Sunni leader says Hezbollah leading Lebanon into 'Syrian fire'

Sat, Aug 17 12:33 PM EDT image BEIRUT (Reuters) - Lebanon's leading Sunni Muslim politician Saad al-Hariri accused Hezbollah on Saturday of dragging the country deeper into Syria's civil war after the Shi'ite militant group's leader said he was ready to go to Syria himself to fight. Hariri, a former prime minister, was responding to a speech by Hezbollah Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah who said that a car bomb in Shi'ite southern Beirut would only redouble the group's military support for Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. "(Nasrallah's) speech takes Lebanon into deeper involvement in the Syrian fire," Hariri tweeted. "It's a pity to squander the blood of the Lebanese in such a way". The death toll from Thursday's car bomb, already the deadliest attack in Beirut since the 1975-1990 civil war, rose to 27 on Saturday when the body of a six-year-old boy was found in the damaged ground floor of a nearby building. Hariri's father Rafik al-Hariri, who also served as prime minister several times, was killed along with 21 others in a 2005 bombing. A U.N.-backed tribunal has indicted four Hezbollah members over the killing. "What happened (on Thursday) was an ugly crime, but Hezbollah's war in Syria is crime as well," Hariri said, criticizing Nasrallah for calling for restraint at home while reinforcing his commitment to the battle in Syria which has polarized Lebanon and sharply raised sectarian tensions. Most Sunni Muslim Lebanese support the rebels battling to overthrow Assad, whose Alawite sect is an offshoot of Shi'ite Islam. Many Shi'ite Lebanese support Assad and Hezbollah's support in the neighboring country has grown from a political to a full military role. Hezbollah guerrillas led Assad's fight to recapture the Syrian border town of Qusair in June from mainly Sunni rebels, and have also fought in the city of Homs and near the Shi'ite shrine of Sayyida Zeinab south-east of Damascus. Nasrallah said on Friday the Syrian war was a battle against radical Sunni "takfiri" groups, who he also blamed for Thursday's bomb. Many Sunni jihadi fighters from Lebanon and other Arab countries have joined the fight against Assad, and some have threatened retaliation in Lebanon unless Hezbollah withdraws from Syria. The two-year conflict has killed 100,000 people inside Syria and the violence has spread across the Lebanese border, with rocket attacks in the Bekaa Valley, street fighting in the Mediterranean cities of Sidon and Tripoli, and bombs in Beirut. (Reporting by Dominic Evans; Editing by Andrew Heavens)

U.S. to increase military support to Syria rebels

حزب اللہ کے سیکریٹری جنرل نے کہا کہ شام میں تکفیری گروہ قتل، ذبح اور چھری پھیرنے کی باتیں کر رہے ہیں اور ایسے اقدامات بھی کررہے ہیں، ان کی کوشش ہے کہ اب مذہبی منافرت اور فرقہ واریت کا کارڈ استعمال کریں، جن کے پاس منطق اور عقل نہ ہو وہ ایسا ہی کرتا ہے۔ انہوں نے کہا کہ کچھ معروف عربی ٹی وی چینلز اسی طرح انٹرنیٹ اخبارات سب میں یہی صورت حال ہے البتہ ہمارے حوالے سے یہ کوئی نئی بات نہیں لیکن مذہبی منافرت اور فرقہ واریت کی یہ کوششیں بزدلانہ عمل ہے۔ انہوں نے کہا کہ شام کے مسئلے میں ہم دو سال سے کہتے آئے ہیں اور کوشش کی ہے کہ مذاکرات سے حل ہو اور ہم اب بھی یہی چاہتے ہیں۔ انہوں نے شام میں اسلامی تحریک مزاحمت کی موجودگی کے بارے میں کہا کہ اس بحران میں ہم آخری تھے جو عملی طور پر اور انتہائی محدود پیمانے پر وارد ہوئے ہیں کیونکہ ہم دیکھ رہے ہیں کہ شام میں امریکہ اور اسرائیل ایک ایسے وسیع ایجنڈے کو نافذ کرنا چاہتے ہیں جس سے نہ صرف وہ شام بلکہ خطے میں فلسطین قبل اول سمیت متعدد اہم مسائل کو اپنے حق میں کرنا چاہتے ہیں، ہمیں اس ایجنڈے کا مکمل ادراک ہے اور یہ ایجنڈا پورے خطے کو تباہ و برباد کرے گا۔ انہوں نے کہا کہ آپ مجھے بتائیں کہ جسے یہ شامی اپوزیشن کہہ رہے ہیں وہ کون ہے؟ کیا شام کی عوام ہے؟ شامی اپوزیشن کی چھتری تلے دسیوں ہزار غیر ملکی مسلح افراد جو پوری دنیا سے اکھٹے ہوئے ہیں کو جمع کیا گیا اور عرب ممالک ان کی پشت پر بیٹھے ہیں اور جمہوریت اور تبدیلی کی بات کر رہے ہیں جن کے اپنے ملک میں انتخابات تک نہیں ہوتے۔ United States to meet Taliban to seek Afghan peace عراقی معروف شیعہ انقلابی رہنما سید مقتدیٰ الصدر نے شام میں دہشت گردوں کی ہرزہ سرائیوں پر شدید تشویش کا اظہار کرتے ہوئے القاعدہ کے ناصبی تکفیری دہشت گردوں کے سرغنہ کو خبر دار کرتے ہوئے نتیجہ خیز وارننگ دی ہے اور کہا ہے کہ القاعدہ دہشت گرد شا م میں دہشت گردانہ کاروائیوں کا سلسلہ فی الفور بند کر دے۔ Sayyed Nasrallah said that since the start of the crisis in Syria Hezbollah had a clear view that there was a scheme that has repercussions on Syria, Palestine, Lebanon, the region, the Muslims, the Christians, the Sunnites and the Shiites. His eminence pointed out that the resistance through its decisions is defending Lebanon, its land and its state. The resistance leader stressed that what’s coming on in Syria is not between a regime and people, saying: “This issue is over. There are sides who don’t care for the people killed, they just want for the regime to fall. They imagine that the alternative for this regime is another one. However the alternative is the chaos.” His eminence noted that the Syrian people are parted, some is with the regime and the other is against it, adding: “And we are with the regime. We are also with reforms.” “We are with people who call for reforms, whether they are with the regime or against it. However we are against those who are destroying Syria,” Sayyed Nasrallah told crowds. Sayyed Nasrallah: Mistaken Who Thinks That Takfiris Can Change Our Position inShare.0diggSaturday, 15 June 2013 08:46Written by Shiitenews Reporter Hits: 34 Hezbollah Secretary General Sayyed Hasan Nasrallah stressed that the resistance will be where it should, assuring that the struggle in Syria is between two projects and not between two sects. During a ceremony held by Hezbollah for the occasion of the Injured Fighter Day, Sayyed Nasrallah said that post-Qusayr stage is the same of pre-Qusayr since no change in developments taking place in Syria. In this context, he stressed that the accusations of unbelief launched by Takfiris will not change the position of the resistance, and “who thinks that he can force us to change our stance through killing and terrifying is mistaken.” As he said that the resistance is not interested in the battle taking place in Syria, Sayyed Nasrallah said that Hezbollah should be engaged in this battle since it is aimed at destroying the whole region, not only Syria. His eminence pointed out that Hezbollah is the last side to take part in the Syrian fight, since there are many Lebanese parties, including al-Mustaqbal party, who were engaged in the struggle before. Clear View for the Crisis in Syria Sayyed Nasrallah said that since the start of the crisis in Syria Hezbollah had a clear view that there was a scheme that has repercussions on Syria, Palestine, Lebanon, the region, the Muslims, the Christians, the Sunnites and the Shiites. His eminence pointed out that the resistance through its decisions is defending Lebanon, its land and its state. The resistance leader stressed that what’s coming on in Syria is not between a regime and people, saying: “This issue is over. There are sides who don’t care for the people killed, they just want for the regime to fall. They imagine that the alternative for this regime is another one. However the alternative is the chaos.” His eminence noted that the Syrian people are parted, some is with the regime and the other is against it, adding: “And we are with the regime. We are also with reforms.” “We are with people who call for reforms, whether they are with the regime or against it. However we are against those who are destroying Syria,” Sayyed Nasrallah told crowds. On the other hand, he said that talks about starting to arm the Syrian opposition is false since providing arms to the foreign-backed militants who are fighting the Syrian government is taking place since long ago. Hezbollah The Latest Side to Take Part in Syria Fight Meanwhile, Sayyed Nasrallah said that Hezbollah was the latest Lebanese side to take part in the Syrian fight, noting that many other parties have been engaged in the Syrian crisis even before Hezbollah was. “We didn’t keep our participation in the Syrian fight a secret. We didn’t say that we are offering milk and blankets,” Sayyed Nasrallah said, referring to al-Mustaqbal party MP Oqab Saqr who denied that his party is engaged in the Syrian crisis. “… And if our fighters are killed in the battle in Syria we don’t burry them there and silence their families in Lebanon,” Sayyed Nasrallah added. Sayyed Nasrallah also assured that the struggle in Syria is not sectarian, noting that those who are presenting it as a sectarian struggle are weak. He called for exerting efforts in a bid to face some Arab channels which are inciting for sedition and giving the struggle sectarian explanations through fabrications. “We won’t change our position through fabrications, killing and terrifying,” his eminence said, noting that post-Qusayr is the same stage as pre-Qusayr. He said that the other side of the struggle is determined to go ahead with it, stressing that the resistance is to be where it should be as it will hold the responsibility it had held from the beginning of the crisis. Sayyed Nasrallah also pointed out that Hezbollah is ready to debate over Syria, noting in this context that some sides are offering initiatives that need to be discussed. Call for Self Restraint Talking about the Local issues, the resistance leader said that there nothing new concerning the issue of the elections, noting that the Lebanese are awaiting the decision of the constitutional council to know if the elections are to take place or not. His eminence urged the utmost degrees of self restraint and the avoidance of any form of fight and tension. “We urge the Lebanese, Palestinians and Syrians who are in the Lebanese territories to practice the utmost degrees of self restraint, especially the crowds of the resistance.” He also slammed what some Lebanese people are doing of shooting bullets in the air, saying that this action is being a noticeably increasing in Lebanon. His eminence called for the halt of this phenomenon, saying it’s rejected since it harm and bother others. “The phenomenon of shooting in the air has noticeably increased nowadays and during every occasion,” Sayyed Nasrallah said, adding: “we asked clerics across Iran and Iraq about the issue of shooting in the air. The only answer was that it is forbidden to do so.” Concerning the rockets fired on some Bekaa towns, Sayyed Nasrallah said that some media outlets are circulating rumors that these rockets are fired from the town of Ersal, in a bid to explain the issue by sectarian means. Hi eminence stressed that rockets fired on Sareen, Baalbeck and Hernel were not from Ersal, saying that armed groups in Syria are who are firing them and promising that this issue will be over soon. He warned in this context that media outlets along with intelligence services are working hard to incite sedition between Sunnites and Shiites. Resistance Saved Lebanon Talking about the occasion, Sayyed Nasrallah saluted the injured fighters along with their families who sacrificed for the sake of their country, stressing that Lebanon was liberated thanks to resistance and its fighters. “The resistance, with this sacrifice, liberated Lebanon from the Israeli occupation. It saved Lebanon and its history should not be forgotten.” In this context his eminence warned that “there is a huge media campaign which is working to defame the image and the history of the resistance.” The resistance leader dismissed talks about uprooting Hezbollah of the Lebanese structure as saying: “We were born here, we were grown up here, we lived here and we will be buried here… No one can root us up.” “One of the most powerful armies in the world was crushed by our fighters in Bint Jbeil, Maroun Ras… Who are these stupid people who are talking about rooting us up?” Iranian Elections: Festival of Democracy Meanwhile, Sayyed Nasrallah congratulated the Iranian leadership and the nation for the high public turnout in the Islamic Republic 11th presidential elections. "I want to congratulate Imam Khamenei and the Iranian nation for this festival of democracy, because this democracy strengthens the right positions in the region," he said. "Through this democracy, the Leader with all his powers has only one vote and the other Iranian citizens of different ethnicities are also at the same level. They participate in the election for the future of their country." His eminence hoped that some Arab countries witness similar democracy فَإِنَّ حِزْبَ اللَّـهِ هُمُ الْغَالِبُونَ ۔۔ (اللہ کی ہی جماعت غالب آنے والی ہے۔) سورة المائدة۔ قائد حزب اللہ سید حسن نصر اللہ کا لبنان سے کیا جانے والا شام اور مشرق وسطی میں مجاہدین اسلام کی القصیر میں ناصبی سعودیوں کو شکست دینے کے بعد پیدا ہونے والی صورتحال پر خطاب پاکستان میں امریکی اور اسرائیلی سازش کا شکار ہو گیا۔ تقریر جو کہ المنار ٹی وی کی ویب سائٹ سے براہ راست نشر ہونے والی تھی،،، المنار کی ویب ساٹ اور آی پی کو بلاک کر دیا گیا۔ لیکن جیسے ہی سید حسن نصر اللہ کا خطاب ختم ہوا امریکی ایما پر بلاک کی گئی ویب سائٹ کو کھول دیا گیا۔ یہ اس بات کا ثبوٹ ہے کہ دشمن ہماری طاقت سے خوف زدہ ہے۔ اور ڈرتا ہے کہ اُسکی خقیقت کا پول دنیا کے سامنے نہ کھل جائے اور وہ طرح طرح کی مکروہ چالیں چلتا ہے۔۔ ... مگر خدا کا وعدہ ہے ۔۔۔۔ وَمَكَرُوا وَمَكَرَ اللَّـهُ ۖ وَاللَّـهُ خَيْرُ الْمَاكِرِينَ ۔۔ سورة آل عمران اور یہودیوں نے عیسٰی علیھ السّلام سے مکاری کی تو اللہ نے بھی جوابی تدبیر کی اور خدا بہترین تدبیر کرنے والا ہے۔ ____________________________________________________See More سید المقاومہ قائد حزب اللہ سید حسن نصر اللہ شام اور مشرق وسطی میں مجاہدین اسلام کی القصیر میں ناصبی سعودیوں کو شکست دینے کے بعد پیدا ہونے والی صورتحال پر آج شام پاکستانی وقت کے مطابق شام 7 اہم خطاب کریں گے جو شیعت نیوز کے قارئین شیعت نیوز پر براہ راست ملاحظہ کر سکتے ہیں شامي فوج نےشمالي شہر حلب ميں اپني پيشقدمي جاري رکھتے ہوئے نبتل اور الزہرا کے علاقوں ميں دہشتگردوں کے محاصر کو توڑنے کي کوشش کي ہے تاکہ ان علاقوں کے باشندوں کو مدد پہنچائي جاسکے – شامي فوج نے اسي طرح کفر حمرا اور کفرداعل علاقوں ميں بھي پيشقدمي کي ہے - حلب کے مضافتي علاقوں ميں شامي فوج کي پيشقدمي ميں سيکڑوں دہشتگرد مارے گئے ہيں اور ان کے قبضے سے بھاري مقدار ميں اسلحہ و گولہ بارود بھي برآمد ہوا ہے - تکفیریوں نے اس علاقے کے رہنے والے ایک شیعہ عالم دین حجۃ الاسلام و المسلمین سید ابراہیم السید کے کمسن بیٹے کو اس کی ماں کے سمیت تمام اہل خانہ کے سامنے ذبح کردیا۔ نضال الشعب السوری ضد بشار الأسد جائز ومشروع وتاریخی، لکن امریکا، ایران، حزب اللہ، السعودیة، قطر اختطفوا ھذا النضال وحولوہ صراعا طائفیا U.S. to increase military support to Syria rebels Fri, Jun 14 06:10 AM EDT 1 of 7 By Matt Spetalnick and Erika Solomon WASHINGTON/BEIRUT (Reuters) - President Barack Obama has authorized sending U.S. weapons to Syrian rebels for the first time, a U.S. official said on Thursday after the White House said it has proof the Syrian government had used chemical weapons against opposition forces fighting to overthrow President Bashar al-Assad. The U.S. decision came as Assad's surging forces and their Lebanese Hezbollah allies turned their guns on the north, fighting near the northern city of Aleppo and bombarding the central city of Homs after having seized the initiative by winning the open backing of Hezbollah last month and capturing the strategic town of Qusair last week. The White House said Washington would provide "direct military support" to the opposition but did not specify whether it would include lethal aid, which would mark a reversal of Obama's resistance to arming the rebels. But the U.S. official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the package would include weapons. Syrian rebel and political opposition leaders immediately called for anti-aircraft and other sophisticated weaponry. The arrival of thousands of seasoned, Iran-backed Hezbollah Shi'ite fighters to help Assad combat the mainly Sunni rebellion has shifted momentum in the two-year-old war, which the United Nations said on Thursday had killed at least 93,000 people. U.S. and European officials anxious about the rapid change are meeting the commander of the main rebel fighting force, the Free Syrian Army, on Friday in Turkey. FSA chief Salim Idriss is expected to plead urgently for more help. Obama has been more cautious than Britain and France, which forced the European Union this month to lift an embargo that had blocked weapons for the rebels. After months of investigation, the White House on Thursday laid out its conclusions that chemical weapons were used by Assad's forces, but it stopped short of threatening specific actions in response to what Obama said would be a "game changer" for Washington's handling of the conflict. "The president ... has made it clear that the use of chemical weapons or transfer of chemical weapons to terrorist groups is a red line," said Ben Rhodes, Obama's deputy national security adviser. "He has said that the use of chemical weapons would change his calculus, and it has." 'CHEMICAL WEAPONS ... ON A SMALL SCALE' "Our intelligence community assesses that the Assad regime has used chemical weapons, including the nerve agent sarin, on a small scale against the opposition multiple times in the last year," Rhodes told reporters. He said the U.S. intelligence community had high confidence in the assessment and estimated that 100 to 150 people had died from detected chemical weapons attacks in Syria to date. The U.S. announcement followed deliberations between Obama and his national security aides as pressure mounted at home and abroad for more forceful action on the Syria conflict, including a sharp critique from former President Bill Clinton. Rhodes said the U.S. military assistance to the rebels would be different in "both scope and scale" from what had been authorized before, which included non-lethal equipment such as night-vision goggles and body armor. "We want anti-tank and anti-aircraft weapons," George Sabra, acting leader of the National Coalition political opposition bloc, told Al-Arabiya television. "We expect to see positive results and genuine military support." U.S. Senator John McCain, who said he had been told by a reliable source that Washington would provide arms to the rebels, called for the establishment of a no-fly zone and said the United States needed to neutralize Assad's air power. "They (rebels) have enough light weapons. They've got enough AK-47s. AK-47s don't do very well against tanks," McCain told CNN. "They need anti-tank weapons and they need anti-air weapons." The Wall Street Journal, citing U.S. officials, reported that the administration's proposal included a no-fly zone stretching up to 25 miles inside Syria. Western governments that predicted months ago that Assad would soon fall now believe that support from Tehran and Hezbollah are giving him the upper hand. But they also worry that sending arms to rebel fighters could empower Sunni Islamist insurgents who have pledged their loyalty to al Qaeda. While Britain and France have yet to announce their own decisions to start arming the rebels, their diplomats have been making the case that the best way to counter both threats is to beef up support for Idriss' mainstream rebel force. Strengthening the FSA with money, weapons and ammunition, they argue, would help combat Assad and also provide a counterweight among the rebels to al Qaeda-linked groups. France in particular has developed good relations with Idriss while providing funds and non-lethal support, and seems eager to send him military aid. FIGHT FOR ALEPPO Assad's government says its next move will be to recapture Aleppo in the north, Syria's biggest city and commercial hub, which has been divided since last year when advancing rebels seized most of the countryside around it. Syrian state media have been touting plans for "Northern Storm," a looming campaign to recapture the rebel-held north. The United Nations, which raised its death toll for the war to 93,000 on Thursday, said it was concerned about the fate of residents if a new offensive is launched. "All of the reports I'm receiving are of augmentation of resources and forces (for an Aleppo offensive) on the part of the government," U.N. Human Rights Commissioner Navi Pillay told Reuters Television. Assad's army appears to be massing some troops in its footholds in Aleppo province, particularly in Shi'ite areas such as the enclaves of Nubel and Zahra, although some opposition activists say the government may be exaggerating the extent of its offensive to intimidate rebel supporters. Activists reported fighting in the area around Aleppo on Thursday, especially near an airport that rebels have been trying to capture. The government has also launched an offensive in Homs, the closest big city to its last victory in Qusair and one of the last major rebel strongholds in the country's centre. "There was a fourth day of escalations today on the besieged neighborhoods of Homs' old city. Early in the morning, there were two air strikes ... followed by artillery and mortar shelling," said Jad, an activist from Homs speaking via Skype. Ahmed al-Ahmed, an activist in Aleppo, said the government's reinforcements in the north were just a distraction from Homs. "They've turned the world's attention to watching northern Aleppo and fearing an attack and massacres as happened to our people in Qusair, to get us to forget Homs, which is the decisive battle." Hezbollah's participation has deepened the sectarian character of the war, with Assad, a member of the Alawite offshoot of Shi'ite Islam, backed by Shi'ite Iran and Hezbollah, while Sunni-ruled Arab states and Turkey back the rebels. The 7th century rift between Sunni and Shi'ite Islam has fueled violence across the Middle East in recent decades, including the sectarian bloodletting unleashed in Iraq since the 2003 U.S. invasion and the Lebanese civil war of 1975 to 1990. Leading Sunni Muslim clerics met in Cairo on Thursday and issued a call to jihad against Assad and his allies on Thursday, condemning the conflict as a "war on Islam. (Additional reporting by Mariam Karouny in Beirut; Stephanie Nebehay and Tom Miles in Geneva; John Irish in Paris; Khaled Yacoub Oweis in Amman; Omar Fahmy and Asma Alsharif in Egypt; Roberta Rampton, Mark Felsenthal, Jeff Mason and Susan Heavey in Washington; Writing by Peter Graff and Jim Loney; Editing by Mike Collett-White and Peter Cooney)

Syrian rebels, Hezbollah in deadly fight in Lebanon

Sun, Jun 02 16:11 PM EDT 1 of 3 By Dominic Evans BEIRUT (Reuters) - Hezbollah guerrillas fought a deadly battle with Syrian rebels in Lebanon's eastern border region early on Sunday, security sources said, in the latest eruption of Syria's conflict on Lebanese soil. Lebanese security sources said at least 12 rebels were killed in the fighting east of the Bekaa Valley town of Baalbek, but the toll would not be clear until bodies were retrieved from the remote and rugged border area. One Hezbollah fighter also died, they said. Syria's two-year-old conflict has increasingly sucked in its smaller neighbor, with fighting shaking the northern Lebanese city of Tripoli and rockets hitting the Bekaa Valley and southern Beirut. Shi'ite Muslim Hezbollah, which supports President Bashar al-Assad, is fighting alongside his army to drive rebels from the Syrian border town of Qusair, while Lebanese Sunni Muslim fighters have joined the anti-Assad revolt. Sunday's fighting took place near Ain el-Jaouze in a strip of Lebanese territory which extends into Syria, the sources said, and the rebels may have been ambushed as they set up rockets to fire into Shi'ite areas of the Bekaa Valley. Rebels have said they will carry out attacks inside Lebanon in response to Hezbollah's support for Assad's assault on Qusair, a strategic town for rebel weapons supplies and fighters coming into Syria from Lebanon. The United Nations said on Saturday that up to 1,500 wounded people might be trapped inside Qusair and U.N. officials called for an immediate ceasefire to allow them to receive treatment. The International Committee of the Red Cross asked for access, saying it was ready to enter Qusair immediately to deliver aid. But Syrian state television said Foreign Minister Walid al-Moualem told U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon by telephone on Sunday that the Red Cross would have to wait until military operations in the area were complete. Moualem also expressed surprise at international concern over the fighting around Qusair, saying the world had been silent when rebels took over the town 18 months ago and that Syria was now clearing it of "terrorism", the television said. The British-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, which has a network of medical and security sources on the ground, said heavy fighting continued in the northern, eastern and southern outskirts of Qusair on Sunday. Security Council diplomats said Russia, which along with China has shielded Assad diplomatically at the United Nations, blocked a council declaration of alarm on Saturday over the two-week-old siege of Qusair. The draft statement urged forces loyal to Assad and rebels trying to oust him "to do their utmost to avoid civilian casualties and for the Syrian Government to exercise its responsibility to protect civilians". It appealed to Assad's government "to allow immediate, full and unimpeded access to impartial humanitarian actors, including U.N. agencies, to reach civilians trapped in al-Qusair". ASSAD'S HAND STRENGTHENED Moscow's move to block the statement highlights the chasm between Russia and Western nations on how to deal with the war in Syria despite joint efforts by Washington and Moscow to convene a peace conference in the next few weeks. French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius suggested on Sunday that the talks could take place in July, echoing comments by officials in the Middle East. He said the Syrian government and the opposition must attend what he called "the last chance" for a negotiated solution. "It's not just about getting round the table and then asking what are we going to talk about. It needs to be prepared. That is why I say that the July date would be suitable," Fabius said. Assad has lost control of large areas of northern and eastern Syria but his forces have staged fierce counter-attacks in the south and centre, including Damascus, Deraa and Qusair. The fighting has strengthened Assad's hand before the proposed peace talks, which the 47-year-old leader says he supports in principle. However, he has dampened prospects of any transfer of his powers to a transitional government - a central element of efforts to secure a political solution. Assad's opponents have also yet to commit to the peace talks. U.S. Senator John McCain, a senior Republican who was just in Syria last week, told CBS's "Face the Nation" he very much doubted whether Assad would seriously engage in the peace talks. "Anybody that believes that Bashar al-Assad is going to go to a conference in Geneva when he is prevailing on the battlefield, it's just ludicrous to assume that," McCain said. The uprising against Assad, whose Alawite minority is an offshoot of Shi'ite Islam, has killed at least 80,000 people, driven 1.5 million refugees out of Syria and fuelled regional sectarian tensions. Bahrain's deputy foreign minister Ghanem al-Buainain told a meeting of Gulf foreign ministers on Sunday that intervention "by some countries" in Syria - singling out Iran and Hezbollah - demanded a "serious stance and common action" in response. Leading Sunni cleric Sheikh Youssef al-Qaradawi, based in Qatar which has led regional pressure for Assad's overthrow, called on Saturday for holy war against the Syrian government after intervention by Hezbollah. The Syrian Observatory said a bomber from the al Qaeda-linked Nusra Front rebel group blew his car up near a police station in the eastern Damascus district of Jobar on Sunday, killing himself and eight members of the security forces. Pope Francis called for an end to the violence in Syria and appealed to kidnappers in Syria to free captives who include the Greek Orthodox archbishop Paul Yazigi and Syriac Orthodox archbishop Yohanna Ibrahim, seized near Aleppo last month. (Additional reporting by Mariam Karouny in Beirut, Louis Charbonneau at the United Nations, Stephanie Nebehay in Geneva and Philip Pullella in Rome; Editing by Alistair Lyon and Jon Hemming)

Moscow suggests missiles have yet to reach Assad

Moscow suggests missiles have yet to reach Assad Thu, May 30 20:27 PM EDT 1 of 15 By Mariam Karouny and Erika Solomon BEIRUT (Reuters) - Syrian President Bashar al-Assad said on Thursday Moscow was still committed to sending him advanced anti-aircraft weapons, although a source close to the Russian defense ministry said the missiles had yet to arrive. The prospect of the missiles arriving is a serious worry for Western and regional countries opposing Assad which have called on Moscow not to send them. The S-300 missiles would make it far more dangerous for Western countries to impose any future no-fly zone over Syrian air space, and could even be used to shoot down aircraft deep over the air space of neighbors like Israel or Turkey. The two-year-old civil war, which has killed more than 80,000 people, has reached one of its bloodiest phases with a counter-offensive by Assad's forces, backed openly by allies from neighboring Lebanon's Hezbollah Shi'ite militia. Syrian rebels under siege in Qusair near the Lebanese border pleaded for help on Thursday, warning that the strategic town they are struggling to hold faced total destruction. With Iran and Hezbollah rallying to Assad's defense and his Western-backed Syrian opponents mired in squabbles, the president sounded confident of his position.

Speaking to Hezbollah's al-Manar television, he said he would attend talks in Geneva convened by Washington and Moscow, but expected to keep fighting. By taking part in peace talks, Syria would effectively be negotiating with its international foes who back the opposition, he said: "When we negotiate with the slave we are actually negotiating with the master." A Lebanese newspaper earlier quoted Assad as saying in his al-Manar interview that Moscow had already sent a first shipment of missiles, although when the actual interview was broadcast Assad appeared to stop short of saying the missiles had arrived. "Everything we have agreed on with Russia will take place, and part of it has already taken place," he said, without giving further details.

Russia, which has supported Assad's family since the Cold War, says it will send the S-300 missiles in part to help prevent the West from imposing a no-fly zone. A source close to the Defense Ministry in Moscow said the "hardware itself" had not yet arrived, although the contract was being implemented. SURROUNDED Rebels in the besieged border town of Qusair warned that it could be wiped off the map and hundreds of their wounded might die if no help came soon. "The town is surrounded and there's no way to bring in medical aid," Malek Ammar, an opposition activist in the town, told Reuters over an Internet link, adding that about 100 of the 700 wounded needed bottled oxygen to keep breathing. "What we need them to do," he said of other rebel units, "is come to the outskirts of the city and attack the checkpoints so we can get routes in and out of the city". U.S., Russian and U.N. officials will meet on June 5 to make arrangements for a peace conference, known as "Geneva 2" after a first conference last year in the Swiss city, which produced an international agreement to set up a "transitional government" but no agreement on whether Assad would remain a part of it. If the latest U.S. initiative aims to win over Moscow to the position that Assad must leave power, it seems to have failed. Moscow spoke out on Thursday against the Syrian opposition's insistence on Assad's removal as a precondition for talks and criticized Washington for refusing to rule out imposing a no-fly zone to help the rebels. NEW INITIATIVE Washington has been pushing for the new diplomatic initiative, driven by worsening reports of atrocities committed by both sides, by allegations that chemical weapons have been used and by the emergence of al Qaeda allies among the rebels, raising worries that the West could be helping its own enemies. An exchange of fire across the Turkish border on Thursday was a reminder that all Syria's neighbors risk being sucked in to a regional conflict. Turkish police arrested 12 suspected terrorists in raids. Turkish media reported they were suspected members of the al Nusra front, a Syrian rebel force that has pledged allegiance to al Qaeda. Inside Syria, rebels at Qusair and comrades encircled near Damascus face shortages of weapons. Fears of the Islamists in the rebel ranks have deterred Western powers from supplying them, despite wanting to see Assad fall. The result, after two years of fighting and more than 80,000 deaths, has been an increasingly sectarian stalemate in which Assad has lost control of swathes of territory but remains in power. Taking back Qusair would secure the government's access to the coastline populated by Assad's minority fellow Alawites. For the rebels, mostly drawn from the Sunni Muslim majority, Qusair secures supply lines from sympathizers in Lebanon and from further afield, notably Sunni-ruled states in the Gulf. Rebel commanders at Qusair warned of dire consequences if help fails to arrive for men who have been fighting house to house for more than a week against a force armed with tanks and spearheaded by seasoned Lebanese fighters from Hezbollah. "If all rebel fronts do not move to stop this crime being led by Hezbollah and Assad's traitorous army of dogs ... we will soon be saying that there was once a city called Qusair," the commanders said in a statement. Shells were landing by the minute and the attackers seemed to be advancing more quickly after seizing a nearby air base. DIVISIONS Assad has benefitted from divisions among his foes, split between fighters inside Syria and exiles abroad, Islamists and liberals. Exiled members of the main opposition umbrella group, the Syrian National Coalition, have spent a week arguing in Istanbul over how to present a common front at the Geneva talks. Islamist and liberal wings of the opposition sought a compromise by offering liberals more seats on the body intended to form a transitional government. Groups fighting inside Syria demanded that they be granted half the seats. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said the Coalition seemed to be "doing everything they can to prevent a political process from starting ... and achieve military intervention". "We consider such approaches unacceptable," he said, referring to rebel pleas for Western weapons which persuaded Britain and France this week to end an EU arms embargo. His ministry also chided Washington for keeping open the possibility of a no-fly zone. That, it said, "cast doubt on the sincerity of the desire of some of our ... partners for success in international efforts" to end the war. (Additional reporting by Khaled Yacoub Oweis in Istanbul, Jonathon Burch and Humeyra Pamuk in Ankara and Thomas Grove, Steve Gutterman and Alissa de Carbonnel in Moscow; Writing by Peter Graff and Alastair Macdonald; Editing by Andrew Roche)

Hezbollah in big Syria battle, Obama 'concerned'

It was Hilary Clinton, agreeing with Israeli analysis, who said that Assad has lost legitimacy and that he must go. The Israelis went further and gave Assad until the end of 2012. The British and the French followed suit. Turkey, Jordan, Israel, Egypt, Tunisiaia have already been involved in recruiting, arming and financing Jihadists from all over the world and facilitating their entry into Syria. On the otherhand, the Iranians and Hizbullah insisted that they will never allow Syria to be ruled by the USraelis and continued sending men, weapons and oil to the besieged Assad regime. After threats and counter threats and thousands of victims and industrial-sclae destruction of Syrian infrastructure, Assad army started to push back the rebels and to regain control of some strategic positions. But two major events may have changed the course of events: 1.The announcement of the Nusrat Front that it is a branch of Al-Qaeda which has finally opened the eyes of the Usraeli-led West. And, 2.The Israeli massive bomardment of Syrian army positions and facilities which brought sympathy for Assad inside and outside the country. Afraid of being seen as supporters for Al-Qaeda, the Usraeli-led West have finally accepted the Russian plan for a political solution to the Syrian problem. They will also have to accept a role for Iran in any furture negotiations or fonferences. No matter what will happen, the USraelis have stopped calling on Assad to go and decided on working to limit the effects of Al-Qaeda influence in Syria. If a winner must be nominated in the battle of Assad, it must be Iran. Adnan Darwash, Iraq Occupation Times 13-05-13 ==== Hezbollah in big Syria battle, Obama 'concerned' Mon, May 20 17:26 PM EDT 1 of 3 By Khaled Yacoub Oweis and Dominic Evans AMMAN/BEIRUT (Reuters) - Lebanese Hezbollah guerrillas have fought their biggest battle yet for Syria's beleaguered president, prompting international alarm that the civil war may spread and an urgent call for restraint from the United States. About 30 Hezbollah fighters were killed on Sunday, Syrian activists said, along with 20 Syrian troops and militiamen loyal to President Bashar al-Assad during the fiercest fighting this year in the rebel stronghold of Qusair, near the Lebanon border. That would be the highest daily loss for the Iranian-backed movement in Syria, highlighting how it is increasing its efforts to bolster Assad; it prompted U.S. President Barack Obama to voice his concern to his Lebanese counterpart, Michel Suleiman. If confirmed, the Hezbollah losses reflect how Syria is becoming a proxy conflict between Shi'ite Iran and Arab states like Saudi Arabia and Qatar, which back Assad's mostly Sunni enemies. Dozens of dead in sectarian bombings in Iraq on Monday and killings in the Lebanese city of Tripoli compounded a sense of spreading regional confrontation. Western powers and Russia back opposing sides in the cross-border Syrian free-for-all, which is also sucking in Israel - though Washington and its allies have fought shy of intervening militarily behind fractured and partly Islamist rebel forces. The White House said Obama spoke to Lebanese President Suleiman and "stressed his concern about Hezbollah's active and growing role in Syria, fighting on behalf of the Assad regime, which is counter to the Lebanese government's policies". The Beirut government, however, has limited means to influence the politically and militarily powerful Shi'ite group. The two leaders agreed "all parties should respect Lebanon's policy of disassociation from the conflict in Syria and avoid actions that will involve the Lebanese people in the conflict". Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said his country was "preparing for every scenario" in Syria and held out the prospect of more Israeli strikes on Syria to stop Hezbollah and other opponents of Israel obtaining advanced weapons. Israel has not confirmed or denied reports by Western and Israeli intelligence sources that three raids this year targeted Iranian missiles near Damascus that it believed were awaiting delivery to Hezbollah, which fought a war with Israel in 2006. FOG OF WAR Syrian opposition sources and state media gave differing accounts of Sunday's clashes in Qusair, long used by rebels as a supply route from Lebanon to the provincial capital Homs. Hezbollah has not commented but in Lebanon's Bekaa Valley on Monday several funeral processions could be seen. Pictures of dead fighters were plastered on to cars and mourners waved yellow Hezbollah flags. Several ambulances were seen on the main Bekaa Valley highway and residents said hospitals had appealed for blood to treat the wounded brought back to Lebanon. The air and tank assault on the strategic town of 30,000 people appeared to be part of a campaign by Assad's forces to consolidate their grip on Damascus and secure links between the capital and government strongholds in the Alawite coastal heartland via the contested central city of Homs. The government campaign has coincided with efforts by the United States and Russia, despite their differences on Syria, to organize peace talks to end a conflict now in its third year in which more than 80,000 people have been killed. A total of 100 combatants from both sides were killed in Sunday's offensive, according to opposition sources, including the British-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. Such a death toll would indicate at least hundreds had taken part. Troops have already retaken several villages around Qusair and have attacked increasingly isolated rebel units in Homs. "If Qusair falls, God forbid, the opposition in Homs city will be in grave danger," said an activist who called himself Abu Jaafar al-Mugharbil. State news agency SANA said the army had "restored security and stability to most Qusair neighborhoods" and was "chasing the remnants of the terrorists in the northern district". Syrian television also showed footage of what it said was an Israeli military Jeep which it said the rebels had been using and which showed the extent of their foreign backing. An Israeli military spokeswoman said the vehicle was decommissioned a decade ago and dismissed the footage as "poor propaganda". Opposition activists said rebels in Qusair, about 10 km (six miles) from the Lebanese border, had pushed back most of the attacking forces to their original positions in the east of the town and to the south on Sunday, destroying at least four Syrian army tanks and five light Hezbollah vehicles. The Western-backed leadership of the Free Syrian Army, the loose umbrella group trying to oversee hundreds of disparate rebel brigades, said the Qusair fighters had thwarted Hezbollah with military operations it dubbed "Walls of Death". Syrian government restrictions on access for independent media make it hard to verify such videos and accounts. "NO DIALOGUE WITH TERRORISTS" The fighting raged as Western nations are seeking to step up pressure on Assad - Britain and France want the European Union to allow arms deliveries to rebels - while preparing for the peace talks brokered by Russia and the United States next month. British Foreign Secretary William Hague said "no option is off the table" over the possible arming of rebels if the Syrian government does not negotiate seriously at the proposed talks. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, whose country has shielded Syria from U.N. Security Council action, said Syrian opposition representatives must take part without precondition, apparently referring to their demands for Assad's exit before they come to the table. Assad has scorned the idea that the conference expected to convene in Geneva could end a war that is fuelling instability and deepening Sunni-Shi'ite rifts across the Middle East. "They think a political conference will halt terrorists in the country. That is unrealistic," he told the Argentine newspaper Clarin, in a reference to Syria's mainly Sunni rebels. Assad ruled out "dialogue with terrorists", but it was not clear from his remarks whether he would agree to send delegates to a conference that may in any case falter before it starts due to disagreements between its two main sponsors and their allies. The fractured Syrian opposition is to discuss the proposed peace conference at a meeting due to start in Istanbul on Thursday, during which it will also appoint a new leadership. Among divisive factors in the rebel camp is fundamentalist Islam, practiced by some fighters and opposed by others. In the latest Internet video from Syria to cause discomfort for rebels seeking Western backing, anti-Assad Islamists flogged two men they said had infringed a ban on marrying newly divorced women. Attacks by troops and militias loyal to Assad, who inherited power in Syria from his father in 2000, have put rebel groups under pressure in several of their strongholds in recent weeks. Assad, from Syria's minority Alawite sect, has been battling an uprising which began with peaceful protests in March 2011. His violent response eventually prompted rebels to take up arms. Hezbollah has supported Assad throughout the crisis but for months denied reports it was fighting alongside Assad's troops. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights put the Hezbollah casualties on Sunday at 28 dead and more than 70 wounded, while 48 rebel fighters and four civilians were also killed. Tareq Murei, an activist in Qusair, said six more people were killed on Monday as Syrian army artillery and Hezbollah rocket launchers bombarded rebel-held parts of the town. Video footage purportedly showed a Syrian tank on fire at a street corner in the town. In another video a warplane was shown flying over the town amid the sound of explosions. Lebanese security sources said at least 12 Hezbollah fighters were killed in Qusair on Sunday. Seven were to be buried in the Lebanese town of Baalbek and nearby villages on Monday, they said. (Additional reporting by Erika Solomon in Hermel and Dan Williams in Jerusalem; Writing by Dominic Evans; Editing by Samia Nakhoul, Alistair Lyon, Giles Elgood and Alastair Macdonald) ========================