Clinton said in the best case scenario, the situation in Syrian could be "similar to what we see now in Yemen.""They (in Yemen) are going to have an election. They are going to have a chance to at least try to move forward," Clinton said.She added that "military intervention has been absolutely ruled out and we have made that clear from the very beginning."Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov complained about the lack of a clear post-resolution strategy for Syria in his remarks in Munich Saturday morning. He said clearly that without further changes to the resolution, Russia would use its veto power."We asked the Americans and the Europeans, ‘What is the game plan?' They say, ‘Well, in 15 days we'll consider this issue again in the security council.' My question is, ‘After that, what are you going to propose?" Lavrov said. "It's not a serious policy."Despite those comments, Clinton expressed hope the resolution would pass - just before it failed."The draft on the table being considered as I speak gives full backing to a Syrian led process that will benefit the region and the world, and give the Syrian people the chance they deserve. We should act now," Clinton said at the Saturday press conference just before the vote.Clinton said that during her long meeting with Lavrov Saturday, she told him she was willing to try to find ways to bridge the gaps between the draft resolution and Russian concerns. But following the meeting, it became increasingly clear there was no way to find consensus, so the U.S. and its allies decided to move ahead."I thought that there might be some ways, even at this last moment, to address a few of the concerns that the Russians had. I offered to work in a constructive manner to do so. That has not been possible and we are going forward, as we said we would," she said.Russia and China are now complicit in the atrocities perpetrated by the Assad regime, Clinton argued."It is difficult to imagine that after the bloodiest day yet in Syria, there are those who would prevent the world community from condemning this violence. And I would ask them, what more do we need to know to act decisively in the security council?" she said. "To block this resolution is to bear the responsibility for the horrors that are occurring on the ground in Syria."U.S. Ambassador to the U.S. Susan Rice said she was "outraged" at Russia and China's stance and Rice called the opposition to the resolution a "cheap ruse by those who would rather sell arms to the Syrian regime than stand with the Syrian people."=====================Syrian forces bombard rebel city of Homs: activistsMon, Feb 06 06:44 AM EST 1 of 10 By Dominic EvansBEIRUT (Reuters) - Syrian forces bombarded Homs on Monday, killing 50 people in a sustained assault on several districts of the city which has become a centre of armed opposition to President Bashar al-Assad, the Syrian National Council opposition group said.The bombardment came a day after the United States promised harsher sanctions against Damascus in response to Russian and Chinese vetoes of a draft U.N. resolution that would have backed an Arab plan urging Assad to step aside."The tally that we have received from various activists in Homs since the shelling started at six this morning is 50, mostly civilians," Catherine al-Talli of the Syrian National Council told Reuters.The opposition Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said it had the names of 17 people killed so far, adding it expected the death toll to rise. Arab satellite television channels broadcast live footage showing smoke rising from buildings, with explosions echoing in the background."This is the most violent bombardment in recent days," said one activist in Syria who was in touch with Homs residents. Another activist said forces loyal to President Bashar al-Assad were using multiple rocket launchers in the attack.Activists said more than 200 people were killed on Friday night when tanks and artillery blasted the Khalidiya neighborhood of Homs. It was the highest reported death toll in a single day since the uprising against Assad's rule, inspired by uprisings across the Arab world, erupted last March.Damascus denies firing on houses and says images of dead bodies on the Internet were staged. State media said on Monday "armed terrorist groups" were firing mortars in the city, setting fire to tires and blowing up empty buildings to give the impression that Homs was under fire from Assad's forces.Reports from activists and authorities are hard to verify because Syria restricts access for independent media.The latest assault appeared to be widely targeted, with explosions in Khalidiya, Baba Amro, Bayada and Bab Dreib neighborhoods, the activists said."They want to drive the Free Syrian Army out," said Baba Amro resident Hussein Nader by telephone, referring to the rebel force of army deserters and gunmen who have controlled parts of the city for months."Rockets are falling seconds apart on the same target."Activists said an explosion ripped through an oil pipeline feeding a main refinery in Homs, the second attack on the pipeline in a week, and said the opposition-held town of Zabadani, near the Lebanese border, came under fire on Monday.Syrian army defectors announced they were organizing a new "Higher Revolutionary Council" to supersede the Free Syrian Army (FSA) as the main armed force battling Assad's rule. The new body would be commanded by General Ahmed al-Sheikh, the highest-ranking officer to defect to Turkey from government forces.SECURITY COUNCIL FAILUREMonday's assault on Homs follows the failure Western and Arab nations to win U.N. Security Council approval for a resolution which would have condemned Assad's crackdown and supported an Arab League call on him to give up powers.The Syrian National Council said the Russian and Chinese vetoes of the resolution had given Assad a "license to kill."U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton called the veto a "travesty," and it was denounced in strong terms by a succession of Western and Arab countries.Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov defended the veto on Monday, saying it prevented the Security Council from taking sides in a civil war. He said Russia was pressing Assad's government to implement reforms more swiftly.Russia still hopes to play a diplomatic role with Assad, a long-term ally and customer of Moscow's arms exports. Lavrov is due to fly to Damascus on Tuesday. On Monday he met the foreign minister of Bahrain, one of the Gulf states that have led the Arab League in turning against Assad.French Defense Minister Gerard Longuet kept up criticism of the veto on Monday: "It's a disgrace for the countries that refuse to assume their responsibilities," he said."There are political cultures which deserve a kick in the ass," he added on Europe 1 radio. "To accept that a dictator can operate freely is disgraceful for governments that accept it."Germany said on Monday that Russia and China would now be responsible for continued bloodshed, echoing statements by other Western and Arab countries since Saturday's veto.The latest offensive by Assad's forces may have been planned for some time, and was signaled in a speech last month when he vowed to strike "terrorists" with an iron fist."The regime 10 days ago took a decision to confront the opposition in a different manner," said Ayham Kamel, of the Eurasia Group risk consultancy. "The tactics before were targeted. Now they are set on more direct confrontation with the FSA and opposition activists."Clinton said the United States would work with other nations to try to tighten "regional and national" sanctions against Assad's government "to dry up the sources of funding and the arms shipments that are keeping the regime's war machine going.""We will work to expose those who are still funding the regime and sending it weapons that are used against defenseless Syrians, including women and children," she said. "We will work with the friends of a democratic Syria around the world to support the opposition's peaceful political plans for change."Clinton did not say which nations might band together or precisely what they might do. But it appeared that the United States might seek to help organize a "Friends of Syria" group - proposed by French President Nicolas Sarkozy after the veto - to advance the Arab League initiative given the inability to make headway at the U.N. because of Russian and Chinese opposition.All 13 other members of the Security Council voted to back the resolution, which would have "fully supported" the Arab League plan for Assad to cede powers to a deputy, withdraw troops from towns and start a transition to democracy.China has been seen as largely having followed Russia's lead in vetoing the resolution. China's state-run media said Western intervention in Libya, Afghanistan and Iraq showed the error of forced regime change."Currently, the situation in Syria is extremely complex. Simplistically supporting one side and suppressing the other might seem a helpful way of turning things around, but in fact it would be sowing fresh seeds of disaster," the People's Daily said.Russia's veto has been interpreted as a signal that Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, likely to win a six-year presidential term next month, wants to protect Russian interests from what Moscow sees as U.S. and European plans to impose their will.In an article in a government newspaper published on Monday, former Russian Prime Minister Yevgeny Primakov said Washington was seeking to oust Iranian ally Assad as part of a strategy to increase its influence in the Arab world and isolate Tehran."Syria has become a victim for the most part because it is close to Iran," wrote Primakov, a Middle East expert who has also been Russia's foreign minister and spy chief."The United States and its NATO allies want to exploit the situation that arose in the spring of 2011 in the Arab world with the aim of getting rid of Arab regimes it dislikes."(Additional reporting by Khaled Yacoub Oweis in Amman, Nastassia Astrasheuskaya and Alissa de Carbonnel in Moscow, Chris Buckley in Beijing, Arshad Mohammad in Sofia, Annika Breidhardt in Berlin and Leigh Thomas in Paris; Writing by Dominic Evans; Editing by Peter Graff)===================China no "rubber stamp" on Syria - paper07 Feb 2012 03:35Source: Reuters // ReutersBEIJING, Feb 7 (Reuters) - The world must get used to a rising China speaking hard truths about international disputes such as Syria, a top newspaper said on Tuesday, saying its veto of a U.N. resolution on the Syrian crisis showed China would be no "rubber stamp".China said its blocking, along with Russia, of a draft U.N. resolution that backed an Arab plan urging President Bashar al-Assad to quit, did not amount to supporting the Syrian leader.Activists accused Assad's forces of bombarding part of the city of Homs before the U.N. vote on the weekend, killing 200 people in the worst bloodshed of the 11-month uprising. The opposition said 50 people were killed in Homs on Monday.The head of the Arab League, Nabil Elaraby, said Russia and China had lost diplomatic credit in the Arab world by vetoing the resolution.But the overseas edition of the People's Daily, the mouthpiece of the ruling Communist Party, said in a front-page commentary China was right to stand up for what it believed was the correct course over Syria."The Syrian situation is worsening, and China and Russia's decision to veto created a 'window of opportunity' for a soft landing to the problem, which should not be wasted," wrote Ruan Zongze, who the paper identified as a foreign affairs expert.Ruan said China should tough out the international outcry over the veto."Today, China, because of its rapidly rising strength, sits at the main table on the global stage, and needs to get used to newly being in the limelight. The international community also needs to adjust to China's new role," Ruan said."Although this means that China will face even more difficult choices when it comes to handling complex international affairs, China must dare to speak its mind, and proactively create a just, rational global political process.""PUSH FOR DIALOGUE"On Monday, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Liu Weimin told reporters that Western powers that initiated the U.N. Security Council vote on their resolution were culpable for not going far enough in seeking compromise."China is not playing favourites and nor is it deliberately opposing anyone, but rather is upholding an objective and fair stance and a responsible position," Liu said."Our goal is for the Syrian people to escape violence, conflict and flames of war, and not to make the problem even more complicated," he said.In the People's Daily, Ruan said the resolution had been aimed at "regime change", which ran contrary to the U.N.'s charter, hence China could not support it.China was leading the charge to prevent the Security Council from becoming "just a rubber stamp", Ruan said."The international community ought to create conditions for national political reconciliation in Syria and push for dialogue and the narrowing of differences," he wrote.China's explanations are unlikely to mollify critics in Western capitals and the Middle East.Dozens of Syrian and Libyan demonstrators on Monday threw rocks, eggs and tomatoes at the Chinese embassy in Tripoli, where they also broke windows and sprayed graffiti on walls in a show of disgust.The conflicting Chinese and Western positions have exposed a wider rift about how China should use its growing influence and whether it should foresake its long-standing, albeit unevenly applied, principle of non-interference in other countries' domestic conflicts.China's siding with Russia over Syria could also add to irritants with the United States. Vice President Xi Jinping is due to visit there next week, burnishing his credentials as the Communist Party's likely next top leader. (Reporting by Ben Blanchard; Editing by Robert Birsel)=================Syria's Homs bombarded again, Turks push for solutionWed, Feb 08 23:39 PM EST 1 of 15 By Khaled Yacoub OweisAMMAN (Reuters) - Armoured reinforcements poured into Homs as President Bashar al-Assad's forces bombarded the Syrian city for a fourth day, opposition sources said on Thursday, worsening the humanitarian situation and prompting a new diplomatic push from Turkey.Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu told Reuters before flying to Washington for talks on Syria that Turkey, which once saw Assad as a valuable ally but now wants him out, could no longer stand by and watch.He said Turkey wanted to host an international meeting to agree ways to end the killing and provide aid."It is not enough being an observer," he said. "It is time now to send a strong message to the Syrian people that we are with them," he added, while refusing to be drawn on what kind of action Turkey or its allies would be prepared to consider.Scores were killed in Homs Wednesday, according to the opposition, drawing comparison with the plight of the city of Benghazi which triggered Western attacks on Libya last year and accelerating a global diplomatic showdown whose outcome is far from clear.Activists said that at least 40 tanks and 50 infantry fighting vehicles accompanied by 1,000 soldiers were transported from the nearby border with Lebanon and from the coast and deployed in Homs.Large Sunni neighborhoods that have been the target of the heaviest rocket and mortar bombardment by Alawite-led forces loyal to Assad remained without electricity and water and basic supplies were running low, activists in Homs said.There was no comment from the Syrian authorities, who have placed tight restrictions on access to the country and it was not possible to verify the reports."We have seen in the last 24 hours incursions into neighborhoods such as Khalidiya, Bab Amro and Inshaat. Tanks went in after heavy bombardment and then pulled back," activist Mohammad Hassan told Reuters by satellite phone.Mazen Adi, a prominent Syrian opposition figure who fled to Paris several weeks ago, said rebels loosely organized under the Free Syrian Army were fighting back and staging hit-and-run guerrilla attacks against loyalist forces in Homs."The Free Syrian Army is still managing to hit strategic targets in Homs, such as the secret police headquarters," Adi said."The regime cannot keep tanks for long inside opposition neighborhoods because they will be ambushed, and it is retaliating by hysteric bombing that is killing mostly civilians and with mass executions."He was referring to the reported killing of three unarmed Sunni families in their homes Wednesday by militiamen loyal to Assad and known as 'shabbiha'.Adi said that unlike a military onslaught on Hama in 1982 that razed large sections of the city and finished off armed resistance to Assad family rule, Homs was a bigger metropolis and rebels still had lots of cover.The Syrian opposition intensified calls for international intervention to protect civilians. Activist-in-exile Massoud Akko said Turkey and Western countries needed to organize an airlift to Homs and other stricken cities and towns that have borne the brunt of five months of a sustained military crackdown to put down a mass protest movement against Assad's rule."What the people of Homs need right now is basic supplies such as medicine and baby food. This could be done by air drops into Homs similar to what the United States did in Iraqi Kurdistan in the 1990s," Akko said."It is not enough to say to this regime 'stop the killings', because it won't listen. We are dealing with a system based on political prostitution. The regime is acting as if it is not attacking Homs at all and says the bombardment the whole world is seeing is being done by terrorists."A statement by the Syrian Revolution General Commission activists' group said friendly countries should call for "an immediate halt to the shelling of cities and residential neighborhoods," establish safe corridors to supply humanitarian assistance to stricken regions and support the Free Syrian Army.Syria's position at the heart of the Middle East, allied to Iran and home to a powder-keg religious and ethnic mix, means Assad's opponents have strenuously ruled out the kind of military action they took against Gaddafi.RUSSIAN WRATHRussia and China, which let the United Nations support the air campaign in Libya, provoked strong condemnation from the United States, European powers and Arab governments when they vetoed a much less interventionist resolution in the Security Council last week that called on Assad to step down.Moscow sees Assad as a buyer of arms and host to a Soviet-era naval base. For both Russia and China, Syria is also a test case for efforts to resist U.N. encroachment on sovereign governments' freedom to deal with rebels as they see fit.Campaigning for next month's presidential election that he is certain to win, Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, who first won the presidency after storming the rebel Russian city of Grozny, said: "A cult of violence has been coming to the fore in international affairs ... This cannot fail to cause concern."We of course condemn all violence regardless of its source, but one cannot act like an elephant in a china shop."Help them, advise them, limit, for instance, their ability to use weapons but not interfere under any circumstances."It is unclear what Turkey, a NATO member and rising Muslim, democratic force in the Middle East, could do to bring Moscow into any international initiative alongside those regional and world powers which have sided with the rebels against Assad.Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan, who had described the Russian and Chinese veto at the U.N. as a "fiasco," telephoned outgoing Russian President Dmitry Medvedev Wednesday.The Kremlin said Medvedev told Erdogan that the search for a solution should continue, including in the Security Council, but that foreign interference was not an option.Medvedev also spoke with French President Nicolas Sarkozy asking him and other Western countries to avoid "hasty, unilateral moves" toward Syria, the Kremlin said.Officials in Washington said they hoped to meet soon with international partners to consider how to halt Syria's violence and provide humanitarian aid.(Additional reporting by Simon Cameron-Moore and Tulay Karadeniz in Ankara, Steve Gutterman in Moscow, Erika Solomon in Beirut, John Irish in Paris, Yasmine Saleh and Ayman Samir in Cairo and Alister Bull, Matt Spetalnick and Andrew Quinn in Washington; Editing by Michael Roddy)=====================China swats away trouble before Xi's U.S. tripThu, Feb 09 03:58 AM ESTBy Chris BuckleyBEIJING (Reuters) - China swatted away friction over Syria on Thursday to lay out an optimistic view of ties with the United States in the next decade when Vice President Xi Jinping, who visits the White House next week, is likely to lead the rising Asian power.The U.S. visit will be an international rite of passage for Xi, who is virtually sure to succeed Hu Jintao as Communist Party chief late this year and as state president in early 2013.
In a briefing to set the tone for Xi's visit, Vice Foreign Minister Cui Tiankai argued that disputes over trade and international crises, most recently Syria, need not augur a constantly troubled relationship with the United States."I am optimistic about the overall development of relations between the two countries in the next decade," Cui told reporters, while stressing that both sides needed to work on cooperation."Of course, if we deviate from this direction, if we forget the experiences accumulated over the past 40 years, there will be high risks -- risks for China and the United States and for the whole world. This is something we need to avoid."Ties between Beijing and Washington have been troubled by disputes over trade, China's policy on its yuan currency, its military intentions, and how to tackle North Korea's and Iran's nuclear ambitions.This year, the strains could be complicated by China's Communist Party leadership succession and a U.S. presidential race.Most recently, the Obama administration condemned China for joining Russia and vetoing a proposed U.N. Security Council resolution that Western powers said was intended to counter spiraling violence in Syria.But Cui, whose portfolio covers steering relations with Washington, played down the potential for ructions in Washington over Syria while also defending the veto decision. A riotous disturbance; a noisy quarrel.Ruction: A riotous disturbance; a noisy quarrel."Mutual accusations have little value and don't solve problems," Cui told the briefing."China believes that in international relations one should not rashly use force or the threat or force, and one shouldn't use external intervention to achieve regime change in another country," he said."When necessary, China will of course use its veto; when China has to show its hand, China will certainly show its hand. Nobody should have any illusions about that," he said.A Foreign Ministry spokesman later said a Syrian opposition delegation had visited China this week and met Vice Foreign Minister Zhai Jun, signaling Chinese desire to show some involvement in ending the bloodshed.REACHING OUTCui also brushed aside potentially embarrassing attention on an incident in which a prominent official from the southwest city of Chongqing visited a U.S. consulate in nearby Chengdu, fanning online rumors in China that the official may have sought refuge at the consulate.The U.S. State Department confirmed that the official, Wang Lijun, visited the consulate this week, but said it was a "scheduled meeting" and Wang left on his own accord.Cui called it an "isolated incident," and said the matter had been "smoothly resolved." He did not elaborate.China's president-in-waiting, Xi, will visit Washington from next Tuesday, later going to the farming state of Iowa where he stayed briefly in 1985 and then to Los Angeles. In Iowa, Xi will be reunited with a family he stayed with there.China has not formally anointed Xi (pronounced "shee") as its next top leader, but his growing prominence indicates he is virtually certain to replace Hu as party chief and later as president.China wants to reach out beyond Washington to bring its message of mutual cooperate to the American public, said Cui. He denied China felt unwelcome in the U.S. capital."I studied in Washington and don't think there's anything bad about it," said Cui, who studied there at School of Advanced International Studies of Johns Hopkins University.(Editing by Robert Birsel)======================
'NATO-backed death squads fuel violence in Syria'
Wed Mar 28, 2012 5:26PM GMT
Interview with Webster Griffin Tarpley, author & historian
The problem with the peace plan is that it fails to recognize that the origin of the problem are these foreign death squads, NATO-backed death squads, that have been introduced into the country over the last year or more and of course they have gathered a certain amount of indigenous population, people with various grievances against the regime.”
While the Syria’s opposition in Turkey is struggling to form an interim government in case the ongoing regime change efforts succeeded, Damascus has accepted a plan presented by the joint UN-Arab League envoy that aims to end the unrest in the country.
Kofi Annan has praised Syria's cooperation, warning that implementing the six-point peace plan is key to peace. Annan left Syria earlier this month after meeting with the Syrian president to discuss the violence in the country.
Meanwhile, the Syrian president has visited the central city of Homs. Bashar al-Assad visited areas where heavy battles between government forces and armed gangs have been taking place. He also met and spoke with soldiers and residents of the area. The crowds of citizens and military personnel pledged to defend Syria and Assad from any harm.
Syria has been gripped by violence since last year. Thousands of people have been killed in unrest. Damascus has blamed the violence on armed gang backed by foreign countries.
What follows is the transcription of a Press TV Interview with Webster Griffin Tarpley, author and historian from Washington.
Press TV: Syria has agreed to a peace plan by Kofi Annan but how much does it correspond to the crisis in Syria?
Tarpley: The problem with the peace plan is that it fails to recognize that the origin of the problem are these foreign death squads, NATO-backed death squads, that have been introduced into the country over the last year or more and of course they have gathered a certain amount of indigenous population, people with various grievances against the regime.
Therefore, we cannot imagine that there is anybody to negotiate with and this, I think, is the problem. Who can Assad actually negotiate with? Now a looming ominously behind all of this is what is coming on Sunday is this conference of the co-called ‘Friends of Syria’, this time in Istanbul after the failure of the one in Tunisia.
They are now attempting it for a second time and they are trying to make sure that this one does not fail the way that the previous one did. We are reading all about this in the columns of Al Akhbar of Beirut.
What is planned is this buffer zone, in other words, the Turkish armed forces or Gendarmerie will seize a part of northern Syria and make that into a safe haven for these death squads and that they can regroup and continue their attacks into Syria.
Look at this Istanbul conference. On the surface, it looks like a coalition of the willing as we had in the previous decade ten years ago to attack Iraq. This one looks more and more like the Munich conference of September 1938, the one with [Adolf] Hitler, [Benito] Mussolini, [Neville] Chamberlin and [Edouard] Daladier.
In those days, the goal was to carve Czechoslovakia and today it is Syria. In those days, the buffer zone was called the Sudetenland and today it is called the northern area around Idlib. Russia was not invited to that one; Russia will not be invited to this one.
The people in Turkey are now very unhappy with Erdogan. I think Prime Minister Erdogan is very much on the hot seat because of his very bungling administration on this crisis.
According to the Turkish press, Erdogan had been conned by Obama in effect. Erdogan had been told by Obama in those phone calls that we hear so much about that Obama is constantly on the phone to Erdogan.
Obama had convinced Erdogan that the Syrian government of Assad Ba’ath Party was about to fall several months ago. Now that has not happened. There is a growing awareness in the Turkish parties, in the CHP Party and also in other parties, that Assad is not about to fall and therefore, Erdogan has crawled all the way out on a limb as a result of this foolish decision.
We have also got Devlet Bahceli of the Nationalist Party, one of the main opposition parties has pointed again to that meeting of Obama with Erdogan in South Korea in the last day or two, when Erdogan said that he agrees 100 percent on Syria with Obama. That is very ominous.
And what Mr. Bahceli points to is that there is a secret plan now for the occupation of Syria and the dismemberment of it including the creation of a Kurdish entity, as he calls it a peshmerga in the northern part of Syria which is going to be a tremendous problem for Turkey then because by now, you have got a kind of independent Kurdish entity in northern Iraq if you add that to the one in Syria, those might begin to coalesce, that will then pose the question of the breakup of the Turkish state and Erdogan is the one who has gotten Turkey into this fix.
Press TV: Let’s talk about the opposition that is creating obstacles in the way of reforms taken up by the Assad administration, reforms that the US itself has contradictingly described as a good step forward in the way for peace in Syria. Now couple that with the very same foreign backed opposition in Turkey which you spoke about.
The opposition is struggling to form an interim government in case the ongoing regime change succeeds in its efforts. Do you expect these efforts to succeed the fact of regime change?
Tarpley: No, I do not think so because this so-called Syrian National Council is of course a bad joke. They have a split; they have a schism every week. They have been called upon to accept the Kofi Annan plan and all the imperialists want them to accept it and they refuse to accept it.
They do not even give lip service to the idea of negotiating with Assad. They say that that is too late. Now in the deeper level, what the Syrian government is asking for and I think quite correctly so is what assurances are there that if the Syrian government declares a ceasefire that these death squads and their supporters will also stop shooting.
There are no such assurances. The second thing is if you are going to pacify this situation, what assurance is there that the armed rebels, terrorists really, inside Syria are going to allow themselves to be disarmed and then turn around and take part in the campaign for parliamentary elections which are currently scheduled for the 7 May. No assurance of that either.
When Hilary Clinton today says that the Syrian army has got to get out of these cities, this is completely one-sided; this is this Orwellian approach((Of, relating to, or evocative of the works of George Orwell, especially the satirical novel 1984, which depicts a futuristic totalitarian state.)) that the West has had to this. It is simply ignoring the fact that there are death squads on the ground and that NATO put them there.
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ran opposes all interference in Syria, says Khamenei
29 Mar 2012 19:24
Source: reuters // Reuters
By Marcus George
DUBAI, March 29 (Reuters) - Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has said Iran strongly opposes any foreign intervention in Syria's conflict and will defend Damascus so it can continue "resistance" against Israel, his official website reported on Thursday.
Khamenei, the Islamic Republic's highest authority, made the comments during a meeting with visiting Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan in Mashhad.
The Islamic Republic supported popular uprisings in Egypt, Libya and Yemen last year but has steadfastly supported Syrian President Bashar al-Assad against a year-old uprising. Assad is a rare ally for Iran in an Arab world largely suspicious of Iranian ambitions for greater regional clout.
In contrast, Erdogan has urged Assad to step down and has allowed opposition groups to meet in Istanbul.
"Iran will defend Syria because it supports its policy of resistance against the Zionist regime (Israel), and is strongly opposed to any interference by foreign forces in Syria's internal affairs," Khamenei was quoted as saying.
He voiced support for reforms announced by Assad and opposed "any plan created by Americans for the Syrian issue".
"America accepts no nation as an independent one ... and this should be taken into consideration in the decision-making of Islamic countries."
Syria has harboured Palestinian militants hostile to the Jewish state and long seen itself as a front-line Arab opponent of Israel, but the two countries have not fought since a ceasefire that ended the 1973 Arab-Israeli war. Israel captured Syria's Golan Heights in a 1967 war.
On Wednesday, Iranian Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi said Tehran backed a U.N.-sponsored peace plan for Syria that calls for the withdrawal from rebellious cities of government troops but does not demand the removal of Assad.
The Iranian authorities have tempered their rhetoric on Syria since anti-government demonstrations began in Damascus in March last year. At first, they wholeheartedly supported Assad but have increasingly encouraged him to pursue social and political reforms to take account of popular grievances.
Earlier in the day Erdogan met Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to discuss Iran's nuclear programme, which the West suspects is being used to covertly develop atomic weapons. Iran has repeatedly denied such accusations.
"The Turkish government and nation have always clearly supported Iran's nuclear programme and will seriously follow the same policy in the future," Iranian state television quoted Erdogan as saying.
Erdogan's visit to Iran touched on economic cooperation. Trade between the two states rocketed to $16 billion last year.
Iran is keen to build further trade relations to minimise tough new sanctions imposed by the United States and European Union on its financial and oil sectors to try to get Tehran to shelve sensitive nuclear activity.
Turkish officials hope trade can reach $35 billion by 2015 and the two countries have agreed to appoint mutual special envoys to study how to expand relations.
Such a policy could imperil Turkey's relations with the West. Last week Ankara failed to secure an exemption from Washington on its purchase of Iranian crude oil. (Reporting By Marcus George)
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Assad says foreign aid to rebels must stop under peace plan
Thu, Mar 29 15:36 PM EDT
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By Dominic Evans
BEIRUT (Reuters) - President Bashar al-Assad said on Thursday Syria would spare no effort to ensure the success of international envoy Kofi Annan's peace mission but warned it would not work without securing an end to foreign funding and arming of rebels opposing him.
Assad is under international pressure to call his troops and tanks back to their bases, a year into a popular revolt against his iron rule. Fighting between troops and rebels killed at least 38 more people on Thursday, 15 of them soldiers.
The state news agency SANA quoted Assad, in a letter to the leaders of the BRIC economic powers, which include his key ally Russia, as saying "countries which support the armed groups with money and weapons must be persuaded to stop this immediately".
At the same time, Britain said it was doubling non-military aid to opponents of Assad and expanding its scope to equipment, possibly including secure telephones to help activists communicate more easily without fear of detection and attack.
The aid, worth $800,000, "includes agreement in principle for practical non-lethal support to them inside Syria," Foreign Secretary William Hague said.
Arab leaders at a summit in Baghdad endorsed the peace plan floated by Annan, the special U.N. and Arab League envoy on Syria, and - betraying skepticism about Assad's commitment -- called for it to be implemented "immediately and completely".
The six-point plan envisages a ceasefire, possibly under U.N. monitoring, a withdrawal of heavy weapons and troops from population centers, humanitarian assistance, release of prisoners and free movement and access for journalists to Syria.
Arab League leaders quietly dropped an earlier demand that Assad give up the presidency. The Annan plan, endorsed by the U.N. Security Council, makes no such demand, unlike a previous blueprint for change that was vetoed by Russia and China.
"The solution for the crisis is still in the hands of the Syrians as a government and opposition," Arab League Secretary-General Nabil Elaraby told the summit gathering in the Iraqi capital, the first there in 20 years.
Earlier, the League took a line closer to the hardline stance of Qatar and Saudi Arabia, calling for Assad to transfer powers to a deputy to allow for a unity government and early elections.
But a shift in the Arab position transpired after Russia and China blocked a Security Council endorsement of that proposal and the Arab League's own observation mission in Syria unraveled from internal splits, failing to stem the bloodshed.
Syria's opposition groups continue to demand that Assad must go, and have not agreed to any peace talks with his government.
Elaraby called for the Security Council to issue a binding resolution to "not only stipulate the necessity of stopping the violence, but also finding a suitable mechanism to cease fire."
One idea Annan is pushing is a U.N. observer mission, diplomats say, and Elaraby said there had been suggestions that there should be "Arab participation".
ASSAD'S DEMANDS
"President Assad said that for his mission to succeed, Annan must focus on drying up the wells of support for terrorism pointed at Syria, especially from countries which have announced that they are arming and financing the terrorist groups in Syria," SANA reported.
"In return for the formal commitment to the success of Annan's mission it is necessary to obtain commitments from the other parties to halt the terrorist acts by the armed groups and to withdraw the weapons of these groups and call on them to stop their terrorist acts ..." Assad's letter said.
In an apparent reference to Turkey, a former ally that now hosts the rebel Free Syrian Army, he singled out "neighboring countries that harbor these groups and facilitate their terrorist operations".
Assad said a national dialogue would start soon, including "all groups which work for the security and stability" of Syria.
U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon kept up pressure on Assad, saying he must turn his stated acceptance of the peace plan into action, to shift his country off a "dangerous trajectory" with risks for the entire region.
Syria sits at a crossroads of Middle East conflict bordering Turkey, Jordan, Israel, Iraq and Lebanon. Its 23-million population comprises a mix of faiths, sects and ethnic groups whose tensions resonate in neighboring states.
"It is essential that President Assad put those commitments into immediate effect. The world is waiting for commitments to be translated into action. The key here is implementation, there is no time to waste," Ban told the Arab League summit.
OPPOSITION MEETS BACKERS
In Istanbul, Syrian opposition representatives met to try to settle deep internal disputes before the arrival of Western foreign ministers for a "Friends of Syria" conference on Sunday to map out where the year-old uprising is heading.
The chances of Western powers deciding to arm the insurgents at this point appeared to be very remote.
Reports from the opposition Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, which monitors the violence, said at least 23 people and 15 government soldiers were killed nationwide on Thursday - in army raids on villages, in a rebel ambush and in clashes.
SANA said two colonels were assassinated in a morning attack in Aleppo, Syria's second city, while on their way to work. It said gunmen kidnapped Air Force General Mohammad Amr al Darbas in Damascus province.
The United Nations says Assad's forces have killed 9,000 people. Damascus blames foreign-backed "terrorists" for the violence and says 3,000 soldiers and police have been killed.
Western powers have expressed doubt about Assad's stated willingness to implement the peace plan. Russia has urged Western-backed opposition groups to match Damascus and endorse the proposals of Annan, a former U.N. secretary general.
Syria's big-power backers, Russia and China, have turned up the heat on Assad by endorsing the Annan plan, with the unspoken implication that if he fails to act on it, they may be prepared to back action by the U.N. Security Council.
Sunni Muslim powers Saudi Arabia and Qatar have suggested arming Syria's mainly Sunni opposition. But Arab states outside the Gulf, such as Algeria and Shi'ite Muslim-led Iraq, urge more caution, fearing an all-out sectarian war.
"In our experience in Iraq, we see that arming both sides will result in proxy wars regionally and internationally. This option will provide the grounds for foreign military intervention in Syria," Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki told the Arab leaders.
=======
Exclusive: Iran helps Syria ship oil to China: sources
Fri, Mar 30 08:17 AM EDT
image
By Jessica Donati
LONDON (Reuters) - 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 al-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.
"The Syrians planned to sell the oil directly to the Chinese but they could not find a vessel," said an industry source who added that he had been asked to help Sytrol execute the deal but did not take part.
The source named the Chinese buyer as Zhuhai Zhenrong Corp, a state-run company hit by U.S. sanctions in January.
A Zhuhai Zhenrong spokeswoman said: "I've never heard about this." She declined further comment.
The U.S. State Department said in January that Zhuhai Zhenrong was the largest supplier of refined petroleum products to Iran, on which the West has imposed sanctions because it suspects Tehran of trying to develop nuclear weapons.
China's willingness to start importing Syrian oil offers a rare break in the country's growing isolation.
Syria, a relatively modest oil exporter, has been unable to sell its crude into Europe, its traditional destination until September last year when European Union and U.S. sanctions halted exports.
The crude oil cargo, worth around $84 million assuming a discounted price of about $100 a barrel, could provide Assad with much-needed funds after another round of sanctions designed to further isolate the country's ailing economy were imposed by the European Union last week.
Syria's Sytrol, which has been on the EU and U.S. sanctions list since last year, referred calls to the country's oil ministry. No one answered repeated calls by Reuters at the oil ministry. Iranian authorities were not available to comment.
The source added Sytrol had enlisted contacts in Venezuela to help find a vessel that could pick up the cargo. The problem was ultimately resolved by the Iranian authorities, who sent the tanker M.T. Tour to take on the cargo.
The Maltese-flagged tanker is owned by shipping firm ISIM Tour Limited, which has been identified by the U.S. Department of Treasury as a front company set up by Iran to evade sanctions.
The M.T. Tour reached the Syrian port of Tartus at the weekend, where it loaded the 120,000 metric tonne (132,277 tons) cargo of light crude oil, according to the industry source and shiptracking data.
Satellite tracking showed the vessel was last spotted near Port Said in Egypt, where is was due to arrive on Wednesday. Its final destination was not available but the industry source said the vessel was likely to head to China or Singapore.
"I was asked to provide an option to ship to southern China or Singapore," the source said.
(Reporting by Jessica Donati; Additional reporting by Chen Aizhu; Editing by Anthony Barker and Giles Elgood)
==========
BORDER INCURSION
Underlining his uphill challenge, Syrian troops advanced into north Lebanon, destroying farm building and clashing with Syrian rebels holed up there, residents said. [ID:nL6E8ER44F]
They said Syrian forces crossed a few hundred metres into Lebanese territory. A security source in Beirut said clashes had taken place near the poorly marked border but did not confirm Syrian troops had entered Lebanon.
Shells hit north Lebanon last week and residents say Syrian troops have briefly crossed the frontier while pursuing fleeing rebels in recent months.
"More than 35 Syrian soldiers came across the border and started to destroy houses," said Abu Ahmed, 63, a resident of the mainly Sunni Muslim rural mountain area of al-Qaa.
Another resident said that the soldiers, some travelling in armoured personnel vehicles, fired rocket-propelled grenades and exchanged heavy machinegun fire with rebels. He said soldiers destroyed one house with a bulldozer.
The Lebanese army blocked off the area, where hundreds of Syrian refugees -- some of them active members of the rebel Free Syrian Army -- have fled a year-long revolt by mostly Sunni Muslim Syrians against Assad, a member of his country's Alawite minority, an offshoot of Shi'ite Islam.
The United Nations says more than 8,000 people have been killed in Syria's upheaval over the past year. Syrian authorities blame foreign-backed terrorists for the violence and say 3,000 soldiers and police have been killed.
Western and Arab governments which would be glad to see Assad ousted are wary of what might replace the 40-year-old family dynasty and its ruthless but predictable police state.
Security appears to be fraying in many parts of Syria despite repeated army offensives to regain rebellious territory. Activists said the government was struggling to hold such areas for long, with rebels swiftly re-emerging, as they have in Homs.
====
Clinton meets Saudi king amid Syria, Iran tensions
ReutersBy Angus McDowall | Reuters – 10 hrs ago
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Saudi King Abdullah (R) meets with U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton (C) in Riyadh March 30, 2012. Clinton met Saudi Arabia's king and foreign minister in Riyadh on March 30, 2012 to discuss the Syria conflict against a backdrop of tension with Iran and oil policy differences. REUTERS/Saudi Press Agency/Handout
Saudi King Abdullah (R) meets with …
Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Saud Al Faisal welcomes U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton (R) in Riyadh March 30, 2012. REUTERS/Saudi Press Agency/Handout
Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Saud …
RIYADH (Reuters) - U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton met Saudi Arabia's king and foreign minister in Riyadh on Friday to discuss the Syria conflict against a backdrop of tension with Iran and oil policy differences.
The world's main superpower and its top oil exporter have been strategic allies since the 1940s, but discord over how to respond to Arab popular uprisings strained relations last year.
"Both sides have recognized that their common interests are much more significant than the issues that have recently been dividing them," said Robert Jordan, U.S. ambassador to Riyadh from 2001-03, citing anti-terrorism cooperation, concerns over a nuclear Iran and wider Middle East stability.
Pictures broadcast on state television showed Clinton meeting King Abdullah as other officials, including Foreign Minister Prince Saud al-Faisal, Defense Minister Prince Salman and Intelligence Minister Prince Muqrin, looked on.
Although the two states have mended the rift, differences persist on regional policy and how to tackle high oil prices.
The United States and other consumer countries fear Saudi Arabia may cut oil output if they release emergency reserves, neutralizing their effort to cool world energy markets.
Diplomats and industry sources said Western countries may want Clinton to seek reassurance that the Saudis will not undercut their bid to cut their fuel costs.
Oil prices have risen sharply since the start of the year, at one point breaking $128 a barrel, largely because of expanded sanctions imposed on major oil exporter Iran aimed at slowing its disputed nuclear program.
Saudi Arabia says it also wants to reduce oil prices, but that the last stocks release failed to do so and that it is already meeting all demand for its crude.
"You saw what happened in the last release? Nothing," said Oil Minister Ali Naimi in Doha last week.
SYRIA AND IRAN
Backed by Western countries, Saudi Arabia has spearheaded Arab efforts to press Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, who is allied with Iran, to end his bloody suppression of a year-old uprising and step aside.
The Saudis now want to see stronger action against Assad, including the arming of rebels, something the United States is reluctant to do for fear of being drawn into a messy civil war.
"The policy options are very limited. The United States is in no position to assist in arming the rebels or to provide any kind of military support for them. So my guess is there will be efforts from the Saudis to coordinate proposals and at least buy time for the rebels," the former U.S. envoy Jordan said.
After meeting Saudi and other Gulf Arab foreign ministers on Saturday, Clinton will head to Turkey for meetings with the Syrian opposition.
Underpinning Clinton's talks in Riyadh is a wider context of the impact of last year's Arab uprisings on a regional struggle between Sunni Muslim Saudi Arabia and Shi'ite Muslim Iran.
A new "strategic forum" between the United States and its Gulf Arab allies, to be announced during Clinton's visit, is designed to present a united front, analysts say.
At the last summit of Gulf leaders in Riyadh in December, King Abdullah said the six members of the Gulf Cooperation Council should join together as "a single entity", a remark widely interpreted as a demonstration of unity against Iran.
In October, the United States said it had uncovered an Iranian-backed plot to assassinate the Saudi ambassador to Washington. Iran denied any involvement in the alleged conspiracy, which was interpreted in Riyadh as part of a broad campaign being waged by Tehran against Saudi interests.
Riyadh suspects Tehran of backing unrest led by neighboring Bahrain's Shi'ite majority against the island state's Sunni monarchy, supporting rebels in northern Yemen and fomenting violence among its own Shi'ite minority in an eastern province.
U.S. President Barack Obama initially sought to engage Iran after his 2008 election. But he has since pushed for stronger sanctions to halt a suspected Iranian drive to acquire nuclear weapons. Tehran says its program has only peaceful aims.
(Reporting By Angus McDowall; Editing by Alistair Lyon)
======
Saudi foreign min: Arming Syria opposition a "duty"
31 Mar 2012 14:23
Source: reuters // Reuters
DUBAI, March 31 (Reuters) - Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Saud al-Faisal renewed calls to arm the Syrian opposition on Saturday, describing it as a "duty".
"The arming of the opposition is a duty, I think, because it cannot defend itself except with weapons," Faisal said during a joint news conference with U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. (Reporting by Isabel Coles; Editing by Ben Harding)
========
Apr. 1, 2012 11:49 AM ET
Syria conference: Coalition moves to fund rebels
BRADLEY KLAPPER, Associated Press
CHRISTOPHER TORCHIA, Associated Press THE ASSOCIATED PRESS STATEMENT OF NEWS VALUES AND PRINCIPLES
U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton speaks with an Arab official as she arrives to join foreign ministers from dozens of countries gathered to set conditions for a new Syria, pushing for tighter sanctions and diplomatic pressure to further isolate President Bashar Assad, while urging the opposition to offer a democratic alternative to his regime, in Istanbul, Turkey, Sunday, April 1, 2012. The show of solidarity at the Friends of the Syrian People conference in Istanbul, was marred by the absence of China, Russia and Iran, key supporters of Assad who disagree with Western and Arab allies over how to stop the bloodshed. (AP Photo)
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Syria blasts international conference on crisis
Apr. 1, 2012 3:45 AM ET
Syrian official says regime won't back down first
Mar. 31, 2012 4:49 AM ET
China joins Assad in calling rebel end to attacks
Mar. 30, 2012 4:52 AM ET
Activists: Fresh clashes erupt in northern Syria
Mar. 30, 2012 4:43 AM ET
Activists: Syrian rebels hit army, kill 2 troops
Mar. 29, 2012 4:29 AM ET
ISTANBUL (AP) — A coalition of at least 70 countries pledged several million dollars a month Sunday and communications equipment for Syrian rebels and opposition activists, signaling deeper involvement in the conflict amid a growing belief that diplomacy and sanctions alone can't end the regime's repression.
The shift by the U.S. and its Western and Arab allies toward seeking to sway the military balance in Syria, where heavily armed regime forces outmatch rebels, carries regional risks because the crisis there increasingly resembles a proxy conflict that could exacerbate sectarian tensions.
It comes after 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 in a meeting on Syria, held in Istanbul, uniformly expressed concern that Annan's plan might backfire, speculating that President Bashar Assad would try to manipulate it so as to prolong his hold on power.
Clinton said she was waiting for Annan's report to the U.N. Security Council on Monday on the status of his peace plan.
"If Assad continues as he has, to fail to end the violence, to institute a cease-fire, to withdraw his troops from the areas he has been battering ... then it's unlikely he is going to ever agree," she said.
Clinton said Assad may want to wait and see if his forces can completely crush the opposition.
"I think he would be mistaken to believe that," she said. "My reading is that the opposition is gaining in intensity, not losing."
In addition, Clinton said Washington is providing communications equipment to help anti-government activists in Syria organize, remain in contact with the outside world and evade regime attacks.
The Syrian regime agreed to Annan's plan last week, which calls for an immediate cease-fire, humanitarian access to besieged civilians and a political negotiation process led by Syrians. Since then, there have been daily reports of violence. The United Nations says more than 9,000 people have been killed since an uprising against Assad began a year ago.
Russia and China have twice protected the Syrian regime from censure by the U.N. Security Council, fearing such a step could lead to foreign military intervention. Syria's international opponents have no plans to launch a military operation similar to the Libya bombing campaign that ousted leader Moammar Gadhafi, especially without U.N. support, but they are slowly overcoming doubts about assisting scattered rebel forces.
Conference participants in Istanbul said Saudi Arabia and other Gulf countries are creating a fund to pay members of the rebel Free Syrian Army and soldiers who defect from the regime and join opposition ranks. One delegate described the fund as a "pot of gold" to undermine Assad's army.
Participants confirmed the Gulf plan on condition of anonymity because details were still being worked out. A participant said the fund would involve several million dollars a month. It is allegedly earmarked for salaries, but it was not clear whether there would be any effort to prevent the diversion of money to weapons purchases, a sensitive issue that could prompt stronger accusations of military meddling by foreign powers.
The Saudis and other Arab Gulf states have proposed giving weapons to the rebels, while the U.S. and other allies have balked out of fear of fueling an all-out civil war. Washington hasn't taken any public position on the fund, but it appears that it has given tacit support to its Arab allies.
Mohammed al-Said, a Syrian activist in the town of Duma, northwest of Damascus, said salaries might encourage further defections, but that only arms would turn the tide against Assad.
"What is clear to us is that only fighting can make this regime leave," he said via Skype, adding the opposition wanted arms more than military intervention so they could topple Assad themselves.
Fayez Amru, a rebel who recently defected from the military and is now based in Turkey, welcomed the decision as a "humanitarian step in the right direction," but also said weapons were needed.
"We feel let down by the international community. I don't know why there is hesitation by the West ... maybe this will help at least keep the rebels on their feet," Amru said.
The debate over arming or funding the rebels is being driven partly by the sectarian split in the region. The upheaval in Syria presents an opportunity for the Sunni Muslim states in the Gulf to bolster their influence, consolidate power and possibly leave regional rival Iran, led by a Shiite theocracy, without critical alliances that flow through Damascus.
Assad's regime, which counts Iran among its few allies, is led by the minority Alawite sect, an offshoot of Shiism.
Last year, Saudi Arabia sent tanks to help fellow Sunni leaders in Bahrain crush a largely Shiite rebellion there, indicating that sectarian interests sometimes trump calls for democratic change in the Middle East.
Turkey hosts 20,000 Syrian refugees, including hundreds of army defectors, and has floated the idea of establishing a buffer zone inside Syria if the flow of displaced people across its border becomes overwhelming. Parts of the southern Turkish region near Syria are informal logistics bases for rebels, who collect food and other supplies in Turkey and deliver them to comrades on smuggling routes.
At the meeting in Istanbul, delegates talked of tighter sanctions and increased diplomatic pressure on Assad, and Syrian opposition representatives promised to offer a democratic alternative to his regime. Yet the show of solidarity at the "Friends of the Syrian People" conference was marred by the absence of China, Russia and Iran.
Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said military options might have to be considered if Syria does not cooperate with Annan's plan and the U.N. Security Council fails to unite in opposition to Assad.
"If the U.N. Security Council fails once again to bring about its historic responsibility, there will be no other choice than to support the Syrian people's right to self-defense," Erdogan said.
Burhan Ghalioun, leader of the opposition Syrian National Council, called for the strengthening of Syrian rebel forces as well as "security corridors" inside Syria, a reference to internationally protected zones on Syrian territory that would allow the delivery of aid to civilians. However, the nations meeting in Istanbul have so far failed to agree on such an intervention, which could involve the deployment of foreign security forces.
"No one should allow this regime to feel at ease or to feel stronger by giving them a longer maneuvering area," he said, reflecting fears that Assad would try to use the Annan plan to prolong his tenure. "It's enough that the international community has flirted with the regime in Syria. Something has to change."
In a statement, the Syrian National Council said weapons supplies to the opposition were not "our preferred option" because of the risk they could escalate the killing of civilians, but it appealed for technical equipment to help rebels coordinate.
"For these supplies to be sent, neighboring countries need to allow for the transfer via their sea ports and across borders," the council said.
The one-day meeting followed an inaugural forum in Tunisia in February. Since then, Syrian opposition figures have tried to convince international sponsors that they can overcome their differences and shape the future of a country whose autocratic regime has long denied the free exchange of ideas.
Syria criticized the conference, calling it part of an international conspiracy to kill Syrians and weaken the country.
A front-page editorial in the official Al-Baath newspaper called it a "regional and international scramble to search for ways to kill more Syrians, sabotage their society and state, and move toward the broad objective of weakening Syria."
In Istanbul, police used tear gas and batons to disperse a group of about 40 Assad supporters who tried to approach the conference building. Many held portraits of the Syrian leader. One man waved Chinese and Russian flags.
___
Associated Press writers Zeina Karam and Ben Hubbard in Beirut contributed to this report.
===============
Iraq slams Qatar, Saudi on arms for Syria rebels
AFPBy Mohamad Ali Harissi and Ammar Karim | AFP – 1 hr 6 mins ago
Related Content
Iraq's fugitive Sunni Vice President Tareq al-Hashemi, seen here in January 2012, left Iraq's autonomous Kurdistan region for Qatar (AFP Photo/Safin Hamed)
Iraq's fugitive Sunni Vice President …
Iraq's Shiite prime minister on Sunday slammed Sunni-ruled Qatar and Saudi Arabia's stance on arming Syrian rebels, as Doha hosted Baghdad's fugitive vice president who is accused of running a death squad.
Nuri al-Maliki's remarks were the latest in a dramatic cooling of ties between Qatar and Iraq, which have sharply disagreed on how to respond to President Bashar al-Assad's year-long deadly crackdown on dissent in Syria.
The United Nations says that more than 9,000 people have been killed since the crackdown began in mid-March last year.
The Syria issue has split the Arab world, with hardline states including Qatar and Saudi Arabia advocating arming Syrian rebels and calling for Assad's departure, while others including Iraq want to see a political solution.
"We reject any arming (of Syrian rebels) and the process to overthrow the (Assad) regime, because this will leave a greater crisis in the region," Maliki said at a news conference.
"The stance of these two states is very strange," he said in apparent reference to Qatar and Saudi Arabia.
"They are calling for sending arms instead of working on putting out the fire, and they will hear our voice, that we are against arming and against foreign interference."
"We are against the interference of some countries in Syria's internal affairs, and those countries that are interfering in Syria's internal affairs will interfere in the internal affairs of any country," the Iraqi leader added.
He also predicted that Assad's regime will hang on, saying: "It has been one year and the regime did not fall, and it will not fall, and why should it fall?"
The Syria issue is fraught with sectarian tension, as its minority rulers are Alawites -- an offshoot of Shiite Islam -- who are trying to cling to power by brutally suppressing an uprising by the country's majority Sunnis.
Qatar on Sunday welcomed Iraq's Sunni Vice President Tareq al-Hashemi, who flew out of the autonomous Kurdistan region in north Iraq where he had been holed up since December.
Baghdad had demanded that Kurdistan hand over Hashemi, who is accused of running a death squad, to face justice, but the region declined to oblige.
Hashemi "arrived in Doha today (Sunday) in an official visit that will last a few days," Qatari state news agency QNA said.
"He was received upon his arrival at Doha International Airport by the Qatari Minister of State Sheikh Hamad bin Nasser bin Jassem al-Thani," QNA reported without giving further details.
A statement from Hashemi's office said that he will meet Qatari Emir Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani and Prime Minister Sheikh Hamad bin Jassem bin Jabr al-Thani, before visiting unnamed other countries and returning to Kurdistan.
Maliki earlier told the news conference that Hashemi "is wanted in a member country of the Arab League, and he should not be received, especially under the title of vice president," when asked about the possibility of Hashemi visiting other Arab states.
There have been other recent bumps in relations between Iraq and various Gulf countries, especially Qatar, that also involve a sectarian dimension.
Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Hamad said in an interview with Al-Jazeera that "the weak representation from the Gulf countries in the Baghdad summit is a message to the government of Iraq."
He went on to accuse Iraq of "neglecting" some parts of its population, including minority Sunnis, in the formation of its government.
Kuwait was the only one of the six Sunni-ruled Gulf Cooperation Council nations to be represented by its head of state at a landmark summit in Baghdad on Thursday.
"They should be more concerned about their own political issues and human rights issues and demands of their own population for democratic reforms than to judge others," Iraqi Deputy Prime Minister Hussein al-Shahristani told AFP.
Iraq's majority Shiites came to power after decades of Sunni rule, following the 2003 US-led invasion that forced Saddam Hussein from power. The country's Sunnis and Shiites later did battle in a bloody civil war.
======
Attack on Lebanese bus kills one pilgrim
LAST UPDATE
Sat, 07 Apr 2012 15:51:03 GMT
A terrorist attack on a pilgrim bus near the Syria-Lebanon border has left at least one passenger and five Syrian border guards dead, Press TV reports
Armed men targeted two buses transferring pilgrims to Iraq at the Al-Jusiyeh border crossing between Syria and Lebanon.
Twenty people were also wounded in the attack and were reportedly taken to hospitals in the Bekaa valley.
Initial reports said the buses came under fire from the Syrian side of the border, after it crossed over from Lebanon.
This is not the first time that armed groups attack non-Syrians.
On January 26, a group of unidentified armed men attacked a bus carrying Iranian pilgrims on the road connecting Damascus to the northwestern city of Aleppo.
Syria has been experiencing unrest since mid-March 2011.
On Sunday, several Persian Gulf Arab states and the United States pledged 100 million dollars to provide salaries and communications equipment for Syrian rebels fighting against the government.
Saudi Arabia and Qatar also backed the idea of arming the opposition against Bashar al-Assad’s government.
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Violence dims Syria truce hopes, over 100 killed
Sat, Apr 07 11:23 AM EDT
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By Erika Solomon and Douglas Hamilton
BEIRUT (Reuters) - Syrian troops pounded opposition areas, activists said, killing 74 civilians in an offensive that has sent thousands of refugees surging into Turkey before next week's U.N.-backed ceasefire aimed at staunching a year of bloodshed.
At least 15 rebels and 17 security force members were also killed, raising the death toll in violence to over 100.
Each side has accused the other of intensifying assaults in the run-up to the truce due to take effect early on Thursday if government forces begin pulling back from towns 48 hours earlier in line with U.N.-Arab League envoy Kofi Annan's peace plan.
The military shelled Deir Baalba district in Homs, killing four people, the grassroots Local Coordination Committees opposition group said. Thirteen men were also found killed in cold blood in the same area, it said.
Amateur activist video showed scenes of carnage said to be the aftermath of the shelling. Mangled limbs and body parts in blankets were being loaded on a pick-up truck. A second video showed 13 men who appeared to have been tied up and executed.
No comment was immediately available from Syrian officials. The videos could not be independently verified. The government has placed tight restrictions on media access in Syria.
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For graphic on fighting http://link.reuters.com/zan47s
For Interactive on Syria http://link.reuters.com/pyt37s
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The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said at least 74 civilians had been killed, including 40 in an army attack on al-Latmana, in Hama province, that began on Friday. The rebel Free Syrian Army lost 15 men in the battle, it said, and 17 members of the security forces were killed across the country.
In an activist video from al-Latmana, mourners held aloft the limp corpse of a child. A row of bodies lay on the ground.
The Observatory report said 12 were killed by shelling as the army swept through villages in Idlib province.
A rocket hit a bus travelling from Lebanon to Syria at Jousa just inside Syria, a Lebanese security source said. Witnesses said six Syrians were killed. Lebanese medics confirmed two dead and nine wounded. It was not clear who had fired the rocket.
Rebels trying to oust President Bashar al-Assad attacked army posts north of Aleppo before dawn, killing an officer and two men, and assaulted a helicopter base, activists said.
Syrian commandos shot dead three rebels in an overnight raid on a "terrorist den", Syria's state news SANA agency reported.
Country towns north of Aleppo have endured days of clashes and bombardment, prompting 3,000 civilians to flee over the Turkish border on Friday alone - about 10 times the daily number before Assad accepted Annan's plan 10 days ago.
BAATH PARTY ANNIVERSARY
The Syrian leader is fighting a popular uprising, which he blames on foreign-backed "terrorists", that has spawned an armed insurgency in response to violent repression of protests.
While many in Syria's Sunni Muslim majority back the revolt, especially in provincial areas, Assad retains support from his own minority Alawite sect and other minorities fearful that his overthrow would lead to civil war or Islamist rule.
In Damascus, thousands of flag-waving Assad supporters came out to mark the founding in 1947 of Syria's ruling Baath Party.
The bloodletting of the past week or so does not bode well for implementation of Annan's ceasefire plan.
This requires Assad to "begin pullback of military concentrations in and around population centers" by Tuesday.
Rebel Free Syrian Army commander Colonel Riad al-Asaad said his men would cease fire, provided "the regime ... withdraws from the cities and returns to its original barracks".
Syria has said the plan does not apply to armed police, who have played a significant role in battling the uprising in which security forces have killed more than 9,000 people, according to U.N. estimate. Syria says its opponents have killed more than 2,500 troops and police since the unrest began in March 2011.
Annan's plan does not stipulate a complete army withdrawal to barracks or mention police.
Satellite pictures published by U.S. ambassador Robert Ford showed Syrian artillery and tanks still close to communities.
"This is not the reduction in offensive Syrian government security operations that all agree must be the first step for the Annan initiative to succeed," Ford said in Washington.
A statement by U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said the April 10 timeline "is not an excuse for continued killing".
"The Syrian authorities remain fully accountable for grave violations of human rights and international humanitarian law. These must stop at once," Ban said on Friday.
(Additional reporting by Afif Diab in Baalbek; Writing by Douglas Hamilton; Editing by Alistair Lyon)
===
Lebanese TV cameraman shot dead on border with #Syria: TV official #pressfreedom #Lebanon
09-04-2012 15:38
Ali Shaaban, Al-Jadeed cameraman, killed in Wadi Khaled
A Beirut-based New TV news team came under fire on Monday at Shahira crossing on the Syrian border in Wadi Khaled, killing one.
A cameraman for Lebanon's Al-Jadeed television channel was shot dead on Monday near Lebanon's northern border with Syria, the television channel said. The news team includes Hussein Khreis, Abed Khayat and Ali Shaaban who was killed in the shooting which took place in the border region between Syria and Lebanon's northern Wadi Khaled district.
According to a member of the news team, their vehicle came under a barrage of fire when leaving the border area. Shabaan, driving the vehicle, was wounded in the attack while his team members took shelter near the vehicle.
Suppressing fire inhibited the team members from pulling the injured Shabaan from the vehicle. The Lebanese army was contacted and arrived on the scene, bringing an end to the gunfire.
Clashes kill 12 Syria regime force members: NGO
AFPAFP – 2 hrs 16 mins ago
Related Content
Syrian soldiers carrying the coffin of a colleague who was killed in 2011. Twelve members of the Syrian security forces were killed on Monday as clashes ensued in several regions, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. The deaths come less than 24 hours before a nationwide truce is supposed to start taking effect. (AFP Photo/)
Syrian soldiers carrying the coffin …
Twelve members of the Syrian security forces were killed on Monday as clashes ensued in several regions, monitors said, less than 24 hours before a truce is supposed to start taking effect.
Rebel fighters besieged a border checkpoint at the village of Salamah, in Aleppo province near Turkey, killing six members of the security and customs services, said the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.
At least eight rebels who were wounded in the fighting fled across the frontier, said the Britain-based monitoring group.
Clashes were also taking place elsewhere in Aleppo province, with forces loyal to President Bashar al-Assad shelling and storming the town of Tal Rifaat, and unleashing heavy gunfire on the village of Marea.
Two policemen were killed in clashes the neighbourhood of Sukari, in the northern city of Aleppo, the Observatory said.
Outside Damascus, four more soldiers were killed when an explosion struck a bus carrying troops near the village of Kawkab, while security forces launched a campaign of arrests in the capital's neighbourhood of Kfar Sousa, it said.
In the eastern province of Deir Ezzor, regime forces stormed the village of Muhsen, while clashes took place in the neighbouring village of Al-Bou Amr, and gunfire was heard in the city of Deir Ezzor itself, the group said.
Almost 180 people, mostly civilians, were killed in weekend violence, ahead of the UN deadline of Tuesday for regime forces to cease fire, as agreed with special envoy Kofi Annan.
Under a peace deal brokered by the former UN chief, the Syrian army was scheduled to withdraw from protest cities on Tuesday, with a complete end to fighting set for 48 hours later.
But the truce appears in jeopardy after Damascus said it would only carry its side of the bargain if rebels first handed over written guarantees to stop fighting, a demanded rejected by rebel army chief Colonel Riyadh al-Asaad.
"The regime had thought that it would control all areas (of rebels by April 10). As this is not happening, it is procrastinating to gain time," said Rami Abdel Rahman, the head of the Observatory.
"If the Annan plan does not work, no other plan would, and Syria would plunge into a civil war," he told AFP.
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Syria tightens travel restrictions on military age men
26 Mar 2012 13:27
Source: reuters // Reuters
BEIRUT, March 26 (Reuters) - Syrian authorities battling a year-long uprising against President Bashar al-Assad have tightened restrictions on men of military age leaving the country, Syrian and Lebanese officials said on Monday.
The restrictions issued on Saturday require men between the age of 18 and 42 to get permission from military recruitment and immigration departments before travelling, the officials said.
The move came after a year of protests against Assad and increasing reports of desertions by army conscripts.
Lebanese officials at the Masnaa border crossing between Beirut and Damascus said the number of people leaving Syria had fallen by 60 percent since the regulations were announced two days ago.
Assad has used the army to crush protests against his 12-year rule. The United Nations says more than 8,000 people have been killed in the crackdown while Syrian authorities blame foreign-backed terrorists for the violence and say 3,000 soldiers and police have been killed. (Reporting by Afif Diab; Editing by Karolina Tagaris)
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57m Reidar Visser Reidar Visser @reidarvisser
First pictures of Iraq PM Maliki in Tehran where he arrived hours ago http://pic.twitter.com/ZwPiEUDS
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11h Hayder al-Khoei Hayder al-Khoei @Hayder_alKhoei
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very heated debate now with clerics from Najaf re Shia stance on Syria revolution (lesser of evils vs condemning oppression at any cost)
Reidar Visser Reidar Visser @reidarvisser
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@Hayder_alKhoei Cd you please ask them to comment on Syria compared with case of Bahrain? Different approaches? If so, what is rationale?
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5:58 PM - 21 Apr 12 via web · Details
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11h Hayder al-Khoei Hayder al-Khoei @Hayder_alKhoei
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@reidarvisser but others refuse outright to support Bashar who sent terrorists to Iraq and don't see difference on principle (injustice)
11h Hayder al-Khoei Hayder al-Khoei @Hayder_alKhoei
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@reidarvisser Bahraini opposition did not arm themselves like FSA and still don't believe in armed insurrection
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Deadly bombs in Syria's Idlib target security
Mon, Apr 30 13:53 PM EDT
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By Oliver Holmes
BEIRUT (Reuters) - Explosions blew the fronts off buildings in the Syrian town of Idlib on Monday, with state TV reporting nine people killed and 100 wounded including security services personnel targeted by an intensifying rebel bombing campaign.
Images on state television showed flattened cars and mangled bodies lying under tarpaulins near the site of a pair of bombings. Craters had been blasted in the road.
"My wife and I were asleep in bed and then there was a loud explosion. It rocked the whole house and woke us all up," said one man, standing amid rubble.
"Is this the freedom they want? How can it be the fault of children? How can the innocents be to blame?"
There was no immediate claim of responsibility.
One of the main militia fighting to topple President Bashar al-Assad, the Free Syrian Army, denied blame. However, fighters say they are shifting tactics towards homemade bombs to even the odds between their outgunned forces and his powerful army.
Assad's government says such blasts are the work of terrorists and prove that his opponents are ignoring a U.N. ceasefire.
State TV said United Nations monitors overseeing the 18-day-old ceasefire were visiting the scene while their commander, Norwegian general Robert Mood, was being briefed on "violations by the armed opposition".
The state television broadcast blamed the explosions on suicide bombers, although it also showed a woman who said one of the bombs had been planted by men who ran away.
An opposition activist at the UK-based Syrian Observatory of Human Rights (SOHR) said the two blasts appeared to target the local headquarters of the intelligence services for the air force and army, two of the many security agencies that have helped keep the Assad family in power for four decades.
The activist put the death toll at over 20. He also reported casualties from a third blast in Idlib several hours later, although he gave no further details. Syria bars most independent journalists, making it difficult to verify details.
CEASEFIRE
The United Nations says security forces have killed 9,000 people in the uprising, which started as peaceful mass protests inspired by rebellions elsewhere in the Arab world but which is becoming an increasingly bloody guerrilla insurgency.
Damascus says rebels have killed 2,600 members of its forces and has accused the United Nations of turning a blind eye to "terrorist acts" committed by those fighting for the removal of Assad, who succeeded his late father, Hafez al-Assad, in 2000.
Although the rebels are far from a unitary force, their tactics appear to be shifting from small-scale ambushes on checkpoints and military patrols to audacious assaults on infrastructure and symbols of the Assad state.
"The rebels are getting better at bomb-making - as you know, desperation is the mother of invention," one anti-Assad fighter who claimed to be in command of a militia unit told Reuters in neighboring Lebanon. "We are starting to get smarter."
On Saturday, gunmen in inflatable dinghies killed several people in a seaborne assault on a military unit near the port of Latakia, and militants fired rocket-propelled grenades at the central bank in Damascus on Sunday, causing slight damage.
An Islamist group calling itself al-Nusra Front has claimed responsibility for a suicide bombing that killed at least nine people, most of them security officials, in Damascus on Friday.
Also on Friday, authorities in Beirut seized a ship carrying a large consignment of weapons from Libya, including rocket-propelled grenades and heavy caliber ammunition, that could have been smuggled into Syria.
Syrian soldiers fired at a group of four skiers along the mountainous border on Monday after they mistook them for smugglers, Lebanese security sources said. One Lebanese skier was wounded.
"HUGE TASK"
U.N. truce monitors are trickling in to Syria, with 30 of a planned 300 now on the ground. Their commander, Major General Mood, a veteran of previous Middle East peace bids, acknowledged the huge task awaiting him but said progress was possible.
"We will be only 300 but we can make a difference," he told reporters on his arrival in Damascus. "Thirty unarmed observers, 300 unarmed observers, even 1,000 unarmed observers cannot solve all the problems," he said.
Underscoring the challenges of covering a nation of 23 million people, the SOHR activist said two people were killed by security forces in separate incidents in the provinces on Monday.
However, activists in the restive central city of Homs say violence has dropped sharply since the observers deployed a permanent two-man team there last week.
"There are still violations but the shelling and mortar fire has stopped," Karam Abu Rabea said. "We have insisted that the observers stay in Homs because we know if they leave (the attacks) will continue."
Despite the relative calm in Homs, activists said at last 39 people were killed across the country on Sunday, including civilians, security forces and rebels.
(Additional reporting by Erika Solomon; Writing by Ed Cropley; Editing by Peter Graff)
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