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

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Syrian dissidents to get arms, volunteers from Libya to fight Assad’s regime

The new Libyan government is well on its way to help Syrian fighters against President Bashar al-Assad’s regime with arms after a meeting held in Istanbul between the two sides, a newspaper reported Saturday.

A Libyan source, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, told Britain’s Telegraph, that the aid will extend beyond providing the Syrian fighters with arms but that Libya could also offer potential volunteers to help up rebels in their struggle against Assad’s regime.

“There is something being planned to send weapons and even Libyan fighters to Syria,” said the Libyan source.

The Libyan source also heralded that “there is a military intervention on the way. Within a few weeks you will see.”

According to the newspaper, preliminary discussion about arms supplies dates back to early November 2011, when members of the main opposition group, the Syrian National Council [SNC] visited Libya.

“The Libyans are offering money, training and weapons to the Syrian National Council,” said Wisam Taris, a human rights campaigner with ties to the SNC.

Due to logistical difficulties, large shipments of Libyan weapons are not yet received by the Syrian fighters, said activists, adding that there are proposals to create a buffer zone inside Syria, monitored by the Arab League, or the likely emergence of an area inside the country controlled entirely by rebels.

Meanwhile, the Telegraph quoted sources from the Libyan town of Misrata as saying that some weapons may already have been shipped.

Libya’s interim government was the first to recognize Syria’s opposition movement as the country’s ‘legitimate authority.’

In addition to the potential Libyan assistance, Turkey, a former ally to Assad’s government, is already sheltering about 7,000 Syrian opposition activists and the dissident Free Syrian Army.

http://english.alarabiya.net/articles/2011/11/26/179274.html

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Q&A: Syria's daring actress
Fadwa Soliman, an Alawite who became an icon in the uprising against Bashar al-Assad, speaks to Al Jazeera from hiding.

She rebelled against the Syrian authorities, against her community and against her own family.

Fadwa Soliman, a Syrian actress brought up as an Alawite - the sect of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad - shocked many Syrians when she stood on a high platform in front of hundreds of anti-government protesters in one of the most conservative Sunni districts and chanted against Assad's rule.

Following this protest in the central city of Homs, her brother appeared on Syrian government-sponsored TV channel and said he and his family disown her. He said that her actions were probably motivated by money and expressed shock at watching her on Al Jazeera Arabic TV screaming anti-regime slogans in a protest.

Soliman, who is currently in hiding, said army forces stormed a whole neighbourhood in Homs looking for her
Knowing that her fate would be either death or prison, Soliman still wanted to participate in the demonstration to dispel what she said is a perception that all the Alawite community, which makes up around 10 per cent of the population, supports Assad's government.

She said she also wanted to dismiss the government's narrative that those who participate in protests are Islamists or armed terrorists.

Soliman is currently in hiding and is constantly on the run since she said the Syrian authorities are looking for her.

Born in Aleppo, she moved to the capital Damascus to pursue an acting career where she performed in numerous plays, including in No Comment, Dolls' House, Maria's Voice and Media, and in at least a dozen TV shows, including in The Diary of Abou Antar and Little Ladies.

Since the beginning of the uprising on March 15, she has been one of the few outspoken actresses against Assad's government.

Soliman speaks to Al Jazeera about her decision to lead a protest in Homs, the position of Alawite community on the unrest and the possibility of the country falling into a state of civil war.

Q: What made you go to Homs and lead an anti-government demonstration?
A: Homs is a city in siege, the number of the martyrs is large, and tanks have separated its districts. Moreover, Syrian regime has been trying to create sectarian tensions between people. All these reasons prompted me to Homs under the sounds of bullets and presence of tanks, risking everything in my life.

I just wanted to go just to say we Syrians are one people. I wanted to contradict the narrative of the regime and show people that there is no sectarianism in Syria. I wanted it to stop its lie that those who protest are armed groups, foreign agents or radical Islamists.

Soliman believes the government's crackdown becomes more brutal when dissidents are from a minority group

Q: How did your life change after Al Jazeera Arabic broadcast this protest? We do know that your family has disowned you on TV.
A: I came to Homs knowing that my fate is either death or prison. My life is currently under threat. The military forces have stormed a whole neighbourhood in Homs looking for me and beat up many people to admit where I am. I cannot give details about my current situation or about the decision of my family for security reasons. But what I can say is that families from minority groups exert a lot of pressure on the individuals who dissent. Many splits within families are happening because of this.

Q: How many people from the Alawite community in Syria share your dissent against the Syrian government?
A: There are many people from the minority groups in general who are against the regime. This was the case even before the uprising started. Look at prominent opposition figures whose voices are loud. They are from all sects and religions. Inside the capital Damascus, we have all been organising protests and participating in others.

In other cities, however, like Sweida [in the south of the country] or Tartous [in western Syria], where residents are predominantly from minority groups, the situation is very bad. People cannot voice their opposition because the government is even more brutal on dissidents belonging to minority groups than those from the majority Sunni Muslims. They threaten them and their families and children even before they decide to protest.

There are of course supporters of the regime from the Alawite sect, like there are from any other sect. But since the regime is Alawite, all its wrongdoings are being blamed on the whole community.

Q: Many of the Alawites seem to be fearful about their security amid the unrest and their position if Assad's government falls. We have been hearing reports from state-sponsored media, and sometimes from opposition figures, about the killings and kidnappings of residents in Alawite-dominated districts in Homs by armed groups. Shouldn't they worry about the prospects of the uprising?
A: Look, this is a very important question. I want to answer it frankly because I do not care anymore. What happened in Homs is that the regime formed a 200-member group of security forces present in the districts where minorities live. They kill people and throw their bodies in other districts to create a sectarian turmoil. We have evidence of this and we released many statements warning people from those criminals living among them.

The regime has for long decades deceived minorities. The father of Assad [former Syrian President Hafez al-Assad] gave an impression that he is the protector of minorities. In the 1980s, his troops stormed the city of Hama under the pretense of the presence of Muslim Brotherhood fighters. He destroyed homes, killed people, and made minorities believe that without him as the president of the country, the Muslim Brotherhood would have established an Islamic state.

Q: President Assad, in a recent interview, said the unrest in Syria is a struggle between pan-Arabism and Islamism. Aren't you scared of Islamists ruling Syria?
A: If the Syrian people choose democratically that they want to be ruled by Islamists, then this is their choice. I am not scared of Islamists ruling the country because if you are in the Syrian street, you will realise that Islam here has never been strict or extremist. State media is simply trying to distort the image of Muslims in Syria.

Q: There have been several statements in the recent days about the possibility of civil war in Syria. Do you agree with them? Where do you see Syria heading?
A: A civil war is not unlikely. The regime will not want to leave out any method to justify its survival and to justify its oppression and killing of the Syrian people.

On the other hand, if you are in the Syrian street, you will sense the maturity of the people here. They recognise that their problem is not with other sects, but with the regime and with anyone whose hands are tainted with the blood of the Syrian people. You must realise that those complicit with the Syrian intelligence apparatus are from all sects.

To avoid a civil war in Syria, the international community should take serious steps against the regime. So far we haven't seen any of their statements translate on the ground. I just saw with my own eyes a 25-year-old man being shot dead in a protest. The regime continues to kill because it does not sense seriousness on the part of the international community.

I do not want military intervention in Syria, but strong and sincere resolutions propelled by humanitarian concerns and not national interests.

http://www.aljazeera.com/(...)123142157924333.html

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1 hour 41 min ago - Syria
A teenager died on Sunday in northern Lebanon following a row between pro- and anti-Syrian partisans, a security official said, according to news agency AFP.

Mohammad al-Mawla, 14, from the Sunni Muslim village of Sheikh Ayash, died in hospital of injuries sustained when he and another villager were run over by a car driven by a man from a nearby Alawite village, the official, who requested anonymity, told AFP.

He said the driver, who was accompanied by his brother, was also hospitalised in critical condition after being dragged out of the car and beaten by villagers.

The incident heightened tension in the region with residents of Sheikh Ayash blocking the main road through the village with burning tyres and rubbish bins as news of the teenager's death spread.

Security forces immediately rushed to the area to prevent an escalation.

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Syria is heading for a humanitarian crisis and the EU, Arab League and Turkey must work together on how to deliver aid, French Foreign Minister Alain Juppe said on Tuesday.

"With every day that passes we are getting closer to a major humanitarian crisis," Juppe told lawmakers before a meeting of EU foreign ministers on Thursday.

"I will ask the European Union on Thursday to bring closer the Arab League, Turkey and the 27 (EU) member states to take initiatives in this direction," he said.

Al Jazeera English: Syria Live Blog

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5 hours 52 min ago - Lebanon
Seven Lebanese men have denounced Syria's authorities for what they said was false usage of footage filmed in 2008 to prove "terrorist" involvement in unrest rocking Syria.

The seven men at a press conference on Tuesday in Tripoli's impoverished Bab al-Tabbaneh neighbourhood showed what they said was the original video they had shot and posted on Facebook, and identified themselves one by one.

"The footage aired by the Syrians is fabricated and full of lies and we urge the Lebanese government to protect us," said Ahmad Said, who bore a strong resemblance to one man in the video.

Syrian Foreign Minister Walid Muallem on Monday aired gruesome video footage he said showed "terrorist" groups killing Syrian troops in various towns across the country.

In one segment, a group of armed bearded men are shown making their way through some bushes and trees, with the caption "Footages (sic) of the members of the terrorist armed gangs, at training" in the Syrian coastal city of Latakia.

The seven Lebanese said the segment had nothing to do with the Syrian revolt and was actually footage they themselves filmed in 2008 during clashes in Lebanon.

They accompanied a number of journalists, including one from AFP, to the area where they said the video was shot.

"This video was filmed on our phones behind the Luqman school at the northern entrance to Tripoli where we were defending our families and our districts in 2008," said Ahmad Issa, identifying himself in the footage.

He was referring to sectarian clashes in May of that year that left more than 100 people dead across Lebanon.

Issa said he and his peers had filmed the gathering and posted it to Facebook back in 2008.

He said residents of Bab al-Tabbaneh noticed the footage was first used five months ago by satellite channel Dunia, owned by Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's tycoon cousin Rami Makhlouf.

"Now that the regime has come out and falsely claimed this footage, we now have to stand up and defend ourselves and our families: I have never been to Syria, nor have any of us here," Issa said.

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Ahmet Davutoglu, Turkey's foreign minister, told Kanal 24, the Turkish TV news channel, that his country does not want to consider a military option for intervention in neighbouring Syria, but that it is ready for any scenario.

"We hope that a military intervention will never be necessary. However, the Syrian regime has to find a way of making peace with its own people to eliminate this option."

Davutoglu also said the international community may decide a buffer zone is needed in Syria if tens of thousands of people try to flee the violence there.

"If the current pressure will open the way for a large-scale refugee movement, if tens, hundreds of thousands of people start advancing towards Iraq, Lebanon, the Turkey borders, not only Turkey, then the international community may be required to take some steps. But it will not be up to Turkey's appeal only," he said.

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Op donderdag 1 december 2011 16:33 schreef Adam1981 het volgende:

[..]

Dit is niet waar. De groepering van al-Sadr heeft dit twee weken geleden al ontkend.

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Sixty-one people have been killed in the Syrian central city of Homs, according to Al Jazeera's Rula Amin in Beirut, the capital of neighbouring Lebanon. Among those killed were 34 Sunnis and 27 Alawites, she said. It was not immediately clear who was behind the violence.

The London-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said an activist on the ground reported seeing "the bodies of 34 civilians, in a square in the pro-regime neighbourhood of Al-Zahra, who had been abducted by the shabiha [pro-government militia] on Monday", according to the AFP news agency.

The civilians, the group said, had been seized from several "anti-regime neighbourhoods" in Homs, which has been targeted by a brutal crackdown on almost nine months of anti-regime dissent.

The Observatory also reported the so-called "shabiha" abducted on Monday a bus driver and his 13 passengers in Homs province.

Al Jazeera English: Syria Liveblog

(12.05.2011) Group of police officers defect and join Free Syria Army

Formation of Osoodul Forat battalion - Free Syria Army

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The Syrian Opposition Is Changing Course

Burhan Ghalioun is a Paris-based Syrian exile, nominated on August 29th to be the Chairman of the Syrian National Council (SNC), the unified movement which leads the popular uprising against Bashar Assad.

It is obvious that he is fully aware of the regional and international contexts of the developing Syrian crisis. It is against this background that we have to analyze his statements today. The Syrian leader, a potential leader of the new, post-Assad Syria took the plunge and declared that the new regime will cut off relations with Iran, and stop the arms supplies to both Hamas and Hezbollah. He also reiterated the traditional Syrian demand to recover the lost Golan Heights, but only through negotiations. Ghalioun knows that such a statement may be hot potatoes for the Assad propaganda machine, but he said in public what was just whispered until now to Western diplomats.

We can draw at least three significant conclusions from this display of political overtures. First, the Syrian opposition is increasingly confident that its moment of Victory is very near. Second, in line with that self-confidence, the opposition is fast moving along a course which will facilitate, in the very near future, a formal Western, Arab and Turkish recognition of the SNC as the legitimate government of Syria. Third, the oppposition does not fear that a statement about future negotiations with Israel can endanger its internal cohesion or weaken the resolve of the masses of Syrians who put their lives on the line demonstrating against the Alawite regime.

Nine months of unstoppable and ever-increasing popular protest clearly show that nothing that the current regime is doing can break the bone of the Syrian people. This is the longest-going protest since the beginning of the Arab Spring. Tunisia was much shorter, and so was the Tahrir Square protest. Only the Yemen situation may be comparable.

This is by far the bloodiest protest and it is directed against the most brutal regime in the Middle East. The SNC clearly reads the situation correctly when they act on the basis of the certainty that the regime is doomed.

The other significant move of the SNC was the formal merger With the Army of Free Syria, which was announced few days ago. This is a clear departure from the hitherto position of the SNC that the struggle should be non-violent. The civilian leadership of the uprising recognizes the potential of the rebel army to precipitate the final downfall of Assad. They clearly want to shorten the time leading to the final collapse, because they want to reduce the bloodshed of innocent civilians. They also realize that the union with the armed rebels strengthens their hand politically. It creates a situation similar to that which existed In Libya prior to the intervention, a popular civilian uprising backed by local armed rebellion. The armed Syrian rebels can claim a string of successes in the fighting against what is left of the Syrian armed forces. Their operations will make it easier for the Arab world and Turkey to justify an intervention in Syria, backed by NATO.

It is in this context that we can evaluate the persistent reports that Hezbollah is transferring back to Lebanon a lot of its arsenal which was stored until now in Syria. Quietly, the Iranians and their Lebanese stooges understand that the ally in Damascus is almost done. Publicly though, Hezbollah condemns the role played by Turkey, whose leaders relentlessly support the SNC and the rebel army in words and deeds. The Syrian masses also know what is the real role of Turkey. Today's huge demonstrations are calling for the creation of buffer zones. This is an open Invitation to the Turks and the Arab League to take the first overt step towards intervention, and this is a step long planned by the Turks. It may take a bit more time for the buffer zones to be declared on the ground, but today is the day in which the SNC crossed the Rubicon, and changed its strategy in the struggle against Assad.

And with that happening, let us not forget Ghalioun's reference to the Golan Heights. The Israeli leadership is put on notice that the Syrian situation may present short-term risks, but also longer-term positive prospects.

http://www.huffingtonpost(...)_1125507.html?ref=tw