and aid workers said.
 
The government assault came a day after U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said he had received "grisly reports" that President Bashar al-Assad's troops were executing and torturing people in the city after rebels abandoned their positions there.
 
"In an act of pure revenge, Assad's army has been firing mortar rounds and ... machine guns since this morning at Jobar," said the Syrian Network for Human Rights, naming a district next to Baba Amro, where rebels held out against almost a month of siege and shelling before fleeing this week.
 
"We have no immediate reports of casualties because of the difficulty of communications," the campaign group said in a statement.

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[Psalm 51:17]

3/2/12

http://news.yahoo.com/france-shut-syria-embassy-awaits-u-n-mandate-114044905.html

BRUSSELS (Reuters) - President Nicolas Sarkozy said on Friday that France would shut its Syrian embassy due to the repression of opposition to President Bashar al-Assad and was ready to step up its support of rebels if the United Nations can give a green light.
 
"We will do nothing without a U.N. Security Council resolution," Sarkozy told a news conference at a European summit in Brussels, noting France supported the creation of a humanitarian zone close to one of Syria's borders.
 
"There's no question of acting directly or indirectly unless the Council has established legal conditions for a humanitarian zone, for arms delivery for the opposition or for corridors."
 
He said it was "frustrating, when you are seeing the deaths mounting up" but warned that perpetrators of crimes against humanity would be taken before the international criminal court.

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[Psalm 51:17]

http://www.jpost.com/MiddleEast/Article.aspx?id=260315

Tanks deploy in main city in eastern Syria

By REUTERS

03/04/2012 02:36

Army tanks deploy in Deir al-Zor; opposition sources say Free Syrian Army rebels in city have been arming over last 2 months.

AMMAN - Syrian army tanks deployed in the eastern city of Deir al-Zor on Saturday to support forces and militiamen loyal to President Bashar Assad who came under rebel attack after three pro-democracy demonstrators were killed, opposition activists said.

"Old Russian T-54 tanks and armored vehicles have taken positions at main roundabouts. Every half an hour or so you hear gunfire by the Free Syrian Army directed at roadblocks manned by security police and 'shabbiha' (pro-Assad militia)," Abu Abdel Rahman, one of the activists, told Reuters from Deir al-Zor.

The city, 450 km northeast of Damascus, is situated on the Euphrates river in an oil producing province bordering Iraq, from where opposition sources say weapons are smuggled to rebels operating under the flag of the loosely organized Free Syrian Army.

Opposition sources say Free Syrian Army rebels in Deir al-Zor have been arming and organizing in the last two months as Assad's main forces were focused on trying to put down the revolt on the central city of Homs and its surrounding countryside.

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[Psalm 51:17]

http://news.yahoo.com/2-000-flee-syria-violence-lebanon-u-n-130616448.html

3/4/12

..

BEIRUT (Reuters) - Up to 2,000 refugees fleeing violence in Syria are crossing the border into northern Lebanon, a spokesman for the United Nations refugee agency told Reuters on Sunday.
 
"Between one and two thousand (Syrians) are in the process of coming from Syria to Lebanon," the UNHCR's deputy representative in Lebanon Jean Paul Cavalieri told Reuters.
 
"Numbers will become clear in the coming hours. This is what we are hearing from our teams on the ground and local authorities."
 
A Reuters witness on the Lebanese border heard heavy shelling coming from the nearby Syrian town of Qusair earlier on Sunday and saw mainly women and children fleeing towards Lebanon on foot.
 
(Reporting by Oliver Holmes; Editing by Sophie Hares)
 ..

[Psalm 51:17]

http://www.cnn.com/2012/03/04/world/meast/syria-unrest/index.html?

More blood shed as rockets fall on Rastan, fears grow in Homs
 

From Saad Abedine, CNN

updated 10:00 PM EST, Sun March 4, 2012

(CNN) -- Opposition fighters attacked a Syrian air force intelligence building outside Damascus on Sunday and tried to fend off an intense assault on the town of Rastan, said a leader in the Free Syrian Army.
 
Three people died and dozens more -- most of them children -- were hurt as government forces hit Rastan with 15 rockets in as many minutes Sunday, opposition activists said. Graphic video posted on YouTube shows three girls, one of them a 1-year-old, suffering from severe injuries purportedly sustained in that attack.
 
By early Monday morning, opposition forces claimed to have driven out the army while at the same ceding that most of their own fighters had "retreated for ... tactical reasons," said Malek Al Kurdi, deputy head of the Free Syrian Army.
 
He added that his armed opposition group, made up largely of Syrian military defectors, now only has a small unit inside Rastan, which is between the Middle Eastern country's third and fourth largest cities, respectively, of Homs and Hama.

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[Psalm 51:17]

http://news.yahoo.com/john-mccain-first-senator-call-bombing-syria-190515683.html

3/5/12


Sen. John McCain will call on a repeat performance of the kind of military operation that dislodged Muammar Qaddafi from Libya in Syria, asking the U.S. military to begin air strikes to protect Syrian opposition forces. In remarks leaked first to Foreign Policy's Josh Rogin, McCain's speech on the Senate floor on Monday will argue, "The kinds of mass atrocities that NATO intervened in Libya to prevent in Benghazi are now a reality in Homs."
 
McCain, the ranking Republican on the Senate Armed Services Committee, also will add, "The ultimate goal of airstrikes should be to establish and defend safe havens in Syria, especially in the north, in which opposition forces can organize and plan their political and military activities against Assad." He concludes, "If Assad manages to cling to power -- or even if he manages to sustain his slaughter for months to come, with all of the human and geopolitical costs that entails -- it would be a strategic and moral defeat for the United States. We cannot, we must not, allow this to happen."
 
Calling for air strikes is the logical next step for McCain, who just a couple weeks ago used similar rhetoric in arguing for arming the Syrian rebels. With Sen. Lindsay Graham at his side, McCain said then, "I believe there are ways to get weapons to the opposition without direct United States involvement." He added that "if Western countries continue to fully support Syria's opposition, then in the end a large-scale civil war will erupt and there will be no way to thus avoid the possibility of foreign armed intervention." Well, it seems like it's too late for that now, as recent violence suggests that a full scale civil war has probably already erupted.
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[Psalm 51:17]

http://news.yahoo.com/general-warns-syrian-bioweapons-iran-threat-070830448.html

3/6/12

WASHINGTON (AP) — The top U.S. commander in the Middle East will warn Congress on Tuesday against efforts to scale back the Navy's presence in the embattled region, saying threats from Iran and elsewhere will require more ships and maritime missile defense capabilities.

Marine Gen. James Mattis, head of U.S. Central Command, also said Syria has a "substantial" chemical and biological weapons capability and thousands of shoulder-launched missiles. Until now, the U.S. military has largely declined to describe the expanse of weapons that President Bashar Assad's regime has at its disposal.

Mattis laid out his concerns in testimony prepared for Senate and House Armed Services Committee hearings this week. He and Navy Adm. William McRaven, head of U.S. Special Operations Command, are testifying before the Senate panel Tuesday. The testimony was obtained by The Associated Press.

Mattis' comments come as the Obama administration meets with Israeli leaders this week to discuss the escalating Iranian threat and the possibility of a pre-emptive strike by Israel.

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[Psalm 51:17]

Canada bans all dealings with Syrian central bank, closes Syria embassy

http://www.haaretz.com/news/middle-east/canada-bans-all-dealings-with-syrian-central-bank-closes-syria-embassy-1.416688

Canadian foreign minister: Continuing, appalling violence perpetrated by the Assad regime on the people of Syria compels us to again tighten the vice on those responsible.

Canada imposed fresh sanctions on Syria on Tuesday, banning all dealings with the central bank and seven cabinet ministers as part of a campaign to stop President Bashar Assad's crackdown against rebels.

The measures also prohibit the provision or acquisition of financial or other related services to or from anyone in Syria or those acting on Syria's behalf.

Canada also announced on Monday that it was closing its embassy in Syria. Britain, the United States and France also have already closed their embassies in the country. Canada has been advising its citizens to leave for some time.

"The continuing, appalling violence perpetrated by the Assad regime on the people of Syria compels us to again tighten the vice on those responsible ... Our message remains clear: Assad must go," Foreign Minister John Baird said in a statement.

The sanctions are the sixth round imposed by Ottawa on Damascus.

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[Psalm 51:17]

http://theextinctionprotocol.wordpress.com/2012/03/08/diary-of-a-genocide-62-more-killed-in-syria-as-crackdown-intensifies/

Diary of a genocide: 62 more killed in Syria as crackdown intensifies

March 8, 2012 – SYRIA – At least 62 people were killed in Syria on Thursday as former U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan cautioned against outside military intervention, saying it could worsen an already precarious situation. But, Annan told the Arab League summit in Cairo, “the violence and killings must stop immediately.” Annan, the special joint envoy to Syria for the United Nations and the Arab League, began a visit to the region in Cairo on Wednesday. The U.N. said he will visit Damascus on Saturday ‘to seek an urgent end to all violence and human rights violations and to initiate efforts to promote a peaceful solution. I hope that no one is thinking very seriously of using force in this situation,” Annan said Thursday. “I believe any further militarization would make the situation worse. We have to be careful not to introduce a medicine worse than the disease.” Activists say Syria’s escape routes are being targeted. Meanwhile, shelling and explosions rocked several Syrian cities early Thursday, and there were reports of violence in several locations as the Syrian regime continued assaults against opposition strongholds. Thursday’s death toll included members of a whole family, according to the Local Coordination Committees, a Syria-based opposition activist network. Fifty-two people died in the city of Homs, the LCC said; 44 of them were executed in a field. Security forces attacked a funeral procession in the Damascus neighborhood of Mazzeh and targeted the car carrying the body, the network said. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, another opposition group, said those arrested numbered in the dozens. Violent clashes were reported in Idlib province, and more than 50 young men were arrested in a “detention campaign” in Hama, the LCC said. Two blasts rocked the town of Izaz near the Syrian-Turkish border Thursday morning, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. The blasts were followed by fierce clashes between government soldiers and soldiers that had defected. Meanwhile, Syria’s Oil Minister has defected. He is the highest-ranking government member to abandon Bashar al-Assad saying he does not wish to die and wishes to join the opposition. Shelling and rocket attacks were also reported in the Homs neighborhoods of Bab Tadmur and Jib al-Jandali Thursday, the fifth day in a row of government attacks there, the group said. Syria, which blames the violence on “terrorists,” has said it is trying its best to get aid to hard-hit areas. -CNN

[Psalm 51:17]

http://news.yahoo.com/four-more-generals-defect-syrian-army-rebels-013925982.html

Four more generals defect from Syrian army: rebels

3/8/12

BEIRUT/PARIS (Reuters) - Four more high-ranking officers have defected from the Syrian armed forces and joined the year-old uprising against President Bashar al-Assad's rule, two rebel groups said on Thursday.

The men fled over the past three days to a camp for Syrian army deserters in southern Turkey, according to Lieutenant Khaled al-Hamoud, a spokesman for the Free Syrian Army (FSA). He told Reuters by telephone from Turkey the desertions bring to seven the number of brigadier generals who have defected.

The seven are the highest-ranking officers to abandon Assad, and the rank is the fifth highest in the Syrian armed forces. Mustafa Sheikh was the first brigadier general to announce his defection.

"We have six brigadier generals who are now in Turkey and another, who has stayed to lead some battalions inside Syria," Hamoud said. "We plan to form an advisory council to absorb these and any other high-ranking defections and this group will plan operations for the FSA."

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[Psalm 51:17]

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-03-07/u-s-pushing-russia-to-change-syria-stance-ahead-of-un-meeting.html

3/7/12

Clinton Prods Russia on Syria as U.S. Reviews Military Options
The debate over how to end the violence in Syria grew louder, as Defense Secretary Leon Panetta said the U.S. is reviewing potential military action and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton challenged Russia to end its support for Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.

Panetta told the Senate Armed Services Committee there isn’t enough unity among the Syrian opposition and the international community for outside military intervention. The Obama administration is consulting on options with other nations and considering “an array of non-lethal assistance,” he said.

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[Psalm 51:17]

http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/03/06/us-venezuela-oil-syria-idUSTRE82502N20120306

3/6/12

Venezuela to ship more fuel to Syria as crackdown spreads
(Reuters) - Venezuela is readying a third shipment of diesel to the government of Syria even as President Bashar al-Assad intensifies a crackdown against protesters, said a Venezuelan lawmaker on Monday.

Last month, Venezuela's government confirmed it had sent at least two shipments of fuel to Syria, potentially undermining Western sanctions as a rare supplier to the increasingly isolated Assad regime.

Venezuela's Hugo Chavez, who is in Cuba recovering from surgery to remove a cancerous tumor, has been a vociferous supporter of Syria as part of a self-styled international "anti-imperialist" alliance.

Venezuelan state oil firm PDVSA shipped cargo in February aboard the Negra Hipolita vessel after the same tanker carried a first shipment in November.

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[Psalm 51:17]

3/11/12


http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/153619#.T138EYHvx0Q

Visiting UN envoy Kofi Annan met on Saturday with Syria’s President Bashar Assad, as the military launched an assault on the city of Idlib.

Syrian forces have been building up for days around Idlib, which has been a hotbed of protests against Assad's regime, The Associated Press reported.

The report said that as of Saturday morning, troops blasted Idlib for hours with dozens of tank shells as the forces moved to encircle the town.

Families fled their homes, carrying blankets and a few other meager belongings. Others huddled in homes.

Rebel fighters rushed through Idlib's streets, taking cover behind walls to fire on the attackers with automatic weapons, an AP team in Idlib said. Many low-level soldiers in the area have joined the opposition and fight along with civilians who have taken up arms as part of the loosely organized Free Syrian Army, the report said.

Many fear the offensive in Idlib could end up like the regime's campaign against a rebel-held neighborhood in the central city of Homs. Troops besieged and shelled Baba Amr for weeks before capturing it on March 1.

Idlib activist Fadi al-Yassin told AP late Saturday said the army had closed off the city's main exits, making harder for civilians to flee. Rebel fighters destroyed six armored trucks in an ambush and shot down one helicopter with a high-caliber machine gun, he said.

“The Free Army will able to keep them out for a while, but if they cannot get more weapons and if the army keeps shelling from outside, they won't be able to hold out,” he said.

“Right now their morale is very high,” added al-Yassin. But, he added, “We worry that what happened in Baba Amr will happen here.”

The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said 17 civilians were killed in Idlib province Saturday, part of 28 killed nationwide. It said five other rebels were killed in fighting elsewhere, and that 19 regime troops were killed in Idlib and outside of Damascus.

Meanwhile, AP reported, Assad rejected any immediate negotiations with the opposition, striking a further blow to already staggering international efforts for talks to end to the conflict.

Assad reportedly told Annan that a political solution is impossible as long as "terrorist groups" threaten the country.

On Friday, the opposition's political leadership also rejected dialogue with Assad, saying talk is impossible after a yearlong crackdown that the UN estimates has killed more than 7,500 people.

Annan planned a second round of talks with the Syrian president on Sunday, the UN spokesperson's office said in a statement.

In his talks Saturday with Assad, the UN statement said, Annan put “several proposals on the table” for stopping violence, gaining access for humanitarian aid deliveries to Syrians and starting an “inclusive political dialogue.”

Assad, however, told Annan the plan was doomed “as long as there are armed terrorist groups that work to spread anarchy and destabilize the country,” AP quoted Syria's state news agency as having reported.

[Psalm 51:17]

http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/153640#.T138L4Hvx0Q

Russia And China Claim Honorable Motives Behind Pro Assad Policy

3/12/12

To borrow a phrase from Barack Obama, Russia and China have the Assad regime's back and have vetoed UN resolutions that would pressure the Syrian ruler to step down. This has angered many Arab leaders who would like to see Assad's back and a different government installed in Damascus.

Russia and China have not yet changed their policy, but they are at least making an effort to persuade the Arab regimes of their good intentions, attempting to avoid the prediction made by Foreign Secretary William Hague that they will pay a price in the Arab world for their support of Assad.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov met with the Arab League, which is incensed over the Russian veto at the UN that had thwarted an Arab League peace plan.

Lavrov denied Western accusations, such as those by French Foreign Minister Alain Juppe, who alleged that Russia was digging in its heels due to "major economic interests" in Syria, including arms sales or simply in revenge for what happened in Libya. Russia explained that Lavrov was acting "out of nobler motives".

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[Psalm 51:17]

3/13/12

BEIJING (Reuters) - China will offer $2 million in humanitarian assistance to Syria through the Red Cross, state media said on Wednesday, another gesture aimed at repairing relationships in the Middle East, though its stance on Syria shows no sign of changing.

Beijing wants to counter accusations from Western and Arab leaders that it, along with Russia, abetted expanding violence by President Bashar al-Assad's forces against civilians by vetoing two UN resolutions on the crisis.

Assistant Foreign Minister Zhang Ming, who was sent by Beijing to Egypt this month as an envoy to discuss the crisis in Syria, made the offer of emergency humanitarian aid as a way of "expressing the sympathy and concern of the Chinese people".

China and Russia have blocked moves in the United Nations to censure Assad, a position which met with international outrage. They have also welcomed the Syrian leader's reform pledges, including a promised election.

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http://news.yahoo.com/china-offers-token-aid-syria-stance-assad-unmoved-040140372.html

[Psalm 51:17]

Annan to brief deadlocked U.N. council on Syria

UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - The U.N.-Arab League envoy on the Syrian crisis, Kofi Annan, will brief the U.N. Security Council on Friday about his peace mission, which diplomats say could breathe new life into stalled talks on a resolution aimed at ending the escalating violence.

Council diplomats say Annan's assessment of the crisis will be crucial to a bid by the United States and its European allies to pass a resolution that would also ensure humanitarian aid workers have access to besieged towns across the country. Russia and China have twice vetoed resolutions condemning Syria.

Talks between the five permanent Security Council members and Morocco on a draft resolution have stalled, but are expected to pick up again after Annan's briefing, diplomats said.

However, they say it remains unclear if Moscow will accept a resolution on Syria, where protests against President Bashar al-Assad began a year ago.

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http://news.yahoo.com/annan-brief-u-n-council-syria-friday-142926412.html

[Psalm 51:17]

http://news.yahoo.com/analysis-one-syrias-assad-wont-bow-uprising-141411638.html

3/14/12

BEIRUT (Reuters) - Bashar al-Assad always said Syria would be different.

When the Arab uprisings first erupted more than a year ago, the Syrian president confidently said his government was in tune with its people, ready to reform on its own terms, and immune from the turmoil starting to sweep the region.

Within weeks he was proved wrong, when a few dozen protesters took to the streets of Damascus on March 15 to call for greater freedoms, setting off one of the most protracted and bloodiest of all the Arab revolts.

But while those uprisings toppled four Arab leaders in Tunisia, Egypt, Libya and Yemen, the 46-year-old Assad has withstood the year-long turmoil, deploying tanks, elite troops and artillery to crush rebellion across the country.

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[Psalm 51:17]

Annan urges U.N. Security Council to break Syria deadlock
http://news.yahoo.com/annan-urges-u-n-security-council-break-syria-144651219.html;_ylt=AkPrhpIfooI.dyP3RDSKJ2IIZrcF;_ylu=X3oDMTRvb2pvbWJhBGNjb2RlA2dtcHRvcDEwMDBwb29sd2lraXVwcmVzdARtaXQDTmV3cyBmb3IgeW91BHBrZwMyZjY0MjAzYi1jZTI1LTNiZjYtYWJlYy0xNDEwNWI4NDk0NGYEcG9zAzEEc2VjA25ld3NfZm9yX3lvdQR2ZXIDYTc5Y2JiNDAtNmY3Yy0xMWUxLWJmYmMtN2NiZTM5ZGVkOTJm;_ylg=X3oDMTM3dm9nZzFwBGludGwDdXMEbGFuZwNlbi11cwRwc3RhaWQDNzUyYzI2MjAtNGMzOS0zNjEwLWE5Y2ItNjY1NmVkMzlmYzEyBHBzdGNhdANidXNpbmVzc3x0YXhlcwRwdANzdG9yeXBhZ2UEdGVzdAM-;_ylv=3

3/16/12

UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - The U.N.-Arab League envoy on the Syrian crisis, Kofi Annan, urged the Security Council to overcome its deadlock and unify in support of his efforts to end the violence that has brought Syria to the brink of civil war, U.N. diplomats said on Friday.

Addressing a closed-door meeting of the 15-nation council via video link, Annan said the stronger their message is in support of his efforts to negotiate a ceasefire, the greater his chances will be of securing an end to the fighting, council diplomats told Reuters on condition of anonymity.

"The stronger and more unified your message, the better chance we have of shifting the dynamics of the conflict," an envoy said, summarizing Annan's remarks.

He added that Annan suggested to council members that Damascus' response to his 6-point peace proposal has been disappointing so far. But Annan's team is continuing to talk with the Syrian government, the diplomat said.

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[Psalm 51:17]

http://news.yahoo.com/seventh-syrian-general-defects-turkey-foreign-ministry-095544533.html

3/15/12

ANKARA (Reuters) - A Syrian general was among some 1,000 refugees who fled to Turkey in the last 24 hours, bringing the number of Syrian generals now in Turkey to seven, a Turkish Foreign Ministry spokesman said on Thursday.

He said the total number of Syrian refugees in Turkey as of Thursday morning was now 14,700.

"This shows the seriousness of the situation in Syria," spokesman Selcuk Unal told a news conference.

[Psalm 51:17]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-17412700

3/17/12

'Deadly blasts' shake Syrian capital Damascus

At least 27 people have been killed and 97 wounded in two explosions in the Syrian capital Damascus, officials say.

State TV described the blasts as "terrorist" attacks. Preliminary reports suggested vehicles packed with explosives had been detonated, it said.

It said intelligence and police buildings were hit and the cause was not known.

Details of the reports cannot be independently verified.

Foreign journalists only have very restricted access to Syria.

[Psalm 51:17]

http://news.yahoo.com/heavy-fighting-syrian-capital-residents-031651816.html

AMMAN (Reuters) - Rebels fought government forces in Damascus on Monday, in the most violent gunbattles the Syrian capital has seen since the start of the year-long revolt against President Bashar al-Assad, opposition activists said.

The fighting near the centre of Assad's power base appeared to be an attempt by rebels, who have been forced out of Homs and Idlib and came under attack in the eastern city of Deir al-Zor on Monday, to show they still pose a serious challenge.

The heavy fighting shattered the night calm in the al-Mezze district, home to intelligence offices and foreign embassies, and left two "terrorists" and one member of the security forces dead, Syria's official news agency SANA said.

The armed confrontation came just two days after a double car bombing killed at least 27 people in the heart of the city, raising fears the capital might sink into mayhem.

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[Mark]

Russian Anti-Terror Troops Arrive in Syria

A Russian military unit has arrived in Syria, according to Russian news reports, a development that a United Nations Security Council source told ABC News was "a bomb" certain to have serious repercussions.

Russia, one of President Bashar al-Assad's strongest allies despite international condemnation of the government's violent crackdown on the country's uprising, has repeatedly blocked the United Nations Security Council's attempts to halt the violence, accusing the U.S. and its allies of trying to start another war.

Now the Russian Black Sea fleet's Iman tanker has arrived in the Syrian port of Tartus on the Mediterranean Sea with an anti-terror squad from the Russian Marines aboard according to the Interfax news agency. The Assad government has insisted it is fighting a terrorist insurgency.

rest: http://abcnews.go.com/Blotter/russian-anti-terror-troops-arrive-syria/story?id=15954363#.T2eMNvXgeqw

[Psalm 51:17]

Assad emails: Asma al-Assad, Syrian leader’s wife, says ‘I am the REAL dictator’

http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/envoy/assad-emails-asma-al-assad-syrian-leader-wife-142229892.html

3/19/12

More fodder from the leaked cache of Bashar al-Assad emails: Asma al-Assad, the Syrian leader's British-born wife, declared to a friend that she was the "real dictator" of the two.

"I am the REAL dictator, he has no choice," Asma wrote, according to excerpts of the emails published by London's Telegraph newspaper on Saturday.

In others, she joked about the Syrian people at the center of the 2011 uprising, before the Syrian government's bloody crackdown left thousands dead.

The Telegraph also published a photo apparently forwarded to Bashar al-Assad showing a scantily-clad woman. But according to Reuters, one of the news organizations that received the trove of emails uncovered by his opposition, "There is little that seems overtly sexual in the content" and it does not appear Assad responded to it.

As was the case with the excerpts first published by London's Guardian last week, the emails suggest that the Assads live in a surreal psychological bubble, insulated from the grotesque violence that has claimed the lives of 8,000 Syrians. The emails portray a dictator both sentimental and sinister.

[Psalm 51:17]

http://news.yahoo.com/u-n-unites-syria-violence-spills-lebanon-001848792.html

3/21/12

AMMAN (Reuters) - The U.N. Security Council, including Russia and China, threw its weight on Wednesday behind efforts by Kofi Annan to end the bloody conflict in Syria, providing a rare moment of global unity in the face of the year-long crisis.

In a statement approved by all its 15 members, the council threatened Syria with unspecified "further steps" if it failed to comply with Annan's peace plan, which calls for a ceasefire and demands swift access for aid agencies.

Although the original statement was diluted at Russia's demand, editing out any specific ultimatums, the fact that all world powers signed up to the proposal dealt a serious diplomatic blow to President Bashar al-Assad as he battles a popular uprising.

"To President Assad and his regime we say, along with the rest of the international community: take this path, commit to it, or face increasing pressure and isolation," U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said in Washington.

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[Psalm 51:17]

http://news.yahoo.com/annan-heading-moscow-beijing-talks-syria-crisis-100928254.html

3/23/12

BEIRUT (Reuters) - The European Union slapped sanctions on President Bashar al-Assad's powerful mother and wife on Friday, targeting his inner circle in an effort to force Syria to end its repression of a year-long uprising.

The EU's latest round of sanctions hit 10 other prominent personalities, including Assad's sister and sister-in-law, banning them from visiting the 27-nation bloc, freezing their assets and stopping them from shopping with European firms.

"With this new listing we are striking at the heart of the Assad clan, sending out a loud and clear message to Mr. Assad: he should step down," said Dutch Foreign Minister Uri Rosenthal after fellow ministers backed the move at a meeting in Brussels.

The decision came on a day of renewed violence across Syria, with the army raining mortar rounds into the rebellious city of Homs, killing up to 11 civilians, opposition supporters said.

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[Psalm 51:17]

http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4207857,00.html

Diplomat: Turkey shuts embassy in Damascus


Published:  03.26.12

Turkey closed its embassy in Damascus on Monday due to the deteriorating security conditions in Syria, a Turkish diplomatic source said.

"Activities at the Turkish embassy have been suspended from this morning," the source said, adding that all diplomatic personnel have left the Syrian capital. According to the source, Turkey's consulate in Aleppo will remain open. (AFP)