Russia begins Syria air strikes as war enters volatile new phase

Wed Sep 30, 2015 | 4:00 PM EDT 2:26 PM EDT | 00:46 Russia releases video of air strikes in Syria Russia begins Syria air strikes as war enters...X By Andrew Osborn and Phil Stewart MOSCOW/WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Russia launched air strikes in Syria on Wednesday in the Kremlin's biggest Middle East intervention in decades, but Moscow's assertion that it had hit Islamic State was immediately disputed by the United States and rebels on the ground. The air strikes plunged the four-year-old civil war in Syria into a volatile new phase as President Vladimir Putin moved forcefully to assert Russian influence in the unstable region. The attacks also raised the dangerous specter of Washington and Moscow running air strikes concurrently and in the same region, but without coordination. U.S. Defense Secretary Ash Carter said he had directed U.S. military officials to meet with their Russian counterparts "as soon as possible" to discuss ways to make sure they do not come into conflict. The United States said a Russian official in Baghdad warned it to keep American aircraft that have been pressing a daily bombing campaign against Islamic State positions to stay out of Syrian airspace during Moscow's air strikes. But the United States continued its air operations, saying it targeted Islamic State near the Syrian city of Aleppo. Putin said he was striking against Islamic State and helping Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, long Russia's closest ally in the region, in this aim. But Washington is concerned that Moscow is more interested in propping up Assad, who the United States has long held should leave office, than in beating Islamic State. Assad's opponents in the brutal civil war include rebel groups that oppose both him and Islamic State and that are supported by the United States and other Western countries. The Russian defense ministry said it carried out about 20 flights over Syria, hitting eight Islamic State targets and destroying an Islamic State command post and an operations center in a mountainous area, Russian agencies reported. Syrians living in rebel-held areas of Homs province said the violence unleashed by the Russian air force unleashed a whole new level of devastation on their towns. Jets flying at higher altitudes than the Syrian air force emitted no noise to alert the people below to raids reported to have killed at least 33 civilians, including children. Moscow's intervention means the conflict in Syria has been transformed in a few months from a proxy war, in which outside powers were arming and training mostly Syrians to fight each other, to an international conflict in which the world’s main military powers except China are directly involved in fighting. Russia joined the United States and its Arab allies, Turkey, France, Iran and Israel in direct intervention, with Britain expected to join soon, if it gets parliamentary approval. Carter said of the strikes, "It does appear that they were in areas where there probably were not ISIL forces, and that is precisely one of the problems with this whole approach." ISIL is one of the acronyms for Islamic State, which has seized control of large areas of Syria and Iraq over the past year. Notice of the attack came from a Russian official in Baghdad who asked the United States to avoid Syrian airspace during the mission, U.S. State Department spokesman John Kirby said. DANGER IN THE SKIES Russia, U.S. face off at U.N. over parallel Syria air campaigns Russian air strikes unleash new devastation in Syrian region, say residents Moscow's move meant that warplanes from both the United States and Russia will be sharing the skies above Syria. "In this heated situation there is a great danger of further misunderstandings," German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier said at the United Nations. Reflecting growing tension between the big powers, U.S. Secretary John Kerry phoned his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov early on Wednesday to tell him the United States regarded the strikes as dangerous, a U.S. official told Reuters, speaking on condition of anonymity. White House spokesman Josh Earnest said Russia was moving to "ramp up" support for Assad, adding, "They've made a significant military investment now in further popping him up." Earnest called it "an indication of how concerned they are about losing influence in the one client state that they have in the Middle East." At least 200,000 people have been killed and millions driven from their homes since the civil war began in 2011 when Assad's forces moved to crush peaceful protests against his family's four-decade rule. ==================== Thu Oct 1, 2015 | 9:23 AM EDT Assad allies, including Iranians, prepare ground attack in Syria: sources Syria's President Bashar al-Assad answers questions during an interview with al-Manar's journalist Amro Nassef, in Damascus, Syria, in this handout photograph released by Syria's national news agency SANA on August 25, 2015. REUTERS/SANA/Handout via Reuters Syria's President Bashar al-Assad answers questions during an interview with al-Manar's journalist Amro Nassef, in Damascus, Syria, in this handout photograph released by Syria's national news agency SANA on August 25, 2015. Reuters/SANA/Handout via Reuters Assad allies, including Iranians, prepare ground. By Laila Bassam BEIRUT (Reuters) - Hundreds of Iranian troops have arrived in Syria in the last 10 days and will soon join government forces and their Lebanese Hezbollah allies in a major ground offensive backed by Russian air strikes, two Lebanese sources told Reuters. "The (Russian) air strikes will in the near future be accompanied by ground advances by the Syrian army and its allies," said one of the sources familiar with political and military developments in the conflict. "It is possible that the coming land operations will be focused in the Idlib and Hama countryside," the source added. The two sources said the operation would be aimed at recapturing territory lost by President Bashar al-Assad's government to rebels. It points to an emerging military alliance between Russia and Assad's other main allies - Iran and Hezbollah - focused on recapturing areas of northwestern Syria that were seized by insurgents in rapid advances earlier this year. "The vanguard of Iranian ground forces began arriving in Syria: soldiers and officers specifically to participate in this battle. They are not advisors ... we mean hundreds with equipment and weapons. They will be followed by more," the second source said. Iraqis would also take part in the operation, the source said. Thus far, direct Iranian military support for Assad has come mostly in the form of military advisors. Iran has also mobilized Shi'ite militia fighters, including Iraqis and some Afghans, to fight alongside Syrian government forces. Lebanon's Hezbollah, which is backed by Iran, has been fighting alongside the Syrian army since early in the conflict. The Russian air force began air strikes in Syria on Wednesday, targeting areas near the cities of Homs and Hama in the west of the country, where Assad's forces are fighting an array of insurgent groups, though not Islamic State, which is based mostly in the north and east. An alliance of insurgent groups including the al Qaeda-linked Nusra Front and powerful Ahrar al-Sham made rapid gains in Idlib province earlier this year, completely expelling the government from the area bordering Turkey. (Reporting by Laila Bassam; Writing by Tom Perry; Editing by Samia Nakhoul and Peter Graff) ============================================

Blasts, clashes kill at least 25 in central Baghdad

ہمیں اپنے مذھب و عقيدہ ميں شک سے دوچار كرنے كے لئے منافقين ھميشہ يہ نعرہ بلند كرتے ہیں کہ اگر ھم حق پرہیں تو كيوں قتل ہو رہے ہیں اور كيوں اس قدر ھميں قربانی دينی پڑ رہی ہیں ۔ بہت سے انبياء جوكہ يقيناً حق پر تھے، اپنے پروگرام كو جاری كرنے ميں كاميابی سے ھم كنار نھيں ھوسكے، بنی اسرائيل نے بين الطلوعين ايک روز ميں ستر انبياء كو شھيد كر ڈالا اور اس كے بعد اپنے كاموں ميں مشغول ھوگئے جيسے كچھ ہوا ہی نھيں، تو كيا ان پيامبران الٰہی كا شھيد و مغلوب ھونا ان كے باطل ھونے كی دليل ھے؟ اور بنی اسرائيل كا غالب ھوجانا ان كی حقانيت كی علامت ھے؟ يقيناً اس كا جواب نھيں ميں ھے، دين كے سلسلہ ميں فريب كی نسبت دينا اور حق پر نہ ھونے كے لئے شبہ پيدا كرنا، منافقين كے القاء شبھات كے نمونے ہیں۔ دين كو اجتماع و معاشرت كے ميدان سے جدا كركے صرف آخرت كے لئے متعارف كرانا، دين كے تقدس كے بہانے دين و سياست كی جدائی كا نعرہ بلند كرنا، تمام اديان و مذاھب كے لئے حقانيت كا نظريہ پيش كرنا، خدا محوری كے بجائے انسان محوری كی ترويج كرنا، اس قبيل كے ھزاروں شبھات ھيں جن كو منافقين ترويج كرتے ہیں تا كہ ان شبھات كے ذريعہ دين كے حقايق و مسلّمات كو ضعيف اور اسلامی معاشرہ سے روح ايمان كو خالی كرديں اور اپنے باطل و بيھودہ مقاصد كو حاصل كرليں۔ لیکن ہم عاشورائی قوم ہیں۔ "لبیک یا حسین (ع)" کا نعرہ ہی منافقین کی نابودی کیلئے کافی ہے۔ کسی کو کوئی اعتراض؟؟؟ Blasts, clashes kill at least 25 in central Baghdad Thu, Mar 14 11:26 AM EDT 1 of 3 BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Coordinated blasts killed at least 25 people in the heart of Baghdad on Thursday near the heavily fortified Green Zone, where several Western embassies are located, police and medics said. No one immediately claimed responsibility for the explosions, but Sunni Muslim insurgents have been redoubling their efforts to undermine Iraq's Shi'ite-led government and foment inter-communal conflict this year. The brazen attacks in broad daylight will fan concerns about Iraq's fragile security, which has come under growing strain as the increasingly sectarian conflict in neighboring Syria threatens to upset its own Sunni-Shi'ite balance. Police said two car bombs exploded in the Alawi district, one of them near the Justice Ministry building, before a suicide car bomber blew himself up near an Interior Ministry office. A suicide bomber then walked into the Justice Ministry and militants attacked the building, clashing with Iraqi security forces, who eventually regained control. "I went to the second floor to do something when I heard a big explosion, then a second one," said Ammar Ghanim, a policeman who was inside the ministry at the time of the attack. "We heard shooting and a few minutes later three attackers wearing military uniform came up to the second floor and randomly started shooting," he said. "I got shot in the leg and I am very proud to have killed one of them (the attackers)." Among the dead were at least 7 policemen and 15 civilians, police and medics said. Three militants were also killed. At least 50 people were wounded. Iraq's power-sharing government has been all but paralyzed since U.S. troops left more than a year ago and Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki, a Shi'ite, is facing protests in the country's Sunni heartland, which shares a porous border with Syria. Violence has intensified as Sunni opposition has swelled, and Iraq's al Qaeda affiliate has urged the protesters to take up arms against the government. Security experts say al Qaeda-linked militants have been regrouping in the western province of Anbar and crossing into Syria to fight alongside mainly Sunni rebels against forces loyal to President Bashar al-Assad, an ally of Shi'ite Iran. (Reporting by Kareem Raheem; Writing by Isabel Coles; Editing by Alistair Lyon) ============ Iraq war costs U.S. more than $2 trillion: study Thu, Mar 14 12:53 PM EDT 1 of 9 By Daniel Trotta NEW YORK (Reuters) - The U.S. war in Iraq has cost $1.7 trillion with an additional $490 billion in benefits owed to war veterans, expenses that could grow to more than $6 trillion over the next four decades counting interest, a study released on Thursday said. The war has killed at least 134,000 Iraqi civilians and may have contributed to the deaths of as many as four times that number, according to the Costs of War Project by the Watson Institute for International Studies at Brown University. When security forces, insurgents, journalists and humanitarian workers were included, the war's death toll rose to an estimated 176,000 to 189,000, the study said. The report, the work of about 30 academics and experts, was published in advance of the 10th anniversary of the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq on March 19, 2003. It was also an update of a 2011 report the Watson Institute produced ahead of the 10th anniversary of the September 11 attacks that assessed the cost in dollars and lives from the resulting wars in Afghanistan, Pakistan and Iraq. The 2011 study said the combined cost of the wars was at least $3.7 trillion, based on actual expenditures from the U.S. Treasury and future commitments, such as the medical and disability claims of U.S. war veterans. That estimate climbed to nearly $4 trillion in the update. The estimated death toll from the three wars, previously at 224,000 to 258,000, increased to a range of 272,000 to 329,000 two years later. Excluded were indirect deaths caused by the mass exodus of doctors and a devastated infrastructure, for example, while the costs left out trillions of dollars in interest the United States could pay over the next 40 years. The interest on expenses for the Iraq war could amount to about $4 trillion during that period, the report said. The report also examined the burden on U.S. veterans and their families, showing a deep social cost as well as an increase in spending on veterans. The 2011 study found U.S. medical and disability claims for veterans after a decade of war totaled $33 billion. Two years later, that number had risen to $134.7 billion. FEW GAINS The report concluded the United States gained little from the war while Iraq was traumatized by it. The war reinvigorated radical Islamist militants in the region, set back women's rights, and weakened an already precarious healthcare system, the report said. Meanwhile, the $212 billion reconstruction effort was largely a failure with most of that money spent on security or lost to waste and fraud, it said. Former President George W. Bush's administration cited its belief that Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein's government held weapons of mass destruction to justify the decision to go to war. U.S. and allied forces later found that such stockpiles did not exist. Supporters of the war argued that intelligence available at the time concluded Iraq held the banned weapons and noted that even some countries that opposed the invasion agreed with the assessment. "Action needed to be taken," said Steven Bucci, the military assistant to former Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld in the run-up to the war and today a senior fellow at the Heritage Foundation, a conservative Washington-based think-tank. Bucci, who was unconnected to the Watson study, agreed with its observation that the forecasts for the cost and duration of the war proved to be a tiny fraction of the real costs. "If we had had the foresight to see how long it would last and even if it would have cost half the lives, we would not have gone in," Bucci said. "Just the time alone would have been enough to stop us. Everyone thought it would be short." Bucci said the toppling of Saddam and the results of an unforeseen conflict between U.S.-led forces and al Qaeda militants drawn to Iraq were positive outcomes of the war. "It was really in Iraq that 'al Qaeda central' died," Bucci said. "They got waxed." (Editing by Paul Simao) ================ پاکستاني شیعہ‎ عقائد حضرت عبد العظیم شیخ صدوق وغیرہ نے حضرت عبدالعظیم سے روایت کی ہے میں نے اپنے آقا حضرت امام علی نقی-کی خدمت میں حاضر ہوا حضرت نے جب مجھے دیکھا تو فرمایا: مرحبا اے ابو قاسم تو ہمارا حقیقی ولی ہے۔ میں نے عرض کی اے فرزند رسول خدا (صلی اللہ علیہ و آلہ وسلم)میں چاہتا ہوں کہ اپنا دین آپ کے سامنے پیش کروں اگر آپ کو پسند ہوا تو قیامت تک اس پر ثابت قدم رہوں گا۔ حضرت امام نقی-نے فرمایا: اپنا دین بیان کر۔ میں نے کہا :میں کہتا ہوں کہ خدا یکتا و یگانہ ہے اس کی مثل کوئی چیز نہیں خداابطال اور حدتشبیہ سے خارج ہے (یعنی نہ اس طرح ہے کہ کچھ بھی ہو اور نہ اس طرح ہے کہ کسی چیز کا مشابہ ہو)جسم و صورت اور جوہر و عرض نہیں ہے بلکہ ان کو پیدا کرنے والا ہر چیز کا پالنے والا اور مالک ہے اور ہر چیز کو اس نے عدم سے وجود عطا کیا ہے۔ اور میں کہتا ہوں کی محمد (صلی اللہ علیہ و آلہ وسلم) اللہ کے بندے اور اس کے رسول ہیں اور خاتم الانبیاء ہیں اور قیامت تک کوئی پیغمبر نہیں آئے گا اور حضرت (صلی اللہ علیہ و آلہ وسلم) کی شریعت تمام شریعتوں کی آخری شریعت ہے اور اس کے بعد قیامت تک کوئی شریعت نہیں ہے اور میں اقرار کرتا ہوں کہ پیغمبر (صلی اللہ علیہ و آلہ وسلم) کے بعد امام، خلیفہ اور ولی امیر المومنین علی-ابن ابی طالب ہیں ان کے بعد امام حسن- ان کے بعد امام حسین-ان کے بعد ابن الحسین زین العابدین- ان کے بعد محمد ابن علی الباقر+ ان کے بعد جعفر ابن محمد صادق + پھر موسی ابن جعفر کاظم+ ان کے بعد علی ابن موسیٰ رضا-پھر محمد ابن علی + ہیں اور ان بزرگوکے بعد اے میرے مولا آپ ہیں۔ پس امام نے فرمایا کہ میرے بعد میرا بیٹا امام حسن عسکری- ہے پھر فرمایا(معلوم ہے) اس امام کے بعد اس کے خلیفہ کے زمانے کے لوگ کس طرح ہوں گے؟ میں نے عرض کی مولا کس طرح ہوں گے؟ حضرت نے فرمایا: "زمین ظلم و جور سے پرہو چکی ہوگی کیونکہ لوگ اپنے امام کو دیکھ نہ سکیں گے۔ اور نہ ان کیلئے امام کا نام لینا جائز ہوگا( کہ کہیں ذات امام- کو کوئی نقصان نہ پہنچ جائے) یہ سلسلہ جارہی رہے گا یہاں تک کہ امام کا ظہور ہوگا اور وہ زمین کو عدل و انصاف سے پر کردیں گے"۔ میں عرض کیا کہ میں امام حسن عسکری-اور ان کے خلف (فرزندو جانشین) کا اقرار کرتا ہوں اور قائل ہوتا ہوں ان بزرگواروں کا دوست خدا کا دوست ہے اور ان کا دشمن خدا کا دشمن ہے اور ان کی اطاعت خدا کی اطاعت ہے اور ان کی نافرمانی خدا کی نافرمانی ہے ۔ اور یہ(اقرار کرتا ہوں) کہ معراج حق ہے قبر میں سوال ہونا حق ہے اور یہ کہ جنت حق ہے اور جہنم حق ہے اور صراط حق ہے اور میزان حق ہے اور قیامت کے آنے میں شک نہیں ہے اور خداوند عالم قبر والوں کو زندہ کرکے اٹھائے گا۔ اور میں قائل ہوں کہ ولایت (یعنی خدا، رسول اور آئمہ٪ کی دوستی) کے بعد نماز، زکوة،روزہ،حج، جہاد، خمس، امر بالمعروف، اور نہی عن المنکر سب کے سب فرض ہیں۔ پس امام علی نقی-نے فرمایا: خدا کی قسم یہ خدا کا دین ہے جس کو خدا نے اپنے بندوں کیلئے پسند فرمایا ہے اور تو اسی عقیدے پر ثابت قدم رہ خداوند عالم نے اپنے بندوں کے لئے پسند فرمایا ہے اور اسی عقیدے پر ثابت قدم رہ خداوند عالم تمہیں دنیاوی اور آخروی زندگی میں قول ثابت (وحق) پر ثابت قدم رکھے۔ (اکمال الدین واتمام النعمة کتاب التوحید جلد۲ ۳۷۹) علمدار روڈ‎ یـہ جہـــاں ایک دن پر نـــور ہو گا لبــوں پــہ سب کے ســرور ہو گا ذہنوں میں سب کے شعور ہو گا شــرک سے ہر کـــوئی دور ہو گا عـــلم و عـرفان کا دستـــور ہو گا خـــالق پـــہ سب کو غــرور ہو گا یقیـــن رکھـــو ایســا ضــرور ہو گا جب مہـــديء حـق کا ظہور ہو گا العجـــل ، العجـــل یـــا امــــــام _ زمــــــانــــــہ العجـــل ========= شیعت نیو ز کت نمائندے کے مطابق لانڈھی میں امریکی و سعودی نواز کالعدم سپاہ صحابہ کے دہشت گردوں کی فائرنگ سے دونوں ٹانگوں سے معزور ۳۵ سالہ ارشد علی ولد شاہد شہید ہو گئے ۔ تفصیلات کے مطابق دہشت گر دی کا یہ واقعہ لانڈھی بابر مارکیٹ کے نذدیک کل شب پیش آیا کراچی:شہید ارشد علی کی نماز جنازہ آج بعد نماز ظہرین امام بارگاہ ابالفضل عباس لانڈھی نمبر 3 میں ادا کردی گئ اور تدفین لانڈھی نمبر 6 میں کی جائ ہے۔ ====== Top News Car bombs, shootings kill 23 across Iraq Mon, Apr 29 10:31 AM EDT 1 of 2 BAGHDAD (Reuters) - At least 23 people were killed in Iraq on Monday in a series of car bombs in Shi'ite Muslim areas and militant attacks, medics and police sources said, taking the week's death toll to nearly 200 as sectarian violence intensifies. Clashes have increased as the civil war in Syria puts strain on fragile relations between Sunnis and Shi'ites. The tensions are at their highest in Iraq since U.S. troops pulled out more than a year ago. The latest bout of blood-letting began when security forces raided a Sunni protest camp near Kirkuk last week triggering clashes that quickly spread to other Sunni areas including the western province of Anbar, which borders Syria and Jordan. Iraq decided on Monday to close a border crossing with Jordan for two days starting on Tuesday due to "organizational issues", the interior minister said without giving any details. It is the second time this year that authorities have ordered the closure of the Traibil border post in Anbar where Sunnis have been protesting against Iraq's Shi'ite-led government since December. The demonstrations had eased in the past month, but this week's army raid on a protest camp in Hawija, near Kirkuk, 170 km north of Baghdad, angered Sunnis and appears to have given insurgents more momentum. Early on Monday, at least nine people were killed and 40 wounded in two car bomb explosions in Amara, 300 km (185 miles) southeast of Baghdad. The first of two blasts in Amara, ripped through a market where people were meeting to eat breakfast, and the second hit an area where day laborers were gathering to look for work. Another car bomb was detonated in a market in Diwaniya, 150 km south of Baghdad, killing two people, police said. "I was preparing to go to work when a big explosion shook my house and broke the glass in all the windows," said witness Widy Jasim. "I ran outside, the explosion was near my house and bodies were everywhere". A bomb in a parked car went off near a busy market in Kerbala, killing at least three people. A further six people were killed in an explosion near a Shi'ite worship site in Mahmudiya, about 30 km south of Baghdad. No group immediately claimed responsibility for the attacks, but car and suicide bombings are trademarks of the Islamic State of Iraq, the Iraqi wing of Sunni Islamist al Qaeda which seeks to provoke sectarian conflict. Violence is still well below its height in 2006-07, but provisional figures from rights group Iraq Body Count indicate about 1,494 people have been killed so far in 2013. In Mosul, 390 km (240 miles) north of Baghdad, gunmen clashed with the army early on Monday, killing two soldiers and wounding three others, military sources said. A sniper shot dead a soldier and wounded another while they were on patrol in Madaen in eastern Baghdad, police said. The speaker of parliament Osama al-Nujaifi, himself a Sunni, proposed an initiative to avoid "the ghost of civil war and sectarian strife", calling on Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki and his Shi'ite-led government to resign, dissolve parliament and prepare for an early parliamentary election. Iraqi politics are deeply divided along sectarian lines, with Maliki's government mired in crisis over how to share power among Shi'ite Muslims, the largest group, Sunnis and ethnic Kurds who run their own autonomous region in the north. (Reporting by Aref Mohammed in Basra, Kareem Raheem and Ahmed Rasheed in Baghdad and Emad al-Khuzaie in Diywaniya; Additional reporting by Ali al-Rubaie in Hilla and Ziad al-Sanjary in Mosul; Writing by Suadad al-Salhy; Editing by Jon Hemming) ============== Syrian prime minister survives Damascus bombing, six die Mon, Apr 29 13:24 PM EDT 1 of 8 By Dominic Evans BEIRUT (Reuters) - Syria's prime minister survived a bomb attack on his convoy in Damascus on Monday, as rebels struck in the heart of President Bashar al-Assad's capital. Six people were killed in the blast, the British-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said. Previous rebel attacks on government targets included a December bombing which wounded Assad's interior minister. As prime minister, Wael al-Halki wields little power but the attack highlighted the rebels' growing ability to target symbols of Assad's authority in a civil war that, according to the United Nations, has cost more than 70,000 lives. Assad picked Halki in August to replace Riyadh Hijab, who defected and escaped to neighboring Jordan just weeks after a bombing killed four of the president's top security advisers. Monday's blast shook the Mezze district soon after 9 a.m. (2:00 a.m. EDT), sending thick black smoke into the sky. The Observatory said one man accompanying Halki was killed as well as five passers-by. State television showed firemen hosing down the charred and mangled remains of a car. Close by was a large white bus, its windows blown out and its seats gutted by fire. Glass and debris were scattered across several lanes of a main road. "The terrorist explosion in Mezze was an attempt to target the convoy of the prime minister. Dr Wael al-Halki is well and not hurt at all," state television said. It later broadcast footage of Halki, who appeared composed and unruffled, chairing what it said was an economic committee. In comments released by the state news agency SANA but not shown on television, Halki was quoted as condemning the attack as a sign of "bankruptcy and failure of the terrorist groups", a reference to the rebels battling to overthrow Assad. Mezze is part of a shrinking "Square of Security" in central Damascus, where many government and military institutions are based and where senior officials live. Sheltered for nearly two years from the destruction ravaging much of the rest of Syria, it has been sucked into violence as rebel forces based to the east of the capital launch mortar attacks and carry out bombings in the center. CHEMICAL WEAPONS Assad has lost control of large areas of northern and eastern Syria, faces a growing challenge in the southern province of Deraa, and is battling rebels in many cities. But his forces have been waging powerful ground offensives, backed by artillery and air strikes, against rebel-held territory around the capital and near the central city of Homs which links Damascus to the heartland of Assad's minority Alawite sect in the mountains overlooking the Mediterranean. As part of that counter-offensive, Assad's forces probably used chemical weapons, the United States and Britain have said. However the trans-Atlantic allies, whose 2003 invasion of Iraq to overthrow Saddam Hussein was based in part on flawed intelligence about an Iraqi program of weapons of mass destruction, have been cautious in their accusations. Despite congressional pressure on Barack Obama to do more to help the rebels, the U.S. president has made clear he is in no rush to intervene on the basis of evidence he said was preliminary. Britain, which says there is limited but growing evidence of chemical weapons use, said it wanted a United Nations investigation to see "whether or not there is verified use of chemical weapons". "We've been very clear that, should that be the case, then the repercussions would be serious," British Foreign Office Minister Alistair Burt said during a visit to Beirut. "That is why it is so important to have this independently verified and for the U.N. to do their investigation". A U.N. team of experts has been waiting to travel to Syria to gather field evidence, but has yet to win agreement from Syrian authorities who want it to investigate only government accusations of chemical weapon use by rebels in Aleppo province. Russia, which has criticized Western and Gulf Arab support for the anti-Assad fighters, said that attempts by Western countries to expand the U.N. inquiry to cover rebel accusations of Syrian government use of chemicals in Homs and Damascus mounted to a pretext to intervene in the civil war. "There is not always a basis for the allegations (of the use of chemical weapons)," Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov told a news conference. "There are probably governments and a number of external players who believe that it is fine to use any means to overthrow the Syrian regime. But the theme of the use of weapons of mass destruction is too serious and we shouldn't joke about it. To take advantage of it (to advance) geopolitical goals is not acceptable." The United Nations said in February that around 70,000 people had been killed in Syria's conflict. Since then activists have reported daily death tolls of between 100 and 200. Five million people have fled their homes, including 1.4 million refugees in nearby countries, and financial losses are estimated at many tens of billions of dollars. The Beirut-based U.N. Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia estimates that 400,000 houses have been completely destroyed, 300,000 partially destroyed and a further half million have suffered some kind of structural damage. (Additional reporting by Thomas Grove in Moscow; Editing by Alistair Lyon and Robin Pomeroy) ===============

Gunfire, funerals and fear in Syria's protest centre

It is puzzling to read about Christan Zionists while Jews refuse to recognising Jesus and Christianity. To me, Christian Zionists is similar to Jews for Hitler.23 Jan 2012 22:29Source: Reuters // Reuters* Daily funerals at military hospital* Streets empty during the day* Some live in fear of army, others blame armed groupsBy Mariam KarounyHOMS, Syria, Jan 23 (Reuters) - In Syria's restive city of Homs, soldiers are stationed behind sand barriers at street corners, most shops are closed and residents are nervous.Scattered shooting is a reminder of violence that has hit the city and turned into battles between President Bashar al-Assad's government army and rebels who now control most of it."Every day we have a funeral. Every day we receive between four to five dead. There was one day we buried 20 soldiers," said Haitham Othman, an officer at the military hospital where the funerals of three security forces personnel were held on Monday."The terrorist groups have occupied two-thirds of the city of Homs. They are armed and supported by external forces. They bring weapons from Lebanon and Turkey. They are attacking the civilians and the security forces," he told reporters on a government tour of pro-Assad districts of the city.The coffins, wrapped in Syrian flags, were taken to ambulances which carried them to villages across Homs province.Hospital staff and relatives threw rice at them as they were escorted with military music. Colleagues and officers saluted.Haitham Kassem, who was there to receive the body of his son-in-law, said that the 29-year-old slain policeman was "a harmless and kind person.""He was shot in the back. He was only a traffic policeman. What did he do to deserve this? He has a three-month-old baby. What was his fault?"Journalists were later shown four charred bodies of soldiers who officials said were killed with three other soldiers in an ambush on a bus that was taking them home. Four civilians were also killed in the attack, they said.Ahmad Salamy, 22, was lying on a bed in the hospital. "Yesterday I was walking in the street near my house when I heard the buzzing of bullets. I couldn't move. I was hit in my leg. My neighbours saved me."Homs, a mainly Sunni Muslim city of more than a million people with a large minority from Assad's Alawite community, has seen some of the heaviest bloodshed of the 10-month uprising against Assad's rule, including reports of sectarian killings.Colonel Mohsen Ibrahim said the military hospital receives between 10 to 50 wounded security forces personnel every day."These days we are receiving more complicated cases that lead to death because now the armed groups are using more sophisticated weapons including mortars and rocket propelled grenades," he said.STREETS EMPTYThe main street of the city was almost empty during the day.After leaving the military hospital, an information ministry employee accompanying journalists warned that violence might break out. "Please stay together and run to the bus when you hear shooting," he told them.Soldiers in combat gear stood nervously behind sand barriers at every corner.Traders said business was dead and one said he had not sold a single item of clothing for three months. Most shops at the Hamidiyeh market were closed and the few which opened closed again at two in the afternoon. Litter covered the streets."People are very scared. The situation is not normal. We open our business for four hours a day," said a clothes seller."Down with Assad" was scribbled on one wall. "Syria's Assad" answered a slogan written on the wall facing it.Many shopkeepers refused to speak but privately some said they were scared of the army while others said armed men were spreading fear across the city."They are terrorising us, scaring us. We are not safe. They have beaten up my brother. They are attacking us with rocket propelled grenades. What did we do to them?" said Layal al-Ali.Her friend Nuhad Hussein said: "Syria was safe, they are destroying it."They thanked the army at the checkpoints; the soldiers smiled."Do you know why people are not talking? They are scared of the gunmen. They know they are watching and if they say what is really going on they will come and attack them after you leave," whispered a 21-year-old student who gave his name as Tony."The army is here to protect us. They keep attacking the army. What kind of freedom seeker is this who attacks his own army, the army of its country?" he said.In the street a church and a mosque stand together."All I want is safety," said a man in the market.Another man urged him to say there were gunmen. "Tell them there are gunmen here. You are not seeing the gunmen?""I didn't see anything, all I want is stability," he said.When sporadic shooting erupted a school teacher in her 50s smiled and said it happens every day and lasts for hours."We are used to it now. This is the kind of life we are living," said the woman who wore a cross. She refused to give her name. "It is not safe," she said."BREAK OUR NECK""If you want to know the truth, you only have to look around you. It is obvious," said a young shopkeeper. "Please do not ask us any questions or talk to us. They will break our necks." When asked who, he said: "The people you are with".Most city districts were off-limits to the journalists because they were either rebel-held or are considered hot spots.A nearby street showed scars from the violence.Buildings were burnt and pockmarked with bullet holes. A military armoured vehicle was left charred in the middle of the street. Sand barriers were destroyed.One kilometre down the road, the rebel green, white and black flag could be seen waving, setting a limit beyond which government troops could not cross.A 20-year old conscript at a nearby checkpoint said the situation was getting better. Journalists were told after the tour that the checkpoint was attacked. It was not clear if there were any casualties.=============Feb. 3, 2012 9:34 PM ETSyrian activists: 200 dead in government assaultELIZABETH A. KENNEDY, Associated Press AIM ShareIn this citizen journalism image provided by the Local Coordination Committees in Syria and released Wednesday, Feb. 1, 2012, an anti-Syrian regime protester, holds a poster in Arabic that reads, "to the Syrian freedom soldiers, our hearts are bases for you," as he walks during a demonstration in Idlib Province, north Syria. Russia's deputy defense minister says Moscow will not stop arms sales to Syria. Russian state news agencies quoted Deputy Defense Minister Anatoly Antonov on Thursday as saying Russia is not violating any international obligations. (AP Photo/Local Coordination Committees in Syria) THE ASSOCIATED PRESS IS UNABLE TO INDEPENDENTLY VERIFY THE AUTHENTICITY, CONTENT, LOCATION OR DATE OF THIS HANDOUT PHOTO1 of 3More NewsVideoUN council meeting Saturday to consider SyriaFeb. 3, 2012 8:20 PM ETIn mountains, Syria opens new front against rebelsFeb. 1, 2012 3:39 PM ETSyria troops push back rebels as UN fight loomsJan. 31, 2012 2:08 PM ETSyrian troops push back in fight on Damascus edgesJan. 30, 2012 6:12 PM ETSyria: 6 soldiers killed in bus ambushJan. 29, 2012 4:33 AM ETAdvertisementAdvertisementBuy AP Photo ReprintsBEIRUT (AP) — In a barrage of mortar shells, Syrian forces killed 200 people and wounded hundreds in Homs in an offensive that appears to be the bloodiest episode in the nearly 11-month-old uprising, activists said Saturday.The assault in Homs, which has been one of the main flashpoints of opposition during the uprising, comes as the U.N. Security Council prepares to vote on a draft resolution backing an Arab call for President Bashar Assad to give up power.Two main opposition groups, the British-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights and the Local Coordination Committees, said the death toll in Homs was more than 200 people in shelling that began late Friday. More than half of the killings — about 140 — were reported in the Khaldiyeh neighborhood."This is the worst attack of the uprising, since the uprising began in March until now," said Rami Abdul-Rahman, the head of the Observatory, which tracks violence through contacts on the ground.The reports could not be independently confirmed.It was not immediately clear what precipitated the attack, but there have been reports that army defectors set up checkpoints in the area and were trying to consolidate control.Earlier on Friday, deadly clashes erupted between government troops and rebels in suburbs of the Syrian capital and villages in the south, sparking fighting that killed at least 23 people, including nine soldiers, activists said.Assad is trying to crush the revolt with a sweeping crackdown that has so far claimed thousands of lives, but neither the government nor the protesters are backing down and clashes between the military and an increasingly bold and armed opposition has meant many parts of the country have seen relentless violence.The U.N. Security Council will meet Saturday morning to take up a much-negotiated resolution on Syria, said a diplomat for a Western nation that sits on the council.The diplomat spoke Friday on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to be quoted by the media.The move toward a vote came after Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton spoke by telephone with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov in an effort to overcome Russian opposition to any statement that explicitly calls for regime change or a military intervention in Syria.The U.S. and its partners have ruled out military action but want the global body to endorse an Arab League plan that calls on Assad to hand power over to Syria's vice president.Russia's deputy foreign minister, Gennady Gatilov, said Friday that Moscow could not support the resolution in its current form. But he expressed optimism that an agreement could be reached, according to state news agency RIA Novosti.Assad's regime has been intensifying an assault against army defectors and protesters. The U.N. said weeks ago that more than 5,400 people have been killed in violence since March. Hundreds more have been killed since that tally was announced.___AP writer Anita Snow contributed to this report from the United Nations.Associated Press=================What’s the endgame in Syria? Clinton doesn’t knowPosted By Josh Rogin Saturday, February 4, 2012 - 1:19 PM ShareNow that Russia and China have vetoed the U.N. Security Council resolution on the violence in Syria, what does the international community intend to do next and how will the situation play out? Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said just now there's no way to know."We don't know what the endgame will be until we start the game," Clinton said at a press conference at the 2012 Munich Security Conference, just minutes before Russia and China killed the resolution put forth by Morocco and supported by the United States and several other security council members. "Asking what the end game is can't be answered until we actually start to bring about the changes that we think will be beneficial."Clinton warned that more violence would be in the offing if the security council was not able to act immediately."The endgame, in the absence of us acting together as the international community, is civil war," she said. "The potential endgames, if we are serious about putting this kind of international pressure on the Assad regime, making it clear to the opposition that they should pursue their changes in a peaceful manner, is the possibility of the beginning of a transition."

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)
====

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
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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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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

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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.
========

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.

<^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

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

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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.
===============

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)

====


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

--------------

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)