End Times and Current Events

Isa 17:1  The burden of Damascus. Behold, Damascus is taken away from being a city, and it shall be a ruinous heap.
Isa 17:2  The cities of Aroer are forsaken: they shall be for flocks, which shall lie down, and none shall make them afraid.
Isa 17:3  The fortress also shall cease from Ephraim, and the kingdom from Damascus, and the remnant of Syria: they shall be as the glory of the children of Israel, saith the LORD of hosts.

http://news.yahoo.com/us-allies-declare-syrias-assad-must-leave-203307751.html

8/18/11

US, allies declare that Syria's Assad must leave

WASHINGTON (AP) — Executing a global squeeze play, the United States and its European allies on Thursday demanded an end to four decades of brutal family dictatorship in Syria and underscored the tough talk with new sanctions on President Bashar Assad's government.

The unified stance isolates Assad further as he presses a military campaign against major demonstrations.

But the diplomacy left many questions unanswered, including how the demand for Assad's ouster can be backed up in the absence of any appetite for military intervention, and who inside the Syrian government or among the country's fragmented opposition might take his place.

The messages from Washington, London, Paris, Berlin and Brussels coincided with a U.N. report recommending that Syria be referred to the International Criminal Court for investigation of possible crimes against humanity, including summary executions, torturing prisoners and targeting children in the crackdown on demonstrations.

Much of Syria was quiet Thursday, although activists reported intense shooting around noon in the flashpoint city of Latakia.

Rights groups say Assad's forces have killed nearly 2,000 people since mid-March. The military assault on civilians has escalated since Ramadan began, with security forces killing hundreds and detaining thousands.

Activists said security forces killed 18 people across the country on Wednesday, the same day Assad assured U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon that military and police operations had stopped.

In Thursday's coordinated statements, President Barack Obama and the leaders of Britain, France, Germany, Canada and the European Union called for Assad to resign, saying his repression of demonstrations inspired by this spring's Arab uprisings made him unfit to lead. The new effort signals the end of the world's thin patience for Assad, once viewed as a Western-looking pragmatist who might expand freedoms at home and help achieve an Arab peace deal with Israel.

The resignation calls were the first explicit demands from the U.S. and its allies for Assad to step down, although condemnation of his actions had been growing for weeks.

Syria presented a different case than other Muslim nations swept by unrest this year. The United States used leverage from its billions of dollars in military aid to gradually ratchet up pressure on Egyptian dictator Hosni Mubarak to step down, and called early on for the ouster of Libyan strongman Moammar Gadhafi.

But Washington has very little direct influence on Syria, long a pariah state accused of sponsoring terrorism. Syria does have wider trade and other ties with Europe and the Arab world, which complicated the U.S. position, and with neighbor Iran. Iran remains one of the Assad regime's few allies, although those bonds are not deep.

In a statement released by the White House, Obama said Assad had lost all credibility as a leader and had to go.

"His calls for dialogue and reform have rung hollow while he is imprisoning, torturing and slaughtering his own people," Obama said. "We have consistently said that President Assad must lead a democratic transition or get out of the way. He has not led. For the sake of the Syrian people, the time has come for President Assad to step aside."

British Prime Minister David Cameron, French President Nicolas Sarkozy and German Chancellor Angela Merkel issued a joint statement saying that Assad should "leave power in the greater interests of Syria and the unity of his people." European Union foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton and Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper also joined the chorus of condemnation.

In Geneva, a high-level U.N. human rights team said that Syria's crackdown "may amount to crimes against humanity" and should be referred to the International Criminal Court. The U.N. investigators say they had found "a pattern of human rights violations that constitutes widespread or systematic attacks against the civilian population."

U.N. human rights chief Navi Pillay said Thursday she had asked the Security Council to refer Syria to the court, and the U.S. and Europeans said they would push for sanctions at the U.N.

Syria's U.N. ambassador, Bashar Ja'afari, accused the U.S. of waging a "humanitarian and diplomatic war" against his country in order to instigate further violence by sending "the wrong message to the terrorist armed groups that they are under American and Western protection."

Obama said Assad was wrong to think he could silence the voices of his people with repressive tactics similar to the ones his father, Hafez Assad, used to crush opponents in the 1980s. Obama signed an executive order that gives his administration authority to impose sweeping new sanctions on Syria intended to further isolate Assad.

The order immediately bans the import into the United States of any Syrian petroleum or petroleum products. Syria is not a huge source of oil for the U.S., but if European allies join the effort, it could significantly affect one of the government's top sources of revenue. Syrian crude oil exports go mostly to European countries such as Germany, Italy and France, according to the U.S. Energy Information Agency.

Obama's order also denies Syria access to the U.S. financial system, freezing all Syrian government assets that are subject to American jurisdiction. It prohibits any U.S. citizen from engaging in transactions with Syria, investing in the country or exporting services there.

The U.S. had already hit more than 30 Syrian officials, including Assad himself and members of his inner circle, and firms with sanctions. It has also lobbied other nations to follow suit, an acknowledgment both of limited U.S. leverage and the value, as Clinton said this week, of giving Assad nowhere to run.

The administration was careful to try not to appear highhanded or meddlesome in a region where suspicion of U.S. motives is rampant. Some of the Syrian protesters demanding an end to Assad's rule also reject the idea of a new alliance with the American government. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton and Obama stressed that no one would impose transition in Syria.

"We understand the strong desire of the Syrian people that no foreign country should intervene in their struggle, and we respect their wishes," Clinton said at the State Department. "At the same time, we will do our part to support their aspirations for a Syria that is democratic, just and inclusive, and we will stand up for their universal rights and dignity by pressuring the regime and Assad personally."

The White House had planned to make the announcement last week but postponed it largely at the request of Syria's neighbor Turkey, which asked for more time to try to persuade Assad, and because Clinton and other officials argued it was important to build a global coalition to demand his departure.

U.S. intelligence analysts believe one possible outcome of a post-Assad era is a Lebanese style government in which Syrian political parties form along sectarian lines, with some pro-Iran, some Sunni Muslim, some Christian. One U.S. official said a positive sign is that the protesters across ethnic and religious lines appear to have maintained a cohesive, unified front. That shared experience, coupled with unseating Assad, could forge ties between disparate groups.

Another possibility is that Assad gets pushed out by members of the existing government, who use his ouster to win back the people.

Until Thursday, the administration had said Assad had lost his legitimacy and that Syria would be better off without him. But it had stopped short of demanding his departure.

In addition to the statements from Europe and Canada, Jordan's foreign minister said Thursday that his country is "angered" and "extremely worried" by the killings of civilians in Syria, and Switzerland recalled its ambassador. A day earlier, Tunisia recalled its ambassador from Syria, following the lead of several other Arab nations, including Saudi Arabia, which the U.S. has been lobbying to show displeasure with Assad.

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Wednesday compared Assad to Libya's Moammar Gadhafi for refusing to heed pressure to change. Turkey has joined calls for Gadhafi to leave power, and Erdogan said he had personally spoken to Assad and sent his foreign minister to Damascus, but "despite all of this, they are continuing to strike civilians."

http://blogs.aljazeera.net/liveblog/Syria

UK Foreign Secretary William Hague says Assad is 'fast losing the last shreds of his legitimacy' -

http://blogs.aljazeera.net/liveblog/Syria

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Syria hits point of no return amid broad isolation

http://news.yahoo.com/syria-hits-point-no-return-amid-broad-isolation-093933874.html

8/21/11

BEIRUT (AP) — When Bashar Assad inherited power in Syria in 2000, many saw him as a youthful new president in a region of aging dictators — a fresh face who could transform his father's stagnant dictatorship into a modern state ready to engage with the world.

Now, the bloody government backlash has extinguished the once-popular image of Assad as a reformer struggling against members of his late father's old guard.

With calls for his resignation last week from Washington to Tokyo, the Arab Spring has forced Assad to face the most severe isolation of his family's four-decade rule. And the events of the past five months have dashed any lingering hopes that he would change one of the most repressive states in the world.

There is little sign that the 45-year-old Assad will manage to crush the protests that are shaking his regime. But even if he does, his newfound status as a global pariah stands to devastate his country of 22 million people, undermine stability in the Middle East and affect the role of Iran, Syria's ally, on the world stage.

"Power is an aphrodisiac, and as the old saying goes, it corrupts absolutely," said David W. Lesch, an American expert on Syria who wrote a 2005 biography of Bashar Assad. "In the end, he became more of a product of his environment rather than a transformational figure who could change that environment."

The United States and several of its major allies called Thursday for Assad to give up power, a crescendo to months of mounting reproach. The messages from Washington, London, Paris, Berlin and Brussels coincided with a U.N. report recommending that Syria be referred to the International Criminal Court for investigation of possible crimes against humanity in the crackdown, including summary executions, torturing prisoners and targeting children.

Even Japan added its voice to the chorus calling for Assad to leave.

Human rights groups said Assad's forces have killed nearly 2,000 people since the uprising erupted in mid-March, touched off by the wave of revolutions sweeping the Arab world.

There is no sign that the global calls for Assad's ouster will have any immediate effect, although analysts say they could ultimately help turn the tide. The growing isolation could compel Syrians who have supported the regime to move toward the opposition, especially if the economy continues to deteriorate.

Longtime ally Iran has offered unwavering support for Damascus, but it cannot prop up the regime indefinitely.

Still, many observers predict at least several more months of bloodshed, perhaps even more brutality to prevent further attempts to replace Assad.

Both sides of the conflict remain energized. Protesters pour into the streets every Friday, defying the near-certain barrage of shelling and sniper fire. But the regime is strong as well and in no imminent danger of collapse, setting the stage for what could be a drawn-out and bloody stalemate.

The opposition has yet to bring out the middle- and upper-middle classes in Damascus and Aleppo, the two economic powerhouses, although protests have been building.

Assad, and his father before him, stacked key military posts with members of their minority Alawite sect, ensuring loyalty by melding the fate of the army and the regime. That loyalty is the Assad regime's most potent weapon.

Economic sanctions can chip away at the regime, although the new U.S. ban on Syrian oil is not a significant blow on its own. But EU officials said Friday the bloc's 27 member states were considering an embargo on oil, which could significantly slash the Damascus government's revenues.

Syria's oil exports — most of them heading to Europe — generate $7-8 million per day, said David Schenker, director of the Program on Arab Politics at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy. Without that revenue, Syria will quickly burn through the $17 billion in foreign reserves that the government had at the start of the uprising.

"But it could still take a year to deplete, collapsing the economy," Schenker cautioned.

It remains to be seen if Turkey, a former close ally of Syria, will also impose sanctions. Turkey is Syria's neighbor and important trade partner, and its leaders have grown increasingly frustrated with Damascus.

Although Washington has little direct influence on Syria, President Barack Obama's call for Assad to leave decisively ends the U.S. push for engagement with Damascus.

There were early signs that the attempt would end badly: A secret U.S. diplomatic cable from June 2009 portrays Assad as vain and inexperienced, and government officials in Damascus as inveterate liars.

Assad sees himself "as a sort of philosopher-king, the Pericles of Damascus," Maura Connelly, the U.S. charge d'affaires in Damascus at the time, says in the cable, which was released by WikiLeaks.

She suggests flattering Assad may be a good way to manipulate him: "Playing to Bashar's intellectual pretensions is one stratagem for gaining his confidence and acquiescence; it may be time-consuming but could well produce results."

Syria has long been viewed by the West as a potentially destabilizing force in the Middle East because of its alliance with Iran and Hezbollah guerrillas in Lebanon. Damascus also provided a home for some radical Palestinian groups.

In recent years, however, the country has been trying to emerge from years of international isolation, raising hopes that Washington could peel the country away from Tehran, Hezbollah and Hamas.

But two years of U.S. overtures to Damascus yielded few results. Now, an isolated Assad is as close to Iran as ever. Iraq is sticking by Assad as well — a move that some see as a sign of how the Iraqi government is shifting toward an alliance led by Iran as American forces get ready to leave at the end of the year.

It's a marked change in the relationship between Iran and Syria, which were deeply estranged all through the Saddam era and the insurgency.

Assad's isolation stands in stark contrast to the hopes many pinned on his leadership.

He gave up an ophthalmology career in Britain to enter Syrian politics when his brother Basil, widely regarded as his father's chosen heir, died in a 1994 car crash.

Assad, who was 34 when he took power, slowly lifted Soviet-style economic restrictions, letting in foreign banks, throwing the doors open to imports and empowering the private sector. His youth and quiet demeanor endeared him to Syrians. The tall, lanky leader with a mild disposition is said to detest being surrounded by bodyguards.

He and his wife, Asma, and their three young children, live in an apartment in the upscale Abu Rummaneh district of Damascus, as opposed to a palatial mansion like other Arab leaders.

But the "Damascus Spring" turned out to be short-lived, and Assad slipped into the autocratic ways of his father.

"I have personally seen Assad's evolution from someone who became president by accident and wanted to reform the country to someone who was battle-tested, in power, and appears to have been convinced by sycophantic praise and regime propaganda as to his own indispensable position in the country," Lesch said.

For now, though, Assad enjoys a measure of support in Syria. His main base at home includes Syrians who have benefited financially from the regime, minority groups who feel they will be targeted if the Sunni majority takes over, and others who see no clear and safe alternative to Assad.

The Syrian opposition movement is disparate and largely disorganized, without a strong leadership.

Sectarian warfare is a real, terrifying possibility in Syria, a fragile jigsaw puzzle of Middle Eastern backgrounds including Sunnis, Shiites, Alawites, Christians, Kurds, Druse, Circassians, Armenians and more. The worst-case scenario is a descent into a Lebanese-style civil war — and Assad has exploited those fears.

The Syrian government insists the unrest is being driven by terrorists and foreign extremists looking to stir up sectarian strife. On Saturday, a government-owned newspaper said the U.S. and European calls for Assad to step down finally have revealed the "face of the conspiracy" against Damascus.

Syrian protesters vow to bring down Assad regime
Death of Muammar Gaddafi in Libya brings new momentum to uprising as demonstrators call for international military intervention

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/oct/21/syrian-protesters-vow-end-assad-regime

 

Syrian protesters poured onto the streets on Friday, vowing that President Bashar al-Assad's regime will be the next to unravel after the death of the ousted Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi.

Activists said around 14 protesters were killed when security forces opened fire.

"Gaddafi is gone. Your turn is coming, Bashar!" protesters in the central city of Hama, a hotbed of resistance to the Assad regime, shouted.

The Syrian uprising has been resilient over the last seven months despite a bloody crackdown in which the UN estimates that more than 3,000 people have been killed.

Although mass demonstrations have shaken one of the most authoritarian regimes in the Middle East, the Syrian opposition has made no major gains in recent months. It holds no territory and has no clear leadership.

But the armed uprising in Libya, which drove Gaddafi from power, albeit with Nato air support, appeared to have breathed new life into the Syrian revolt.

"Our souls, our blood we sacrifice for you, Libya!" Syrian protesters chanted. Others held signs linking Assad's fate to those of other deposed Arab leaders. Tunisia's Zine El Abidine Ben Ali has been driven into exile, and Egypt's Hosni Mubarak is in jail facing charges of complicity in the deaths of more than 800 protesters during his country's uprising.

"Ben Ali fled, Mubarak is in jail, Gaddafi is killed, Assad … ?" one banner read.

The Syrian uprising has taken cues from Libya recently.Syria's opposition has formed a national council, like Libya's National Transitional Council, hoping to forge a united front against Assad that Syrians and the international community could rally behind.

In turn, Libya became the first country to recognise the Syrian National Council as the "legitimate authority" in Syria.

After the successes of armed Libyan revolutionaries, many Syrian protesters have started to see the limits of a peaceful movement. Some Syrians have called on protesters to take up arms and invited foreign military action, hoisting signs that read "Where is Nato?".

For the most part, Syrian opposition leaders have opposed foreign intervention.There has been no central call to arms by the opposition, in part because of its lack of clear leadership.

The Syrian opposition has been disparate and fragmented, with various parties vying for power as they have sought an end to more than 40 years of rule by Assad and his late father, Hafez.

There have been some clashes in border regions between Syrian forces and apparent defectors from the military, but they have not been widespread.

But growing signs of armed resistance may accelerate the cycle of violence gripping the country by giving the government a pretext to use even greater firepower against its opponents. Authorities have already used tanks, snipers and gunmen.

According to the Telegraph:

An insurgent army which claims to be up to 15,000 strong is being coordinated from Turkey to take on President Bashar al-Assad of Syria, which risks plunging the region into open warfare.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/middleeast/syria/8868027/15000-strong-army-gathers-to-take-on-Syria.html

WARS AND RUMORS OF WARS
Is this the next U.S.-NATO armed action?
Surprise move seen as step toward military campaign


In a surprise step that could precipitate a future U.S.-NATO military campaign, the Arab League today suspended Syria and called on its army to stop killing civilians.

The League announced it will impose economic and political sanctions on Syria's government and has appealed to member states to withdraw their ambassadors.

Arab League diplomats, speaking to the Associated Press on condition of anonymity, said that if Syria does not adhere to its demands for immediate reform, the organization will work to unify Syrian opposition groups into a coalition similar to that of Libya's National Transitional Council.

A next step, the diplomats said, would be to recognize the opposition as the sole representative of the Syrian people in a move that would symbolically isolate the regime of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.

Those moves mimic the diplomatic initiatives taken to isolate Muammar Gadhafi's regime before the NATO campaign in Libya.

(Story continues below)

          

Similar to Gadhafi, Assad's regime has been accused of major human-rights violations, including crimes against humanity, in clamping down on a violent insurgency targeting Assad's rule.

Mass demonstrations were held in recent weeks in Syrian-insurgent strongholds calling for the international NATO coalition in Libya to deploy in Syria.

Damascus officials claimed to WND that NATO troops are currently training in Turkey for a Turkish-led NATO invasion of Syria.

Any deployment would come under the banner of the same "Responsibility to Protect" global doctrine used to justify the U.S.-NATO airstrikes in Libya.

Responsibility to Protect, or Responsibility to Act, as cited by President Obama, is a set of principles, now backed by the United Nations, based on the idea that sovereignty is not a privilege but a responsibility that can be revoked if a country is accused of "war crimes," "genocide," "crimes against humanity" or "ethnic cleansing."

A Turkish-U.S.-NATO strike could have immediate implications for Israel.

The Syrian president warned in a recent interview with a U.K. newspaper that foreign intervention in Syria would cause an "earthquake" across the region and create another Afghanistan, while directly threatening the Jewish state.

Assad reportedly made similar comments in a meeting in early October with Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmad Davutoglu. He was quoted stating, "If a crazy measure is taken against Damascus, I will need not more than six hours to transfer hundreds of rockets and missiles to the Golan Heights to fire them at Tel Aviv."

Assad also reportedly warned that "all these events will happen in three hours, but in the second three hours, Iran will attack the U.S. warships in the Persian Gulf and the U.S. and European interests will be targeted simultaneously."

George Soros-funded doctrine with White House ties

The Libya bombings have been widely regarded as a test of a military doctrine called "Responsibility to Protect."

In his address to the nation in April explaining the NATO campaign in Libya, Obama cited the doctrine as the main justification for U.S. and international airstrikes against Libya.

The Global Center for Responsibility to Protect is the world's leading champion of the military doctrine.

Know your enemy: 'Red Army' exposes the radical network that must be defeated to save the country

As WND reported, billionaire activist George Soros is a primary funder and key proponent of the Global Center for Responsibility to Protect. Several of the doctrine's main founders also sit on boards with Soros.

WND reported the committee that devised the Responsibility to Protect doctrine included Arab League Secretary General Amre Moussa as well as Palestinian legislator Hanan Ashrawi, a staunch denier of the Holocaust who long served as the deputy of late Palestinian Liberation Organization leader Yasser Arafat.

Also, the Carr Center for Human Rights Policy has a seat on the advisory board of the 2001 commission that originally founded Responsibility to Protect. The commission is called the International Commission on Intervention and State Sovereignty. It invented the term "responsibility to protect" while defining its guidelines.

The Carr Center is a research center concerned with human rights located at the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University.

Samantha Power, the National Security Council special adviser to Obama on human rights, was Carr's founding executive director and headed the institute at the time it advised in the founding of Responsibility to Protect.

With Power's center on the advisory board, the International Commission on Intervention and State Sovereignty first defined the Responsibility to Protect doctrine.

Power reportedly heavily influenced Obama in consultations leading to the decision to bomb Libya.

Two of the global group's advisory board members, Ramesh Thakur and Gareth Evans, are the original founders of the doctrine, with the duo even coining the term "responsibility to protect."

As WND reported, Soros' Open Society Institute is a primary funder and key proponent of the Global Center for Responsibility to Protect. Also, Thakur and Evans sit on multiple boards with Soros.

Soros' Open Society is one of only three nongovernmental funders of the Global Center for the Responsibility to Protect. Government sponsors include Australia, Belgium, Canada, the Netherlands, Norway, Rwanda and the U.K.

Board members of the group include former U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan, former Ireland President Mary Robinson and South African activist Desmond Tutu. Robinson and Tutu have recently made solidarity visits to the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip as members of a group called The Elders, which includes former President Jimmy Carter.

Annan once famously stated, "State sovereignty, in its most basic sense, is being redefined – not least by the forces of globalization and international co-operation. States are ... instruments at the service of their peoples and not vice versa."

Soros: Right to 'penetrate nation-states'

Soros himself outlined the fundamentals of Responsibility to Protect in a 2004 Foreign Policy magazine article titled "The People's Sovereignty: How a New Twist on an Old Idea Can Protect the World's Most Vulnerable Populations."

In the article Soros said, "True sovereignty belongs to the people, who in turn delegate it to their governments."

"If governments abuse the authority entrusted to them and citizens have no opportunity to correct such abuses, outside interference is justified," Soros wrote. "By specifying that sovereignty is based on the people, the international community can penetrate nation-states' borders to protect the rights of citizens.

"In particular," he continued, "the principle of the people's sovereignty can help solve two modern challenges: the obstacles to delivering aid effectively to sovereign states, and the obstacles to global collective action dealing with states experiencing internal conflict."

More George Soros ties

"Responsibility" founders Evans and Thakur served as co-chairmen with Vartan Gregorian, president of Carnegie Corp. Charitable Foundation, on the advisory board of the International Commission on Intervention and State Sovereignty, which invented the term "responsibility to protect."

In his capacity as co-chairman, Evans also played a pivotal role in initiating the fundamental shift from sovereignty as a right to "sovereignty as responsibility."

Evans presented Responsibility to Protect at the July 23, 2009, United Nations General Assembly, which was convened to consider the principle.

Thakur is a fellow at the Center for International Governance Innovation, which is in partnership with an economic institute founded by Soros.

Soros is on the executive board of the International Crisis Group, a "crisis management organization" for which Evans serves as president-emeritus.

WND previously reported how the group has been petitioning for the U.S. to normalize ties with the Muslim Brotherhood, the main opposition in Egypt, where longtime U.S. ally Hosni Mubarak was recently toppled.

Aside from Evans and Soros, the group includes on its board Egyptian opposition leader Mohamed ElBaradei, as well as other personalities who champion dialogue with Hamas, a violent offshoot of the Muslim Brotherhood.

WND also reported the crisis group has petitioned for the Algerian government to cease "excessive" military activities against al-Qaida-linked groups and to allow organizations seeking to create an Islamic state to participate in the Algerian government.

Soros' own Open Society Institute has funded opposition groups across the Middle East and North Africa, including organizations involved in the current chaos.

'One World Order'

WND reported, that doctrine founder Thakur recently advocated for a "global rebalancing" and "international redistribution" to create a "New World Order."

In a piece last March in the Ottawa Citizen newspaper, "Toward a new world order," Thakur wrote, "Westerners must change lifestyles and support international redistribution."

He was referring to a United Nations-brokered international climate treaty in which he argued, "Developing countries must reorient growth in cleaner and greener directions."

In the opinion piece, Thakur then discussed recent military engagements and how the financial crisis has impacted the U.S.

"The West's bullying approach to developing nations won't work anymore – global power is shifting to Asia," he wrote.

"A much-needed global moral rebalancing is in train," he added.

Thakur continued: "Westerners have lost their previous capacity to set standards and rules of behavior for the world. Unless they recognize this reality, there is little prospect of making significant progress in deadlocked international negotiations."

Thakur contended "the demonstration of the limits to U.S. and NATO power in Iraq and Afghanistan has left many less fearful of 'superior' Western power."

http://www.wnd.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=367441

http://news.yahoo.com/syrian-soldiers-killed-crisis-accelerates-205430337.html

Syrian soldiers killed as crisis accelerates

11/15/11

BEIRUT (AP) — Army defectors ambushed dozens of Syrian troops and regime forces gunned down civilians during one of the bloodiest days of the 8-month-old uprising, which appeared Tuesday to be spiraling out of President Bashar Assad's control.

Up to 90 people were killed in a gruesome wave of violence Monday, activists said. The extent of the bloodshed only came to light Tuesday, in part because corpses lying in the streets did not reach the morgue until daylight.

As the bloodshed spiked, Assad's former allies were turning on him in rapid succession — a sign of profound impatience with a leader who has failed to stem months of unrest that could explode into a regional conflagration.

Turkey, Jordan and the 22-member Arab League all signaled they were fed up with Assad's response to the uprising and were ready to pressure him to go.

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Tuesday he no longer has confidence in the government led by Assad, a 46-year-old eye doctor who inherited power from his father 11 years ago.

"No regime can survive by killing or jailing," said Erdogan, who cultivated close ties with Assad before the uprising began in March. "No one can build a future over the blood of the oppressed."

Erdogan — who disrespectfully addressed Assad by his first name — warned that the brutal crackdown threatens to place him on a list of leaders who "feed on blood."

Turkey also canceled plans for oil exploration in Syria and threatened to cut electricity supplies to the country, which is burning through the $17 billion in foreign reserves the government had at the start of the uprising. Turkey provides around 7 percent of Syria's total electricity consumption.

A day earlier, Jordan's King Abdullah II said Assad should step down, the first Arab leader to publicly make such a call. And over the weekend, the 22-member Arab League took a near-unanimous vote to suspend Damascus from the regional body.

In a sign that Saudi Arabia's rulers now foresee an end to Assad's rule, the former Saudi ambassador to the United States, Prince Turki Al Faisal, told reporters in Washington that it was "inevitable" that Assad would step down.

"I think what we're seeing here and continue to see is that the drumbeat of international pressure is increasing on Assad," U.S. State Department spokesman Mark Toner said.

Despite the widespread condemnation, Assad was unlikely to put an end to the crackdown, said Fadia Kiwan, a political science professor at Beirut's St. Joseph University. The reason is simple: Assad's regime would almost certainly fall if the crackdown ends, she said.

Although activists say the anti-government protesters have remained largely peaceful, an armed insurgency has developed in recent months targeting Assad's military and security forces.

Thirty-four soldiers were killed Monday in an ambush in Daraa, the birthplace of the uprising, said Rami Abdul-Rahman, head of the British-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. The brazen attack by army defectors suggests a new confidence among troops who have sided with the protesters and highlights the potential for an armed confrontation to escalate.

Amateur video provided by activists showed what appeared to be an army tank and other military vehicles engulfed in flames in Daraa. "God is great!" a voice cried out. "This is an armored vehicle with a machine gun from Assad's brigades. God is great!"

Other footage showed a fire at the end of an alley sending up a plume of smoke, followed by an explosion. "That's the free army!" a man shouted as gunshots rang out. "That's a sniper," another voice said. "There's a sniper at the school."

Other videos showed tanks on urban streets firing their cannons and crowds of people running from the sound of automatic gunfire.

An activist in the area said he counted the bodies of 12 civilians killed by security forces' fire. "I saw two army armored personnel carriers, totally burnt," he told The Associated Press by telephone.

A resident near the town of Khirbet Ghazaleh in Daraa province said he heard more than four hours of intense gunfire. Both witnesses asked that their names not be used for fear of government reprisals.

As many as 90 people were killed nationwide Monday, including 19 civilians whose bodies were collected from the streets of Homs and delivered to the morgue.

The U.N. estimates the regime's military crackdown has killed 3,500 people in the past eight months. November is shaping up to be the bloodiest month of the revolt, with well over 300 people killed so far.

The latest death toll was compiled by sources including British-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, the Local Coordination Committees activist coalition and morgue officials.

In many ways, the violence against security forces plays directly into the regime's hands by giving it a pretext to crack down with overwhelming force, analysts say.

Assad says extremists pushing a foreign agenda to destabilize Syria are behind the unrest, not true reform-seekers aiming to open the country's autocratic political system.

Assad has responded with once-unthinkable promises of reform in one of the most authoritarian states in the Middle East. But he simultaneously unleashed the military to crush the protests with tanks, gunfire and snipers.

On Tuesday, the regime announced an amnesty for 1,180 prisoners who were arrested over the past eight months but whose "hands have not been stained by blood." Earlier this month, Assad freed 533 prisoners to mark Eid al-Adha, the Muslim feast of sacrifice.

The regime also released Kamal Labwani, 54, one of the country's most prominent detainees, according to the observatory for human rights. Labwani was serving a 12-year sentence on charges of anti-government activities after he met White House officials.

Still, the gestures ring hollow alongside the mounting death toll and amateur videos posted online every day that appear to show random gunfire and shelling.

The Syrian government has largely sealed off the country, barring most foreign journalists and preventing independent reporting. But details gathered by activist groups and witnesses, along with the amateur videos, have become key channels of information.

The bloodshed also has laid bare Syria's long-simmering sectarian tensions, with disturbing reports of Iraq-style sectarian killings.

Syria is an overwhelmingly Sunni country of 22 million, but Assad and the ruling elite belong to the minority Alawite sect. Assad, and his father before him, stacked key military posts with Alawites to meld the fates of the army and the regime — a tactic aimed at compelling the army to fight to the death to protect the Assad family dynasty.

To a large degree, the military has remained loyal. Most of the defectors appear to be lower-level Sunni conscripts, not officers. But observers say the tide could change if the military continues to be called upon to shoot unarmed protesters.

On Wednesday, the Arab League will meet in Morocco and the group is expected to formally suspend Syria. The decision has enraged Syria, which considers itself a bastion of Arab nationalism.

Syria announced on state-run TV that it would boycott the meeting.

Damascus fears the United States and its allies might use the rare Arab consensus to press for tougher sanctions at the United Nations. Veto-wielding Russia and China have so far opposed efforts at the U.N. Security Council to impose sanctions on Syria — a stance that could become harder to maintain.

http://news.yahoo.com/france-recalls-ambassador-syria-161703634.html

11/16/11

[size=14]France recalls ambassador to Syria[/size]

..PARIS (Reuters) - France has recalled its ambassador from Syria after an escalation of violence there and is working with the Arab League on a new draft United Nations resolution against Damascus, Foreign Minister Alain Juppe said Wednesday.

"New violence is taking place and that has led to the closure of the missions in Aleppo and Latakia and to the recall of our ambassador to Paris," Juppe told legislators.

Pro-government Syrian crowds have attacked France's honorary consulate in Latakia and diplomatic offices in Aleppo as well as the Turkish, Saudi Arabian and United Arab Emirates embassies in Damascus.

International pressure on Syrian President Bashar al-Assad to halt the bloodshed is intensifying. His military crackdown has cost more than 3,500 lives since street protests erupted in March, according to the United Nations.

Western countries have tightened sanctions and Monday Jordan's King Abdullah became the first Arab head of state to urge Assad to quit after ensuring a smooth handover.

Arab foreign ministers met in Morocco Wednesday after Syria's suspension from the Arab League took effect earlier in the day. That decision has prompted a new push for a draft resolution at the United Nations Security Council.

Last month, Russia and China blocked a Western-backed Council resolution that would have both condemned Syria for its crackdown on protesters and warned of possible sanctions.

China's position appears to be softening after it urged Damascus this week to cease violence and adopt an Arab League plan to end the impasse. The plan obliges Assad to withdraw tanks and troops from cities and towns and engage in dialogue with the opposition movement.

Juppe said that despite the failure of initial efforts last month to pass U.N. resolution, Paris, which sponsored the original measure, was working with the Arab League on a new one.

"The noose is tightening around this completely autistic regime that continues to carry out bloody repression," Juppe said. "The Syrian people will win the battle and France will do all it can to help them."

Like I said before, Syria is a bonafide issue, and they intend to fix it. It's more pressing than Iran, but can make for a distraction while Israel is dealing with Iran.

But in the context of a world government, these "rogue" leaders must be dealt with, to reign them in so to speak and play NWO ball, or they are out. Just ask Mubarak. I'd say ask Hussein or Gaddafi but they are dead, allegedly.

Iran is a unique situation for some reason. There is a reason the world governments aren't wanting to deal with them it seems. I don't think it's anything prophetic but it could be. But the world just isn't dealing with them like others. The world tends to love it friends of the moment, and the world doesn't seem to have that big of an issue with them.

I don't know, maybe it's like the parent that has a bunch of kids, all acting up, and the parent has to just go down the line, dealing with each one, and Iran is THAT child that insists on attention, even if it means getting in trouble. I see their leader as just a whiny little kid that loves the attention, and the world is dealing with others right now, while telling Iran to be quiet, that they'll deal with them shortly.

Syrian Opposition Mounts as Violence Continues

The protests against Syrian President Bashar Assad keep springing up, and government-led tanks keep coming to crush them.

An estimated 3,500 civilians have died during seven months of anti-Assad demonstrations.

More alarming for the Syrian leader is that 1,500 members of his security forces are dead as well.

"As a result of the continuing acts of oppression by the Assad regime and the killing of unarmed people who are demanding their right to a free life, we declare our defection from the Baathist army. We are joining the free people in the Syrian free army," one Syrian army defector recently said.

Meanwhile, Syria's political opposition has been in Moscow, cautioning the Russians to stop supporting Assad.

Both Russia and China have opposed U.N. sanctions against Syria because of economic and military ties with Assad.

Turkey and the Arab League have taken the lead in isolating Assad. Meeting in Morocco, the Arab League is expected to confirm its vote to suspend Syria for its brutal crackdown.

Turkish Prime Minister Erdogan said from Ankara that Assad should note the "tragic end" that comes to oppressive leaders and warned he should not be a leader that "feeds on blood."

Turkey is now refusing to drill for oil in Syria and has threatened cuts in electricity to some parts of the country.

Further pressure on Assad came from U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon.

"It is increasingly important now that President Assad must immediately stop killing his own people and agree to implement this agreement with the league of Arab member states," he said.

This week, Jordan's King Abdullah became the first Arab leader to call for Assad to go.

In Syria, Assad lifts his news blackout only for rallies by his supporters. If he doesn't go quietly, more defections could lead to a wider Syrian civil war.

That could boost the chances for conflict in neighboring Turkey, Lebanon, Jordan and Israel.

http://www.cbn.com/cbnnews/world/2011/November/Syrian-Opposition-Mounts-as-Violence-Continues/

http://news.yahoo.com/raids-syria-pressure-mounts-assad-regime-084451145.html

11/17/11

Raids in Syria as pressure mounts on Assad regime

BEIRUT (AP) — Syrian troops made sweeping arrests Thursday in the restive Hama province as President Bashar Assad faces a growing challenge to his iron rule, activists said.

The raids in Hama came after Syrian army defectors attacked an army checkpoint the previous day, killing eight soldiers in that attack, according to the British-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.

Assad is facing severe isolation stemming from his crackdown on an 8-month-old uprising, which appears to be spiraling out his control. Attacks by army defectors are growing, and world leaders are looking at possibilities for a Syrian regime without Assad.

The latest blow came from the Arab League, which on Wednesday suspended Damascus and threatened economic sanctions if the regime continues to violate an Arab-brokered peace plan.

Germany, Britain and France are pressing for a U.N. resolution that would strongly condemn Syria's human rights violations. The three European countries decided to move ahead with the General Assembly resolution after the Arab League confirmed its suspension.

"We hope it will show Assad just how isolated he is," Germany's U.N. Ambassador Peter Wittig said of the resolution.

Russia and China have stood by Damascus amid concerns that the downfall of Assad would be a severe blow to their interests in the Middle East. In October, they vetoed a U.N. Security Council resolution that threatened sanctions against Syria if it didn't end its crackdown.

But on Thursday, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Liu Weimin appeared to suggest China might support a resolution in the future.

"It depends on whether these actions will help to resolve the tensions in Syria and facilitate the resolution of disputes through political dialogue," he said.

Also Thursday, Russian and European Union officials were holding talks on Syria and other issues in Moscow.

The U.N. estimates Assad's crackdown has killed more than 3,500 people since the uprising began in March.

The growing calls for Assad's ouster are a severe blow to a family dynasty that has ruled Syria for four decades — and any change to the leadership could transform some of the most enduring alliances in the Middle East and beyond.

Syria's tie to Iran is among the most important relationships in the Middle East, providing the Iranians with a foothold on Israel's border and a critical conduit to Tehran-backed Hezbollah in Lebanon and the Palestinian Hamas in Gaza.

___

And that I believe is why Assad is done for.

The classic military move is to cut off your enemy's supply lines, to isolate them. Basically starve them to death if they don't comply. It's an indirect action with low risks. Better to out-flank your opponent then to take them head on.

Syria agrees 'in principle' to observers

Syria has agreed "in principle" to allow an observer mission into the country, a senior official in Damascus said Friday, as fresh anti-government protests erupted and France called for the U.N. Security Council to act against President Bashar Assad.

The Arab League formally suspended Damascus this week over its crackdown on an 8-month-old uprising, which the U.N. estimates has killed more than 3,500 people. The group wants to send hundreds of observers to the country to try to help end the bloodshed.

"Syria has agreed in principle to the Arab League proposal (for observers) and we are still studying the details," the senior Syrian official said Friday. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because the issue is so sensitive.

Arab League officials in Cairo, the seat of the 22-member organization, could not immediately be reached for comment by The Associated Press.

But Egypt state TV reported that the head of the Arab League, Nabil Elaraby, said he received "amendments" from Damascus, which the League is studying.

Assad is facing mounting pressure from home and abroad over the country's crisis, which appears to be spiraling out of control as attacks by army defectors increase and some protesters take up arms to protect themselves. The escalating violence has raised fears of civil war.

"We call on the Syrian opposition to avoid recourse to an armed insurrection," French Foreign Minister Alain Juppe told a joint news conference with Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu in Ankara, Turkey. "A civil war would of course be a true catastrophe."

Asked about the possibility of foreign intervention, Juppe said: "This would have to be within the framework of the UN Security Council."

He also called on the U.N. Security Council to act against Assad's regime, saying the time has come to strengthen sanctions against Syria.

"We must continue to exert pressure," Juppe said. "The U.N. must act ... it is not normal for the U.N. Security Council not to act."

Davutoglu, responding to a question on whether his country would support a no-fly zone over Syria, said there might be need to enforce some measures if Syria maintains its crackdown on civilians.

He said the first actions should be economic, but "other options must be evaluated later."

Syrian activists said at least five people were killed as security forces on Friday fired on anti-government protests. Friday has become the main day for protests in Syria as thousands of people stream out of mosques following afternoon prayers.

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/M/ML_SYRIA?SITE=FLTAM&SECTION=HOME

France, Turkey call for greater pressure on Syria

France and Turkey called on Friday for greater international pressure on Syria to end the violent crackdown on opponents of President Bashar al-Assad, while activists said security forces shot dead five people protesting after weekly prayers.

French Foreign Minister Alain Juppe said he doubted Syria would respond positively to an Arab League initiative aimed at stopping the bloodshed that has killed more than 3,500 people, according to a United Nations count.

The Arab League has suspended Syria and given it until the end of the week to heed the Arab peace plan that entails a military pullout from around restive Syrian cities and towns, threatening sanctions unless Assad acts to halt the violence.

Juppe, speaking alongside Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmed Davutoglu, said that France was ready to work with the Syrian opposition and that tougher sanctions were needed on Damascus.

He also said he opposed any unilateral intervention in Syria, but left the door open for wider action, saying any such move should be mandated by the United Nations.

Hundreds of people have been killed in Syria, including civilians, army deserters and forces loyal to Assad, since it agreed on November 2 to withdraw troops from urban areas and release political prisoners under an Arab League initiative.

Syria says it is trying to implement the deal but has called on neighboring countries to do more to stem a flow of arms to the opposition and end what it says is a media campaign of incitement against Syria authorities.

It has also invited the Arab League to bring civilian and military observers to monitor events on the ground.

"We will accept the protocol which includes admitting observers to Syria, but we have some observations which we will deliver to the general secretariat of the Arab League," a Lebanese official quoted a Syrian government official as saying.

FIVE KILLED IN PROTESTS

On Friday the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said security forces shot dead at least five protesters and wounded dozens when they fired to disperse protests in the cities of Deraa, Homs, Hama and the Damascus suburb of Erbin.

Syria's state media had no immediate reports of violence on Friday. Syria has barred most independent journalists from the country, making it difficult to verify reports from activists or officials. Authorities blame the violence on foreign-backed armed groups who they say have killed 1,100 soldiers and police.

Protesters called on foreign countries to expel Syrian ambassadors in a gesture of support for the opposition.

"Whoever fears God should expel the Syrian ambassador" read a banner at a demonstration in the southern province of Deraa, where the uprising erupted in March.

In the eastern province of Hasaka, people chanted, "Why are you afraid? God is with us!" In Homs and Hama, protesters dancing arm in arm shouted "The Free Army is our army," referring to army deserters who have waged an escalating campaign of attacks on state targets.

Opposition sources said on Wednesday the Free Syrian Army had killed or wounded 20 security police in an assault on an Air Force Intelligence complex on the outskirts of Damascus, the first of its kind in the revolt against Assad.

Russia said on Wednesday the raid showed that the conflict in Syria was "already completely similar to real civil war."

Syrian troops shelled two northern villages overnight after an attack by army defectors on forces loyal Assad, local activists said on Friday.

Eight villagers were injured when tank shells and heavy mortars fell for three hours on Tal Minnij and Maarshamsheh and surrounding farmland, the activists said.

"Hundreds of families have left. Electricity and Internet services have been cut off," said one of the activists, who gave his first name as Raed.

France, Britain and Germany plan to ask the U.N. General Assembly's human rights committee to approve a resolution condemning the violence in Syria, before putting the non-binding measure to a vote in an Assembly plenary session.

Iran's ambassador to Lebanon said growing international pressure would not topple Syria's government.

"These threats will not yield any results," Ghadanfar Roken Abadi said on Friday. "Intensifying these threats...only increases our enthusiasm for popular unity with Syria, which has seen more then 10 million people take to the streets to show their support for the Syrian regime."

http://ca.news.yahoo.com/syria-calls-arab-league-meet-avert-suspension-151134269.html

Britain in secret talks with Syrian rebels

Former envoy's overture to enemies of Assad


Britain has formally opened talks with the Syrian opposition movement as international pressure continues to mount against the beleaguered regime of President Bashar al-Assad.

Frances Guy, a former ambassador to Lebanon, met members of the exiled opposition in Paris yesterday. The Foreign Secretary, William Hague, is to meet members of the Syrian opposition in London next week when they will also hold talks with senior officials in Downing Street.

Although the UK, along with other Western states like France – which appealed to the United Nations yesterday to impose tougher sanctions – has been in informal contact with the opposition for the last three months, the progression of the working relationship opens up the prospect of the rebels eventually being recognised as the country's representatives and supplanting the Assad regime.

rest: http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/politics/britain-in-secret-talks-with-syrian-rebels-6264592.html

hmmm, where have i seen this before?

Clinton says there could be civil war in Syria

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said on Friday Syria could slide into civil war but she did not foresee the global community intervening in the same way it did in Libya.

"I think there could be a civil war with a very determined and well-armed and eventually well-financed opposition that is, if not directed by, certainly influenced by defectors from the army," Clinton told NBC news in an interview in Indonesia, where she was attending a regional summit.

"We're already seeing that, something that we hate to see because we are in favor of a peaceful protest and a nonviolent opposition," she said.

Clinton said, however, that she saw no prospect for the kind of coordinated international intervention that occurred in Libya, where a NATO-led coalition won a U.N. mandate to mount air strikes in support of rebels fighting Muammar Gaddafi.

"There is no appetite for that kind of action vis-a-vis Syria," Clinton said, pointing to regional moves by the Arab League and Turkey as key to persuading Syrian President Bashar al-Assad to halt the violence against civilians.

rest: http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/11/18/us-syria-usa-clinton-idUSTRE7AH2LQ20111118

Report: Russia warships to enter Syria waters in bid to stem foreign intervention

Syrian official says Damascus agrees 'in principle' to allow entrance of Arab League observer mission; 22-member body proposed sending hundreds of observers to the to help end the bloodshed.

http://www.haaretz.com/news/middle-east/report-russia-warships-to-enter-syria-waters-in-bid-to-stem-foreign-intervention-1.396359

http://news.yahoo.com/syrian-troops-attack-despite-arab-peace-plan-101630726.html


Syrian troops attack despite Arab peace plan
11/19/11

BEIRUT (AP) — Syrian troops stormed a central town and a northwestern region in search of regime opponents on Saturday, activists said, a day after the government agreed in principle to allow the Arab League to send observers to oversee a peace plan proposed by the 22-member bloc. At least 15 people were killed, activists said.

The attacks on the town of Shezar in the central province of Hama and on the restive Jabal al-Zawiya region near the Turkish border came as pressure mounted on Damascus to end its eight-month crackdown on anti-government protesters. The unrest has killed more than 3,500 people since mid-March, according to U.N. estimates.

The British-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights and another activist group called the Local Coordination Committees said land and cellular telephone lines as well as electricity were cut in the Jabal al-Zawiya region in the northwestern province of Idlib, where army defectors have been active for months.

At least 15 people were killed, around half of them in Idlib province, the LCC said. The observatory had a higher toll of 16 dead and said they included two civilians and two army defectors killed in a clash with troops in Qusair near the border with Lebanon, as well as four members of the air force intelligence whose car was ambushed in Hama by gunmen believed to be army defectors.

Syria agreed in principle Friday to allow dozens of Arab observers into the country to oversee an Arab League peace plan that calls on the government to stop attacking demonstrators, pull tanks out of cities and begin negotiations with the opposition.

It was a significant concession from a hard-line regime that loathes any sort of outside interference. But critics say the government is only stalling, trying to defuse international pressure while continuing its bloody crackdown.

The Arab League has already suspended Syria's membership in the bloc for failing to abide by the peace plan. On Wednesday, the league gave Damascus three days to accept the observer mission or face economic sanctions.

Violence has escalated in Syria over the past week, as army dissidents who sided with the protests have grown more bold, fighting back against regime forces and even assaulting military bases. Activist groups said security forces on Friday killed at least 16 anti-government protesters.

Pressure from European capitals and the U.S. is also building on President Bashar Assad to end the bloodshed.

An official at Britain's Foreign Office said Foreign Secretary William Hague intends to meet opposition representatives in London on Monday.

French Foreign Minister Alain Juppe called on the U.N. Security Council to strengthen sanctions against Assad's regime. However, Russia, which holds veto power in the council, urged caution in moving against Damascus.

In Washington, State Department spokesman Mark Toner said the U.S. has seen no signs that Syria's government will honor the Arab League proposal.

Syria's neighbor to the north, Turkey, has become one its most vocal critics, a notable shift because the two countries once had close political and economic ties.

On Saturday, Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, commenting on the deteriorating relations between his country and its southern neighbor, accused Syria of not fulfilling promises for reform or to stop the bloodshed.

"In the past nine years, it was Syria and the Syrian people — rather than Turkey — that had benefited from the Turkish-Syrian friendship," Erdogan said.

"... Syria has not kept its promises to Turkey, to the Arab League or to the world. It made promises but did not fulfill them. It has not acted in a sincere trustworthy manner," he said.

The attacks on Jabal al-Zawiya came two days after an army force in the nearby area of Wadi al-Deif came under attack by army defectors, a clash that lasted four hours and left an unknown number of casualties among troops loyal to Assad, an activist said.

The activist, who spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the matter, said troops fired heavy machine guns mounted on armored personnel carriers.

The Arab League observer mission aims to prevent violence and monitor a cease-fire that Damascus agreed to last week but has been unwilling — or unable — to implement.

Nabil Elaraby, the head of the Arab League, said in a statement Friday that he received "amendments" to the monitoring mission from Damascus, which the league is studying. He gave no details on the changes Syria seeks.

The original league proposal had been for a 500-member observer mission but the number has dropped to 40, said Ibrahim el-Zaafarani, an Egyptian member of the Arab Medical Union who is expected to be part of the team for Syria. He said it was not clear why or on whose behest the number was reduced.

http://news.yahoo.com/dozens-protest-jerusalem-supporting-syria-152432344.html

11/19/11

Dozens protest in Jerusalem supporting Syria

..Dozens of protesters gathered in front of the US consulate in west Jerusalem on Saturday in support of the embattled Syrian regime of Bashar al-Assad.

Arab-Israeli and Palestinian protesters waved Syrian flags and held portraits of Assad, an AFP photographer reported. Israeli police and security guards deployed outside the consulate did not intervene.

"Down with imperialism and the reactionary conspiracy against Syria," one banner read. Another said: "Hands off Syria."

Other signs denounced Qatar and the Arab League, accusing both of joining a common front with the Unites States against Damascus.

The protest came hours before an Arab League deadline for Damascus to stop its lethal crackdown on a popular revolt and a day after Syrian security forces killed at least 15 civilians.

..

http://news.yahoo.com/syria-calls-arab-league-meet-avert-suspension-151134269.html

Deadline passes with no sign of Syria violence abating

11/19/11

..BEIRUT (Reuters) - An Arab League deadline for Syria to end its repression of anti-government unrest passed with no sign of violence abating, and President Bashar al-Assad remained defiant in the face of growing international isolation.

"The conflict will continue and the pressure to subjugate Syria will continue," he told Britain's Sunday Times newspaper. "Syria will not bow down."

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said 14 people were killed Saturday by government security forces. Friday dozens were reported killed in clashes.

The Arab League had Wednesday set a Saturday deadline for Syria to comply with a peace plan which would entail a military pullout from around restive areas, and threatened sanctions if Assad failed to end the violence.

The League, a group of Arab states, suspended Syria's membership in a surprise move last week.

Non-Arab Turkey, once an ally of Assad's, is also taking an increasingly tough attitude to Damascus.

Turkish newspapers said Saturday Ankara had contingency plans to create no-fly or buffer zones to protect civilians in neighboring Syria if the bloodshed worsens.

"It's almost certain that Bashar al-Assad's regime is going down, all the assessments are made based on this assumption. Foreign Ministry sources say that the sooner the regime goes down, the better for Turkey," one paper said.

"It is out of the question that Turkey carries out a military intervention to change the regime. However, it takes a flexible stance on opposition groups running activities in Turkey."

Turkish President Abdullah Gul told Britain's Telegraph newspaper: "With a strong and clear voice we are saying that the legitimate demands of the (Syrian) people are being supported by us."

The United Nations says the crackdown on the Syrian protests has killed at least 3,500 people since March. Authorities blame the violence on foreign-backed armed groups which it says have killed some 1,100 soldiers and police.

Syria has barred most independent journalists from entering the country, making it difficult to verify reports from activists or officials.

DESERTERS

Dissident colonel Riad al-Asaad, organizing defectors in Syria from his new base in southern Turkey, said in a television interview with Al Jazeera Saturday that no foreign military intervention was needed other than providing a no-fly zone and weapons supplies.

He said more deserters would swell his Free Syrian Army's ranks if there were protected zones to which they could flee: "Soldiers and officers in the army are waiting for the right opportunity."

The dissident colonel denied government allegations that neighboring states were allowing arms smuggling across their borders into Syria. He said "not a single bullet" had been smuggled from abroad.

Weapons were brought by defectors, obtained in raids on the regular army or bought from arms dealers inside Syria, he said.

Saturday, Syria's state news agency SANA said security forces had captured 140 wanted men from several parts of the country that had seen protests.

President Assad repeated his assertion that any foreign military action against Syria would create an "earthquake" across the Middle East.

"If they are logical, rational and realistic, they shouldn't do it because the repercussions are very dire. Military intervention will destabilize the region as a whole, and all countries will be affected," he said.

(Writing by Andrew Roche; Editing by Andrew Heavens)

Blasts in Syrian capital as Assad vows crackdown


http://news.yahoo.com/blasts-syrian-capital-assad-vows-crackdown-092941460.html

BEIRUT (AP) — Residents in the Syrian capital awoke to two loud explosions Sunday amid reports from activists that the Damascus headquarters of the ruling Baath party had been hit by several rocket-propelled grenades.

There was no immediate confirmation of the report but the Free Syrian Army, a group of military defectors, claimed responsibility for the attack.

In a statement posted on the group's Facebook page, the FSA said the assault caused casualties and damage to the building. But eyewitnesses said the party headquarters appeared intact and reported no significant security deployment around it.

If true, the Damascus attack on the Baath Party's main building would signal a significant shift in the eight-month revolution against President Bashar Assad, bringing the violence that has engulfed much of the rest of the country to the heart of the Syrian capital, which has so far been relatively untouched.

In Cairo, the Arab League said it has rejected amendments proposed by Syria to a peace plan to end the crisis, saying the changes put forward by Damascus alter the plan's "essence."

The 22-member organization did not give details of Syria's proposed amendments. But it said in a statement Sunday that Damascus' proposals were unacceptable because they introduce "drastic changes" to the mandate of an observers' mission the league wants to dispatch to Syria to ensure the implementation of the peace plan.

The Arab League has already suspended Syria's membership over its failure to abide by the plan, which calls for the withdrawal of the government's tanks from the streets, the release of political prisoners and a halt to attacks on civilians.

An Arab League official speaking on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to brief the media said the Syrian government was required to implement the peace plan in its entirety.

Assad, meanwhile, vowed to continue with a security crackdown to crush "militants" who he says are massacring Syrians on a daily basis.

"The role of the government is to fight those militants in order to restore stability and to protect civilians," he said in an interview with Britain's Sunday Times newspaper. He also repeated earlier warnings that any foreign military intervention in Syria would "shake the entire Middle East."

On Sunday, activist groups said at least three people were killed in continuing operations by security forces, including two in the flashpoint central city of Homs and one in northern Syria.

Syria's uprising against Assad, although largely peaceful, has grown more violent and militarized in recent weeks, as frustrated protesters see the limits of peaceful action. Army dissidents who sided with the protests have also grown bolder, fighting back against regime forces and even attacking military bases, raising fears of a civil war in Syria.

The Free Syrian Army group of dissident soldiers this week staged their boldest operation yet, striking a military intelligence building in a Damascus suburb.

If Sunday's attack on the Baath Party headquarters in Damascus is confirmed, it would mark the first assault on a government building in what has so far been a relatively quiet central Damascus.

The Local Coordination Committees activist network and several residents reported several explosions in the district of Mazraa in the heart of the Syrian capital.

The LCC said in a statement that the building had been hit at daybreak Sunday by several rocket-propelled grenades and that two fire brigades headed toward the area amid a heavy security presence. The group said it had no further details.

The British-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said unknown gunmen on motorcycles threw first a sound bomb and then fired RPGs at the Baath party headquarters, hitting the external wall of the building. Two other grenades missed the target, it said.

Residents in the Syrian capital said they heard two loud explosions but could not confirm whether the building had been hit.

"I woke up to the sound of two loud thuds," said a resident of the area who asked that he remain anonymous for fear of reprisals. "We have no idea what they were."

The U.N. says more than 3,500 people in Syria have been killed in the crackdown since the start of the uprising in mid-March. Assad, in the interview, said more than 800 Syrian officers and security forces were killed.

"We are not talking about peaceful demonstrations, we are talking about militants," he said.

Syrian TV said the country's foreign minister will announce Damascus' position on the Arab initiative later Sunday.

Assad, however, lashed out at the Arab League and said the peace plan was aimed at giving the international community an excuse to meddle in his country.

"It's been done to show that there's a problem between the Arabs, thus providing Western countries with a pretext to conduct a military intervention against Syria," he said.

The consequence of any such intervention, he warned, would be "an earthquake that would shake the entire Middle East."

In the interview, Assad said he feels "pain and sorrow" for the bloodshed but added the solution was to eliminate the militants he blames for much of the violence. The Assad regime maintains the militants are playing out a foreign agenda to isolate and weaken Syria.

"The conflict will continue and the pressure to subjugate Syria will also continue," he said. "However I assure you that Syria will not bow down and that it will continue to resist the pressure being imposed on it."

Assad, who took over power from his late father, Hafez, in 2000, said there would be parliamentary elections in February or March, after which there would be a new government and new constitution.

"That constitution will set the basis of how to elect a president ... the ballot box should decide who should be president."

..

Violence Continues in Syria as Condoleezza Rice Promotes Unilateral U.S. Action
November 20, 2011

Thousands attend a pro-Assad rally in October
(http://endthelie.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/Pro-Assad-rally-draws-thousands-in-October-300x220.jpg)

As clashes continue in Homs with opposition forces and pro-Assad forces engaging in what the New York Times calls, “A harrowing sectarian war,” Former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice advocates unilateral U.S. action on CNN’s “State of the Union.”

Rice says that Bashar al-Assad is bringing his country to the brink of a civil war, although it is arguable that civil war is already exactly what is going on with heavily armed opposition clashing with government forces and attacks on government compounds and vehicles.

She also said that ousting Assad would be a “great thing” for the people of Syria, along with U.S. interests and according to the Associated Press, “anyone seeking a more peaceful Middle East.”

Her statements are far from groundbreaking except in that she called for the “toughest” possible penalties against the Syrian government while saying that if Russia and China block sanctions in the United Nations, the United States should either apply pressure with allies or act unilaterally.

She also promoted more assistance to the Syrian opposition, which has already become a bloody insurgent force that has attacked government compounds and vehicles along with a rocket attack on the Baath Party’s headquarters in the Syrian capital of Damascus.

Eyewitnesses reported that the headquarters appeared intact and no large security force deployment was reported after activists said the building was hit with several rocket-propelled grenades.

This comes as the Assad government rejected the Arab League’s planned mission to send so-called “monitoring” forces, which would likely do a lot more than just monitoring like Qatar did in Libya.

The Syrian Foreign Minister Walid al-Moualem said today that the proposed Arab League mission has “pervasive jurisidcation that reaches the level of violating Syrian sovereignty” and added that the Arab League would receive a letter from him questioning their role.

Previously the Arab League declared that Assad’s forces must withdraw from cities in which clashes are occurring by November 19th, along with starting dialogue with the opposition.

However, the opposition flatly rejected the notion of talking with Assad, just like the al Qaeda-affiliated and Western-backed rebels did in Libya.

The League outright rejected the Syrian request to modify the proposal which would send more than 500 monitors into the country, which Syria had tentatively agreed to on Friday.

The New York Times has painted a quite ugly picture of the sectarian violence that is occurring in Syria, describing, “supporters and opponents of the government [which have been] blamed for beheadings, rival gangs carrying out tit-for-tat kidnappings, minorities fleeing for their native villages, and taxi drivers too fearful of drive-by shootings to ply the streets.”

It is a grim picture indeed which places blame on both parties which is something the establishment media has been avoiding, painting them as “pro-democracy protesters” whenever possible just like they did with the Libyan rebels.

Despite this fact, the Obama administration is, yet again, placing the blame on the government, saying that the longer Assad “stays in power, what you see in Homs, you’ll see across Syria.”

If armed forces started attacking government buildings in the United States along with government vehicles and pro-government individuals, you can bet that the American government would wipe them out with impunity.

Seeing how police brutalize students sitting on the ground with their arms linked, can you imagine what force we would see if they were actually armed insurgents?

Yet of course, the American government attempts to be the moral authority despite the fact that the Obama administration has absolutely no place to do so.

The New York Times quotes a predictably anonymous American official who claims that the Obama administration believed that the Syrian government withdrew forces from Homs in accordance with the Arab League’s plan.

However, the article claims that several residents report that the government just repainted tanks and other military vehicles blue and then redeployed them as a police force.

Unsurprisingly, these reports, like all of the reports coming out of Syria, are unverified and come from so-called activists.

Abu Hassan, a man described by the Times as a 40-year-old activist in Homs said, “The regime wants to say to the Arab observers that the police are confronting protesters, not the army or security men.”

An anonymous man identified as a “prominent Sunni activist” by the New York Times said, “There are shabeeha on both sides now,” shaheeba being an Arabic word referring to government paramilitary forces.

While he blamed the Assad government for fomenting the sectarian strife he said, “I feel disgusted at what’s happening in Syria, and I am afraid of what might happen next.”

If the West has its way, he should be very afraid, but if Russia keeps up their stance, especially with the military presence, it will be much more difficult for Western nations to conduct the invasion they’ve been promoting for so long.

That being said, the West is already intervening in Syria, albeit not directly, and has been for some time now.

Yet the West is getting more brazen by the day with the British openly announcing that the Syrian opposition will meet with U.K. Foreign Secretary William Hague as soon as tomorrow, November 21st.

A London-based spokesperson who remains (as per usual) unnamed by Businessweek, said that the Syrian opposition has been meeting with officials from the British Foreign & Commonwealth Office for several months.

The Western interference is unlikely to help the situation, given that the violence occurring in Syria now is largely driven by purely sectarian motives, at least in Homs if the unverified reports cited by the New York Times are to be believed.

A 54-year-old Alawite in Homs, Mohammed Saleh, who is a communist and former 12-year political prisoner released in 2000, claimed that on Sunday insurgents stopped a minivan full of factory employees, told the Sunni Muslims and Christians to leave and then kidnapped 17 Alawites.

He then said that the families of the Alawites took to the streets and randomly kidnapped Sunnis after demanding to see their identification and seeing their family name which indicates the sect they belong to.

Saleh said that after days of negotiations at the request of families he secured the release of all 36 individuals that were kidnapped but said that many others were still missing as a result of kidnappings.

Saleh has obvious reason to hold a grudge against Assad’s government, and he is indeed anti-government but added, “Now I am being critical of some of the revolutionaries. We are against the regime and we want it to fall, but the revolutionaries need to present a better and more beautiful alternative. And if the opposition is going to be similar to the regime, it’s going to be dangerous.”

It’s somewhat encouraging to see that the establishment media is covering this aspect of the conflict seeing as they glossed over it so much in Libya.

Never is it as cut-and-dried as the entire populous being anti-government and a brutal dictator instructing heartless military forces to kill his own citizens.

Just like in Libya, Syria has both pro-Assad rallies and anti-Assad activists in the streets and foreign meddling is not going to improve the situation by bombing the country into oblivion.

The New York Times reports that through a dozen interviews they found that Homs is in a state of chaos with paramilitary forces on both sides burning shops and homes and forcing Alawites to flee to their villages of origin.

They report a ramping up of random kidnappings of unknown numbers and some say the abductees are sometimes used as “bargaining chips,” for what is not clear.

Yet another anonymous “dissident activist” said that his cousin, an Alawite, was kidnapped and, “He was found killed and his head was chopped off.”

In contrast, an additional anonymous Sunni activist said that Alawites are only kidnapped in retaliation and denied that anyone had been beheaded by insurgents.

He claimed that the sectarian violence “was minimal compared with the ferocity of the government’s crackdown.”

But another man, identified only as Hisham, said that Sunni insurgents were killing Alawites in order to drive them out of Alawite dominated neighborhoods, “where support for Mr. Assad runs strongest.”

One can only gather from all of these reports is that many of the activists are either manufacturing events, blowing them out of proportion or some mix of the two.

Or, there is also the real possibility that some or all of the reports are completely and totally manufactured from whole cloth without an ounce of truth to them whatsoever.

The fact is that nothing can be confirmed, far too many sources are anonymous, and the establishment media runs with anything the opposition says while rejecting anything the Syrian government says.

The events in Libya and Syria perfectly exemplify the double standard held by the American government and the corporate-controlled media.

If the protesters are in a foreign country, they are peaceful pro-democracy protesters regardless of their status as armed insurgents who are killing each other and government forces.

Here in the United States, the government stands by in silence while unarmed, peaceful Americans are brutalized by police for expressing their right to free speech and assembly, and in doing so shows that they are complicit in these crimes.

Yet of course, to counter all of the coverage of sectarian violence and the reports of paramilitary forces on both sides, the New York Times peddles the oft-cited United Nations number of 3,500 killed by the government, which is wholly unverified and based purely off of the claims made by so-called activists.

The looming question is: how will the West step in this time?

Indirectly through supporting the opposition in every way possible without directly striking Assad forces?

Or, will they ignore the Russian ships being deployed to Syrian waters and engage in another bombing campaign in order to cash in on the rebuilding process and loot the country under “humanitarian” pretenses just like Libya?

http://endthelie.com/

Gunmen attack Turkish buses in Syria, 2 wounded: media

Gunmen opened fire on a convoy of Turkish buses inside Syria carrying pilgrims returning from the Hajj pilgrimage in Saudi Arabia early on Monday, wounding two Turks, Turkish media reported.

Reports of the incident were fragmentary and Turkish authorities said they were still trying to establish what had happened. Some of the shaken travelers said the attackers appeared to be Syrian soldiers.

REST: http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/11/21/us-turkey-syria-attack-idUSTRE7AK1NJ20111121

US: Ambassador to Syria will not return to Damascus as planned this month - Reuters
Story data:

http://www.breakingnews.com/

http://news.yahoo.com/turkey-says-syria-cant-oppress-people-forever-131222633.html

11/21/11

[size=18]Turkey says Syria can't oppress people forever[/size]

ANKARA, Turkey (AP) — Turkey warned Syria's president Monday that he cannot continue to oppress his people with tanks and guns forever, even as Syrian soldiers opened fire on at least two buses carrying Turkish citizens, witnesses and officials said.

In separate attacks, Syrian security forces killed at least 13 people during raids in central Syria Sunday, activists said. The British-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights and the Local Coordination Committees said most of the deaths were in the flashpoint city of Homs, a hotbed of dissent against Syrian President Bashar Assad's regime.

The attacks on the buses, which wounded two people, appeared to be retaliation for Turkey's mounting criticism of Assad, whose military crackdown on an 8-month-old uprising against his rule has killed nearly 4,000 people.

"You can only continue with tanks and guns to a certain point, the day will come when you will go," Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said during a speech at an international religion conference in Istanbul. "Sooner or later, the oppressed will win."

Read More

Turkey's Prime Minister Erdogan says Bashar Assad must step down, calls fight against Syrian people 'cowardice' - AP

http://www.breakingnews.com/

Big time escalation!!!

Arab states, Turkey plan 'No-Fly Zone' over Syria

Senior European sources said that Arab jet fighters, and possibly Turkish warplanes, backed by American logistic support will implement a no fly zone in Syria's skies, after the Arab League will issue a decision, under its Charter, calling for the protection of Syrian civilians.

The sources told Kuwait's al Rai daily that the no fly ban will include a ban on the movement of Syrian military vehicles, including tanks, personnel carriers and artillery, adding that this move would aim at curbing the movement of Assad forces, and cripple their ability to bomb cities. The European sources said the no fly ban might lead to the paralysis of the Syrian regime forces "in less than 24 hours."

Meanwhile, it is reported that the leadership of the Turkish General Staff informed all the concerned parties with the Syrian issue its rejection of the idea that the Turkish army would launch any invasion to the Syrian territory including the area adjacent to the Turkish border to establish a "buffer zone" to protect civilians fleeing the violence.

http://www.albawaba.com/news/arab-states-turkey-plan-no-fly-zone-over-syria-402102

Iran who?

Next target is sure looking like Syria, which is an indirect action towards Iran, without having to confront them directly. Cut off supply lines. Classic military strategy. And you can be sure Israel is standing at the ready to cove their flanks by watching Iran, while Syria falls.

"And what I say unto you I say unto all, Watch." Mark 13:37 (KJB)

Isaiah 17:1-3 is a big time prophecy that pretty much all of Churchianity ends up ignoring - sure, Iran may be part of the signs of the end times, however, again, Isaiah 17:1-3 can't be stressed enough, and it looks like it's escalating before our very eyes.

Arab States, Turkey, U.S. Plan ‘No-Fly Zone’ Over Syria
November 23rd, 2011

Here we go again.



Senior European sources said that Arab jet fighters, and possibly Turkish warplanes, backed by American logistic support will implement a no fly zone in Syria’s skies, after the Arab League will issue a decision, under its Charter, calling for the protection of Syrian civilians.

The sources told Kuwait’s al Rai daily that the no fly ban will include a ban on the movement of Syrian military vehicles, including tanks, personnel carriers and artillery, adding that this move would aim at curbing the movement of Assad forces, and cripple their ability to bomb cities. The European sources said the no fly ban might lead to the paralysis of the Syrian regime forces “in less than 24 hours.”

http://www.albawaba.com/news/arab-states-turkey-plan-no-fly-zone-over-syria-402102

http://news.yahoo.com/syrian-activists-2-day-death-toll-34-165042121.html

11/23/11

Syrian activists say 2-day death toll is 34

BEIRUT (AP) — Syrian security carried out raids in rebellious areas in the center and the south of the country Wednesday, and at least six people died, raising the death toll in the past two days to 34, activists said, as the U.S. and Turkey took unusual steps to protect their citizens.

Syrian President Bashar Assad was under increasing international pressure to stop the brutal crackdown, but no effects were apparent on the ground.

The U.S. Embassy in Damascus urged its citizens in Syria to depart "immediately," and Turkey's foreign ministry urged Turkish pilgrims to opt for flights to return home from Saudi Arabia to avoid traveling through Syria.

"The U.S. Embassy continues to urge U.S. citizens in Syria to depart immediately while commercial transportation is available," said a statement issued to the American community in Syria Wednesday. It was posted on the embassy's website.

read more

November 23, 2011 12:33 PM
U.S. urges Americans to leave Syria "immediately"(CBS/AP)

BEIRUT - The U.S. Embassy in Damascus urged its citizens in Syria to depart "immediately," and Turkey's foreign ministry urged Turkish pilgrims to opt for flights to return home from Saudi Arabia to avoid traveling through Syria.

"The U.S. Embassy continues to urge U.S. citizens in Syria to depart immediately while commercial transportation is available," said a statement issued to the American community in Syria Wednesday and posted on the Embassy's website. "The number of airlines serving Syria has decreased significantly since the summer, while many of those airlines remaining have reduced their number of flights."

The warning followed an announcement in Washington this week that Ambassador Robert Ford would not return to Syria this month as planned, indicating concerns over his safety.

The Obama administration quietly pulled Ford out of Syria last month, citing credible personal threats against him.

More: http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-201_162-57330452/u.s-urges-americans-to-leave-syria-immediately/

The “Free Syria Army”: Placard-Waving Protesters are actually Machine Gun-Wielding Terrorists

November 24, 2011

November 15, 2011 – The “Free Syria Army” is literally an army of militant extremists, many drawn not from Syria’s military ranks, but from the Muslim Brotherhood, carrying heavy weapons back and forth over the Turkish and Lebanese borders, funded, supported, and armed by the United States, Israel, and Turkey.

The latest evidence confirming this comes in the form of a report out of the International Institute for Strategic Studies where Senior Fellow for Regional Security at IISS-Middle East Emile Hokayem openly admits Syria’s opposition is armed and prepared to drag Syria’s violence into even bloodier depths.

This report comes in sharp contrast to the propaganda fed via the corporate-media and the West’s foreign ministers on a daily basis, where the violence is portrayed as one-sided, with Syria’s President Bashar al-Assad “gunning down” throngs of peaceful, placard waving protesters.

Just as in Libya where these so-called “peaceful protesters” turned out to be hordes of genocidal racist Al Qaeda mercenaries, led by big-oil representatives, fighting their cause upon a verified pack of lies, so too is Syria’s “pro-democracy” movement which is slowly being revealed as yet another militant brand of extremists long cultivated by Anglo-American intelligence agencies, whose leadership is harbored in London and Washington and their foot soldiers supplied a steady stream of covert military support and overt rhetorical support throughout the compromised corporate media.

The unrest in Syria from the beginning was entirely backed by Western corporate-financier interests and part of a long-planned agenda for region-wide regime change. Syria has been slated for regime change since as early as 1991. In 2002, then US Under Secretary of State John Bolton added Syria to the growing “Axis of Evil.”

It would be later revealed that Bolton’s threats against Syria manifested themselves as covert funding and support for opposition groups inside of Syria spanning both the Bush and Obama administrations.

In an April 2011 CNN article, acting State Department spokesman Mark Toner stated, “We’re not working to undermine that [Syrian] government.

What we are trying to do in Syria, through our civil society support, is to build the kind of democratic institutions, frankly, that we’re trying to do in countries around the globe. What’s different, I think, in this situation is that the Syrian government perceives this kind of assistance as a threat to its control over the Syrian people.”

Toner’s remarks came after the Washington Post released cables indicating the US has been funding Syrian opposition groups since at least 2005 and continued until today.

In an April AFP report, Michael Posner, the assistant US Secretary of State for Human Rights and Labor, stated that the “US government has budgeted $50 million in the last two years to develop new technologies to help activists protect themselves from arrest and prosecution by authoritarian governments.”

The report went on to explain that the US “organized training sessions for 5,000 activists in different parts of the world. A session held in the Middle East about six weeks ago gathered activists from Tunisia, Egypt, Syria and Lebanon who returned to their countries with the aim of training their colleagues there.”

Posner would add, “They went back and there’s a ripple effect.” That ripple effect of course is the “Arab Spring,” and in Syria’s case, the impetus for the current unrest threatening to unhinge the nation and invite in foreign intervention.

With planted “speculation” running through the corporate media that a recent explosion, amongst several other “incidents” in Iran, were the work of Western covert operations, and the Jerusalem Post all but admitting the entire Western-backed destabilization in Syria aims not at ushering in “democracy” or upholding “human rights,” but to weaken Iran by proxy, it is clear that everything within Wall Street and London’s power is being done to provoke Iran. Iran has downplayed the recent explosion at their military base as an accident and has thus far maintained a persistent patience in the face of criminal provocations and overt acts of war by an alarmingly and increasingly depraved West.

It is quite clear that the stratagems spelled out in the corporate-funded Brookings Institute report “Which Path to Persia?” have been read and understood by both sides and that Iran realizes that any act of retaliation not expertly played, only gives the West what it has stated it wants – an excuse to go to war with the Islamic Republic.

Should the public in Syria, Iran, and throughout the West also read “Which Path to Persia?” and realize that the only threat Iran and its allies pose to the West is toward the extraterritorial ambitions of Wall Street and London, perhaps a bloody, entirely unnecessary war can be avoided, and the first steps taken toward dismantling the parasitic corporate-financier oligarchy that has misled the world for the past several decades.

http://theintelhub.com/2011/11/24/the-free-syria-army-placard-waving-protesters-are-actually-machine-gun-wielding-terrorists/

Public Relations Campaign for Military Intervention in Syria Begins

November 24, 2011

France’s foreign minister, Alain Juppé, has raised the prospect of Syrian intervention.

After a meeting in Paris with Burhan Ghalioun of the Syrian national council, Juppé said “humanitarian corridors or humanitarian zones” should be established to protect civilians from the alleged abuses of the al-Assad regime.


The effort mirrors an earlier one in Libya. In February, the Libyan League, the National Endowment for Democracy (established to do the dirty work of the CIA abroad) and various NGOs petitioned the United Nations to suspend Libya from the UN Human Rights Council.

The effort was based on unsubstantiated reports of human rights abuses made by Soliman Bouchuiguir, director of the Swiss-based Libyan League for Human Rights.

“Bouchuiguir provided the UN with lurid tales of Gaddafi’s ‘scorched earth policy’ and his militia’s ‘massive attacks against civilians.’

These acts are ‘crimes against humanity,’ he testified to the UN.

On May 31, Bouchuiguir’s NGO reported a staggering 18,000 murdered, 46,000 wounded, 28,000 missing, 1,600 rapes, and 150,000 refugees at the hands of the Gaddafi regime, writes Daniel McAdams.

McAdams notes that Bouchuiguir got his figures from the National Transitional Council, in other words the NATO contrived rebels that included al-Qaeda.

“It was this petition and Bouchuiguir’s claims that were the basis for everything that was to come, culminating in the NATO destruction of Libya and today’s bloody murder of Gaddafi and his entourage,” writes McAdams.

“The United Nations did not investigate Bouchuiguir’s claims before they were used by the UN Security Council to bolster their efforts to pass UN Security Council Resolution 1973, opening the door to NATO bombs!”

In French filmmaker Julien Teil’s documentary “The Humanitarian War in Libya: There is no Evidence,” Bouchuiguir is asked repeatedly for evidence of humanitarian crimes perpetuated by Gaddafi in Libya.

He eventually admits “there is no evidence.”

The fingerprints of the CIA and western intelligence were all over the move to oust Gaddafi.

In March, CIA collaborator Khalifa Haftar was appointed chief commander of the al-Qaeda rebels.

Prior to this, Haftar was a member of the CIA sponsored National Salvation Front, the principle anti-Gaddafi operating in Libya in the late 1980s.

Similar events are now unfolding in Syria. Journalist and historian Webster Tarpley reported from Damascus this week and said that the CIA, Mossad and MI6 are orchestrating much of the violence in Syria (see Tarpley’s interview with Alex Jones below).

“What average Syrians of all ethnic groups say about this is that they are being shot at by snipers.

People complained that there are terrorist snipers who are shooting at civilians, blind terrorism simply for the purpose of destabilizing the country.

I would not call this civil war – it is a very misleading term.

What you are dealing with here are death squads, you are dealing with terror commandos; this is a typical CIA method.

In this case it’s a joint production of CIA, MI6, Mossad, it’s got money coming from Saudi Arabia, The United Arab Emirates and Qatar,” Tarpley told RT.

Alain Juppé’s comment will now be amplified by the establishment media and there will be a call for “international action,” in short a repeat of the process that undermined Gaddafi in Libya.

Juppé said the Syrian national council has become “the legitimate interlocutor with whom we will continue to work.”

The Syrian national council is supported by the Muslim Brotherhood, an organization infiltrated by British intelligence and used to counter Arab nationalism.

The Muslim Brotherhood supported the al-Qaeda rebels in Libya and is now working with the NATO installed government to turn the country into another impoverished Arab vassal state indebted to the IMF and the bankers.

The process will be repeated in Syria.

http://www.infowars.com/public-relations-campaign-for-military-intervention-in-syria-begins/

Arab League prepares for Syria sanctions

Arab officials will prepare plans for sanctions against Syria on Saturday over its failure to let Arab League monitors oversee an initiative aimed at ending a violent crackdown on protesters seeking an end to President Bashar al-Assad's rule.

Damascus missed a Friday deadline to sign an agreement under which the Arab League planned to send observers to Syria, where the United Nations says 3,500 people have been killed since the start of the uprising in March.

Despite Syria's pledge this month to withdraw its army from urban areas and let in the monitors, the violence has continued, prompting reprisals from the Arab League, stinging rebukes from Turkey and French proposals for humanitarian intervention.

Damascus, where the Assad family has ruled for 41 years, says regional powers helped incite the violence, which it blames on armed groups targeting civilians and its security forces.

The opposition Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said on Saturday at least 30 people were killed the day before including 13 members of Assad's security forces, most of them killed in a clash with army deserters in the eastern Deir al-Zor province.

Activists said government forces shot dead at least four demonstrators in Damascus on Friday who were appealing for foreign intervention to stop the crackdown. Two other civilians were killed in raids on their homes, they said.

Arab ministers had warned that unless Syria agreed to let monitors in, they could consider imposing sanctions including suspending flights to Syria, stopping dealings with the central bank, freezing Syrian government bank accounts and halting financial dealings.

They could also decide to stop commercial trade with the Syrian government "with the exception of strategic commodities so as not to impact the Syrian people," the ministers said.

The League's economic and social council, which can comprise officials or ministers, will meet on Saturday to prepare recommendations for a meeting of foreign ministers the next day.

Syria's economy is already reeling from months of unrest, aggravated by U.S. and European sanctions on oil exports and several state businesses.

"NO MORE TOLERANCE"

rest: http://news.yahoo.com/arab-league-prepares-syria-sanctions-123557850.html

Syria buries security forces as sanctions loom

Syria buried 22 members of the armed forces Saturday, including six elite pilots, as the government reinforced its message that the 8-month-old revolt against President Bashar Assad is the work of terrorists and foreign agents, not patriotic Syrians seeking reform.

rest: http://www.ajc.com/news/nation-world/syria-buries-security-forces-1241351.html

Arab League draws up sanctions on Syria, as fresh violence kills scores

Arab finance ministers gathered in Cairo on Saturday drew up a list of sanctions against Syria that they will present to foreign ministers for adoption as fresh violence killed 24 civilians and members of the security forces.

The recommendation of the Arab economic and social council - which includes a ban on Syrian officials visiting any Arab country and the freezing of government assets - comes after President Bashar al-Assad’s regime defied an ultimatum to allow in observers amid a lethal crackdown on protest.

Syrian Foreign Minister Walid Muallem earlier accused the Arab League on Saturday of “internationalizing” the deadly crisis hitting the country since pro-democracy protests began more than eight months ago.

The list of punitive measures also included the suspension of flights and a halt to any transactions with the Syrian government and its central bank.

Arab states are also called to freeze any investments for projects in Syria.

The Arab League had set a Friday deadline for Damascus to agree to the details of the observers’ mission, part of a reform deal Syria had previously said it accepted.

If adopted, the sanctions are likely to have a crippling effect on Syria which relies on its Arab neighbors for half of its exports and a quarter of its imports.

On the ground, at least 24 civilians and members of the security forces were killed in attacks in Syria on Saturday.

Deserters killed eight soldiers and members of the security forces and wounded 40 more in an attack in Idlib in northwest Syria, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.

“A group of deserters attacked a squad of soldiers and security agents in a convoy of seven vehicles, including three all-terrain vehicles, on the road from Ghadka to Maaret Numan,” the Britain-based watchdog said.

“Eight were killed and at least 40 more were wounded. The deserters were able to withdraw without suffering any casualties,” it added.

The rebel Free Syrian Army said in a statement it was behind the attack.

Elsewhere, 16 civilians, including two children aged nine and 10, were shot dead by security forces - 15 in Homs and Qussayr in central Syria and another in Deir Ezzor in the east, the Observatory said.

It added that the bodies of three men arrested several days ago in Homs and Idlib were returned to their families.

http://english.alarabiya.net/articles/2011/11/26/179354.html

@JamalDajani
BREAKING: Also Arab League votes to ban funding any projects in #Syria

Reuters: Arab League plans to freeze assets of Syrian government, dealings with Syrian Central Bank - draft document

Arab League Approves Sanctions Against Syria

Arab League foreign ministers, meeting in Cairo, agreed Sunday to impose a series of biting economic sanctions on Syria, after Damascus failed to accept an Arab plan to send monitors in response to its deadly crackdown on an opposition uprising. The ministers will meet again next Saturday to review the effects of their action.

Nineteen of 22 Arab League foreign ministers voted to impose the sanctions on Syria. It was an extraordinary action against a member state.

The sanctions include a freeze on the assets of Syrian leaders in Arab states, an end to Arab investment and trade with Syria, a halt to dealings with Syria's central bank, and a ban on travel by Syrian officials to Arab states.

The Arab League's point-man for Syria, Qatari Foreign Minister Hamad bin Jassem bin Jaber al Thani, said the vote to impose sanctions will have its desired effect, even if the sanctions are never applied, so long as Syria ultimately agrees to stop targeting civilians:

Arab foreign ministers will hold a follow-up meeting in one week to re-evaluate the effects of the sanctions and whether they need to be prolonged.

Observers say that Syria could still decide to agree to the Arab League plan within the coming week to have sanctions lifted.

Sheikh Hamad expressed frustration over the long political discussions, stressing that the Arab League could “keep discussing the matter for another year, and issuing new decrees,” but that “the Syrian people would continue to die.”

Arab League head Nabil al Arabi told journalists that extra care would be taken to see that the new economic sanctions would not hurt the Syrian people or neighboring states:

The Syrian economy is already reeling from the convulsions of the eight-month old popular uprising, along with economic sanctions imposed by the European Union and the United States.

Al Arabiya TV reported that the league's decision to freeze the assets of Syrian officials in the Gulf states is the sanction mostly likely to pressure Damascus. Syrian leaders reportedly have few assets in either Europe or the U.S., but large sums invested in the Gulf.

http://www.voanews.com/english/news/middle-east/Arab-League-to-Vote-on-Sanctions-Against-Syria-134554758.html

Syrian Economy Minister Blasts Arab League Sanctions

Syria's economy minister says economic sanctions approved by the Arab League against Syria are "a dangerous precedent" that will harm the Syrian people.

Mohammed Nidal al-Shaar added in remarks published Monday in the Syrian pro-government daily Al-Watan that once the sanctions are put in force Damascus' "sources of foreign currency would be affected.

The Arab League overwhelmingly approved sanctions Sunday against Syria to pressure Damascus to end its deadly eight-month crackdown on dissent, an unprecedented move by the League against an Arab state.

Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/world/2011/11/27/arab-league-set-to-vote-on-sweeping-sanctions-against-syria/#ixzz1f0GJzRZ5

http://news.yahoo.com/syrian-fm-calls-arab-sanctions-economic-war-135940446.html

11/28/11

Syrian FM calls Arab sanctions 'economic war'
BEIRUT (AP) — The Arab League's newly approved sanctions against Damascus amount to "a declaration of economic war," Syria's foreign minister said Monday, betraying deep concern about the effects of the measures on the embattled regime.

But in a clear sign of defiance, Foreign Minister Walid al-Moallem insisted that the Syrian people will be the ones to suffer — and the regime will survive.

"Let them study the history of Syria very well," al-Moallem told reporters at a televised news conference. "Neither warnings nor sanctions will work with us."

In an unprecedented move against a fellow Arab state, the 22-member Arab League approved sanctions Sunday to pressure the regime to end its suppression of an 8-month-old revolt. The crackdown has killed more than 3,500 people and deepened Syria's international isolation.

The sanctions by Syria's Arab neighbors include cutting off transactions with the Syria's central bank, and are expected to squeeze an ailing economy that already is under sanction by the U.S. and the European Union.

read more

NATO-Gulf military officers in Turkey prepare for intervention in Syria

A group of military officers from NATO and Persian Gulf nations have quietly established a mixed operational command at Iskenderun in the Turkish Hatay province on the border of North Syria, debkafile's military sources report. Hailing from the United States, France, Canada, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, with Turkish officers providing liaison, they do not represent NATO but are self-designated "monitors." Their mission is to set up "humanitarian corridors" inside Syria to serve the victims of Bashar Assad's crackdown. Commanded by ground, naval, air force and engineering officers, the task force aims to move into most of northern Syria.

Laying the groundwork for the legitimacy of the combined NATO-Arab intervention in Syria, the UN Independent International Commission set up to assess the situation in Syria published a horrendous report Monday, Nov. 28 on the Assad regime's brutalities. It documented "gross violations of human rights" and "patterns of summary execution, arbitrary arrest, enforced disappearance, torture including sexual violence, as well as violations of children's rights."

Syrian foreign minister Walid al-Moallem fought back by showing a press conference Monday photos of dismembered bodies of Syrian soldiers as proof of the atrocities he claimed were perpetrated by the anti-Assad opposition. He also complained that "the Arab League and others refuse to believe that there is a foreign conspiracy targeting Syria."

debkafile military sources report exclusively that the Western-Arab intervention in the Syrian crisis is in an advanced state of operational planning. It entails a buffer zone in northern Syria encompassing beleaguered towns, primarily Idlib, Rastan and Homs - but also Aleppo, Syria's largest city (2.5 million mostly Sunni and Kurdish inhabitants).

The protest movement never caught on in Aleppo, home to the moneyed classes who run the country's financial and trading sectors, and it was confined to the highway network feeding the city. Therefore, for the Assad regime, bringing Aleppo into the "humanitarian corridor" system under foreign military control will round of the damage caused by the economic sanctions approved this week by the Arab League. Losing Aleppo will fatally hammer the economy into the ground and rob the Syrian ruler of funding for sustaining his military crackdown to wipe out the unrest in the areas remaining under his control.

Aware of this threat, Foreign Minister al-Moallem accused the Arab League of declaring economic war on Syria.

http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=2e4_1322533592

http://news.yahoo.com/eu-blacklist-syrian-oil-firm-diplomatic-sources-220309087.html

11/30/11

EU to blacklist Syrian oil firm: diplomatic sources

LONDON/BRUSSELS (Reuters) - The European Union plans to add Syria's General Petroleum Corporation (GPC) to its list of sanctioned companies, diplomatic sources told Reuters on Wednesday, in a move designed to starve the government of President Bashar al-Assad of vital oil revenues.

World powers are imposing tough economic sanctions on the Syrian government over a violent crackdown on anti-government protests.

The diplomatic sources said Germany had reached a preliminary agreement with other EU powers to add state-owned GPC, along with several other Syrian firms, to its blacklist, ahead of a formal decision expected on Thursday.

GPC - already blacklisted by the U.S. Office of Foreign Assets Control - is responsible for supervising joint venture companies in Syria, according to its website.

read more

http://news.yahoo.com/analysis-syrian-civil-war-drags-mideast-global-powers-175635551.html

11/30/11

Analysis: Syrian civil war drags in Mideast, global powers

LONDON (Reuters) - As Syria's uprising escalates into outright civil war and begins to drag in other states, it risks fuelling not only wider regional confrontation but also growing antagonism between the world's great powers.

After months of largely peaceful demonstrations in the face of a bloody government crackdown, Syrian opposition fighters look to be behind an ever rising number of attacks on forces loyal to President Bashar al-Assad.

That in itself could mark the beginning of a long, bloody, open-ended civil war. And speculation about foreign military intervention could even spark a Cold War-style face-off between Russia and the United States.

Analysts and foreign governments have long said they believed Iran was providing military and logistics support to Damascus, and some now suspect the opposition too is now receiving foreign weapons.

read more

http://news.yahoo.com/un-rights-chief-says-syria-death-toll-over-150416864.html

12/1/11

UN rights chief says Syria death toll over 4,000

..GENEVA (AP) — The U.N.'s top human rights official says her office estimates the death toll in Syria's nine-month uprising is now "much more" than 4,000.

Navi Pillay, the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights, gave the latest figure a day before the global body is due to hold an emergency meeting on the crisis in the country.

Pillay told reporters in Geneva on Thursday that evidence emerging of abuses committed by Syrian security forces affirms her call that the country's leadership should be prosecuted for "crimes against humanity."

...

http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/envoy/syria-civil-war-un-rights-chief-says-yes-193246180.html

12/2/11

What’s in a name? Why the international community is divided on calling Syrian unrest a ‘civil war’

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CnzqKlcj0lM&feature=player_embedded

Is Syria in a civil war?

On Thursday, Navi Pillay, the UN's high commissioner for human rights, said that the nation's political unrest has indeed approached the level of a civil war. Pillay said her assessment stems in part from recognition that elements of the opposition to the Bashar al-Assad regime are increasingly calling for armed resistance. She added that UN estimates of the conflict's death toll--4,000 killed in the past nine months--are likely understated.

"I have said that as soon as there were more and more defectors threatening to take up arms--I said this in August before the Security Council --there was going to be a civil war," Pillay told a news conference in Geneva Thursday, according to a Reuters report. "At the moment, that's how I am characterizing this."

However, it appears that Pillay's is not yet the official UN line. Shortly after she delivered her remarks, her spokesman walked back the characterization, asserting that Syria is, rather, on the "cusp" of civil war, and "heading" in that direction.

"It is definitely heading that way, with more and more reports of armed resistance to the government forces," Pillay's spokesman Rupert Colville told Reuters. "It is on the cusp, but in these circumstances it is hard to say definitively at what point it becomes civil war."

So what prompted the walk-back? And what determines whether the Syrian bloodshed constitutes a civil war?

Read more

http://news.yahoo.com/syria-says-accepts-arab-league-observer-request-095657792.html

12/5/11

Syria says it accepts Arab League observer request

DAMASCUS, Syria (AP) — Syria has accepted an Arab League request to send observers to the country in an effort to end its eight-month crisis, a move that could ease Arab sanctions on Damascus, the Foreign Ministry said Monday.

The Syrian statement came after Damascus announced it conducted mass military maneuvers over the weekend in an apparent show of force as President Bashar Assad's regime defies pressures over its deadly crackdown on opponents.

The ministry's spokesman, Jihad Makdissi, told reporters that Foreign Minister Walid al-Moallem "responded positively" to the League demand and sent a letter to the organization's chief Nabil Elaraby on Sunday night.

There was no immediate reaction from the Arab League, which has already suspended Syria, to Damascus' announcement.

But Makdissi said that al-Moallem's message to the League combined some "minor amendments that won't affect the essence of the plan," stressing that Damascus is still insisting that the protocol be signed in Damascus rather than at the League's headquarters in Cairo.

read more

http://news.yahoo.com/syrian-president-bashar-al-assad-lies-barbara-walters-185600663.html

12/8/11

..Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad Lies to Barbara WaltersWed, Dec 7, 2011


COMMENTARY | Syrian President Bashar al-Assad claims he hasn't killed anyone and denounces the United Nations' report claiming crimes against his own people. What reality is he living in?

ABC News correspondent Barbara Walters had an exclusive interview with Assad -- the first by a Western reporter since violence erupted on the streets earlier this year. Walters didn't back down in her questioning either, and the highly educated Assad stated true to form with equally mild-mannered denials. So, what's the true story here?

According to Walters, life is a contrast inside Damascus. There are riots in the streets, but just a couple blocks away, people are peacefully enjoying coffee at sidewalk cafes. But NPR reported 25 civilians were killed Saturday. Assad claimed to still have the support of his people and denied the validity of child torture claims. He even challenged the respected journalist to prove her allegations.

Wake up Assad, the press is full of reports of child ****, torture and executions at the hands of the Syrian military. The Arab League has suspended relations because of a litany of crimes by Assad's forces against the Syrian people. And the United Nations issued a damaging report that corroborated the Arab Leagues allegations. Assad is attempting to draw a distinction between being a head of government and allegations of being brutal dictator. In the case of Syria, they are one and the same.

read more

http://news.yahoo.com/syrians-attack-embassy-jordan-142359724.html

12/11/11

Syrians attack their embassy in Jordan

AMMAN, Jordan (AP) — The Syrian Embassy in Jordan says a dozen of its nationals have attacked consulate employees, wounding at least two diplomats and four other people.

An Embassy statement says its guards arrested one of the attackers, identified as Syrian refugee Ahmed al-Shureiqi.

It says Jordanian police arrested eight others — all Syrians allegedly involved in the Sunday morning attack.

The attack was linked to the uprising against Syrian President Bashar Assad.

Police spokesmen did not answer repeated calls to confirm the arrest.

The group entered the embassy claiming they had paperwork to finish. They then beat up a security guard, the consul and another diplomat and several others.

read more

Looming War plans on Syria?
Israel and Syria expect imminent war?
Iraq troops SHIFTED to Syrian border?
US media Censoring this?

This is HUGE!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-v1h1bUfCVc
http://theintelhub.com/2011/12/13/us-nato-troops-reportedly-gathering-on-jordan-syria-border
http://www.prisonplanet.com/us-special-forces-mass-on-syrian-border.html
http://debka.com/article/21543

US Troops Surround Syria On The Eve Of Invasion?

13 December, 2011

A former official from within the ranks of the Federal Bureau of Investigation is reporting that US and NATO forces have landed outside of Syria and are training militants to overthrow the regime of President Bashar al-Assad.

Whistleblower Sibel Edmonds, formerly a translator with the FBI, wrote over the weekend that American soldiers are among the NATO troops that have mysteriously and suddenly landed on the Jordanian and Syrian border. According to her, several sources internationally have confirmed the news, although the US media has been instructed to temporarily censor itself from reporting the news.

Additionally, Edmonds says that American and NATO forces are training Turkish troops as well, to possibly launch a strike from the north of Syria.

Edmonds writes that an Iraqi journalist based out of London has confirmed that US forces that vacated the Ain al-Assad Air Base in Iraq last week did in fact leave the country as part of President Obama’s drawdown of troops, but rather than return home, the soldiers were transferred into Jordan during the late hours of Thursday evening. Another source, writes Edmonds, informs her that “soldiers who speak languages other than Arabic” have been moving through Jordan mere miles from the country’s border with Syria. Troops believed to be NATO/American-affiliated have been spotted between the King Hussein Air Base in al-Mafraq and the Jordanian village of Albaej and its vicinity.

Nizar Nayouf, a correspondent for Edmond’s Boiling Frog Post whistleblower site, says an employee of the London-based offices of Royal Jordanian Airlines has further confirmed that at least one US aircraft transporting military personnel has brought American troops into Jordan in recent days. Nayouf, the former editor-in-chief of Sawt al-Democratiyya (Democracy's Vote), had previously been sentenced to a decade behind bars for critiquing the Syrian government. He later won several human rights awards and the 2000 UNISCO prize for press freedom.

Since the uprising of rebel forces opposing al-Assad’s regime over Syria nearly a year ago, American officials have been critical of the country’s government but insist that they have otherwise distanced themselves from becoming involved in the protests. Following the deaths of dozens of protesters in the spring of 2011, the United States imposed strict sanctions against the official government of Syria.

Navi Pillay, the United Nations’ high commissioner for human rights, revealed this week that the uprising in Syria has caused over 5,000 deaths since it began in early 2011. In the case of the crackdown against former Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi’s regime, NATO involvement began only one month into the uprising. Nine months later, the total death toll of the Libyan Civil War is estimated to be close to 30,000.

In her report, Edmonds says that NATO troops have been training soldiers just outside of Syria since as early as May, and that US media is prohibited from reporting on it until today. The Turkish paper Milliyet also reports that defected Syrian colonel Riad al-Assad is preparing troops to take over the Syrian government as well.

http://rt.com/usa/news/us-nato-syria-edmonds-709/

http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/envoy/u-lowers-flag-marking-official-end-iraq-war-151851692.html

12/15/11

U.S. lowers flag, marking official end to Iraq war

The United States lowered its flag in Baghdad as the American military mission in Iraq was officially declared over Thursday.

Defense Secretary Leon Panetta and the top U.S. military commander in Iraq Gen. Lloyd Austin (pictured above) presided over a low-key ceremony at Baghdad International airport Thursday, to mark the end of the almost nine year war, and thank the one million American troops who have served there. "The muted ceremony stood in contrast to the start of the war in 2003 when an America both frightened and emboldened by the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, sent columns of tanks north from Kuwait to overthrow Saddam Hussein," the New York Times' Thom Shanker and Michael Schmidt write.

In the run-up to this week's ceremonies marking the war's close, Schmidt, the Times' Baghdad correspondent, got word that an Iraqi businessman had purchased trailers from a closing American base, he recounted in a first-person dispatch Wednesday.

As he kicked around the Baghdad junkyard where the purchased trailers were in storage a few weeks back, Schmidt came upon a strikingly different legacy of the invasion: several stray documents, maps, and binders, some marked classified, that turned out to document one of the darkest episodes of the war.

The abandoned trove contained some "400 pages of interrogations" that "form part of the military's internal investigation, and confirm much of what happened at Haditha, a Euphrates River town where Marines killed 24 Iraqis, including a 76-old man in a wheelchair, women and children, some just toddlers," Schmidt wrote in his Wednesday article, "Junkyard Gives up Secret Accounts of Massacre in Iraq."

read more

http://news.yahoo.com/syrian-defectors-kill-27-soldiers-police-south-165611779.html

12/15/11

Syrian defectors kill 27 soldiers, police in south

BEIRUT (AP) — In one of their deadliest attacks, Syrian army defectors killed at least 27 government soldiers and police Thursday in clashes in the south, activists said. The escalating political unrest prompted Canada to become the latest country to urge its citizens to leave Syria.

The fighting took place around daybreak in the southern province of Daraa, where the uprising against President Bashar Assad's authoritarian regime began in March.

Attacks by army defectors have been escalating in recent weeks, raising concerns the country is headed toward civil war. Sanctions by Western powers and the Arab League have added to the growing pressure on Assad from within Syria.

Defectors from the Free Syrian Army, whose leaders are based in exile in neighboring Turkey, fired a rocket-propelled grenade at a bus carrying policemen into the town of Busra al-Harir, killing 12 of the officers, said an activist based nearby.

read more

http://news.yahoo.com/analysis-russias-syria-shift-bid-guard-image-interests-215039759.html

Analysis: Russia's Syria shift a bid to guard image, interests

12/16/11

MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russia's offer of a new U.N. Security Council resolution on the violence in Syria is a pragmatic step by a country increasingly isolated in its support for a widely discredited leader.

The shift allows Russia to look less recalcitrant without giving ground on its opposition to sanctions or foreign military interference, which it has vociferously opposed since the NATO operation in Libya.

With the death toll mounting in bloodshed the world blames mostly on Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, the Kremlin is under increasing pressure to abandon a government that has given Moscow one of its firmest footholds in the Middle East.

It took a small step in that direction on Thursday, circulating a draft resolution that refers to "disproportionate use of force" by the Syrian authorities and urges them to stop "the suppression of those exercising their rights."

In the short term, analysts said, Russia sees that it must distance itself from Assad in the eyes of the world.

read more

Yeah, they'll fall in line, or the NWO will come to Moscow and do some smacking around of Putin and Medvedev till they too fall in line.

http://news.yahoo.com/arab-league-ministers-meet-qatar-syria-crisis-125805677.html

12/17/11

Arabs may take Syria peace plan to United Nations

BEIRUT (Reuters) - Arab states may take their proposals for ending Syria's crackdown on protests to the U.N. Security Council next week unless Damascus agrees to implement the initiative, Qatar's foreign minister said on Saturday.

Expressing frustration that Syria had not carried out the plan, six weeks after it was first agreed, Sheikh Hamad bin Jassim al-Thani said the window for an Arab solution to the crisis was closing.

"If this matter is not solved in the weeks ahead, or couple of months, it will no longer be in Arab control," he told journalists after an Arab ministerial committee meeting in Qatar. "That is what we told the Syrians from the beginning."

Arab ministers would vote on Wednesday on whether to ask the Security Council to approve the initiative. "I believe that December 21 will be decisive, and we hope that the brothers in Syria will sign (the deal) before this date," Sheikh Hamad said.

Syria has conditionally approved a plan to send monitors to oversee implementation of the November 2 Arab League initiative, which calls on Assad to withdraw the army from urban areas, release political prisoners and hold talks with opponents.

read more

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=ehlI6p0eSjU

Same Old Spring: 'US training & arming rebels in Syria'

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RPcW0vCYzNg

US TROOPS MOVING TO THE SYRIAN BORDER?

http://news.yahoo.com/syria-government-says-40-killed-suicide-blasts-120802658.html

Syria government says 40 killed in suicide blasts

12/23/11

DAMASCUS, Syria (AP) — A Syrian military official says the death toll from twin suicide car bombings in Damascus is now more than 40.

The military official says more than a hundred people were wounded in the explosions targeting security and intelligence headquarters in the Syrian capital.

He spoke to reporters on condition of anonymity because he was not allowed to give official statements.

He declined to say how many civilians and military personnel were among the deaths.

read more

http://news.yahoo.com/philippines-offers-fly-citizens-syria-203539761.html

12/22/11

Philippines offers to fly all citizens out of Syria

The Philippines on Thursday offered to fly its 5,000 citizens in Syria home for free as it again urged them to leave immediately to escape escalating violence, the foreign department said.
 
Foreign Secretary Albert del Rosario said the government would help all Filipinos arrange passage out of the Middle East country, which has been torn by deadly protests against President Bashar al-Assad's regime.
 
"In view of the escalating violence in Syria, the Department of Foreign Affairs will be raising alert level 4 for the entire country of Syria effective today," he said in a statement.
 
That alert status meant all Filipinos would be repatriated at Philippine government expense, the ministry said.
 
About nine million Filipinos work around the world, earning more money in a wide range of skilled and unskilled jobs abroad than they could in their impoverished homeland.
 
Last week, the Philippine embassy in Damascus sent home 51 of an estimated 5,000 Filipinos in Syria, the ministry said.

read more

Free ticket? I think if I were a Filipino, I'd be headed for the airport!

Mourning Syrians rally for Assad
12/24/11

BEIRUT (Reuters) - Funerals for the 44 victims of twin car bombs in Damascus turned into a strong display of support on Saturday for President Bashar al-Assad, hailed by crowds of mourners who denounced the United States and its Arab allies for interfering in Syria.
 
The United Nations expressed grave concern over the bombings, which marked an ominous escalation in the violence that has rocked the Arab nation for the past nine months, claiming at least 5,000 lives.
 
Syria said al Qaeda terrorists were behind the attacks. There has been no claim of responsibility. Opposition members said they suspected the Assad government carried out the bombings itself, to prove to the world it is facing a ruthless insurgency by armed Islamic fundamentalists.
 
In Cairo, Sudanese General Mohammed Ahmed Mustafa al-Dabi said he would go to Damascus on Saturday to assume his role as head of an Arab League monitoring mission which is intended to fan out over the country and verify an armistice.

http://news.yahoo.com/mourning-syrians-rally-assad-143255499.html

http://news.yahoo.com/attacks-launched-security-buildings-damascus-tv-091436551.html;_ylt=AhGF69hzQo5z78U5Cj3APAbzUc0F;_ylu=X3oDMTRvZm01YnJuBGNjb2RlA2dtcHRvcDEwMDBwb29sd2lraXVwcmVzdARtaXQDTmV3cyBmb3IgeW91BHBrZwNmZDUyYTJkNS0yMmNhLTM1ZTQtYTRiYS0wMWRiZGQ3NzViZjMEcG9zAzEEc2VjA25ld3NfZm9yX3lvdQR2ZXIDNTNlNTdiOTAtMmRiZS0xMWUxLWJmZjktN2E0MmQzZjkxN2E1;_ylg=X3oDMTM0bWo0YTRtBGludGwDdXMEbGFuZwNlbi11cwRwc3RhaWQDZjhmYTEzMzQtZDQ4MC0zNWEzLWFmYWQtYTYyNzY5YzQyYzIxBHBzdGNhdANob21lfHRyYXZlbARwdANzdG9yeXBhZ2UEdGVzdAM-;_ylv=3

New U.N. draft resolution on Syria: bombs hit capital
12/23/11

BEIRUT (Reuters) - World powers argued about the details of a U.N. resolution on Syria, after suicide car bombers lent a grim new face to its conflict by killing 44 in Damascus.
 
European and U.S. officials want the Security Council to impose an arms embargo and other sanctions on Syria's government because of its nine-month-old crackdown on protesters, which U.N. officials say has killed thousands.
 
Western powers say government security forces have been responsible for most of the violence. But Russia, an old ally of Damascus, wants any resolution to be even-handed.
 
"If the requirement is that we drop all reference to violence coming from extreme opposition, that's not going to happen," U.N. ambassador Vitaly Churkin said in New York after Russia submitted a revised draft resolution to the council.

read more

Arab monitors head to Syria, government kills 20

BEIRUT (AP) — The Arab League forged ahead with plans to send teams of monitors into Syria Monday even though President Bashar Assad's regime has only intensified its crackdown in the week since agreeing to halt bloodshed, killing several hundred civilians according to activists.

At least 20 more deaths were reported on Monday from intense shelling by government forces in the center of the country, just hours before the monitoring teams were to arrive. Activists said at least 275 civilians have been killed by government forces in the past week and another 150 people died in clashes between army defectors and regime troops — most of them defectors.

The stepped up crackdown, including what activists said was a "massacre" in one town where 110 people were mowed down in several hours last week, brought a new round of international condemnation of Syria. Neighboring Turkey said the violence flew in the face of the Arab League deal that Syria signed and raises doubts about the regime's true intentions.

The Arab League plan agreed to by Assad requires the government to remove its security forces and heavy weapons from city streets, start talks with opposition leaders and allow human rights workers and journalists into the country. The monitors are supposed to ensure compliance, but so far there is no sign that Assad is implementing any of the terms, much less letting up on the brutal crackdown.

read more

http://news.yahoo.com/arab-monitors-head-syria-government-kills-20-132136354.html

http://news.yahoo.com/syria-pulls-tanks-homs-arab-monitors-visit-121605962.html

Syria pulls tanks from Homs as Arab monitors visit

BEIRUT (AP) — Syria's army suspended days of punishing attacks on the restive city of Homs and began withdrawing its tanks Tuesday just as Arab League monitors visited the area and met with local leaders, activists and officials said.

The British-based activist group Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said as the monitors visited Homs, at least 20,000 protesters gathered in some neighborhoods to "reveal the crimes committed by the regime."

About 60 Arab monitors — the first Syria's regime has allowed in during its nine-month crackdown on an anti-government uprising — arrived Monday night and began work Tuesday. The withdrawal from Homs was the first tangible sign that President Bashar Assad was implementing the terms of the Arab League plan to halt attacks that overwhelmingly target unarmed, peaceful protesters. The monitors are supposed to ensure the government complies with the deal .

read more

http://warsclerotic.wordpress.com/

Protest could be turning point in Syrian unrest
Posted December 28, 2011 by josephwouk

THERE have been many remarkable moments in the year of the Arab Spring, but the grainy videos of Syrian protesters pleading for help from the former security boss of another pariah regime must be among them.
 
The tens of thousands of people who came out of the shadows and the rubble of their embattled city of Homs to make their voices heard knew that for once it was safe to do so. In scenes that defied low expectations of the visit to Syria by a league monitoring mission, protesters were filmed shouting at the delegates, even as gunfire could be heard in the background. ”We are unarmed and dying,” one screamed. ”We are being slaughtered,” said another.
 
In their desperation, they called on the outside world to intervene and save them from the Syrian army. But it was Lieutenant-General Mohammed al-Dabi, head of the Arab League monitoring mission and a former intelligence adviser to President Omar al-Bashir of Sudan, wanted for war crimes by the International Criminal Court, who was their real target.

read more

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/12/28/syria-detainees_n_1172231.html

12/28/11

Syria Detainees Hidden From Arab League Monitors: Human Rights Watch

BEIRUT (AP) - The Syrian government released Wednesday 755 prisoners detained over the past nine months in the regime's crackdown on dissent as observers toured a flashpoint city to see whether authorities were complying with an Arab plan to stop the bloodshed that has killed thousands.

Violence continued in several parts of the country, with activists saying two died in the Baba Amr district of Homs, and at least four soldiers were killed in an ambush carried out by a group of military defectors in the country's south on Wednesday.

The prisoners' release, reported by the state-run news agency SANA, followed accusations by Human Rights Watch that Syrian authorities were hiding hundreds of detainees from the observers now in the country.

The New York-based group said the detainees have been transferred to off-limits military sites and urged the observers to insist on full access to all sites used for detention.

read more

http://news.yahoo.com/amid-bloodshed-hamas-prepares-leave-syria-181525386.html

12/28/11

Amid bloodshed, Hamas prepares to leave Syria

RAMALLAH, West Bank (AP) — Alarmed by bloody unrest in Syria, the Hamas militant group has pulled out many of its lower-level cadres from its Damascus headquarters and made contingency plans to move its leadership to locations across the Middle East, senior Hamas members have told The Associated Press.

The Hamas members say the group remains appreciative of Syrian leader Bashar Assad and there is no immediate intention to abandon their base in Damascus. But they confirmed that dozens of low and midlevel members have already left Syria as the security situation grows increasingly precarious.

"Most of Hamas has left Damascus. We have a plan B for leaving if things deteriorate," said a senior Hamas official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was discussing the inner workings of the secretive group.

Hamas, an Iranian-backed Palestinian group, has been based in Syria for more than a decade. Assad has allowed Hamas, branded a terrorist group by Israel and the West, to use his territory for military training, and provided a valuable headquarters in the heart of the Arab world.

read more

Hundreds of thousands take to streets in Syria: activists

12/30/11

BEIRUT (Reuters) - Syrian security forces used tear gas on Friday to disperse protesters as hundreds of thousands massed in cities across the country in some of the largest protests seen in the nine-month uprising against President Bashar al-Assad.
 
Activists said they were aiming to show Arab League monitors the level of popular dissent. The observers arrived in Syria this week to assess whether Damascus had halted violence against protesters.
 
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said at least 250,000 people were on the streets of Idlib after Friday prayers. Activists in Hama and the Damascus suburb of Douma said tens of thousands of people were protesting. Al Jazeera television showed live footage of what appeared to be tens of thousands of protests in a district of Homs.
 
The Observatory said protesters hurled stones at security forces in Douma. At least 24 people were wounded.

read more

Philippine FM steps up Syria repatriation efforts

http://news.yahoo.com/philippine-fm-steps-syria-repatriation-efforts-080248792.html

12/31/11

The Philippine foreign minister will fly to Syria to help speed up the repatriation of Filipinos from the strife-torn country, a statement said Saturday.
 
Foreign Secretary Albert del Rosario will depart on a Qatar Airways flight to Damascus late Saturday to make sure that the repatriation of Filipinos "can be made as secure as possible", the ministry said in a statement.
 
"During this visit to Syria, we will seek the cooperation and assistance of Syrian officials in ensuring the safety of our people there," del Rosario was quoted as saying in the statement.
 
"We will also meet with Filipino community leaders to effect the widest dissemination of repatriation (plans), visit exit points and assess the security situation and contingency plans," he added.

read more

12/31/11

http://news.yahoo.com/arab-league-monitor-syria-saw-snipers-own-eyes-205706428.html;_ylt=Ahy1apN0PVZGo71aIGufv.Pu5rEF;_ylu=X3oDMTRvOGRyZmc5BGNjb2RlA2dtcHRvcDEwMDBwb29sd2lraXVwcmVzdARtaXQDTmV3cyBmb3IgeW91BHBrZwNmNGI2OGRjMC1lMTBiLTM3YTYtOTlhOC0zNWNmYTIzNjEwZjgEcG9zAzIEc2VjA25ld3NfZm9yX3lvdQR2ZXIDZmFiNGY4ZTAtMzQxNC0xMWUxLWJmN2QtZTk4MjcxODA0ZGQy;_ylg=X3oDMTNjMmlkdTQ5BGludGwDdXMEbGFuZwNlbi11cwRwc3RhaWQDZTJkNjIzYmYtNzliMC0zOTE5LThiYzEtMmNjYmZjZGY0ZTVkBHBzdGNhdANidXNpbmVzc3x1cyBlY29ub215BHB0A3N0b3J5cGFnZQR0ZXN0Aw--;_ylv=3

More dramatic amateur footage has emerged showing violence and oppression in cities across Syria where the government has engaged in a brutal crackdown on demonstrations. The latest troubling video from the region to go viral includes shocked observations from a representative of an Arab League monitoring mission, who claims to have witnessed snipers and other violence against hundreds of thousands of pro-democracy protesters following Friday prayers.

http://www.debka.com/article/21611/

1/2/12

Assad will fight from new mountain fortress if civil war engulfs Syria
DEBKAfile Exclusive Report January 2, 2012, 9:30 AM (GMT+02:00)

As Arab League monitors fail in their mission to curb brutal regime violence in Syria and the ten-month popular defiance continues to rage, President Bashar Assad is digging in for a full-scale civil war:  debkafile reports exclusively that a fortress is under construction for the Syrian ruler, family, his loyal generals and ruling elite in the northwestern Alawite (Al-Ansariyyah) Mountains – should Damascus become too hot for them.

From there, the Assads will continue to fight for their survival.

These mountains have the only dense forests in the vicinity of Syria's Mediterranean coast. The Al-Ansariyyah range averages 32 kilometers (20 miles) in breadth and a peak elevation of just over 1,200 meters. The tallest mountain, Nabi Yunis east of Latakia, is 1,562 meters (5,125 feet) high. The range slopes down from its northern tip to an average altitude of 900 meters (3,000 feet) and 600 meters in the south.

Our military and intelligence sources report Syrian engineering corps crews working at speed to build a fortified encampment, partly inside caves and tunnels, on the wooded slopes. Its perimeter is enclosed with anti-tank defenses armed with anti-air batteries.
When finished, the camp will be one of the most heavily fortified strongholds in the Middle East.

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Arab League Advisory Board Says 'Pull Monitors From Syria'

1/1/12

http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/151283#.TwCLc1bfW2U

An advisory board within the 22-nation Arab League is warning the organization to pull its monitors from Syria.
 
The speaker of the Arab parliament, Salem al-Diqbassi, urged Arab League secretary-general Nabil al-Araby to "immediately pull out the Arab observers, considering the continued killing of innocent civilians by the Syrian regime."
 
In his statement Diqbassi continued, Assad's actions were "a clear violation of the Arab League protocol which is to protect the Syrian people. We are seeing an increase in violence, more people are being killed including children ... and all this in the presence of Arab League monitors, which has angered the Arab people,” the AFP news agency reported.
 
A fresh contingent of 20 more monitors from Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and Tunisia is scheduled to go to Damascus on Thursday, according to Adnan al-Khodeir, the League's Syria operations chief.

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They are fixing to drop the hammer on Syria! And it's looking like the Arabs won't mind giving a hand either.

One way or another, I think Assad is gone.

http://news.yahoo.com/arab-league-says-syria-monitors-helping-activists-085211028.html

1/3/12

Syrian rebel leader threatens to escalate attacks

BEIRUT (Reuters) - The commander of Syria's armed rebels threatened on Tuesday to step up attacks on President Bashar al-Assad's forces, saying he was frustrated with Arab League monitors' lack of progress in ending a government crackdown on protests.
 
"If we feel they (the monitors) are still not serious in a few days, or at most within a week, we will take a decision which will surprise the regime and the whole world," the head of the Free Syrian Army (FSA), Colonel Riad al-Asaad, told Reuters in an interview.
 
The Arab League said on Monday its monitors were helping to stem bloodshed, 10 months into a popular uprising against Syria's ruling family, and asked for more time to do their job.
 
But since the team's arrival last week, security forces have killed more than 132 people, according to a Reuters tally. Other activist groups say 390 have been killed.

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Russian, French warships off Syria, Iran, US drones over Iranian coast

1/9/12

US, Russian French and British air and naval forces streamed to the Syrian and Iranian coasts over the weekend on guard for fresh developments at the two Middle East flashpoints.

The Russian carrier Admiral Kuznetsov anchored earlier than planned at Syria's Tartus port on the Mediterranean Sunday, Jan. 8, arriving together with the destroyer Admiral Chabanenko and frigate Yaroslav Mudry.

To counter this movement, France consigned an air defense destroyer Forbin to the waters off Tartus.

debkafile's military sources report a buildup in the last 48 hours of western naval forces opposite Iran in the Persian Gulf and Arabian Sea in readiness for Tehran to carry out its threat to close the Strait of Hormuz.

Britain has dispatched the HMS Daring, a Type 45 destroyer armed with new technology for shooting down missiles, to the Sea of Oman, due to arrive at the same time as the French Charles de Gaulle aircraft carrier.

Our sources report too that Saturday, the giant RQ-4 Global Hawk UAV, took off from the USS Stenning aircraft carrier for surveillance over the coasts of Iran. The Stennis and its strike group are cruising in the Sea of Oman at the entrance to the Strait of Hormuz after Tehran announced it would not be allowed to cross through.

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http://www.debka.com/article/21633/

http://theextinctionprotocol.wordpress.com/2012/01/10/syria-inches-closer-to-civil-war-as-reign-of-violent-terror-escalates/
Syria inches closer to civil war as reign of violent terror escalates

January 10, 2012 – SYRIA – Violence continues to mount in Syria along with the international pressure on the regime of Bashar Assad, while the opposition claims the Arab League’s observer mission is only giving the regime more time to crush the dissent. It a Sunday review meeting in Cairo, the Arab League urged Damascus to halt its crackdown, saying the Assad government had only partially implemented pledges it agreed to in a peace plan. Despite the fact that the League is planning to bring more observers into the country, raising the number to 200, the Syrian opposition slams the monitors for failing to stop the violence. “The initial report is too vague, and it essentially buys the regime more time,” said Rima Fleihan, a member of the Syrian National Council, quoted by Reuters. “We need to know what the League will do if the regime continues its crackdown in the presence of the monitors. At some point it needs to refer Syria to the UN Security Council.” Earlier, the Muslim Brotherhood accused the Arab League of seeking to “cover up” the Assad regime’s crimes. “It is clear that the observer mission in Syria seeks to cover up the crimes of the Syrian regime by giving it the time and opportunity to kill our people and break their will,” Brotherhood spokesman Zuhair Salem said on Monday. Also on Monday, Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan condemned the ongoing violence in the neighboring state, saying the conflict is sliding toward “civil war” and must be stopped. He spoke Monday at a joint news conference with Norway’s Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg in Ankara. Stoltenberg stressed the need to increase international pressure to force Assad to step down.Dr Benjamin Barber, senior fellow at American think-tank Demos, told RT that the Arab League is powerless in dealing with Syria without Western support. –RT News

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nXMMNA4gyA8&feature=player_embedded

http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/idf-chief-israel-ready-to-absorb-some-syria-refugees-once-assad-falls-1.406487

1/10/12

IDF Chief: Israel ready to absorb some Syria refugees once Assad falls

Benny Gantz says expects Bashar Assad's regime to collapse in near future and issue a blow to the Alawite community in Syria; Gantz: Assad is not like Gadhafi, he won't fight till last bullet.

Israel Defense Forces Chief of Staff Benny Gantz said Tuesday that Israel is preparing to absorb Alawite refugees once Syrian President Bashar Assad's regime collapses, which he expects to happen in the coming months.

Speaking at a Knesset Defense and Foreign Affairs committee meeting, Gantz said Assad's turmoil could cause him to seek a military confrontation with Israel.

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Report: Russian Naval Force Arrives At Syria Port In 'Show Of Solidarity'

A large Russian naval force arrived at the Syrian port city of Tartus, the French AFP news agency reported on Sunday, in what the regime of President Bashar Assad is calling a show of "friendship." Last November, a Syrian news agency reported that Russian warships were planned to arrive at Syrian territorial waters, indicating that the move represented a clear message to the West that Moscow would resist any foreign intervention in the country's civil unrest.  Citing the official Syrian news agency SANA on Sunday, AFP reported that a large Russian naval flotilla, led by an aircraft carrier, is making a six-day port call to Tartus. SANA also quoted a Russian naval officer as saying that the a visit was "aimed at bringing the two countries closer together and strengthening their ties of friendship." "The commanders of the Russian naval vessels docked in Tartus took turns to express their solidarity with the Syrian people," SANA added.

http://www.haaretz.com/news/middle-east/report-russian-naval-force-arrives-at-syria-port-in-show-of-solidarity-1.406155?localLinksEnabled=false

http://www.presstv.ir/detail/220492.html

Assad joins pro-Syria rally in Damascus

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad has once again vowed to crush foreign-backed conspiracies against his government, saying the crisis in the country is nearing its end.
 

Addressing thousands of government supporters in the Syrian capital, Damascus, Assad said on Wednesday that the support of Syrians for his government gives him power to fight hard against the external conspiracy trying to destabilize the country.
 
"I wanted to be with you so I can draw strength from you in the face of everything that Syria is subjected to. It was important that we maintain our faith in the future. I have that faith in the future and we will undoubtedly triumph over this conspiracy," the Syrian president told his supporters.
 
''You are standing against a desecration of our identity, and you are confirming your steadfastness and support for the armed forces, whose martyrs are falling every single day so you can live in safety," he added.
 
Assad's wife Asma and their two children accompanied him on his surprise appearance in the central Umayyad Square in Damascus.
 
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Lebanese Army Warns Hizbullah: Disarm Before Assad Falls
Lebanese Army leader Samir Geagea warned the Hizbullah terrorist organization this week that it is better to make a "historic" deal to disarm before Syrian President Bashar al-Assad is toppled from power, than to wait till he falls.
 
Syria's growing civil war is making it inevitable that the president will be deposed at some point, the commander said.
 
The Lebanese leader, who said the Assad regime's collapse is "just a matter of time, nothing else," made the observation during an interview published Thursday in Beirut's Arabic-language As-Safir newspaper.
 
"The situation in Syria is getting more complicated," Geagea pointed out. "The regime... will inevitably fall because it has become weak and lacks internal, Arab and international legitimacy."
 
Geagea called on Hizbullah to consider disarming itself, and to change its domestic direction, given the current circumstances. The terrorist organization is generously backed by Syria and Iran. "I believe that it is in Hizbullah's best interest to quickly begin repositioning itself internally," he told the newspaper.
 
"If I were in their shoes... I would take an immediate and brave step -- which could be difficult," he admitted, "but is nevertheless necessary, to engage in serious and direct negotiations with the main [Lebanese] parties... so as to reach a historic compromise on arms and all other pending issues -- because we must admit that Lebanon cannot continue to exist without the Shi'ites."

http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/151910#.Txgw6IFfT7g

http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=28736

Obama's Secret Letter to Tehran: Is the War against Iran On Hold? "The Road to Tehran Goes through Damascus"

The New York Times announced that the Obama Administration had sent an important letter to the leadership of Iran on January 12, 2012. [1]

On January 15, 2012, the spokesperson of the Iranian Foreign Ministry acknowledged that the letter had been delivered to Tehran by way of three diplomatic channels:



(1) one copy of the letter was handed to the Iranian Ambassador to the United Nations, Mohammed Khazaee, by his U.S. counterpart, Susan Rice, in New York City;

(2) a second copy of the letter was delivered in Tehran by the Swiss Ambassador to Iran, Livia Leu Agosti; and

(3) a third copy went to Iran by way of Jalal Talabani of Iraq. [2]
In the letter, the White House spelled out the position of the United States, while Iranian officials said it was a sign of things as they really are: the U.S. cannot afford to wage a war against Iran.

Within the letter written by President Barak Hussein Obama was a U.S. request for the start of negotiations between Washington and Tehran to end Iranian-U.S. hostilities.

“In the letter, Obama announced readiness for negotiations and the resolution of mutual disagreements,” Ali Motahari, an Iranian parliamentarian, told the Mehr News Agency. [3] According to another Iranian parliamentarian, this time the Deputy Chairperson of the Iranian Parliament’s National Security and Foreign Policy Committee, Hussein Ebrahimi (Ibrahimi), the letter went on to ask for Iranian-U.S. cooperation and negotiations based on the mutual interests of both Tehran and Washington. [4]

Obama’s letter also tried to assure Tehran that the United States would not engage in any hostile action against Iran. [5] In fact, in the same timeframe, the Pentagon cancelled or delayed major joint drills with Israel. [6]

To the Iranians, however, the gestures are meaningless, because the Obama Administration’s actions with Iran have always contradicted its words. Moreover, Iran believes that the U.S. has not attacked, because it knows that the costs of a war with an opponent like Iran are too high and its consequences far too risky.

This, however, does not mean that an Iranian-U.S. showdown has been avoided or will not eventually happen. The currents can go either way, so to speak. Nor does this mean that the Obama Administration is not currently waging a war against the Iranians and their allies. In fact, Washington’s bloc and Iran’s bloc have been fighting a shadow war from the digital arena and television airwaves to the valleys of Afghanistan and the bustling streets of Beirut and Baghdad.


The War Against Iran Started Years Ago

The war in Iran did not start in 2012 or even 2011. Newsweek Magazine even stated the following on a cover title in 2010: “Assassinations, cyberattacks, sabotage – has the war against Tehran already begun?” The actual war may have started in 2006.

Instead of attacking Iran directly, the U.S. has started a covert and proxy war. The covert dimensions of the war are being fought by intelligence assets, cyber attacks, computer viruses, secretive military units, spies, assassins, agent provocateurs, and saboteurs. The kidnapping and assassination of Iranian scientists and military commanders, which started several years ago is a part of this covert war. In this shadow war, Iranian diplomats in Iraq have been abducted and Iranians visiting Georgia, Saudi Arabia, and Turkey have been detained or kidnapped. Syrian officials, various Palestinian figures, and Hezbollah’s Imad Fayez Mughniyeh have also all been assassinated in this shadow war.

The proxy wars started in 2006 when Israel attacked Lebanon with the intention of expanding the war against Syria. The road to Damascus goes through Beirut, while Damascus is on the way to Tehran. After their failure in 2006, realizing that Syria was the lynchpin of the Resistance Bloc, which Iran dominated, the U.S. and its allies spent the next five to six years trying to de-link Syria from Iran.

The U.S. is also fighting Iran and its allies on the diplomatic and economic fronts through the manipulation of international bodies and proxy states. In the 2011 to 2012 context, the crisis in Syria on a geo-political level is a front in the war against Iran. Even the Israeli-U.S. drill Austere Challenge 2012 and the U.S. deployment of troops were primarily aimed at Syria as a means of combating Iran.


Syria in the Eye of the Storm

What Washington is doing is exerting psychological pressure on Iran as a means of distancing it from Syria, so that the United States and its cohorts can go for the kill. Up until the start of January 2012, the Israelis have continuously been preparing to launch an invasion of Syria in a rematch of 2006, while U.S. and E.U. officials have continously tried negotiating with Damascus for a deal to de-link from Iran and the Resistance Bloc. The Syrians, however, have always refused.

Foreign Policy, the magazine of the Council on Foreign Relations, published an article in August 2011 stating what was on the Saudi King’s mind about Syria in context of attacking Iran: “The King knows that other than the collapse of the Islamic Republic [of Iran] itself, nothing would weaken Iran more than losing Syria.” [7] Whether the above statement genuinely came from Abdul Aziz Al-Saud or not, this strategic outlook is representative of the reasons for the targeting of Syria. Obama’s own security advisor has also said the same thing, just a few months after the piece by Foreign Policy was released, in November 2011. National Security Advisor Donilon gave a speech saying that the “end of the Assad regime would constitute Iran’s greatest setback in the region – a strategic blow that will further shift the balance of power in the region against Iran.” [8]

The Kremlin has also made statements that corroborate that Washington wants to de-link Syria from its Iranian ally. One of Russia’s highest security officials has announced that Syria is being punished, because of its strategic alliance with Iran. The Secretary of the National Security Council of the Russian Federation, Nikolai (Nikolay) Platonovich Patrushev, has publicly stated that Syria is the subject of Washington’s pressure due to geo-political interests tied to cutting Syria’s ties with Iran and not due to any humanitarian concerns. [9]

Iran has also given signals that should the Syrians be attacked, it will not hesitate to intervene militarily to come to Syria’s aid. Washington does not want this. The Pentagon would much rather swallow Syria first, before turning its full and undivided attention to Iran. The Pentagon’s objectives are to fight its targets piecemeal. Despite the U.S. military doctrine of fighting simultaneous wars in multiple theatres and all the Pentagon literature about it, the U.S. is not ready yet to wage a conventional regional war against both Iran and Syria or risk an expanded war with Iran’s Russian and Chinese allies yet. The march to war, however, is far from over. For now the U.S. government will have to continue the shadow war against Iran and intensify the media, diplomatic, and economic war.


Mahdi Darius Nazemroaya is a Sociologist and award-winning author. He is a Research Associate at the Centre for Research on Globalization (CRG), Montreal. He Specializes on the Middle East and Central Asia. He Has been a contributor and guest discussing the Broader Middle East on numerous international programs and networks such as Al Jazeera, Press TV and Russia Today. His writings have been published in more than ten languages​​. He also writes for the Strategic Culture Foundation (SCF), Moscow.

http://news.yahoo.com/report-russia-deliver-combat-jets-syria-091138788.html

1/23/12

MOSCOW (AP) — Russia has signed a contract to sell combat jets to Syria, a newspaper reported Monday, in apparent support for President Bashar Assad and open defiance of international condemnation of his regime's bloody crackdown.

The respected business daily Kommersant, citing an unidentified source close to Russia's Rosoboronexport state arms trader, said the $550-million deal envisions the delivery of 36 Yak-130 aircraft. A spokesman for Rosoboronexport refused to comment on the report.

If confirmed, the deal would cement Russian opposition to international efforts to put pressure on Assad's regime over its attempts to snuff out the country's uprising. The U.N. says more than 5,400 people have died over 10 months. The report of the sale comes the same day that Human Rights Watch called Russia's backing of the Syrian regime "immoral."

The Yak-130 is a twin-engined combat trainer jet that can also be used to attack ground targets. The Russian air force has recently placed an order for 55 such jets.

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Russia to keep blocking UN sanctions on Syria
Boston.com - ‎2 hours ago‎   

By Vladimir Isachenkov AP / January 25, 2012 MOSCOW—Russia will stonewall any UN sanctions on Syria and will push for a quick start of talks between the Syrian government and the country's opposition, the Russian foreign minister said Wednesday.

http://www.boston.com/news/world/europe/articles/2012/01/25/russia_to_keep_blocking_un_sanctions_on_syria/

http://news.yahoo.com/nations-try-oust-syria-unesco-rights-panel-165559071.html

1/25/12

Nations try to oust Syria from UNESCO rights panel

PARIS (AP) — A group of UNESCO member states is trying to remove Syria from a committee with a human rights mandate, a panel it quietly rejoined despite its deadly crackdown on protesters.

U.N. Watch, a Geneva-based NGO, diplomats and others said Wednesday that a growing group of countries — western and Arab — want to unseat Syria from the Committee on Conventions and Recommendations. The committee deals with multiple issues, but has a strong human rights component.

Syria was named to the committee in November by the Arab group at UNESCO. Now, a number of countries, from the United States and Britain to Qatar and Kuwait, are mounting a campaign to remove Syria from the committee by putting the issue on the agenda of the next executive board. The board meets from Feb. 27 until March 10.

The U.S. ambassador to UNESCO, David Killion, said he "strongly objects" to the reappointment in November of Syria on the committee.

more

http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/152126#.TyFhaIFfQz8

UN Stops Counting Syria Death Toll

UN stops counting the death toll in Syria's crackdown on protesters, says it is "too difficult" to get information.
 
By Elad Benari
First Publish: 1/26/2012, 7:15 AM

The United Nations has stopped compiling a death toll in Syria’s crackdown on protests because it is too difficult to get information, UN human rights chief Navi Pillay said on Wednesday.

AFP reported that after meeting ambassadors from the UN Security Council, Pillay said the death toll in Syria had risen but added, “We are experiencing difficulties because of the fragmentation on the ground.

Pillay, who in December said the death toll in the Syria crackdown stood at 5,000, noted, “Some areas are totally closed such as parts of Homs, so we are unable to update that figure but in my view 5,000 and more is a huge figure and should really shock the international community into taking action.”

Last month Pillay said that Syria was “on the cusp of civil war.”

Meanwhile, AFP reported, Security Council ambassadors held negotiations on when Arab League Secretary General Nabil Elaraby could brief the 15-member body on the league’s efforts to halt the crisis.

According to the report, European and Arab nations hope to use the Arab League’s demands that Syrian President Bashar al-Assad hand over power to get the Security Council to pass its first resolution condemning the violence.

The League’s path forward in Syria, which was agreed upon on Sunday, instructs Assad to delegate powers to his vice president following the formation of a national unity government.

The Arab League called on the Syrian government to start a dialogue with the opposition within two weeks, and for the new government to be formed within two months.

The League’s plan calls for the unity government to prepare to elect a council, within three months, that will write a constitution. It should also prepare for parliamentary and presidential elections.

Diplomats told AFP Elaraby could brief the council within days just ahead of a vote on a resolution, which is now being written up before being distributed to all members.

On Sunday, the 22-member Arab League officially voted to extend the mandate of the observer mission to Syria by one month.

http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/152121#.TyFhb4FfQz8


Canada Announces New Sanctions Against Syria

Canada sanctions Syrian banks, oil companies, and people associated with the Assad regime, in response to crackdown.
 
By Elad Benari
First Publish: 1/26/2012, 5:44 AM

Canada’s Foreign Affairs Minister, John Baird, announced new sanctions on Wednesday against four banks, three oil companies and 22 people linked with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s regime.

In a statement quoted by AFP, Baird said, “We want to make sure we are doing everything we can to isolate this reprehensible regime.”

“Assad and those supporting him must get the message that peace-loving nations of the world are working together to end the regime's oppressive rule,” he added.

AFP reported that the new sanctions target the Industrial Bank, Popular Credit Bank, Saving Bank and Agricultural Cooperative Bank, as well as Deir ez-Zor Petroleum Company, Ebla Petroleum Company and Dijla Petroleum Company.

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http://news.yahoo.com/outside-syrias-capital-suburbs-look-war-zone-175140218.html

HARASTA, Syria (Reuters) - When Arab League observers headed to the suburbs of Damascus Thursday, Syrian security refused to accompany them to most areas, because they are no longer in control there.
 
In some towns no more than a 15-minute drive from the capital, the governor of rural Damascus warned that gunmen were walking the streets.
 
But the monitors went, accompanied by journalists, to the outskirts of Irbin and Harasta, which have become hotbeds for protests and armed revolt since the 10-month uprising against President Bashar al-Assad began.
 
At a checkpoint on an intersection heading into the town of Irbin, dozens of soldiers with assault rifles were deployed in full gear and on alert. On the sidewalk near them lay the bodies of two men shot dead, one of them a soldier.
 
But the soldiers were fixated nervously on the anti-Assad protest just hundreds of meters away, with protesters chanting "Allahu Akbar." Most shops were closed and people gave the Arab League monitors suspicious looks.
 
"Some people are angry with us because of the report," one observer said.
 
The observer team sent a report last week on their mission to check implementation of an Arab peace plan that aims to halt bloodshed from Assad's military crackdown on the unrest that the United Nations says has killed more than 5,000 people.
 
Syria says the revolt is run by foreign-backed militants that have killed over 2,000 of its forces.
 
While the Arab League came out with a strong statement calling for Assad to step down, many in the Syrian opposition were angry at the monitors' report, which highlighted violence by Assad's adversaries as much as by the government itself.
 
They said monitors neglected the balance of power in the struggle between protesters and rebels against the army.
 
Reuters, which joined the monitors on their first observation trip since the report, is in Syria on a state-sponsored trip and is usually accompanied by a government minder.
 
The Arab observers watched the anti-Assad demonstration from afar, and minutes later they drove away toward a police hospital in Harasta, another flashpoint in the revolt.
 
The team head, Jaafar al-Kubaida, said the monitors did not enter Irbin because they were worried the "angry crowd" might harass them. "Teams are harassed sometimes, we feared they might attack the cars or throw stones at us. It has happened before."
 
CARS WITH "ISRAELI BOMBS"
 
At the police hospital in Harasta, the staff said most of rural Damascus was not controlled by the government forces and gunmen were kidnapping and killing those affiliated with the government in those areas.
 
"Any car plate that belongs to the government cannot drive inside Harasta, we as doctors cannot go, they hijacked one of our cars a week ago," said a doctor in the hospital.
 
A soldier pointed at a mosque facing the checkpoint and said, "You see that mosque? Their snipers sometimes fire at us from there."
 
A senior officer said that security forces were in talks with the armed men through dignitaries in the towns, hoping to convince them to hand over their weapons. He said the government had not completely lost control of the Damascus countryside.
 
"No, you cannot say that they are in control of rural Damascus, they control areas and the army control areas," he told Reuters.
 
When Arab observers pressed a senior officer to allow them entry into the troubled town, he said it was too dangerous.
 
"The coordination (team) did not get back to us, we told them you wanted to go but still no reply from them, We want you to go to them under their protection," a senior officer told the monitors.
 
The monitors were frustrated they could not enter, but also said they were unsure if their presence was wanted after their first report. "We would love to go, but I'm not sure we are welcomed there," one observer told Reuters.
 
Security officials showed monitors three cars which they said were towed from inside Harasta and Douma. They said the vehicles were confiscated from "terrorists" and loaded with Israeli bombs.
 
Inside Harasta, the army was heavily deployed. Dozens of soldiers in full gear were deployed in a 500-metre (1,650-foot)-long street, their guns pointed up as they nervously watched the nearby houses. People peeked from their windows but few went out. The trash-littered streets was almost deserted.
 
"Free Syria" was written on a wall.
 
"Yes, it is not safe," said a veiled woman who was walking a man down the street. She looked worried and scared. "There are gunmen but we do not have the Free Syria Army here."

Half of Damascus falls to rebels
Breakaway army slowly seizes control of capital from Assad regime

The growing power of a rebel army has seen control of the Syrian capital of Damascus split between rival gunmen fighting for or against President Bashar Assad.

Two days of bloody carnage in which at least 74 people have died has come as the rebel force – the Syrian Free Army – steps up its mission to take control of the streets from government forces.

Read the full story › http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2093074/Half-Damascus-falls-rebels-breakaway-army-slowly-seize-control-capital-Assad-regime.html

White House says UN Security Council should not allow the Assad regime to continue violence against its people in Syria - @ReutersStory metadata:

http://twitter.com/Reuters

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton will go to the UN to send a message of support for Syrians seeking a future without Assad - @APStory metadata:

http://twitter.com/AP


Russia will not back new UN draft resolution on Syria, senior official tells Interfax ahead of UNSC debate - @BBCWorld
http://twitter.com/BBCWorld

Russia and China veto UN resolution on Syria
Russia and China braved Arab and Western fury tonight by vetoing a UN resolution calling on President Bashar al-Assad to step down.

The two powers' refusal to back an Arab League plan for Syria came despite the vote coming within hours of the worst single act of violence in the 11-month uprising.

Days of tortuous negotiations led to a final act of brinkmanship as Russia said it could not support a resolution backing an Arab League plan for a swift transition of power and elections. It was said to have demanded a last-minute change dropping a call, already agreed by Syria in November, for tanks and artillery to be withdrawn from the streets.

That was rejected outright by Western governments after residents of Homs reported an extraordinary bombardment overnight by mortars and heavy artillery, shattering houses and sending the injured and dying flooding to hospitals and makeshift clinics. At least 200 were killed, with some activists giving figures as high as 330.

"This is a new massacre to add to the other Assad regime massacres," a lawyer and activist in the city who gave his name as Abu Jihad told The Sunday Telegraph. "We ask for international intervention to stop this."

World leaders united to condemn the attack. "Yesterday the Syrian government murdered hundreds of Syrian citizens, including women and children, in Homs," President Barack Obama said in a written statement.

REST: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/middleeast/syria/9061622/Russia-and-China-veto-UN-resolution-on-Syria.html

Foreign Secretary William Hague recalls UK Ambassador to Syria for 'consultations' and vows not to 'forget the Syrian people'Story

http://www.breakingnews.com/

U.S. shutters Syrian embassy...
http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/02/06/us-syria-usa-embassy-idUSTRE81512C20120206

bombs to follow

U.S. Seeks New Alliance Outside U.N. to Hasten Departure of Syrian Leader

Following Saturday’s U.N. Security Council showdown over Syria, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has raised the idea of like-minded countries uniting outside the U.N. to ramp up the pressure on President Bashar Assad to step down.

REST: http://cnsnews.com/news/article/us-seeks-new-alliance-outside-un-hasten-departure-syrian-leader

US closes embassy in Syria, pulls out diplomats
February 06, 2012
U.S. Embassy in Damascus on Monday and pulled all American diplomats out of violence-wracked Syria as the U.S. stepped up pressure on President Bashar Assad to leave power.
Robert Ford, the American ambassador, and 17 other U.S. officials left Syria and were expected to travel back to the United States. Ford informed Syrian authorities of the decision to leave earlier in the day, State Department officials said. Two diplomats left by air and the others went overland to Jordan.
http://www.foxnews.com/world/2012/02/06/us-closes-embassy-in-syria-pulls-out-diplomats/?test=latestnews

US diplomats called home? Hmm. Hope Assad has his bags packed!

Gulf nations pull ambassadors from Syria 

By the CNN Wire Staff (CNN) -- An alliance of Arab countries and several European nations announced Tuesday they are calling their ambassadors home from Damascus, big steps in a broad international effort aimed at sending a blunt message to Syria.

http://www.cnn.com/2012/02/07/world/meast/syria-unrest/?hpt=hp_c2

How do you say, "Where is my flack jacket?" in Arabic?

I think more times than not over what history I'm aware of, it seems that when political diplomats are called home, that ain't good, and most times ends up resulting in war soon after. Not always, but many times.

"Pray for the peace of Jerusalem"

http://theextinctionprotocol.wordpress.com/2012/02/08/u-s-makes-contingency-plans-for-syria-which-doesnt-rule-out-military-intervention/

U.S. makes contingency plans for Syria which doesn’t rule out military intervention

February 8, 2012 – SYRIA – The Pentagon is drawing up contingency plans for intervention in Syria that include military action, as the Obama administration casts around for a more effective strategy to stop the regime in Damascus carrying out violence its own people. The Defense Department has for several weeks been planning a range of U.S. actions, from dealing with a flood of refugees and the provision of medical relief to a direct military assault on Syria. Included in the planning is intervention coordinated with allies such as Turkey and other countries in NATO. Administration officials said the “internal review” was at the initiative of the Pentagon, not the White House, in order to be able to present options to President Obama if he were to call for them. Officials said they are not an indication of a shift away from the focus on the pursuit of a diplomatic solution with a strong emphasis on sanctions against Damascus. But pressure is growing in Washington for more decisive action by the Obama administration as the Assad regime intensifies its assault on Homs, reportedly killing scores of people in recent days in shelling. More than 5,000 people are believed to have been killed in the uprising over the past year. The calls for Washington to act more decisively have also strengthened after Russia and China vetoed a UN security council resolution intended to ratchet up international pressure by calling on Syria’s president, Bashar al-Assad, to resign. Senator John McCain, who was a strong supporter of military intervention in Libya, this week said the US should plan to deliver weapons to the Syrian rebels. “We should start considering … arming the opposition. The blood-letting has got to stop,” he said. McCain was joined in the call for support to the rebels by Senators Joe Lieberman and Lindsey Graham and other members of Congress. Syrian protesters have been appealing for outside intervention for months. The Pentagon declined to discuss the preparations. “Our military plans for a variety of contingencies. That’s what we do. Our focus remains on diplomacy, which we believe is still possible,” said major Chris Perrine, a defence department spokesman. –Guardian

MI6 and British Troops Already In Syria

The extent of British involvement in the Syrian conflict has become clearer today after Israeli based independent intelligence group DEBKAfile, published a report claiming MI6 and British troops are already on the ground and assisting the armed rebel gangs that are escalating violence against civilians and authorities.
 
According to the report British operations units, along with Qatari allies, are stationed in the city of Homs just 162 kilometers from Damascus. While British troops are not engaged in direct combat with the Syrian forces, they manage rebel communications lines and relay their requests for arms, ammo, fighters and logistical aid to outside suppliers, mostly in Turkey.

more
http://wideshut.co.uk/mi6-and-british-troops-already-in-syria/

60 killed in shelling as government renews bombardment of Homs- hospitals overwhelmed

February 10, 2012 – SYRIA – Syrian rights activists say government forces have bombarded the rebellious central city of Homs for a sixth day, killing at least 60 people and leaving makeshift hospitals overwhelmed as divided world powers struggled to end the violence. The activists said Thursday relentless government shelling and rocket strikes on Homs were creating a worsening humanitarian crisis, with rebel-dominated neighborhoods lacking water and electricity and running low on basic supplies. They said the onslaught that began early Saturday has killed hundreds of people, making it the deadliest attack on Homs of the 11-month uprising against President Bashar al-Assad’s autocratic rule. U.S.-based rights group Human Rights Watch said those responsible for “horrific attacks” on residential neighborhoods “will have to answer for them.” VOA spoke with a Syrian activist in Homs who goes by the alias Abo Emad to conceal his identity. He said Syrian security forces are not letting up on their assault, adding that even walking one block from the building where he is hiding can be deadly. “Everyday is worse than the day before,” he said of the government assault. “More deaths, more casualties, more injured people, more destroying buildings every day.” Abo Emad said there is very little access to mobile phones or land lines. He added that hospitals are overflowing with injured people and there are not enough doctors or medical supplies to care for the wounded. -VOA

https://theextinctionprotocol.wordpress.com/2012/02/10/60-killed-in-shelling-as-government-renews-bombardment-of-homs-hospitals-overwhelmed/

http://news.yahoo.com/twin-suicide-attacks-rattle-syrian-city-aleppo-101542333--abc-news.html
Syrian State TV reported early this morning that "two terrorist" explosions struck the northern city of Aleppo.  25 people were killed and 175 injured in today's attacks after two suicide bombers drove their vans into the military security building and the law enforcement headquarters, State TV quoted the Health Ministry as saying.
 
Aleppo, which borders Turkey and is Syria's second largest city, has been relatively quiet as violence rages on in other parts of the country.
 
The weeping Syria State TV presenter began his report with graphic footage of at least five corpses, reporting that the blasts went off near a public garden where children and families had been playing and eating breakfast.
 
"Civilians and members of the military were martyred and wounded in the terrorist explosions that targeted Aleppo," he said.

more

http://news.yahoo.com/twin-suicide-attacks-rattle-syrian-city-aleppo-101542333--abc-news.html

Bipartisan group of US senators will call for Obama administration to start aiding Syrian opposition -

http://thecable.foreignpolicy.com/posts/2012/02/10/senators_call_for_aiding_the_syrian_opposition

they mean, OPENLY aid the opposition.  ::)

Confirmation that the U.S. and its allies are studying their military options for helping the anti-Assad rebels in Syria is a worrying development on a number of levels, not least of which is the prospect of the West becoming embroiled in a direct confrontation with the Russians.
 
As I have argued before, I think the West – and that includes Britain – needs to proceed with great caution before it gets too closely involved in the Syrian crisis. As with the Libya situation last year, we still have no clear idea who the rebels are in Syria, or what their ultimate objective might be.
 
Homs, the centre of the anti-Assad rebellion, is a known centre for Islamist extremists, and if all Western intervention achieves is the replacement of the Assad regime with an Iranian-style Islamist dictatorship,  then we will have scored a monumental own goal.
 
Of deeper concern, though, is the possibility that the U.S. could find itself involved in a direct military confrontation with Russia over the future of Syria's destiny. We have been here before, of course, during the 1980s when, at the height of the Cold War, Moscow and Washington  fought a proxy war over the fate of neighbouring Lebanon.

more

http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/news/concoughlin/100136364/russia-is-squaring-up-for-a-fight-with-america-over-syria/

Anyone want to place bets on that this Russia and Magog war is the one Ezekiel spoke of in Ez 38 and 39?

If this is it it will also debunk what Dr Johnson said about it in the last year in his teaching on it.

http://theextinctionprotocol.wordpress.com/2012/02/11/domino-effect-unrest-spreads-to-lebanon/

February 11, 2012 – LEBANON – At least two people have been killed in the Lebanese city of Tripoli in clashes between supporters and opponents of Syria’s President Bashar al-Assad, security officials say. At least 12 people were injured, as the two sides fired guns and rocket-propelled grenades at each other. The violence erupted after Friday prayers and continued overnight. Tensions in the northern port city have mounted since the beginning of the uprising in Syria last March. Residents said the RPGs were fired from the Sunni Muslim district of Bab al-Tabbana towards the Alawite district of Jabal Muhsin on Friday. Footage by Reuters TV also showed gunmen taking cover on street corners and firing volleys of automatic gunfire. Lebanese troops were later deployed in both districts, the army said in a statement. It added that several soldiers were among the injured. Tripoli is dominated by Sunni Muslims, who support the anti-Assad uprising in Syria. Mr Assad is an Alawite, and members of the minority sect – an offshoot of Shia Islam – occupy key positions in the Syrian government and security forces.  –BBC

http://news.yahoo.com/syrian-army-general-assassinated-damascus-180545569.html

2/11/12

BEIRUT (AP) — Gunmen assassinated an army general in Damascus Saturday in the first killing of a high ranking military officer in the Syrian capital since the uprising against President Bashar Assad's regime began in March, the country's state-run news agency said.

The attack could be a sign that armed members of the opposition, who have carried out attacks on the military elsewhere in the country, are trying to step up action in the tightly controlled capital, which has been relatively quiet compared to other cities.

SANA news agency reported that three gunmen opened fire at Brig. Gen. Issa al-Khouli Saturday morning as he left his home in the Damascus neighborhood of Rukn-Eddine. Al-Khouli was a doctor and the chief of a military hospital in the capital.

Capt. Ammar al-Wawi of the Free Syrian Army, a rebel group that wants to bring down the regime by force, denied involvement in the assassination, which came a day after two suicide car bombers struck security compounds in Aleppo.

Such assassinations are not uncommon outside Damascus and army officers have been killed in the past, mostly in the restive provinces of Homs and Idlib.

more

Al Qaeda leader backs Syrian revolt against Assad

2/12/12

DUBAI (Reuters) - Al Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahri, in a video recording posted on the Internet on Sunday, urged Syrians not to rely on the West or Arab governments in their uprising to topple President Bashar al-Assad.
 
In the eight-minute video, entitled "Onwards, Lions of Syria" and posted on an Islamist website, the Egyptian-born Zawahri also urged Muslims in Turkey, Iraq, Lebanon and Jordan to come to the aid of Syrian rebels confronting Assad's forces.
 
"Wounded Syria still bleeds day after day, while the butcher, son of the butcher Bashar bin Hafiz (Hafez al-Assad), is not deterred to stop," Zawahri, wearing his white turban and seated against a green curtain, said.
 
"But the resistance of our people in Syria despite all the pain, sacrifice and bloodshed escalates and grows," he added.

more

http://news.yahoo.com/al-qaeda-leader-backs-syrian-revolt-against-assad-070506698.html

UN: Crimes against humanity continue in Syria

http://news.yahoo.com/un-crimes-against-humanity-continue-syria-165541875.html

2/13/12

UNITED NATIONS (AP) — The U.N. human rights chief decried Syria's escalating crackdown on civilian protesters Monday and warned that the Security Council's failure to take action has emboldened the Syrian government to launch an all-out assault to crush dissent.

Navi Pillay expressed fears that the deliberate stirring of sectarian tensions may plunge Syria into civil war. She said there are strong indications of ongoing crimes against humanity and again appealed for President Bashar Assad's government to be referred to the International Criminal Court.

Standing before the 193-member General Assembly, Pillay said tens of thousands of people, including children, have been arrested, more than 18,000 reportedly are still arbitrarily detained, and thousands more are reported missing. Another 25,000 people are estimated to have sought refuge in neighboring countries, and more than 70,000 are estimated to be internally displaced, she added.

The General Assembly is expected to consider a nonbinding resolution similar to the Security Council resolution that Russia and China vetoed on Feb. 4.

more

http://www.cnn.com/2012/02/14/world/meast/syria-unrest/index.html?hpt=hp_t1

updated 9:13 PM EST, Tue February 14, 2012

(CNN) -- Syrian opposition activists spoke Tuesday of being past the point of no return in their struggle against the al-Assad regime, which stepped up its siege on the city of Homs and reportedly launched fresh attacks across the country.
 
At least 49 people were killed, according to the opposition Local Coordination Committees of Syria. The deaths included three defected Syrian soldiers, the group said.
 
Deaths took place in Idlib, Homs, Daraa, Aleppo, Deir Ezzor, Hama, Damascus, the Damascus suburbs and Latakia, the group said.
 
Fear and horror paralyzed residents of Homs, which was struck by heavy shelling; snipers prevented people from walking in the streets, opposition activists said.

more

Jer 8:11  For they have healed the hurt of the daughter of my people slightly, saying, Peace, peace; when there is no peace.

Jer 8:12  Were they ashamed when they had committed abomination? nay, they were not at all ashamed, neither could they blush: therefore shall they fall among them that fall: in the time of their visitation they shall be cast down, saith the LORD.

http://news.yahoo.com/britain-vatican-call-co-operation-syria-153144310.html

2/15/12

Britain, Vatican call for 'co-operation' in Syria

Britain and the Holy See on Wednesday called for an end to violence in Syria and underlined the role of Christians in the Middle East after a British delegation met with Pope Benedict XVI.
 
The Vatican and Britain in a joint statement appealed for "an immediate end to violence in Syria," and stressed "the need for co-operation to overcome the present crisis" at a joint press conference in the Holy See.
 
They also called for "real reforms" following the Arab Spring revolutions.
 
The speech, which drew to a close a visit to mark 30 years since Britain and the Vatican established full diplomatic ties, pointed to "the role which Christians can play and the importance of interreligious dialogue".

more

http://www.foxnews.com/world/2012/02/16/un-general-assembly-approves-resolution-for-assad-to-step-down/

2/16/12

UNITED NATIONS –  The U.N. General Assembly voted overwhelmingly Thursday for a resolution backing an Arab League plan calling for Syrian President Bashar Assad to step down and strongly condemning human rights violations by his regime.

The vote in the 193-member world body on the Arab-sponsored resolution was 137-12 with 17 abstentions. Several countries complained immediately afterward that they were unable to vote due to problems with the U.N.'s voting machine.

Supporters were hoping for a high "yes" vote to deliver a strong message to Assad to immediately stop the bloody crackdown that has killed over 5,400 people and hand power to his vice president. The measure had over 70 co-sponsors and won support from more than two-thirds of the General Assembly.

"Today, the U.N. General Assembly sent a clear message of the people of Syria: the world is with you," U.S. Ambassador Susan Rice said in a statement. Assad "has never been more isolated. A rapid transition to democracy in Syria has garnered the resounding support of the international community. Change must now come."

more

http://www.todayszaman.com/news-271081-davutoglu-assad-regime-pkk-outdated-cold-war-structures.html

Davutoğlu: Assad regime, PKK outdated Cold War structures

Turkey's Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu has said Syria's Assad regime and the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) are "outdated regimes and structures" from the Cold War which will soon be eliminated.
 
“We wanted him [Assad] to be Syria's Gorbachev, but he chose to be Syria's Milošević,” said Davutoğlu, who gave a speech on Thursday at George Washington University comparing the parallels between the events in Syria and the massacres carried out by the former Serbian leader, Slobodan Milosevic, in Bosnia during the '90s.
 
Davutoğlu discussed the failure of Assad's regime and called for a “new world order,” pointing out that Turkey wants to be on the “right side” of history.
 
Davutoğlu also reiterated Turkey's support for the recent political upheaval in the Arab World. Linking the “Arab awakening” with an ongoing, regional confrontation between Cold War structures and new, dynamic forces in society, Davutoğlu said if dictators think they can resist change, they are “delusional.”
 
Adding that Turkey will not remain indifferent to the massacres in the region, Davutoğlu said, "To show that we support and are in solidarity with the Syrian people, Turkey wants to establish an international platform to discuss the uneasy situation in Syria.” Davutoğlu also said that, with this goal in mind, Turkey is currently reassessing the situation in Syria in cooperation with the Arab League.

more

http://news.yahoo.com/us-very-closely-watching-syrian-chemical-weapons-083030739.html

2/15/12

WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. and its allies are closely monitoring Syria's stockpiles of chemical arms and portable anti-aircraft missiles, a State Department official says, amid concerns that the country's unconventional weapons could fall into the hands of terrorist or militant groups while the 11-month-old uprising continues.

"Syria is a country of significant proliferation concern, so we monitor its chemical weapons activities very closely," the State Department official said, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss intelligence-related matters. "We believe Syria's chemical weapons stockpile remains under Syrian government control, and we will continue to work closely with like-minded countries to impede proliferation (of) Syria's chemical weapons program."

more

IDF: Syria Could Attack Israel Soon


The Jerusalem Post reported on Thursday that there is growing concern in the Israeli army that Syrian dictator Bashar Assad could attack the Jewish state as pressure mounts for him to step down.

Assad is currently facing a revolution in his own country that he has sought to quell with brutal military force. Those bloody tactics have resulted in a good portion of the Syrian army joining the opposition, and Syria is nearing the point of full-scale civil war.

The situation has prompted the Arab League and Western powers to consider injecting their own military forces into Syria with the aim of ending Assad's rule. But before that happens, Israeli military officials believe Assad would lash out at Israel, both to divert Arab attention on Syria's internal struggle and to establish a lasting legacy for himself.

What has made this prospect all the more worrying is that recent reports suggest Assad has been using chemical weapons against the Syrian opposition, including civilians. If he attacks Israel, it is believed Assad would have no problem using those same weapons against the Jewish state.

Syria reportedly has the most extensive chemical weapons arsenal in the world.

The Israeli army has been holding drills and formulating plans focused on dealing with a number of possible scenarios springing from the situation in Syria.

http://www.bibleprophecyblog.com/2012/02/idf-syria-could-attack-israel-soon.html#

http://news.yahoo.com/china-hopes-peaceful-solution-syria-104548431.html

2/19/12

AMMAN/BEIRUT (Reuters) - Police and militia patrols fanned out in the Syrian capital's Mezze district on Sunday to prevent a repeat of protests against President Bashar al-Assad that have threatened his grip on Damascus, opposition activists said.
 
On the international front, China said it believed a peaceful solution to the Syrian crisis was still possible but Britain's foreign minister said he feared the Middle Eastern country will slide into civil war.
 
China's official Xinhua news agency reflected Beijing's view a day after a Chinese envoy met Assad in Damascus while thousands of Syrians demonstrated in the heart of the capital in one of the biggest anti-government rallies there since a nationwide uprising started nearly a year ago.
 
Sunday, the body of Samer al-Khatib, a young protester who was killed when security forces opened fire on the protest, was buried in Mezze early in the morning.

more

http://news.yahoo.com/egypt-recalls-ambassador-syria-111529214.html

2/19/12

Egypt decided on Sunday to recall its ambassador to Syria, the foreign ministry announced, as Arab states pile pressure on Damascus over its crackdown on dissent that has left thousands dead.
 
Foreign Minister Mohammed Amr recalled the Egyptian ambassador to Damascus "and it was decided that the ambassador will remain in Cairo until further notice," ministry spokesman Amr Rushdi said in a statement.
 
The move follows the withdrawal by several Arab and European countries of their envoys from Damascus as the authorities continue their brutal crackdown on anti-regime protests.
 
Amr had on Wednesday said that Cairo wants to see "a real and peaceful change in Syria," starting with an immediate end to violence and with the "government responding to the aspirations of the Syrian people."

more

2/18/12

CARACAS/GENEVA (Reuters) - The government of Venezuela's Hugo Chavez is emerging as a rare supplier of diesel to Syria, potentially undermining Western sanctions and helping the Syrian government fuel its military in the middle of a bloody crackdown on civilian protests.
 
A cargo of diesel, which can be used to fuel army tanks or as heating fuel, was expected to arrive at Syria's Mediterranean port of Banias this week, according to two traders and shipping data. The cargo could be worth up to $50 million.
 
Chavez is a vociferous advocate of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who face pressure from Western sanctions. Few leaders on the world stage have polarized opinion as sharply as the Venezuelan president.
 
Chavez, who still defends the late Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi, has repeatedly backed Arab leaders who have faced a year-long wave of popular protests, which have already toppled four governments.

more

http://news.yahoo.com/exclusive-venezuela-ships-fuel-war-torn-syria-072300671.html

Syria intervention 'very difficult': top US general

The top US military officer warned Sunday that intervention in Syria would be "very difficult" and said it would be "premature" to arm the besieged country's opposition movement.
 
General Martin Dempsey, chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff, told CNN that Syria was the focus of competing Middle Eastern states, notably Iran and Saudi Arabia, and posed different problems for the United States than Libya did.

http://news.yahoo.com/syria-intervention-very-difficult-top-us-general-175224068.html

http://theextinctionprotocol.wordpress.com/2012/02/22/u-s-warms-to-the-idea-of-arming-syrian-opposition/

U.S. warms to the idea of arming Syrian opposition

Posted on February 22, 2012

February 22, 2012 – SYRIA – The United States appeared to open the door to eventually arming Syria’s opposition, saying that if a political solution to the crisis was impossible it might have to consider other options. The comments, made by officials at both the White House and the U.S. State Department on Tuesday, marked a shift in emphasis by Washington, which so far has stressed a policy of not arming the opposition and has said little about alternatives. In Syria on Tuesday, activists said President Bashar al-Assad’s forces killed more than 60 people in attacks on villages and an artillery barrage on the restive city of Homs. The Red Cross called for daily ceasefires to allow in urgently needed aid. “We still believe that a political solution is what’s needed in Syria,” White House spokesman Jay Carney said. “We don’t want to take actions that would contribute to the further militarization of Syria, because that could take the country down a dangerous path. But we don’t rule out additional measures.” Asked if the United States was shifting its stance on arming the rebels, U.S. State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said Washington did not want to see the violence increase and was concentrating on political efforts to halt the bloodshed. “That said … if we can’t get Assad to yield to the pressure that we are all bringing to bear, we may have to consider additional measures,” she said, declining to elaborate. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton will meet representatives of some 70 countries in Tunis on Friday for the first “Friends of Syria” meeting to coordinate the international community’s next steps in response to the nearly year-long uprising against Assad.  –Reuters

Mideast war in March?
NATO considering intervention as opposition fights Syrian regime

NATO countries are strongly considering the possibility of an international deployment to Syria if the Syrian opposition does not make major advances in the next few weeks, according to informed Middle Eastern diplomatic and security officials.

Egyptian security officials, meanwhile, outlined what they said was large scale international backing for the rebels attacking the embattled regime of Syrian President Bashar Assad – including arms and training from the U.S., Turkey, Jordan and Saudi Arabia.

Several knowledgeable Egyptian and Arab security officials claimed the U.S., Turkey and Jordan were running a training base for the Syrian rebels in the Jordanian town of Safawi in the country’s northern desert region.

rest: http://www.wnd.com/2012/02/mideast-war-in-march/

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.

more

'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

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."

more

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nYd6ad9g8iQ

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.

more

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.

more

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.

more

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)
 ..

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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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.
 .

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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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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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

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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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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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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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.

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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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

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

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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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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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.

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.

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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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

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.

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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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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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)


 

When a country closes it's embassy, I look at it as their way of saying, "Incoming!"

http://worldnews.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/03/27/10882807-annan-says-syria-accepts-peace-plan-fighting-enters-lebanon

Annan says Syria accepts peace plan, fighting enters Lebanon

3/27/12

By msnbc.com staff and news services

Updated at 8:20 a.m. ET: Syria accepted a ceasefire and peace plan drawn up by Kofi Annan, the U.N. and Arab League special envoy said on Tuesday, even as Syrian troops thrust into Lebanon to battle rebels who had taken refuge there.

On a two-day visit to Beijing, Annan told Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao that he faced a long and difficult task in his mission to end fighting in Syria, but global cooperation with China and other countries was the only way to do it.
 
"I indicated that I had received a response from the Syrian government and will be making it public today, which is positive, and we hope to work with them to translate it into action," Annan told reporters in Beijing after meeting Wen.

"I have a six-point plan which the Security Council has endorsed, dealing with issues of political discussions, withdrawal of heavy weapons and troops from population centers, humanitarian assistance being allowed in unimpeded, release of prisoners, freedom of movement and access to journalists to go in and out," he said. "So we will need to see how we move ahead and implement this agreement that they have accepted."

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http://news.yahoo.com/syria-accepts-peace-plan-clashes-continue-201553245.html

Syria accepts peace plan but clashes continue
By BASSEM MROUE | Associated Press – 2 hrs 12 mins ago

QAA, Lebanon (AP) — Syria accepted a cease-fire drawn up by U.N. envoy Kofi Annan on Tuesday, but the diplomatic breakthrough was swiftly overshadowed by intense clashes between government soldiers and rebels that sent bullets flying into Lebanon.

Opposition members accuse President Bashar Assad of agreeing to the plan to stall for time as his troops make a renewed push to kill off bastions of dissent. And the conflict just keeps getting deadlier: The U.N. said the death toll has grown to more than 9,000, a sobering assessment of a devastating year-old crackdown on the uprising that shows no sign of ending.

Annan's announcement that Syria had accepted his peace plan was met with deep skepticism.

"We are not sure if it's political maneuvering or a sincere act," said Louay Safi, a member of the opposition Syrian National Council. "We have no trust in the current regime. ... We have to see that they have stopped killing civilians."

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Israel boosted its Syrian and Lebanese border units as special flights carrying thousands of pro-Palestinian activists from Tehran touched down in Damascus Tuesday, March 27 for the international Global March to Jerusalem Friday, March 30. Before taking off, they were split into small groups and tutored by Iranian Al Qods Brigades officers in tactics for breaching Israeli border barriers, bursting through and challenging the Israeli military forces defending the border.

On arrival in Damascus, one group of activists was sent by special bus to Lebanon, where Hizballah officers stood by to lead them to villages close to the Israeli frontier; a second is assigned to face Israeli lines on the Golan.

These anti-Israeli activists from several countries are being planted at strategic points to carry out the plan hatched together by Iran, Syria and Hizballah to ignite Israel’s two northern borders in solidarity with the annual Israeli-Arab Earth Day next Friday.

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http://debka.com/article/21865/

http://news.yahoo.com/2-syrian-colonels-gunned-down-northern-city-124838088.html

BEIRUT (AP) — Gunmen struck Thursday in Aleppo, Syria's largest city, and in a suburb of Damascus, both strongholds of regime support, killing two army colonels and kidnapping a high-ranking pilot.

State media blamed the attacks on terrorists, the regime's usual description of rebel forces.

Also Thursday, rebels attacked an army truck and killed two soldiers in the central province of Hama, activists said. Fresh clashes also broke out between government troops and army defectors in the country's north and south, and activists said security forces killed at least 16 civilians across Syria on Thursday, including a child and two women.

The violence came as Arab leaders at a Baghdad summit meeting struggled with deep divisions about how to address the Syria crisis. The leaders were expected to pass a resolution calling for a supervised cease-fire and an immediate, daily two-hour stop to fighting across Syria to permit aid to suffering civilians.

Such a resolution would fall short of previous calls by the body that President Bashar Assad give up power, but it would back efforts by U.N.-Arab League envoy Kofi Annan to broker a political solution.

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Sectarian Violence Is Raging in Syria

3/29/12

Neighbor-on-neighbor violence between Sunnis and Shiites is breaking out across Syria, according to reports, and some fear sectarian strife could spread beyond the country's borders. 

Refugees fleeing Syria have begun speaking to reporters about the type of government-sponsored violence there, and the picture is grim. The New York Times' Anne Barnard spoke with refugees in Lebanon who "described a worrying new element: what they see as an increasingly sectarian motive to the violence." In The Times, the refugees said that even in smaller villages, residents are falling victim to government crackdowns, shelling and sniper fire. "The refugees said they believed that a majority of Sunni residents of four villages, Rabli, Zahra, Joussi and Mazaria, had fled to other countries or other areas inside Syria." The paper says the accounts "reinforce reports from activists reached inside Syria by telephone and e-mail of displacement along sectarian lines, and interviews with people in Syria." United Press International reports that there are at least 6,000 refugees in eastern Lebanon—a community that says they've been threatened by Sunni civilians armed by the government.

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http://www.jpost.com/International/Article.aspx?id=264115

'Iran helps Syria ship oil to China'

Oil in Iranian tanker - destined for China - could bring Assad government $80 million despite Western sanctions.

LONDON - Iran is helping its ally Syria defy Western sanctions by providing a vessel to ship Syrian oil to a state-run company in China, potentially giving the government of President Bashar Assad a financial boost worth an estimated $80 million.

Iran, itself a target of Western sanctions, is among Syria's closest allies and has promised to do all it can to support Assad, recently praising his handling of the year-long uprising against Assad in which thousands have been killed.

China has also shielded Assad from foreign intervention, vetoing two Western-backed resolutions at the United Nations over the bloodshed, and is not bound by Western sanctions against Syria, its oil sector and state oil firm Sytrol.

more

http://news.yahoo.com/syria-says-revolt-over-army-pull-gradually-115547590.html

Syria says revolt over, but army still shooting

3/31/12

BEIRUT (Reuters) - Syria says the year-old revolt to topple President Bashar al-Assad is over, but the army again shelled opposition areas on Saturday and rebels said they would not cease fire until tanks, artillery and heavy weapons are withdrawn.

Washington and Gulf Arab states urged peace envoy Kofi Annan to set a timeline for "next steps" if there is no ceasefire, and Saudi Arabia repeated a call for rebels to be armed.

Annan has said neither measure would be helpful. The former U.N. chief's mission has brought no respite in the killings.

Syria also said it would keep its forces in cities to "maintain security" until it is safe to withdraw in line with the peace deal, which Assad has said he accepts.

Annan's plan says the army must stop violence immediately and be the first to withdraw forces.

more

http://news.yahoo.com/syria-says-revolt-over-army-still-shooting-002128934.html
"Friends of Syria" try to turn screws on Assad

4/1/12

ISTANBUL (Reuters) - Western and Arab nations stepped up verbal pressure on Syrian President Bashar al-Assad on Sunday, mistrusting his acceptance of a plan to end a year of bloodshed, but stopped short of arming rebels or fully recognizing an opposition council.

In a sign of impatience with what they see as stalling by Assad, the "Friends of Syria" urged peace envoy Kofi Annan to set a timeline for next steps, including a return to the U.N. Security Council, if the Syrian leader fails to halt bloodshed.

Violence has raged on unabated despite Annan's mediation.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported at least 41 people killed across Syria on Sunday, including five in bombardment of pro-opposition districts in Homs.

In a final communique, the 83-nation group said Assad did not have an open-ended opportunity to meet his commitments to Annan, who is acting for the United Nations and Arab League.

"The regime will be judged by its deeds rather than its promises," the communique said. Security Council members China and Russia and Syria's ally Iran were among countries that stayed away from the conference in Istanbul.

Assad has accepted, but not yet implemented, Annan's six-point peace plan, which calls for the military to cease fire, withdraw from towns and cities, and allow humanitarian access.

"We will not let the Syrian regime misuse another opportunity, which is the last chance for the situation in Syria," Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu told a news conference after the meeting he hosted.

The "Friends of Syria" recognized the opposition Syrian National Council (SNC) as a legitimate representative of all Syrians, and "noted" it as the main opposition interlocutor with the international community - wording that fell short of full recognition of a group hampered by chronic disunity.

The group made no mention of supporting or arming the rebel Free Syrian Army (FSA), as advocated by some Gulf Arab states, but said it would "continue to work on additional appropriate measures with a view to the protection of the Syrian people".

more

http://news.yahoo.com/secretary-clinton-says-syrian-president-assad-must-163814047.html

Secretary Clinton Says Syrian President Assad 'Must Go'
By REENA NINAN and MARISA TAYLOR | ABC News – 4 hrs ago

Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton said that, despite a newly-brokered cease fire agreement with Syrian President Bashar al Assad, his days as president are numbered as his forces continue the bloody clash with Syrian opposition groups.

"We think Assad must go," Clinton told ABC today after attending the one-day Friends of the Syrian People conference in Istanbul. "The sooner the better for everyone concerned."

But she added that the process must be multi-pronged.

The UN-Arab League peace plan and cease fire negotiated last week by envoy Kofi Annan is a good beginning, she said, but Assad has yet to stop the violence.

"There has to be a timeline," Clinton said regarding the diplomatic process. "It can't go on indefinitely."

more

http://news.yahoo.com/nations-pledge-millions-syrian-opposition-203112868.html

Nations pledge millions for Syrian opposition

4/1/12

By BRADLEY KLAPPER and CHRISTOPHER TORCHIA | Associated Press – 39 mins agoISTANBUL (AP) — A coalition of more than 70 partners, including the United States, pledged Sunday to send millions of dollars and communications equipment to Syria's opposition groups, signaling deeper involvement in the conflict amid a growing belief that diplomacy and sanctions alone cannot end the Damascus regime's repression.

The shift by the U.S. and its Western and Arab allies toward seeking to sway the military balance in Syria carries regional risks because the crisis there increasingly resembles a proxy conflict that could exacerbate sectarian tensions. The Syrian rebels are overmatched by heavily armed regime forces.

The summit meeting of the "Friends of the Syrian People" follows a year of failed diplomacy that seems close to running its course with a troubled peace plan led by U.N.-Arab League envoy Kofi Annan.

Indeed, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton and other participants at the conference in Istanbul uniformly expressed concern that Annan's plan might backfire, speculating that Syrian President Bashar Assad would try to manipulate it to prolong his hold on power.

more

http://theextinctionprotocol.wordpress.com/2012/04/02/u-s-moves-closer-to-intervention-in-syria-with-show-of-support-for-opposition/

[size=18]U.S. moves closer to intervention in Syria with show of support for opposition[/size]
Posted on April 2, 2012


April 2, 2012 – SYRIA – The United States and dozens of other countries moved closer Sunday to direct intervention in the fighting in Syria, with Arab nations pledging $100 million to pay opposition fighters and the Obama administration agreeing to send communications equipment to help rebels organize and evade Syria’s military, according to participants gathered here. The moves reflected a growing consensus, at least among the officials who met here this weekend under the rubric “Friends of Syria,” that mediation efforts by the U.N. peace envoy, Kofi Annan, were failing to halt the violence in Syria and that more forceful action was needed. With Russia and China blocking measures that could open the way for military action by the United Nations, the countries lined up against the government of President Bashar Assad have sought to bolster Syria’s beleaguered opposition through means that seemed to stretch the definition of humanitarian assistance. The offer to provide salaries and communications equipment to rebel fighters known as the Free Syrian Army – with the hopes that the money might encourage government soldiers to defect, officials said — is bringing the loose Friends of Syria coalition to the edge of a proxy war against Assad’s government and its international supporters, principally Iran and Russia. Direct assistance to the rebel fighters, even as Assad’s loyalists press on with a brutal crackdown, risked worsening a conflict that already has led to about 9,000 deaths and could plunge Syria into a protracted civil war. Ghalioun did not directly address the financial assistance from the Arab countries — including Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates — but he added, “This is high noon for action.” Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton told the conference that Assad had defied Annan’s efforts to broker an end to the fighting and begin a political transition. She said that new assaults began in Idlib and Aleppo provinces even after Assad publicly accepted the plan a week ago, which called for an immediate cease-fire followed by negotiations with the opposition. “The world must judge Assad by what he does, not by what he says,” Clinton said in a statement to officials, who were seated around an enormous rectangular table. “And we cannot sit back and wait any longer.” –Mercury News

http://news.yahoo.com/syrian-cities-bombarded-truce-deadline-nears-122242260.html

BEIRUT (Reuters) - Opposition activists accused Syrian troops of shelling two cities on Tuesday in a campaign to weaken forces fighting President Bashar al-Assad's government before a ceasefire deadline next week.

Rebel fighters also kept up their attacks, killing three soldiers in separate actions in northern Syria, activists said.

Assad has agreed to a ceasefire negotiated by international peace envoy Kofi Annan from April 10, the latest effort to end a year of bloodshed stemming from an uprising against his rule.

An advance team from the U.N. peacekeeping department is due in Damascus this week to see how observers can monitor the truce, Annan's spokesman said in Geneva.

more

Clinton says she doubts that Assad is interested in peace at conference

4/1/12

ISTANBUL –  U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton expressed doubt Sunday about whether President Bashar Assad would ever adhere to a U.N.-sponsored peace plan to end Syria's year of bloodshed, and urged world solidarity against a regime that she said was waging war on its own people.
 
Clinton told the 60 nations attending the "Friends of the Syrian People" conference in Turkey that no one could "sit back and wait any longer," even as the United States refuses to entertain military options to intervene in the crisis. Instead, she urged unity behind a four-point plan that includes more sanctions, humanitarian aid, support for the opposition and the promise of justice one day for the Assad regime's willing accomplices in human rights atrocities.
 
"We meet at an urgent moment for Syria and the region," Clinton said.
 
International pressure forced Assad to agree to U.N. mediator Kofi Annan's six-point plan including an immediate a cease-fire, she noted, but said "nearly a week has gone by, and we have to conclude that the regime is adding to its long list of broken promises."


Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2012/04/01/clinton-says-doubts-that-assad-is-interested-in-peace-at-conference/#ixzz1r1rq9haL

UN envoy reports alarming casualties in Syria

4/5/12

UNITED NATIONS (AP) — International envoy Kofi Annan reported "alarming levels" of daily casualties in Syria as a U.N. team arrived in Damascus to negotiate the possible deployment of U.N. monitors for any cease-fire between Syrian troops and rebel forces.
 
Annan, the U.N.-Arab League envoy, said Thursday that Syria has informed him of partial withdrawals from three locations — Idlib, Zabadani and Daraa — "but it is clear that more far-reaching action is urgently required."
 
His comments came as activists reported that Syrian troops attacked the Damascus suburb of Douma, an assault they said shows that Syrian President Bashar Assad is intensifying violence in the days before the April 10 deadline to withdraw troops and heavy weapons from cities and towns. Assad's crackdown on the yearlong uprising has left at least 9,000 people dead, according to the U.N.

more

http://news.yahoo.com/russia-heavily-armed-foes-not-beat-syria-army-103017214.html

4/4/12

Russia warns West, Arabs against arming Syria rebels

MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russia warned Western and Arab nations on Wednesday against arming opponents of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, saying it would lead to years of bloodshed without helping the rebels to defeat government forces.
 
Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said the "Friends of Syria" group of Western and Arab nations is undermining international envoy Kofi Annan's efforts to end more than a year of violence, and criticized countries that support arming the opposition.
 
"It is clear as day that even if the opposition is armed to the teeth, it will not defeat the Syrian army, and there will simply be slaughter and mutual destruction for long, long years," Interfax news agency quoted Lavrov as saying.
 
Russia has emphasized that the efforts of U.N.-Arab League envoy Annan are the only path to peace and has stayed away from "Friends of Syria" meetings, saying the group is biased in favor of Assad's opponents and is not promoting peace.

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Nightmare civil war in Syria spills across 2 borders: opposition reports a thousand Syrians killed in a week

http://theextinctionprotocol.wordpress.com/2012/04/10/nightmare-civil-war-in-syria-spills-across-2-borders-opposition-reports-a-thousand-syrians-killed-in-a-week/

April 10, 2012 – DAMASCUS – Syrian troops shelled and raided opposition strongholds across Syria on Tuesday, activists said, denying claims by the foreign minister that regime forces have begun pulling out of some areas in compliance with a U.N.-brokered truce. The main Syrian opposition group estimated that some 1,000 people have been killed in escalating regime attacks in the week leading up to Tuesday’s withdrawal deadline, though such figures cannot be verified independently. France and Britain accused Syria of deception and even Damascus ally Russia seemed critical of Bashar Assad’s regime, with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov complaining that Syria’s “efforts to implement the plan could have been more active and resolute.” Syrian opposition leaders said Tuesday they remain committed to the cease-fire brokered by U.N.-Arab League envoy Kofi Annan, which requires Syrian forces to withdraw from towns and villages on Tuesday and both sides to cease all hostilities by 6 a.m. Thursday. The truce is widely seen as the last chance for diplomacy, and its collapse could push Syria even closer to an all-out civil war. The opposition as well as the U.S. and its allies have been deeply skeptical that the regime would comply with the cease-fire because it has violated previous agreements and escalated attacks on opposition strongholds in recent weeks. At the same time, options for ending the fighting appear to be dwindling with the international community unwilling to intervene militarily. French Foreign Ministry spokesman Bernard Valero on Tuesday dismissed Syria’s claims of a withdrawal as “a new expression of this flagrant and unacceptable lie” and British Foreign Secretary William Hague accused Damascus of using the cease-fire deadline “as a cover for intensified military efforts to crush Syria’s opposition.” Activists said Tuesday they’ve seen no signs of a troop pullback. Instead, regime forces have used heavy weapons including anti-aircraft guns against civilians, Bassma Kodmani, a spokeswoman for the largest opposition group, the Syrian National Council, told reporters in Geneva. Kodmani estimated that some 1,000 people were killed since Annan announced the cease-fire timeline on April 2. “So every day is a very, very painful time that is given to the Assad regime,” she said, adding the death toll was based on figures provided by various groups, including the Syrian Arab Human Rights Network. Syria restricts the access of foreign journalists, and claims about casualties cannot be verified independently. The U.N. has said previously it believes more than 9,000 people have been killed in the 13-month uprising against Assad. Annan has not commented on the apparent breakdown of his plan, and his spokesman, Ahmad Fawzi, would only say Tuesday that it’s up to the U.N. Security Council to decide what to do next. As claims and counterclaims about Syrian truce violations flew across the region Tuesday, Annan toured a camp in Turkey, near the Syrian border where hundreds of Syrian refugees greeted him with chants of “Syria, Syria, Syria!” The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, an activist group, said the Syrian regime gave no indication it was pulling back forces. Instead, the group and activists in Syria reported shelling attacks and raids in several locations in the north, center and south of the country, it said. “Soldiers are not being withdrawn from towns and villages,” said Fadi al-Yassin, an activist in the Idlib province close to Turkey. “On the contrary, reinforcements are being sent.” –AJC

War already spilling across two borders: The conflict in Syria spilled across two borders today, killing a cameraman in Lebanon and wounding at least five people in a refugee camp in Turkey as gunfire flew across the tense frontiers, authorities said. The violence came as an UN-brokered peace plan all but collapsed and bolstered fears that the uprising could spark a broader conflagration by sucking in neighbouring countries. Ali Shaaban, a cameraman for the Al Jadeed television station, was filming in Lebanon’s northern Wadi Khaled area when a bullet pierced his chest, Lebanese security officials said. The gunfire came from the nearby Syrian village of Armouta, the officials said. Mr. Shaaban, who was born in 1980, died on the way to the hospital. His colleague, reporter Hussein Khreis, said the team heard heavy gunfire around them from all sides “falling like rain.” Mr. Shaaban was inside a car when he was struck, Mr Khreis said. “If you see the car you would think it was in a war zone,” Mr. Khreis said on Al Jadeed TV. “It is completely destroyed from the bullets.” He said they waited for more than two hours for the army and some residents to come and pull them out to safety. –Irish Times

It really is sick how they sit back, poke it with their sticks every now and then, while they let internal civil war soften up their targets for them.

http://theextinctionprotocol.wordpress.com/2012/04/11/clinton-says-russia-keeping-syrian-president-in-power/

Clinton says Russia keeping Syrian president in power

Posted on April 11, 2012


April 11, 2012 – SYRIA – U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has vowed to pressure Russia over the Syria crisis, saying its refusal to support action by the United Nations Security Council was keeping President Bashar Assad in power. Mrs. Clinton said the U.S. would again try to persuade Russia, a key Syrian ally, to support action that would at least allow humanitarian access, when foreign ministers of the G-8 meet in Washington. She warned that the danger was rising of regional conflict and civil war flaring from the violence in Syria. Russia’s “refusal to join us in some kind of constructive action is keeping Assad in power, well-armed, able to ignore the demands of his own people, the region and the world,” she said. Her comments came after Syrian troops defied a UN-brokered ceasefire plan on Tuesday, launching fresh attacks on rebellious areas. But UN special envoy Kofi Annan said there was still time to salvage a truce that he described as the only chance for peace. –Belfast Telegraph

http://debka.com/article/21917/

Assad offers Moscow, Beijing bonds worth $30bn. Russian warships off Syria
DEBKAfile Exclusive Report April 15, 2012, 10:18 PM (GMT+02:00)
Announcing he is not responsible for the safety of UN observers on their way to Syria if they don’t obey his rules, President Bashar Assad has set in motion steps for prolonging his war on the Syrian people rather than abiding by a truce. debkafile discloses he offered Moscow and Beijing $30 billion worth of government bonds for a massive injection of funds to replenish his depleted war chest.

And at the UN Security Council, while Russia’s Vitaly Churkin in a surprise turnabout voted with the West on a UN observer team to secure the Syrian ceasefire, Moscow quietly sent warships to Syrian shores to secure the Assad regime.

more

http://news.yahoo.com/shells-fall-u-n-few-save-syria-truce-113453583.html

4/16/12

Shelling, shaky truce challenge U.N. few in Syria

BEIRUT (Reuters) - A handful of soldiers in blue caps put a tentative United Nations presence at the heart of the Syrian crisis on Monday, predicting success for their mission to stabilize a shaky four-day-old ceasefire even as shells were still falling.
 
Charged with overseeing an end to 13 months of violence, the unarmed multinational squad of six professed their optimism.
 
"We are going to organize ourselves in order to be ready to do our task as soon as possible," the leader of the advance guard, Colonel Ahmed Himmiche of Morocco, told reporters at a Damascus hotel before meeting Syrian officials in the capital.
 
"All peacekeepers are optimistic," he added when asked if he was hopeful an observer mission that should be expanded to 250 could cement a truce marked by persistent, sporadic violence.

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When I saw Syria in the news every day for months on end where the stories lasted a long time I knew that was the prelude for what was to come.

http://news.yahoo.com/more-u-n-monitors-heading-syria-13-people-102343642.html

UN council authorizes up to 300 Syria truce monitors
By Louis Charbonneau and Oliver Holmes | Reuters – 6 hrs ago

UNITED NATIONS/BEIRUT (Reuters) - The U.N. Security Council unanimously adopted a Russia-European drafted resolution on Saturday that authorizes an initial deployment of up to 300 unarmed military observers to Syria for three months to help bolster a fragile week-old ceasefire.
 
But the 15-nation council's move to condition deployment of observers on a U.N. assessment of compliance with the truce reflected U.S. and European fears that the Syrian government's failure to stop shelling towns, return troops to barracks and withdraw heavy weapons from cities makes the prospects for success slim.
 
The vote came hours after U.N. ceasefire monitors visited the Syrian city of Homs on Saturday after months of bombardment.
 
Opposition activists in Homs, epicenter of the 13-month-old revolt against President Bashar al-Assad, said shelling and gunfire stopped for the first time in weeks before Syrian authorities let the monitors into the city.

more

http://debka.com/article/21936/

China steps back from supporting Assad, parts ways with Russia
DEBKAfile Exclusive Report April 22, 2012, 10:56 PM (GMT+02:00) Tags:  China   Bashar Assad   US-Syria   oil embargo

Assad scrambles for cash to fund his warBeijing has decided to distance itself from the Assad regime of Syria. Notice of this policy shift came about in a secret exchange of messages with the Obama administration, revealed here exclusively by debkafile’s Washington sources. The latest message received in the latter half of last week said: China will no longer be a problem for America in dealing with Assad. That leaves only Russia.
This change of face surfaced at the UN Security Council on Saturday, April 21, when after voting for another 300 observers for Syria, the Chinese delegate Li Baodong made an unusual speech:

“We also call upon the international community to continue its firm support for Mr. Annan’s good offices’ efforts and consolidate the results achieved, and we strongly oppose any word and act aimed at creating difficulties for Mr. Annan’s good offices.”

Li went on to say: “China always maintained that the independence, sovereignty, unity and territorial integrity of Syria as well as the choice and the will of the Syrian people should be respected.”

Western sources stress that, with this speech, the Chinese ambassador stepped aside from Russia’s uncompromising backing for the Syrian ruler. Moscow remained the only world power acting to limit the UN-Arab League envoy Kofi Annan’s powers and the effectiveness of the UN monitors by denying them proper equipment and authority for overseeing an end to the violence in Syria.

The shift in Chinese policy was noted by Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan on April 10 when, after visiting Beijing, he remarked: “China is not in the same position as it was before. It is shifting away from full support for Assad’s regime.”

debkafile’s Washington sources believe that the Obama administration can count this change of face as a return on its policy of nuclear appeasement of - and rapprochement with - Tehran.

A senior US official said that what concerns Beijing most is the US oil embargo on Iran and its effect on the Chinese economy. Now that the Chinese see signs of a possible loosening up of sanctions especially in relation to Iranian oil exports in the wake of evolving US-Iranian deals, they are breathing a deep sigh of relief and prepared to be more accommodating to the US in its policy on Syria.

The approaching easing of sanctions against Iranian oil was signaled Saturday, April 21, by an announcement in Tehran that new purchasing contracts for the whole of 2012 had come in from the Asian refineries which were in trade relations with Iran.

Beijing is reported by our sources as having turned down an appeal from the Assad regime to purchase tens of billons of dollars worth of Syrian government bonds to tide it over its economic distress for the duration of the war. Last week, Assad was revealed to be so cash-strapped as to start dipping into the national gold reserves held in the Syrian state bank and selling the precious metal on financial markets in Dubai.

China’s defection will not immediately bring Bashar Assad crashing down, but it is a vote of no-confidence by a key world power in his survivability. It leaves Tehran and Moscow as the only props of his regime and may well inspire second thoughts in either or both of his champions.

Obama Declares Syria A National Emergency And Outlaws Reporting On Rebels

April 23, 2012

President Obama issues a constitution trampling executive order declaring Syria a national emergency and outlaws reporting on terrorist rebel activities.

In perhaps the most unconstitutional power grab by the Obama administration to date the constitutional rights of Freedom of Press and Freedom of speech have now been suspended under the false premise that the “human rights violations” in Syria and Iran constitute as “national emergency”.

Perhaps even more laughable than the claim that the conflict in Syria is somehow a national emergency is the fact that the executive order directly states that excuse being used to target Iran is human rights violations are alleged to have occurred in 1981, over 31 years ago, which were supposed to have occurred when the US funded the Iraqi’s to invade Iran and was trying to instigate a revolution within Iran much like they are doing in Syria right now.

So here we have our totalitarian government setting another disastrous legal precedent by declaring a national emergency based upon something that happened 31 years ago.

more:
http://blog.alexanderhiggins.com/2012/04/23/obama-declares-syria-national-emergency-outlaws-reporting-rebels-126061

http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/ticket/obama-spokesman-syria-ceasefire-may-admit-defeat-200151758.html

Obama spokesman on Syria ceasefire: We may have to ‘admit defeat’

5/3/12

The White House on Thursday angrily denounced a bloody overnight raid on Aleppo University by Syrian troops, and warned that it may soon be time for the world to "admit defeat" in its current strategy to drive President Bashar al-Assad's regime to halt a deadly yearlong crackdown on opposition to his regime.
 
"If the regime's intransigence continues, the international community is going to have to admit defeat and work to address the serious threat to peace and stability being perpetrated by the Assad regime" via the U.N. Security Council or the ad-hoc "Friends of Syria" group of countries, said spokesman Jay Carney.
 
For weeks, Carney and other White House officials have expressed frustration with Assad's failure to abide by a ceasefire plan brokered by former U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan, warning on an almost daily basis that he must comply or face unspecified reprisals from the international community. But Russia and China's opposition to punishing Syria at the U.N. Security Council makes that route difficult to take. And Obama's critics have expressed increased frustration with his refusal to arm Assad's opposition.
 
On Thursday, however, an Obama national security aide shed a bit more light on why the administration hasn't simply declared that the current Annan plan is a dead letter.

more

http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/155505#.T6cuf1Imxac

Syria Moving Scuds to Israel, Turkey Borders – Report

Jordanian news site says western spy satellites show hundreds of Scud launchers moving south and north.

First Publish: 5/6/2012, 6:49 PM
 
Jordanian news site Ahbar Baladna reports that western spy satellites have recently spotted movements of Syrian heavy missile launchers northward and southward, toward Syria's borders with Turkey and Israel.
 
The site says hundreds of high-caliber launchers are being moved, and that these could only be long range Scud missile launchers.
 
Syria has threatened in the past that in the event of foreign military intervention on its soil, it will not hesitate to fire missiles at Israel and Turkey in order to ignite a large scale regional war.
 
Turkish and French officials said ten days ago they were mulling a potential military intervention in Syria, where civil war has been raging for 14 months.
 
“In the face of developments in Syria, we are taking into consideration any kind of possibility in line with our national security and interests,” Turkish foreign minister Ahmet Davutoglu told parliament during a briefing to lawmakers.

5/10/12

At least 55 dead after suicide car bombings in Syrian capital

DAMASCUS, Syria –  Two suicide car bombs ripped through the Syrian capital Thursday, killing 55 people and shaving the facade off a military intelligence building in the deadliest explosions since the country's uprising began 14 months ago, the Interior Ministry said.
 
Residents told an Associated Press reporter that the blasts happened in quick succession during morning rush hour, with an initial small explosion followed by a larger bomb that appeared aimed at onlookers and rescue crews arriving at the scene. Paramedics wearing rubber gloves collected human remains from the pavement as heavily damaged cars and pickup trucks smoldered.
 
There was no claim of responsibility for Thursday's blasts. But an al-Qaida-inspired group has claimed responsibility for several past explosions, raising fears that terrorist groups are entering the fray and exploiting the chaos.
 
In addition to the 55 dead, the ministry also said there were 15 bags of human remains, meaning the death toll was likely to rise.


Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/world/2012/05/10/blasts-hit-military-intelligence-building-in-syria/?intcmp=trending#ixzz1uVDhYYkj

http://news.yahoo.com/syria-violence-kills-four-even-un-mission-grows-130620692.html

5/12/12

Syria violence kills 15 even as UN mission grows

Violence in Syria cost at least 15 lives on Saturday as a UN force to oversee a truce neared half its planned strength, monitors said.
 
In Idlib province, a stronghold near the Turkish border of rebels fighting President Bahar al-Assad's regime, security force gunfire killed a man and a woman during a series of raids, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.
 
Another civilian and a child were killed in pre-dawn shelling in central Hama province, the Britain-based watchdog said, while a fifth was killed by sniper fire in the northeastern city of Deir Ezzor.
 
Meanwhile, nine soldiers and an army deserter were killed in clashes between rebel groups and regime forces in Idlib province, according to the Observatory.
 
For its part, state news agency SANA said authorities thwarted an infiltration attempt by an "armed terrorist group" from Turkey and entered the Idlib city of Jisr al-Shughur.

more

http://debka.com/article/21997/

5/11/12

Hizballah rushes arms to Syria, Iran sets up security cameras in Damascus

The shocking impact of the twin explosions which killed 55 people and injured almost 400 in Damascus Thursday, May 10, galvanized Bashar Assad’s allies, starting with Iran, into frenetic activity. Within hours, Tehran had ordered its Lebanese proxy Hizballah to open up its arms stores and run quantities of weapons and military equipment across the border to the Syrian army – a striking reversal of the routine direction of arms supplies. Thursday night, Washington quietly asked Lebanese President Michel Suleiman to put a stop to the traffic.

While the Syrian opposition and Assad regime blamed each other – or al Qaeda - for the worst attack Damascus has seen in the 14-month uprising, it was obvious to both that it must have been the work of a major and very professional undercover agency.

In Tehran, Moscow and Beirut, the scale of the bombing attacks which leveled a key Syrian security headquarters was judged a sharp escalation in the offensive for President Assad’s overthrow - more intense even than the NATO campaign which last year removed the Libyan ruler Muammar Qaddafi.

more

http://www.cnn.com/2012/05/13/world/meast/syria-unrest/index.html?hpt=hp_t3

Opposition: No stop to gunfire, shelling as violence spills into Lebanon
 
By the CNN Wire Staff
 
updated 5:43 AM EDT, Mon May 14, 2012

(CNN) -- Gunfire and mortar shells pierced the pre-dawn sky in cities around Syria early Monday, the latest in the months-long violence that has even begun spilling into neighboring countries.
 
The Local Coordination Committees of Syria, an opposition network, posted dire reports early Monday out of a number of locales -- from "a powerful explosion" rattling the Damascus suburb of Jisreen to the military's aiming mortars and heavy artillery at the Homs village of Al-Burnhanieh.
 
Rastan, which has been subject to intense attacks by Syrian government forces before, got hit hard yet again Sunday and into Monday, the coordination committees said.
 
Medical supplies were running short after more than 60 people were reported injured following a barrage of roughly 255 mortar shells that rained down on Rastan, which is between the Middle Eastern country's third and fourth largest cities, respectively, of Homs and Hama

more

Syria's Assad: Nations that sow chaos will suffer
AMMAN (Reuters) - Syrian President Bashar al-Assad said on Wednesday that countries trying to "sow chaos" in Syria could be infected with it themselves, an apparent warning to Arab Gulf nations that back the insurgency aimed at forcing him from power.
 
Assad's remarks, to a Russian TV channel, came after U.N. staff monitoring an increasingly shaky ceasefire were caught up in an attack that killed at least 21 people, and had to spend a night with rebel forces.
 
The stranding of the observers and new claims of a massacre by Assad's security forces underscored the relentlessness of the violence that continues to rage 14 months into mass protests and an insurrection against the Syrian strongman.
 
Assad said countries hostile to him and his government that may have believed he would follow in the footsteps of four Arab leaders ousted after popular protests now knew better.
 
more

http://news.yahoo.com/syrias-assad-nations-sow-chaos-suffer-104839640.html

http://debka.com/article/22017/

Obama secretly approves top-of-the-line anti-tank arms for Syrian rebels

DEBKAfile Exclusive Report May 22, 2012, 12:01 PM (GMT+02:00)

Monday, May 21, UN Secretary Ban Ki-moon said he was "extremely troubled about the risk of an all-out civil war (in Syria) and was concerned about the outbreak of related violence in Lebanon."
He spoke as dozens of Syrians died in clashes - mostly in the provinces of Aleppo and Idlib and the town of Homs - while two people were killed in Beirut in a spillover of Syrian bloodshed.

Sunday, at the NATO summit in Chicago, Secretary Anders Fogh Rasmussen said firmly that the alliance has "no intention" of taking military action against President Bashar Assad's regime. But he said nothing about individual NATO members translating their concern about the escalating violence in Syria into military action. Above all, he did not explain why Syrian army heavy T-72 tanks have in recent days started bursting into flames on the open roads.

debkafile’s military sources disclose the cause: The Syrian rebels have received their first “third generation” anti-tank weapons, 9K115-2 Metis-M and Kornet E. They are supplied by Saudi and Qatari intelligence agencies following a secret message from President Barack Obama advising them to up the military stake in the effort to oust Assad.

Saturday, May 19, President Obama said in a speech to the G-8 summit at Camp David that “Bashar al-Assad must leave power.” Listening to him were Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev whose government strongly opposes the bid to topple Assad and is helping him to weather the uprising against his rule.

more

http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4234308,00.html

5/25/12

Report: Russian arms shipment en route to Syria

In report deemed credible by Western diplomats, Al Arabiya says Russian cargo ship carrying 'large amount' of weapons 'trying to conceal final destination in suspicious way'

A Russian cargo ship loaded with weapons is en route to Syria and due to arrive at a Syrian port this weekend, Al Arabiya television said in a report that Western diplomats in New York described on Friday as credible.

Syria is one of Russia's top weapons customers. The United States and European Union have suggested the UN Security Council should impose an arms embargo and other UN sanctions on Syria for its 14-month assault on a pro-democracy opposition determined to oust Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.
 
But Russia, with the support of fellow veto power China, has prevented the council from imposing any UN sanctions on Syria and has refused to halt arms sales to Damascus.

"Al Arabiya have learned that a Russian cargo ship carrying a large amount of weapons plans to unload its cargo in the Syrian port of Tartus," the broadcaster said on its website on Thursday.

more

http://news.yahoo.com/over-90-killed-syria-massacre-activists-110604666.html

5/26/12

U.N. says over 92 killed in Syria, 32 of them children

BEIRUT (Reuters) - The United Nations said on Saturday that more than 92 people were killed in what activists described as an artillery barrage by government forces in the worst violence since the start of a U.N. peace plan to slow the flow of blood in Syria's uprising.
 
The bloodied bodies of children, some with their skulls split open, were shown in footage posted to YouTube purporting to show the victims of the shelling in the central town of Houla on Friday. The sound of wailing filled the room.
 
The carnage underlined just how far Syria is from any negotiated path out of the 14-month-old revolt against President Bashar al-Assad.
 
"This morning U.N. military and civilian observers went to Houla and counted more than 32 children under the age of 10 and over 60 adults killed," the head of U.N. team monitoring the ceasefire - which has yet to take hold - said.

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Russian arms shipment en route to Syria: report

5/25/12

Reuters) - A Russian cargo ship loaded with weapons is en route to Syria and due to arrive at a Syrian port this weekend, Al Arabiya television said in a report that Western diplomats in New York described on Friday as credible.

Syria is one of Russia's top weapons customers. The United States and European Union have suggested the U.N. Security Council should impose an arms embargo and other U.N. sanctions on Syria for its 14-month assault on a pro-democracy opposition determined to oust Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.

But Russia, with the support of fellow veto power China, has prevented the council from imposing any U.N. sanctions on Syria and has refused to halt arms sales to Damascus.

more

http://news.yahoo.com/un-security-council-hold-emergency-meeting-syria-massacre-174303034.html

5/26/12

Diplomats say the U.N. Security Council will hold an emergency meeting Sunday afternoon to discuss the recent massacre in the Syrian town of Houla that left more than 90 people dead.

The diplomats say Britain and France proposed issuing a press statement condemning the Houla massacre, but Russia told council members it could not agree and wanted a briefing first by the general heading the U.N. observer mission in Syria.

The diplomats, speaking on condition of anonymity, say the briefing by Maj. Gen. Robert Mood was being arranged. Russia called for a council meeting to begin at 2:30 p.m. (1830 GMT).

The U.N. and others have issued statements appearing to hold the Syrian regime of President Bashar Assad responsible. The Syrian government has denied responsibility for the Houla killings.

http://www.jpost.com/VideoArticles/Video/Article.aspx?id=271602

By JPOST.COM STAFF, REUTERS, YAAKOV KATZ

LAST UPDATED: 05/27/2012 23:37

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu on Sunday condemned the recent massacre in Syria's Houla, expressing "revulsion" and placing blame for the incident squarely on Syrian President Bashar Assad. Netanyahu joins a growing chorus of condemnation by world powers, including the United Nations, the United States, Russia, the Gulf Cooperation Council and the European Union.

Forces loyal to Assad killed at least 108 people and injured around 300, mostly women and children, on Friday in Houla in Homs province, according to the UN peacekeeping chief Herve Ladsous. The event marks one of the biggest massacres of the 14-month uprising against his rule. Syrian authorities have denied carrying out the attack, instead blaming it on "terrorists."

Netanyahu expressed his "revulsion over the ongoing massacre being perpetrated by the forces of Syrian President Bashar Assad against innocent civilians, which continued over the weekend in Houla and included dozens of innocent children," a press release stated.

more

http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4235703,00.html

No alternative to Assad

Op-ed: Western intervention in Syria will cause bloodshed, bring to power worse tyrants than Assad

Moshe Ronen Published:  05.29.12, 19:14 / Israel Opinion 

 
Dr. Bashar Assad is a wicked, conscienceless dictator. He has blood on his hands, and has outdone his father, Hafez Assad, in terms of murderousness and brutality. The eye doctor from Damascus is responsible not only for the murder of thousands of his own citizens, but also for the firing of thousands of missiles at Israel by his Hezbollah emissaries and allies.

I only wish bad things for Assad and his regime. The heart is outraged and the blood boils when one sees the images and hears the reports from Syria. Yet I do not think that the West should militarily intervene in what goes on there.

Had we known with certainty that such intervention would turn Syria into a peace-loving democracy, I would justify this move. However, experience has taught us that the West does not understand the Middle East, and that every time it tries to change Mideastern realities, it encounters negative surprises.

Thousands of American troops and Iraqi citizens were killed during the war initiated by the United States and its allies in order to topple Saddam Hussein and change the regime in Iraq. The outcome is still unclear. In Afghanistan too, the US became entangled in the longest war in its history. America will apparently withdraw from Afghanistan next year with its tail between its legs, as the Taliban retakes power.

more

http://debka.com/article/22041/Obama-nixes-French-Saudi-plan-to-finish-Assad-by-bombing-his-palace

Obama nixes French-Saudi plan to finish Assad by bombing his palace

DEBKAfile Exclusive Report May 30, 2012, 1:07 PM (GMT+02:00)

US President Obama recently vetoed a detailed Franco-Saudi plan for ending President Bashar Assad’s rule by means of a massive air strike against his palace that would at one fell swoop wipe him, his family and top leadership circle out, debkafile’s military and intelligence sources report.

Their plan was for the presidential palace situated atop Mount Qassioun northeast of Damascus to be devastated by French warplanes taking off from the Charles de Gaulle aircraft carrier off Syria’s Mediterranean coast and Saudi and United Arab Emirates bombers flying in through Jordan.
They would bomb the palace for 12 hours in several sorties while at the same time American fighter jets launched from a US aircraft carrier cruising in the Mediterranean or Red Sea would shut down Syria’s air defenses, which are considered among the most sophisticated and densely-arrayed in the region.

US warplanes would also keep the Syrian Air Force grounded and prevented from repulsing the incoming bombers.

more

http://news.yahoo.com/mitt-romneys-syria-policy-basically-barack-obamas-syria-162718468.html

5/30/12

Mitt Romney's Syria Policy Is Basically Barack Obama's Syria Policy

Last night, Mitt Romney slammed President Obama's handling of the Syrian conflict while offering an alternative plan that basically mirrors the White House's position. Like with Libya, Romney's finding it harder to stake out distinct policy positions than airing vague protests of the president's competence.
 
In his Tuesday statement, Romney said "we should work with partners to arm the opposition so they can defend themselves," which had some journalists, like The New York Times' Mark Landler, saying Romney was taking a more interventionist approach. That might seem true in light of White House Press Secretary Jay Carney saying the administration is against "further militarization of the situation in Syria" but for practical purposes, the two policies are the same.
 
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Putin spokesman says Russia not shifting on Syria

MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russia is not considering changing its stance on Syria and any attempts to apply pressure on Moscow are "hardly appropriate", President Vladimir Putin's spokesman said on Wednesday.
 
"It would make sense to expect a continuation of the Russian Federation's consistent and well-argued line" on Syria during Putin's visit to Germany and France on Friday, Dmitry Peskov told Reuters.
 
Putin will meet German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Francois Hollande in brief visits to Berlin and Paris, part of his first foreign trip since he returned to Russia's presidency for a six-year term on May 7.
 
Russia, which has blunted Western efforts to condemn President Bashar al-Assad and push him from power over 15 months of bloodshed, has been urged to stop supporting the government after a massacre Western nations blame on Assad's forces.

more: http://news.yahoo.com/putin-spokesman-says-russia-not-shifting-syria-160256225.html;_ylt=Ak8VeCR36KlmRWdkKjqD1VIg2.cA;_ylu=X3oDMTRvYTd2OWFtBGNjb2RlA2dtcHRvcDEwMDBwb29sd2lraXVwcmVzdARtaXQDTmV3cyBmb3IgeW91BHBrZwM2OTM1ODRhNy01MmFlLTMzMzAtODBmOC1kZGY3NWQ1ZWFkNGUEcG9zAzQEc2VjA25ld3NfZm9yX3lvdQR2ZXIDNDBiZTExNTAtYWE3MS0xMWUxLTllY2UtNzM2MDNjMDkzMzdm;_ylg=X3oDMTM3NzZyaW85BGludGwDdXMEbGFuZwNlbi11cwRwc3RhaWQDNGJlZTNjMWItZmVmYi0zZjExLWEzOGMtNDJhYmZlNGZjMzkyBHBzdGNhdAN0ZWNofHRlY2glMkZJbnRlcm5ldARwdANzdG9yeXBhZ2U-;_ylv=3

AP Interview: UN official says no to Syria amnesty
By DON MELVIN | Associated Press – 6/2/12

BRUSSELS (AP) — The U.N.'s top human rights official said Saturday that there should be no amnesty for serious crimes committed in Syria, even if the threat of prosecution might motivate members of the regime to cling to power at all costs.
 
Asked if Syrian President Bashar Assad should be allowed to leave power in exchange for safe haven, U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay said international leaders seeking peace may be drawn to "politically expedient solutions which may involve amnesty or undertakings not to prosecute."
 
But she said that would be wrong under international law.
 
"You cannot have amnesty for very serious crimes," she told The Associated Press during an interview in Brussels. "So my message is very clear — there has to be accountability."
 
Lawyers for former Liberian President Charles Taylor, who was sentenced Wednesday by the Special Court for Sierra Leone to 50 years in prison, had argued that giving him a long sentence would send the wrong message to Assad.

more: http://news.yahoo.com/ap-interview-un-official-says-no-syria-amnesty-092655174.html

http://news.yahoo.com/syria-accused-massacre-u-n-meets-005909027.html

Syria accused of new massacre as U.N. meets

BEIRUT (Reuters) - Syrian troops and militiamen loyal to President Bashar al-Assad stood accused by opponents on Thursday of a new massacre of scores of villagers hours before a divided U.N. Security Council convenes to review the crisis.
 
If confirmed, the killings of at least 78 people at Mazraat al-Qabeer, near Hama, will pile on pressure for world powers to act, but there is little sign they can overcome a paralysis born of sharp divisions between Western and Arab states on the one hand and Assad's defenders in Russia, China and Iran.
 
Several activists who monitor the 15-month-old revolt gave accounts to Reuters that women and children were among the dead when the village in central Syria came under artillery bombardment before fighters moved in on the ground and shot and stabbed dozens of people to death.
 
Echoing descriptions of a massacre of 108 civilians at Houla on May 25, which U.N. observers attributed to Assad's troops and loyalist "shabbiha" militia, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said, "Shabbiha headed into the area after the shelling and killed dozens of citizens, among them women and children."

more

http://news.yahoo.com/russia-pushes-big-syria-meeting-not-sanctions-094625628.html

Russia says is not against Assad's departure
By Steve Gutterman and Nastassia Astrasheuskaya | Reuters – 24 mins ago.

MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russia will not oppose the departure of Syria's President Bashar al-Assad if that is the result of a dialogue between Syrians themselves and is not imposed from outside, Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Saturday.
 
Lavrov spoke one day after his deputies held consultations with U.S. special envoy Fred Hof, in Moscow to push for a political transition in Syria that would see Assad leave power.
 
"If the Syrians agree (about Assad's departure) between each other, we will only be happy to support such a solution," Lavrov told reporters. "But we believe it is unacceptable to impose the conditions for such a dialogue from outside."
 
Eager to maintain its firmest Middle East foothold and stop the West pushing governments from power, Russia has used its U.N. Security Council veto and other tools to protect Assad from coordinated condemnation and sanctions.
 
Moscow insists there must be no "preconditions" in any discussion of Syria's future, including the departure of Assad, an outcome which would suit many countries in the West as well as the many Sunni Muslim Arab states that dislike the Syiran government and its ally Iran.

more

http://news.yahoo.com/rebels-battle-syrian-forces-damascus-185653231.html

Rebels battle Syrian forces in Damascus
By BASSEM MROUE and DIAA HADID | Associated Press – 2 hrs 44 mins ago.


BEIRUT (AP) — Bullets and shrapnel shells smashed into homes in the Syrian capital overnight, as troops battled rebels in the streets, in the heaviest fighting yet in Damascus. The violence marked an increased boldness among rebels in taking their fight against the regime of President Bashar Assad to the center of his power.

For nearly 12 hours of fighting that lasted into the early hours Saturday, rebels armed mainly with assault rifles fought Syrian forces. U.N. observers said rebels fired a rocket-propelled grenade at the local power plant, damaging parts of it and charring six buses, according to video the observers took of the scene.

Syrian forces showed the regime's willingness to unleash elevated force in the capital: at least three tank shells slammed into residential areas in the central Damascus neighborhood of Qaboun, an activist said. Intense exchanges of assault-rifle fire marked the clash, according to residents and amateur videos.

At least 42 civilians were killed in violence around the country outside Damascus on Saturday, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a Britain-based activist group. Among them were 20, including nine women and children, who died in heavy, pre-dawn shelling in the southern city of Daraa, where the uprising against Assad began in March 2011. The group's figures could not be independently confirmed.

more

http://news.yahoo.com/more-civilians-die-syria-russia-pushes-talks-044505378.html

6/9/12

More die in Syria though Assad on 'last legs'

The Syrian opposition's new leader said on Sunday that President Bashar al-Assad's regime was on its "last legs," even as Russia warned it would block any move at the UN to use force against its ally.
 
Britain declined to rule out military intervention, despite the strong opposition of China and Russia, as the death toll from the more than 15-month uprising topped 14,100, according to a human rights watchdog.
 
"We are entering a sensitive phase. The regime is on its last legs," Kurdish activist Abdel Basset Sayda told AFP shortly after he was named as the new leader of the opposition Syrian National Council.
 
"The multiplying massacres and shellings show that it is struggling," he added in allusion to a spate of mass killings of civilians, the most recent of which saw 20 people, most of them women and children, killed in the bombardment of a residential area of the southern city of Daraa on Saturday.

more

http://www.wtop.com/289/2377364/US-Russia-sending-Syria-attack-helicopters



WASHINGTON (AP) - The Obama administration said Tuesday that Russia is sending attack helicopters to Syrian President Bashar Assad's regime and warned that the Arab country's 15-month conflict could become even deadlier.

Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton said the U.S. was "concerned about the latest information we have that there are attack helicopters on the way from Russia to Syria."

She said the shipment "will escalate the conflict quite dramatically."

Clinton's comments at a public appearance with Israeli President Shimon Peres augured poorly for a peaceful solution to Syria's conflict. Officials from around the world are warning that the violence risks becoming an all-out civil war, with Middle East power brokers from Iran to Turkey possibly being drawn into the fighting.

Diplomatic hopes have rested on Washington and Moscow agreeing on a transition plan that would end the 4-decade-long Assad regime.

But Moscow has consistently rejected outside forces to end the conflict or any international plan to force regime change in Damascus. Despite withering criticism from the West, it insists that any arms it supplies to Syria are not being used to quell anti-government dissent.

This serves as a cover for moving hardware near Israel.

http://www.jpost.com/Defense/Article.aspx?id=273667

'Hezbollah may move Syrian arms to Lebanon'

By YAAKOV KATZ

06/13/2012 03:32

Israel expresses concern after reports state Assad may be losing control over military assets, including air defense base.

Concern is mounting in Israel over the possibility that Hezbollah will try to move sophisticated weaponry, including Scud missiles, from Syria to Lebanon to protect them in the event of Syrian President Bashar Assad’s downfall.

The concern stems from reports that Assad might be losing control over certain military capabilities including an air defense base which was captured by rebels earlier this week.

Syria is believed to have allocated a number of Scud D missiles – the most advanced missile in its arsenal – to Hezbollah already in 2010 but they have been stored in bases in Syria.

The understanding until now has been that the missiles would only be transferred to Lebanon in the event of a war with Israel but not before as to prevent a potential Israeli military strike.

Now though, with Syria in the midst of an uprising, there is concern that Hezbollah might try to move the missiles into Lebanon to prevent them from being captured by rebels or other rogue elements.

If this happens and Israel becomes aware of the transfer, the government will have to decide if it should attack and intercept the transfer or ignore it to prevent such a strike from escalating into an all-out war with Hezbollah and Syria.

more

Things appear to be getting a little messy.

Russia prepares army for Syrian deployment

Given the worsening crisis in Syria, the Nezavisimaya Gazeta newspaper reported that the Russian army is apparently being prepared for a mission in Syria. Citing anonymous sources in the military leadership, the newspaper said that Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered the general staff to work out a plan for military operations outside Russia, including in Syria.

The units being prepared for an intervention are the 76th Division of airborne forces (an especially experienced unit of the Russian army), the 15th Army Division, as well as special forces from a brigade of the Black Sea fleet, which has a base in the Syrian port of Tartus.

The details of the operational plan are being prepared by the working parties of the Collective Security Treaty Organisation, to which most of the post-Soviet states belong, as well as the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, to which China and Russia belong.

According to the newspaper report, deployment depends on the decision of the Russian government and the UN. However, the plans also foresee that the troops might intervene without UN approval. The Russian government has so far not confirmed the report.

On Monday last week, three Russian warships were sighted off the Syrian coast. An anonymous source from the Russian government told the Iranian newspaper Tehran Times that Moscow wants to show NATO that it will not allow any military operation against Damascus under the guise of a humanitarian mission.

Earlier, the secretary-general of the Collective Security Treaty Organization, Nikolai Bordjusha, had held out the possibility of using “peacekeepers” in Syria. “The task in Syria is likely to be to impose peace—primarily against the insurgents, who use weapons to solve political problems.”

Russia and China strongly oppose a military intervention by NATO in Syria, and have already blocked two UN resolutions on the issue. The US and its allies, especially Turkey, Saudi Arabia and France, have stoked up a civil war in Syria and are systematically arming the so-called rebels, who consist mainly of Islamists, ex-members of the government, or Al Qaeda terrorists. Turkey is increasingly in the leadership of the US proxy war in Syria.

In recent weeks calls for a military intervention in Syria have increased. After the massacre in Houla, French President Francois Hollande spoke out in favour of military intervention. The West blamed the government of Bashar al-Assad for this massacre without any clear evidence. The German elite is also openly discussing a possible military intervention; Berlin has tried unsuccessfully to push Russia to make concessions on the issue.

Russia has not excluded a “political solution”, i.e., the slow transition from the Assad regime to another government. At all costs, however, the Kremlin wants to avoid the violent overthrow of Assad by the West for several reasons, whether it is through direct military intervention by NATO or is brought about by the rebels armed by the West. Two weeks ago, Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev warned that a military intervention in Syria could quickly escalate and lead to the use of nuclear weapons.

Since Soviet times, Moscow and Syria have maintained close ties, especially in military and economic matters. More importantly, however, a war against Syria means a ramping up of US aggression in the Middle East. The US has already significantly extended its influence in the region through the wars against Afghanistan and Iraq. They also have military bases in almost every country in the area: Pakistan, Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar, Turkey, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, Saudi Arabia, Oman and Turkmenistan, as well as some in other smaller states. Meanwhile, Syria and Iran, which are virtually surrounded by US military bases, have become the last bastions of Russia and China in the Middle East against the encroachment of the United States.

A regime change in Damascus would probably bring a Sunni government to power, which would work closely with Saudi Arabia and the United States against Russia and China. Moreover, an escalation of the civil war in Syria—which is already well underway—and a military intervention would set the entire Middle East ablaze. A NATO-led war against Syria would be an immediate prelude to a war against Iran. An attack on Iran would mean another step toward a military escalation of tensions between Washington and Beijing.

While China obtains a significant portion of its raw material imports from Iran, Tehran is Russia’s most important ally in the Caucasus and the Caspian Sea to counter the influence of the US and Israel. Both Moscow and Tehran oppose the construction of a trans-Caspian pipeline by the West. They also reject the massive military rearmament of Azerbaijan, which is promoted by the United States, Israel and Turkey. The Caspian region is of key geopolitical importance because it links resource-rich Central Asia with Europe, and because it also has extensive oil and gas reserves.

The growing threat of war in the Middle East—and the fact that the European countries, including Germany and France, are siding with the United States—is increasingly driving Russia into a military alliance with China.

It is significant that Vladimir Putin’s first foreign visit since taking office was to Belarus, and that he then only spent a few hours in Berlin and Paris before going on to Central Asia. The highlight of his visit abroad was in China, where he met with the Chinese president, and then took part at the summit of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) on June 6 and 7. In addition to Russia and China, the Central Asian states of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan and Tajikistan also belong to this organization; Iran, Afghanistan, Pakistan and India have “observer” status.

As was the case at the previous meeting of the Collective Security Treaty Organization, discussion at the SCO summit centred on military and economic cooperation. The summit adopted a declaration on the “establishment of a region of lasting peace and common prosperity”. Military intervention against Syria or Iran was explicitly rejected.

The declaration also condemns the establishment of the NATO missile defence system in Europe, which is directed primarily against Russia and has led to severe tensions between Washington and both Europe and Moscow. In future, the Shanghai Cooperation Organization is planning to cooperate militarily more closely on issues of “regional security”.

During his two-day visit to Beijing, Putin had previously agreed with Chinese President Hu Jintao to jointly strengthen “security in the Asia-Pacific region”. Both countries intend to hold frequent joint military exercises in the Pacific, after holding joint naval exercises in the Yellow Sea in the spring. The United States is increasingly focussing its military build-up in the Asian Pacific region in preparation for a military confrontation with China.

http://wsws.org/articles/2012/jun2012/rusy-j12.shtml

http://news.yahoo.com/u-n-monitors-syrias-haffeh-battered-deserted-095110990.html

6/14/12

Syrian town deserted, burnt after clashes

HAFFEH, Syria (Reuters) - The Syrian town of Haffeh was smoldering and nearly deserted on Thursday after days of clashes between government forces and rebels, while activists reported more army assaults on pro-opposition areas across the country.
 
United Nations monitors had been trying to enter the town after several days of fighting but were forced to turn back on Tuesday when a crowd attacked them.
 
They finally gained access on Thursday to find state buildings burnt down, shops abandoned and a body lying in the street. Smoke rose from destroyed buildings and burnt-out cars littered the streets. There were signs of a heavy bombardment.
 
Only a handful of residents could be seen and one man said 26,000 people had fled.

more

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/world_now/2012/06/russia-reportedly-sending-2-warships-with-marines-to-syria.html

Russia reportedly sending 2 warships with marines to Syria

 June 18, 2012 |  8:26am

BEIRUT -- Russia is preparing to dispatch a pair of warships carrying a contingent of Black Sea Fleet marines to its logistics base in the Syrian port of Tartus, the Russian Interfax news agency reported Monday, in what appeared to be another sign of the deteriorating security situation in the strife-ridden nation.
 
The report quoted an unidentified Russian naval source saying the amphibious ships Nikolay Filchenkov and Tsezar Kunikov, accompanied by the rescue tug SB-15, were “preparing for a non-routine departure” for Tartus, Russia’s only Mediterranean base.
 
There was no official confirmation from the Russian government. [Updated June 18, 8:55 a.m.: “I can neither confirm nor deny the report at this stage,” Andrei Luzik, a Russian Defense Ministry spokesman, said by telephone.]
 
The purpose of the reported deployment was to assist in securing the base amid escalating violence in Syria and to aid in the possible evacuation of Russian citizens from Syria should the need arise.

more

http://www.debka.com/article/22094/Russia-China-Iran-plan-to-stage-in-Syria-“biggest-Mid-East-maneuver
Russia, China, Iran plan to stage in Syria “biggest Mid East maneuver”
DEBKAfile Special Report June 18, 2012, 8:31 PM (GMT+02:00)

Middle East military tensions around Syria shot up again Monday, June 18, with the news reported by the semi-official Iranian news agency Fars that a joint Russian-Chinese-Iranian exercise is to take place in Syria.

It was described as “the biggest of its kind ever staged in the Middle East” with 90,000 personnel, 400 air planes and 900 tanks taking part. As part of its preparations, Beijing is reported to have asked Egyptian authorities to permit the passage through the Suez Canal in late June of 12 naval ships heading for the Syrian port of Tartus, where Moscow maintains a naval and marine base. debkafile reported earlier this week that Russian naval vessels with marines on board were heading for Tartus. The Iranian media did not itemize their contribution to the joint exercise.

debkafile stresses that this would be the first time that substantial Russian and Chinese military strength has ever been deployed in Syria or anywhere else in the Middle East. It means that the two powers are prepared to parade their unabashed partnership with the Iranian and Syrian armies for the shared purpose of obstructing US-European-Arab military intervention in Syria. A large-scale Russian and Chinese military presence in the embattled country would expect to deter the United States from leading a military operation against Bashar Assad and his regime.
No date was attached to the report but the exercise may possibly take place before the end of the month

The large-scale maneuver was announced in Tehran on the first day of the nuclear crisis talks in Moscow between Iran and the six world powers, their third attempt to resolve the crisis by diplomacy. However, Russian and Iranian sources close to the talks were pessimistic about progress. An Iranian delegation member complained the atmosphere was harsh and unconstructive. A Russian source saw no way of bridging US-led Western differences with Tehran when the parties reconvene Monday.

debkafile also notes that the big joint Russian-Chinese-Iranian exercise “at sea, air and land on Syrian soil,” ws released for publication shortly before US President Barack Obama was due to meet Russian President Vladimir Putin at the G-20 summit in Mexico

Britain stops Russian ship carrying attack helicopters for Syria
A Russian ship believed to be carrying helicopters and missiles for Syria has been effectively stopped in its tracks off the coast of Scotland after its insurance was cancelled at the behest of the British government.


The British marine insurer Standard Club said it had withdrawn cover from all the ships owned by Femco, a Russian cargo line, including the MV Alaed.

"We were made aware of the allegations that the Alaed was carrying munitions destined for Syria," the company said in a statement. "We have already informed the ship owner that their insurance cover ceased automatically in view of the nature of the voyage."

British security officials confirmed they had told Standard Club that providing insurance to the shipment was likely to be a breach of European Union sanctions against the Syrian regime.

They said they were continuing to monitor the ship, which has been the subject of a fierce international row since US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton last week revealed it was adding to the arsenal of weaponry available for Mr Assad to use against rebellious Syrian towns.

REST: LEAD UP TO WAR: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/middleeast/syria/9339933/Britain-stops-Russian-ship-carrying-attack-helicopters-for-Syria.html

Okay, so there's the hand to the chest (Hey you, where you going?), an obligatory physical jesture to let them know they aren't playing.

http://news.yahoo.com/turkey-respond-violation-syria-says-premier-101609103.html

6/26/12

Turkey dubs Syria 'a clear threat', vows to retaliate

Turkey branded its former ally Syria "a clear and imminent threat," on Tuesday as its Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan vented his fury over the downing of a Turkish fighter jet.

In his most outspoken criticism of the Damascus regime, Erdogan vowed to retaliate against the "heinous act" and promised a change of military attitude to any Syrian officer approaching the common border.
 
"The rules of engagement of the Turkish Armed Forces have changed given this new development," Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan told parliament following the shooting down of F-4 Phantom jet Friday. The two pilots are still missing.
 
Any risk posed by Syria on the Turkish border will be "considered a threat and treated as a military target," he said in a jam-packed room of lawmakers who frequently interrupted the address with applause.
 
Erdogan said his government would retaliate "with determination" and take what he called the "necessary steps by determining the time, place and method by itself".

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Consider the source(Debka), but here goes...

http://debka.com/article/22133/British-forces-in-Syria-Assad-presidential-compound-said-under-attack

British forces in Syria, Assad presidential compound said under attack

Unconfirmed first reports from British, French and Turkish sources say British special operations forces crossed from Turkey into northern Syria Tuesday, May 26, and advanced up to 10 kilometers inside the country. The same sources report heavy fighting around the Presidential Guards compound on the outskirts of Damascus.

debkafile’s military sources note that this compound exists to defend Bashar Assad’s presidential palace on Mount Qaisoun overlooking Damascus.
British and Gulf TV stations are again running interviews with dozens of Syrian soldiers taken prisoner by rebel forces and transferred to Free Syrian Army centers in South Turkey. But this time, they are being aired in conjunction with those two developments, indicating pivotal and coordinated military action inside the embattled country, or even the start of western intervention against the Assad regime.
Later Tuesday, Gulf military sources confirmed the presence of British special forces in Syria.

Our military sources estimate that the British military drive into Syria, if confirmed, is designed to establish the first safe zone along the Syrian-Turkish border, to be followed by more Western military incursions to establish additional zones of safe asylum in other parts of Syria.

This follow-up action would depend substantially on Syrian, Russian and Iranian (+ Hizballah) responses to the initial stage of the operation.

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NATO Dismisses Action on Syria as Russia Sends Back Helicopters
http://news.yahoo.com/nato-dismisses-action-syria-russia-sends-back-helicopters-203400406.html


NATO vows no action on Syria pending political fix
http://news.yahoo.com/nato-vows-no-action-syria-pending-political-fix-145238595.html

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

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.

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

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.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=nWZz94SMwBU

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 ...

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

more

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.

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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."

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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.

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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.

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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

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

http://www.reuters.com/assets/print?aid=USBRE87C0RK20120813

Islamic body agrees to suspend Syria: source
 Mon, Aug 13 2012

JEDDAH (Reuters) - Foreign ministers at a meeting of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) agreed on Monday to suspend Syria from the international body, an OIC source said, further isolating President Bashar al-Assad.

"The session just ended. The ministers adopted the resolutions, including the suspension of Syria," the source told Reuters.

The move by the OIC, a body comprising 56 member states plus the Palestinian Authority that aims to represent Muslim interests on the world stage, is its response to Assad's suppression of a 17-month uprising.

It will have more symbolic than practical implications for the Assad government which has never put emphasis on religion and which will continue to enjoy support from Iran which opposed the decision to suspend Syria at the OIC.

"By suspending membership, this does not mean that you are moving toward resolving an issue. This means that you are erasing the issue. We want to really resolve the issue," Iranian Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi told reporters before the meeting in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.

The ministers were holding preparatory talks before a two-day OIC summit in Mecca starting on Tuesday, which was called by Saudi Arabia's King Abdullah earlier this month.

The formal decision on Syria, which notionally requires a two-thirds majority, meaning that Iran alone will not be able to defeat the motion, will be taken by OIC leaders and announced on Wednesday, an OIC diplomat said.

Salehi's comments pointed towards a likely diplomatic showdown in Mecca between Sunni Muslim states, including Saudi Arabia, that have declared support for Assad's opponents, and Shi'ite Muslim Iran - a reflection of heightened sectarian tensions across the region.


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http://news.yahoo.com/pm-defected-says-syrian-regime-near-collapse-123115353.html

PM who defected says Syrian regime near collapse
By JAMAL HALABY | Associated Press – 3 hrs ago.

AMMAN, Jordan (AP) — Syria's prime minister who defected to the opposition said Tuesday that Bashar Assad's regime was near collapse and urged other political and military leaders to tip the scales and join the rebel side.
 
The comments by Riad Hijab were his first public statements since leaving his post and fleeing to Jordan with his family last week. Hijab is the highest-ranking political figure to defect from President Bashar Assad's regime.
 
"The regime is on the verge of collapse morally and economically in addition to cracks in the military," Hijab told a press conference in the Jordanian capital, Amman.
 
Hijab is a Sunni Muslim from the eastern province of Deir el-Zour where rebels claimed to have shot down an army MiG-23 warplane on Monday. Hijab, who was not part of Assad's inner circle, said the trip to Jordan lasted three days during which he was protected by rebels of the Free Syrian Army.

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http://news.yahoo.com/obama-warns-syria-over-chemical-arms-journalist-killed-021137904.html

Syria says 'ready to discuss' Assad going as fighting rages

8/21/12

A Syrian minister held out the prospect Tuesday that embattled President Bashar al-Assad could leave power as part of a negotiated settlement to the increasingly ferocious conflict.
 
The surprise comments by a Syrian envoy visiting Moscow emerged after Russia warned the West against meddling in Syria in the wake of US President Barack Obama's warning to Damascus over its chemical weapons arsenal.
 
In Syria itself, at least 128 people were killed nationwide, among them 81 civilians, monitors said, reporting relentless shelling and fighting across swathes of the main battleground of Aleppo as well as around the capital.
 
"As far as his resignation goes -- making the resignation itself a condition for holding dialogue means that you will never be able to reach this dialogue," Syrian Deputy Prime Minister Qadri Jamil said after talks in Moscow.
 
But he added: "Any problems can be discussed during negotiations. We are even ready to discuss this issue."

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http://debka.com/article/22296/US-UK-French-elite-units-on-standby-for-seizing-Syrian-chemical-weapons

US, UK, French elite units on standby for seizing Syrian chemical weapons
DEBKAfile Exclusive Report August 23, 2012, 8:44 AM (GMT+02:00)

US C130 transports stand ready at Middle East air bases to fly into Syria US elite units especially trained in combat against chemical and biological weapons and tactics for securing their arsenals. Western intelligence sources reported Thursday, Aug. 23 that those units are on standby at bases in Israel and Jordan. Their assignments are to engage Syrian troops attempting to move those unconventional weapons systems to battle fronts or Hizballah and to prevent them falling into the hands of radical Islamic rebel fighters, especially Al Qaeda.

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U.S. sends aircraft carrier back to Gulf to face Iran, Syria

8/23/12

By Daniel Fineren

DUBAI (Reuters) - The U.S. Navy is cutting short home leave for the crew of one of its aircraft carriers and sending them back to the Middle East next week to counter any threat from Iran, according to the official Navy News Service.

Defence Secretary Leon Panetta told sailors aboard the USS Stennis in their home port of Seattle on Wednesday they were needed back in the Middle East soon, after approving calls from the U.S. Central Command for Stennis to return to the region.

"Obviously, Iran is one of those threats," the U.S. military news service quoted Panetta as saying during a send-off event at a military base on the U.S. West Coast.

"Secondly, it is the turmoil in Syria," he said. "We're obviously following that closely as well."

The Stennis' departure in January from the Bahrain-based U.S. Fifth Fleet area of operations prompted Iranian army chief Ataollah Salehi to threaten action if it returned, saying Iran was "not in the habit of warning more than once".

The threats started a war of words between Iran and the United States that spooked oil markets, and fears over possible military confrontation remain high.

Panetta cited Iran's nuclear program and its threats to oil tankers in the Strait of Hormuz as two concerns the Stennis strike group could counter in the U.S. Central Command's area of responsibility, which also includes Syria and Afghanistan.

U.S. attention on Syria is focused on providing humanitarian aid, monitoring chemical and biological weapon stockpiles, and offering non-lethal assistance to forces opposing President Bashar al-Assad, he said.

A spokesman for the Fifth Fleet in Bahrain said the redeployment was not a build-up in the Gulf because the USS Enterprise is due to leave the region on its final voyage back to the United States before being decommissioned after over 50 years of service.

"The presence of two aircraft carriers changes based on needs and requirements," Lieutenant Greg Raelson said.

Iranian threats to block the waterway through which about 17 million barrels a day sailed in 2011 have grown in the past year as U.S. and European sanctions aimed at starving Tehran of funds for its nuclear program have tightened.

A heavy western naval presence in the Gulf is a big deterrent to Tehran actually trying to block the shipping route through which most of the crude exported from Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait and Iraq sails.

The Stennis had been due to deploy next to the Pacific towards the end of 2012 but its return to active duty has been brought forward by four months because of tension in the Gulf.

(Reporting by Daniel Fineren; Editing by Angus MacSwan)

http://www.reuters.com/assets/print?aid=USBRE87M0HY20120823

Lebanon clashes stoke Syria spillover fears

8/25/12

Clashes between pro- and anti-Syrian factions in the Lebanese city of Tripoli killed three people including a Sunni cleric, jeopardising a fragile truce, a security official said.

Clashes between pro- and anti-Syrian factions in the Lebanese city of Tripoli killed three people including a Sunni cleric, jeopardising a fragile truce, a security official said.
   
The deaths brought to 14 the number of people killed in factional fighting in the Mediterranean port city over the past five days linked to the conflict in neighbouring Syria.
   
A further 110 people have been wounded, most of them shot by snipers.
   
A sniper killed Sunni cleric Sheikh Khaled al-Baradei, 28, at dawn, sparking the flare-up between fighters from the pro-Syrian Alawite district of Jabal Mohsen and anti-Damascus Sunni districts, an AFP correspondent reported.

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http://www.sbs.com.au/news/article/1685821/Lebanon-clashes-stoke-Syria-spillover-fears

http://debka.com/article/22314/

Russia is disengaging from Syria: Arms shipments stopped, warships exit Tartus

Russian naval vessels have unexpectedly departed the Syrian Mediterranean port of Tartus and Russian arms shipments to Syria have been suddenly discontinued. debkafile’s military sources reveal that those and other steps indicate that the Russians are rapidly drawing away from the Syrian arena to avoid getting caught up in the escalating hostilities expected to arise from military intervention by the US, Europe and a number of Arab states. Russian intelligence appears to have decided that this outside intervention is imminent and Moscow looks anxious to keep its distance for now.

According to our military and Russian sources, these drastic steps must have been personally ordered by President Vladimir Putin. He is believed to have acted over the objections of some of his army and naval chiefs. This would explain the mixed statements issuing from Moscow in recent days about the disposition of Russian personnel at the naval base in Tartus and Russian military personnel in Syria.

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http://news.yahoo.com/pope-tells-syrians-admires-courage-172440569.html

9/15/12

Pope tells Syrians he admires their courage

BEIRUT (AP) — Pope Benedict XVI told Syrians at a rally for young people Saturday that he admired their courage and that he does not forget those in the Middle East who are suffering.

On a day of appeals for religious freedom in the region, he said it was time for Muslims and Christians to work together against violence and war. He spoke on the second day of his visit to Lebanon, a country with the largest percentage of Christians in the Middle East. He arrived amid a wave of violent demonstrations over an anti-Islam film across the Muslim world.

Addressing the rally, Benedict said he understood that there were young people present from Syria in the crowd of some 20,000 people.

"I want to say how much I admire your courage," the pope said, speaking French. "Tell your families and friends back home that the pope has not forgotten you. Tell those around you that the pope is saddened by your sufferings and your grief."

Traveling to Lebanon on Friday, Benedict called for a halt in weapons deliveries to Syria, but he did not draw a distinction between the government and rebel sides. Lebanon has given refuge to nearly 70,000 of a quarter-million Syrians who have fled their country's increasingly bloody civil war.

The turmoil stemming from the Arab Spring has deeply unsettled the Middle East's Christian population, which fears being caught between rival Muslim groups. Part of the pope's mission in Lebanon is convincing his flock to remain in the region despite war, sectarian violence and hardship.

"It is time for Muslims and Christians to come together so as to put an end to violence and war," he said.

Earlier Saturday, he appealed for religious freedom, calling it central to stability in a region bloodied by sectarian strife.

"Let us not forget that religious freedom is a fundamental right from which many other rights stem," he said, speaking in French to government officials, foreign diplomats and religious leaders at the presidential palace in Mount Lebanon in the southern suburbs of Beirut.

He held up Lebanon, which is still rebuilding from a devastating 1975-1990 civil war largely fought on sectarian lines, as an example of coexistence for the region.

He said Christians and Muslims in Lebanon share the same space — at times in the same family — and asked, "If it is possible in families why not in entire societies?" Marriages where husband and wife are from different religious groups are not uncommon in Lebanon.

He said the freedom to practice one's religion "without danger to life and liberty must be possible to everyone."

The papal visit comes amid soaring sectarian tensions in the region, exacerbated by the conflict in Syria, which is in the throes of an 18-month-old civil war. A predominantly Sunni opposition in the Sunni-majority country is fighting to topple President Bashar Assad whose regime is dominated by Alawites, an offshoot of Shiite Islam.

Christians, who make up about 10 percent of Syria's population, say they are particularly vulnerable to the violence sweeping the country of 22 million people. They are fearful that Syria will become another Iraq, with Christians caught in the crossfire between rival Islamic groups.

Thousands of Christians have fled areas where heavy fighting has taken place, including the once religiously mixed central city of Homs. Rebels have controlled Homs' Christian neighborhoods of Hamidiyeh and Bustan Diwan since early February and most of the districts' residents have fled.

On Saturday, a Syrian priest from Homs said the Archdiocese of Syriac Catholics in Hamidiyeh was torched this week. The motives behind the attack were unclear.

The priest, who wished to remain anonymous for fear of reprisals, told The Associated Press by telephone that the attack took place Thursday. He said residents tried for 14 hours to put out the raging fire because fire engines could not reach the area under rebel control. No further details were immediately available.

He said around 80,000 Christians used to live in Hamidiyeh but now only 85 people remain.

In Lebanon, enthusiastic crowds lined the streets and cheered along the 30-kilometer (19-mile) motorcade route to the palace as Benedict went by Saturday in the bullet-proof glass popemobile. Soldiers on horseback rode ahead of the car.

As the pope arrived in the presidential compound, officials released about 20 white doves.

Just hours after the pope arrived Friday, violence erupted in northern Lebanon over "Innocence of Muslims," a film that ridicules the Prophet Muhammad, portraying him as a fraud, a womanizer and a child molester.

According to Lebanese security officials, a crowd angry over the film set fire to a KFC and a Hardee's restaurant in the port city of Tripoli, 85 kilometers (50 miles) north of Beirut, sparking clashes with police. Police then opened fire, killing one of the attackers, the officials said.

At least 25 people were wounded in the melee, including 18 police who were hit with stones and glass. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to brief the media.

Lebanese authorities tightened security for the pope, suspending weapons permits except for politicians' bodyguards and confining the visit to central Lebanon and northern Christian areas.

In the evening, Benedict will address thousands of youths from across the Middle East.

http://www.foxnews.com/world/2012/09/17/syrian-jets-hit-lebanese-territory-near-border-state-media-says/

9/17/12

Syrian jets hit Lebanese territory near border, state media says

Missiles fired by Syrian warplanes hit Lebanese territory Monday in one of the most serious cross-border violations since Syria's crisis began 18 months ago, security officials in Beirut and Lebanese state media said.
 
The officials, speaking on condition of anonymity in line with regulations, said four missiles fired by two Syrian jets hit a rugged and remote area on the edge of the Lebanese border town of Arsal. There were no immediate reports of casualties.
 
Lebanon's state-run National News Agency reported that the warplanes fired three missiles that fell on the outskirts of Arsal about 500 yards from the border between the two countries.
 
"I heard several explosions and saw four clouds of dust billowing from the area," Arsal resident Nayeh Izzedine said by telephone referring to the border. "I don't know if it was an air raid but there was a plane in the sky."


Read more

http://news.yahoo.com/august-produces-worst-toll-syria-conflict-says-u-163653513.html

9/17/12

August produces worst toll in Syria conflict, says U.N.

UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - August was the worst month for casualties so far in Syria's 18-month conflict, the United Nations said on Monday, warning that the worsening "grim spiral of violence" could threaten the country's neighbors.
 
U.N. Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process Robert Serry did not give specific figures, but the world body says about 20,000 people have died during the conflict, including a record toll of 1,600 for the final week of August.
 
"The month of August registered the highest number of casualties thus far, and this toll is growing," Serry said.
 
More than 250,000 Syrians have fled to neighboring Turkey, Jordan, Lebanon and Iraq to escape the violence - with more than 100,000 of those leaving in August alone.

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http://www.todayszaman.com/news-293159-.html

Turkey deploys heavy weapons to Syrian border

Turkey's military deployed armored vehicles and heavy weaponry to the border with Syria on Saturday, near a crossing that has seen intense fighting between opposition fighters and government forces, local media said.

The deployment is reportedly in an area where earlier this week Turkish civilians were wounded when stray bullets and shelling crossed the border from the Syrian province of al-Raqqa.

CNN Turk television said artillery fire had landed close to the Turkish border overnight, causing panic among local residents.

The Turkish army moved three Howitzers and one anti-aircraft weapon to the border, the channel said.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=SGPEkhmOCYM#t=0s

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http://www.timesofisrael.com/jordanian-syrian-armies-exchange-fire/

Syria fires into Jordan, sparking clashes

9/22/12

Syria moves its Golan Heights brigade to the Jordanian border

The armed forces of Syria and Jordan clashed Saturday after Syria fired into Jordanian territory, where thousands of refugees have fled from an 18-month-long civil war between the Bashar Assad regime and opposition fighters.
 
According to a report by Al Jazeera, the Syrian army has moved its Unit 61 brigade — whose main function is to block any possible attack from Israel — from the Golan Heights to the Jordanian border.
 
In recent months, attacks by the Syrian military on the border region with Jordan have intensified, as part of an effort to stem the flow of refugees into the neighboring kingdom.
 
Syrian activists said rebels and government troops fought a fierce battle in the area, that lasted for several hours, overnight Friday.
 
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 ::) While Israel sits back and watches the competing Arab factions kill each other off.

Map for perspective...

(http://www.historicjesus.com/maps/images/israel.gif)

http://www.historicjesus.com/maps/israel.html (http://www.historicjesus.com/maps/israel.html)

http://debka.com/article/22385/

Iranian officers reshape Assad’s Shabbiha militia into a second al-Qods
DEBKAfile Exclusive Report September 26, 2012

Iran’s Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) has leapt into the Syrian battle arena, undertaking the task of transforming the Alawite Shabbiha militia, which has carried the brunt of Bashar Assad’s brutal suppression of the Syrian opposition for 18 months, into a new corps, retrained and reorganized on the model of the elite Al Qods Brigade.

Al Qods is the IRGC’s arm of clandestine and terrorist operations in Iran's foreign arenas.

debkafile’s military sources report exclusively that when the Shabbiha is slapped into its new military shape, Bashar Assad will have at his disposal an extra 50-60,000 professional Alawite soldiers under arms – the nucleus of a Syrian Revolutionary Guards Corps.

Our sources also reveal that Tehran has promised the Syrian outfit weaponry on a par with the Al Qods arsenal. So, unless he is overthrown in the interim, the Syrian ruler and Iranian government will command the biggest special operations force in the Middle East.

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Ancient market burns as fighting rages in Syria's Aleppo

9/29/12

http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/09/29/us-syria-crisis-idUSBRE88J0X720120929

(Reuters) - Hundreds of shops were burning in the ancient covered market in Aleppo on Saturday as fighting between rebels and state forces in Syria's largest city threatened to destroy a UNESCO world heritage site.

The uprising-turned-civil war that is now raging across Syria has killed more than 30,000 people, according to activist groups such as the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.

But beyond the dramatic human cost, many of Syria's historic treasures have also fallen victim to an 18-month-old conflict that has reduced parts of some cities to ruins.

Rebels fighting to topple President Bashar al-Assad announced a new offensive in Aleppo, Syria's commercial hub of 2.5 million people, on Thursday, but neither side has appeared to make significant gains.

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Syria's crisis

Four blasts ripped through a government-controlled district close to a military officers' club in the northern Syrian city of Aleppo, killing at least 40 people and wounding more than 90 on Oct. 3, opposition activists said.

Men walk on a road amid wreckage, after blasts ripped through Aleppo's main Saadallah al-Jabari Square October 3, 2012. Four blasts ripped through a government-controlled district close to a military officers' club in the northern Syrian city of Aleppo, killing at least 40 people and wounding more than 90 on Wednesday, opposition activists said. REUTERS/George Ourfalian (SYRIA - Tags: CONFLICT CIVIL UNREST TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY)

(http://l1.yimg.com/bt/api/res/1.2/4.LMCPnZWnpHc4RxFJFfzw--/YXBwaWQ9eW5ld3M7Zmk9aW5zZXQ7aD00MzU7cT04NTt3PTYzMA--/http://media.zenfs.com/en_us/News/Reuters/2012-10-03T105226Z_1514029377_GM1E8A31EDP01_RTRMADP_3_SYRIA-CRISIS.JPG)

http://news.yahoo.com/photos/syria-1339375979-slideshow/

Turkey PM’s office says Turkish artillery fired on Syria after shelling of Turkish town

Turkish artillery fired on Syrian targets after deadly shelling from Syria hit a Turkish border town on Wednesday, sharply raising tensions on a volatile border that has been crossed by tens of thousands of Syrian refugees fleeing violence in their country.

In a terse statement, the office of Turkey’s prime minister, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, condemned shelling that hit the Turkish town of Akcakale, killing five local residents and wounding a dozen others. The shelling appeared to come from Syrian government forces who were fighting Syrian rebels backed by Turkey, which has called for the ouster of Syrian President Bashar Assad.

“Our armed forces at the border region responded to this atrocious attack with artillery fire on points in Syria that were detected with radar, in line with the rules of engagement,” the Turkish statement said.

“Turkey, acting within the rules of engagement and international laws, will never leave unreciprocated such provocations by the Syrian regime against our national security,” it said.

Turkey’s NTV television said Turkish radar pinpointed the positions from where the shells were fired on Akcakale, and that those positions were hit.

“Turkey is a sovereign country. There was an attack on its territory. There must certainly be a response in international law. ... I hope this is Syria’s last craziness. Syria will be called into account,” said Turkish Deputy Prime Minister Bulent Arinc.

In Belgium, NATO’s National Atlantic Council, which is composed of the national ambassadors, was holding an emergency meeting in Brussels on Wednesday night at Turkey’s request to discuss the cross-border incident. Turkey was likely to receive an expression of support from the alliance, although any imminent move by the NATO members to intervene militarily seems remote. NATO also held an emergency meeting when a Turkish jet was shot down by Syria in June.

A NATO official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because of NATO rules, said the meeting in Brussels was being held under a treaty article that states “the parties will consult whenever, in the opinion of any of them, the territorial integrity, political independence, or security of any of the parties is threatened.”

Turkey, a NATO ally, is anxious to avoid going into Syria on its own. It has been pushing for international intervention in the form of a safe zone, which would likely entail foreign security forces on the ground and a partial no-fly zone. However, the allies fear military intervention in Syria could ignite a wider conflict, and few observers expect robust action from the United States, which Turkey views as vital to any operation in Syria, ahead of the presidential election in November.

Turkey hosts more than 90,000 Syrian refugees in camps along its border, and also hosts Syrian opposition groups. There is concern in Turkey that the Syrian chaos could have a destabilizing effect on Turkey’s own communities; some observers have attributed a sharp rise in violence by Kurdish rebels in Turkey to militant efforts to take advantage of the regional uncertainty.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/middle_east/turkey-pms-office-says-turkish-artillery-fired-on-syria-after-shelling-of-turkish-town/2012/10/03/c3cc1386-0d8f-11e2-ba6c-07bd866eb71a_story.html?wpisrc=al_national

Turkey renews artillery strikes on Syria

ANKARA, Turkey- Turkey fired on Syrian targets for a second day Thursday but said it has no intention of declaring war, despite tensions after deadly shelling from Syria killed five civilians in a Turkish border town.

Turkey's Parliament, meanwhile, began an emergency session to discuss a bill authorizing the military to launch cross border operations in Syria. If approved, the bill could more easily open the way to unilateral action by Turkey's armed forces inside Syria, without the involvement of its Western and Arab allies.

The cross-border tensions escalated on Wednesday after a shell fired from inside Syria landed on a home in the Turkish village of Akcakale, killing a woman, her three daughters and another woman, and wounding at least 10 others, according to Turkish media.

Turkish response was prompt. It fired salvos of artillery rounds deep inside Syria. The NATO military alliance, of which Turkey is a member, met at an emergency session in Brussels, condemned the attack on Turkey and demanded "the immediate cessation of such aggressive acts against an ally." It also urged the Syrian regime to "put an end to flagrant violations of international law."

Syrian Information Minister Omran al-Zoubi, meanwhile, offered his "sincerest condolences on behalf of the Syrian government to the family of the deceased and the Turkish people."

He appeared to be trying to reduce tensions, although he said Turkey must do more to control its borders and "prevent militants and terrorists from sneaking across."

An aide to Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Thursday thatTurkey has no intention of declaring war on Syria but that the bill being debated in Parliament on Thursday was intended to give "Syria a warning." He spoke on condition of anonymity because civil servants are not allowed to speak to journalists without prior authorization.

TRT television reported that a military battalion based on the border town of Akcakale resumed striking Syrian targets across from the frontier overnight and that shelling continued Thursday morning.

Turkish Foreign Ministry officials were not immediately able to confirm the reports of renewed Turkish shelling, while Defense Ministry officials refused comment.

A myriad of Syrian rebel groups have been using Turkish territory as a base for their operations against the troops of Syria's President Bashar Assad. Thousands have died and hundreds of thousands have fled their homes since the start of the war in Syria last year.

Turkish legislators were debating a bill that would authorize the government to send troops to Syria or for warplanes to strike Syrian targets whenever it deems it necessary. A vote on the authorization, which would be valid for one year, is expected later on Thursday.

The government-proposed bill accuses Syria of carrying out "aggressive acts toward our country's territory" and says "these acts have continued despite our warnings and diplomatic initiatives."

If approved it would allow the government to determine "the scope, extent, and time" of any possible intervention.

Turkey, which has moved military reinforcements to the border in recent months, has more than 90,000 Syrian refugees in camps along its border, and also hosts Syrian opposition groups.

There is concern in Turkey that the Syrian chaos could have a destabilizing effect on Turkey's own communities; some observers have attributed a sharp rise in violence by Kurdish rebels in Turkey to militant efforts to take advantage of the regional uncertainty.

Turkey is still loath to go it alone in Syria, and is anxious for any intervention to have the legitimacy conferred by a U.N. resolution or the involvement of a broad group of allies. Turkey is mindful in part of inconclusive ground missions, mostly in the 1990s, against Kurdish guerrillas based in northern Iraq, as well as the bitter lessons of being seen as an occupying power that are associated with the U.S.-led invasion in Iraq. Reaching deeper into history, Turkey is aware of Mideast sensibilities over Ottoman rule over much of the region.

Additionally, there is no strong push for war among the Turkish public and Ankara is likely to act with some degree of restraint unless it suffers more casualties from Syrian fire in the days ahead. However, approval of the parliamentary bill could open the way to more retaliatory flare-ups along the border, similar to the periodic air and artillery strikes that Turkey has carried out for years against Kurdish rebel targets in northern Iraq.


http://www.onenewsnow.com/ap/world/turkey-renews-artillery-strikes-on-syria

Did Turkey Just Declare War On Syria?

The Turkish Parliament has "authorized military operations" against Syria.  So exactly what does that mean?  Did Turkey just declare war on Syria?  For now, the government of Turkey is making a clear distinction between "military operations" and "declaring war".   If Turkey were to "declare war", that would likely involve Turkish troops actually entering Syria, and the war would not be considered "won" until certain objectives are achieved.  So by just authorizing "military operations" against Syria, Turkey can sit back and fire off artillery rounds (and potentially call in air strikes if necessary) without being committed to entering Syria or attacking Damascus.  Turkey is not too keen on invading Syria by itself anyway.  Turkey would want the help of NATO in such an event, and right now Barack Obama has made it abundantly clear to the Turkish government that he is not going to participate in an attack on Syria before the election.  Obama has been leading in the polls and he has way too much to lose by starting another war.  But what all of this does show us is a couple of things.  First of all, once again we see that the Middle East is a tinderbox that can erupt at any moment.  Second of all, just the rumors of a war between Turkey and Syria sent the price of oil absolutely skyrocketing on Thursday.  It is frightening to imagine what a real war in the Middle East might do to the price of oil.

So what precipitated this move by Turkey?  Well, some mortar shelling that originated from inside Syria killed five people living in a town in Turkey near the border.  The following is from a Fox News article....

Turkey's Parliament authorized military operations against Syria on Thursday and its military fired on targets there for a second day after deadly shelling from Syria killed five civilians in a Turkish border town.

For its part, Syria admitted it was responsible for the shelling that killed five people in Turkey and formally apologized for the deaths, a top Turkish official said.

There are reports that the Turkish response was actually much stronger than the mainstream news has been admitting.

According to Debka, the Turkish military was hitting Syrian military targets with "continuous artillery barrages"....

Constrained from a substantial military incursion into Syria by US President Barack Obama’s veto and Saudi and Qatari refusals to help pay for it, Turkey’s government and military decided to make do with carving out a buffer strip 10 kilometers deep into Syria by continuous artillery barrages.

Thursday morning, Oct. 4 at 0300 GMT, Ankara ordered the Turkish army to keep up its cross-border shelling of Syria after the first bombardment Wednesday night in response to the deaths of five Turkish civilians and eight injured by Syrian mortar shells which exploded in their village.

DEBKAfile's military sources report the artillery squads were told to aim primarily at Syrian military targets inside this strip, including bases, outposts and Syrian forces on the move.

Several Syrian bases and outposts have been hit so far and a large number of Syrian soldiers killed or wounded. Neither Ankara nor Damascus is offering information on casualties. They have imposed a heavy blackout on events so as to keep them under control and avoid the risk of a full-blown war.

Many believe that this could end up being the excuse that NATO will use to intervene in the conflict in Syria.  Since the uprising against President Bashar Assad began, approximately 30,000 people inside Syria have been killed.  It has been a very bloody conflict.

But Syria is not alone.  The Assad regime still has plenty of friends.  In fact, there have been reports that both Hezbollah and Iran have been moving forces into position to help defend Syria.

That is one reason why it is so important to keep a close eye on this conflict.  What is starting out as a conflict between Turkey and Syria could end up drawing in the United States, the rest of NATO, Iran, Hezbollah and potentially even several other countries in the Middle East.

And if war erupts in the Middle East, the price of oil is going to go through the roof.

Just look at what happened on Thursday.  The price of oil jumped about 3 dollars as reports of what was happening between Turkey and Syria reached the financial markets.

So what would happen if a full-blown war in the Middle East took place and the flow of oil was significantly disrupted?

That is a bit frightening to think about.

Sometimes we need a reminder of just how fast things can change.  For example, thanks to a couple of temporary refinery problems in California the price of gasoline in that state is spiking and some gas stations are actually shutting down for a while.

The average price of a gallon of gasoline in California increased by 8.3 cents on Wednesday alone.  It is now sitting at $4.315, which is about 53 cents above the national average.

According to Bloomberg, the refinery problems are causing gasoline shortages and quite a few gas stations are actually shutting down their pumps for now....

Gasoline station owners in the Los Angeles area including Costco Wholesale Corp. (COST) are beginning to shut pumps as the state’s oil refiners started rationing supplies and spot prices surged to a record.

Valero Energy Corp. (VLO) stopped selling gasoline on the spot, or wholesale, market in Southern California and is allocating deliveries to customers. Exxon Mobil Corp. (XOM) is also rationing fuel to U.S. West Coast terminal customers. Costco’s outlet in Simi Valley, 40 miles (64 kilometers) northwest of Los Angeles, ran out of regular gasoline yesterday and was selling premium fuel at the price of regular.

And according to Fox 5 San Diego, some gas stations are being told that there will not be any more gasoline until mid-October....

Dave Hallak, owner of Emerald Oil at 5600 Baltimore Drive, received a call Wednesday morning from his gasoline supplier saying he won't be getting more gasoline until mid-October.

“My supplier said there’s no gas available in San Diego,” said Hallak. “He said 'all the racks are down in Southern California and there’s very tight supply, if any.'”

Of course these problems are just temporary and things should get back to normal soon.

But what if a major war in the Middle East disrupted the supply of gasoline for an extended period of time?

Our world is becoming increasingly unstable, and an event on the other side of the globe can change all of our lives in an instant.

Let us hope for peace in the Middle East, but let us also get prepared for the day when war will inevitably come.

http://endoftheamericandream.com/archives/did-turkey-just-declare-war-on-syria

http://www.thestar.com/news/world/article/1267895--turkey-syria-trade-artillery-fire-for-fourth-day

10/6/12

Turkey, Syria trade artillery fire for fourth day

BEIRUT—Turkey and Syria traded artillery fire for the fourth day in a row Saturday as rebels clashed with Syrian President Bashar Assad’s forces near the border, heightening fears that the crisis could erupt into a regional conflict.
 
Also Saturday, Syrian Defence Minister Gen. Fahd Jassem al-Freij vowed to crush the rebellion and bring the violence that has engulfed the country to an end.
 
The diplomatic crisis began on Wednesday, when a Syrian shell killed five civilians in a Turkish border town and triggered unprecedented artillery strikes by Turkey. Ankara has deployed more troops to its southern border with Syria and has responded to each shell that has struck Turkish soil with its own artillery barrage.
 
On Friday, Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan cautioned Damascus not to test Turkey’s “limits and determination” and said Ankara was not bluffing in saying it won’t tolerate such acts.

more

http://www.debka.com/newsupdatepopup/2498/

Panetta: US troops are on Jordan-Syrian border. Amman denies
DEBKAfile October 10, 2012, 5:40 PM (GMT+02:00)
Speaking to a NATO defense ministers conference in Brussels, US Defense Secretary Leon Panetta said the U.S. has been working with Jordan to monitor chemical and biological weapons sites in Syria and also to help Jordan deal with refugees pouring over the border from Syria. US troops sent to the Jordan-Syria border are helping build a headquarters in Jordan to bolster its military capabilities in case violence spills over from Syria, suggesting deepening US military intervention in the Syrian conflict.
However, a Jordanian army spokesman denied an earlier New York Times report. "News reports that the United States is helping Jordan deal with the Syrian refugees or face dangers related to chemical weapons are not true," the spokesman said in a statement carried by state-run Petra news agency. D
DEBKAfile: Similar US chemical weapons task forces have already been set up in Israel and Turkey as we reported on Aug. 12

http://news.yahoo.com/panetta-us-sends-forces-jordan-131927741.html

10/10/12

Panetta: US sends forces to Jordan

BRUSSELS (AP) — The United States has sent military troops to the Jordan-Syria border to bolster that country's military capabilities in the event that violence escalates along its border with Syria, Defense Secretary Leon Panetta said Wednesday.
 
Speaking at a NATO conference of defense ministers in Brussels, Panetta said the U.S. has been working with Jordan to monitor chemical and biological weapons sites in Syria and also to help Jordan deal with refugees pouring over the border from Syria. The troops are also building a headquarters for themselves.
 
But the revelation of U.S. military personnel so close to the 19-month-old Syrian conflict suggests an escalation in the U.S. military involvement in the conflict, even as Washington pushes back on any suggestion of a direct intervention in Syria.
 
It also follows several days of shelling between Turkey and Syria, an indication that the civil war could spill across Syria's borders and become a regional conflict.

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http://www.ynetnews.com/Ext/Comp/ArticleLayout/CdaArticlePrintPreview/1,2506,L-4291402,00.html

Syria activists: Jihadists seize missile base

Videos posted online Friday, apparently shot inside air defense base near Aleppo, show fighters linked to al-Qaeda participating in overnight battle, inspecting lines of large missiles
News agencies

Anti-regime activists say jihadist fighters linked to al-Qaeda fought with rebels to capture a Syrian military air defense base near Aleppo.

Videos posted online Friday apparently shot inside the base say Jabhat al-Nusra participated in the overnight battle for the base. The videos show fighters inspecting lines of large missiles.

Two Aleppo-based activists and Rami Abdul-Rahman, head of the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, also say Jabhat al-Nusra fought in the battle.

The base's capture is sure to fuel fears that Islamic extremists are playing a greater role after nearly 19 months of unrest in Syria. Western powers cite their presence as a reason not to arm the rebels.

Syrian opposition activists estimate more than 32,000 people have been killed since March 2011 when the uprising against President Bashar Assad's regime began.

Clashes were also taking place Friday at a military barracks close to Maarat al-Nuaman, a town on the main highway to the northwestern city of Aleppo which was seized by rebel forces earlier this week, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.

The pro-opposition Observatory gave a death toll for Thursday of more than 260 people, including civilians and combatants on both sides in violence in the capital and the north, west and east.

It said 92 soldiers were killed on Thursday, which would be one of the highest daily casualty counts on the government side since the uprising against Assad broke out in March 2011.

The official SANA news agency also reported fighting nationwide and said dozens of rebels, which it called "mercenary terrorists", had been killed.

The reports could not be independently verified but they indicate a rapidly intensifying conflict, with the death tolls of the past several weeks far exceeding previous months.

Although international attention has focused on the Turkish border in the past week, Aleppo and the city of Homs – north of Damascus and near the border with Lebanon – are being fought over and clashes take place almost daily in the suburbs of the capital Damascus as well as in the countryside.

Turkey scrambled two fighter planes to the border with Syria on Friday after a Syrian military helicopter bombed the Syrian border town of Azmarin.

The Observatory said the air defense base seized by the rebels was located in al-Tana village by the Koris military airport on the road east from Aleppo to al-Raqqa.

Aleppo, Syria's largest city and commercial hub, has been contested since July. The rebel capture of Maarat al-Nuaman cut the highway between Aleppo and Homs, the main route for the government to resupply and reinforce the northern city.

SANA said government forces were mounting operations to clear Aleppo's Karm al-Jabal area of rebels on Friday.

More than 30,000 people have been killed in the conflict which started out as a popular uprising against four decades of Assad family rule then descended into civil war. The armed forces have relied heavily on air power and artillery to hold back the rebels.

Fighting has also spilled over the borders into Turkey, Lebanon, Jordan and the Golan Heights, raising concern that the fighting could spread across the region, now home to 340,000 Syrian refugees.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-20066613

10/24/12

Syrian government 'agrees to Eid al-Adha ceasefire'

The UN's envoy to Syria says President Bashar al-Assad's government has agreed to abide by a ceasefire during the Islamic holiday of Eid al-Adha.

Lakhdar Brahimi told reporters in Cairo that most opposition factions had also said they would observe any ceasefire.

The government said it would make its final decision on Thursday.

Mr Brahimi said he hoped to use the lull in fighting over Eid al-Adha, which starts on Friday, to "discuss a longer and more effective ceasefire".

Eid al-Adha, the Festival of the Sacrifice, is celebrated by Muslims to commemorate the willingness of Abraham to sacrifice his son Ishmael as proof of obedience to God.

more

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-20055271?print=true
24 October 2012 Last updated at 06:15 ET

Russia: Syria rebels have US-made weapons
 
A senior Russian general has said Syrian rebels now have anti-aircraft weapons, including US-made Stingers.

Gen Nikolai Makarov was quoted by the Interfax news service as saying the origin of the surface-to-air missiles should be "cleared up".

Russia is the biggest supplier of arms to its Syrian government ally.

Aerial bombardment of rebel-held towns continued on Wednesday, as the UN's Syria envoy prepared to brief the Security Council on ceasefire efforts.

Lakhdar Brahimi has been trying to arrange a ceasefire between rebels and government forces over the Muslim festival of Eid al-Adha, which begins on Friday.

Weapon supplies
 
"We have reliable information that Syrian militants have foreign portable anti-aircraft missile systems, including those made in the USA... it should be cleared up who delivered them," Gen Makarov told journalists in Russia.

There have been earlier unconfirmed reports of the Syrian opposition having shoulder-mounted missiles, but the West has been reluctant to openly arm the rebels.

In August, Syrian rebels said they had shot down a fighter jet near the border with Iraq.

Syrian warplanes have stepped up their bombardments of rebel-dominated areas in recent months, particularly in the north of the country. Deadly air raids are now daily events in towns around the city of Aleppo.

Recent footage has emerged of Syrian opposition fighters using old Soviet SA-7 heat-seeking missiles, which can destroy a plane flying at up to 14,000ft.

US-made Stinger missiles are shoulder-mounted anti-aircraft weapons designed to target low-flying planes and helicopters.

A US decision to supply them to the mujahideen in Afghanistan in the 1980s to fight the Russians proved to be a turning point in the war.

The UN says that more than 18,000 people have died so far in the uprising against Bashar al-Assad's government, which began in March 2011, but activists and opposition groups put the figure closer to 30,000.

http://www.jpost.com/VideoArticles/Video/Article.aspx?id=289422

Damascus car bomb kills 5, shatters Syria truce

Syrian regime accuses "terrorists" of carrying out car-bombing near makeshift playground built for Id al-Adha holiday.

BEIRUT - A powerful car bomb exploded in Damascus on Friday, inflicting many casualties and buffeting a shaky temporary truce in the Syrian conflict on the occasion of a Muslim religious holiday.

State television said the "terrorist car bomb" had killed five people and wounded 32, according to "preliminary figures".

Opposition activists said the bomb had gone off near a makeshift children's playground built for the Id al-Adha holiday in the southern Daf al-Shok district of the capital.

Fighting erupted around Syria earlier as both sides violated the Id al-Adha ceasefire arranged by international peace envoy Lakhdar Brahimi, but violence was far less intense than usual.

The Syrian military said it had responded to attacks by insurgents on army positions, in line with its announcement on Thursday that it would cease military activity during the four-day holiday, but reserved the right to react to rebel actions.

more

http://news.yahoo.com/bomb-shakes-damascus-opposition-begins-unity-talks-142232847--finance.html

Bomb shakes Damascus as opposition begins unity talks
By Khaled Yacoub Oweis | Reuters – 2 hrs 5 mins

11/4/12

AMMAN (Reuters) - A bomb exploded near army and security compounds in Damascus on Sunday, Syrian television said, and fractured opposition groups seeking to topple President Bashar al-Assad began unity talks abroad to win international respect and arms supplies.

The 50-kilogram (110-pound) bomb, near a large hotel in a heavily guarded district, was described by state media as an attack by "terrorists" - the government's term for insurgents in the 19-month-old uprising against Assad.

Opposition activists said the blast appeared to be the work of the Ahfad al-Rasoul (Grandsons of the Prophet) Brigade, an Islamist militant unit that attacked military and intelligence targets several times in the last two months.

"The terrorist explosion caused several injuries. One of (the injured) is in critical condition," state television said.

Video from state media and posted online by activists showed shattered windows and battered cars but little other damage.

The mainly Sunni rebels have carried out a series of bombings targeting government and military buildings in Damascus this year, extending the war into the seat of Assad's power.

The Syrian conflict has aggravated divisions in the Islamic world, with Shi'ite Iran supporting Assad -- whose Alawite faith derives from Shi'ite Islam -- and U.S.-allied Sunni nations such as Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Qatar backing his foes.

The Syrian Network for Human Rights, an activist monitoring group, said government forces had killed 179 people on Sunday. It said most of the dead were civilians killed in shelling of Damascus suburbs and included 14 women and 20 children. The rest were rebels killed in battles in the capital and the northern provinces of Idlib and Aleppo.

In northern Idlib, opposition sources said rebels were forced to halt an offensive to take a big air base because of a shortage of ammunition, a problem that has dogged their campaign to cement a hold on the north by eliminating Assad's devastating edge in firepower, especially warplanes and helicopter gunships.

Islamist insurgents had launched the attack on the Taftanaz military airport at dawn on Saturday, using rocket launchers and at least three tanks captured from the military, disrupting government air strikes on nearby rebel-held towns and villages.

The Syrian government restricts journalists' access in Syria, making it difficult to verify reports from the ground.

The Jaafar bin Tayyar Division, a rebel unit in Deir al-Zor, said its fighters had taken control of the al-Ward oilfield near the Iraqi border on Sunday, after overrunning a loyalist outpost that had 40 militiamen defending it.

Rebel commanders, former Syrian officials and the Syrian head of an oil services company familiar with oil production in the area said the fields, mostly not operational, had been under de facto rebel control for months.

FEARS OF WIDER CONFLAGRATION

The conflict began with peaceful protest rallies that morphed into armed revolt when Assad, whose family has ruled Syria since 1971, tried to stamp them out with military might. About 32,000 people have been killed, wide swathes of the major Arab state have been wrecked and the civil war threatens to widen into a regional sectarian conflagration.

The opposition talks that began in Qatar marked the first concerted attempt to meld feuding, disparate groups based abroad and coordinate strategy with rebels fighting in Syria.

Divisions between Islamists and secularists as well as between those inside Syria and opposition figures based abroad have foiled prior attempts to forge a united opposition and deterred Western powers from intervening militarily.

Analysts were sceptical the planned four days of opposition talks in the Qatari capital Doha would bring immediate results.

They aim to broaden the Syrian National Council (SNC), the largest of the overseas-based opposition groups, from some 300 members to 400, to pave the way for talks in Doha on Thursday including other anti-Assad factions to crystallise a coalition.

"The main aim is to expand the council to include more of the social and political components. There will be new forces in the SNC," Abdulbaset Sieda, current leader of the Syrian National Council, told reporters in Doha ahead of the meeting.

The meetings would also elect a new executive committee and leader for the SNC, he said.

A Qatar-based security analyst, who asked not to be named, said the meetings would bring a small step forward, at most. "The Syrian National Council is just too divided," he said.

The United States called last week for an overhaul of the opposition's leadership, saying it was time to move beyond the SNC and bring in those "in the front lines fighting and dying".

Veteran opposition leader Riad Seif has proposed a structure melding the rebel Free Syrian Army, regional military councils and other insurgent units alongside local civilian bodies and prominent opposition figures.

Called the Syrian National Initiative, his plan envisages the creation of an Initiative Body, including political groups, local councils, national figures and rebel forces; a Supreme Military Council; a Judicial Committee and a transitional government-in-waiting composed of technocrats.

Western, Turkish and Arab recognition of the new opposition structure, Seif said in an interview with Reuters last week, will help channel anti-tank and anti-aircraft missiles to the rebels and "decide the battle".

Western powers keen to see Assad removed have been loath to arm rebels in part because of the growing prominence of radical Islamic fighters fighting separately from more secular groups.

http://www.timesofisrael.com/syrian-tanks-cross-into-golan-demilitarized-zone/

3 Syrian tanks cross into Golan demilitarized zone, Israel raises alert

The Israeli army, which has been braced for Syrian fighting spilling into Israel, reports the incident to UN peacekeepers

11/3/12

The Israeli army said three Syrian tanks entered the demilitarized zone in the Golan Heights on the Israel-Syrian border Saturday.
 
The Israel Defense Forces raised its alert level in the Northern Command area, and a military spokeswoman said Israel complained to the U.N. peacekeeping force in the area after the tanks entered.
 
The incident — the first such violation in 40 years — was not regarded as an incident of hostility toward Israel. Rather, the Syrian tanks were apparently facing off against Syrian rebel forces. Nonetheless, Syrian-Israeli relations are relentlessly fraught, and any border incident raises tensions.
 
Hebrew news site Ynet said there were reports that two Syrian armored personnel carriers also crossed into the zone.

more

http://www.jpost.com/MiddleEast/Article.aspx?id=290534
Syrian army strikes Damascus after rebel attacks

By REUTERS

11/05/2012 10:38

Activists say 28 people killed in bombardment and overnight shelling; Russian FM justifies $1b. in arms sales to Assad in year.

The Syrian army bombarded rebel strongholds in southern Damascus on Monday with artillery and from the air, hours after opposition fighters attacked a militia loyal to President Bashar Assad, opposition activists said.

At least eight people were killed and dozens wounded in the bombardment, after 20 people were killed by army shelling overnight, they said.

more

http://debka.com/article/22499/

Israeli warplanes fly over Golan as Hizballah fighters pour into Syria
DEBKAfile Exclusive Report November 4, 2012, 9:23 PM (GMT+02:00)

Israeli warplanes flew over the divided Golan Sunday, Nov. 4, in a show of strength and as a deterrent against the Syrian civil war seeping across the border, debkafile’s military and Western intelligence sources report.  In Paris, President Francois Hollande vowed Sunday that “France would oppose with all its strength any bid to destabilize Lebanon. Lebanon must be protected.”

He spoke regardless of the 5,000 Lebanese Shiite Hizballah fighters who have poured into Syria from their Beqaa Valley stronghold of al-Harmel to fight Bashar Assad’s war. Our sources reveal that these Lebanese fighters have now advanced 50-60 kilometers deep into southwestern Syria, up to the outskirts of the embattled town of Homs.

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http://news.yahoo.com/obama-election-signals-phase-syria-war-112519191.html

11/7/12

Obama re-election signals new phase in Syria war

ZAATARI, Jordan (AP) — Western efforts to oust Syrian President Bashar Assad shifted dramatically Wednesday, with Britain announcing it will deal directly with rebel military leaders and Turkey saying NATO members have discussed using Patriot missiles to protect a safe zone inside Syria.

The developments came within hours of Barack Obama's re-election, with U.S. allies anticipating a new, bolder approach from the American president to end the deadlocked civil war that has killed more than 36,000 people since an uprising against Assad began in March 2011.

British Prime Minister David Cameron, visiting a camp Wednesday for Syrian refugees in Jordan, said the U.S., Britain and other allies should do more to "shape the opposition" into a coherent force and open channels of communication directly with rebel military commanders.

Previously, Britain and the U.S. have acknowledged contacts only with exile groups and political opposition figures — some connected to rebel forces — inside Syria.

"There is an opportunity for Britain, for America, for Saudi Arabia, Jordan and like-minded allies to come together and try to help shape the opposition, outside Syria and inside Syria," Cameron said. "And try to help them achieve their goal, which is our goal of a Syria without Assad."

more

JPost.com Breaking News

Moderator Note: Need links posted when posting news stories.
http://www.jpost.com/Headlines/Article.aspx?id=290917

Obama to act to bring an end to Syrian civil war



By JPOST.COM STAFF LAST UPDATED: 11/07/2012 18:07

United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon urged the re-elected US President Barack Obama on Wednesday to act in order to end the war in Syria and to revive the Middle East peace process, AFP reported.

"Many challenges lie ahead -- from ending the bloodshed in Syria, to getting the Middle East peace process back on track, to promoting sustainable development and tackling the challenges posed by climate change. All will require strong multilateral cooperation," Ban said in a statement.

Ban congratulated Obama for his re-election and added he is looking forward to working with Obama "in the spirit of the enduring partnership between the United States and the United Nations." JPost.com Breaking News

BH - I know you do for the most part, but make sure you post the URL links with these news stories, b/c they are copyrighted, and they frown on others when their news stories are posted without so. Could you post the link to this?

Thank you!

Gotcha! That's what I love about this board- and I like to back with scripture too  usually. Since Android infected  my phone with their  last update my copy/paste is HORRIBLE not to mention my battery charge now is poor - I'm going to iPhone 5 I think.  :P

http://news.yahoo.com/9-000-refugees-26-officers-flee-syria-turkey-175157944.html

About 9,000 refugees, 26 officers, flee Syria to Turkey
By Jonathon Burch and Murad Sezer | Reuters – 3 hrs ago

11/9/12

ANKARA/CEYLANPINAR, Turkey (Reuters) - Around 9,000 Syrian refugees have fled to Turkey in the past 24 hours, the U.N. refugee agency said on Friday, one of the largest single day influxes, while Turkish state media said 26 defecting Syrian army officers had also arrived.

More than 120,000 registered Syrian refugees are now sheltering in Turkish camps, and tens of thousands of unregistered Syrians are living in Turkish border towns and villages.

The latest influx caused alarm in Turkey which is increasingly concerned about its ability to cope with such large refugee numbers and has pushed hard - so far without success - for a buffer zone to be set up inside Syria where refugees could be housed.

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Israel drawn into Syria fighting for first time

The Israeli military has fired a missile into Syria, the first time Israel has been drawn into the fighting in the neighboring country.

The military said it fired the missile as a warning shot on Sunday after a stray mortar from Syria hit a military post in the Golan Heights. Israel captured the Golan from Syria in the 1967 Mideast war and subsequently annexed it.

The military says no damage or injuries were reported inside Israel.

A string of mortar shells have struck the Golan during the Syrian civil war. Israel views the fire as accidental, but nonetheless has warned that it holds Syria responsible.

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/M/ML_SYRIA?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2012-11-11-06-19-10


IDF fires warning shots into Syria after shell hits Golan

Israel warns that further attacks from Syria will "illicit a vigorous response" from IDF, sends letter to UN warning Syrians to avoid spillover; Barak: If shells fall, we will respond.

REST: http://www.jpost.com/Defense/Article.aspx?id=291326

http://news.yahoo.com/syrian-opposition-groups-reach-unity-deal-163006686.html

11/12/12

Syrian opposition groups reach unity deal

DOHA, Qatar (AP) — Syrian anti-government groups struck a deal Sunday under intense international pressure to form a new opposition leadership that will include representatives from the country's disparate factions fighting to topple President Bashar Assad's regime, activists said.

The opposition has been deeply divided for months despite the relentless bloodshed in Syria and repeated calls from their Western and Arab supporters to create a cohesive and representative leadership that could present a single conduit for foreign aid. The agreement, reached Sunday after more than a week of meetings in the Qatari capital of Doha, could boost efforts to secure international support — and potentially weapons — that will be crucial in the war to oust Assad.

"We have agreed on the broad platform and all (opposition) parties, without any exception, are supporting this initiative," said Ali Sadr el-Din Bayanouni, a former Syrian Muslim Brotherhood leader who took part in the talks.

He said the new leadership will be called the Syrian National Coalition for Opposition and Revolutionary Forces. Opposition delegates in Doha were expected to vote on the new leadership's president later Sunday.

In a bid to be more representative and curb the influence of exiles considered out of touch with events on the ground, the new coalition will include activists from inside Syria as well as rebel commanders.

It will also include representatives from the largest current opposition group, the Syrian National Council, which initially resisted the idea of a new leadership council, viewing it as a threat to its claim of primacy. After some wrangling, the SNC secured 22 of the 60 seats in the new coalition.

SNC secretary-general Bassam Ishak said the new leadership was "an important and positive move forward."

"This new body will help up mobilize more international support and resources for the Syrian opposition," he said.

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http://news.yahoo.com/israel-fires-syria-2nd-straight-day-125101747.html

11/12/12

Israel fires at Syria for 2nd straight day
Associated Press – 4 hrs ago

JERUSALEM (AP) — The Israeli military says it has fired into Syria for a second straight day in response to errant mortar fire that landed in the Israeli-controlled Golan Heights.

There were no reports of injuries on either side of the frontier Monday. But a series of similar incidents in recent days has raised fears that Israel could be dragged into the fighting in its northern neighbor.

Israel does not believe the mortar fire has intentionally targeted Israeli targets.

Still, Israeli officials have warned that they will respond harshly if the attacks persist.

Israel responded for the first time on Sunday, firing an anti-tank missile as a "warning shot."

[Share your story: Do you have a personal connection to Syria through family or friends? If so, we’re interested in publishing your perspective on the violence in the county. Learn more.]

http://news.yahoo.com/israel-reports-direct-hits-targets-syria-133202693.html

11/12/12

Israel reports 'direct hits' on targets in Syria

TEL HAZEKA, Golan Heights (AP) — An Israeli tank struck a Syrian army vehicle Monday after a mortar shell landed on Israeli-held territory, the military said, in the first direct confrontation between the countries since the Syrian uprising broke out, sharpening fears that Israel could be drawn into the civil war next door.

Israel has steadfastly tried to avoid getting sucked into the Syrian conflict, but it has grown increasingly worried after a series of mortar shells have struck territory in the Israeli-controlled Golan Heights in recent days. On Sunday, Israel fired a "warning shot" into Syria in response to the shelling.

The conflict has already spilled over into several of Syria's other neighbors — whether in direct violence or in the flood of refugees fleeing Syria's bloodshed. On Monday, a Syrian fighter jet bombed a rebel-held area hugging the border with Turkey three times, killing more than a dozen people and bringing a protest from the Turkish government.

Potential Israeli involvement in Syria could be far more explosive. Open hostilities between Israel and Syria could have wide-ranging consequences, dragging in Lebanon's Hezbollah guerrilla group and perhaps Hamas militants in the Gaza Strip on Israel's southern flank.

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Syria-Israel exchange fire
http://www.jpost.com/Headlines/Article.aspx?id=292380
11/18/12

While I've commented about how much do we really need to post about stories and such, this is a topic that I think deserves a bit more attention than the normal stories, as it's obviously a very significant topic in relation to the end times. What happens in the Middle East and Israel is the cornerstone of end times events.

Without a doubt, yes - the OT prophets warn about this numerous times. For example, was reading a chapter in Zechariah this morning, and it covered exactly this.

Thank you Jesus for keeping us in remembrance when it comes to your word.

http://www.renesys.com/blog/2012/11/syria-off-the-air.shtml

Syrian Internet Is Off The Air

 By James Cowie on November 29, 2012 8:31 AM| No Comments| 3 TrackBacks

Starting at 10:26 UTC (12:26pm in Damascus), Syria's international Internet connectivity shut down. In the global routing table, all 84 of Syria's IP address blocks have become unreachable, effectively removing the country from the Internet.

We are investigating the dynamics of the outage and will post updates as they become available.

Update (15:45 UTC)
 
Looking closely at the continuing Internet blackout in Syria, we can see that traceroutes into Syria are failing, exactly as one would expect for a major outage. The primary autonomous system for Syria is the Syrian Telecommunications Establishment; all of their customer networks are currently unreachable.

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Unusual activity at Syrian chemical weapons sites amid rumors Assad is dead or fled

 Western intelligence officers have seen new and different types of activity at Syrian chemical weapons sites, the New York Times reported Sunday, Dec. 2. “It’s not just moving stuff around,” they said. debkafile’s Middle East sources add rumors were flying around the region Saturday night and Sunday morning that President Assad had been killed or had fled Syria. Neither is confirmed. Those rumors tie in with the suggestive movements of chemical weapons picked up by Western intelligence.

Read more: http://www.debka.com/article/22579/Unusual-activity-at-Syrian-chemical-weapons-sites-amid-rumors-Assad-is-dead-or-fled

So what kind of government will form in Syria? I'd venture a guess not much different than the one they are forming in Egypt.

http://news.yahoo.com/u-n-pulls-non-essential-syria-staff-due-170237404.html

U.N. suspends Syria aid operations due to insecurity

12/3/12

GENEVA (Reuters) - The United Nations said on Monday it was suspending its aid operations in Syria and withdrawing all non-essential international staff due to the worsening security situation.
 
Up to 25 of about 100 foreign staff could leave this week, it said, adding that more armored vehicles were needed after attacks in recent weeks on humanitarian aid convoys and the hijacking of goods or vehicles.
 
Some convoys had been caught in crossfire between Syrian government and rebel forces, including an incident near the airport in which two staff were injured, it said.
 
"We can confirm that the United Nations in Syria will pull out non-essential international personnel with immediate effect," U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon's spokesman Martin Nesirky told reporters.

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http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4314776,00.html

Report: Iran says no future for Assad in Syria
Published:  12.03.12

The Lebanese Newspaper Almustaqbal, which is linked with the Syrian opposition, reported that Iran's Parliament Speaker Ali Larijani told Iraqi officials that the situation in Syria is critical and President Bashar Assad will not be able to maintain hold of the country much longer.
 
According to the report "Larijani stressed Tehran's commitment to Syria and said Iran is willing to give Assad asylum in case matters reach the point of no return." (Roi Kais)
 

http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4315176,00.html

US report: Syria assembling chemical weapons
Official tells Wired magazine Assad forces reached the point where they can 'load chemical weapons on plane and drop them.' Obama warns Assad not to make 'tragic mistake' and use WMDs

Yitzhak Benhorin Published:  12.04.12

WASHINGTON – Following reports of "suspicious activity" at Syria's chemical weapons sites, an American official with knowledge of the situation told Wired magazine that President Bashar Assad's regime has begun combining the two chemical precursors needed to weaponize sarin gas.

"Physically, they’ve gotten to the point where they can load it up on a plane and drop it," the official told the magazine.

more
 

http://worldnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2012/12/05/15706380-syria-loads-chemical-weapons-into-bombs-military-awaits-assads-order?lite

12/5/12

Syria loads chemical weapons into bombs; military awaits Assad's order

The Syrian military is prepared to use chemical weapons against its own people and is awaiting final orders from President Bashar Assad, U.S. officials told NBC News on Wednesday.

The military has loaded the precursor chemicals for sarin, a deadly nerve gas, into aerial bombs that could be dropped onto the Syrian people from dozens of fighter-bombers, the officials said.

As recently as Tuesday, officials had said there was as yet no evidence that the process of mixing the "precursor" chemicals had begun. But Wednesday, they said their worst fears had been confirmed: The nerve agents were locked and loaded inside the bombs.
 
Sarin is an extraordinarily lethal agent. Iraqi President Saddam Hussein's forces killed 5,000 Kurds with a single sarin attack on Halabja in 1988.

U.S. officials stressed that as of now, the sarin bombs hadn't been loaded onto planes and that Assad hadn't issued a final order to use them. But if he does, one of the officials said, "there's little the outside world can do to stop it."

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I wonder if this is the basis for them going into Syria, or at least an air attack on Assad. It sounds a lot like the rhetoric before the Iraq invasion.

In this interview on Fox news last evening John McCain made the claim that if we did not go into Syria on a preventive mission, we would be responsible for the deaths of thousands of Syrians should Assad release his chemical weapons (Sarin Gas) on his own people. He claims the weapons have been assembled and are ready to launch, and they have a shelf life of 60 days. He even went so far as to say we should place US troops on the ground to "secure" said weapons. (8:00 minute mark) What a perfect setup to allow for false flag events to lead us into another war in the region...

http://video.foxnews.com/v/2017376293001/

http://rt.com/usa/news/us-eisenhower-syria-military-369/

Thousands of US troops arrive near Syrian shore on USS Eisenhower
12/6/12

The USS Eisenhower, an American aircraft carrier that holds eight fighter bomber squadrons and 8,000 men, arrived at the Syrian coast yesterday in the midst of a heavy storm, indicating US preparation for a potential ground intervention.
 
While the Obama administration has not announced any sort of American-led military intervention in the war-torn country, the US is now ready to launch such action “within days” if Syrian President Bashar al-Assad decides to use chemical weapons against the opposition, the Times reports.

Some have suggested that the Assad regime may use chemical weapons against the opposition fighters in the coming days or weeks.

The arrival of the USS Dwight D. Eisenhower, one of the 11 US Navy aircraft carriers that has the capacity to hold thousands of men, is now stationed at the coast of Syria, DEBKAfile reports. The aircraft carrier joined the USS Iwo Jima Amphibious Ready Group, which holds about 2,500 Marines.

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Beware Russia Today propaganda.

As I pointed out on this at PPF, a carrier does hold thousands, but it's the ships crew, not soldiers! A carrier has over 5000 crew members. But troops they only have room for in the hanger bays. So they basically have to hunker down on the steel floor till they get where they are going, so it's only a short term thing and can involve only a few hundred troops and their equipment. It's not like the article is trying to suggest that the carriers are carrying thousands of ground troops! That's just silly. That's what the amphibious assault ships are for.

http://news.yahoo.com/syrian-forces-fired-scud-missiles-rebels-u-official-185702469.html

Syrian forces fire Scud missiles at rebels: U.S. official

WASHINGTON/BRUSSELS (Reuters) - Forces loyal to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad have fired Scud missiles at rebels trying to overthrow Syria's government, a senior U.S. official said on Wednesday.
 
U.S. officials said they were unaware of any previous instances in which Scuds were used against the rebels and it represented an escalation in Assad's struggle to retain power in the 20-month-old uprising in which more than 40,000 people have been killed.
 
A U.S. official, speaking on condition of anonymity, confirmed the use of Scuds.
 
In Brussels, a NATO official also said on Wednesday that a number of short-range ballistic missiles had been launched inside Syria this week.
 
"Allied intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance assets have detected the launch of a number of unguided, short-range ballistic missiles inside Syria this week," the official, also speaking on condition of anonymity, said.

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http://news.yahoo.com/u-lawmakers-says-syrias-chemical-weapons-ready-014634950.html

12/12/12

U.S. lawmakers says Syria's chemical weapons are ready to use

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Syria's chemical weapons could be used at "a moment's notice" and the international community should not accept any assurances from Syrian officials that they will not be used, U.S. House Intelligence Committee Chairman Mike Rogers said on Wednesday.
 
U.S. and other Western officials recently issued sharp warnings to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad not to deploy chemical weapons. Syria called those warnings a "pretext for intervention" in the civil war.
 
Rogers, a Republican, told Reuters in an interview that the Syrian government's activities related to chemical weapons were a shift in posture and a major concern.
 
"I believe that they have put elements of their chemical weapons program in a condition of which they could be used at a moment's notice, which is very different from before," Rogers said.
 
"And some notion that they have promised not to use them, I don't think the international community ... should take that on face value," he said.
 
"This is a regime that's getting more desperate by the day. They have affirmatively put elements of their chemical weapon program in a position for use, that is something that we should all be concerned about."
 
His comments came amid reports that Assad's forces had fired Soviet-era Scud ballistic missiles against rebels in a significant escalation of the nearly two-year-old conflict that has already killed more than 40,000 civilians.
 
Rogers said more information was needed before he could say for sure whether the Scuds had been used.
 
"Some of the sourcing I've seen on the material just doesn't make me feel comfortable. We've seen a lot of mistakes based on social media, we're going to need more than that," he said.
 
But reports about use of Scud-style weapons and the changed posture on chemical weapons suggested desperation on the part of Assad's government, Rogers said.
 
But he added: "It would not be unusual for a regime that possesses some fairly sophisticated weapons systems in these last, I argue days and months, or days and weeks, of a pretty desperate regime to use the weapons at its disposal.
 
"So Scuds, and I make the next leap of chemical weapons, I think is of real concern."
 
Rogers has just returned from a visit to Bahrain and Saudi Arabia where he discussed Syria and other security issues with officials. Arab League officials want to see the United States step up its role on Syria, he said, adding that he was not referring to military action.
 
"The United States has a unique capability to deal with these," Rogers said, referring to Syria's chemical weapons. He would not describe the capability.
 
"I sensed a real frustration from our Arab League partners, frustration with the United States. I believe that we need to step up our role, and I am not talking about military, I'm just talking about U.S. influence and leadership and bringing unique capabilities that only the United States has to the table in these discussions," Rogers said.
 
"And again that doesn't mean boots on the ground. It does mean that we have unique capabilities that we should at least offer as a part of the discussion of how we prevent the use of these chemical weapons and the sheer humanitarian crisis in the region that I think would be created by their use."
 
(Reporting by Tabassum Zakaria; editing by Christopher Wilson)

http://news.yahoo.com/egypt-evacuates-4-000-people-syria-180506821.html

Egypt evacuates 4,000 people from Syria

12/16/12

CAIRO (AP) — Egypt's Foreign Ministry says that Cairo has more evacuated more than 4,000 of its nationals and their family members from Syria over the past several months.
 
The Sunday statement did not provide a more specific time frame for the evacuations. It cited one recent instance of 90 people, including Egyptian nationals and their Syrian spouses and children, who were given special passage through the Syria-Lebanon border before being taken to Beirut airport.
 
Fighting has recently intensified around the Syrian capital. Egypt's national air carrier halted all flights to and from Syria late last month due to the deteriorating security situation around Damascus airport and the roads leading to it.

US pulls war fleet from Syrian water. Ahmadinejad cancels Turkey visit

Shortly before the deployment of two American Patriot missiles manned by 400 US servicemen for defending Turkey against Syria was announced Thursday, Dec. 13, Washington quietly recalled from Syrian waters the USS Eisenhower aircraft carrier and its strike group and the USS Iwo Jima Amphibious Ready group and the 2,000 Marines on their decks.

This US fleet, now on its way to home base, stayed opposite the Syrian coast from the third week of November ready to take part in direct US intervention in the Syrian conflict.

Now that the American warships are gone, Russia’s Black Sea Fleet task force, which docked at the Syrian port of Tartus on Dec. 5, is the only war fleet remaining around the Syrian coast. According to debkafile’s intelligence sources, the Russian ships came to deliver a large consignment of arms for Bashar Assad’s army, although Russian sources claimed the vessels put into port for minor repairs and refueling.

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http://news.yahoo.com/report-top-syrian-general-joins-opposition-101021047.html

.
Report: Top Syrian general joins opposition
By By BASSEM MROUE | Associated Press – 15 hrs ago.

BEIRUT (AP) — The general who heads Syria's military police has defected and joined the uprising against President Bashar Assad's regime, one of the highest walkouts by a serving security chief during the country's 21-month uprising, a pan Arab TV station has reported.
 
Maj. Gen. Abdul-Aziz Jassem al-Shallal appeared in a video aired on Al Arabiya TV late Tuesday saying he is joining "the people's revolution."
 
Al-Shallal's defection comes as military pressure builds on the regime, with government bases falling to rebel assault near the capital Damascus and elsewhere across the country. On Wednesday, the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said government shelling in the northeastern province of Raqqa killed at least 20 people, including women and children.
 
Dozens of generals have defected since Syria's crisis began in March 2011. In July, Brig. Gen. Manaf Tlass was the first member of Assad's inner circle to break ranks and join the opposition.

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That's common apparently in the Arab world. People see they are on the loosing side, they jump ship. But then in many of those regimes, they live in fear of messing up on the job and being executed for it, so I'm sure there are plenty who are not fighting willingly, but out of fear for theirs and their families lives.

http://news.yahoo.com/un-estimates-syria-death-toll-more-60-000-160140654.html

UN estimates Syria death toll more than 60,000

01/02/13

BEIRUT (AP) — The United Nations estimated Wednesday that more than 60,000 people have been killed in Syria's 21-month-old uprising against authoritarian rule, a toll one-third higher than what anti-regime activists had counted. The U.N. human rights chief called the toll "truly shocking."
 
Opposition activist groups had been estimating the death toll at more than 45,000 and this was the first time that the U.N. estimate was higher.
 
"Given there has been no letup in the conflict since the end of November, we can assume that more than 60,000 people have been killed by the beginning of 2013," U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay said in a statement. "The number of casualties is much higher than we expected, and is truly shocking," she added.
 
"The failure of the international community, in particular the Security Council, to take concrete actions to stop the blood-letting, shames us all," Pillay said. "Collectively, we have fiddled at the edges while Syria burns."

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http://www.worldtribune.com/2013/01/03/russia-to-send-12-warships-for-exercise-near-coast-of-syria/

Russia to send 12 warships for exercise near coast of Syria

1/3/13

MOSCOW — Russia has been preparing for major naval exercises in the
 eastern Mediterranean.
 
Officials said the Russian Navy has sent at least 12 warships for
 exercises in the Mediterranean and the Gulf of Aden in January. They
 said the exercises would include demonstrations of anti-submarine and air
 defense operations near the coast of Syria.

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http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4330267,00.html

Officials 'concerned' about Syrian uranium stockpile
US, Mideast officials fear Iran could be trying to seize uranium stockpile left over from Syrian nuclear program

Ynet Published:  01.09.13

Nuclear experts in the US and Middle East have raised concerns about the security of up to 50 metric tons of unenriched uranium in Syria, the Financial Times reported Tuesday.

Such a stockpile could be a vital resource to building a nuclear bomb and could have disastrous implications if seized by Iran.

Not much is known about the Syrian nuclear program, and the country denied ever having had one. But intelligence data collected at the time indicated that President Bashar Assad regime’s was close to completing a nuclear reactor at Al-Kibar, in the east of the country, when it was reportedly destroyed by Israeli jets in September 2007.

Intelligence officials have long believed that the reactor was familiar in its design to the Yongbyon facility in North Korea, which aided Syria with its program. By comparing the two reactors, experts have concluded that Al-Kibar would have required about 50 tonnes of natural uranium fuel to become operational.

Government officials and nuclear experts have recently told the Financial Times that there were legitimate concerns about a uranium stockpile of such magnitude which may have remained in Syria. According to experts, such a stockpile would be enough to provide weapons grade fuel for five atomic devices.

“There are real worries about what has happened to the uranium that Syria was planning to put into the Al-Kibar reactor shortly before the reactor was destroyed in 2007,” David Albright, the head of the US-based Institute for Science and International Security think-tank told the Financial Times.

“There’s no question that, as Syria gets engulfed in civil war, the whereabouts of this uranium is worrying governments. There is evidence to suggest this issue has been raised by one government directly with the IAEA.”
 
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-20984142

11 January 2013

Rebels 'take control of key north Syria airbase'

Rebel are reported to have taken control of a strategic military airbase in north-western Syria after weeks of fierce fighting with government forces.

Online videos appeared to show rebels celebrating inside Taftanaz airport, alongside tanks and helicopters.

Helicopters based there have been used to attack rebel-held areas.

Meanwhile, talks in Geneva between the UN envoy to Syria, Lakhdar Brahimi, and senior US and Russian diplomats ended without a breakthrough.

Mr Brahimi had wanted to discuss with the US Deputy Secretary of State, William Burns, and Russia's Deputy Foreign Minister, Mikhail Bogdanov, how to implement the plan proposed by the Action Group for Syria in June, which called for an immediate cessation of violence and the establishment of a transitional government.

A joint statement read by Mr Brahimi after Friday's meeting stated that all sides had stressed there could be no military solution to the conflict, and underscored the necessity to reach a political solution.

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http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4332009,00.html

Syria: Worst is yet to come
Analysis: Increased involvement of armed jihadi groups in civil war may lead to ethnic cleansing in post-Assad Syria

Riccardo Dugulin Published:  01.14.13

Reports linked to the online portal of the "revolution coordination page of Midan area" indicate that the Russian journalist Anhar Kochneva is in the hands of jihadist elements operating in Syria. Her captors have expressed multiple times their willingness to execute her. Following her capture, Mrs. Kochneva may or may not be arbitrarily killed, yet what remains certain is that the situation which is rapidly developing in Syria leaves no room for doubt. Regardless of the mounting number of innocent deaths, the gruesome crimes committed by government forces and the fierce fighting that has been taking place between opposition groups and loyalist units, it is certain that the worse is yet to come for the Syrian people and for the neighboring countries. This assertion is conceivable as a close look at all the likely outcomes of the present crisis do not indicate any strong probability for peace and stability in the Near East.

President Barak Obama may have decided to bless the Syrian opposition with the White House recognition, while other European governments are also in the process of doing so, yet the problem regarding the nature of the multiple movements fighting regime forces is today impossible to ignore. Recent reports and articles have pointed at the growing role played in logistical coordination and combat operations by al-Qaeda-linked jihadi groups. The infamous Jabhat al-Nusra is gaining international notoriety by having been the first opposition force listed as a terrorist organization by the United States since the beginning of hostilities in 2011.

more
 

http://news.yahoo.com/explosions-kill-52-syrian-university-exams-begin-175829230.html

.
Explosions kill 52 at Syrian university as exams begin
By Mariam Karouny | Reuters – 1 hr 47 mins ago.

BEIRUT (Reuters) - Two explosions tore through one of Syria's biggest universities on the first day of student exams on Tuesday, killing at least 52 people and wounding dozens, a monitoring group said.
 
Bloodshed has disrupted civilian life across Syria since a violent government crackdown in early 2011 on peaceful demonstrations for democratic reform turned the unrest into an armed insurgency bent on overthrowing President Bashar al-Assad.
 
More than 50 countries asked the United Nations Security Council on Tuesday to refer the crisis to the International Criminal Court, which prosecutes people for genocide and war crimes. But Russia - Assad's long-standing ally and arms supplier - blocked the initiative, calling it "ill-timed and counterproductive.
 
Each side in the 22-month-old conflict blamed the other for Tuesday's blasts at the University of Aleppo, located in a government-held area of Syria's most populous city.
 
Some activists in Aleppo said a government attack caused the explosions, while state television accused "terrorists" - a term they often use to describe the rebels - of firing two rockets at the school. A rebel fighter said the blasts appeared to have been caused by "ground-to-ground" missiles.
 
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a Britain-based monitoring group, said at least 52 people were killed and dozens wounded, but it could not identify the source of the blasts.
 
"Dozens are in critical condition. The death toll could rise to 90," the Observatory said in a statement, citing doctors and students.
 
State television - which did not give a death toll - showed a body lying on the street and several cars burning. One of the university buildings was damaged.
 
Video footage showed students carrying books out of the university after one of the explosions, walking quickly away from rising smoke. The camera then shakes to the sound of another explosion and people begin running.
 
If confirmed, the government's report of a rocket attack would suggest rebels in the area had been able to obtain and deploy more powerful weapons than previously used.
 
The nearest rebel-controlled area, Bustan al-Qasr, is more than a mile away from the university.
 
Activists rejected the suggestion that insurgents were behind the attack, however, and instead blamed the government.
 
"The warplanes of this criminal regime do not respect a mosque, a church or a university," said a student who gave his name as Abu Tayem.
 
GRINDING TOWARD STALEMATE
 
The rebels have been trying to take Aleppo - once a thriving commercial hub - since the summer, but have been unable to uproot Assad's better-armed and more organized forces.
 
International efforts to find a political solution to Syria's civil war have similarly resulted in stalemate, even as the conflict's death toll has surged above 60,000.
 
The crisis has driven hundreds of thousands of people to flee the country, many to neighboring Jordan, Lebanon and Turkey, where a fire at a camp in the country's southeast killed a pregnant Syrian woman and her three children on Tuesday.
 
Inside Syria, neither the military nor the insurgents have been able to sustain clear momentum.
 
The rebels remain poorly equipped and disorganized compared with Assad's forces, despite winning support from some regional powers like Turkey and Saudi Arabia.
 
The government also benefits from superior air power, used to pummel rebel-held areas around Damascus and elsewhere.
 
Rebel efforts to assault the capital also appear to have ground towards an stalemate. A witness in a rebel-controlled district of Damascus said on Tuesday the front line between the two sides was quiet.
 
The streets were still full of civilians, the witness said, despite the sound of shells hitting nearby buildings. He said people were walking around, buying sweets and sandwiches.
 
(Additional reporting by Oliver Holmes in Beirut and Steve Gutterman in Moscow; Writing by Alexander Dziadosz; Editing by Mark Heinrich)

Surprise, surprise... :o

http://news.yahoo.com/video-game-puts-players-shoes-syrian-rebels-211756960.html

Video game puts players in shoes of Syrian rebels

1/17/13

BEIRUT (AP) — A new video game based on Syria's civil war challenges players to make the hard choices facing the country's rebels. Is it better to negotiate peace with the regime of President Bashar Assad, for example, or dispatch jihadist fighters to kill pro-government thugs?
 
The British designer of "Endgame: Syria" says he hopes the game will inform people who might otherwise remain ignorant about the conflict.
 
Views differ, however, on the appropriateness of using a video game to discuss a complex crisis that has killed more than 60,000 people since March 2011. Computer giant Apple has refused to distribute the game and some consider the mere idea insulting. Others love it, and one fan from inside Syria has suggested changes to make the game better mirror the actual war.
 
The dispute comes amid wider arguments about violent video games since last month's shooting in Newtown, Connecticut, that left 20 children and six adults dead. This week, the National Rifle Association revised the recommended age for a new shooting game after criticisms by liberal groups.
 
Tomas Rawlings, who designed the Syria game, said he got the idea while watching TV pundits debate the possible consequences of directly arming Syria's rebels, which Western nations have declined to do. He said he thought a game could explore such questions by allowing players to make choices and see their consequences.
 
"For those who don't want to read a newspaper but still care about the world, this is a way for them to find out about things," said Rawlings, the design and production director of U.K.-based Auroch Digital.
 
In the simple game, which took about two weeks to build, the player assumes the role of the rebels seeking to topple Assad's regime. The play alternates between political and military stages. In each stage, the player sees cards representing regime actions and must choose the rebel response.
 
The choices seek to mirror the real conflict. The regime may get declarations of support from Russia, China or Iran to boost its popularity while the rebels receive support from the United States, Turkey or Saudi Arabia - reflecting the foreign powers backing the two sides.
 
In battle, the regime may deploy conventional military forces like infantry, tanks and artillery as well as pro-government thugs known as shabiha. The rebels' choices include sympathetic Palestinian or Kurdish militias, assassins or jihadist fighters known as muhajideen.
 
Some of the rebels' strongest attacks also kill civilians, reducing rebel popularity and seeking to reflect the war's complexity.
 
All along, the player is given basic information about the conflict, learning that Islamists once persecuted by the regime now consider the fight a holy war and that the shabiha are accused of massacring civilians.
 
The game ends when one side loses its support or the sides agree to a peace deal. The player is then told what follows. The longer the fighting lasts, the worse the aftermath, as chaos, sectarian conflict and Islamic militancy spread.
 
The lasting impression is that no matter which side wins, Syria loses.
 
Rawlings said that's the game's point.
 
"You can win the battle militarily but still lose the peace because the cost of winning militarily has fractured the country so much that the war keeps going," he said. "You can also end the war so that there is less of that."
 
The game was released on the company's website and as a free download from Google for Android devices on December 12. Rawlings submitted the game to Apple to distribute via its App Store but the company rejected it.
 
Apple declined to comment, but Rawlings's rejection referred to a company guideline for mobile apps: " 'Enemies' within the context of a game cannot solely target a specific race, culture, a real government or corporation, or any other real entity."
 
Rawlings is modifying the game, though he worries it will weaken it.
 
"It will still be the same overall experience, but it will reduce the value of the game to inform people," he said.
 
News of the game was greeted with a mix of interest and outrage online. Some complained that players can't take the regime side, while others found it wrong to make a game about a brutal war.
 
"Rawlings has mistakenly understood the Syrian war as a nonchalant 'experience' that people can play while waiting for the train to work," said Samar Aburahma, a university student of Palestinian descent in San Francisco who refused to try the game. "It is beyond insulting to Syrians, especially given the fact that war is ongoing."
 
Others find it a valuable, if limited, approach to the conflict.
 
Andrea Stanton, a religious studies professor at the University of Denver who studies Syria, said she responded emotionally to the game.
 
"It isn't really a fun game to play," she said, noting that she was angry when she lost and felt dread when the frequency of deadly regime airstrikes went up as the game progressed - as it has in the real conflict.
 
"This a very sobering game in that you sense how quickly the military stakes escalate and how little the political phase has to do with actual Syrians," she said.
 
She is organizing a campus activity for students to play and discuss the game.
 
"I think it is very valuable for teaching and getting people to experience a sense of the limited options the rebels face," she said.
 
It is unclear how many people have played the game. Google says it has been downloaded as many as 5,000 times from its site, and Rawlings says more have played online. He guesses more than 10,000 people have tried it.
 
Few in Syria are likely to have played it, since fighting has made the Internet and even electricity rare in some parts of the country.
 
One 18-year-old Syrian gamer liked the game so much, however, that he sent Rawlings a list of suggestions for improvement.
 
Reached via Skype, he said the jihadist fighters should be called Jabhat al-Nusra, after an extremist rebel group that the U.S. has designated as a terrorist organization.
 
He also pointed out that few rebel groups have tanks, as they do in the game, and suggested new rebel tactics.
 
"Car bombs are used lots in Syria, so that would make the game more realistic," he said.
 
He said he hoped the game would help people understand the situation.
 
"I wish there were a 3D strategy game about Syria so you could feel the destruction on the ground," he said.
 
The player, who spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of reprisals, said his feelings playing the game often mirror his feelings about the war. He wants peace but can't imagine the rebels accepting a negotiated solution given how many people have died.
 
"Right this second, I want the war in Syria to stop, but when you see what is happening on the ground there is no way to make peace," he said. "When I play the game like a rebel, I have to reject the peace."

ATTACK ON SYRIA 'IS ATTACK ON IRAN'

Issuing Tehran's strongest warning to date, a top Iranian official said Saturday that any attack on Syria would be deemed an attack on Iran, a sign that it will do all it can to protect embattled Syrian President Bashar Assad.

Ali Akbar Velayati, an aide to Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, made his comments as Syrian troops conducted offensive air raids against rebels and discovered a trio of tunnels they were using to smuggle weapons in their fight to topple Assad.

rest: http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/M/ML_SYRIA?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2013-01-26-14-55-01

I have little doubt, if it were not for Iran supporting Syria, Assad and his thugs would have already been overthrown.

But what I still am scratching my head over is why there is such hesitance to confront Iran directly. There is SO much evidence against them, far more than on Iraq or Egypt, and yet they seem like they don't want to touch Iran at all. It begs the question why? As it is, Iran is the last major bad guy in the whole region, as far as antagonistic countries go. All the others have been put down and regimes changed. And Iran remains as defiant and aggressive as ever.

Are there that many ties to other issues with Iran that is making the rest of the world hesitate? Ties with Russia or China stopping them? Just seems strange, unless they plan on dealing with them after Syria.

The thing is, if in fact we who believe are "taken up" before the actual 7 years tribulation starts, then I suspect we may not see enough details to get an idea how it all will proceed. It may still be just a back and forth stage when we leave. God knows.

There's a lot of stuff mentioned in scripture about the end times that we won't experience or be aware of, so it's still, "This is the day which the Lord hath made..."

http://www.timesofisrael.com/assad-i-will-win-even-if-damascus-is-destroyed/

Assad: ‘I will win, even if Damascus is destroyed’

Fighting words between Assad and the international envoy

Quoting French sources, A-Sharq Al-Awsat quotes an exchange between Syrian President Bashar Assad and the international envoy to Syria Lakhdar Brahimi.

According to the daily, Brahimi told Assad that he could not remain in power and that the opposition could defeat him, but the cost may be the complete destruction of Damascus. To that, Assad reportedly answered “I will win the war, even if Damascus is destroyed.” The daily also reports a power outage which left Damascus and its environs in dark “for the first time since the start of the crisis.”













   "The burden of Damascus.

        Behold, Damascus is taken away from [being] a city,

        and it shall be a ruinous heap . . ."
        (Isaiah 17:1  KJV)

'Turkish FM slams Israel for strikes, Syria for inaction'

Davutoglu questions why Assad didn't "throw a pebble when Israeli jets were playing with the dignity of his country," suggests failure to respond is due to "secret agreement" with Israel, according to 'The Hurriyet.

http://www.jpost.com/DiplomacyAndPolitics/Article.aspx?id=301846

http://news.yahoo.com/syrian-rebels-shut-down-key-damascus-highway-144354177.html

2/8/13

Syrian rebels shut down key Damascus highway

BEIRUT (AP) — Rebels pushed forward in their battle with the Syrian army in Damascus on Friday, clashing with regime soldiers in contested neighborhoods in the northeast and shutting down a key highway out of the capital with a row of burning tires, activist said.
 
In Geneva, the U.N. refugee agency said there has been a huge increase in the number of people fleeing Syria, with 5,000 refugees crossing the borders daily into neighboring countries. Agency spokesman Adrian Edwards said Friday the mass exodus "is really a full-on crisis right at the moment."
 
The latest fighting in Damascus, some of the heaviest to hit the city since July, began Wednesday with a series of rebel attacks on regime checkpoints along the main road from Damascus to northern Syria. Opposition fighters and government forces have been clashing in the area since, and regime troops have also responded by shelling a number of rebel-held districts nearby.
 
The violence has brought the civil war that has destroyed entire neighborhoods of other Syrian cities closer to the heart of the capital, which has mostly been spared heavy fighting. Still, the offensive did not appear to be coordinated with rebels on other sides of Damascus and it was unclear whether the rebels would be able to hold their ground.
 
Both the rebels and the regime of President Bashar Assad consider the fight for Damascus the most likely endgame in a civil war that has already killed more than 60,000. The government controls movement in and out of the heavily defended city with a network of checkpoints, and rebels have failed so far to make significant inroads.
 
A spokesman for one of the opposition groups fighting in the area said the rebels sought to open a path for a future assault on the city.
 
"This is not the battle for Damascus. This battle is to prepare for the entry into Damascus," he said via Skype, giving only his nickname of Abu al-Fida for fear of reprisals.
 
The fighting revolved around the capital's main highway heading toward the country's north. Abu al-Fida said one checkpoint on the highway changed hands twice on Thursday but was securely in rebel hands Friday. He said rebels were within a half-kilometer (half-mile) from Abbasid square and were firing mortars at a military base near the landmark plaza.
 
Online videos showed a row of burning tires laid across the highway, blocking all traffic. Smoke rose from a number of areas nearby, reflecting clashes and government shelling.
 
The videos appeared genuine and corresponded to activist reports.
 
The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported clashes in Jobar and shelling and airstrikes on the nearby areas of Zamalka and Qaboun. Rebels also battled government troops in the southern neighborhood of Yarmouk, as well as in the rebel-held suburbs of Daraya and Moadamiyeh, where six people died in a government shell attack, it said.
 
Also Friday, the Observatory said 54 were killed, including 11 women, in a bombing at a bus stop near a military factory earlier in the week.
 
Observatory director Rami Abdul-Rahman said an explosive-laden mini-bus blew up at a bus stop near the factory in Buraq, near the central city of Hama, while workers were waiting for rides home. The factory makes military supplies, but not weapons, he said.
 
The area is government-controlled, which is why reports on the blast were slow to emerge.
 
"These people work for the Ministry of Defense, but they are all civilians," he said, adding that no one from the military was killed in the blast.
 
Facebook pages for nearby villages posted names of the dead and pictures of mass graves. A page for the nearby town of Salmiyeh listed more than forty residents it said were killed in the blast.
 
Syria's state news agency reported the explosion on Wednesday evening, saying "terrorists" detonated a car bomb near a factory. It did not say what the factory produced or specify the number of dead and wounded. The regime refers to rebels fighting to topple the Assad regime as terrorists.
 
No one has claimed responsibility for the blast, which resembled others in recent months that appeared to target buildings associated with Syria's military and security services.
 
Some of the bombings have been claimed by an al-Qaida-linked group fighting alongside the rebels, Jabhat al-Nusra, which the U.S. had designated a terrorist organization.
 
As the situation in Syria has worsened, foreign jihadists have flocked to Syria to join what they consider a holy war to replace Assad's regime with an Islamic state in Syria. Most of the foreign fighters are Arabs from Egypt, Tunisia, Libya and other countries.
 
Late Thursday, the chief of the Netherlands' top intelligence agency warned that dozens of Dutch citizens are fighting with Syria's rebels and could return home battle-hardened, traumatized and radicalized.
 
General Intelligence and Security Service chief Rob Bertholee told the Dutch show Nieuwsuur that hundreds of people from around Europe and dozens from the Netherlands have travelled to Syria to join rebels fighting Assad.
 
He said propaganda romanticizing the civil war is helping draw foreigners into Syria's maelstrom of violence.
 
Syria's crisis began with peaceful protests in March 2011 and evolved into a civil war as the opposition took up arms to fight a government crackdown on dissent. The U.N. said last month that more than 60,000 people have been killed in the conflict.

http://debka.com/article/22752/

Israel Air Force now holds key to fate of Damascus, Assad regime
DEBKAfile Exclusive Report February 9, 2013

The Syrian rebels’ hyped up “Great Confrontation” to capture Damascus the capital has ended in a draw with Bashar Assad’s army like all their previous offensives in recent months. They failed to break through to the heart of the capital past the powerful Syrian army’s 4th Division standing in their path under the command of Gen. Maher Assad, the president’s brother. The rebels also lost their position on the Damascus-Aleppo highway. But amid heavy battles with the division's troops, the rebels are still clinging to the southern suburbs of Damascus.

The Syrian capital (1.9 million inhabitants) is therefore the second city after Aleppo (2.3 million) to be divided between the combatants.
debkafile’s military sources report that, notwithstanding the bitter fighting, the flow of refugees fleeing Syria has slowed down substantially, as many choose life in war zones over the wretched conditions prevailing in Turkish, Lebanese and Jordanian refugee camps, where rudimentary essentials such as food, clean water, heating and basic medical services are lacking for the hundreds of thousands of dispossessed Syrians. Adding to these horrors, some Syrian families are said to be selling their daughters for food.

The Syrian outward refugee movement now tends to be internal, people in embattled areas seeking asylum in regions outside the war zones, such as the Druze Mountains southeast of the Golan and Kurdish areas in the north.

Since the Israeli air strike on the Syrian military complex of Jamraya on Jan. 30, Syria’s warring sides have been looking over their shoulders to assess Israel’s moves before embarking on the next stage of their contest because of two considerations:

1.  debkafile’s military sources report that when the rebels first looked like breaking through to the heart of Damascus in the early part of their offensive – and so forcing Syrian President Bashar Assad to flee the capital – he ordered his army’s 4th Division tanks and short-range surface missiles to be armed with chemical weapons. They were to be used if the city’s defenses were breached. This would have made the battle for Damascus the first Syrian war engagement to deploy chemical weapons in combat.
The only military force close enough to prevent this happening and destroying the forces wielding chemical arms was the Israel Air Force. Its intervention would have been critical in giving the rebels victory.

2.  Ever since the Jamraya episode, Lebanon military sources report Israel Air Force fighters and surveillance planes are conducting over flights almost every day.
According to our military sources, the Israeli aircraft are densely deployed over Syria’s borders with Israel, Jordan and Lebanon, to guard against two eventualities, which the Netanyahu government is bound to preempt:

a)  Information has reached US and Israeli intelligence that Bashar Assad has vowed to his close circle that he will make Israel pay for Jumraya.

b)  Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has directed the Syrian ruler to make every possible effort to transfer to Hizballah in Lebanon the batch of Iran-supplied sophisticated weapons stored in Syria. This directive was handed to Assad by Iran’s National Security Director Saeed Jalilee when they met in Damascus last Sunday, Feb. 3.
All the parties concerned understand that Israel is just as determined to block this transfer as Tehran and Damascus are resolved to get it through.

In view of these challenges and their potential for an armed clash, Israel is keeping an eagle eye on every twist and turn of Assad’s forces in Damascus for any indications of the onset of chemical warfare or traffic on the move toward the Lebanese border with Hizballah’s weapons.
The Syrian ruler for his part is busy hatching schemes for keeping this arms traffic out of the electronic sight of the Israel Air Force, whereas the Syrian rebels are laying plans for provoking a clash between the Syrian army and the Israeli air force to provide them with an opportune moment for bringing their “great confrontation” in Damascus to a successful conclusion.

http://news.yahoo.com/netanyahu-discuss-iran-syria-palestinians-obama-115835152.html

2/10/13

Netanyahu to discuss Iran, Syria, Palestinians with Obama

JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Iran's nuclear ambitions, the civil war in Syria and stalled Israeli-Palestinian peace efforts will top the agenda of U.S. President Barack Obama's visit to Israel, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Sunday.
 
"It is a very important visit that will emphasize the strong alliance between Israel and the United States," Netanyahu, who has had a testy relationship with Obama, told his cabinet.
 
The White House announced on Tuesday that Obama plans to visit Israel, the West Bank and Jordan this spring, raising prospects of a new U.S. push to restart Israeli-Palestinian peace efforts frozen for the past two years.
 
The White House gave no exact dates for the trip, Obama's first to Israel since taking office. Israel's Channel 10 television station cited unnamed sources in Washington last week saying the visit to Israel would start on March 20.
 
In public remarks at the cabinet session, Netanyahu put Iran at the top of his list of talking points with Obama and referred only in general terms to peace efforts with the Palestinians, stopping short of setting a revival of bilateral negotiations as a specific goal of the visit.
 
"The president and I spoke about this visit and agreed that we would discuss three main issues ... Iran's attempt to arm itself with nuclear weapons, the unstable situation in Syria ... and the efforts to advance the diplomatic process of peace between the Palestinians and us," Netanyahu said.

more

http://news.yahoo.com/rebels-capture-air-northern-syria-090813741.html

2/12/13

Rebels capture air base in northern Syria

BEIRUT (AP) — Rebels captured a military air base in northern Syria on Tuesday, their second major strategic victory in as many days, activists said.
 
The assault on the Jarrah airfield in Aleppo province comes a day after opposition fighters seized the nation's largest dam, an iconic industrial symbol of the four-decade rule of President Bashar Assad's family. The rebels have had their biggest success in Syria's civil war in the northeast, and the twin victories appeared to indicate they were solidifying their control of large swaths of the country's once heavily-contested north.
 
The director of the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, Rami Abdul-Rahman, said that after days of sporadic clashes around the Jarrah airfield, rebels launched a major assault on the base on Monday and had overrun the facility by Tuesday morning.

more

http://news.yahoo.com/syria-death-toll-likely-approaching-70-000-says-175206931.html

2/12/13

Syria death toll likely approaching 70,000, says U.N. rights chief

UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - The death toll in Syria is likely approaching 70,000 with civilians paying the price for the U.N. Security Council's lack of action to end the nearly 2-year-old conflict, the U.N. human rights chief said on Tuesday.
 
Navi Pillay, the U.N. high commissioner for human rights, repeated her call for Syria to be referred by the 15-member council to the International Criminal Court to send a message to both parties in the conflict that there would be consequences for their actions.
 
Pillay told a council debate on protection of civilians in armed conflict that the death toll in Syria was "probably now approaching 70,000."
 
On January 2 Pillay said more than 60,000 people had been killed during the revolt against Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, which began with peaceful protests but turned violent after Assad's forces tried to crush the demonstrations.

more