The Syrian Crisis

[pmaitra]

Syria submits 140 documents to UN on intervention of foreign countries in Syrian domestic affairs

New York, July 12, IRNA - Syria's Permanent Representative to the United Nations Bashar al-Jaafari on Thursday strongly criticized meddling of foreign countries in Syrian domestic affairs and said Damascus has submitted 140 official documents to the UN on interference of foreign forces in the country.

Source: Syria submits 140 documents to UN on intervention of foreign countries in Syrian domestic affairs

 

[Armand2REP]

Regime bombards district they say they control

 

[pmaitra]

Syria's Assad praises troops, keeps out of public eye

(Reuters) - President Bashar al-Assad told his troops on Wednesday that their battle against rebels would decide Syria's fate, but his written message gave no clues to his whereabouts two weeks after a bomb attack hit his inner circle.

Source: Syria's Assad praises troops, keeps out of public eye | Reuters

 

[pmaitra]

Syria conflict: Aleppo shootings by rebels condemned

Human rights activists have condemned the public shooting in Syria of four apparent Assad loyalists by rebels in the battleground city of Aleppo.

A video appeared showing the men being put up against a wall after which they are killed in a hail of bullets by fighters wielding Kalashnikovs.

Source: BBC News - Syria conflict: Aleppo shootings by rebels condemned

 

[Virendra]

Bad blood. Which side is holier than thou ?

 

[Armand2REP]

Graphic of Regime Defections

24 military and security officials have quit the regime, as well as 2 minister, 4 MPs and 7 diplomats.

 

[pmaitra]

^^

Could you please add the legend?

 

[Armand2REP]

^^

Could you please add the legend?

Interactive: Tracking Syria's defections - Syria Defections - Al Jazeera English

 

[The Messiah]

 

[pmaitra]

Saudi fundraising campaign for Syrians raises $117m

The UN has appealed for $189m to help people inside Syria and $193m for refugees
[HR][/HR]
A Saudi fundraising campaign to support the people in Syria has raised more than $117m (£75m), local media report.

A five-day campaign was launched last week by King Abdullah with a $5.3m (£3.3m) donation, but it was extended after donations continued to pour in.
[HR][/HR]
The Saudi government has called on President Bashar al-Assad to step down and is believed to funding and backing the rebel Free Syrian Army.

Source: BBC News - Saudi fundraising campaign for Syrians raises $117m

How about monitor that all this money will not be used for weapons? That money can get a lot of military hardware.

 

[Razor]

War crime? Syrian rebels execute POWs (GRAPHIC VIDEO)

A horrifying amateur video from Syria emerged online, showing an apparent mass execution of pro-government forces in Aleppo at the hands of rebels from the Free Syria Army.

The footage shows several bloodied men stripped down to their underwear being forced to kneel by a wall amidst a throng of excited, machine gun-touting men.

Once their captors open fire, the camera jerks away as the crowd momentarily disperses, seemingly unprepared for the nearly 40 seconds of uninterrupted shooting that follows.As the gunfire dies down, shouts of"Allahu Akbar!" resound as the once skittish onlookers victoriously raise their guns in the air, approaching what appears to be a pile of stripped-down corpses.

One of the victims has been identified as Ali Zeineddin al-Berri, who has been accused of leading a shabiha group which killed 15 FSA soldiers during a truce in Aleppo on Tuesday, BBC reports.

The video depicting the apparent massacre has not been verified, though the UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said such vengeance was a crime as Islamic law does not authorize the execution of prisoners.

Clive Baldwin, a senior legal adviser for Human Rights Watch (HRW), told BBC News: "What it looks like is execution of detainees and if that is the case, that would be a war crime."

Russia's Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Gennady Gatilov condemned the shooting. "The brutal massacre of government supporters by the opposition in the city of Aleppo shows that human rights violations are being committed by both sides," he wrote on Twitter.

Video @ Source: RT

 

[Armand2REP]

Radical Wahhabi Cell in Syria has a Bad Day while Singing

LiveLeak.com - Free Syrian Army Fighters Blow Themselves Up While Singing (Syria)

 

[IBSA]

^^
Wow! That's huge and beauty explosion!:shocked:

Some info about how many terrorists died, injured or survived?? I hope all them had been died for the Syria's good!!!

 

[pmaitra]

David Cameron and Vladimir Putin discuss Syria 'differences'

Mr Cameron said he and the Russian president had "differences" over their approach but both wanted an end to the conflict and a "stable Syria".

In response, Mr Putin said the UK and Russia saw "eye-to-eye" on aspects of the situation in Syria and would work together to find a "viable solution".

Source: BBC News - David Cameron and Vladimir Putin discuss Syria 'differences'

 

[pmaitra]

Obama signs order supporting Syria's rebels, reports say

US government source acknowledges that US is collaborating with a secret 'nerve centre' operated by Turkey and its allies

Source: Obama signs order supporting Syria's rebels, reports say | World news | guardian.co.uk

 

[Armand2REP]

Rebels shell Syrian Airbase, tank and mortars shelling from other side


Rebels capture military camp in Homs

 

[Razor]

Obama authorizes covert US support for Syrian rebels – reports

US President Barack Obama has signed a secret order allowing the CIA and other American agencies to support rebels seeking to overthrow the Assad regime, a US government source told Reuters.

Obama reportedly gave the order, known as an intelligence "finding", earlier this year. The presidential finding also provides for US collaboration with a secret command center operated by Turkey and its allies.

The full extent of the assistance the "finding" allows the CIA to give the Syrian rebels is unclear. It is also unknown precisely when Obama signed the order.

The Obama administration has been open about providing non-military support to the Syrian opposition. On Wednesday, the State Department said it had allotted a total of $25 million for "non-lethal" assistance to the Free Syrian Army. Some of that money may be used to buy communications devices such as encrypted radios, a US official said. The State Department also said the United States has set aside $64 million in humanitarian aid for the Syrian people.

Last year, Obama also signed an initial "finding" authorizing US support for Libyan rebels seeking to overthrow Muammar Gaddafi.

Also on Wednesday, the US Treasury confirmed it had granted authorization for Washington's representative of the Free Syrian Army to conduct financial transactions on behalf of the rebel group. Reports that the Syrian Support Group had been allowed to do so first appeared last week.

Meanwhile, there have been reports that the Free Syrian Army managed to obtain nearly two dozen surface-to-air missiles. While a Free Syrian Army representative denied those reports, he also said the rebels were preparing another surprise for Assad's forces.

Senior US officials have also been ratcheting up their rhetoric against Assad. On Monday, Defense Secretary Leon Panetta suggested that Assad "get the hell out" if he wants to protect himself and his family. A draft UN resolution calling for Assad to relinquish power in favor of a transitional government is also set to be voted on by the General Assembly on Friday. The document would deplore the Security Council for failing to act; a not-so-covert swipe at Russia's and China's continued panning of Security Council resolutions deemed to be one-sided.

More @ Source: RT

 

[Razor]

Syrian rebels boost arsenal with portable anti-aircraft missiles – reports

The Free Syrian Army has reportedly acquired portable surface-to-air missiles to use against government jets and helicopters. The news comes amid stirrings within the FSA that Al Qaeda fighters in their ranks are "a threat to their revolution."

The Free Syrian Army has added nearly two-dozen surface-to-air (SAM) launchers to their arsenal, NBC reported on Tuesday. "The rebel sources tell that for the first time in this conflict the Free Syrian Army has been armed with nearly two dozen shoulder-fired anti-aircraft missiles that came in from Turkey. The rebels hope that this is just the first batch, and say their effects will be felt soon," the TV network's chief foreign correspondent Richard Engel.

Engel said the rebels hope the portable missile launchers will spell an end to the as-yet-unchallenged air superiority of pro-Assad troops in the battle for Aleppo.

Pictures of launchers shown in the report resemble the Soviet-era Strela portable SAM launcher. The image, if true, could suggest a link between the Syrian rebels and Libya, whose arsenals were ransacked last year after the fall of the regime of Colonel Muammar Gaddafi.

More @ Source: RT

 

[Razor]

Kofi Annan resigns as Special Envoy to Syria

Kofi Annan, who has been mediating the Syrian crisis as a special UN-Arab League Envoy, is stepping down from the post, UN chief Ban Ki-moon says.

"Mr. Annan has informed me, and the Secretary-General of the League of Arab States, Mr. Nabil Elaraby, of his intention not to renew his mandate when it expires on 31 August 2012," UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said in a statement.

Annan blames "the increasing militarization" in Syria, along with the international community's inability to come to a consensus over the conflict, for his departure.

"As an envoy I cannot want peace more than the protagonist, more than the Security Council or the international community," Annan told journalists in Geneva.

"At a time when the Syrian people desperately need action, there continues to be finger-pointing and name-calling in the Security Council," he said, adding that the UNSC and other world and regional powers did little to press a peaceful political transition of power onto all the parties on the Syrian conflict.

Annan expects his peace plan and the Syria Action Group to continue working after his mandate expires.

The UN has resolved to continue seeking a diplomatic solution to the conflict, Ban Ki-moon says. The UN and Arab League are in negotiations to name Annan's successor, who would "carry on this crucial peacemaking effort."

More @ Source: RT

 

[Razor]

Syria crisis: Kofi Annan quits as UN-Arab League envoy

The UN-Arab League joint special envoy to Syria, Kofi Annan has announced he is leaving his post.

In a news conference, he said the Syrian people "desperately need action" but criticised the UN Security Council for "finger-pointing and name-calling".

Mr Annan authored a six-point peace plan for Syria which was intended to bring an end to the fighting.

But the plan was never fully adhered to by either side and the violence has continued to escalate.

UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said it was "with deep regret" that he announced Mr Annan would not renew his mandate when it expires at the end of August.

Syrian state television reported that the foreign ministry had also expressed regret at the announcement.

Speaking to reporters in Geneva, Mr Annan said the increasing militarisation of the Syrian conflict and the "clear lack of unity" in the Security Council had "fundamentally changed the circumstances for the effective exercise of my role".

More @ Source: BBC