The Syrian Crisis

[Armand2REP]

What about france, even they were supposed to recognise the rebels, right??

Anyways saudis and their gang recognising anyone or not hardly makes any difference. It's the west that is important. If saudis really care, let them fight openly.

France was the first country to recognise the SNC. The GCC is rich and controls the oil, that carries weight.

 

[amoy]

France was the first country to recognise the SNC. The GCC is rich and controls the oil, that carries weight.

A lame reason . GCC has an oil but that's what they have for sale. Without recogntion of SNC GCC sheikhs will still sell u oil (like China).

Should b Sako+Holande wants to recolonize Syria

 

[nrupatunga]

The GCC is rich and controls the oil, that carries weight.

If they really have B.LLS, let them fight openly. Last time when GCC was attacked(kuwait), they had to beg the world to liberate them. Even now they have let mercenaries to operate their planes/weapons etc. when it comes actual fighting on ground, they are PU.SY

 

[SajeevJino]

UN scrambles to free Filipino peacekeepers abducted in Syria​

The UN pressed on with negotiations on Thursday to secure the release of 21 peacekeepers abducted in Syria as regime warplanes pounded the northern city of Raqa after it fell into rebel hands.

A video posted on the Internet showed footage of six members of the group of Filipino peacekeepers, who were patroling the sensitive armistice line with Israel when they were seized on Wednesday by Syrian rebels.

One of them said they were safe and being cared for, and the UN confirmed they had not been harmed.

"The mission has been in touch with the peacekeepers by telephone and confirmed they have not been harmed," UN spokesman Martin Nesirky said in New York.

Negotiations

A UN official said the UN Disengagement Observer Force mission was "negotiating with the armed group and the Syrian authorities" to obtain a release.

Concern has been mounting that their seizure might prompt more governments to withdraw their contingents from the already depleted UN mission.

Israeli officials warned that any further reduction in the strength of UNDOF risked creating a security vacuum in the no-man's land between the two sides on the strategic Golan Heights, which it seized in the 1967 Six-Day War.

The peacekeepers were detained at a rebel post just one and a half kilometers (a mile) on the Syrian side of the armistice line at its southern end towards the Yarmuk River on the border with Jordan.

Rebel demand

The rebels, calling themselves the Yarmuk Martyrs Brigade, demanded in video statements that Damascus withdraw its troops from Jamla and neighboring villages in the area.

"If they do not withdraw, these men will be treated as prisoners," spokesman Abu Kaid al-Faleh said, accusing the UN force of working with the Syrian army.

In the video footage posted on Thursday by the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, one of the six uniformed UNDOF members said they had been traveling to Jamla when bombing and artillery fire erupted.

He said local people helped them to safety and distributed the peacekeepers to different places "to keep us safe," where they were given food and water.

SITE Intelligence Service later published a statement purportedly from the rebels saying the troops had been "secured from the barbaric bombings by Assad's criminal gangs," adding "they are in our protection until we take them to secure areas."

It called on the UN to send a "secure committee in order to hand them over to them, fearing bombing by al-Assad's gangs," saying the soldiers "are now safe and welcomed and honored in the hospitality of the battalion command, until we send them safely to their headquarters."

SITE also posted a showing three of the soldiers in blue UN vest and three other clips, each showing six men.

Treated well

In one of them a peacekeeper said they were be treated well by what he said was the rebel Free Syrian Army, adding however that the men hoped to see their families soon.

Manila condemned the seizure of its troops and demanded they be released immediately, a call echoed by UN chief Ban Ki-moon.

Philippine President Benigno Aquino said he had received assurances the peacekeepers would not be harmed. "I understand they are being treated well"¦ so far, nobody has been saying that they are in danger," Aquino said.

The peacekeepers are part of a 300-strong Philippine contingent that has been monitoring the separation of Israeli and Syrian troops since the 1974 armistice that followed 1973 Arab-Israeli war.

Israel, which annexed the Golan Heights in 1981 in a move never recognized by the international community, said it feared any depletion of the UN force would pose a serious threat.

"This kidnapping is likely to convince countries who participate in this force to bring their troops home, which would undoubtedly create a dangerous vacuum in no-man's land on the Golan," an Israeli official said.

At the end of February, UNDOF comprised some 1,000 peacekeepers but a growing number of incidents over the past year has made it increasingly difficult for the United Nations to keep the mission up to strength.

Canada and Japan have already withdrawn their small contingents and Croatia said last week it was pulling out its 100 troops. If Manila pulls out, it would leave just Austrian and Indian troops.

Meanwhile, violence across Syria on Thursday killed 126 people, the Britain-based Observatory said.

It also reported that fighter jets pounded the northeastern city of Raqa in a bid to recapture it.

The UN says more than 70,000 people have been killed in Syria over nearly two years of conflict, millions have been displaced and more than one million fled the country.

UN scrambles to free Filipino peacekeepers abducted in Syria | Inquirer Global Nation

 

[SajeevJino]

Iraq closes border post after Syria clashes​

The Iraqi government closed a border crossing with Syria and sent in military reinforcements after cross-border fire killed an Iraqi soldier, the defence ministry's spokesman said on Thursday.

Mohammed Al Askari said that the Yaarubiyeh crossing between eastern Syrian and the northern Iraqi province of Nineveh, near where Syrian regime forces and rebels battled on Saturday, had been closed.

"Reinforcements were sent after ... battles near the border post," Al Askari said, adding that the area was also under aerial surveillance.

An Iraqi soldier was killed and three people including a soldier were wounded inside Iraqi territory on Saturday during clashes on the Syrian side of the border, Askari said.

Two days later, 48 Syrian soldiers who crossed into north Iraq for medical treatment were killed in an ambush in Iraq's western Anbar province, as they were being returned to Syria.

Nine Iraqi guards also died in the attack, the defence ministry said.

Baghdad has pointedly avoided calling for the departure of Syrian President Bashar Al Assad, who is locked in a bloody civil war with rebels opposed to his regime. It has instead urged an end to violence by all parties.

Iraq closes border post after Syria clashes | GulfNews.com

 

[SajeevJino]

Al-Qaeda claims killing Syrian troops in Iraq​

Al-Qaeda wing claims presence of Syrian army in Iraq proves collusion between Baghdad and Syria's Bashar al-Assad.

An al-Qaeda affiliated group has claimed responsibility for carrying out an ambush that killed 48 Syrian soldiers and nine Iraq guards state employees in Iraq's Anbar province last week.

In a statement posted online on Monday, the Islamic State of Iraq, al-Qaeda's wing in Iraq, said the presence of Syrian government forces in Iraq proved collusion between the Shia-led government in Baghdad and Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.

"Military detachments succeeded in annihilating an entire column of the Safavid army," the group said referring to the dynasty that ruled Shia Iran from the 16th to 18th centuries.

Tehran is the closest regional ally of Assad, whose Alawite faith is an offshoot of Shia Islam.

"The lions of the desert and the men entrusted with difficult missions laid ambushes on the road leading to the crossing," the group said.

Last week, gunmen attacked a convoy of Syrians who had fled Yaarabiya across the border from Iraq to escape advancing Syrian rebels.

The Syrians, some of them wounded, were being escorted back home by Iraqi guards through the western province of Anbar, Iraq's Sunni Muslim heartland.

Iraq's defence ministry had earlier blamed the attack on Syrian armed groups it said had infiltrated the country.

Al-Qaeda claims killing Syrian troops in Iraq - Middle East - Al Jazeera English

 

[Armand2REP]

France, Britain To Arm Syrian Rebels 'Even Without EU Support'

PARIS — France and Britain are ready to arm Syrian rebels even without unanimous EU support, French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius said Thursday.

Paris and London will call for moving up the date of the next European Union meeting on the Syria arms embargo and will decide to arm the rebels if the 27-member body does not give unanimous agreement, he said.

Fabius said the regime of President Bashar al-Assad was receiving weapons from Iran and Russia that gave it an edge over the opposition in the two-year conflict.

France and Britain will ask "the Europeans now to lift the embargo so that the resistance fighters have the possibility of defending themselves," he told France Info radio. "We cannot accept the current disequilibrium with Iran and Russia supplying arms to Assad on the one hand and the opposition unable to defend itself on the other."

French officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, said Paris was considering providing the rebels with ground-to-air missiles to retaliate against air strikes by government troops.

"Lifting the embargo is the only means of moving things on a political level," Fabius said.

If unanimous EU support for lifting the measure is lacking, the French and British governments will decide to deliver weapons, Fabius said, adding that France "is a sovereign nation."

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov on Wednesday said that "arming the opposition is in breach of international law." But Fabius rejected this, saying that one could not take recourse to legal arguments to say that "'we can supply arms to Assad but will not allow resistance fighters to defend themselves.'"

Western powers have stepped up nonmilitary support for the rebels, even as Russia has continued to arm its ally Assad. Britain is currently giving "nonlethal" support to the rebels, but its foreign and defense ministers have refused to rule out arming them.

The next EU meeting to study the embargo is planned for the end of May, but Fabius said Paris and London want to hold the meeting sooner.

"We must move quickly," he said, adding, "We, along with the British, will ask for the meeting to be moved up."

He did not rule out a gathering before the end of March. Prime Minister David Cameron said Tuesday that Britain would consider ignoring an EU arms ban and supplying weapons to Syrian rebels if it would help topple Assad.

The EU last month amended its embargo to allow member nations to supply "nonlethal" equipment and training to the opposition but stopped short of lifting the embargo entirely.

More than 70,000 people have died in the Syrian conflict, according to the United Nations, while the number of refugees has reached one million.

France, Britain To Arm Syrian Rebels ‘Even Without EU Support’ | Defense News | defensenews.com

 

[W.G.Ewald]

Israel's military intelligence chief says Syria's Assad readying to use chemical weapons - The Washington Post

Israel's military intelligence chief says Syria's embattled president, Bashar Assad, is preparing to use chemical weapons.

Maj. Gen. Aviv Kochavi told a security conference in the coastal town of Herzliya that Assad is stepping up his offensive against rebels trying to oust him.

Kochavi claims Assad is making advanced preparations to use chemical weapons, but has not yet given the order to deploy them.

He did not disclose information about why he thinks Assad is preparing to use them.

Israel has long expressed concerns that Assad's stockpile of chemical weapons could end up in the hands of groups hostile to Israel like Hezbollah or al-Qaida inspired organizations.

Israel has kept out of Syria's civil war, but it is concerned that violence could spill over the border into northern Israel.

Why MG Kochvi makes such a statement without at least some evidence is not clear to me.

 

[pack leader]

Israel's military intelligence chief says Syria's Assad readying to use chemical weapons - The Washington Post



Why MG Kochvi makes such a statement without at least some evidence is not clear to me.

he is responsiable for MI in israel
he inturprets the the faindings off the best regional spy agancy
+ 6 spy satilats and 3 air recon air wings at his diposle
we have the best intel in the region jordan is second

 

[IBSA]

commandar of brigade "AlMoataz" was shot in his ass by ASSad forces.

this is what these ----ing terrorists deserves. Go Assad, kick their ass, shoot their ass!!!

 

[Razor]

Syrian opposition elects US-educated tech exec as interim PM

The Syrian opposition coalition has elected Western-educated former businessman and US citizen Ghassan Hitto to oversee a provisional government for Syria's rebel-held areas in a vote in Istanbul on Tuesday.

Fifty-year-old Hitto was born in Damascus but has lived for decades in the United States, mostly in Texas. He is described as being heavily involved in various Islamic causes. He holds a bachelors in mathematics and computer science from Purdue University in Indiana, earning an MBA from the same school in 1994.

His election means that he will effectively serve as prime minister of the parts of Syria controlled by the anti-Assad insurgency.

How convenient

Source: RT

 

[asianobserve]

U.S. Citizen Is Picked as Syria Opposition's Prime Minister

Why not a French citizen?

 

[amoy]

U.S. Citizen Is Picked as Syria Opposition's Prime Minister

Why not a French citizen?

wasn't Iraqi PM al-Maliki or somebody else in the post-Saddam leadershp also back fm America? not sure

French behaviour incomprehensible as no oil in Syria



Sent from my 5910 using Tapatalk 2

 

[asianobserve]

wasn't Iraqi PM al-Maliki or somebody else in the post-Saddam leadershp also back fm America? not sure

French behaviour incomprehensible as no oil in Syria



Sent from my 5910 using Tapatalk 2

I think so. The French may only want to advertise again its Rafale. Although so far French actions hasn't caught up yet with the high flying marketing of its weapons...

 

[SajeevJino]

Syrian rebels used chemical arms near Aleppo - Russian Foreign Ministry​

Syrian rebels fire chemical weapons in Aleppo, killing at least 25 - government

Syrian rebels have used a rocket containing chemical substances in the conflict, killing 25 people and injuring 86, says Syria's Information Minister. Reports say most of the casualties killed in the attack in the flashpoint city of Aleppo were civilians.

Syrian government's SANA news agency reported that terrorists fired a rocket containing chemical substances in the Khan al-Assal area of rural Aleppo and confirmed that at least 25 people, most of them civilians, were killed.

Syria's Information Minister Omran al-Zoabi stated Turkey and Qatar bore "legal, moral and political responsibility" for the "dangerous escalation" in violence because of their support of rebel groups fighting to oust President Bashar Assad. He decried the incident as the interim government's "first act."

Syrian rebel commander, Qassim Saadeddine, immediately denied the accusations and claimed the Syrian regime had launched SCUD missiles containing chemical agents on Khan al-Assal.

The opposition group, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported 26 people killed following the attack, saying that 16 died on the scene, while the other 10 died in hospital. A spokesperson for the organization said it was unclear how many civilians perished in the attack.

Fears that Syria's chemical weapons could fall into militant hands have been a source of constant concern for the international community over the past few months. The US and the UN have repeatedly warned President Bashar Assad's government against deploying its own chemical arms stockpile.

Damascus maintains that it would never use such weapons against its own people, but would consider their deployment if threatened by outside forces.

Reports that Syrian rebels had seized control of a number of chemical weapons depots in the Aleppo province emerged on Sunday.

"Opposition fighters gained control over weapons and ammunition stores in the village of Khan Toman in southern Aleppo province on Saturday after fierce fighting that went on for more than three days," an anonymous military source told AFP. Reports of the weapons seizure came after days of brutal clashes between opposition and government forces.

The source said the rebels only managed to steal a few crates containing ammunition, as a large part of the weapons stockpile had been transferred out of the facility. Activists disputed this, maintaining that rebels had taken control of "huge reserves." A video posted online showed fighters looking over crates of weapons and ammunition, and claimed the attack was mounted by opposition group the Martyrs of Syria.

UK-based opposition group the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights confirmed the attack, but did not mention chemical weapons among the arms that were reportedly seized by the rebels.


Syrian rebels fire chemical weapons in Aleppo, killing at least 25 - government (PHOTOS) — RT News

 

[SajeevJino]

Headlines of Reuters in Last Hour

Russian foreign ministry says Syrian rebels used chemical arms near Aleppo - @Reuters
-227644360 secs ago


Chemical weapons watchdog says it has no independent confirmation of any use of chemical weapons in Syria - @Reuters
-227642193 secs ago


Britain says use or proliferation of chemical weapons in Syria would require 'serious response' from international community - @Reuters
-227640917 secs ago


Turkish official says Syrian accusation of Turkish responsibility for possible chemical weapons attack is baseless - @Reuters
-227640524 secs ago


Update: Syrian rebels say Assad's forces carried out chemical weapon attack near Aleppo using long-range missile - @Reuters
-227639427 secs ago


Syrian opposition's newly elected interim prime minister rules out dialogue with Assad regime - @AP
-227639249 secs ago


Victims of alleged chemical attack in Aleppo are 'suffocating;' people can smell chlorine in air, says @Reuters photographer
-227638192 secs ago


Update: 26 killed in Aleppo attack, including 16 soldiers, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights - @Reuters
-227638119 secs ago


Syrian rebels deny firing chemical weapon in Aleppo; accuse Assad's forces of launching scud missile with chemical agents - @Reuters
-227634755

Syrian information minister says rebels fired chemical weapon, calls it a dangerous escalation, state TV reports - @Reuters


Syrian rebels deny firing chemical weapon in Aleppo; accuse Assad's forces of launching scud missile with chemical agents - @Reuters - breakingnews.com

 

[W.G.Ewald]

The sampling and identification of chemical warfare agents are straightforward and well-known. There are sampling kits widely available, military and civilian. How such an article can be published with no reference to chemical analysis data is incredible. Clearly the "victims" in the photos have not been exposed to mustard agents.

Mustard agents: description, physical and chemical properties, mechanism of action, symptoms, antidotes and methods of treatment

If they had been exposed to nerve agents they would all have died.

CDC Nerve Agents | Emergency Preparedness & Response

 

[asianobserve]

Besides why would the Syrian opposition resort to such image killing tactic when they are trying to convince America and the West to be more active in helping them? The accusation does not make sense.

 

[SajeevJino]

How such an article can be published with no reference to chemical analysis data is incredible.

Looks like RT got over hyped Intel sources


But article comes from Russian Foreign Ministry Published by RT

 

[SajeevJino]

U.S. commander: NATO makes plans for involvement in Syria​

The top U.S. military commander in Europe said Tuesday that NATO is conducting contingency planning for possible military involvement in Syria and American forces would be prepared if called upon by the United Nations and member countries.



The top U.S. military commander in Europe said Tuesday that NATO is conducting contingency planning for possible military involvement in Syria and American forces would be prepared if called upon by the United Nations and member countries.

The Syrian civil war marked an ignominious two-year milestone this week with no sign that President Bashar Assad is close to giving up power. Adm. James Stavridis, commander of U.S. European Command, told a Senate panel that the United States is "looking at a variety of operations."

"We are prepared if called upon to be engaged," Stavridis told the Senate Armed Services Committee.

Stavridis, who is retiring soon, also said the option of assisting the opposition forces in Syria in ways that would break the deadlock are being actively explored by NATO members. A resolution from the U.N. Security Council and agreement among the alliance's 28 members would be required before NATO assumes a military role in Syria, he said.

"The Syrian situation continues to become worse and worse and worse - 70,000 killed, a million refugees pushed out of the country, probably 2.5 million internally displaced (people)," Stavridis said. "No end in sight to a vicious civil war."

The commander said discussions within the NATO member countries have focused on imposing a no-fly zone, providing lethal support to the Syrian opposition forces and imposing arms embargoes.

Armed Services Chairman Carl Levin, D-Mich., asked whether there is any consideration of targeting Syria's air defenses. Stavridis simply said yes.

NATO has installed Patriot missile defense batteries in southern Turkey along the border with Syria that are also capable of shooting down aircraft. During an exchange with Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., Stavridis said the Patriots could be positioned in such a way as to shoot down Syrian aircraft and he indicated that doing so would be a powerful disincentive for pilots to fly in that area.

The Patriot batteries are on Turkish soil and the country's leaders have been "very emphatic" that the missiles be used only for defensive purposes, Stavridis said. To use the batteries for other missions, including attacking Syrian military aircraft, would require consensus among NATO's members.

"And we're far from that," Stavridis told the committee.

Stavridis said that his personal opinion is that providing military assistance to the Syrian opposition "would be helpful in breaking the deadlock and bringing down the Assad regime."

At another Capitol Hill hearing on Syria, senior State Department officials said even if the Assad regime falls, humanitarian aid to the Syrian people will have to continue.

Anne Richard, the assistant secretary of State for Population, Refugees, and Migration, also made clear that the Obama administration does not foresee a negotiated settlement to the crisis despite diplomatic efforts.

"It's hard to imagine a peaceful outcome with Assad in power," Richard told a Senate Foreign Relations subcommittee.

Officials described a unique humanitarian crisis, with tens of thousands of Syrian refugees straining the resources of countries such as Jordan and Lebanon. Richard said of the 1 million refugees, half have arrived in neighboring countries in the last two months.

Syrian refugees now account for 10 percent of the Lebanese population.

The violent, unending war has prompted some in Congress to offer legislation and demand greater action by the Obama administration. But a war-weary American public has been slow to embrace many of the efforts.

In the latest proposal, Sens. Bob Casey, D-Pa., and Marco Rubio, R-Fla., offered a bipartisan measure that would provide non-lethal aid to vetted Syrian opposition groups battling the Assad regime.

The measure would authorize additional humanitarian assistance for the Syrian people and provide equipment such as body armor and communications to opposition groups.

Casey and Rubio said the horrors of the two-year civil war have gone on too long, and left open the possibility of arming the rebels at a later date.

"Down the road we may make another determination," Casey said when asked about arming the rebels.

New York Rep. Eliot Engel introduced legislation on Monday that would arm and train vetted opposition groups.

The bipartisan Senate measure also would expand sanctions against the Central Bank of Syria.

U.S. commander: NATO makes plans for involvement in Syria | Politics | The Seattle Times