Onrust in Syri� #8 Waar overgelopen militairen Assad's leger aanvallen

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'President Assad is de duivel die we kennen'

Uit beduchtheid voor 'the devil you don't know' ontziet de wereld andermaal een Syrische president Assad.

Wie nog dacht dat de Syrische president Bashar al-Assad een minder hardvochtig heerser is dan zijn vader Hafez, die weet nu beter. Zondagochtend liet hij het leger de stad Hama binnentrekken, waarbij de tanks voluit vuurden. Het resultaat: minstens vijftig doden, honderden gewonden.

Er schuilt een tragische symboliek in het feit dat juist in Hama alle geweldsregisters werden opengetrokken. De naam van deze stad is voor altijd verbonden met de massaslachting die Assad senior er in 1982 liet aanrichten om een soennitische opstand de kop in te drukken. Berichten over wat er was gebeurd, drongen destijds pas geleidelijk door tot de buitenwereld, die er nauwelijks consequenties aan verbond: Assad was een belangrijke speler in het Midden-Oosten, hij was 'the devil you know'.

Dankzij de moderne communicatiemiddelen kunnen de gebeurtenissen in Syri� niet meer zo vergaand aan het oog worden onttrokken als vroeger. Maar de geslotenheid van het land maakt het nog steeds moeilijk precies te achterhalen wat er gaande is. En tot op zekere hoogte is Assad jr. net als zijn vader 'the devil you know': er is gebrekkig zicht op wat er allemaal gist onder de etnische en religieuze lappendeken die Syri� is.

Vandaar dat ook nu het internationale protest tegen het gewelddadig optreden van het bewind-Assad aan de behoedzame kant is gebleven. Maar Syri� is nu vier maanden in de greep van het geweld, het dodental ligt al boven de 1.500, niets wijst erop dat de oppositie zich het zwijgen laat opleggen, noch dat het bewind een ander antwoord heeft dan brute repressie. Het wordt steeds onzinniger om Assad nog te ontzien uit angst voor 'the devil you don't know'.

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Key events in Syria's protest movement:
Nov 12 - The Arab League gives Syria three days to end its violent crackdown on anti-government protesters and implement an Arab peace deal or face suspension from the regional body.

Nov 9 - Syrian protesters pelt four opposition leaders with eggs outside Arab League headquarters in Cairo, preventing them from entering the building for talks. The protesters were apparently against the men agreeing to a dialogue with the government.

The UN says country runs risk of Libyan-style civil war as troops desert to back protesters.

Nov 8 - The UN said "more than 60" people had died in the central city of Homs since the announcement of the Arab League ceasefire plan.

Nov 2 - The Syrian government accepts several measures suggested by the Arab League aimed at halting the violence in the country, including the removal of tanks and armoured vehicles from the streets, the release of prisoners, and allowing the Arab League and media access to report on the situation.

Nov 1 - NATO Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen rules out the possibility of military intervention in Syria.

More at http://www.aljazeera.com/(...)111113440490791.html

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Activists: Syrian intelligence base attacked

Army defectors reported to have fired rockets at air force intelligence complex in Damascus suburb of Harasta.

Syrian activists say that army defectors have attacked an intelligence complex in the Damascus suburbs in what appears to be one of their boldest assaults so far against government security forces.

Members of the Free Syrian Army fired rockets and machine guns at a large air force intelligence complex situated in Harasta on the northern edge of the capital along the Damascus-Aleppo highway on Wednesday at about 2:30 am (0030 GMT), sources told Reuters.

A gunfight ensued and helicopters circled the area, sources said.

"I heard several explosions, the sound of machine-gun fire being exchanged," said a resident of the suburb of Harasta, who declined to be named.

There was no immediate report of casualties and the area where the fighting occurred remained inaccessible, the sources said.

Syria's ban on most foreign media makes it hard to verify events on the ground.

Al Jazeera's Rula Amin, reporting from neighbouring Lebanon, said: "This is probably not the first attack on security headquarters. But what is significant about this attack is that it is in Damascus, the capital. This shows how much trouble there is for the regime."

Together with military intelligence, air force intelligence is in charge of preventing dissent within the army. The two divisions have been instrumental in a crackdown on the uprising against President Bashar al-Assad, which the United Nations says has killed at least 3,500 people since March.

Syria's military is controlled by Assad's brother, Maher, and members of their minority Alawite sect. But the army is comprised mostly of Sunni Muslims, who also form the majority of Syria's population and have been defecting from the army in growing numbers.

The latest attack came amid increasing reports of defections among Syrian soldiers deployed by the government to quell the uprising.

Syrian authorities have blamed "armed terrorist groups" for the unrest, which they said killed 1,100 army and police personnel.

More @ http://www.aljazeera.com/(...)111163538991291.html

Al-Qusayr | Homs | National Hospital is Converted to Military Barracks

شام ::: حمص حي النازحين - فيديو جديد للاقتحام الأخير...

(11-16-11) Daraa | Free Syrian Army Kill 14 Assad Soldiers in Retaliation for Yesterday's Massacre

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Free Syrian Army takes shape on Lebanese border
A disaffected soldier who has fled the Syrian military explains why he is fighting to bring down Assad's regime

The man from the Free Syrian Army pointed to a spot on a distant hill marked by a lone white tent and a cluster of trees. "That's how we get in," he said of his furtive and increasingly frequent trips back to Syria. "We wait for them to look the other way and we move."

In early May, Ahmed al-Arabi left his job as a captain in the Syrian army and took to life as a rebel in exile in the foothills of northern Lebanon. Ever since, his role as a revolutionary seems to have grown by the month.

But the events of the past week, which have seen Syria suspended from the Arab League and a spike in an already bloody crackdown, appear to have propelled Arabi and his cause to a point he thought it would take much longer to reach. "There is a real chance now," he said of the Free Syria Army's intensifying guerrilla campaign against the regime of President Bashar al-Assad. "Just in the past few days in Homs alone, we have seen 70 defections from the regular troops and 13 from the special forces."

Now, the loose alliance of disaffected soldiers who have left the Syrian military since its violent crackdown against rights demonstrators began in March, appears to have announced its arrival as a national resistance movement.

Three attacks on Wednesday morning targeted key sites in Syria. All were launched by men who, like Arabi, were reluctant loyalists at the start of the year. And all were soon shown on regional television, which has become a veritable operations room for rebels, who rarely get to communicate directly.

"That was us," said Arabi as al-Jazeera showed footage of a man firing a machine gun, followed by a huge roadside bomb targeting what looked like a convoy. "There will be many more of them," he added. "Most defectors who have come to Wadi Khaled have now gone back to organise and launch attacks. The regime is in trouble now."

This tiny, drab border town in Lebanon's impoverished north has become one of two main hubs for an armed resistance campaign that is increasingly taking shape inside Syria; the other is in southern Turkey. With rugged hills and plunging valleys on both sides, the town has always been an ideal smuggling route for Lebanese and Syrians, supplying a vibrant black market. These same well-plied routes are now used to move men and women – many of them former soldiers who have regrouped in Wadi Khaled and travelled back home, in some cases with extra weapons sourced in Lebanon.

Arabi was reluctant to discuss weapons supply lines into Syria, although he said no states were involved. He was more comfortable talking about Syrian military infiltrations and the planting by the Assad regime of land mines in the past month, which have sharply raised the stakes on the mountain trails.

Under a light rain, Arabi stepped over a small wall and pulled a vegetable sack from the foliage. He dropped it on the cement with a little too much abandon given what was inside, before pulling out a large anti-tank mine. "I pulled it out of the ground last week," he said. Fresh mud was still caked to the weapon, about the size of a dinner plate. "Don't step on it if you're heavy.

"There are hundreds along the border. But there are soldiers who have told us where the mines were planted and where it is still safe to travel."

The veteran of 29 years in the Syrian military paints a picture of soldiers increasingly reluctant to stick to the official narrative of the uprising, which tells of an out-manoeuvred national army fighting armed extremists backed by Europe, the US and the Sunni Arab world. "In the officer corps, they know what is going on, but are too scared to do anything. There are many people inside the military who are better off for us there."

Arabi, a native of Homs, where an armed fightback has been gathering steam since August, suggests the Free Syria Army's strength is about 15,000 nationwide. "Many of those who have joined us have come with their weapons, or pointed us to places where weapons are being stored," he said. If his estimate is correct, the force, though loosely organised and lacking a cohesive command and control structure, poses a potent and growing problem for the military.

Military leaders are likely to focus on the relative ease with which rebels such as Arabi and former colonel Riad al-Assad, who commands a separate force from southern Turkey, are able to slip across the border and help with decision making.

Arabi said he shuttled to Homs most weeks. And the former colonel's men are known to use routes to Idlib in the north, where they claim to have established a haven.

For the Free Syria Army, however, a large obstacle stands in front of their ultimate goal – the fall of the Assad regime. The senior military leadership and the Syrian establishment remain entwined by members of the Alawite sect, to which the Assad clan belongs. There have been no known defections from any senior establishment position.

In a sign of the enduring strength of key military units, the Fourth Division, controlled by Bashar al-Assad's brother, Maher, moved into the National hospital in Homs on Wednesday, setting up what appeared to be a large command post.

However, Arabi believes momentum will soon swing fully in the guerrillas' favour. "If we can get a UN resolution on a no-fly zone, this will all be over in 24 hours," he said. "There are thousands who are too scared to move before they know it's safe to do so."

Before leaving Wadi Khaled, Arabi joined us on a drive along rain-soaked ridge lines and valleys. A black-and-white scarf bound tight around his head to ward off the cold, he pointed across a muddy field, where he said a friend was killed in a recent battle as he tried to return to Homs. Under grey foreboding skies, it looked like the Yorkshire moors.

At a point down the valley he showed us a Syrian position tucked into a tree line. "I know all of their places," he said. "We have to."

With that, Arabi said he had a meeting to attend and bade us farewell. He said he never slept in Wadi Khaled, moving between nearby villages at night to evade Syrian spies or their Lebanese proxies. "When this is all over, we will meet for lunch in Homs."

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Turkey has a key role in Syria – now and in the future

The Arab League's suspension of Syria has outraged Assad, but it is Ankara's hardline stance that may yet prove decisive

The Arab League's unexpectedly tough action in suspending Syria, ostracising President Bashar al-Assad, and inviting opposition leaders to talks in Cairo has outraged the regime in Damascus, which suspects a US-led conspiracy to impose forcible regime change. But the increased hostility exhibited by Turkey, Syria's most powerful and best-connected neighbour, may yet prove decisive as Ankara assumes a crisis leadership role.

Until the uprising tore apart old certainties, the Turkish prime minister, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, had invested considerable capital in improved ties with Syria, with which Turkey almost went to war in the 1990s. A turning point came with the 2004 free trade agreement. This interdependence now gives Turkey significant economic leverage. Ankara has already imposed unilateral sanctions and is considering additional measures including a cut in electricity supplies.

Erdogan turned the screw again this week, accusing Assad personally of "feeding on blood" after he failed to honour the Arab League peace plan. "No regime can survive by killing or jailing," he said. "No one can build a future over the blood of the oppressed."

Turkey's motives are not difficult to discern. Chaos on its fragile southern flank, and Syria's possible descent into civil war, would be reasons enough to prompt Ankara's intervention. But Erdogan was also incensed by weekend attacks on Turkey's embassy in Damascus and regional consulates, apparently orchestrated by the regime. The government issued a formal protest and advised Turks against travel to Syria, a reversal of its proud open-borders policy.

Turkey also appears motivated by a desire to keep ahead of evolving Arab opinion. "It can comfortably be said, in light of recent developments, that the countdown to the end of Syria's Assad regime has begun," said Today's Zaman columnist B�lent Kenes, reflecting official opinion.

With senior Saudi officials and King Abdullah of Jordan openly backing the revolt, and the violence escalating, Erdogan and his foreign minister, Ahmet Davutoglu, who have long harboured regional leadership ambitions, seem to be positioning themselves for a post-Assad future.

In this push towards the Syrian endgame they plainly have the enthusiastic backing of the US, for whom they are effectively acting as a local proxy in opposition to external actors such as the pro-regime Russia. Given Erdogan's sharp differences with Washington over Israel-Palestine and the Iraq war, this coincidence of view is not lacking in irony. "We very much welcome the strong stance that Turkey has taken and believe it sends a critical message to President Assad that … he should step down," said Ben Rhodes, Barack Obama's deputy national security adviser.

In a series of statements, Davutoglu has insisted it is "no longer possible to trust the Syrian government". Adding provocation to insult, he underscored Ankara's support for the protesters and specifically for the Syrian National Council, an opposition umbrella group based in Turkey that is seeking recognition from Ankara. "We will continue to take our place at the side of the Syrian people's rightful struggle," Davutoglu said.

As bilateral tensions rise, suggestions that Turkey may physically intervene in northern Syria to create a safe haven for civilians displaced by the violence are likely to resurface. Several thousand Syrian refugees are already sheltering inside Turkey, as are numerous Syrian army defectors. Possibly anticipating Syrian retaliation, the newspaper H�rriyet reported that President Abdullah G�l recently warned Assad would pay a heavy price for stirring up trouble in Turkey's Kurdish south-east.

Fears that a Syrian meltdown could seriously destabilise the wider neighbourhood are also driving Turkey's hardening response. Such a scenario could affect Iraq, where security concerns are rising as the US withdrawal nears completion, and even Iran, a close Assad ally.

For its part, the Syrian regime has pressing reasons to fear Ankara's animosity, as G�khan Bacik pointed out in Today's Zaman. Unlike many Muslim countries, Turkey identifies strongly with Europe, the US and Nato. And in the past decade, Erdogan's Justice and Development party has made its brand of moderate Islamist politics acceptable to previously blinkered western eyes.

In other words, Turkey, with its majority Sunni Muslim population, furnishes a role model for the disenfranchised Sunni majority in Syria (and other Arab spring countries). Not only is Ankara encouraging revolution in Damascus, it is also living proof that Assad's politics of fear are outdated, that Syrians have before them a workable alternative paradigm, and that, after the revolution, the country's secular, Islamist and other sectarian traditions could fairly hope to co-exist peacefully, Turkish-style.

Source: http://www.guardian.co.uk(...)urkey-key-role-syria