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

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Mood pessimistic on Syria peace plans

6/30/12

GENEVA (AP) — Major powers meeting in Geneva have adopted a watered down version of special envoy Kofi Annan's Syria plan that leaves open whether President Bashar Assad can be part of the transition government.

Annan said Saturday "it is for the people of Syria to come to a political agreement."

He says "the hard work starts now. We must work together to implement what has been agreed.

Russia had refused to back a provision that would call for Assad to step down to make way for a unity government.

http://news.yahoo.com/mood-pessimistic-syria-peace-plans-125158520.html

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more: http://www.ynetnews.com/Ext/Comp/ArticleLayout/CdaArticlePrintPreview/1,2506,L-4247898,00.html

Report: Turkey deploys troops on Syrian border

Turkish daily says tanks, armored vehicles mobilized following downing of Turkish fighter jet by Syrian army
Roi Kais

Turkey has deployed a large number of tanks and other armored vehicles to the Syrian border amid rising tensions with Damascus over the downing of a Turkish fighter jet by the Syrian army, Turkish newspaper Hurriyet reported Tuesday.

Meanwhile, Syrian President Bashar Assad addressed his new government and said his country was in a real state of war. He gave no sign of a softer approach towards a pro-democracy revolt by ordering his newly appointed government to direct all policies towards winning.

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http://news.yahoo.com/analysis-plan-end-syria-crisis-falls-flat-174529569.html

Analysis: Plan to end Syria crisis falls flat
By MATTHEW LEE | Associated Press – 6 hrs ago

WASHINGTON (AP) — The much-hyped plan to end Syria's misery and guide its transition to democracy appears to have fallen flat despite the endorsement of Western powers.

Russia's objections gutted the most stringent conditions on a potential interim leader in Damascus. The Syrian opposition quickly dismissed the proposal as a waste of time and with "no value on the ground."

The U.S. and its allies insist the plan will force Syrian President Bashar Assad from power. Russia disagrees and Assad is unlikely to acquiesce.

It all leaves U.N. envoy Kofi Annan's efforts to end 15 months of bloodshed no better off than before.

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Syria helicopters strike Damascus suburb; diplomacy stalled
http://news.yahoo.com/syria-helicopters-strike-damascus-suburb-diplomacy-stalled-145419120.html

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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-18751199

7/7/12

Syria crisis: Deadly cross-border shelling hits Lebanon

At least three people have been killed and nine injured in northern Lebanon in shelling from across the Syrian border, local officials and residents say.

The attacks took place in the Wadi Khaled region, where both Syrian armed rebels and civilians have taken refuge from the violence at home.

There have recently been clashes between armed men on the Lebanese side and the Syrian military.

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http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/story/2012-07-09/syria-violence-talks/56106818/1

7/9/12

Annan says agreement reached with Syria's Assad in Damascus

DAMASCUS, Syria (AP) – International envoy Kofi Annan raised hopes of a revived peace effort in Syria, saying he has reached a framework with President Bashar Assad and would hold talks with rebel leaders. Annan was traveling to Damascus' key ally Iran later Monday for talks with leaders there.

Annan is the architect of an international plan to end Syria's 16-month-old crisis, which started with largely peaceful protests calling for reforms but has since transformed into a bloody insurgency to topple Assad. With violence growing increasingly intense and diplomatic efforts faltering, Annan has said Iran must be a part of a solution to a conflict that activists say has killed at least 14,000 people.

"We agreed on an approach which I will share with the armed opposition," Annan told reporters following a two-hour meeting with Assad which he described as "candid and constructive."

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http://www.nytimes.com/2012/07/11/world/middleeast/russia-sends-warships-on-maneuvers-near-syria.html?_r=2

Russia Sending Warships on Maneuvers Near Syria

7/10/12

MOSCOW — Russia said on Tuesday that it had dispatched a flotilla of 11 warships to the eastern Mediterranean, some of which would dock in Syria. It would be the largest display of Russian military power in the region since the Syrian conflict began almost 17 months ago. Nearly half of the ships were capable of carrying hundreds of marines.

The announcement appeared intended to punctuate Russia’s effort to position itself as an increasingly decisive broker in resolving the antigovernment uprising in Syria, Russia’s last ally in the Middle East and home to Tartus, its only foreign military base outside the former Soviet Union. The announcement also came a day after Russia said it was halting new shipments of weapons to the Syrian military until the conflict settled down.

Russia has occasionally sent naval vessels on maneuvers in the eastern Mediterranean, and it dispatched an aircraft-carrying battleship, the Admiral Kuznetsov, there for maneuvers with a few other vessels from December 2011 to February 2012. There were rumors in recent weeks that the Russians planned to deploy another naval force near Syria.

But the unusually large size of the force announced on Tuesday was considered a message, not just to the region but also to the United States and other nations supporting the rebels now trying to depose Syria’s president, Bashar al-Assad.

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http://news.yahoo.com/over-200-massacred-syrian-government-forces-attack-activists-073740927.html

Syrian opposition reports massacre of 220 civilians

7/13/12

AMMAN/BEIRUT (Reuters) - About 220 Syrians, mostly civilians, were killed in a village in the rebellious Hama region when it was bombarded by helicopter gunships and tanks then stormed by militiamen who slaughtered some families, opposition sources said on Friday.

UN special envoy Kofi Annan said he was "shocked and appalled" by news of "intense fighting, significant casualties, and the confirmed use of heavy weaponry such as artillery, tanks and helicopters" in the village of Tremseh.

"I condemn these atrocities in the strongest possible terms," Annan said in a statement.

There were no independent accounts of the number of dead or how they were killed. U.N. monitors in Syria are currently confined to Damascus because of mounting violence.

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http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702303644004577523251596963194.html

7/13/12

U.S. Concerned as Syria Moves Chemical Stockpile

WASHINGTON—Syria has begun moving parts of its vast arsenal of chemical weapons out of storage facilities, U.S. officials said, in a development that has alarmed many in Washington.

The country's undeclared stockpiles of sarin nerve agent, mustard gas and cyanide have long worried U.S. officials and their allies in the region, who have watched anxiously amid the conflict in Syria for any change in the status or location of the weapons.

American officials are divided on the meaning of the latest moves by members of President Bashar al-Assad's regime.

Some U.S. officials fear Damascus intends to use the weapons against ...

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more: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/middleeast/saudiarabia/9398597/Russian-ship-with-helicopters-for-Syrian-regime-sets-sail-again.html

Russian ship with helicopters for Syrian regime sets sail again

A Russian ship carrying refurbished attack helicopters destined for Syria has weighed anchor from its Arctic port for a second time after failing to deliver the cargo last month.

The Alaed's previous attempt to convey the Mi-25 gunships to the regime of of President Bashar al-Assad under a Curaçao flag caused anger in London and Washington. US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said the aircraft would be used to kill innocent civilians.
 
The ship's new destination is unclear but maritime data show it was travelling south off Norway on Thursday and is due in Baltiysk on the Baltic coast of Kaliningrad, Russia'sexclave between Poland and Lithuania, on July 17.
 
A spokesman for Femco, the Russian company which owns the cargo vessel, said on Friday that it would arrive in St Petersburg two days later and may then head to the Russian Far East.
 
Moscow has insisted it will deliver the Mi-25 helicopters in the teeth of western disapproval and it appears likely the ship's real or eventual target is Syria.

The Alaed turned back 50 miles off Scotland on June 18 and returned to its home port of Murmansk after its British insurer found out it had weapons bound for Syria on board and cancelled its policy rather than violate a EU arms embargo.

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http://www.asharq-e.com/news.asp?section=1&id=30316

Free Syrian Army preparing for “final battle” for Damascus

13/07/2012
By Caroline Akoum

Beirut, Asharq Al-Awsat – In light of the noticeable development in the Free Syrian Army [FSA]’s military operations, not to mention the escalated pace of defections from the regular army’s forces, the FSA has announced that it is gearing up to take the fight to the al-Assad regime in Damascus. Speaking exclusively to Asharq Al-Awsat, FSA commander Colonel Riad al-Asaad revealed that “preparations for the battle of Damascus are underway and are in full swing, particularly as this operation – which will be the final and decisive confrontation with the regime – requires special preparations and arrangements”. He added “this has led to the battle being postponed so far; however once it starts it will be resolved quickly, within a matter of weeks.”
The FSA commander also stressed that “with regards to today, you could say that the situation has changed. We are now able to take decisions at the right time, after the FSA seized weapons at depots affiliated to the regime, in addition to those present in the border regions.” However al-Asaad denied that the FSA had been given surface-to-air missiles enabling them to bring down regime helicopters.

Colonel al-Asaad refused to explicitly confirm or deny whether the FSA is currently present in Damascus, informing Asharq Al-Awsat that “our presence can be ascertained by the operations we carry out, in Damascus and the surrounding area, and a number of such operations were carried out in different locations across the capital, not far from the presidential palace.”

As for the importance of the battle reaching Damascus, and indeed the presidential palace where al-Assad is staying, Colonel al-Asaad told Asharq Al-Awsat “the presidential palace will not decide the battle, rather what is important is capturing the military units that surround the palace, including the Fourth Armored Division and the Republican Guards” He added “initiating the battle in Damascus will have a positive impact on the pace of defections from the al-Assad regime, particularly amongst its leadership, after everybody becomes aware that the regime is facing its end.”

The FSA commander also claimed that the Syrian regime has issued commands “claiming that all Sunni officers are part of a sleeper cell and ordering their deaths”, adding “this is after more than 3,000 officers were arrested.”

For his part, Syrian National Council [SNC] member Bashar al-Haraki told Asharq Al-Awsat that the decisive battle for Damascus is fast approaching. He said “the FSA has been preparing for this battle for some time now, and the best example of this can be seen in the military operations that have taken place in the capital, in addition to the FSA’s presence in Damascus and the surrounding areas.”

Al-Haraki added that “the FSA’s previous capabilities did not allow for it to initiate the battle for Damascus, but today – following the development of its operations, its targeting of sites in Damascus, and its acquisition of more weapons – we can say that the FSA is ready for this battle.”

He also stressed that “the situation is approaching the end game and there is no need to wait for countries to fulfill their pledges to arm the FSA, as the FSA is prepared to fight the battle now.” He added “the regime’s forces that are stationed throughout the country are exhausted and fragmented, and this has forced even those surrounding the presidential palace to be deployed in operations outside of Damascus, not to mention the escalating pace of defections across the entire military spectrum and including senior officers.”

It is worth noting that the military battles between the FSA and the al-Assad regime’s forces have escalated significantly over the past two weeks, with confrontations taking place within the Syrian capital itself. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights revealed that violent clashes broke out in the Damascus districts of Qaboun, Qudsaya and Dummar last week between the FSA and Republican Guards, just 8 km from Umayyad Square in the center of the city. Security in Damascus has been significantly tightened, particularly around government headquarters and the presidential palace.

Media reports also claimed that the Syrian opposition is preparing to assault Damascus with the objective of confronting and toppling the al-Assad regime. Reports claim that the FSA is preparing to besiege the Syrian capital with a total of 30,000 troops. One source told the media that meetings were being held in Turkey between the FSA leadership and Arab and western military and intelligence apparatuses to discuss the logistics and details with regards to taking the battle to the heart of Damascus.

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Residents flee Damascus as Syrian capital sees heaviest fighting so far in country's 'civil war'

Panic-stricken residents fled southern Damascus on Monday as the heaviest fighting seen in the city since Syria's uprising began stripped away the last veneer of normality in President Bashar al-Assad' principal stronghold.



By Adrian Blomfield, Middle East Correspondent and Tom Parfitt in Moscow

11:16PM BST 16 Jul 2012

Plumes of smoke were visible across the Syrian capital as fierce clashes raged for a second day within four miles of both Mr Assad's official residence and the buildings housing his pliant parliament.

With opposition forces claiming to have embarked on a new strategy "to bring the fighting into the centre of the capital", the Syrian conflict – described for the first time as a "civil war" by the Red Cross on Sunday – entered a dangerous new phase.

But even this most dramatic of escalations failed to break the deadlock in the United Nations Security Council.

Russia declared it would not succumb to Western "blackmail" by supporting a British proposal to try to end the crisis by threatening Mr Assad with sanctions. Kofi Annan, the international envoy to Syria, flew to Moscow in a desperate effort to end an impasse that now threatens the future of the 300-strong observer mission, whose mandate expires on Friday.

As the international acrimony ground on, the man Moscow has propped up for the past 16 months of turmoil struggled to confront one of the biggest challenges ever posed to his 12-year presidential career.

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http://news.yahoo.com/bomb-kills-syrian-defense-minister-damascus-battle-rages-104736393.html

7/18/12

Bomb kills Syrian ministers at heart of Assad rule

BEIRUT/AMMAN (Reuters) - Syria's defense minister and President Bashar al-Assad's brother-in-law were killed in a Damascus suicide bomb attack carried out by a bodyguard on Wednesday, the most serious blow to Assad's high command in the country's 16-month-old rebellion.

The bomber, said by a security source to be a bodyguard assigned to Assad's inner circle, struck a meeting attended by ministers and senior security officials as battles raged within sight of the presidential palace.

State television said Defence Minister Daoud Rajha and Assad's brother-in-law Assef Shawkat, the deputy defence minister, had been killed in a "terrorist bombing" and pledged to wipe out "criminal gangs".

A Syrian security source confirmed Shawkat, 62, - a pillar of Assad's rule - was killed and said intelligence chief Hisham Bekhtyar was wounded. State television said Interior Minister Mohammad Ibrahim al-Shaar had also been wounded in the blast.

The men form the core of a military crisis unit led by Assad to take charge of crushing the revolt and the authorities immediately appointed a new defence minister, Fahad Jassim al-Freij, previously the armed forces' chief of staff, to avoid appearing paralyzed by the attack.

Assad has not appeared in public since the attack or made any statement, but sources with knowledge of the situation said he was not at the meeting where it took place.

The explosion appeared to be part of a coordinated assault on the fourth day of fighting in the capital which rebel fighters have called the "liberation of Damascus".

Five explosions were heard later on Wednesday close to the base of the elite 4th armored division, led by Assad's brother Maher, residents said. The division has been instrumental in confronting dissent, quelling protests in Deraa, Homs and Idlib.

Rebels say they have brought reinforcements from outside the city to end four decades of rule by the Assad family by attacking the power base of the ruling elite for the first time.

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http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/ticket/obama-calls-putin-discuss-control-syria-210856779.html?_esi=1

7/18/12

Obama calls Putin to discuss ‘out of control’ Syria

President Barack Obama telephoned Russian President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday to discuss escalating violence in Syria after Defense Secretary Leon Panetta warned the country was "rapidly spinning out of control." There appeared to be no breakthrough.

The White House said Obama and Putin "noted the differences our governments have had on Syria" but "agreed on the need to support a political transition as soon as possible that achieves our shared goal of ending the violence and avoiding a further deterioration of the situation." But Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told Russian reporters that "differences in approaches remain that concern practical steps in achieving a settlement."

The apparent stalemate matters because Russia (abetted by China) has blocked efforts at the U.N. Security Council to adopt a blueprint designed to end the violence in Syria. Moscow has long supported President Bashar al-Assad, whose 16-month crackdown on the opposition to his regime has left more than 10,000 dead, according to outside observers. The Council had been slated to vote Wednesday on a new resolution imposing fresh sanctions on Syria. But that vote was postponed at the request of former secretary-general Kofi Annan, who has been acting as an international mediator in the crisis--thus far with few signs of success.

"We're working with our partners up at the United Nations in New York trying to bring about the consensus that we believe is absolutely necessary," White House press secretary Jay Carney told reporters."We call on our friends and our partners internationally to recognize that Assad is a spent force in terms of history. He will not be a part of Syria's future" Carney said. "And the best possible course of action for every country with an interest in the region and in the future of the Syrian people is to ally with the Syrian people and support a transition that is inclusive and allows for the establishment of a process and a democratic future for Syria."

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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-18897773

Syria conflict: Fresh offensive against rebels

Syrian troops have been mobilised in a drive to oust armed rebels from parts of Damascus, a day after a bomb attack that killed three top regime figures.

Tanks, artillery and helicopters have been deployed and clashes reported south-west and north-east of the city.

In a first public appearance since the bomb, President Assad was shown on TV swearing in the new defence minister.

Russia and China have vetoed a UN Security Council resolution calling for tougher sanctions on Syria.

Under the Western-backed plan, the Damascus government would have been threatened with non-military sanctions under Chapter 7 of the UN Charter if it failed to move troops and heavy weapons from populated areas.

It is the third time that Moscow and Beijing have vetoed sanctions against Syria.

With sporadic battles breaking out for control of Damascus, international envoy Kofi Annan has pushed the international community to take urgent and decisive action.

The Security Council must also decide whether to renew the mandate of a UN mission in Syria, due to end on Friday.

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http://news.yahoo.com/first-word-syrias-assad-emerges-attack-151529740.html

First word from Syria's Assad emerges after attack

BEIRUT (AP) — Bashar Assad attended the swearing-in of his new defense minister Thursday, according to footage shown on Syrian state TV, the first sign of the president since an audacious rebel attack the day before struck at the heart of his regime and killed three senior officials.

Government forces struck back against rebels with attack helicopters and shelling in a fifth straight day of clashes in Damascus. The inability of the military to control the clashes in the capital against lightly armed rebel forces and the deadly bombing of a high-level security meeting a day earlier made Assad's hold on power look increasingly tenuous.

The whereabouts of Assad, his wife and their three young children have been a mystery since the attack that killed his brother-in-law and his defense minister. Assad does not appear in public frequently, and his absence was notable following such a serious blow his inner circle.

The state TV announcement appeared aimed at sending the message that Assad is alive and well. It said Assad, dressed in a blue suit and tie, wished the new defense minister good luck but it did not say where the swearing-in took place.

Thousands of Syrians streamed across the Syrian border into Lebanon, fleeing as fighting in the capital entered its fifth straight day, witnesses said. Residents near the Masnaa crossing point — about 25 miles (40 kilometers) from Damascus — said hundreds of private cars as well as taxis and buses were ferrying people across.

Wednesday's rebel bomb attack struck the harshest blow yet to Assad's regime. The White House said it showed Assad was "losing control" of Syria.

Syrian TV confirmed the deaths of Defense Minister Dawoud Rajha, 65, a former army general and the most senior government official to be killed in the rebels' battle to oust Assad; Gen. Assef Shawkat, 62, the deputy defense minister who is married to Assad's elder sister, Bushra, and is one of the most feared figures in the inner circle; and Hassan Turkmani, 77, a former defense minister who died of his wounds in the hospital.

Also wounded were Interior Minister Mohammed Shaar and Maj. Gen. Hisham Ikhtiar, who heads the National Security Department. State TV said both were in stable condition.

Rebels claimed responsibility, saying they targeted the room where the top government security officials in charge of crushing the revolt were meeting.

Maj. Gen. Robert Mood, the Norwegian head of nearly 300 unarmed U.N. observers in Syria, condemned the violence and encouraged a diplomatic solution, which appears increasingly out of reach.

"It pains me to say, but we are not on the track for peace in Syria," Mood said in Damascus.

Hours later, China and Russia vetoed a new U.N. Security Council resolution on Syria's crisis — reflecting divisions between them and the West on who is responsible for Syria's crisis and how to stop it.

The resolution would have imposed non-military sanctions against Assad's government if it didn't withdraw troops and heavy weapons from populated areas within 10 days. It was tied to Chapter 7 of the U.N. Charter, which could eventually allow the use of force to end the conflict.

Russia and China have long opposed any moves that put the blame exclusively on Damascus or could pave the way for foreign military intervention in Syria.

The 11-2 vote, with two abstentions, leaves in limbo the future of the 300-person U.N. monitoring team in Syria, whose mandate expires Friday.

The latest fighting in Damascus, government forces fired heavy machine guns and mortars in battles with rebels in a number of neighborhoods in the capital, the Britain-based activist group Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.

Adding to the confusion, Syria's state-run TV warned citizens that gunmen were disguising themselves in military uniforms to carry out attacks.

"Gunmen are wearing Republican Guard uniforms in the neighborhoods of Tadamon, Midan, Qaa and Nahr Aisha, proving that they are planning attacks and crimes," SANA said.

Many residents were fleeing Damascus' Mezzeh neighborhood after troops surrounded it and posted snipers on rooftops while exchanging gunfire with opposition forces.

The Observatory, which relies on a network of activists inside Syria, said rebels damaged one helicopter and disabled three military vehicles.

Rebels fired rocket-propelled grenades at a police station in the Jdeidet Artouz area, killing at least five officers, the group said.

Activist claims could not be independently verified. The Syrian government bars most media from working independently in the country.

The unarmed observers were authorized for 90 days to monitor a cease-fire and implementation of Kofi Annan's six-point peace plan, but the truce never took hold and the monitors have found themselves largely locked down because of the persistent violence.

Mood said the observers "will become relevant when the political process takes off."

Syria's 16-month crisis began with protests inspired by the Arab Spring wave of revolutions, but it has evolved into a civil war, with rebels fighting to topple Assad.

Activists say more than 17,000 people have been killed since the uprising began in March 2011, most of them civilians. The Syrian government says more than 4,000 security officers have been killed. It does not given numbers of civilian dead.

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http://news.yahoo.com/jordanian-airline-suspends-flights-syria-161706925--finance.html

7/19/12

Jordanian airline suspends flights to Syria

AMMAN, Jordan (AP) — Royal Jordanian airline says it has suspended its scheduled flights to Syria because of the civil war there.

Jordan's flagship carrier says it has stopped its two daily flights to Damascus and Allepo as of Thursday.

An RJ statement says the reason was the civil war, which forced a sharp drop in demand for travel to both destinations.

The statement says flights will resume when air travel to Syria is safe.

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http://news.yahoo.com/syrian-borders-rebel-hands-battles-damascus-003702669.html

Syrian borders in rebel hands, battles in Damascus

7/19/12

AMMAN/CILVEGOZU, Turkey (Reuters) - Rebels seized control of sections of Syria's international borders and torched the main police headquarters in the heart of old Damascus, advancing relentlessly after the assassination of President Bashar al-Assad's closest lieutenants.

The battle for parts of the capital raged into the early hours of Friday, with corpses piled in the streets. In some neighborhoods, residents said there were signs the government's presence was diminishing.

Officials in neighboring Iraq confirmed that Syrian rebels were now in control of the Syrian side of the main Abu Kamal border checkpoint on the Euphrates River highway, one of the major trade routes across the Middle East.

Rebels also claimed control of at least two border crossings into Turkey at Bab al-Hawa and Jarablus, in what appeared to have been a coordinated campaign to seize Syria's frontiers.

In Damascus, a witness in the central old quarter district of Qanawat said the huge headquarters of the Damascus Province Police was black with smoke and abandoned after being torched and looted in a rebel attack.

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http://news.yahoo.com/turkey-sends-missile-batteries-syria-border-160445158.html

Turkey sends missile batteries to Syria border

7/22/12

Turkey sent batteries of ground-to-air missiles to the border with Syria on Sunday, media reports said, boosting its firepower as rebels in Syria seized several border posts.

As fighting raged in Damascus and Aleppo, rebels were said to have taken control of three crossing points on the border with Turkey, which is sheltering thousands of Syrians who have fled the conflict at home.

A train convoy carrying several batteries of missiles arrived in Mardin in southeastern Turkey and will be transferred to several army units deployed on the border, according to the Anatolia news agency.

Television footage showed at least five vehicles in the convoy were carrying air defence missiles, in the latest show of force by Syria's one-time ally which is now a fervent critic of President Bashar al-Assad's regime.

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http://news.yahoo.com/golan-druse-start-turn-against-syrias-assad-064500165.html?_esi=1

7/28/12

Golan Druse start to turn against Syria's Assad

BUKATA, Golan Heights (AP) — The raging civil war just across the cease-fire line in Syria is posing an uncomfortable political choice for the Druse people in the Israeli-annexed Golan Heights.

Do they maintain their traditional loyalty to the government of Bashar Assad, whose family has vowed to take back the territory? Or should they support the burgeoning Arab revolt against Assad's harsh rule?

In the shifting sands of the Middle East, the Druse again find themselves a people caught in the middle.

In Druse villages close enough to hear the fighting, families and friends are divided between backers of the revolt and supporters of the regime. A Druse doctor predicted his people would demand Assad's downfall, while a butcher in a nearby town denounced the Syrian uprising as a foreign conspiracy.

Israel captured the Golan from Syria in the 1967 Mideast war. In 1981 it annexed the strategic plateau, 65 kilometers (40 miles) long and 20 kilometers (12 miles) wide, because militarily, it commands Israel's north. The international community has not recognized the Israeli annexation. In negotiations, Israel has offered to exchange the territory for full peace, but talks broke down a decade ago over exact borders and other issues.

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http://news.yahoo.com/syrias-top-diplomat-london-defects-151549134.html

7/30/12

Syria's top diplomat in London defects

Syria's top diplomat in London resigned on Monday in protest against the "violent and oppressive" acts of President Bashar al-Assad's regime, the Foreign Office said.
 
The move comes after a series of defections by senior Syrian officials in recent weeks, including diplomats in several countries and top army officers.
 
The Foreign Office said in a statement that charge d'affaires Khaled al-Ayoubi had informed it on Monday that he had "left his post", describing it as a blow to the Syrian government.
 
"Mr al-Ayoubi has told us that he is no longer willing to represent a regime that has committed such violent and oppressive acts against its own people, and is therefore unable to continue in his position," it said.

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http://news.yahoo.com/syrias-aleppo-running-low-food-amid-siege-000506233.html

Syria's Aleppo running low on food amid siege

7/31/12

BEIRUT (AP) — Food and cooking gas were in short supply and power cuts plunged homes into darkness as soldiers and rebels battled Tuesday to tip the scales in the fight for Aleppo, Syria's largest city and the current focus of its civil war.

Life for Aleppo's 3 million residents was becoming increasingly unbearable as a military siege entered its 11th day. While rebels seized two police stations, Syrian ground forces pummeled the opposition strongholds of Salaheddine and Seif al-Dawla in the city's southwest, activists said. Government helicopters also pounded those neighborhoods.

"The regime couldn't enter the neighborhoods so they were shelling from a distance with helicopters and artillery," said Mohammed Nabehan, who fled Aleppo for the Kilis refugee camp just across the Turkish border some 30 miles (50 kilometers) away.

Nabehan and others said it was a struggle to find food.

"The humanitarian situation here is very bad," Mohammed Saeed, an activist living in the city, told The Associated Press by Skype. "There is not enough food and people are trying to leave. We really need support from the outside. There is random shelling against civilians," he added. "The city has pretty much run out of cooking gas, so people are cooking on open flames or with electricity, which cuts out a lot."

Days of shelling have forced many civilians to flee to other neighborhoods or even escape the city altogether. The U.N. said Sunday that 200,000 had left Aleppo.

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http://news.yahoo.com/general-assembly-ask-syrias-assad-step-down-213834267.html

General Assembly to ask Syria's Assad to step down

8/1/12

UNITED NATIONS (AP) — Arab countries pushed ahead Wednesday with a symbolic U.N. General Assembly resolution that tells Syrian President Bashar Assad to resign and turn over power to a transitional government. It also demands that the Syrian army stop its shelling and helicopter attacks and withdraw to its barracks. A vote is set for Friday morning.

The draft resolution circulated up through Wednesday takes a swipe at Russia and China by "deploring the Security Council failure" to act. Moscow and Beijing have used their veto in the smaller, more powerful Council three times to kill resolutions that could have opened the door to sanctions on Syria.

While the 193-member General Assembly has no legal mechanism for enforcing a resolution, an overwhelming vote can carry moral and symbolic power. Voting is by simple majority, and there is no veto.

The U.N. reported a significant escalation in Syria's civil war Wednesday, with the military using warplanes to fire on opposition fighters in the 12-day battle for Aleppo.

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http://news.yahoo.com/exclusive-obama-authorizes-secret-support-syrian-rebels-010014457.html

8/1/12

Obama authorized secret support for Syrian rebels

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama has signed a secret order authorizing U.S. support for rebels seeking to depose Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and his government, sources familiar with the matter said.
 
Obama's order, approved earlier this year and known as an intelligence "finding," broadly permits the CIA and other U.S. agencies to provide support that could help the rebels oust Assad.
 
This and other developments signal a shift toward growing, albeit still circumscribed, support for Assad's armed opponents - a shift that intensified following last month's failure of the U.N. Security Council to agree on tougher sanctions against the Damascus government.
 
The White House is for now apparently stopping short of giving the rebels lethal weapons, even as some U.S. allies do just that.

more

[Psalm 51:17]

http://news.yahoo.com/annan-step-down-international-syria-mediator-154545166.html

8/2/12

Annan to step down as international Syria mediator

UNITED NATIONS/GENEVA (Reuters) - Former U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan is stepping down as the U.N.-Arab League mediator in the 17-month-old Syria conflict at the end of the month, the United Nations said on Thursday, the latest sign that the outlook for a diplomatic solution is bleak.
 
"Mr. Annan has informed me, and the Secretary-General of the League of Arab States, Mr. Nabil Elaraby, of his intention not to renew his mandate when it expires on 31 August 2012," Ban said in a statement, adding that he and Elaraby were in discussions on appointing a successor to Annan.
 
"Kofi Annan deserves our profound admiration for the selfless way in which he has put his formidable skills and prestige to this most difficult and potentially thankless of assignments," Ban said.
 
Russian U.N. Ambassador Vitaly Churkin was quick to react, suggesting to reporters outside the Security Council in New York that Moscow was disappointed that Annan was bowing out.
 
"We understand that it's his decision," Churkin told reporters. "We regret that he chose to do so. We have supported very strongly Kofi Annan's efforts. He has another month to go, and I hope this month is going to be used as effectively as possible under these very difficult circumstances."

more

[Psalm 51:17]

http://news.yahoo.com/syria-reaches-oil-deal-ally-russia-005727346.html

Syria reaches oil deal with ally Russia

MOSCOW (Reuters) - Syria has reached an agreement with ally Russia to secure much-needed fuel as a delegation of ministers sent by President Bashar al-Assad asked Moscow to help alleviate the effects of sanctions on the war-torn country.
 
The trip was a rare foreign visit made by high-level Syrian officials, whose circles of support are shrinking as violence mounts between rebel fighters and forces loyal to Assad, who the West and Arab countries say must leave power.
 
Under the deal, Syria will export its crude oil to Russia in exchange for refined oil products, which Damascus sorely needs to keep its economy and military running.
 
"Russia wants to help the Syrian people," Syrian Deputy Prime Minister for Economic Affairs Qadri Jamil told reporters in Moscow on Friday.
 
"We will deliver our oil and receive gasoline and fuel oil; it will be a barter," he said, adding that Syria is producing about 200,000 barrels per day.

However, Syria's Oil Minister Said Hneidi said production was less than 140,000 barrels per day.

more

[Psalm 51:17]

http://news.yahoo.com/syrian-prime-minister-sacked-state-tv-093702737.html

8/6/12

Syria PM defects, accuses Assad regime of 'genocide'

Syria's prime minister Riad Hijab joined the anti-regime revolt and fled abroad, in what Washington and the opposition hailed on Monday as a major blow to President Bashar al-Assad.
 
Government forces, meanwhile, were poised to launch an assault on rebels in Aleppo, Syria's commercial capital.
 
In the highest-ranking defection of the nearly 17-month uprising, Hijab, a leading Sunni Muslim in Assad's minority Alawite-dominated regime, announced he was joining the rebels after slipping across the border into Jordan on Sunday night.
 
He accused his former master of carrying out "genocide" against his own people but said four decades of Assad family rule were collapsing.
 
"I announce my defection today from the regime of killing and terror, and I join the ranks of the revolt," Hijab said in statement read by his spokesman Mohammed al-Otri on Al-Jazeera news channel from Amman.

more

[Mark]

Syria: Iran vows it will not allow Assad to fall
Iran pledged that its "axis" with Syria will "never" be allowed to break when Tehran sought to bolster President Bashar al-Assad by sending a senior envoy to Damascus.


Mr Assad made his first appearance on state television for over a fortnight, promising to continue the struggle against his enemies "without respite".

Iran has been trying to guarantee the survival of Mr Assad, who serves as Tehran's only reliable ally in the Middle East, by supplying Syria's regime with funds, weaponry and expert personnel to aid the campaign against rebels.

Saeed Jalili, the secretary of Iran's Supreme National Security Council, came to Damascus as a visible symbol of that support.

"Iran will never allow the resistance axis – of which Syria is an essential pillar – to break," he said. The "axis of resistance" refers to the Middle East's anti-Western powers: Iran, Syria and the armed groups, Hizbollah and Hamas, although in reality the latter has already broken away by ending its presence in Damascus.

Iran and Syria both claim that foreign countries have caused the uprising against Mr Assad with the aim of destroying the "axis". During his visit, Mr Jalili echoed that message. "What is happening in Syria is not an internal issue but a conflict between the axis of resistance on one hand, and the regional and global enemies of this axis on the other," he said.

rest: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/middleeast/syria/9459321/Syria-Iran-vows-it-will-not-allow-Assad-to-fall.html

[Mark]

Iran threatens U.S. over Syrian abductions by rebels
Islamic regime ready to have 'direct confrontation' immediately

Should any of the Iranians taken hostage by rebels in Syria be harmed, America should expect Iran’s intelligence agents to respond in kind, the Islamic regime has warned.

Forty-eight Iranians were seized Saturday in Damascus by rebels seeking to overthrow Syrian President Bashar Assad’s regime. Iran claims they are pilgrims, but Abdel Nasser Shemir, a rebel commander, in an interview with the news organization Al Arabiya, charged they were members of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards whose confiscated documents proved as much.

“They are 48, in addition to an Afghani interpreter,” Shemir said, alleging that the captives were members of a 150-strong group sent by Iran for “reconnaissance on the ground.”

Iran quickly blamed America, Saudi Arabia and Qatar for the kidnapping.

Hours after the abduction, Ali Larijani, the speaker of the Iranian Parliament, said that, “America and certain countries of the region are responsible for these crimes, and they will receive the appropriate response at the right time.”

A media outlet called “The Youth Reporter’s Club,” which is run by the Revolutionary Guards intelligence unit, also blamed America for the abduction, stating that America, Saudi Arabia and Qatar are involved in the events in Syria and that Iran is ready to “change the proxy war into a direct confrontation on an immediate basis.”

The statement warned America that should any of the abducted Iranians be harmed, Iran will harm America and Americans.

Another statement that appeared on the site IranNuc.ir, which reflects the opinion of the regime, declared that Iran holds America directly responsible for the abductions. That message was given to the Swiss ambassador in Iran, who acts on behalf of America’s interest because the two countries have no diplomatic relations. The statement warned that, although America has not reacted to the claim, Iran is ready to immediately attack America.

This warning would mean that Iranian terror cells, along with the terrorist organization Hezbollah, could attack America’s interests and take Americans hostage. Such a terrorist threat recalls the Marine barracks bombing in Lebanon, the Khobar Towers bombing in Saudi Arabia and the abduction, torture and murder of the CIA station chief in Beirut, William Buckley, in 1985. Dozens of Americans and Europeans were systematically taken hostage between 1982 and 1992.

The kidnapping of the 48 Iranians occurred as the Assad regime claimed it was in full control of Damascus, despite heavy fighting in the capital.

Iranian leaders have continuously warned against “foreign intervention” in Syria.

Speaker Larijani accused America of providing military support to the rebels. “The fire that has been ignited in Syria will take fearful (Israelis) with it,” Larijani said Sunday, as quoted by the Islamic Republic News Agency.

Days ago, Iran dispatched Saeed Jalili, the senior aide to the supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, to Damascus, where he held meetings with Syria’s top officials, including Assad. Jalili discussed the rebellion in Syria and the need for a quick release of the abducted Iranians, and said Syria was an essential part of an “axis of resistance” to Israel and the West.

Iran has formed a joint war room with Syria and Hezbollah and has warned that any outside aggression against Syria would be met with a heavy missile response from the three, with Israel facing the brunt of it.

As reported recently, according to a source within the Revolutionary Guards intelligence unit, Iran is preparing to attack Saudi Arabia should Assad’s regime be in danger of falling to the rebels.

“Dozens of Iranian ballistic missiles have been programmed to hit Riyadh, the capital of Saudi Arabia, as wells as Qatar,” the source added.

http://www.wnd.com/2012/08/iran-threatens-u-s-over-abductions-by-syrian-rebels/?cat_orig=world