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

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Most of their friends are on the run from the Syrian mukhabarat secret police. But where they used to be scared of fighting the regime, now they have become used to it. "The revolution destroyed the wall of fear," he explained. "At school, we were taught to love the president – Hafez – first. And it didn't get any better when Bashar took over. Now, everything has changed. Assad's picture is defaced everywhere and we are certain that at some point we will topple the regime."

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Assad sends envoys abroad seeking deal with opposition figures: report

Embattled Syrian President Bashar al-Assad has sent envoys abroad in the hope of reaching some kind of deal with opposition leaders to form a unity government, leading French newspaper Le Figaro reported on Tuesday.

Veteran journalist George Malbrunot quoted a Syrian opposition figure as having rejected Assad’s offer to join a unity government.

“I refuse to participate in a national unity government because the Assad regime gives me the freedom to form the government but maintains interior and defense ministries,” the unnamed opposition figure said.

“I do not want to be held captive as long as the security apparatus still exists.”

Malbrunot reported that Assad had sent two envoys ─ one to Paris and another to Dubai ─ to pursue this option.

Malbrunot also wrote that Russia was working behind the scenes on a resolution that could see President Assad relinquish power to the vice president much like the manner in which outgoing Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh handed power to his deputy.

According to the Russian proposal, Syrian Vice President Farouk al-Sharaa would be fully in charge while Assad would stay on until the next elections.

Malbrunot said that the Baathist regime in Syria is now “politically dead,” adding that what’s keeping it in power was its brutal iron lid on the main cities of Aleppo and Damascus, which has been transformed into a fortress.

The Assad regime also reportedly continues to survive on the support of the minorities, including Christians, Druze, Kurds, in addition to the Baathists, who fear retribution opposition Sunni Muslims should the regime collapse.

But U.S. ambassador to Syria Robert Ford warned in September 2011 that President Assad was losing support among key constituents and risks plunging the country into sectarian strife, a fear recently echoed by several international figures.

Ford said there was economic malaise in Syria, signs of dissent within Assad’s Alawite minority sect and more defections from the army, but the military is “still very powerful and very cohesive.”

He said Assad could still rely on the military to try and crush the protest movement but the killing of peaceful protesters was making him unpopular within the ranks.

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Syria: 20 miles from Damascus, an oasis of fragile freedom

Zabadani has effectively been liberated for a month, thanks to the Free Syrian Army. But it's a liberty under constant siege

In the centre of Zabadani, in the little square by the mosque, stands what at first glance looks like a Christmas tree – a spindly plastic evergreen draped in blue fairy lights. But instead of tinsel and baubles it is decorated with photographs and pieces of cardboard bearing the names of the martyrs of the Syrian uprising. Locals call it the Freedom Tree.

It is here, after prayers, that hundreds of residents gather every evening to march through the town, waving placards and chanting slogans against President Bashar al-Assad. They do so under the watchful eyes of the Free Syrian Army (FSA), their only defence against the might of an angry government that is fighting for its survival.

"We don't want Bashar or [his brother] Maher or their gang," they shouted in unison on a cold and starry night last week, clapping their hands above their heads – partly, some laughed, just to keep warm. "The people want the fall of the regime."

Parents and children gathered on the square to pose for the cameras they see as a lifeline to the outside world. Women stood to one side at first but joined the march from the rear. "The Free Army is protecting us against Assad's gangs," read a poster one little boy was holding up. "YouTube is the most important weapon of our revolution," said Amjad al-Khousi, a student. "People believe that being photographed will protect them."

Zabadani is just 20 miles north-west of Damascus, but it could be on another planet. For nearly a month the mainly Sunni town of 40,000 has effectively been liberated territory, though it is a fragile liberty that is under constant siege. Last Friday government troops launched a large-scale assault backed up by artillery and up to 50 tanks. It is unlikely to be the last. Shelling was reported again on Tuesday. Nearby Madaya was also under attack, a thick pall of smoke hanging over it. Water and electricity have been cut off. Many residents have fled.

"Zabadani is 90% free and the other 10% is held by the strongest army in the Middle East," quipped teacher Ali Abdelrahman, taking part in a mourning ceremony for a man who had been killed two days earlier – the town's 14th fatality since the uprising began. "The more martyrs there are, the stronger we become and the more volunteers we get," he grinned.

Ali Mustafa Burqan was hit by a sniper as he returned home from shopping with his wife on 8 January. Bloodstains still mark the spot where he lay dying, at a roundabout on a road out of town. Video clips of the corpse show the right side of his head shot away. Muhammad, his teenage son, is red-eyed and silent as mourners comfort him. "Sometimes," said an older man, "they have orders to shoot at anything that moves."

Zabadani is a picturesque place. Its concrete and stone houses climb up the steep hillsides and there are stunning views of the snow-dusted mountains near the border with Lebanon. Like nearby Bloudan, a famous resort, it is – or used to be – popular with Gulf Arabs during the summer months. It will be some time before it is a holiday destination again.

Its defenders appear well organised. Anti-Assad activists operating underground in Damascus are often students or professionals. But a key member of the local co-ordination committee here is Abu Nidal, a leathery-faced middle-aged builder who led the first demonstration last March. Other members are farmers and labourers. Another is a barber. All are wanted by the mukhabarat secret police – and are proud of it.

Huddled around the stove drinking coffee in one of their homes after the march, talk turned to the Arab League monitors, whose visit on Sunday brought a brief pause in army operations. The observer's chief, the Sudanese general Muhammad al-Dabi, is himself "a war criminal", someone complained.

The Assad regime dismisses the FSA as an "armed terrorist gang". But it is clear that these ragtag fighters are keeping Zabadani relatively safe. On previous raids, regime forces drove right into the centre of town with tanks, armoured personnel carriers and truckloads of shabiha thugs.

"It's unbelievable how they treat us," said Ahmed, an engineering student turned film-maker who now documents the uprising. "Even the Israelis use things like rubber bullets and teargas against the Palestinians. Not here."

Exact numbers and dispositions are secret, but there are said to be 70 FSA men around town and in the surrounding fields and orchards. Increasingly, though, they are out in the open, even manning checkpoints. Many are defectors from the army and mukhabarat, some are local volunteers. Elsewhere in Syria, FSA men have been accused of behaving as brutally as their enemies.

In normal times, Sami, a tough-looking bearded man wearing jeans and a baseball cap, is a stonemason. Now he carries a Russian automatic rifle with a sniper sight. "I got it for $4,000 by selling some land," he explained laconically as his four-wheel drive – no numberplates – cruised along a dirt road to avoid the nearest army checkpoint.

Film shot in the town at the weekend and distributed on the internet showed a masked FSA fighter stopping his car to paint over pro-government graffiti on a wall. He shakes his can of white paint and changes a slogan supporting the president to read "Bashar is a donkey".

"The Free Syrian Army in Zabadani are not terrorists," insisted Mahmoud, an activist whose family home near the Freedom Tree was hit by army shellfire last week. "They are peaceful people who are trying to protect our own kids and women and ourselves. It is a reaction to a very brutal action by the Assad regime."

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Wapenstilstand tussen rebellen en leger in Syrische stad Zabadani

In de Syrische stad Zabadani zijn militaire troepen van president Bashar Assad tot een wapenstilstand gekomen met de rebellen. Dat meldt de Syrische oppositieleider Kamal al-Labwani vanavond aan Reuters.

Het leger beloofde zich uit de westelijke stad nabij de Libanese grens terug te trekken en de opstandelingen die zich openlijk verzetten tegen Assad hebben hierop de straat verlaten. Labwani heeft inmiddels bevestigd dat de militanten het geweld hebben gestaakt in Zabadani:

. “De bombardementen vanuit tanks zijn gestopt. Predikanten verspreiden de boodschap van de wapenstilstand via de minaretten vanuit moskeeën in de stad.”

De wapenstilstand komt enkele dagen na de waarschuwing vanuit de Arabische Liga voor een burgeroorlog in Syrië. Volgens Nabil Elaraby, hoofd van de Liga, hebben overheidstroepen sinds vrijdag weer het vuur geopend op duizenden burgers, waarbij zeker tien doden zijn gevallen. Duizenden Syrische demonstranten gingen voor het weekend de straat op om de deserteurs te steunen die zich tegen het regime van president Bashar Al-Assad hebben gekeerd waartegen het regime hard optrad. Sinds de aanwezigheid van waarnemers van de Liga heeft het regime van Assad nog niet zo fel ingegrepen tegen acties van betogers.

De emir van Qatar, Sheik Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani, meldde enkele dagen geleden dat er Arabische troepen naar Syrië worden gestuurd om een einde te maken aan het bloedige geweld tegen demonstranten. Vandaag liet president Assad weten dit plan resoluut te verwerpen, Arabische troepen zijn in Syrië niet toegestaan. Het was de eerste oproep van een Arabische leider om in te grijpen in Syrië.

De Syrische minister van Buitenlandse Zaken zei vandaag in reactie op de oproep uit Qatar van zondag:

. “Het Syrische volk verwerpt elke buitenlandse interventie in binnenlandse aangelegenheden, onder elke naam, en zal zich verzetten tegen elke poging tot inmenging in de Syrische soevereiniteit.”

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Op woensdag 18 januari 2012 11:57 schreef Chooselife het volgende:
Opvallend dat men bij de opstanden in Jemen en Bahrein over "Al-Qaida" spreekt, maar in Syrië is het "volk" in opstand of wordt er hooguit gesproken van "rebellen".

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Op woensdag 18 januari 2012 10:24 schreef remlof het volgende:
Hmm, waarom volg ik deze reeks niet meer automatisch? Leek me al sterk dat er niet meer gepost zou worden.

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Verslag van nabij Homs: 'Ik heb mijn collega's kinderen van 6 of 7 zien doodslaan'

Een verslaggever van de Volkskrant is bij de Syrische stad Homs. Revolutionairen in de schuilplaats nabij de opstandige stad komen met geheim agent 'Abu Majid', die stiekem werkt 'voor ons'. Dit is zijn verhaal.

Hij wil niet zeggen voor welk onderdeel hij werkt, wat zijn rang is of waar hij precies vandaan komt. Als er een camera uit de tas komt - alleen een silhouet, zo beloven we hem - wil hij vertrekken.

Maar revolutionairen in de schuilplaats nabij de opstandige stad Homs staan voor hem in: 'Abu Majid' is van de geheime politie, en werkt stiekem 'voor ons'. 'Ik heb gezien', zegt hij, 'hoe mijn collega's kinderen van 6 of 7 jaar doodsloegen omdat ze met hun vader bij een demonstratie waren. Ik moest wat doen.'

Abu Majid biedt een zeldzaam kijkje in de keuken van de geheimzinnige Syrische veiligheidsdiensten, die sinds jaar en dag alle subversie buitengewoon effectief de kop indrukken en nu de repressie tegen betogers leiden.

'Onze missie is koste wat het kost de demonstraties te stoppen', zegt hij. Veiligheidsagenten openen het vuur op demonstraties, sluipschutters zaaien terreur in opstandige steden om mensen van de straat te houden, zegt Abu Majid, en leden van de geheime politie executeren militairen - vaak dienstplichtigen - voor de ogen van hun collega's als ze weigeren op betogers te schieten.

Zijn eigen eenheid is betrokken bij razzia's in subversieve wijken. 'Mijn orders zijn duidelijk: 'Als je een huis binnenvalt en je hebt het gevoel dat mensen tegen de president zijn, schiet je ze dood. Maak je geen zorgen over de gevolgen, er gebeurt je niets'.' Geen enkel lid van zijn afdeling is vervolgd sinds het begin van de opstanden, vertelt hij.

Wel zijn er een aantal verdwenen. Omdat ze vragen stelden over de sluipschutterseenheden, die volgens Abu Majid onafhankelijk opereren van de reguliere veiligheidsdiensten en strikt verborgen worden gehouden, of omdat een collega ze aanwees als potentiële overloper.

Abu Majid is dan ook doodnerveus. Hij rookt de ene sigaret na de andere en wiebelt heen en weer op de bank. 'Wat ik doe is levensgevaarlijk', zegt hij. 'Als ze mij pakken, zullen ze mijn vrouw en kinderen vermoorden. En ik zal wensen dat ze mij ook hadden gedood: ik heb gezien wat ze met gevangenen doen.'

Hij vertelt hoe collega's een vrouw voor de ogen van haar man martelden om namen van activisten los te krijgen; hoe agenten een oude man doodsloegen omdat ze vermoedden dat hij bij een demonstratie betrokken was. En hij beschrijft talloze martelingen van alledag, met elektriciteit, stokken, zwepen. 'Nieuwe gevangenen worden vaak dagen aan het plafond gehangen, met stalen handboeien. Ik heb ze na een week naar beneden zien komen. Hun armen waren als boter, of nat brood. Je zag het bot er doorheen komen.'

Om veiligheidsredenen blijft de naam van de auteur ongenoemd.

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Syrian forces withdraw from embattled Zabadani

Opposition takes control of town near Damascus as Arab League considers extending fact-finding mission

Syrian government tanks and armoured vehicles have pulled back from an embattled mountain town near Damascus, activists and witnesses have said, but at least nine people were killed by security forces elsewhere as a month-long Arab League fact-finding mission expired.

The pullback from Zabadani left the opposition in control, activists said. The besieged town has witnessed heavy exchanges of fire between army troops and anti-government military defectors over the past six days.

The 10-month uprising against the Syrian president, Bashar Assad, has become increasingly militarised and chaotic as frustrated opponents and army defectors arm themselves to fight government forces. There have been three suicide bombings in the capital since late December, which the government has blamed on terrorist extremists.

Arab League foreign ministers would consider extending the observer mission in Syria at a meeting on Sunday in Cairo, officials said.

Although the mission ended on Thursday, Adnan al-Khudeir, the head of the Cairo operations room that handles reports by the monitors, said observers would remain in 17 places around Syria until a decision was made on Sunday.

According to Khudeir, the meeting chaired by the Qatari foreign minister will discuss a report by the head of the mission, General Mohammed Ahmed al-Dabi.

"If there is a decision to extend the mission of the observers, we are ready to send more monitors after training them in three days," he said, adding that the total number of monitors might reach 300.

The mission has been mired in controversy, with the opposition claiming it served as a cover for the regime to continue its brutal crackdown.

The US state department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland suggested the observers' mission might not last indefinitely.

"Despite the best efforts of the Arab League, despite the considerable risks that they've put their monitors to, it has not succeeded in getting the Assad regime to meet its commitments," she told reporters in Washington.

An Arab League official said the mission could be extended for another month.

Rejecting charges that the observers have been ineffective in reducing violence, he said extending the mission would help the opposition more than the regime.

"The killings are less, the protests increase," he said, speaking on condition of anonymity because no decision has been made. "The mission's presence offers assurance to the people because the observers can spot any violations. There is a conviction even among Syria opponents that the extension is better than withdrawal."

More than 5,400 people have been killed since the uprising erupted last March.

Activists reported continued violence on Thursday. In Damascus a Syrian security agent was wounded when a small explosive device tore through his car, a Syrian official said.

A military security brigadier, Adel Mustafa, was killed by soldiers who had defected and refused his orders to shoot at civilians in the Bab Qibli area of Homs, according to the local co-ordination committees, an umbrella group of activists. The officer had previously overseen many killing and arrest operations, according to the LCC.

In Zabadani, activist Fares Mohammad said Syrian forces withdrew on Wednesday night to two military barracks on the outskirts of the resort town, 17 miles west of Damascus.

The Syrian opposition has gained control of a town or city several times through the uprising, only for forces loyal to Assad to retake them. It is unusual for the army to take this long to recapture a town so close to the capital.

Mohammed said the siege had eased, but heating oil had not been allowed into the town. Military checkpoints surrounding Zabadani were still in place while about 100 armed defectors were "protecting" it.

Residents said government mortars had shelled the town on Wednesday, but that had stopped.

The British-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights confirmed the pullout from Zabadani, saying only two armoured personnel carriers were left behind at one of the checkpoints near the town.

Syrian officials issued no comment about the fighting in Zabadani.

Activists said at least nine people were killed by security forces across Syria on Thursday, including four activists who were ambushed in the northern Jabal al-Zawiya region.

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Op donderdag 19 januari 2012 22:06 schreef Papierversnipperaar het volgende:

[..]

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Op donderdag 19 januari 2012 23:10 schreef Aloulou het volgende:
Ik snap niet wat er zo raar is aan dat stuk, zuiderbuur?

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Syrische rebellen verlaten Douma

Syrische rebellen die zaterdag een deel van de stad Douma onder hun controle brachten, hebben zich vannacht weer teruggetrokken. Ze vreesden dat de overheid om hen weg te jagen een offensief zou beginnen waarbij veel slachtoffers zouden vallen. Dat meldde de mensenrechtenorganisatie Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.

De deserteurs en het regeringsleger hebben hevige gevechten geleverd, een strijd die in de nachtelijke uren doorging. Volgens de mensenrechtenorganisatie werd er geschoten en was in de stad sprake van explosies. De troepen van president Bashar al-Assad zouden enige tijd uit Douma verjaagd zijn geweest.

Douma is al maanden een van de bolwerken van het verzet tegen Assad. Volgens tellingen van de oppositie heeft het politieke geweld in Syrië zaterdag aan bijna honderd mensen het leven gekost.

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Waarnemers Golfstaten weg uit Syrië

Nog eens vijf Arabische landen gaan hun waarnemers weghalen uit Syrië. Het gaat om Bahrein, Kuweit, Oman, Qatar en de Verenigde Arabische Emiraten. Ze willen niet dat hun waarnemers in Syrië zijn terwijl het geweld van het regime tegen burgers onverminderd doorgaat.

Afgelopen zondag trok Saudi-Arabië zijn waarnemers al terug. De Arabische Liga had juist de missie in Syrië met een maand verlengd. De Liga gaat nu bekijken of ze die beslissing herroepen moet worden.

President Assad heeft het verzoek van de Liga afgewezen om de macht aan de vicepresident over te dragen.

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Kremlin: Rusland kan weinig meer voor Assad doen
De positie van Rusland ten opzichte van Syrië lijkt te veranderen nu een hoge functionaris vandaag heeft gezegd dat Rusland 'weinig meer voor de Syrische president Bashar al-Assad kan doen'. Na tien maanden van bloedvergieten lijkt hiermee de deur naar nieuwe acties met de steun van Rusland tegen het Syrische regime op een kier gezet.

Moskou is één van de laatste bondgenoten van Syrië en heeft westerse oproepen tot het aftreden van Assad tot nog toe geweigerd te steunen. Samen met China blokkeerde Rusland een resolutie van de VN Veiligheidsraad die het bloedvergieten door de Syrische president zwaar veroordeelde.

Maar Rusland zou nu dus niets meer voor Assad kunnen doen, aldus het staatspersbureau Itar-Tas vandaag. Het agentschap citeerde daarmee Mikhail Margelov, jurist en speciaal Afrika-gezant en door president Medvedev aangesteld om zich te bezig te houden met de diplomatieke betrekkingen tussen Rusland en Syrië.

'Het Russische veto van de resolutie van de VN Veiligheidsraad was Assads laatste instrument om de status quo binnen de internationale arena te behouden', aldus Margelov. 'Het veto betekende een sterk signaal van Rusland aan Syrië. Dit veto heeft nu echter ons arsenaal aan zulke middelen uitgeput.'

Margelov liet verder niets los over eventuele vervolgstappen van Rusland. Margalov zetelt als voorzitter van het comité van internationale betrekkingen in de Russische regering.