The Syrian Crisis

[Son of Govinda]

Shelling in Syria as UN monitors begin mission

The Associated Press: Shelling in Syria as UN monitors begin mission

BEIRUT (AP) — An advance team of U.N. observers on Monday was working out with Syrian officials the ground rules for monitoring the country's 5-day old cease-fire, which appeared to be rapidly unraveling as regime forces pounded the opposition stronghold of Homs with artillery shells and mortars, activists said.

Even though the overall level of violence across Syria has dropped significantly, government attacks over the weekend raised new doubts about President Bashar Assad's commitment to special envoy Kofi Annan's plan to end 13 months of violence and launch talks on the country's political future.

The advance team of six U.N. monitors arrived in Damascus Sunday night. Annan's spokesman said the team led by Moroccan Col. Ahmed Himmiche met Monday with Syrian Foreign Ministry officials to discuss ground rules, including what freedom of movement the observers would have. Ahmad Fawzi said the remaining 25 observers are expected to arrive in the coming days.

Fawzi said in a statement issued in Geneva on Monday that the mission "will start with setting up operating headquarters, and reaching out to the Syrian government and the opposition forces so that both sides fully understand the role of the U.N. observers."

"We will start our mission as soon as possible and we hope it will be a success," Himmiche told The Associated Press as he left a Damascus hotel along with his team Monday morning.

Two activist groups, the Local Coordination Committees and the British-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, said intense shelling of Homs resumed early Monday for the third consecutive day.

"Government forces trying to take control of Homs neighborhoods are pounding the districts of Khaldiyeh and Bayada with mortar fire," the Observatory said.

Both groups said two people were killed in Hama in central Syria on Monday when security forces opened fire on their car.
Western countries and the Syrian opposition are skeptical Assad will abide by Annan's six-point plan for a cease-fire and the weekend pounding of Homs along with scattered violence in other areas has reinforced those doubts.

Assad accepted the truce deal at the prodding of his main ally, Russia, but his compliance has been limited. He has halted shelling of rebel-held neighborhoods, with the exception of Homs, but ignored calls to pull troops out of urban centers, apparently for fear of losing control over a country his family has ruled for four decades. Rebel fighters have also kept up attacks, including shooting ambushes.
Syria's state-run newspaper Tishrin said Monday that Damascus is "satisfied" with the U.N. resolution to send observers to the country because it respects Syrian sovereignty. The paper added that the resolution says all parties were responsible for halting violence. "This is a clear cut international recognition of the crimes and assaults committed by armed groups," it said.

The international community hopes U.N. observers will be able to stabilize the cease-fire, which formally took effect Thursday. The U.N. Security Council approved the observer mission unanimously on Saturday. A larger team of 250 observers requires more negotiations between the U.N. and the Syrian government next week.

U.N. Secretary-General Bank Ki-moon expressed serious concern with the Syrian government's continued shelling of Homs and said "the whole world is watching with skeptical eyes" whether the cease-fire can be sustained.

"It is important — absolutely important that the Syrian government should take all the measures to keep this cessation of violence," he told reporters in Brussels after meeting Belgian Prime Minister Elio Di Rupo on Sunday.

Ban said he hoped that once the full monitoring team is on the ground "there will be calm and stability and peace without any violence."
Since the cease-fire began, each side has accused the other of violations.

Syria's state-run news agency SANA has reported rebel attacks targeting checkpoints and army officers, while opposition activists said regime troops and their allied shabiha militiamen continued arrest raids and mistreatment of those in detention.

Also Monday, a Hamas official said a senior member of the Palestinian group, Mustafa Lidawi, was abducted over the weekend near Damascus. In the past, Lidawi had served as the Hamas representative in Iran and Lebanon.

Lidawi opposed a recent power-sharing agreement between the Islamic militant Hamas and its Western-backed rival, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, and was seen as a supporter of Assad's regime. Until recently, Hamas' top leaders were based in Damascus, but became increasingly critical of Assad's crackdown on the uprising and decided to leave the country.

Hamas asked the Syrian authorities to try to find Lidawi, said a senior official of the group in the Hamas-run Gaza Strip, who spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitive nature of the contacts. Lidawi's family told Hamas officials he was abducted Saturday.

 

[ejazr]

Clinton, Turkey See NATO Role in Pressuring Syria's Assad Regime

Not sure if NATO countries have the finances to get involved in another land war but a creative way to do so in Syria is certainly being built up.

Clinton Sees NATO Role in Pressuring Syria's Assad Regime - Businessweek

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said Turkey may seek NATO's support in dealing with Syria as the UN Security Council made clear the Assad regime's truce violations won't prevent the deployment of as many as 300 cease-fire observers.

Turkey may invoke the North Atlantic Treaty Organization's charter provision triggering consultations if a member's security is threatened, Clinton said yesterday in Paris following a meeting of the alliance in Brussels. While there is little sentiment for military intervention to oust Syria's President Bashar al-Assad, involving NATO would add a new lever of pressure on the Damascus government.

"We have to keep Assad off-balance by leaving options on the table," Clinton said at the "Friends of Syria" meeting in Paris. Turkey has already discussed with NATO "the burden of Syrian refugees on Turkey, the outrageous shelling across the border from Syria into Turkey a week ago, and that Turkey is considering formally invoking Article 4" of the NATO charter.

United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon and his special envoy to Syria, Kofi Annan, asked the UN Security Council yesterday to authorize an expanded mission of unarmed military observers, even as both acknowledged Assad has failed to abide by the terms of the April 12 cease-fire.

"The past few days, in particular, have brought reports of renewed and escalating violence, including the shelling of civilian areas, grave abuses by Government forces and attacks by armed groups," Ban told reporters in New York.
Few Options

Security Council members have broadly agreed on the need to deploy the force to Syria and are unlikely to be deterred by continuing violence, according to two UN diplomats. For the world body, it provides a means to maintain diplomatic pressure given the opposition by Russia and China to further UN sanctions.

"It ticks a box at a time there are few other options," Richard Gowan, associate director for crisis diplomacy and peace operations at the New York University Center on International Cooperation, said in a telephone interview. "Sometimes a diplomatic initiative can gain a momentum of its own and having a mission there has become a goal in itself."

Violence in Syria has raged for 13 months, killed more than 9,000 people.

"We're in a dilemma," Clinton said in Paris. "We think it's important to get independent sources of observation and reporting on the ground, but we do not want to create a situation where those who are sent in to do this mission themselves are subjected to violence."
Russia Supports Monitors

Tools such as an international arms embargo or sanctions have been blocked by Russia, Syria's closest ally on the Security Council. Russia will support the Syria monitoring mission, Russian ambassador to the UN Vitaly Churkin said yesterday in New York.

Western powers have said they don't intend to repeat last year's Libya campaign, where the UN authorized a NATO-enforced no-fly zone. In Washington, Defense Secretary Leon Panetta told the House Armed Services Committee yesterday that the U.S. would need "a clear legal basis" and broad regional and international support to act militarily.

Clinton called for tougher Security Council measures, including travel restrictions on regime members, further financial sanctions, and an arms embargo, even as she acknowledged probable Russian opposition.

"I'm well aware at this point such an effort is still likely to be vetoed, but we need to look for a way to keep pressing forward," Clinton said.
'Last Chance'

The next international meeting to plan further sanctions will take place in Washington, probably in mid-May, Clinton said.

French Foreign Minister Alain Juppe, who headed the Syria meeting yesterday, said the Annan plan is the "last chance" to avoid civil war. If it fails, the Security Council will have to "consider other options," he said.

Clinton said she met with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov earlier in the day in Brussels. "He was, as usual, very intent upon laying responsibility on all sides and in particular on the opposition, but he also has recognized that we are not in a static situation, but a deteriorating one," Clinton said.

Clinton called on those gathered in Paris to increase support to the opposition. The U.S., she said, is considering whether to create with Turkey an "assistance hub" on its border with Syria to help "coordinate the collection and distribution of assistance to opposition groups inside Syria."
Regional 'Spillover'

At the UN, the Security Council was briefed yesterday by two deputies to Annan, the architect of a six-point peace plan agreed to by Assad. The officials were Jean-Marie Guehenno, former UN undersecretary-general for peacekeeping, and Edmond Mulet, UN assistant secretary-general for peacekeeping.

They urged the 15-member body to agree to the deployment of more observers because that could alter the political dynamics on the ground, according to the two diplomats, who spoke on condition of anonymity because the briefing wasn't public.

Syria and the UN agreed yesterday on a set of rules for the unarmed monitors, although use of aircraft was left to be taken up "at a later date." The government agreed to allow unhindered access for UN personnel and to guarantee their safety, according to the memorandum of understanding.

Inspired by revolts that toppled leaders in Egypt and Libya, the Syrian conflict has embroiled neighboring Lebanon and Turkey, both struggling to cope with an influx of refugees.

"Spillover into neighboring countries is an increasing concern," Army General Martin Dempsey, chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff, said in a testimony at the House committee hearing yesterday.

 

[Son of Govinda]

Syrian troops 'attack Damascus suburbs'

BBC News - Syrian troops 'attack Damascus suburbs'

Syrian security forces have been firing mortar shells and machine-guns at two suburbs of the capital Damascus visited recently by UN monitors, activists say.

At least three people were killed by sniper fire in Harasta and Douma on Wednesday morning, they added. Shelling in Douma on Tuesday left eight dead.

Troops also reportedly shot at a bus in Idlib province, killing three people.

On Tuesday, UN special envoy Kofi Annan expressed concern about apparent surges in violence after visits by observers.

Activists said a number of people had been executed in the central city of Hama after the UN Supervision Mission in Syria (UNSMIS) left.

The reports cannot be independently verified.

The US permanent representative to the UN, Susan Rice, said all Security Council members wanted a more rapid deployment of observers to Syria.

Of a projected deployment of up to 300 monitors, only 13 have so far arrived. Ms Rice hoped 100 would be in Syria within a month.

'Reprehensible'
Addressing Security Council diplomats on Tuesday, Mr Annan made it clear that the Syrian military had not withdrawn troops or heavy weapons from population centres, as it is required to do under the six-point peace plan he negotiated.

The UN and Arab League envoy suggested the Syrian authorities were also targeting people in areas where UNSMIS observers had visited and talked to residents.

Mr Annan said he was "particularly alarmed by reports that government troops entered Hama [on Monday] after observers departed, firing automatic weapons and killing a significant number of people".

"If confirmed, this is totally unacceptable and reprehensible," he added.

Reports of violence from Hama have diminished significantly since the UN announced that two members of the team would be staying there.

As Mr Annan spoke, activists reported that government forces were attacking opposition strongholds near Damascus, including Harasta and Douma to the north-east, which monitors have visited three times in three days.

"There was bombardment all night - artillery and tanks. We didn't sleep at all. Not for a moment," a woman who visited Douma told Reuters news agency on Wednesday.

"Most residents have gone down to live on the ground floor because most of the second and third floors have been hit."

The Local Co-ordination Committees (LCC), an activist network, said government snipers had also been shooting at people on the streets of Douma, and that troops had carried out raids in several parts of the suburb, arresting suspected activists.


UN observers were surrounded by anti-government protesters in Douma during a visit on Monday
Several people were also shot by snipers in neighbouring Harasta, it added.

The LCC also published video of what it said were three people who were killed and four others who were severely wounded when security forces opened fire on a bus on the motorway which links the second city of Aleppo with Damascus.

The group put the nationwide death toll on Wednesday at 18, including six people in Idlib province, four in Harasta and Douma, and two each in Aleppo, Hama and Deraa.

Meanwhile, Lebanese security sources said the leader of the Lebanese Sunni militant group, Fatah al-Islam, had been killed in Syria while trying to plant a bomb for the rebel Free Syrian Army (FSA) in the town of Qusayr, near the central city of Homs.

Abdul Ghani Jawhar is said to have been an expert bomb-maker and masterminded attacks on Lebanese army and UN peacekeepers.

Fatah al-Islam has been linked to al-Qaeda and in 2007 its members fought Lebanese soldiers for 15 weeks for control of the Nahr al-Bared refugee camp near the city of Tripoli. At least 430 people were killed.

 

[Son of Govinda]

Syrian wants to form 'government' in exile

The Associated Press: Syrian wants to form 'government' in exile

PARIS (AP) — Syria's fractured opposition is showing further signs of cracking, even as international powers build the pressure on President Bashar Assad to end his regime's bloody repression of dissent.

Nofal Al-Dawalibi, the son of a former Syrian prime minister, announced in Paris on Thursday plans to create a shadow "government" in exile, saying he wants to help Syrian rebels and encourage international military intervention against Assad's forces.

His plan exposed the lack of unity around the Syrian National Council, which many countries consider the main opposition group. Some of the jockeying for notoriety also could be linked to hopes of gaining a position of power if Assad's regime becomes the latest to fall to the Arab Spring uprisings.

The latest public split in the opposition comes after the U.N. Security Council on Saturday unanimously approved a resolution allowing up to 300 observers to be sent to Syria to monitor a cease-fire plan put forth by special envoy Kofi Annan.

The international community has been generally divided over how to pressure Assad to stop a crackdown that has killed thousands over the past 13 months. With violence continuing, some doubt whether the Annan plan will hold.

Al-Dawalibi, who divides his time between Paris and Saudi Arabia, wants more muscular action from the international community, but offered little clarity about how he would draw in military intervention from abroad when few countries have advocated it.

At a news conference, Al-Dawalibi said his "government" would work to meet the immediate needs of the Syrian people: "military intervention, to be protected; air strikes; humanitarian (aid) corridors; air exclusion zones, and of course, humanitarian aid."

French diplomats say it's unclear what weight that such opposition groups based abroad — including in Paris — have inside Syria, where anti-Assad activists often operate alone. The Syrian National Council is still the opposition's main face, they say.

A spokesman for the council said it would have no comment on Al-Dawalibi's efforts.
Al-Dawalibi said his father, Maarouf, was the "last freely elected prime minister" in Syria, in 1961, but was later jailed and fled to Saudi Arabia two years later, where he became an adviser to the royal family.

Nofal Al-Dawalibi, who says he received master's degree in engineering from Stanford University in 1973, is believed to be little known inside Syria. He claimed that his movement has backing in some Persian Gulf and European countries, but for now, is funded through "our own pockets."

Asked by a reporter about whether his movement was playing into Assad's hands by exposing rifts within the opposition, al-Dawalibi replied: "What's the alternative? The Syrian National Council, or the Annan plan that is going nowhere?"

He said the Syrian National Council is insular and ineffective, with a "legislative" structure and too many links to the Muslim Brotherhood. His government would be the executive, he says, with 35 "governors" inside Syria and seven advisers abroad for issues such as defense, financial and legal affairs.

"Unfortunately it is impossible to unify the opposition in Syria," he said.

At the news conference, Al-Dawalibi's team showed videos of several alleged Syrian military commanders pledging allegiance to him. Al-Dawalibi sat next to Ahmad Alashqar, who introduced himself as an official with the Free Syrian Army who is based in the Netherlands. Alashqar provided a photocopy of an ID card of Col. Riyadh al-Asaad, the army's leader — suggesting it was proof of his support, too.
It was impossible to immediately verify the videos' authenticity.

Many opposition groups have strived to claim a connection to the Free Syrian Army, the Turkish-based umbrella group for armed opposition groups in Syria. Al-Dawalibi's group insisted the army itself has several variants.

At least three large groups and several smaller ones inhabit the disjointed galaxy of opposition movements, officials say — and keeping track of them is tricky even for diplomats.

A press officer for Al-Dawalibi, for example, in November also contacted reporters about a news conference by another Paris-based opposition group led by Abdul-Halim Khaddam, an exiled Syrian former vice president under Assad.

Al-Dawalibi's aides said the two movements were not connected, but could eventually work together for the sake of unity.
But Al-Dawalibi could have a difficult time gaining the allegiance of many in the opposition.

A representative of Syria's outlawed Muslim Brotherhood on Thursday said Al-Dawalibi "has very limited credibility."
"He has no grassroots," Molham Aldrobi, a senior official in the Syrian National Council told The Associated Press in Kosovo's capital, Pristina. "He had been invited to the SNC to participate. He walked away because he did not see himself getting a high-ranking position in the SNC. This activity that he is doing today I don't see it as a useful move from his side."

Still, Aldrobi brushed off concerns that the already divided opposition was on the brink of collapsing.
"This is of no concern," he insisted.

Angela Charlton in Paris and Nebi Qena in Pristina, Kosovo, contributed to this report.

Copyright © 2012 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.

 

[Son of Govinda]

Syria rebels 'launch sea raid' as Lebanon seizes weapons

BBC News - Syria rebels 'launch sea raid' as Lebanon seizes weapons

Syrian rebel gunmen in inflatable dinghies have attacked a military unit on the Mediterranean coast, with deaths on both sides, state media report.

It is thought to be the first rebel assault from the sea. Separately, Lebanon says its navy has seized weapons destined for the rebels.

Clashes between security forces and deserting troops left heavy casualties near Damascus and Aleppo, reports say.

The violence comes despite a shaky ceasefire in force since 12 April.

On Thursday UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon warned that Syria's government was "in contravention" of a UN- and Arab League-backed peace plan.

Clashes
Saturday's violence came after the Lebanese navy said it had found and confiscated three containers full of arms and ammunition bound for the rebels.

The ship, the Lutfallah II, is reported to have begun its voyage from Libya, stopped off in Alexandria in Egypt, and then headed for the port of Tripoli in northern Lebanon before it was intercepted.

The BBC's Jim Muir in Beirut says it is believed the consignment was destined for the rebels in Syria, with whom the new Libyan regime strongly sympathises.

Tripoli in north Lebanon is a hotbed of support for the Syrian opposition, and the authorities in Damascus have frequently complained about arms being smuggled from the areas into the country, our correspondent says.

The dinghy attack reportedly took place further north, about 30km (19 miles) from the border with Turkey.

Syria's official news agency Sana said a military unit had foiled a "terrorist attempt" to infiltrate the country overnight by boat in Latakia province.

"An official source told a Sana reporter that members of the military unit clashed with the terrorists who were boarding inflatable boats, forcing them to flee," the agency said.

"The source stated that the clash led to the martyrdom and injuries of a number of [members of the] military unit." Sana said it was not clear how many rebels had been killed "as they attacked the military unit at night".

The fighting north of Damascus broke out after a group of soldiers defected to the rebels and were pursued by forces loyal to President Bashar al-Assad into the village of Bakha, activists said.

One account said four rebels and six civilians had been killed, but the British-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said all those who died were army defectors.

Similar clashes were reported in the village of Burj al-Salaam near one of the presidential palaces close to the coastal city of Latakia, after a group of soldiers deserted there.

None of violence could be independently verified because of government restrictions on the media.

More observers
The UN currently has about 15 observers in Syria monitoring a shaky ceasefire, which came into force on 12 April, and hopes to have the full advance team of 30 in place by Monday.

Violence has been continuing despite the truce.

On Friday an explosion in the centre of the Damascus killed at least 10 people and wounded 20 others, state media said. Activist organisations accused the regime itself of carrying out the attack.

Mr Ban has demanded that Damascus comply with the peace plan brokered by international peace envoy Kofi Annan without delay.

The Security Council has approved the deployment of up to 300 monitors. Norwegian Maj Gen Robert Mood, who is to lead the team, was heading to Damascus on Saturday, reports said.

Our correspondent says he must be wondering how much of a ceasefire there is left for his team to monitor.

 

[Son of Govinda]

Syria suicide bombing kills 10; UN chief says regime clampdown 'intolerable'

Syria suicide bombing kills 10; UN chief says regime clampdown ‘intolerable’ - The Washington Post

BEIRUT — Two weeks into a cease-fire agreement, there still was no peace in Syria: Security agents in Damascus collected the remains of 10 people killed in a suicide bombing. Activists reported troops firing on protesters. Video showed a crowd carrying a slain boy to U.N. observers as proof of regime violence.

The head of the United Nations said Syrian President Bashar Assad's continued crackdown on protests has reached an "intolerable stage," and that the U.N. will try to speed up the deployment of up to 300 monitors to Syria. Only 15 are there now.

"The government of Syria must live up to its promises to the world," U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said Friday.

Tens of thousands of people poured into the streets across Syria for weekly anti-regime marches after Muslim noon prayers Friday. Amateur video from the central city of Homs, where the presence of U.N. observers helped halt weeks of artillery attacks, showed rows of men lining up in a main street, holding each other by the shoulders as they sang and danced.

In another protest, people held up 45 squares of cardboard with writing and drawings that — when viewed together from above — showed a picture of Assad and the words "oppression, corruption, despotism, demolition." When they simultaneously flipped over the squares, it created a new message that read: "Toward a modern society that is more developed and sensible."

Troops have routinely opened fire on protests since the uprising against Assad began 13 months ago, but there appeared to be fewer violent incidents Friday than in previous weeks. Still, the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said five protesters were killed by fire from the security forces, including a 10-year-old boy.

A plan brokered by special envoy Kofi Annan proposed an April 12 cease-fire, to be followed by talks between the regime and the opposition. Since that date, the U.N. has said the regime has broken many of its truce promises, such as withdrawing forces from towns and cities. Rebel fighters have also kept up shooting and bombing attacks on Syrian security forces.

With the U.S. and France in the lead, Western powers have threatened tougher U.N. Security Council measures if Assad keeps breaking his promises, although Syria's allies Russia and China could use their veto powers in the council to shield him.

British Foreign Office Minister Alistair Burt said his government will seek "robust action" in the council if Syria doesn't comply with Annan's plan.

The suicide bomber in Damascus detonated an explosives belt Friday near members of the security forces, killing at least nine people and wounding 26, the state-run news agency SANA reported. The remains of two other people also were found, one believed to be the bomber, according to Health Minister Nader al-Halqi. The minister said seven police were among the dead.

The blast went off near a mosque in the downtown Midan neighborhood, an area of opposition sympathizers. The government said it would use an iron fist against those "who might intimidate residents and spread anarchy in the country," SANA reported.

 

[Son of Govinda]

Syria accuses UN chief of encouraging 'terrorists'

Syria accuses UN chief of encouraging 'terrorists' | CTV Calgary

BEIRUT — A Syrian state-run newspaper accused UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on Saturday of encouraging "terrorist" rebel attacks by focusing his criticism on the government, while other government media reported that the navy foiled an infiltration attempt by gunmen who tried to land on the Syrian coast in rubber boats.

The editorial in Tishrin daily came a day after Ban said Syrian President Bashar Assad's continued crackdown on protests has reached an "intolerable stage." It also followed what the state media said was a suicide attack in Damascus that left 10 dead.

Ban said the UN will try to speed up the deployment of up to 300 monitors to Syria. Only 15 are there now.

The Syrian comments were the harshest against the United Nations since a cease-fire brokered by international envoy Kofi Annan was supposed to take effect on April 12 but quickly unraveled. Annan's plan aims to end the country's 13-month crisis by giving space for talks between the two sides, but the UN has said the regime has broken many of its truce promises, such as withdrawing forces from towns and cities and continuing to shell opposition strongholds. Rebel fighters have also kept up attacks on Syrian security forces.

The UN says more than 9,000 people have been killed since

On Saturday, activists said army defectors clashed briefly with troops in the coastal town of Burj Islam, which is home to the presidential summer palace. They had no immediate word on casualties. Assad was not believed to be in the palace at the time of the fighting.

Tishrin said Ban has avoided discussing rebel violence in favor of "outrageous" statements against the Syrian government. "The continued disregard of the international community and its cover for armed groups' crimes and terrorist acts ... is considered as direct participation in facilitating and carrying out the terrorism to which Syria is subjected," the editorial said. "Such a stance seemingly encourages those groups to go on committing more crimes and terrorist acts."

The Syrian capital was hit by four explosions Friday that left at least 11 people dead and dozens wounded. Assad's government blamed the blasts on "terrorists," the term the government uses to describe opposition forces it says are carrying out a foreign conspiracy.

The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, which has a network of activists around the country, said the clash in Burj Islam lasted about half an hour and the defectors withdrew shortly afterward. Rami Abdul-Rahman, who heads the Observatory, said the clash was close to the presidential palace.

Syria-based activist Mustafa Osso said about 30 soldiers defected and clashed with troops in Burj Islam adding that "intense shooting" lasted about 15 minutes. Osso said it was difficult to get more details because the area is tightly controlled.

The state-run news agency also said military units stationed off the Mediterranean foiled an attempt by "armed groups" to enter the country from the sea earlier Saturday - the first reported rebel infiltration from the sea. SANA said the navy forced the boats to flee, but some Syrian service members were killed or wounded.

Syrian authorities have said in the past that they clashed with rebels trying to cross from neighboring Lebanon or Turkey.

In Lebanon, military prosecutor Saqr Saqr said the army confiscated weapons that were found aboard a ship intercepted off the Lebanese coast. Saqr said an investigation was under way, adding that the 11 crew members were being questioned by Lebanese military police.

The Lebanese army said in a statement that the ship, "Lutfallah II," carried a Sierra Leone flag and had three containers filled with "large amounts of weapons and ammunition" on board. It said the crew members were of different nationalities, including some Arabs, but was not more specific.

The ship reportedly sailed from Libya and stopped in Egypt and the port of Tripoli, Lebanon, en route to Syria. It was taken to the port of Selaata, north of Beirut, where the three containers were placed on Lebanese army flatbed trucks and taken away Saturday morning.

 

[pmaitra]

I find little reason to disagree with Syria here. Ban Ki-moon should either keep it fair and even, or simply shut up.

 

[The Messiah]

I find little reason to disagree with Syria here. Ban Ki-moon should either keep it fair and even, or simply shut up.

Welcome to the world of one sided biased puppet organization known as the UN.

 

[LurkerBaba]

Threads merged. Open a new thread only if there is a major development

 

[Son of Govinda]

Fresh attacks target symbols of Syrian state power

The Associated Press: Fresh attacks target symbols of Syrian state power

BEIRUT (AP) — In fresh attacks on symbols of state power, twin suicide bombs have exploded near a government security compound in northern Syria and rockets struck the central bank in Damascus, killing nine people and wounding 100.

The regime and the opposition traded blame Monday, accusing each other of dooming a United Nations plan to calm violence that has largely failed so far. The head of the U.N. observer mission acknowledged that his force cannot solve the country's crisis alone and urged both sides to stop fighting.

The attacks are the latest in a series of suicide bombings that started in December and have mostly targeted Syrian military and intelligence positions.

The regime routinely blames the opposition, which denies having a role or the capability to carry out such attacks. After other similar bombings, U.S. officials suggested al-Qaida militants may be joining the fray, and an al-Qaida-inspired Islamist group has claimed responsibility for previous attacks in Syria.

The powerful blasts, which blew two craters in the ground and ripped the facade off a multistory building, came a day after Maj. Gen. Robert Mood, the head of the observer mission, took up his post in Damascus.

"Ten, 30, 300 or 1,000 observers will not solve all problems," he told reporters Monday. "So everyone has to help us achieve this mission."
More than 9,000 people have been killed in the 13-month crisis, according to the U.N.

An April 12 cease-fire agreement has helped reduce violence, but fighting persists, and U.N. officials have singled out the Syrian regime as the main aggressor.

An advance team of 16 U.N. observers is on the ground to try to salvage the truce, which is part of a broader plan by special envoy Kofi Annan to launch talks between President Bashar Assad and his opponents. By mid-May, the team is to grow to 100, but U.N. officials have not said when a full 300-member contingent is to be deployed.

Monday's bombs went off in the northern city of Idlib, an opposition stronghold that government troops recaptured in a military offensive earlier this year. TV footage of the aftermath from the blasts showed torn flesh, burned-out cars, twisted debris and pavement stained with blood. The force of the explosions shattered windows and sent debris flying for hundreds of meters (yards).

"Is this their freedom?" one man yelled at the cameras at one of the blast sites.

A distraught woman shouted: "What have we done to those people? What have women, children and the elderly done to them?"

The state-run news agency SANA said security forces and civilians were among those killed. State TV said that many of the nearly 100 wounded were civilians.

The bombers detonated their explosives near a military compound and near Idlib's Carlton Hotel, SANA said.

A local activist, who only gave his first name, Ibrahim, for fear of repercussions, said the two sites bombed in Idlib are several hundred meters apart and that the explosions went off within five minutes of each other after daybreak Monday.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attacks. State media blamed "armed terrorists," a term it uses for rebels trying to topple the government. Activists claimed the regime was behind the bombings to discredit the opposition.

A statement by the Local Coordination Committees activist network called the series of suicide blasts "fabricated, staged explosions" and said "they can no longer fool anyone."

Two members of the U.N. observer team toured the site of the bombings, SANA said. Ibrahim said the observers have been staying at the Carlton, and a pro-government website reported that the hotel sustained some damage.

U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon condemned "the terrorist bomb attacks" in Idlib and Damascus, U.N. deputy spokesman Eduardo del Buey said.
Analysts said it was doubtful the presence of U.N. observers would help improve the situation or halt such bombings.

"The U.N. is a political body, not an investigative body. The U.N. creates a political consensus among countries, but it's not a judge and jury about which side violated what agreement," said Jon Alterman, Middle East director at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington.

An al-Qaida-inspired Islamist group called the Al-Nusra Front to Protect the Levant claimed responsibility Monday for a suicide bombing in downtown
Damascus that killed at least 10 people on Friday. The Associated Press could not verify the authenticity of Al-Nusra's statement, which was posted on a militant website.

Top U.S. intelligence officials also have pointed to al-Qaida in Iraq as the likely culprit behind the previous bombings, raising the possibility that its fighters are infiltrating across the border to take advantage of the turmoil.

Al-Qaida's leader called for President Bashar Assad's ouster in February.

Earlier Monday, gunmen fired rocket-propelled grenades at the central bank and at a police patrol in the capital of Damascus, wounding four officers, SANA said.

The bank's governor, Adib Mayaleh, said the only damage to the bank was shattered windows.

He also denied reports that Syria is trying to sell gold reserves to raise money as international sanctions take their toll. French Foreign Minister Alain Juppe said earlier this month that sanctions have reduced Syria's foreign currency reserves by half, from an estimated $17 billion at the start of the uprising.
The bank doesn't need to sell gold "as we have a big quantity of hard currency that can stand up to all those attacks," Mayaleh said.

As part of the cease-fire agreement, Syria's military was to have pulled tanks and troops off the streets, but it has instead continued to raid and attack opposition strongholds.

Near Damascus, amateur video posted Monday showed dozens of uniformed troops in helmets and body armor marching through a street in the suburb of Douma. A local activist, Mohammed Saeed, said the troops were carrying out arrests for a second day Monday.

In another suburb, Zamalka, activists said security forces tried to break a commercial strike by damaging shops that had been closed in solidarity with the protest.

In London, British Foreign Secretary William Hague warned that "there is a limit to the patience of the international community" with the regime's continued truce violations.

However, Western powers have limited options because Russia and China, Syria's allies, have shielded Assad from U.N. Security Council action.

Associated Press writers Albert Aji in Damascus, Karin Laub in Beirut and Edith M. Lederer at the U.N. contributed to this report.

Copyright © 2012 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.

 

[Son of Govinda]

How ironic... Americans are supporting the same kinds of terrorists in Syria that bombed the World Trade Centre. Just ask your favourite presidential hopeful John McCain .


So much for all those trillions of American tax dollars being wasted and hundreds of thousands of lives lost for their so-called "War on Terror."

 

[devgupt]

In Syria, more than 92 killed, 32 of them children

 

[Son of Govinda]

Syrian government denies blame in attack that killed dozens, including 32 children

Syrian government denies blame in attack that killed dozens, including 32 children - The Washington Post

BEIRUT —The Syrian government denied on Sunday that its forces were responsible for the deaths of dozens of people, including 32 children, in a village in central Syria allegedly during a fierce artillery bombardment.

The official news agency SANA reported that Foreign Ministry spokesman Jihad Makdissi "has categorically denied responsibility of the Syrian forces for the massacre" in the Houla area, a cluster of small villages northwest of the city of Homs.

Opposition groups claim at least 90 people died in a bombardment of the village Friday night, and the United Nations said in a statement Saturday that its monitors had visited the village and confirmed the killings of "dozens of men, women and children and the wounding of hundreds more."

It appeared to be one of the bloodiest single incidents of the 14-month-old uprising against President Bashar al-Assad's rule and the deadliest since a fragile, U.N.-brokered cease-fire went into effect April 12.

Makdissi said at a news conference in Damascus that the killings had been carried out by "armed terrorist groups," SANA reported. "Brutal killing doesn't belong to the ethics of the Syrian army," the agency quoted Makdissi as saying.

The Syrian government has from the outset portrayed the uprising as the work of terrorists and Islamic extremists. The area where the killings took place is known to be a stronghold for the opposition, in which many citizens long ago took up arms to defend themselves against the government's harsh crackdown.

The U.N. statement, issued by U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon and Kofi Annan, the joint special envoy to Syria, blamed the government, saying that the observers had verified that the victims died in shelling by Syrian forces of a residential neighborhood.

"This appalling and brutal crime involving indiscriminate and disproportionate use of force is a flagrant violation of international law and of the commitments of the Syrian Government to cease the use of heavy weapons in population centers and violence in all its forms," the statement said. "Those responsible for perpetrating this crime must be held to account."

In a separate statement, the head of the U.N. mission in Syria, Gen. Robert Mood, said that the dead included at least 32 children under 10 years of age, the Associated Press reported.

The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights and the Syrian Muslim Brotherhood offered conflicting accounts of what happened. The Observatory said that all of the dead had been killed in the bombardment, but the Brotherhood reported that some of the victims had been killed when pro-government militias known as shabiha raided homes on the outskirts of the village, hacking and shooting civilians and setting fire to houses.

Ahmed Kassem, a resident of the town, said the villagers all died in the shelling inflicted after clashes erupted during the weekly anti-government protest Friday.

Syrian forces opened fire on the protesters when they spilled out of a mosque after Friday prayers, prompting local armed civilians to fire back, Kassem said, speaking by telephone from the village.

 

[LurkerBaba]

An opposition Free Syrian Army (FSA) said on Saturday it would not adhere to the peace plan, brokered by the UN and Arab League envoy Kofi Annan, unless the UN Security Council ensures safety for civilians, Al Jazeera reported.

"We announce that unless the UN Security Council takes urgent steps for the protection of civilians, Annan's plan is going to go to hell," Al Jazeera cited the FSA's statement.

Free Syrian Army Drops Annan's Peace Plan – Al Jazeera | World | RIA Novosti

 

[LurkerBaba]

BEIRUT/AMMAN: Syrian President Bashar al-Assad condemned on Sunday the "abominable" massacre of more than 100 people in Houla, saying even monsters could not carry out such acts, and promised a 15-month-old crisis would end soon if Syrians pulled together.

Assad repeated earlier pledges to enforce a crackdown on opponents he says are terrorists carrying out a foreign conspiracy, while offering dialogue with opposition figures who had avoided armed conflict or outside backing.

Bashar al-Assad says Houla killings monstrous, crisis will end - The Times of India

 

[W.G.Ewald]

Lebanon news - NOW Lebanon -After Assad: The Syrian short list

The lady in question is Najah al-Attar, a jovial 78-year-old novelist who has been a vice president of Syria since 2006.
Under an Arab League plan to end the Syrian crisis, President Bashar al-Assad would step aside, allowing Attar to act as interim head of state. She would then name a caretaker government to organize "a national dialogue for a peaceful transition."

The league's plan will be the basis of negotiations that Russia plans to host in Moscow between the Assad regime and the pro-democracy opposition. The UN Security Council will vote as soon as today on whether to endorse the plan.

Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari will also try to sell the plan to Damascus next week when his country assumes the rotating presidency of the Arab League. In the meantime, the league has decided to freeze its monitoring mission, citing "bad faith and chicanery" on the part of the Syrian regime.

The plan doesn't directly name Attar as putative interim leader because some "interested powers," meaning Russia and Iran, prefer the other vice president, Farouk al-Sharaa, in that role.

 

[Ray]

Assad maybe a dictator, but then all Arab leaders are despots and are only concerned with power and perks.

The biggest humbug is the House of Saud.

They (the Arab scum) don't understand democracy having lived under the boots of their dictatorial leaders and Sultans and such chaps.

It is a waste of time to liberate their thinking.

Let them rot in their swamp.

It appears more of a geopolitical desire to dwindle the Shia clout (Syria, Iraq and Iran) and give prominence to the Sunni rabble.

Saudi Arabian oilfields are basically in Eastern Saudi Arabia and that area is contiguous to Iraq and East Saudi Arabia and Iraq and onto Iran are Shias.

There is always the danger of OIL coming into Shia hands since the Shias of Saudi are getting restive.

 

[Ray]

I was seeing Al Jazeerah and the so called Syrian Freedom Fighters are said to be equally brutal.

 

[Yusuf]

I was seeing Al Jazeerah and the so called Syrian Freedom Fighters are said to be equally brutal.

Sir, there is a lot of propaganda and fake news too to show the Asad regime in bad light. I dont know where I saw/read but there was a story on this kind of fake news. But the thing is that the rebels have western and their neighbors support and everything is suppressed or exaggerated depending on the need.