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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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Op zaterdag 25 februari 2012 13:09 schreef Papierversnipperaar het volgende:
Op dit moment door niet in te grijpen vanwege een veto in de veiligheidsraad.

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Voor de invasie van Irak hadden ze ook geen mandaad van de VN nodig.

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Op zaterdag 25 februari 2012 13:10 schreef Stephen_Dedalus het volgende:

[..]

Appels en peren.

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Op zaterdag 25 februari 2012 13:13 schreef Monidique het volgende:

[..]

Dan ben je nog niet medeplichtig aan de misdaden die een ander begaat. Zo werkt het natuurlijk. Daarnaast is het maar de vraag of "ingrijpen" zin heeft. Er zijn nu in een jaar tijd tienduizend (semi-officieel getal, plus nog wat) doden gevallen, dat zijn er tienduizend te veel, maar hoe gaat het helpen als je nog meer mensen doodt?

[..]

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Klopt. En die invasie, die tot miljoenen slachtoffers heeft geleid, was toch verkeerd?

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Op zaterdag 25 februari 2012 13:14 schreef Papierversnipperaar het volgende:

[..]

Vanwege de redenen en de methoden (geld en leugens), niet vanwege het ontbreken van een mandaad.

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Op zaterdag 25 februari 2012 13:13 schreef Papierversnipperaar het volgende:

[..]

Hypocrisie.

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Op zaterdag 25 februari 2012 13:18 schreef Stephen_Dedalus het volgende:

[..]

De enige hypocrieten zijn de Arabische landen. Dat hebben we wel meegemaakt in Libi�.

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Op zaterdag 25 februari 2012 13:15 schreef Monidique het volgende:

[..]

Ik snap echt niet waar je het over hebt, het is zeker een soort geheimtaal, want het lijkt op gebrabbel. Geld en leugens van wie zijn verantwoordelijk voor wat? Het Westen had, net als bij Irak, moeten binnenvallen en dan hopen dat het wat oplevert?

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Op zaterdag 25 februari 2012 13:21 schreef Papierversnipperaar het volgende:

[..]

Irak had geen massavernietigingswapens. Ze vielen Irak niet binnen omdat Saddam een dictator was, maar omdat hij de belangen van de VS niet langer diende.

De huidige onrust in het MO komt van de bevolking zelf die verandering wil, en je moet er alles aan doen om ze te helpen.

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Op zaterdag 25 februari 2012 13:19 schreef Monidique het volgende:

[..]

Dat zijn de enige hypocrieten? Het Westen is niet hypocriet, Rusland is niet hypocriet, Afrika is niet hypocriet? Alleen Arabieren zijn hypocriet? Wat is dat nou voor semi-racistisch leugentje?

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Op zaterdag 25 februari 2012 13:28 schreef Stephen_Dedalus het volgende:

Nee, westerse landen zijn niet hypocriet, we zijn nooit vriendjes met Syri� geweest.

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Ik neem de Arabieren omdat als het puntje bij paaltje komt ze niet over de boeg komen met effectieve militaire steun. Wel een grote bek maar zodra de bommen in Syri� begonnen te vallen krabbelden ze al terug. Dat zullen ze nu weer doen als het Westen militairen sturen.

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Op zaterdag 25 februari 2012 13:31 schreef Monidique het volgende:

[..]

Ik heb het over een bredere context. Niet alleen Syri�.

[..]

In Libi� hebben de Arabieren wel troepen en wapens gestuurd, dat noem ik geen terugkrabbelen.

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Op zaterdag 25 februari 2012 13:32 schreef Stephen_Dedalus het volgende:

[..]

Die paar vliegtuigen die CAP vlogen? Het waren de fransen en engelsen die alle bombardementen uitvoerden en daarvoor kregen ze meteen kritiek van de Arabische liga.

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Op zaterdag 25 februari 2012 13:20 schreef roos94 het volgende:
Syrie is echt een super land, ben er zelf twee keer geweest

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Op zaterdag 25 februari 2012 13:43 schreef Papierversnipperaar het volgende:

[..]

Jammer dat Assad je mooie vakantiebestemming naar z'n grootje bombardeert.

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Op zaterdag 25 februari 2012 13:23 schreef Monidique het volgende:

[..]

Je springt van de hak op de tak. Wat hebben de motieven voor de Amerikaanse agressie tegen Irak, en dat zijn er wat mij betreft wel meer dan "belangen niet meer dienen", te maken met de vraag in hoeverre het Westen medeplichtig is aan het geweld in Syri�? Wat had het Westen moeten laten?

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Op zaterdag 25 februari 2012 13:33 schreef Monidique het volgende:
En waarom zou het Westen niet hypocriet zijn?

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Op zaterdag 25 februari 2012 13:44 schreef Monidique het volgende:

[..]

Jij wilt Assad helpen het naar z'n grootje te bombarderen, toch?

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Op zaterdag 25 februari 2012 13:45 schreef Papierversnipperaar het volgende:

[..]

Irak bewijst dat je uitstekend kan ingrijpen zonder mandaad. Maar dat word niet gedaan voor mensen, maar voor bedrijven. Als het om mensen gaat kan er zogenaamd niets. Dat is de leugen, de hypocrisie.

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Op zaterdag 25 februari 2012 13:46 schreef Papierversnipperaar het volgende:

[..]

Omdat IK ook het westen ben, ik ik wil niet hypocriet zijn. Ik wil niet medeplichtig zijn aan massamoord vanwege geld en powerplay.

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Op zaterdag 25 februari 2012 13:46 schreef Papierversnipperaar het volgende:

[..]

Ik wil Assad zelf naar zijn grootje bombarderen.

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Op zaterdag 25 februari 2012 13:46 schreef Monidique het volgende:

[..]

En was dat zo'n goed iets, die Amerikaanse agressie tegen Irak?

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Op zaterdag 25 februari 2012 13:53 schreef Papierversnipperaar het volgende:

[..]

Er was geen "popular uprising" in Irak.

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Op zaterdag 25 februari 2012 13:54 schreef Monidique het volgende:

[..]

Nee, die volksopstand was jaren eerder al in de kiem gesmoord.

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Op zaterdag 25 februari 2012 13:56 schreef Papierversnipperaar het volgende:

[..]

Dan had de VS toen moeten ingrijpen. Maar toen kwam het ze zeker niet goed uit?

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Op zaterdag 25 februari 2012 14:34 schreef Stephen_Dedalus het volgende:

[..]

Dat was na de eerste golfoorlog? Toen hebben ze zich gewoon netjes aan het VN mandaat gehouden om Irak uit koeweit te verdrijven. Zo zie je maar weer, de VS kan toch nooit iets goeds doen, als ze zich aan de VN resoluties houden is het niet goed. Als ze zich niet aan de VN resoluties houden is het ook niet goed.

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Op zaterdag 25 februari 2012 14:36 schreef Papierversnipperaar het volgende:

[..]

Het gaat ook niet om de resoluties, het gaat om het doel.

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Op zaterdag 25 februari 2012 14:40 schreef Stephen_Dedalus het volgende:

[..]

Het doel van de eerste golfoorlog was om Koeweit te bevrijden. Niet het regime van Saddam omverwerpen.

twitter:

SyriaParliament twitterde op zaterdag 25-02-2012 om 13:04:49 Syrian state TV accuses Colvin and Ochlik of being terrorists, army spies or foreign intel. [Arabic]: ( http://t.co/Ww4yp8wT ) #Syria #Syrie reageer retweet

Syrian state news accuse Colvin and Ochlik of being terrorists, army spies or foreign intel.

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Haniyeh’s speech was another sign of Hamas’ drift away from longtime backers Iran and Syria, as it finds new allies in the region. Hamas’ isolation has eased since its parent movement, the pan-Arab Muslim Brotherhood, gained political influence in the region, including in Egypt, in the wake of the Arab Spring uprisings.

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Arab World: 'Either Assad stays or we do'

IDLIB – A week ago, I traveled to Idlib province in Syria, to spend some time in the company of the Free Syrian Army. My intention was to gain an impression of this force – its unity, its strength – and whether the possibility that it could be the instrument to destroy President Bashar Assad’s regime was feasible.

Crossing over the mountains from Turkey with smugglers, I linked up with FSA members in the town of Bini’ish, deep in Idlib province, and spent the subsequent days in the company of the rebels. I spoke to them after their return from attacks on army positions, watched them maintain the roadblocks that guard the entry to the “free zones” and saw them guard the mass demonstrations that take place across Idlib every Friday.

The Assad regime’s war against its own people has been continuing for almost a year. The city of Homs is under daily bombardment by regime artillery. A humanitarian crisis is looming in Homs, with parts of the population denied access to food and medical attention.

Assad remains determined to pummel the revolt into submission.

In Idlib province, meanwhile, the precarious free zones carved out by the FSA and the civilian opposition defiantly await the coming attentions of the dictator.

The Assad regime no longer has any visible presence in these areas. The rebel flag flies everywhere.

But the regime’s agents are still present, and FSA and civilian activists know that the current balance cannot hold.

The rebels understand that they are now engaged in a war of attrition with the regime. Assad is sending his depleted forces from town to town to crush centers of revolt which spring up again once the army leaves. Assad knows he must completely extinguish the fire of revolt before his own forces grow too weak to do so.

THE FSA has gradually increased in importance in recent months, as it became clear that the Assad regime was not going to fade quietly, and thus the question – who was stronger, the regime or the protestors – became more central. What were the main impressions I gained from observing the FSA on the ground in Idlib, one of its heartland areas? My first observation was that the high quality and determination of many of the FSA fighters and officers was immediately apparent. The majority were recent deserters from Assad’s army, many from frontline infantry and armored units. The stories they told of the reasons for their defection were similar and similarly harrowing.

They described being ordered to shoot live ammunition at demonstrators, the presence of non Arabic- speaking personnel (Iranians) operating within Assad’s army units and terrible punishments – including execution – meted out to soldiers who refused to follow orders. In many cases, the FSA men had taken considerable risks to get away from the army and join the rebels.

Despite the odds against them, they appeared convinced of their eventual victory. “The regime has the heavy weapons,” one FSA officer in the town of Sarmin told me. “The people are with us...either Bashar [Assad] stays or we stay.”

Secondly, the absence of unity and a real chain of command was acutely apparent.

No one I met seemed to regard themselves as under the command or authority of the notional FSA leadership in Antakya, Turkey. In many ways, indeed, there is no single FSA. Rather, there is a collection of local militias, formed of a combination of army deserters and local men wanting to take up arms.

These militias are in contact, cooperate with one another and receive general directives. But each appears to regard itself as autonomous, and is mainly concerned with ensuring the integrity of its own area and the safety of the area’s civilian protestors.

My third impression was that the arms available to the FSA are basic, but not quite as basic as the “ragtag army with only Kalashnikovs” image might suggest. The AK-47 rifle is indeed the standard issue to all FSA fighters (who must purchase the rifles themselves if they do not already have them courtesy of Assad’s army). But the FSA units I saw also possess RPG-7s, heavy machine guns and mortars. They would not be able to resist a frontal assault from Assad’s forces on the free zones. But they would certainly be able to conduct a guerrilla campaign, should they elect to do so.

Lastly, I observed that the Syrian uprising is very much a sectarian affair, although the FSA activists prefer not to openly characterize it that way. Idlib is a very conservative, traditional Sunni province, and the FSA there is composed entirely of Sunnis.

Anger against the Alawites, on whom the regime relies for support, spills out at unguarded moments. The murderous “Shabiha” Alawite paramilitaries are an object of particular hatred.

The FSA fighters I spoke to said again and again that without arms from the West and the establishment of a buffer zone, the killing in Syria could continue “for years.”

Whether these calls will begin to be heeded by the West, as the carnage in Syria continues, is now the crucial question. A de facto international coalition stands behind Assad: Iran, well skilled in the art of suppressing civil revolt, is providing equipment and expertise. Russia continues to provide diplomatic cover and arms. Hezbollah, too, is lending manpower and expertise.

The FSA, from what I saw, possesses the raw material to become an effective and potent fighting force, and has the potential capabilities to protect the Syrian people from the rage of the dictator and challenge his rule. It does not yet constitute such a force, however.

The crucial variable will be whether the West begins to aid, advise and equip it – as Assad’s friends are doing for his regime. If so, the uprising has a chance. The outcome of the crisis in Syria may well now depend on this decision.

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Op zaterdag 25 februari 2012 15:06 schreef zuiderbuur het volgende:
Assad blijft vrienden verliezen, Hamas neemt nu duidelijk afstand van Assad en steunt het protest:
http://www.washingtonpost(...)IQAZFs2XR_story.html

[..]

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Op zaterdag 25 februari 2012 21:13 schreef ChristianLebaneseFront het volgende:
Dit laten ze natuurlijk niet zien op het NOS-journaal:

Tunisian Patriots Protesting the "Friends of Syria" Conference

Zet dit ook maar even in de OP:

55 percent of Syrians support Assad
http://www.guardian.co.uk(...)d-western-propaganda

In God and Bashar we trust!

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Op zaterdag 25 februari 2012 14:57 schreef Papierversnipperaar het volgende:

[..]

Onzin. Het doel was Saddam te pakken. Hij vroeg bijna letterlijk of hij Koeweit mocht binnevallen en de VS hield z'n bek dicht.

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Shoot the journalists: Syria's lesson from the Arab spring

The killing of the foreign correspondent Marie Colvin and the photographer R�mi Ochlik in the siege of Homs has led to growing international pressure on the regime of Bashar al-Assad

The media centre in the Homs suburb of Baba Amr is nothing more than a family house. Once it had four storeys and a satellite dish on the roof. Reporters, photographers and cameramen had been forced to move there after their previous bolthole came under attack.

Two weeks ago, the top of the house was reduced to rubble during a visit by a CNN television crew, who had placed their own dishes there to broadcast live footage. The assault continued until the dishes were knocked down.

If other evidence were needed that the building had been targeted, before the attack last week that led to the deaths of the Sunday Times correspondent Marie Colvin and the French photographer R�mi Ochlik, it was supplied by another of the group that travelled to Homs with them, Jean-Pierre Perrin, who described how the building's own dish had been peppered with sniper rounds.

Even after their deaths, the regime has continued to attack Colvin and Ochlik. Footage was shown on state television on Saturday of their bodies, accusing them of being "spies."

The regime of Bashar al-Assad has learned the lessons of the Arab spring when it comes to dealing with the media – both citizen journalists and international outlets. As the Committee to Protect Journalists noted in a 2011 report, the regime quickly "enforced an effective media blackout" as soon as the protests began last March.

It banned, arrested and expelled international journalists and detained local reporters who tried to cover the protests.

It disabled mobile phones, landlines, electricity, and the internet in cities where the protests broke out, and used violence to extract the passwords of social media sites from journalists, allowing the Syrian electronic army, a pro-government online group, to hack the sites and post pro-regime comments. "In April," the report continues, "al-Jazeera suspended its Damascus bureau after several of its journalists were harassed and received threats.

Three days after the brutal assault of the famed cartoonist Ali Ferzat in August, the government passed a new media law that 'banned' the imprisonment of journalists and allowed greater freedom of expression. It followed this by jailing several journalists. In November, cameraman Ferzat Jarban was the first journalist to be killed in Syria in connection with his work since the committee began keeping detailed records in 1992.

If Jarban was the first, he has not been the last. Gilles Jacquier, a French cameraman, was killed in Homs in January, while on a government sponsored press trip, a killing first blamed on opposition fighters but later blamed on the regime by two Swiss colleagues who accused the soldiers accompanying them of leading them into an "elaborate trap".

The regime went further. Those who had entered the country before, such as Anthony Shadid of the New York Times – who collapsed and died in Syria a few days before Colvin's death – were denounced on Syrian state television as "spies", while those visiting Homs illegally were warned that they would be killed by the regime.

Last week, all the evidence now suggests that the regime delivered on its promise, targeting not just the latest group of foreign reporters to visit Homs but also Rami al-Sayyed, a citizen journalist whose video link to Baba Amr had kept news of events in the city in the forefront of the world's attention.

The war in Syria has become not simply a conflict between a brutal regime and those who want to see it fall, but a war on information itself: a calculated desire to destroy the fractured opposition's centres and erase all knowledge of what happened.

On Friday the difficulties of reporting from Homs were reinforced in a series of tweets by Javier Espinosa of the Spanish newspaper El Mundo, who survived uninjured in the attack that killed and injured four colleagues, including Colvin, last week. He described drones flying overhead guiding the bombing of the suburb, saying: "I would love to interview who is launching the mortars right now. What he thinks when he is sending tons of shrapnel to kill people."

Asked to describe the drone, Espinosa said it was too dangerous to "get my head from where I am hiding".

Assad's war on the media, like that on his people, is unlikely to be successful in the long run. Journalists may have been pushed out of Syria, but it seems certain they will return yet more determined to tell the world what is happening.

As for the regime, Assad's ferocious tactics may be making short-term gains but in the long term the outcome is most likely to be the fall of his regime, the Chatham House thinktank said in the Political Outlook for Syria, a report last week. The question now is not if but when. And also in what circumstances.

As the "Friends of Syria" meeting ended in disarray in Tunis on Friday, it was not with suggestions about how to bring the violence to an end but amid threats from two key regional actors – Saudi Arabia and Qatar – who said that they supported military escalation against Assad. In doing so they have raised the terrifying spectre of a proxy war with Shia Iran, Assad's remaining regional ally, now that even Hamas has formally backed the uprising.

The remarks of the two countries – including a Saudi statement, before its delegation walked out of the conference, that arming the opposition was an "excellent idea" – came only hours after the disclosure by rebel sources that they were already receiving foreign arms and equipment.

The Saudi threat to arm the opposition has come amid increasing rhetoric from the US – including the US secretary of state Hillary Clinton's description of Russia's blocking tactics as "despicable". In a subtle shift in policy, US officials, quoted by the Washington Post, said that "steps toward arming the opposition were likely to become a reality the [US] would not oppose if the Syrian leader does not yield."

The Saudi intervention on Friday should not, perhaps, have been surprising. The day before, in a telephone call, King Abdullah told the Russian president Dmitri Medvedev in the bluntest terms that discussion on the issue was "useless", and criticised Russia for not co-ordinating with Arab states before vetoing a UN security council resolution. All of which appears to confirm the view of some regional analysts that Saudi Arabia decided some time ago that intervention was inevitable.

Another challenge facing the regime is not direct intervention by neighbours but an ever-growing isolation. The regime has been told that it is no longer welcome at the next Arab league summit in Baghdad. The move by Hamas, which for long kept its political bureau in Damascus, meant that there was now no Sunni group or government allied with the regime.

Russia too – despite its objection to intervention and its veto – in recent days has shown increasing frustration, calling for a ceasefire, although it has continued to supply weapons.

Few even among the closest observers of Syria have any certainty, however, of the endgame. The Chatham House report lists a menu of potential scenarios, from the survival of a deeply "embattled and unpopular" regime for several years, to a coup of Alawite officers against the Assad family, to various kinds of collapse that include a Yemen-style implosion.

And if the authors are cautious about predicting an outcome, they are deeply sceptical too about the opposition Syrian National Council. Britain and other governments recognised the council in Tunis on Friday as a "legitimate representative" of the Syrian people.

But the authors describe the group as "not necessarily representative of Syrians" and report concern that "it has focused excessively on wooing international support rather than building domestic strength". Overall, the message is clear, reinforced by the fallout from Tunis: the outcome in Syria is unpredictable and likely to be extremely messy.

None of this will bring comfort to civilians trapped in Syria by the fighting, or the two injured journalists, Paul Conroy of the Sunday Times and Frenchwoman Edith Bouvier, as they await evacuation from Homs.

While the Red Cross evacuated a small number of wounded women and children from the city on Friday, and was in negotiations on Saturday to bring out more, the attacks continued as the military took its bombardment of rebel-held Baba Amr into a fourth week.

Nadir al-Husseini, an opposition activist in the city, described desperate conditions in Baba Amr. "It would be good if they [the Red Cross] could bring in some aid. But even if they brought us some medical supplies how much would it really help?" he told the Reuters news agency. "We have hundreds of wounded people crammed into houses all around the neighbourhood. People are dying from lack of blood because we just don't have the capability of treating everyone. I don't think any amount they could bring in would really help."

The description of conditions in Baba Amr, which has been hit by Russian-made 240mm mortars – the world's largest – came as others in the city condemned the Tunis meeting.

"They [world leaders] are still giving opportunities to this man who is killing us and has already killed thousands of people," said Husseini. "I've completely lost faith in everyone but God. But in spite of that, I know we will continue this uprising. We'll die trying before we give up," he said. "The shelling is just like it was yesterday. We have had 22 days of this. The women and children are all hiding in basements."

"No one would dare try to flee the neighbourhood, that is instant death. You'd have to get past snipers and soldiers. Then there is a trench that surrounds our neighbourhood and a few others. Then you have to go past more troops."

For now the suffering of Homs continues without an end in sight.

quote:

55 percent of Syrians support Assad
http://www.guardian.co.uk(...)d-western-propaganda

In God and Bashar we trust!

quote:

Op zondag 26 februari 2012 21:00 schreef Frikandelbroodje het volgende:
Toch wel opvallend dat Hamas de banden verbreekt met Assad. Haniyeh was een paar weken geleden nog in Teheran en daar leek alles nog koek en ei. Hebben Iran en Syri� al een reactie gegeven? Op Press TV heb ik nog niks gezien.

[..]

Ik weet het ook niet hoor, maar ik vind een poll waarin maar 100 syri�rs zijn ondervraagd niet echt betrouwbaar

quote:

Polen onderhandelt om evacuatie gewonde journalisten Syri�

Polen heeft aangegeven dat het naast, onder andere het Internationale Rode Kruis en Frankrijk, ook onderhandelt met de Syrische autoriteiten om de gewonde journalisten in Homs te evacueren.

Dat liet Marcin Bosacki, een woordvoerder van het Poolse ministerie van Buitenlandse Zaken, weten aan perbsureau AP. De Poolse ambassade behartigt de belangen van de Verenigde Staten in Syri�. Ook zei Bosacki dat Polen samen met de VS, Groot-Brittanni� en Frankrijk samenwerkt om de lichamen van de Amerikaanse journalist Marie Colvin en de Franse fotograaf Remi Ochlik door Damascus te laten vrijgeven. Lees ook het indringende verhaal van onze correspondent Gert van Langendonck die bevriend was met Ochlik.

Afgelopen woensdag kwamen Colvin en Ochlik om bij een raketaanval op een ge�mproviseerd perscentrum in Homs. Daarbij raakten ook twee andere journalisten gewond, de Franse Edith Bouvier en de Britse Paul Conroy. Op 23 februari kwamen beelden naar buiten waarop Conroy en Bouvier de internationale gemeenschap oproepen tot evacuatie. Vandaag liet de Franse president Nicolas Sarkozy weten dat plannen om de gewonde journalisten uit Syri� te krijgen in een vergevorderd stadium bevinden.

quote:

Britse fotograaf 'veilig' in Libanon; onzekerheid over Franse verslaggeefster

De Britse journalist Paul Conroy die gewond raakte in Syri�, zou in veiligheid zijn in Libanon. Dat meldde een betrokken diplomaat vandaag aan persbureau Reuters.

Conroy, die als fotograaf voor dagblad The Sunday Times bij de gevechten in Homs aanwezig was, raakte vorige week woensdag tijdens een beschieting door het Syrische leger gewond. Volgens de diplomaat is de journalist inmiddels in veiligheid gebracht, nadat hij door onbekenden het land kon worden uit gesmokkeld.

Fran�aise
Het is nog onduidelijk of Edith Bouvier, een Franse verslaggeefster die net als Paul Conroy gewond raakte tijdens het geweldsincident, net als de Brit naar Libanon is gesmokkeld. Syrische activisten meldden dat Bouvier veilig is aangekomen in het buurland, maar dat werd later ontkend door andere bronnen.

Volgens een goed ingevoerde Franse diplomaat bevindt de verslaggeefster zich nog in Homs. Bouvier zou garanties over haar veiligheid willen van de Syrische autoriteiten, voordat ze zich laat verplaatsen.

Bij de aanval waarbij Conroy en Bouvier hun verwondingen opliepen, werden twee andere journalisten gedood. De lichamen van de Amerikaanse journaliste Marie Colvin van The Sunday Times en van de Franse fotograaf Remi Ochlik liggen nog altijd in Homs.

twitter:

RAGreeneCNN twitterde op dinsdag 28-02-2012 om 12:40:35 BREAKING: Wounded journalist Edith Bouvier REFUSING to leave #BabaAmr #Syria #Homs without promise govt won't confiscate photos/recordings reageer retweet

quote:

Paul Conroy: Syrian activists killed during rescue

• Volunteers die while getting photographer out to Lebanon
• Three other journalists remain trapped in Homs
• UN human rights chief calls for immediate ceasefire

Paul Conroy, the British Sunday Times photographer who was wounded in the besieged city of Homs, has been smuggled out of Syria to Lebanon in a dramatic rescue.

According to those familiar with his escape a number of Syrian opposition activists died during the rescue effort after they came under artillery fire while leaving the city.

The evacuation party came under fire twice. Three activists were killed on the first occasion while more were reportedly killed when they came under fire again.

A spokesman for the paper said: "The Sunday Times can confirm that the photographer Paul Conroy is safe and in Lebanon. He is in good shape and good spirits."

"I have heard that he is out," Conroy's wife Kate Conroy said. "All I can say is that we are delighted and overjoyed at the news, but I am not going to say any more than that at this point."

An FCO spokesperson said: "We can now confirm that the injured British journalist Paul Conroy is safely in Lebanon, where he is receiving full consular assistance from our embassy."

Conroy's father Les, said his wife had spoken to their son and described him as being in "very good spirits", though he confirmed he had not personally talked to the photographer.

"We're all very relieved and happy that Paul's out," he said.

Despite the successful rescue of Conroy – whose colleague Marie Colvin was killed last week in Homs along with French photographer R�mi Ochlik during an attack on the makeshift media centre in the suburb of Baba Amr – three other journalists remain trapped in the city. They are Edith Bouvier of Le Figaro, who sustained a broken femur, French photographer William Daniels and the Middle East correspondent of El Mundo, Javier Espinosa.

The dramatic nature of Conroy's evacuation underlines the high level of risk being faced by those who have been trying to run medical, food and other supplies into the besieged suburbs of Homs and evacuate the injured, including foreign journalists.

The regime of President Bashar al-Assad, which has recently moved the elite 4th Division commanded by his brother Maher into the battle for Homs, has been using a foreign-supplied drone to target its artillery and mortar fire into the city.

Conroy had twice refused to leave Baba Amr without the body of Colvin, who was killed during a rocket attack last Wednesday. The group of reporters has been holed up in Baba Amr ever since and protracted negotiations to evacuate them have failed.

According to the Avaaz network, it had been working with 35 Syrian activists in Homs who volunteered to help free the reporters.

"Paul Conroy's rescue today is a huge relief but this must be tempered with the news that three remain unaccounted for, and with our respects for the incredibly courageous activists who died during the evacuation attempts," said Ricken Patel, executive director of Avaaz.

"The rescue is ongoing and we are deeply disappointed that sections of the media broke this story before all the journalists are safe."

According to activists, Bouvier and Daniels have been refusing to leave Baba Amr without an embassy escort to guarantee their safe passage.

In recent days the attacks on Homs have intensified, targeting up to six neighbourhoods of the city.

News of Conroy's rescue came as the UN's human rights chief called for an immediate ceasefire in Syria, saying the situation had deteriorated rapidly in recent weeks as authorities reinforced their onslaught against the opposition.

Navi Pillay, the United Nations high commissioner for human rights, said the international community has to take action to prevent Syrian security forces from continuing their attacks against civilians, which had resulted in "countless atrocities".

"There must be an immediate humanitarian ceasefire to end the fighting and bombardments," Pillay told an urgent meeting of the UN human rights council.

She urged Syria to end all fighting, allow international monitors to enter the country and give unhindered access for aid agencies to Homs and other embattled cities.

The appeal prompted a bitter riposte from Syria's ambassador to the UN in Geneva, who accused the 47-nation council of promoting terrorism in his country.

Before walking out of the room, Fayssal al-Hamwi said Tuesday's meeting would only prolong the crisis in his country, where the UN estimates at least 5,400 people have been killed since March. Anti-government activists say the real figure is much higher.

Pillay cited the report of a UN expert panel last week, which concluded that Syrian government officials were responsible for crimes against humanity committed by security forces against opposition members. The crimes included shelling civilians, executing deserters and torturing detainees. Some opposition groups had also committed gross abuses, it said.

The panel has compiled a confidential list of top-level Syrian officials who could face prosecution over the atrocities.

Pillay reiterated her call for Syria to be referred to the international criminal court "in the face of the unspeakable violations that take place every moment".

"More than at any other time, those committing atrocities in Syria have to understand that the international community will not stand by and watch this carnage and that their decisions and the actions they take today ultimately will not go unpunished," she said.

Members of the council are expected to pass a resolution on Tuesday condemning "widespread and systematic violations of human rights and fundamental freedoms by the Syrian authorities".

A draft resolution supported by many Arab and western nations says the regime's use of heavy artillery and tanks to attack civilian areas has contributed to the deaths of thousands of people since March.

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Op dinsdag 28 februari 2012 15:29 schreef Papierversnipperaar het volgende:
Rusland word nu ook kritischer, vanwege de tegenwerking die het Rode Kruis ondervindt.

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Op dinsdag 28 februari 2012 15:31 schreef AryaMehr het volgende:

[..]

Allemaal voor de show.

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Op woensdag 29 februari 2012 16:24 schreef Cobra4 het volgende:
Syrische leger neemt opstandige wijk in

DAMASCUS - Syrische militairen hebben in de nacht dinsdag op woensdag een aanval ingezet op de wijk Baba Amr in het zuidwesten van de stad Homs. Een bij de aanval betrokken functionaris zei dat er huis aan huis word gezocht naar de laatste verzetshaarden in het stadsdeel.

Er zijn nog maar een paar verzetshaarden van terroristen, aldus de zegsman, die anoniem wenste te blijven. De wijk gold als een bolwerk van de rebellen van het Vrije Syrische Leger dat vooral uit deserteurs uit de strijdkrachten van de regering van president Bashar al-Assad bestaat.

Delen van Homs hebben al meer dan 3 weken onder zwaar vuur gelegen van de regeringsgetrouwe troepen die dit bolwerk van verzet belegeren.

Bron: http://www.telegraaf.nl/b(...)neemt_wijk_in__.html

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‎#homs #syria - The Free Syrian army in Baba Amr: We have caused huge loses in the 4th division Assad army, from their weaponry to their actual lives. The Assad army did not enter Baba Amr at all and they will never enter Baba Amr God willing with the brave Free Syrian Armies protection. The clashes continue nearby in an area called Alhakora, and please note the regime keeps trying to publish we are tired, exhausted...This is all lies and has no truth to it. We will continue.

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Spanish reporter escapes from Homs

Javier Espinosa, El Mundo correspondent trapped in besieged Syrian city, is smuggled to safety as fighting rages in Baba Amr

Javier Espinosa, the El Mundo correspondent who had been trapped in a besieged suburb of the Syrian city of Homs, has escaped to safety, according to executives on his paper.

While details were sketchy on Wednesday evening, it appears that Espinosa, who has written a series of dramatic dispatches from Homs – some published in the Guardian – was smuggled out afternoon after making the perilous journey out of the city.

In his dispatches, he detailed the suffering of the suburb of Baba Amr, which has been under siege for 25 days, and he was one of the tiny group of journalists trapped in Homs when two journalists, including the Sunday Times reporter Marie Colvin, were killed last week.

Espinosa's escape was announced as it was disclosed that the regime of President Bashar al-Assad had refused permission for the UN's humanitarian aid chief, Valerie Amos, to enter the country, despite the urgings of Moscow. Reports also emerged of heavy fighting on all four sides of Baba Amr.

Meanwhile, Kofi Annan, the newly appointed UN-Arab League envoy for Syria, said he would hold talks in New York with the UN secretary general, Ban Ki-moon, and member states. He will then meet the Arab League chief, Nabil Elaraby, in Cairo.

According to witnesses' accounts, the Syrian army's 4th Division has moved towards the outskirts of the suburb, where troops were involved in heavy clashes with members of the Free Syrian Army.

Espinosa's escape follows that of Colvin's colleague, the Sunday Times photographer Paul Conroy, who was smuggled to safety on Sunday evening after the journalists were split up during their escape attempt while under attack by government troops. Thirteen activists were killed trying to get them to safety.

The fate of two other remaining journalists – Edith Bouvier of Le Figaro and William Daniels, a photographer based in France – was uncertain. Some reports said they remained trapped in Baba Amr. Bouvier broke her leg badly during the attack that killed Colvin and the French photographer Remi Ochlik last week.

Espinosa's escape came as the situation in Baba Amr grew more precarious amid claims by a Syrian government official that it was preparing to "clean" the rebel-held areas of Homs.

Sources of reliable news from inside Homs were also scarce on Wednesday as activists in the city were cut off for long periods from communicating with the outside world.

The rebels have sworn to fight to the last man, according to Ahmed, an activist who said he had just left Baba Amr. He said other opposition areas of Homs were also under attack but gave no details of casualties. "Pray for the Free Syrian Army. Do not be miserly in your prayers for them," activists in the city said in a statement.

"We call on all Syrians in other cities to move and do something to lift the pressure off Baba Amr and Homs. They should act quickly," Ahmed said via Skype.

However, some activists said leaders of the Farouq Brigade had already left Baba Amr.

Homs, a symbol of opposition to Assad in a nearly year-long revolt, was without power or telephone links, Ahmed said.

YouTube footage posted by activists showed army trucks and tank carriers on a highway purportedly heading for Homs.

Reports from the city could not immediately be verified due to tight government restrictions on media work in Syria, where Assad is facing the gravest challenge of his 11-year rule.

A spokesman for the International Committee of the Red Cross, Hicham Hassan, said the violence was making the humanitarian situation more difficult.

"This makes it even more important for us to repeat our call for a halt in the fighting," he said.

"It is essential that people who are in need of evacuation – wounded people, women and children – that we are able to offer them that with the Syrian Arab Red Crescent."

Libya will donate $100m (�62m) in humanitarian aid to the Syrian opposition and allow them to open an office in Tripoli, a government spokesman said, in a further sign of its strong support for forces fighting Assad.

Representatives from the Syrian National Council visited Tripoli this week after Mustafa Abdel, chairman of Libya's National Transitional Council (NTC), made the initial offer earlier this month to host an office there.

The United Nations estimated on Tuesday that Assad's security forces had killed more than 7,500 civilians since the revolt began last March. This figure was significantly higher than previous estimates.

This is disputed by Syria's government, which said in December that "armed terrorists" had killed more than 2,000 soldiers and police during the unrest.

France said this week that the UN security council was working on a new Syria resolution and urged Russia and China not to veto it, as they have previous drafts.

An outline drafted by Washington focused on humanitarian problems to try to win Chinese and Russian support and isolate Assad, western envoys said.

But they said the draft would also suggest Assad was to blame for the crisis – a stance opposed particularly strongly by his long-time ally, Russia.

But China's foreign minister, Yang Jiechi, also called for political dialogue in Syria, something ruled out by Assad's opponents while the bloodshed goes on.

Russia has warned against interference in Syria under a humanitarian guise.

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Meeste rebellen zijn Baba Amr ontvlucht

De meeste Syrische rebellen hebben de wijk Baba Amr in Homs verlaten. Dat melden activisten op de facebookpagina van Baba Amr. Enkele rebellen zijn achter gebleven in het bolwerk van verzet om hun kameraden rugdekking te geven tijdens hun vlucht.

'Wij, de Baba Amr brigade, hebben besloten om ons terug te trekken vanwege de burgers die zoch nog in de wijk bevinden', schrijven de activisten. 'De humanitaire situatie is op zijn slechtst: er is geen voedsel meer, geen water, geen elektriciteit en er zijn geen medicijnen. Er is ook geen mogelijkheid om binnen de wijk met elkaar te communiceren. We hebben bovendien niet genoeg wapens om de burgers te verdedigen. Het leger van Assad heeft de huizen van de meeste burgers vernield door hen met raketten te beschieten. Helikopters hebben Baba Amr vanuit de lucht aangevallen en tanks schieten met mortieren.'

'Wijk in handen van leger'
De melding van de terugtrekking kwam kort nadat activisten berichtten dat de rebellen in Baba Amro standhielden en de aanval van de troepen van president Bashar al-Assad hadden afgeslagen. De regering meldde toen al dat ze bijna heel de wijk in handen had.

Eerder vandaag zwoer het Syrische regime Baba Amr na bijna vier weken van bombardementen 'schoon te vegen'. Syri� kondigde een groot offensief aan om de wijk binnen enkele uren te 'zuiveren van alle gewapende elementen'.

De activisten roepen het Internationale Rode Kruis op om de wijk direct binnen te gaan en alle burgers te verplaatsen. 'Zij hebben de verantwoordelijkheid om mensen te redden en alle hulp te geven die nodig is om hen in leven te houden.'

Syrische Nationale Raad
Een overkoepelend orgaan van verschillende oppositiegroepen die zich vooral vanuit het buitenland tegen Assad keren, de Syrische Nationale Raad (SNC), wil de gewapende opstand gaan co�rdineren. SNC-voorzitter Burhan Ghalioun zei vandaag in zijn woonplaats Parijs dat daar een militaire raad voor wordt opgezet. De SNC stond aanvankelijk erg terughoudend tegenover het Vrije Syrische Leger.

TRIP TO SYRIA -- don't just watch, help Syria!

twitter:

OpPinkPower twitterde op vrijdag 02-03-2012 om 01:44:40 RT @AnonOpsSweden: In 5 days swedish anon fieldmedics will bring medication into #Syria #OpTripToSyria http://t.... http://t.co/FW4rZSDm reageer retweet

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Syria's deadly neighbourhood and the desperate attempts to escape

After days in Baba Amr with little food or water, the journalists and activists had no choice except to leave

In the bitterly cold darkness of last Sunday morning, four western reporters and a group of activists protecting them made a decision they had twice tried to avoid – to flee Baba Amr.

Led by local people determined to see their guests to safety, but themselves resigned to staying behind, the group made for a passageway that was to be their only way out of one of the most dangerous neighbourhoods on earth.

The Briton, Paul Conroy, whose wounds were minor, was one of the first to climb into the 5 metre hole in the centre of the ravaged district. He was followed by Javier Espinosa, the veteran Middle East correspondent for the Spanish newspaper El Mundo, and a number of activists, among them a young Syrian known simply as Abu Hanin.

Last came two French reporters, Edith Bouvier and William Daniels, both of whom had been wounded in the shelling that claimed the lives of their colleagues, Marie Colvin and R�mi Ochlik only metres away four days earlier.

Bouvier's wounds were by far the most serious. Her femur was shattered and the basic medical care available to her in Baba Amr could not ward off the main risk she faced in being moved – a blood clot. If that happened on the journey, it would probably be fatal.

However, by then it had become clear that staying behind meant certain death. For four days and nights, the group had been huddled in the hallway as Syrian rockets thundered down on buildings around them. They had no food and next to no water. One of the group had taken to eating tobacco leaves.

"The Syrians were firing at them from four different directions," said one observer familiar with the evacuation. "They were trying to kill them."

Somehow the regime's gunners had zeroed in on the group's location. However, not one rocket tube or tank turret had a direct angle of fire. To achieve that, the regime would have to whittle away the building in front of the refuge – a task it was attempting with vigour. "The building was crumbling by the hour," the observer said. "They didn't have a choice but to leave."

The only passage out was no longer easy. For months the access route had been a lifeline to the neighbourhood. Even as the Syrian military formed a stranglehold around rebel-held parts of the country's third city, it had still been used for a while as a sole supply line.

But that changed in the second week of February, when loyalist forces got wind, blowing up parts of the access point and stationing troops all around. The reporters and activists suspected Syrian forces would be waiting somewhere along the line. And they were.

Paul Conroy was towards the front of the group when the shooting started. He had been among the most reluctant to flee Baba Amr, partly because it meant leaving behind his slain colleague, the veteran Sunday Times correspondent, Marie Colvin. But also because two evacuation attempts suggested earlier would have meant leaving the badly wounded Bouvier's fate to Syrian Red Crescent officials.

Attempts to negotiate a ceasefire and a humanitarian corridor had all failed. And at that point, there seemed little reason to trust that Damascus had Bouvier's interests at heart.

Conroy moved forward, away from the fire. Espinosa was nearer to the firefight – and in trouble. In the frenetic minutes that followed, three of the group's Syrian escorts are believed to have been hit by gunfire and died. Espinosa is understood to have given aid to some of the wounded before managing to move forward. He and Conroy were met separately down the access point by activists.

Bouvier, Daniels and their escorts, however, had no option but to turn back. By that point, the evacuation was in shambles. Getting separated had been a terrible outcome and half the group being forced to return to the living hell they had fled was even worse.

Conroy was taken to a small town, notionally in the control of the Free Syria Army, which spilt southwards towards lands that the opposition guerillas could more confidently control. Espinosa was soon able to follow a similar route, smuggled from point to point by activists and guerillas, none of whom could talk to each other via mobile phones (the regime had brought down the mobile network), or by radio (because of the risk of interception).

For Bouvier and Daniels, things looked grim. On Tuesday, however, the Homs activists managed to smuggle the pair out of Baba Amr and into another part of Homs. It was a remarkable feat, given how tightly controlled the neighbourhood had become.

From this point – Tuesday afternoon – details of the three separate journeys are sketchy. Conroy made it to Lebanon early on Tuesday morning, where he was met by the Sunday Times photographic editor and staff from the British embassy in Beirut.

News of his rescue led to fears the Syrian military would make extra efforts to hunt down the other three – all of whom had witnessed the final days of the regime's assault on Homs, which on Thursday led to a long-expected ground invasion.

Espinosa made it to Lebanon on Wednesday. This morning he took to Twitter to pay tribute to the bravery of his hosts, in particular Abu Hanin, who ran Baba Amr's media centre for at least the last six months, and the citizen journalists there who have chronicled the battle for the heartland of the Syrian uprising with a stream of uploaded videos. "I never saw 'journalists' so brave," he said.

Late on Thursday, after the most fraught of the journeys, the wounded French reporters also made it to the Bekaa valley in Lebanon. French president Nicolas Sarkozy said he had spoken to Bouvier, yet to make her way to Beirut. Heavy snow on the mountain passes may delay the final part of her journey.

Minutes after the last of the group made it to safety, a reminder of what they were forced to leave behind was posted online. Doctors at the Baba Amr medical clinic, who had used valuable fuel to preserve the bodies of Colvin and Ochlik in the hope that they too could be evacuated, recorded a video of a simple burial.

A torch beam shone through the gloom to confirm Colvin's identity before her shroud was covered with soil. It was the last act of a grim week in Homs that has forever changed the Syrian uprising and how it is reported.

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18 French officers and 100 paratroopers captured in Homs, a Lebanese MP claims
A Lebanese parliament member, Asem Konsoa, claims that the French are interfering in Syria's politics, citing 118 French military caught in Homs fighting alongside rebels

A pro-Syria Lebanese Member of Parliament (MP) accused France of secretly sending troops to Syria.
The Lebanese Baathist MP Asem Konsoa claimed that the Syrian regime forces arrested 18 French officers and 100 paratroopers, along with 70 Lebanese for joining and fighting within the ranks of the protesters in the restless city of Homs.

Konsoa added that such a "scandal" might threaten the political future of the French President Nicolas Sarkozy. The MP vowed to divulge more information kept under wraps about the Lebanese "conspirators."

The Lebanese MP anticipates that the armed conflict will cease within a month's time, claiming the Syrian army is increasingly imposing its control on the Baba Amr neighbourhood in Homs.

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Op vrijdag 2 maart 2012 15:16 schreef t-8one het volgende:

[..]

bron: http://english.ahram.org.eg/News/35858.aspx

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Op vrijdag 2 maart 2012 15:16 schreef t-8one het volgende:

[..]

bron: http://english.ahram.org.eg/News/35858.aspx

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Op vrijdag 2 maart 2012 20:41 schreef sp3c het volgende:

[..]

dat er Fransen aanwezig zijn wil ik nog wel geloven maar een volledige compagnie parachutisten?
en die lopen dan nog op een kluitje tegen de lamp ook?

I don't buy it

twitter:

janeikelboom twitterde op vrijdag 02-03-2012 om 15:01:08 Vorige week twitterde ik dit als gerucht, nu is er ook een bron: Franse militairen opgepakt in Homs http://t.co/QHsE04o4 (via @jacquessmits) reageer retweet

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Op zaterdag 3 maart 2012 15:24 schreef TargaFlorio het volgende:
Maar als het waar is had de Syrische TV toch al lang beelden laten zien?

First Lady of Syria Discusses Death in Homs - Exclusive CNN. Asma Al Assad

SPOILER

Yes, this is an old interview, but has been re-edited with pictures of the attack on Homs by her husband's army. It's meant to be IRONY, and reveals the hypocrisy of her thinking.

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Op zaterdag 3 maart 2012 21:41 schreef ChristianLebaneseFront het volgende:
Het wordt langzamerhand weer rustig in Homs.

De Al-Qaeda ratten dachten het even op te nemen tegen het Syrische leger. lol

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Op zaterdag 3 maart 2012 21:41 schreef ChristianLebaneseFront het volgende:
Het wordt langzamerhand weer rustig in Homs.

De Al-Qaeda ratten dachten het even op te nemen tegen het Syrische leger. lol

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Op zaterdag 3 maart 2012 21:41 schreef ChristianLebaneseFront het volgende:
Het wordt langzamerhand weer rustig in Homs.

De Al-Qaeda ratten dachten het even op te nemen tegen het Syrische leger. lol

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Op zaterdag 3 maart 2012 21:58 schreef Papierversnipperaar het volgende:

[..]

Heb je weer centjes gekregen van Assad? Moest je een paar weekjes op propaganda-stage?

SYRIA Beautiful Shot Of Huge Flag In Pro-Government Rally In Damascus (Al-Jazeera Lies)

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Op zaterdag 3 maart 2012 22:29 schreef ChristianLebaneseFront het volgende:

[..]

SYRIA Beautiful Shot Of Huge Flag In Pro-Government Rally In Damascus (Al-Jazeera Lies)

Die worden ook allemaal betaald he.

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Op zaterdag 3 maart 2012 22:32 schreef AryaMehr het volgende:

[..]

Zelfde als in Iran. Demonstraties georganiseerd door de staat (geen spontaniteit) waarbij de demonstranten vaak financieel onder druk worden gezet om eraan deel te nemen.

Syrian Support Worldwide

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Op zaterdag 3 maart 2012 22:29 schreef ChristianLebaneseFront het volgende:

[..]

SYRIA Beautiful Shot Of Huge Flag In Pro-Government Rally In Damascus (Al-Jazeera Lies)

Die worden ook allemaal betaald he.

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Op zaterdag 3 maart 2012 22:34 schreef ChristianLebaneseFront het volgende:

De Syriers in de VS, Australie en Europa worden ook financieel onder druk gezet door de overheid?

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Op zaterdag 3 maart 2012 22:35 schreef Billy-jazz het volgende:

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Dat zijn grotendeels alewieten en christenen.

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Op zaterdag 3 maart 2012 22:34 schreef ChristianLebaneseFront het volgende:

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De Syriers in de VS, Australie en Europa worden ook financieel onder druk gezet door de overheid?

Syrian Support Worldwide

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Op zaterdag 3 maart 2012 22:34 schreef Billy-jazz het volgende:

[..]

19 juli 2011

Heb je een nieuwere video?

Hundreds of Thousands shared a Pro Assad Rally after their Voting in Damascus, Syria

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En al-Qaeda vecht wel degelijk zij aan zij met het Westen tegen Assad, dat klopt. Maar dat maakt Assad geen engel, hij is een smerige baathist.

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Op zaterdag 3 maart 2012 22:44 schreef ChristianLebaneseFront het volgende:
Dat mag jij vinden. Zijn volk staat gelukkig achter hem.

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Op zaterdag 3 maart 2012 22:47 schreef AryaMehr het volgende:

[..]

Ja, vandaar die enorme nervositeit wanneer de Syri�rs weer de straat opgaan. Als de bevolking echt achter Assad zou staan dan lijkt me alle maatregelen die het regime van Assad neemt een beetje lachwekkend.

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Op zaterdag 3 maart 2012 22:44 schreef ChristianLebaneseFront het volgende:
Dat mag jij vinden. Zijn volk staat gelukkig achter hem.

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Op zaterdag 3 maart 2012 22:49 schreef ChristianLebaneseFront het volgende:
Want andere landen zouden terroristen met fluwelen handschoenen behandelen? Niemand vind het ook erg opvallend dat Al-Qaeda in Irak ineens lijkt uitgestorven?

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Edith Bouvier's escape from Homs

Journalist was left taped to a stretcher inside the tunnel rebels had dug to smuggle her out when Syrian forces bombed it

French journalist Edith Bouvier feared her escape from of Homs had come to an end after the tunnel through which she was smuggled out of the besieged Syrian city came under bmobardment from Assad's forces.

Her leg broken by a shell, which killed Sunday Times journalist Marie Colvin and French photographer R�mi Ochlik days earlier, Bouvier was abandoned, taped to a makeshift stretcher, as rebels and dozens of wounded fled the explosions and headed back to Baba Amr district.

"One of them placed his Kalashnikov on me. He put his hand on my head and said a prayer. It wasn't very reassuring. Then he left," Bouvier told Le Figaro newspaper, for which she was working in Syria.

"I didn't know what was going to happen. Was the exit blocked? Were Syrian soldiers going to enter? I wanted to run away before remembering that I was taped to a stretcher."

Bouvier and French photographer William Daniels, who stayed with her throughout, were finally rescued by a rebel who drove down the 1.6-metre high tunnel on a motorbike and carried them back to Baba Amr.

With the tunnel blocked and Baba Amr close to falling to the army, the two journalists, the objects of a manhunt after their faces were broadcast on Syrian television, decided to risk everything by slipping out of the city in a vehicle under cover of darkness.

"We were exhausted, physically and mentally. We had to get out of there," Bouvier said. Details of their escape route were not published by the newspaper to protect those who aided them.

Moving from safe house to safe house, changing vehicles frequently and taking rocky mountain roads amid a snowstorm, it took the journalists and their rebel escort four days to travel the 25 miles to the Lebanese border. Everywhere strangers greeted them by name, welcoming them warmly.

"They really put themselves in danger for us. They did everything for us," said Bouvier, who called her parents as soon as she crossed into Lebanon under cover of darkness. "I didn't tell them where I was, just that I was safe and sound."

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10.50am: Rastan, another opposition stronghold which lies between Hama and Homs has come under bombardment today, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.

The organisation's Rami Abdelrahman told AFP: "Since dawn, the positions of deserters in the north of Rastan have been subject to intensive shelling."

According to the Israeli newspaper Ha'aretz, it was bombed form the air.

The Violation Documentation Centre, a website maintained by activists aimed at documenting the names of those killed, claimed 14 people were killed in Rastan on Saturday when a demonstration was attacked.

It says four children were among the dead.

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Meer dan duizend Syri�rs vluchten naar Libanon vanwege geweld

Meer dan duizend Syri�rs hebben de grens met het noorden van Libanon overgestoken op de vlucht voor het geweld in hun thuisland. Dat zegt een woordvoerder van de VN-Vluchtelingenorganisatie (UNHCR) tegen persbureau Reuters.

“Tussen de ��n- en tweeduizend (Syri�rs) zijn bezig met de oversteek van Syri� naar Libanon”, zo verklaart plaatsvervangend vertegenwoordiger van de UNHCR in Libanon, Jean Paul Cavalieri. “De aantallen zullen duidelijk worden in de komende uren. Dit is wat we horen van onze teams ter plaatse en van lokale overheden.”

Een getuige aan de Libanese grens hoorde eerder vandaag zware beschietingen vanuit het nabijgelegen Syrische stadje Qusair en zag vooral vrouwen en kinderen op de vlucht, te voet onderweg naar Libanon.

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Op zondag 4 maart 2012 19:30 schreef ChristianLebaneseFront het volgende:
Voor de Arabisch sprekende onder ons:

Syria News 31-1-2012 - Fight on Al Jazeera live TV..Dont F--k with the Assad Supporters.

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• People fleeing the Syrian army's crackdown in Homs have been giving horrific first hand accounts of the violence. More than 1,000 Syrians fled to neighbouring Lebanon.

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3.16pm: The BBC's Paul Wood has return to Syria despite the dangers facing journalists reporting from the country.

In his latest dispatch, from near Homs, he details horrific accounts of those fleeing Baba Amr.

. One man told me that any man detained at a checkpoint is killed.

"They took our husbands, they took them at the checkpoint, they will slaughter them like sheep," one woman said.

Everyone shares the same fears that their husbands are not coming back. For now, they are on their own, with nothing.

It is absolutely freezing. The children here are spending a night in a house with no heat and no electricity and, more than that, they are wondering what on earth has happened to their fathers.

This family says that they witnessed a massacre. On Friday, they say, troops took 36 men and boys from one district and killed them all.

"My son's throat was cut," a woman told me. "He was 12."

quote:

Amerikaanse senator John McCain roept op tot luchtaanvallen op Syri�

De Amerikaanse senator en voormalige presidentskandidaat John McCain roept vandaag op tot luchtaanvallen op Syri�. Doelwit moeten volgens hem luchtmachtbases van de Syrische president Bashar al-Assad worden. Op die manier wil McCain de bevolking van Syri� beschermen tegen het geweld van Assad.

De Verenigde Staten moeten deze internationale luchtoperatie gaan leiden, vindt de voormalige Vietnamveteraan. McCain is de eerste Amerikaanse politicus die zich uitspreekt voor militair ingrijpen in Syri�. McCain zei eerder vandaag in de Amerikaanse Senaat:

. Het uiteindelijke doel van de luchtaanvallen moet zijn veilige zones voor burgers in Syri� te cre�ren en te verdedigen, in het bijzonder in het noorden, waar de oppositie zich dan kan organiseren en zijn politieke en militaire activiteiten tegen Assad kan plannen

Eerder al riep McCain op de Syrische oppositie te bewapenen. Volgens McCain zijn de misdaden die het Syrische regime begaat vergelijkbaar met die van kolonel Kadhafi in Libi�. Daar leidden luchtaanvallen van de NAVO uiteindelijk tot de val van het bewind.
McCain wil dat Saoedi-Arabi� en Turkije rol spelen bij luchtaanvallen

De regering-Obama blijft voorlopig nog zoeken naar een politiek oplossing. Zij kan ook niet anders, omdat Rusland en China tegen internationaal ingrijpen in Syri� zijn.

Beide landen blokkeerden een maand geleden zelfs een resolutie in de VN-veiligheidsraad die de Syrische president Assad veroordeelde.

McCain is zich bewust van de tegenwerking door Rusland en China, maar stelde vandaag dat de Verenigde Staten Arabische sleutelpartners als Saoedi-Arabi� zou moeten winnen voor het plan. De NAVO en in het bijzonder Turkije zouden in de plannen van McCain een nadrukkelijk rol moeten spelen.

Ondertussen sloot Canada vandaag, net als eerder onder meer de VS, Groot-Brittanni� en Frankrijk zijn ambassade in de Syrische hoofdstad Damascus. De Nederlandse ambassade in Damascus is nog wel open. In een verklaring van de Canadese regering staat:

quote:

Op maandag 5 maart 2012 21:48 schreef Eyjafjallajoekull het volgende:
Ja en bovendien zou het veel beter zijn als het vanuit de Arabische Liga komt. Als de VS zo'n missie gaat leiden gaat dat zeker veel kritiek opleveren.

Lekker bericht op nu.nl trouwens...

http://www.nu.nl/buitenla(...)iekenhuis-syrie.html

Oh, en mocht je de video willen posten, doe dat dan wel ff onder een lading spoilers aub, maar lijkt me beter als zulke video's helemaal niet gepost worden hier.

quote:

Qatar crosses the Syrian Rubicon: �63m to buy weapons for the rebels
A milestone has been reached in the conflict and, just as with the Libyan uprising last year, Doha is backing regime change

On Monday, Qatar's prime minister declared his state's intent to start helping the Syrian opposition "by all means", including giving them weapons. Two days later, anti-Assad officials received an offer of a $100m (�63m) donation, from their brothers in arms in Libya. Coincidence? Unlikely, if the Libyan revolution is any indicator.

The third act, in what looks very much like the beginning of a concerted push to arm the Syrian insurgency, [u]took place today when the previously gun-shy Syrian National Council formed a military council, which it says will act as a clearing house for anyone offering it arms.[/i]

Two probabilities have quickly emerged: the first is that a militarised Syrian National Council is unlikely to be short of suppliers. And, second, Libya is merely a conduit for the $100m, which was at least partly funded by Qatar to get things rolling.

Libya's national transitional council has been quick to stress that the money it is sending is for humanitarian aid, which is clearly desperately needed in western Syria, withering under a regime offensive. No one in the nascent Tripoli government is quibbling about where the cash comes from. When asked yesterday how a state still in turmoil could afford such a generous gift, an spokesman for the Libyan council replied simply: "It won't be a problem".

Qatar's remarks this week, as well as Saudi Arabia's claim last Friday that arming the Syrian rebels would be an "excellent idea", clearly shows a new reality. The Rubicon has been crossed. Hopes of resolving Syria's raging insurgency through patience, or dialogue, have evaporated.

From the early days of the uprising against Colonel Gaddafi, Qatar was running more weapons to Libya's rebels than any other state. Throughout the war, giant Qatari military transporters regularly disgorged tonnes of weaponry in plain view at Djerba airport in Tunisia, not far from the Libyan border.

The Qataris sent jet fighters to bomb Gaddafi's armour and special forces to train rebels. They opened a military operations room in Doha and hosted the regime's highest-profile defectors, as well as rebel leaders to whom they provided with money and mentoring.

As Syria has unravelled throughout the past year, Qatar has played another lead role. It was centre stage in the Arab League's move to suspend Damascus as a member state and it has been increasingly strident in its criticism of President Bashar al-Assad, whom Qatar's ruling emir, Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani, had earlier tried to engage. As was the case in Libya, its agenda remains unclear.

The change in attitude had been subtle at first: a gradual disengagement, followed by increasingly stern back-channel diplomacy. All carried out in the way of the Arab world: avoiding insult or direct confrontation.

Not any more. "We should do whatever necessary to help them, including giving them weapons to defend themselves," said Qatar's prime minister, Sheikh Hamad bin Jassim Al-Thani, on Monday. "This uprising in Syria now [has lasted] one year. For 10 months, it was peaceful: nobody was carrying weapons, nobody was doing anything. And Bashar continued killing them.

"So I think they're right to defend themselves by weapons, and I think we should help these people by all means."

After urging political recourse and discouraging intervention for so long, the Syrian National Council is now also speaking from a markedly different script

"We wanted to organise those who are carrying arms today," its president, Burhan Ghalioun, said, stressing that any weapons coming into the country should be vetted by the council.

"The revolution started peacefully and kept up its peaceful nature for months, but the reality today is different. We know that some countries have expressed a desire to arm the revolutionaries. The SNC will be this link between those who want to help and the revolutionaries. It is out of the question that arms go into Syria in confusion."

It is also beyond doubt that a long predicted milestone in the Syrian conflict has now been reached. From this point, nation states, rather than black-market arms bazaars, loom as potential suppliers to the outgunned opposition. Such a prospect is alarming the US and Nato, which said this week it absolutely ruled out direct intervention in a war that nobody seems to want and most seem to fear.

The Guardian

quote:

Confront them with annihilation, and they will then survive; plunge them into a deadly situation, and they will then live. When people fall into danger, they are then able to strive for victory. - Sun Tzu

quote:

• Although the Syrian government has retaken Homs, it is losing the second city of Aleppo and the broader North, according to Syrian watcher Joshua Landis. He also reports that opposition militias are being formed with growing frequency.

A contact from Aleppo told him:

. The fact that neighbourhoods, such as Azaz, Hreitan and Anadan have fallen out of government control is significant because cars can no longer travel, even in daylight, to Turkey from Aleppo. The entire boarder area is becoming unsafe. This is much worse than Baba Amr or Khaldiye falling out of government control from the point of view of security because Turkey is the base for the Free Syrian Army, arms exports into Syria, and most opposition groups ...

Even the middle and upper classes that live in the city centrs are beginning to panic and look for a way out of the country. Plane flights to Lebanon from Aleppo are booked for the next month. The exodus has begun.

This is the first real breakdown of Aleppo control.

quote:

Op zondag 4 maart 2012 19:30 schreef ChristianLebaneseFront het volgende:
Voor de Arabisch sprekende onder ons:

Syria News 31-1-2012 - Fight on Al Jazeera live TV..Dont F--k with the Assad Supporters.

quote:

TR325's business partner has an old classmate friend who was the lead
surgeon on Erdogan's most recent operation. He said that Erdogan has colon
cancer, but they haven't seen the second biopsy results yet to see if it's
metastasized. In the last operation, they cut out 20 cm of Erdogan's colon
(I just looked up that the average colon is about 1.5m long.) That's a
really significant operation. Erdogan is not going to be able to travel
for a while, and he's going to have to carry around with him a colonoscopy
bag for at least 2-3 months. The prognosis is not looking good, though.
The surgeon said they were estimating 2 years for him.

This is very likely going to cause major splits within the AKP. Gul
doesn't have much support. Davutoglu is paranoid that everyone else is
trying to undermine him (there's a definite competition between him and
TR325.) When I asked who Erdgogan trusts, two names were mentioned - Ali
Babacan (Deputy PM) and Taner Yildiz (energy minister.) Both sources were
asking how the US is likely to react to this situation. Would they try to
back the military like the old days? CHP is still very much divided. Both
seemed to think the military won't be able to take advantage of the
situation.

On Syria - the conversation centered on how far Turkey is actually going
to go. TR325 explained that the Turkish plan is centered on civil war in
Syria. Officially, it's Turkey providing the main training,a rms and
support to FSA. Unofficially, US and TUrkey are doing this together in
deploying SOF for this mission. Notice all the talk in the press now
about civil war breaking out in Syria. This is the narrative Turkey and US
want to build. I pointed out that creating the conditions for civil war -
actual neighborhood to neighborhood fighting - is still pretty difficult
considering that the Alawite forces are still holding together, but he
seemed to think that this can escalate within 2 months time. He also said
without saying that they're working on making that happen. He acknowledges
it'll be messy and it will take a lot of blood and time for a Sunni power
to emerge in syria, but that this is the Turkish obligation.

The Turkish plan to preempt the instability that would result from civil
war conditions is to implement the buffer zone 5-40km into Syrian
territory and set up refugee camps. I asked what levers Iran and Syria
have to get Turkey to back off in relation to PKK. He said
(half-jokingly) that Karilan is Turkey's man (ie. turkey can actually
negotiate with him.) But he said PKK third-in-command (still need to get
this guy's name) answers to Syria and Iran. Turkey knows this very well
and he says Syria and Iran are already making moves to threaten attacks
via this faction.

quote:

Op dinsdag 6 maart 2012 11:50 schreef Papierversnipperaar het volgende:
Stratfor Leaks

Mail van 10 december 2011

quote:

http://wikileaks.org/gifi(...)her-s-concerns-.html
From: "Kamran Bokhari"
To: "Alpha List"
Sent: Saturday, December 10, 2011 8:33:27 PM
Subject: [alpha] INSIGHT - SYRIA - Bashar's Mother's Concerns

Source is a Reuters correspondent of Syrian-Jordanian heritage who
recently got kicked out of Syria.

Bashar's mother - the matriarch of the family (along the lines of her
mother-in-law) - is disappointed in Bashar and Maher for the mess that
they have created. She has been saying things like had your father been
alive things would have never come to such a point. She is very concerned
that her boys will meet the same fate as al-Qaddhafi and his sons and is
pressing Bashar and Maher to seriously look into an exit strategy before
the rapidly closing window of opportunity completely shuts itself.

quote:

Op maandag 5 maart 2012 21:48 schreef Eyjafjallajoekull het volgende:
Ja en bovendien zou het veel beter zijn als het vanuit de Arabische Liga komt. Als de VS zo'n missie gaat leiden gaat dat zeker veel kritiek opleveren.

Lekker bericht op nu.nl trouwens...

http://www.nu.nl/buitenla(...)iekenhuis-syrie.html

Oh, en mocht je de video willen posten, doe dat dan wel ff onder een lading spoilers aub, maar lijkt me beter als zulke video's helemaal niet gepost worden hier.

quote:

Op dinsdag 6 maart 2012 12:02 schreef Papierversnipperaar het volgende:
Scheuren in het regime:

quote:

Op dinsdag 6 maart 2012 12:03 schreef Billy-jazz het volgende:

[..]

Bekleed die moeder dan een positie in het regime?

quote:

Maar wat ze over de vader van Bashar Assad zegt is toch onzin aangezien hij net zo bruut te werk ging.

quote:

Op dinsdag 6 maart 2012 12:06 schreef Papierversnipperaar het volgende:

[..]

Yep, een soort matriarch.

[..]

Vind ik ook, maar het lukte hem indertijd. Maar dat was dan ook een andere tijd.

quote:

Op dinsdag 6 maart 2012 12:03 schreef Billy-jazz het volgende:

[..]

Bekleed die moeder dan een positie in het regime?

Maar wat ze over de vader van Bashar Assad zegt is toch onzin aangezien hij net zo bruut te werk ging.

quote:

Belangrijke vluchtweg uit Homs gebombardeerd

Het Syrische leger heeft vanochtend een brug gebombardeerd in de provincie Homs die door duizenden burgers is gebruikt als vluchtweg naar buurland Libanon. Dat meldt het Syrische Observatorium voor de Mensenrechten.

Het gaat om een brug over de Orontes-rivier, gelegen in de buurt van de stad Qousseir, vlakbij de grens tussen Syri� en Libanon. Volgens een woordvoerder van het Observatorium hebben de afgelopen dagen ruim 1500 vluchtelingen het land ontvlucht via deze brug. Voornamelijk voor gewonden is het de belangrijkste vluchtweg, benadrukt de woordvoerder.

In totaal zouden ruim duizend Syri�rs hebben de grens met het noorden van Libanon overgestoken op de vlucht voor het geweld in hun thuisland. Dat meldde een woordvoerder van de VN-Vluchtelingenorganisatie (UNHCR) gisteren. Door de hevige beschietingen van de laatste dagen zijn voornamelijk vrouwen en kinderen op de vlucht geslagen, waarvan een groot deel gebruik maakte van de betreffende brug.

quote:

Stratfor Leaks

2011-12-07 00:49:18

A few points I wanted to highlight from meetings today --

I spent most of the afternoon at the Pentagon with the USAF strategic
studies group - guys who spend their time trying to understand and explain
to the USAF chief the big picture in areas where they're operating in. It
was just myself and four other guys at the Lieutenant Colonel level,
including one French and one British representative who are liaising with
the US currently out of DC.

They wanted to grill me on the strategic picture on Syria, so after that I
got to grill them on the military picture. There is still a very low level
of understanding of what is actually at stake in Syria, what's the
strategic interest there, the Turkish role, the Iranian role, etc. After a
couple hours of talking, they said without saying that SOF teams
(presumably from US, UK, France, Jordan, Turkey) are already on the ground
focused on recce missions and training opposition forces. One Air Force
intel guy (US) said very carefully that there isn't much of a Free Syrian
Army to train right now anyway, but all the operations being done now are
being done out of 'prudence.' The way it was put to me was, 'look at this
way - the level of information known on Syrian OrBat this month is the
best it's been since 2001.' They have been told to prepare contingencies
and be ready to act within 2-3 months, but they still stress that this is
all being done as contingency planning, not as a move toward escalation.

I kept pressing on the question of what these SOF teams would be working
toward, and whether this would lead to an eventual air camapign to give a
Syrian rebel group cover. They pretty quickly distanced themselves from
that idea, saying that the idea 'hypothetically' is to commit guerrilla
attacks, assassination campaigns, try to break the back of the Alawite
forces, elicit collapse from within. There wouldn't be a need for air
cover, and they wouldn't expect these Syrian rebels to be marching in
columns anyway.

They emphasized how the air campaign in Syria makes Libya look like a
piece of cake. Syrian air defenses are a lot more robust and are much
denser, esp around Damascus and on the borders with Israel, Turkey. THey
are most worried about mobile air defenses, particularly the SA-17s that
they've been getting recently. It's still a doable mission, it's just not
an easy one.

The main base they would use is Cyprus, hands down. Brits and FRench would
fly out of there. They kept stressing how much is stored at Cyprus and how
much recce comes out of there. The group was split on whether Turkey would
be involved, but said Turkey would be pretty critical to the mission to
base stuff out of there. EVen if Turkey had a poltiical problem with
Cyprus, they said there is no way the Brits and the FRench wouldn't use
Cyprus as their main air force base. Air Force Intel guy seems pretty
convinced that the Turks won't participate (he seemed pretty pissed at
them.)

There still seems to be a lot of confusion over what a military
intervention involving an air campaign would be designed to achieve. It
isn't clear cut for them geographically like in Libya, and you can't just
create an NFZ over Homs, Hama region. This would entail a countrywide SEAD
campaign lasting the duration of the war. They dont believe air
intervention would happen unless there was enough media attention on a
massacre, like the Ghadafi move against Benghazi. They think the US would
have a high tolerance for killings as long as it doesn't reach that very
public stage. Theyre also questiioning the skills of the Syrian forces
that are operating the country's air defenses currently and how
signfiicant the Iranian presence is there. Air Force Intel guy is most
obsessed with the challenge of taking out Syria's ballistic missile
capabilities and chem weapons. With Israel rgiht there and the regime
facing an existential crisis, he sees that as a major complication to any
military intervention.

The post 2011 SOFA with Iraq is still being negotiated. These guys were
hoping that during Biden's visit that he would announce a deal with
Maliki, but no such luck. They are gambling ont he idea that the Iraqis
remember the iran-iraq war and that maliki is not going to want to face
the threat of Iranian jets entering Iraqi air space. THey say that most
US fighter jets are already out of Iraq and transferred to Kuwait. They
explained that's the beauty of the air force, the base in Kuwait is just a
hop, skip and jump away from their bases in Europe, ie. very easy to
rapidly build up when they need to. They don't seem concerned about the
US ability to restructure its forces to send a message to Iran. They gave
the example of the USS Enterprise that was supposed to be out of
commission already and got extended another couple years to send to the
gulf. WHen the US withdraws, we'll have at least 2 carriers in the gulf
out of centcom and one carrier in the Med out of EuCom. I asked if the
build-up in Kuwait and the carrier deployments are going to be enough to
send a message to Iran that the US isn't going anywhere. They responded
that Iran will get the message if they read the Centcom Web Site. STarting
Jan. 1 expect them to be publishing all over the place where the US is
building up.

Another concern they have about an operation in Syria is whether Iran
could impede operations out of Balad air force base in Iraq.

The French representative was of hte opinion that Syria won't be a
libya-type situation in that France would be gung-ho about going in. Not
in an election year. The UK rep also emphasized UK reluctance but said
that the renegotiation of the EU treaty undermines the UK role and that UK
would be looking for ways to reassert itself on the continent ( i dont
really think a syria campaign is the way to do that.) UK guy mentioned as
an aside that the air force base commander at Cyprus got switched out from
a maintenance guy to a guy that flew Raptors, ie someone that understands
what it means to start dropping bombs. He joked that it was probably a
coincidence.

Prior to that, I had a meeting with an incoming Kuwaiti diplomat (will be
coded as KU301.) His father was high up in the regime, always by the
CP's/PM's side. The diplo himself still seems to be getting his feet wet
in DC (the new team just arrived less than 2 weeks ago,) but he made
pretty clear that Kuwait was opening the door to allowing US to build up
forces as needed. THey already have a significant presence there, and a
lot of them will be on 90-day rotations. He also said that the SOFA that
the US signs with Baghdad at the last minute will be worded in such a way
that even allowing one trainer in the country can be construed to mean
what the US wants in terms of keeping forces in Iraq. Overall, I didnt get
the impression from him that Kuwait is freaked out about the US leaving.
Everyhting is just getting rearranged. The Kuwaitis used to be much
better at managing their relations with Iran, but ever since that spy ring
story came out a year ago, it's been bad. He doesn't think Iran has
significant covert capabililiteis in the GCC states, though they are
trying. Iranian activity is mostly propaganda focused. He said that while
KSA and Bahrain they can deal with it as needed and black out the media,
Kuwait is a lot more open and thus provides Iran with more oppotunity to
shape perceptions (he used to work in inforamtion unit in Kuwait.) He says
there is a sig number of kuwaitis that listen to Iranian media like Al
Alam especially.

On the Kuwaiti political scene - the government is having a harder time
dealing with a more emboldened opposition, but the opposition is still
extremely divided, esp among the Islamists. The MPs now all have to go
back to their tribes to rally support for the elections to take place in
Feb. Oftentimes an MP in Kuwait city will find out that he has lost
support back home with the tribe, and so a lot of moeny is handed out.The
govt is hoping that witha clean slate they can quiet the opposition down.
A good way of managing the opposition he said is to refer cases to the
courts, where they can linger forever. good way for the govt to buy time.
He doesnt believe the Arab League will take significant action against
Syria - no one is interested in military intervention. they just say it to
threaten it.

quote:

Op dinsdag 6 maart 2012 15:16 schreef waht het volgende:
Special Forces.

quote:

Air Force Intel guy is most
obsessed with the challenge of taking out Syria's ballistic missile
capabilities and chem weapons. With Israel rgiht there and the regime
facing an existential crisis, he sees that as a major complication to any
military intervention.

quote:

Op dinsdag 6 maart 2012 12:02 schreef Papierversnipperaar het volgende:
Scheuren in het regime:

[..]

quote:

Op dinsdag 6 maart 2012 12:03 schreef Billy-jazz het volgende:

[..]

Maar wat ze over de vader van Bashar Assad zegt is toch onzin aangezien hij net zo bruut te werk ging.

quote:

Syria's Baba Amr is deserted, Red Cross says

Associated Press= BEIRUT (AP) — The U.N. humanitarian chief toured the shattered Syrian district of Baba Amr on Wednesday but found most residents had fled following a bloody military siege, while activists accused the government of trying to cover up evidence of atrocities there.

The visit by Valerie Amos, the New York-based undersecretary-general for humanitarian affairs, was the first by an independent outside observer since the Syrian military began its month-long assault of the rebellious neighborhood. A key stronghold of the uprising to oust authoritarian President Bashar Assad, it was wrested from rebel control on March 1.

Amos made no statement, but a spokesman for the International Committee of the Red Cross said she entered the ravaged neighborhood with a team from the Syrian Red Crescent that had been waiting nearly a week to be allowed in to deliver aid.

"The Syrian Arab Red Crescent stayed about 45 minutes inside the neighborhood," Red Cross spokesman Hicham Hassan said in Geneva. "Volunteers say that most inhabitants have fled Baba Amr."

The Syrian regime has kept the neighborhood sealed off over the past six days, saying it was too dangerous for humanitarian workers to enter. But activists accused the government of engaging in a "mopping-up" operation to hide their atrocities.

"They haven't let anyone in for a week, and now they are going to let them in?" Homs activists Tarek Badrakhan told The Associated Press. "Today it's simple: They finished their crimes and hid all the proof. Now they think they can show that everything is normal."

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton lashed out at the delays.

"The regime's refusal to allow humanitarian workers to help feed the hungry, tend to the injured, bury the dead, marks a new low," she said. "Tons of food and medicine are standing by while more civilians die and the regime launches new assaults."

Amos said the aim of her two-day visit to Syria was "to urge all sides to allow unhindered access for humanitarian relief workers so they can evacuate the wounded and deliver essential supplies."

She met with Syria's foreign minister on Wednesday and was to meet other government officials in Damascus on Thursday, but it was unclear whether she would be allowed to return to Baba Amr or whether any aid deliveries were imminent.

The U.N. says more than 7,500 people have been killed since Syria's uprising began. Activists put the death toll at more than 8,000.

In Washington, U.S. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta delivered a sober assessment of Syria's sophisticated air defenses and its extensive stockpile of chemical weapons — a strategic reality check to demands for U.S. military action to end Assad's deadly crackdown on his people.

Republican Sen. John McCain has called on the Obama administration to launch U.S. airstrikes to end Assad's crackdown, but Panetta pushed back Wednesday against the demand.

"What doesn't make sense is to take unilateral action right now," Panetta told the Senate Armed Services Committee. "I've got to make very sure we know what the mission is. ... Achieving that mission at what price?"

Panetta and Army Gen. Martin Dempsey, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, described a well-armed Syria that bears little resemblance to what the U.S. military and its allies faced in Libya. Syria's air defenses are five times more sophisticated than Libya's, and its chemical and biological weapons stockpile is 100 times larger, they said.

Suppressing the air defenses would require a sustained air campaign over an extended period of time with a significant number of aircraft, and the U.S. would have to lead the effort, Dempsey said.

Because the air defenses are located in populous neighborhoods, airstrikes could mean scores of unintended deaths, Panetta said.

Dempsey warned of the "need to be alert to extremists," and other hostile actors, including Iran, which he said "has been exploiting the situation and expanding its support to the regime."

"And we need to be especially alert to the fate of Syria's chemical and biological weapons. They need to stay exactly where they are," Dempsey said.

After seizing Baba Amr from the rebels, regime forces now appear to be turning their attention to other rebellious areas. A wave of new arrests was reported in Homs by the Local Coordinating Committees, an activist group, as well as assaults on the northern province of Idlib near Turkey.

The shift suggests the Syrian military is unable to launch large operations simultaneously, even though the security services remain largely strong and loyal.

According to witnesses, Syrian troops shelled the northern villages in Idlib on Wednesday. There also were reports of snipers in Homs province.

Russia and China, powerful Syrian allies that have blocked a Security Council resolution against Syria, have made clear they are still standing by the regime in Damascus.

Still, in a sign of China's growing alarm, Chinese Commerce Minister Chen Deming said Beijing was pulling its workers out of Syria because of the violence.

"I can tell you most Chinese workers have been withdrawn from that country to China," he told a news conference. "There are only about 100 people left there taking care of projects, assets and property. We will wait until the local situation stabilizes."

In Moscow, Russian leader Vladimir Putin said the government wasn't considering granting political asylum to Assad, shooting down rumors that such an offer is on the table as a way to end the Syrian regime's deadly crackdown.

Putin, who is currently prime minister but regained the presidency in an election Sunday, said "We aren't even discussing the issue" of granting asylum to Assad.

----

quote:

Minister Syri� loopt over – hoogste functionaris die Assad rug toekeert

Nog niet eerder keerde een hooggeplaatste regeringsfunctionaris als onderminister Abdo Hussameldin zich af van president Bashar al-Assad. Werkzaam op het ministerie van Olie, neemt hij via een video op YouTube afstand van ‘de misdaden van dit regime’.

Hussameldin zegt zich in het filmpje, waarvan de bron nog niet is vastgesteld, terug te trekken uit de Baath-partij en zich aan te sluiten bij de revolutie van het waardige volk. Hij stelt 33 jaar werkzaam te zijn geweest voor de Syrische regering.

. “Ik geef er de voorkeur aan om te doen wat juist is, ook al weet ik dat dit regime nu mijn huis zal afbranden en mijn familie zal vervolgen. Ik zeg tegen dit regime: je hebt het volk waarvan je beweert dat het het jouwe is een jaar lang ondergedompeld in lijden en verdriet. Hen is een normaal leven en menselijkheid ontnomen, en Syri� is naar de rand van de afgrond gedreven.”

‘Economie op punt van instorten’

De regeringstroepen van Assad hebben volgens de VN al zeker 7.500 mensen gedood sinds de opstand een jaar geleden begon. Het rode Kruis probeert al dagen toegang te krijgen tot het epicentrum van de opstand, de stad Homs. Gisteren kregen hulpverleners drie kwartier toegang.

Hussameldin werd volgens Reuters ooit door Assad zelf aangesteld en hield zijn functie als onderminister over aan een regeringsbesluit in 2009. Volgens Hussameldin staat de economie van Syri� ‘op het punt van instorten’. Hij zou met hulp van Syrische oppositieleden zijn overgelopen.

انشقاق معاون وزير النفط 8 اذار

twitter:

AnonOpsSweden twitterde op donderdag 08-03-2012 om 13:51:30 @OoPsRevolution btw @TripToSyria #OpTripToSyria has landed in Jordan is safe, and looking for safe routes reageer retweet

quote:

Geef de Syri�rs wapens, en snel

Vandaag moet de Syrische oppositie zich met geweren verdedigen tegen tanks en granaten. Europa kan helpen, meent oud-premier Guy Verhofstadt, Europees Parlementslid en fractieleider van de Europese liberalen (Open Vld).
....
Wat vandaag in Homs gebeurt, maar ook in andere Syrische steden is van eenzelfde omvang en gruwel als de slachtingen in Sabra en Shatila, Srebrenica of Hama. Het is zo erg dat de inwoners van Homs tot alles bereid zijn, als het moet zelfs een bezetting door Isra�l. En toch gebeurt er niets. De VN-Veiligheidsraad slaagt er niet eens in om de Syrische dictator Bashar al-Assad te veroordelen. En de conferentie in Tunis van de zogenaamde 'Vrienden van Syri�' kwam niet verder dan wat nieuwe sancties en de (niet-ingewilligde) eis van Assad dat hulporganisaties toegang zouden krijgen. Een minister van Buitenlandse Zaken zei in de marge van die conferentie dat verder gaan niet ging wegens "de verdeeldheid van de Syrische oppositie en de schrik voor een burgeroorlog en de uitbreiding ervan naar de hele regio". Met zulke vrienden heb je geen vijanden meer nodig.

quote:

Al Jazeera reporter resigns over "biased" Syria coverage

Published Thursday, March 8, 2012

Al Jazeera Arabic's Beirut correspondent, Ali Hashem, resigned on Tuesday after leaked emails revealed his frustrations over the news channel's coverage of Syria, according to a source within the television network.

Hashem's resignation comes weeks after pro-Assad hackers leaked emails that revealed the dismay among Al Jazeera's staff over its “biased and unprofessional” coverage of the Syrian uprising.

“Hashem's misgivings are clear and well-known, and are no longer a secret to anyone," the source, wishing to remain anonymous, said.

"You can check the emails he sent to his colleague, Rula Ibrahim, to know his position which changed after the station refused to show photos he had taken of armed fighters clashing with the Syrian Army in Wadi Khaled. Instead [Al Jazeera] lambasted him as a shabeeh (implying a regime loyalist).”

The source also said that Hashem reported his dismay to several officials in the station, not just to his colleague, Ibrahim.

Complicating matters for Hashem was Al Jazeera's refusal to cover the uprising in Bahrain.

“[In Bahrain], we were seeing pictures of a people being butchered by the 'Gulf's oppression machine', and for Al Jazeera, silence was the name of the game,” the source added.

According to the source, Hashem was not the only Al Jazeera reporter to express his frustration over its coverage. Staff members in Al-Jazeera's offices in Tunisia, Egypt, Libya, Syria, and Bahrain also voiced similar opinions.

The source explained that most reporters at Al Jazeera are professionals and come from prestigious schools of journalism where such biased coverage is unacceptable and particularly since several field reporters are “seeing the truth” themselves.

“There is a division among the staff members in the station. As for Hashem, he thought he could change one thing, but he couldn't so he chose to resign," the source said.

"This is what happens to the majority of people who oppose the station's provocative policy. They end up resigning.”

Al Jazeera is a Qatari owned and based satellite network, and has been the center of controversy throughout its short history.

It made US officials angry when it aired gruesome footage of the US invasion and occupation of Iraq last decade.

But Qatar's hardening foreign policy in the Middle East, in particular its efforts to overthrow Syrian President Bashar Assad while supporting Bahrain's crackdown on dissent, has made inroads on Al Jazeera's coverage of Arab affairs.

(Al-Akhbar - Wissam Kanaan contributed to this report)

quote:

Op donderdag 8 maart 2012 21:34 schreef zuiderbuur het volgende:
Verhofstadt laat weer van zich horen:
www.demorgen.be/dm/nl/246(...)wapens-en-snel.dhtml

[..]

quote:

Op donderdag 8 maart 2012 20:13 schreef Billy-jazz het volgende:
Is deze video al gepost? Isra�lische drones helpen Assad om de revolutionairen te doden.

Israeli drones help Al-Assad's militias against the Free Syrian Army in Homs city, Syria 21.02.2012

quote:

Op donderdag 8 maart 2012 23:39 schreef rakotto het volgende:

[..]

Het kunnen ook Iraneze drones zijn.

quote:

Op donderdag 8 maart 2012 23:17 schreef killfrenzy het volgende:

[..]

Hij kan beter niks van zich laten horen. Vooral dat dikgedrukte

quote:

Syrian Kurds seen as revolt’s wild card

By: Ernesto Londo�o

IRBIL, Iraq — Syria’s long-oppressed Kurdish minority is emerging as a key wild card with the potential to boost the momentum of a scattered and beleaguered opposition movement as a year-old revolt appears poised to become more violent.

So far, the Kurds have not been enthusiastic supporters of the wider revolution, which is primarily led by Syria’s Sunni Arab majority and has increasingly taken on sectarian overtones. They remain fearful that a new government dominated by Sunnis could deepen their marginalization.

But largely unnoticed, the Kurds in the northeast of the country have been sustaining daily peaceful protests against the regime led by President Bashar al-Assad. The government has concentrated most of its efforts to suppress revolt on Sunni Arab cities such as Homs and Hama, and has for the most part refrained from using force against the Kurds.

Sunni Arabs are the majority in the nation of 22 million, which for decades has been ruled by members of the Shiite Alawite sect. Kurds make up between 8 and 15 percent, according to estimates. Syria’s deep ethnic and religious divides make its revolt far more complex and potentially divisive than those in Libya, Egypt and Tunisia.

Syrian Kurds appear divided over what kind of role they want to carve out for themselves if the opposition movement succeeds in toppling the Assad government. But U.S. and allied Western nations are increasingly trying to find ways to bring the Kurds into the mainstream opposition, an effort that remains elusive.

A Western diplomat involved in Syria policy said that the United States and European allies have worked behind the scenes to encourage the mainstream opposition to make commitments about Kurdish rights in a post-Assad era.

“If and when the Kurds decide to get involved in a big way, it could cost the regime physical control over an entire region and could also be key to getting Aleppo and Damascus to rise up,” said the Western diplomat, who insisted on anonymity.

The predominantly Kurdish region, strategically important because it shares borders with Iraq and Turkey and has substantial oil reserves, remains essentially up for grabs.

Officials in Turkey, whose own oppressed Kurdish minority includes an insurgent wing, and in Iraq, where Kurds have attained a great degree of sovereignty, are watching the conflict closely, worried about cross-border ripple effects. The Kurds, an ethnic group spread out in Iraq, Turkey, Iran and Syria, have long aspired to have their own state, an ambition that has often led to their persecution.

The story of the uprising of Syrian Kurds, based on interviews with experts and with Kurdish leaders in Syria and neighboring Iraq, is key to understanding why the revolt in Syria has been slow to gather decisive momentum and just how messy the post-Assad era could become.

Restraint by the regime

When Syrians first took to the streets in March, buoyed by the successful uprisings in Tunisia and Egypt, Kurdish political leaders were initially reluctant to rise up, according to those who were interviewed. As a long disenfranchised segment of society with an extensive history of revolt, Kurds had every incentive to join the protest movement. But political leaders decided they shouldn’t play a visible role early on.

“The Baath regime has always tried to teach that the Kurds are trying to divide Syria,” said Abdul Baki Youssef, a Syrian Kurdish politician, said in an interview in Irbil, referring to Assad’s political party. “If we had started, the regime would have just said we were starting to partition.”

As the revolt gathered steam in the southern Syrian city of Daraa, Kurds began holding large protests in the northeastern town of Qamishly and other predominantly Kurdish areas, at times drawing tens of thousands, Kurdish leaders say. Protesters tore down once-ubiquitous posters and portraits of Assad and tore down a statue of his late father, former Syrian president Hafez al-Assad, Youssef said.

Kurdish antipathy toward the regime soared in October, after the assassination of Mashaal Tammo, a prominent Kurdish activist. As he was buried, tens of thousands of people took to the streets in the northeast, marking one of the relatively rare instances in which security forces were accused of firing live ammunition into crowds in the area, Kurdish activists said.

In addition to chants against Assad, the demonstrations in Kurdish areas featured calls for greater sovereignty and self-determination. Protesters waved the red, white and green Kurdish flag. Security forces kept close tabs on activists and demonstrations, Kurdish activists said, and sought to disperse some with tear gas. But security forces have shown a notable degree of restraint in Kurdish cities, a stark contrast from its recent bombardment of Homs.

“The regime doesn’t want to start clashes with the Kurds,” Saleh Kado, a leader in the Kurdish Leftist Party in Qamishli said in a phone interview. “Until now, we stress that the revolution must be peaceful. Our belief is that change will come through peaceful means.”

Denise Natali, an expert on Kurdish politics at National Defense University, said the Assad regime has sought to woo certain Kurdish factions, making concessions such as offering full citizenship to Kurds who have for years been denied official documents.

“To repress the Kurds violently would be another nail in the coffin,” she said. “It is one of the communities the regime is trying to co-opt.”

Although Kurdish leaders say most Syrian Kurds remain staunchly opposed to Assad, the Kurds have become increasingly alarmed by the leading role Turkey has played in organizing the opposition. Turkey has become a haven for Syrian refugees and members of the opposition’s armed faction, known as the Free Syrian Army.

As Turkish leaders have devised their Syria policy, they have likely been mindful of the Kurdish angle at every turn. Members of the Kurdistan Worker’s Party, which has for years fought the Turkish government in a bid for independence, have used remote Syrian areas as staging grounds for attacks in the past and could more easily do so with complicity from the Assad regime.

Kurdish groups boycotted a summit of Syrian opposition parties in May because it was held in Turkey. Few attended a conference in Istanbul in August during which the Syrian National Council was formed.

“The regime has sought to divide the opposition through divide-and-conquer tactics,” Shelal Gado, a Kurdish political leader, said in an interview in Sulaimaniyah, an Iraqi city where he is now based. “We regret that the majority in the opposition think the same way as the regime: They don’t want to recognize the rights of the Kurdish people.”

Seeking to bridge the divisions among Syrian Kurdish groups, Massoud Barzani, the president of the semi-autonomous Kurdistan region in northern Iraq, hosted a gathering of Kurdish politicians from the neighboring country last month. He pledged support from the prosperous region as long as long as they found a way to band together. The Kurdish elder also stressed that they should not join the armed resistance.

“The era of armed struggle is over,” he said.

quote:

Op donderdag 8 maart 2012 23:39 schreef rakotto het volgende:
Het kunnen ook Iraneze drones zijn.

quote:

Op donderdag 8 maart 2012 20:13 schreef Billy-jazz het volgende:
Is deze video al gepost? Isra�lische drones helpen Assad om de revolutionairen te doden.

Israeli drones help Al-Assad's militias against the Free Syrian Army in Homs city, Syria 21.02.2012

quote:

Op vrijdag 9 maart 2012 00:46 schreef WammesWaggel het volgende:

[..]

Nee dat zijn geen Israelische drones dus niet liegen, dat is niet netjes.

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Op vrijdag 9 maart 2012 00:57 schreef killfrenzy het volgende:

[..]

Weet je niet. Weet niemand hier.

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Op vrijdag 9 maart 2012 01:02 schreef WammesWaggel het volgende:

[..]

Gewoon Stratfor hacken en je weet alles.

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Op vrijdag 9 maart 2012 00:57 schreef killfrenzy het volgende:

[..]

Weet je niet. Weet niemand hier.

quote:

Op vrijdag 9 maart 2012 01:04 schreef Nibb-it het volgende:

[..]

"Speculation abounds online that the UAS caught by an amateur cameraman flying over Kafr Batna on valentines day is either a variant of the Iranian Mohajer or a new platform altogether, being called at the moment ”Pahpad” which is the Persian equivalent of UAV. The drone would very likely be a Syrian government airframe.

Iran has defied arms embargoes and exported several unmanned systems to Sudan and a similar mystery airframe was spotted there." Meer: http://www.suasnews.com/2(...)ver-syria-from-iran/
[ afbeelding ]
mohajer-4

quote:

Op vrijdag 9 maart 2012 01:08 schreef killfrenzy het volgende:

[..]

En nog steeds hetzelfde. Speculaas.

quote:

Op vrijdag 9 maart 2012 01:17 schreef Nibb-it het volgende:
Hoe zou Assad aan Isra�lische drones moeten komen?

quote:

Op vrijdag 9 maart 2012 01:26 schreef Billy-jazz het volgende:

[..]

Ze zijn buren...

quote:

Op vrijdag 9 maart 2012 00:26 schreef Billy-jazz het volgende:

[..]

http://www.washingtonpost(...)IQAAaN9yR_story.html

quote:

Op vrijdag 9 maart 2012 01:26 schreef Billy-jazz het volgende:

[..]

Ze zijn buren...

quote:

Op vrijdag 9 maart 2012 01:36 schreef Senor__Chang het volgende:

[..]

Heb ik ook gelezen ja. Ik hoop dat de Koerdische politici het maximale hieruit kunnen halen.

quote:

Opnieuw vier Syrische regeringsfunctionarissen overgelopen

Na de onderminister Abdo Hussameldin hebben gisteravond vier brigadegeneraals van het Syrische regeringsleger zich afgekeerd van president Bashar al-Assad.

Drie van de generaals zijn inmiddels naar een kamp voor deserteurs vlak over de grens in Turkije gevlucht, zo meldt persbureau AFP vanochtend. Volgens het Vrije Syrische Leger (FSA) zijn nu in totaal zeven regeringsfunctionaris overgelopen naar de tegenstanders van de huidige president met behulp van oppositieleden.

De regeringstroepen van Assad hebben volgens de VN al zeker 7.500 mensen gedood sinds de opstand een jaar geleden begon. Het rode Kruis probeert al dagen toegang te krijgen tot het epicentrum van de opstand, de stad Homs. Woensdag kregen hulpverleners drie kwartier toegang.

Hussameldin, de hooggeplaatste regeringsfunctionaris die zich tot dusver afkeerde van Assad, werd volgens Reuters ooit door de president zelf aangesteld en hield zijn functie als onderminister over aan een regeringsbesluit in 2009. Volgens Hussameldin staat de economie van Syri� ‘op het punt van instorten’.

quote:

Op vrijdag 9 maart 2012 02:59 schreef killfrenzy het volgende:

[..]

Hopelijk niet. Meer instabiliteit kunnen ze niet gebruiken.

quote:

Op vrijdag 9 maart 2012 20:08 schreef Senor__Chang het volgende:

[..]

Alsof een land met shiiten, soennieten, christenen en Koerden wel stabiel is..

quote:

Op vrijdag 9 maart 2012 19:31 schreef Cobra4 het volgende:
Safe havens in Syria? They failed in Bosnia
Jorge Benitez | March 09, 2012

With the U.N. unable to agree how to protect civilians against Bashar Assad's forces, Western officials are discussing creation of safe corridors to deliver aid to Syrians trapped by the crackdown.

Similar measures failed badly during the war in Bosnia two decades ago that killed over 100,000 people and left millions homeless. The lesson of Bosnia is that without all sides honoring the agreement — and without a robust military response in case they don't — such measures may have little effect and could actually prolong the misery.

In 1993, the U.N. Security Council passed a resolution that declared six cities in Bosnia as "safe havens" for civilians and deployed military observers to monitor the situation.

The U.N. protected zones in places like the capital of Sarajevo or the eastern enclave of Srebrenica in effect became prisons, subject to relentless shelling by Bosnian Serb forces that often denied they were responsible. The U.N. never managed to get enough aid through the corridors and smugglers made fortunes. . . .

Those safe havens actually lengthened the 1992-95 war.
Instead of stopping the bloodshed, they simply reduced it to a politically acceptable level. It enabled both the attackers and the resistance to continue fighting.

Without a quick political settlement, neither side could achieve victory and both staved off decisive defeat. It was not until Serb forces overran Srebrenica in July 1995 that the West could no longer sit and watch and deployed troops to stop the carnage.

The enclave fell after senior U.N. commanders rejected a request by a few hundred Dutch peacekeepers deployed in Srebrenica for air strikes and its Muslim Bosnian residents swarmed a U.N. military base, still believing the Dutch would protect them.

But outnumbered and outgunned, the U.N. peacekeepers allowed the Serbs to separate women and children from men and execute some 8,000 males in what later became known as the worst massacre in Europe since World War II.

Hans Blom, who oversaw a Dutch government-commisioned investigation into the Srebrenica massacre, said he is "very pessimistic" about what the international community can do in Syria. He voiced skepticism over the U.N.'s concept of "safe zones" or "safe areas," calling it a very vague notion and difficult to enforce. . . .

Blom said that for now he doesn't see a role for international peacekeepers in Syria because there is no peace to keep and any humanitarian workers who were to enter the country would face massive violence. Only a massive military intervention could stop the violence, he argued.

"Only if there is a very determined outside force willing to use military means, it's maybe possible," he said. "Interventions are a very complicated thing. And the terrible thing, of course, is that doing nothing is as bad."

Bron: http://www.acus.org/natos(...)a-they-failed-bosnia

quote:

Op vrijdag 9 maart 2012 23:24 schreef waht het volgende:
Er zijn natuurlijk al lang safe zone's: buurlanden van Syri�. Uitgezonderd Libanon, Irak en Isra�l, dus blijft Turkije over.

twitter:

RazanSpeaks twitterde op vrijdag 09-03-2012 om 23:25:56 There was a huge explosion in #Aleppo 5 minutes ago. Unknown from where, but it shook the building @samikhaled_sy is in. #Syria reageer retweet

quote:

Syria's Alawite activists stuck in the middle

Despite fears of sectarianism if the regime falls, some in the Alawite minority are speaking out against Assad.

quote:

Journalist Nir Rosen recently spent two months in Syria. As well as meeting members of various communities across the country - supporters of the country's rulers and of the opposition alike - he spent time with armed resistance groups in Homs, Idlib, Deraa, and Damascus suburbs. He also travelled extensively around the country last year, documenting his experiences for Al Jazeera - including articles about the Alawite community.

quote:

Fierce fighting in Idlib, Syria - in pictures

As Kofi Annan arrives in Damascus to hold talks with Bashar Al-Assad, photographer Rodrigo Abd captures the intensifying violence in Idlib

quote:

Swedish Anonymous activists embark on bold trip to Syria

Activists within the Anonymous culture in Sweden headed to Syria this week amidst the chaos and inhumanity to bring much needed medical supplies and equipment to help the victims of the fragmented country.

#OpTripToSyria started trending on Twitter on Feb. 9 and has been gathering worldwide support very quickly. Supporters of the operation have had the chance to donate to the cause through a link on the triptosyria.wordpress.com web site the anons have established.

For nearly a year, constant protests have been flooding Syria's streets as citizens continue to relentlessly pressure current President Bashar al-Assad to step down. The protests have been hit with violence at the hands of al-Assad's military force. According to the UN, the conflict has claimed more than 7,500 lives.

Motivation for Anonymous's humanitarian mission to Syria had come from various factors, but most notably due to the attacks on the city of Homs.

“I think I had enough when I saw all the tweets from the Swedish activists @SyrienNyheter or more specifically of the babies who died when Assad's militia shut off the power to several incubators,” said an anon who currently goes by the handle TTS.

TTS also related a common creed of the Anonymous culture: that people shouldn't be afraid of their governments, governments should be afraid of their people.

Anonymous donations have come from all over the world and more than 50 people have contributed. “Donations have come from Swedes, Europeans, Asians, Russians, Americans – you name it,” said TTS.

As of March 4, the anons had raised $2,257 US that they will use to purchase the medical supplies they will be bringing. The supplies will include medical kits, water purification tablets, washcloths and antibiotics and painkillers.

Many followers of the twitter account @TriptoSyria have expressed concern about the safety of the individuals who are embarking on the trip.

“There are a lot of concerns that things might go wrong; we could be killed, captured, arrested or robbed, but we can only aim for success," said TTS. "Hopefully, our actions will inspire other people to do the same thing. Risking everything for what we believe is the right thing to do. And we know that our operation will have some kind of impact whatever happens.”

The team of activists is also well trained. Some of them have gone through military training, and have experience in first aid, trauma handling and CPR. However, they have emphasized that the mission is strictly non-violent.

This mission is still a bold endeavour as the United States and other Western embassies have suspended their actions in Syria, due to the elevated security risk.

On the international scale, Russia and China, two countries that initially vetoed the military intervention, seem to be waning in their support of Assad's regime. Both countries have decried the violence in Syria and have dispatched diplomats to the region this week. Victims of conflict in Syria can only hope that this will help bring direct action from the international community to end the loss of innocents.

quote:

Moskou blijft Syri� wapens leveren wegens ‘goede militaire samenwerking’

De Russische regering ziet geen reden om haar militaire samenwerking met Damascus te be�indigen. Moskou blijft wapens aan het regime van president Bashar Assad leveren, ondanks de oproep van het Westen deze leveranties te staken.

Rusland houdt zich gewoon aan de contracten die met Syri� zijn gesloten, zo meldt persbureau AP. Moskou is vastbesloten om deze contracten na te komen, zei de Russische onderminister van defensie Anatoli Antonov vandaag.

Moskou heeft “een goede, sterke militair-technische samenwerking” met Damascus en Antonov benadrukt dit zo te willen houden: “We zien geen aanleiding om deze te heroverwegen.”

Rusland stuurde in januari nog een schip met wapens en munitie naar Syri�, tegen het EU-embargo in.

Rusland steunt resolutie nog altijd niet

Antonovs mededeling volgt op een botsing in de VN-Veiligheidsraad tussen Rusland, dat samen met China tot dusverre twee resoluties over Syri� heeft gevetood, en de Verenigde Staten. De Amerikaanse minister van Buitenlandse Zaken, Hillary Clinton, liet weten dat het tijd werd voor Rusland en China om zich aan te sluiten bij de oproepen tot stopzetting van het regeringsgeweld. Haar Russische ambtgenoot Sergej Lavrov zei dat het regime “een zware verantwoordelijkheid draagt” maar hield vast aan het Russische standpunt dat oppositiestrijders en extremisten onder hen ook geweld plegen.

Nieuwe bijeenkomst contactgroep

Een nieuwe ontwerpresolutie kan vooralsnog niet rekenen op steun van Moskou. Om dichterbij een gezamenlijke internationale oplossing te komen om de macht in Syri� op vredige wijze over te dragen en het geweld te be�indigen, komt de nieuwe contactgroep ‘Vrienden van Syri� op twee april voor de tweede maal bijeen. Deze bijeenkomst vindt plaats in Istanbul, zo maakte de Turkse premier Tayyip Erdogan vandaag bekend.

quote:

***************************************
"Syri� legt mijnen op vluchtwegen"

***************************************
` Het Syrische leger heeft op wegen
naar Turkije en Libanon mijnen gelegd.
Dat zegt mensenrechtenorganisatie Human
Rights Watch (HRW).De organisatie heeft
getuigenverklaringen verzameld van
Syri�rs die de mijnen hebben gezien of
er slachtoffer van zijn geworden.

Een BBC-journalist die aan de Turkse
kant van de grens verblijft,bevestigt
de verklaringen.Hij heeft door mijnen
verminkte vluchtelingen de grens zien
oversteken.De explosieven zijn
waarschijnlijk van Russische makelij.

HRW noemt het gebruik van de mijnen
"buitensporig".Syri� heeft niet op de
beschuldigingen gereageerd.
***************************************

quote:

Aanslag moskee Brussel was wraakactie voor geweld in Syri�

De aanslag op een moskee in de Brusselse wijk Anderlecht maandagavond was bedoeld om de sjiitische gemeenschap in Belgi� angst aan te jaren. Dat heeft de verdachte van de aanslag volgens het Brusselse parket verklaard tijdens zijn politieverhoor.

De man, vermoedelijk een Marokkaan, stelt de sjiieten verantwoordelijk voor de noodtoestand in Syri�. Maandagavond drong hij de sjiitische Rida-moskee binnen, vlakbij het station Brussel-Zuid, en bedreigde de aanwezigen met een mes. Ook zwaaide hij met een bidon gevuld met benzine, die hij vervolgens aanstak. Het vuur greep snel om zich heen. De imam, van de moskee, de 46-jarige Abdallah Dadou, kwam daarbij om het leven.

Meer informatie volgt.

quote:

Op dinsdag 13 maart 2012 19:34 schreef Papierversnipperaar het volgende:
Syri� escaleert naar de rest van de wereld.

quote:

Op dinsdag 13 maart 2012 13:23 schreef PLAE@ het volgende:

[..]

Wat een achterlijke zinnetje van de NOS. Vrijwel alle wapens die daar aanwezig zijn, zijn van Russische makelijk......

quote:

Op dinsdag 13 maart 2012 20:37 schreef Chooselife het volgende:

[..]

Je reinste propaganda. Benoemen dat de wapens uit Rusland komen is ook volstrekt irrelevant.

quote:

Op dinsdag 13 maart 2012 20:44 schreef Papierversnipperaar het volgende:

[..]

De ene week voer er een Russiche boot naar Syri�, en de volgende week werd Homs bestookt met 2S4 Tyulpan mortieren. Noem dat maar irrelevant.

quote:

Op dinsdag 13 maart 2012 20:48 schreef Chooselife het volgende:

[..]

Dat is ook irrelevant. Dit nieuwsbericht is er mede op ingericht om het aanzien van Rusland te beschadigen. Kennelijk is dat weer nodig, nu de economisch- en geopolitieke macht van Rusland groeiende is. Het oude vijandbeeld wordt langzamerhand opgepoetst.

quote:

Op dinsdag 13 maart 2012 20:49 schreef Papierversnipperaar het volgende:

[..]

Rusland beschadigt zelf zijn aanzien.

quote:

Russisch schip vol ammunitie op weg naar Turkije

Een Russisch schip dat eerder in Cyprus onderwerp van discussie was mag weer verder varen nadat de eigenaar heeft toegezegd om naar Turkije te varen in plaats van Syri�.

Het Russische schip dat een ongeplande tussenstop had gemaakt in Cyprus mag weer door varen nadat de eigenaren aangegeven hebben om de ammunitie niet naar Syri� te vervoeren. Eerder mocht het schip niet verder varen omdat er een embargo op dergelijke cargo naar Syri� heerst.

Waarom het schip naar Turkije gaat is onbekend.

quote:

Russisch schip met wapens in Syri�

Een Russisch schip met naar het zich laat aanzien wapens en munitie is in Syri� aangekomen. Het schip, de Chariot, was 9 december uit Sint Petersburg vertrokken. Scheepvaartbronnen in de Russische haven hebben vrijdag bevestigd dat het 11 januari arriveerde. Het had volgens de scheepvaartmaatschappij ,,een gevaarlijke lading '' aan boord.

quote:

2012 bombardment of Homs

quote:

The Bombardment of Homs by artillery shelling is a military operation being carried out by the Syrian armed forces and taking place within the scope of the Siege of Homs, in response to the 2011–2012 Syrian uprising. The event began on 3 February 2012 after the Free Syrian Army attacked Syrian Army checkpoints, killing 10 soldiers.[11][16]

quote:

Syria's Assad is hitting Homs with the heaviest mortars in the world (video)

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From Peter Bouckaert, a senior researcher for Human Rights Watch, comes an indication why the death toll has been steadily climbing in Homs. He says a video from Homs that shows the fragments of a mortar the struck a building there is proof that Assad has deployed the Russian-made "Tulip" weapons system against the town, which fires the largest mortar round in any military's arsenal. The tank-like vehicle that serves as the firing platform can lob 240mm mortar rounds up to 20 kilometers away, and they carry over 70 pounds of explosives. The largest mortar used by the US, in contrast, is 160mm.

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Op dinsdag 13 maart 2012 20:55 schreef Chooselife het volgende:

[..]

Dat ben ik niet met je eens. Als je de gebeurtenissen in Syri� in breder perspectief bekijkt en daarbij ook oog hebt voor de rol van de gewapende milities, dan blijkt de rol van Rusland een stuk genuanceerder. De meerderheid van de Syri�rs (naar schatting 55%) staat nog steeds achter Assad en kent dus ook steun van Rusland. Zonder de vasthoudendheid van de Russen zouden ze ten dode opgeschreven zijn.

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Aan jou het verzoek eens heel kritisch te kijken die nou precies die "vrijheidsstrijders" zijn en wat ze precies willen bereiken.

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Video lynchpartij door Syrische strijders opgedoken

Gemaskerde rebellen hebben in de Noord-Syrische provincie Idlib een lid van een Assad-getrouwe militie opgehangen. Dat is te zien op videobeelden die in bezit zijn gekomen van een journalist van Associated Press en vandaag werden getoond.

De gehangene was een zogenoemde 'shabiha', een lid van een van de bendes die loyaal zijn aan president Bashar Assad. Hij zou op burgers hebben geschoten en voor het regime hebben gespioneerd.

De precieze gebeurtenissen die voorafgingen aan de lynchpartij, die half februari plaatsvond, konden niet worden geverifieerd. Maar een stem in de video zegt dat de man is gedood door strijders van het Vrije Syrische Leger. Deze strijdmacht zou de man hebben opgepakt omdat hij een begrafenisstoet zou hebben aangevallen.

'Hij gooide handgranaten naar de rouwenden', zegt de stem. 'Het Vrije Syrische Leger kwam tussenbeide en arresteerde deze criminele shabiha van Assads bendes. Hij had handgranaten bij zich en Russische munitie en schoot op de betogers en de rouwenden.'

Deserteurs en demonstranten
Het Vrije Syrische Leger is de grootste strijdmacht van de Syrische oppositie en bestaat uit legerdeserteurs en demonstranten die de wapens hebben opgenomen. Maar structuur en eenheid is er nauwelijks.

Saudi-Arabi� en Qatar hebben voorgesteld de Syrische strijders te bewapenen, maar de Verenigde Staten en andere landen zijn hier huiverig voor. Zij vrezen dat het conflict op die manier alleen maar bloediger wordt.

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Op dinsdag 13 maart 2012 21:57 schreef waht het volgende:
Moskou blijft wapens aan Syri� leveren

Poetin denkt ook, ik zit nog minstens tien jaar in het zadel dus alle remmen gaan eraf.

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Journalist recounts fleeing Syrian city under fire

Associated Press= ANTAKYA, Turkey (AP) — Explosions illuminated the night as we ran, hoping to escape Syria after nearly three weeks of covering a conflict that the government seems determined to keep the world from seeing. Tank shells slammed into the city streets behind us, snipers' bullets whizzed by our heads and the rebels escorting us were nearly out of ammunition.

It seemed like a good time to get out of Syria.

---

EDITOR'S NOTE: Award-winning journalists Rodrigo Abd and Ahmed Bahaddou sneaked into Syria and spent nearly three weeks reporting from opposition-held territory. Abd, an Associated Press photographer, is based in Guatemala. Bahaddou is a video journalist on assignment for the AP, based in Turkey.

---

With regime forces closing in on the rebel-held northern city of Idlib, Associated Press cameraman Ahmed Bahaddou and I set out Sunday for neighboring Turkey on a journey that would take us through a pitch-black passage and miles of muddy olive groves in the freezing cold.

We ran into delays and dangers with every step — from fighting between rebel and government forces to a missed connection with our guide.

We coordinated our escape with the Free Syrian Army, the rebel force fighting to hold onto Idlib, but the situation was deteriorating quickly. The snipers, shelling and explosions were growing ever closer.

"We are all going to be killed!" a terrified Syrian activist told me, collapsing into tears. An FSA fighter said the government troops were sure to take the city back, because the rebels were running out of ammunition.

A rebel commander said he understood if his fighters wanted to run away and save themselves.

"Whoever wants to leave and not fight, lay your Kalashnikovs here," he said.

Nobody did.

Last week, troops had encircled Idlib, and tank shells starting pounding the city from dawn until evening. Rebels dashed through the streets, taking cover behind the corners of buildings as they clashed with the troops. Wounded fighters were piled into trucks bound for places where they could be treated. I saw a man carrying a young boy, the child's jacket soaked in blood. I later learned the boy was dead.

On Tuesday, just one day after we made it out, government forces recaptured Idlib, although activists reported some pockets of resistance remained. Still, it was a blow to the rebels.

The regime says it is fighting foreign terrorists and armed gangs, denying that the yearlong uprising is a popular revolt. But what we saw in Idlib was nothing like what the government is describing. The townspeople support the uprising; every family seemed to have a fighter in the streets, or knew somebody who was fighting.

The FSA rebels were Syrians, from Idlib. We did not see any foreigners doing battle.

The biggest challenge for the rebels was not their fervor to fight; they all seemed willing to die to oust the regime of President Bashar Assad. They were armed with little more than rocket-propelled grenades, Kalashnikov machine guns and grenades.

The opposition's rallying cry in recent days has been an appeal for weapons. An influx of anti-tank missiles and other heavy arms could be a turning point in the conflict.

But as government forces moved in last week, all we could think of was Baba Amr — the neighborhood in the Syrian city of Homs that endured nearly four weeks of government shelling. Hundreds of people were killed in the siege, and the humanitarian situation was catastrophic. Among the dead were two journalists, Marie Colvin, a veteran American-born war correspondent for Britain's Sunday Times, and Remi Ochlik, 28, a French photojournalist. Both were cut down when a shell struck nearby.

Idlib was believed to be the next target now that the government had recaptured Baba Amr. As the rebels gathered on street corners, families packed a few possessions and rushed to leave the city. Women and children hid in basements to escape the shelling.

"Of course I am afraid!" a Syrian woman cried in one of the shelters, where a dozen women and children hid Saturday. "Even the men are afraid."

By Saturday, many people fled Idlib to reach surrounding villages. Electricity was switched off most of the day, lasting only about three hours, in what was likely an attempt by the government to clear out the population.

Everybody was preparing for a siege, making our escape all the more complicated. We decided to spend the night among the wounded in Idlib, delaying our departure, because we were too scared to move. As we drove through the dark streets, the driver turned off the headlights so nobody would detect us — even though that meant we could not see anything either.

The thundering "BOOM! BOOM!" from tank shells was relentless.

When we woke up the next morning, the toll of the violence we had somehow escaped was apparent: Wounded people, including children and women, were crowded around in bloodstained clothes. Many had clearly been hit by snipers in the legs and arms. Many had gaping wounds from shrapnel and died in their beds.

There was no space in the morgue for more corpses, so families arranged to bury the dead immediately. Funerals were out of the question because of the danger of being outside.

When evening fell, we decided to leave the city. The idea was to run over an open area overlooked by snipers and tanks, but our guides suggested we go underneath it, through a passage. We had to walk to it, led by an FSA fighter who kept us waiting for a half-hour while battles raged in the streets. We moved carefully through a city devoid of any normal sounds of life — no cars honking, no one on the streets — just silence broken by gunfire and explosions.

The corridor was cramped and so dark that we could not see our hands in front of our faces. Crouching to fit inside it, we moved for about 40 meters (130 feet) until we reached the other end, which was mercifully outside the regime's cordon. It was only after we emerged that we realized our escort was carrying homemade grenades on his vest, unstable explosives that easily could have blown us to bits while we were inside.

The next leg of our journey took us to a massive field of deep mud. There was no way to cross on foot or even in a car. But our contact on the Turkish side of the border had arranged the perfect mode of transport to ferry us into the country: a bright, red tractor.

We clambered aboard and rolled through the mud for a half-hour before crossing an unmarked, largely porous border. Nobody stopped us or even noticed.

Reporting from Syria had been risky, but it was the only way to cover the story properly, without being at the mercy of government minders who try to control what you see and whom you meet.

In the past year, Syria has severely restricted the number of visas it issues to journalists, and those who do get in must take trips accompanied by government escorts.

On Saturday, the Syrian Information Ministry issued a warning that journalists such as Ahmed and me who entered the country illegally "are accompanying terrorists, promoting their crimes and fabricating baseless news."

The statement alluded to the deaths of Colvin and Ochlik, saying media companies are "legally and morally responsible for anything that may result from what could happen to these journalists due to their accompaniment of terrorists."

But for Ahmed and me, the trip was an opportunity to present an honest picture of a conflict that remains largely hidden from the world.

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Op dinsdag 13 maart 2012 22:47 schreef CaptainObvious39 het volgende:

An important document of Iranian meddling in Syrian affairs

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'Syrische gevangenen op grote schaal vernederd, verkracht en gemarteld'

Syri�rs die bij de protesten zijn opgepakt, worden stelselmatig gemarteld. Het regime vernedert en intimideert de slachtoffers om hen tot zwijgen te brengen. Dat schrijft mensenrechtenorganisatie Amnesty International vandaag.

Slachtoffers hebben tegen Amnesty verklaard dat de beulen een vast patroon volgen. Arrestanten worden eerst tot op het ondergoed uitgekleed en moeten tot 24 uur lang in de buitenlucht staan. Daar worden ze geslagen met stokken, geweerkolven, zwepen, kabels en vuisten. De folteraars noemen dat haflet al-istiqbal, Arabisch voor ontvangstcomit�.

Tijdens verhoren lopen de gevangenen het meeste gevaar. Een van de slachtoffers zei dat de ondervragers met tangen stukken spier van zijn benen hebben gescheurd. Sommige mensen worden aan deuren of plafonds opgehangen, zodat ze geslagen kunnen worden.

Ook verkrachtingen komen voor. Een Syri�r zegt dat hij moest toekijken, toen een andere gevangene werd verkracht. Dat zou in juli vorig jaar zijn gebeurd in een gebouw van de gevreesde militaire inlichtingendienst in de buurt van de hoofdstad Damascus.

'Ze trokken de broek van Khalid naar beneden. Hij had een wond op zijn linkerbovenbeen. De verhoorder verkrachtte hem tegen de muur. Khalid huilde en sloeg zijn hoofd tegen de muur', verklaarde de man tegen Amnesty.

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'Leger Syri� heeft Idlib onder controle'

Het Syrische regeringsleger heeft de noordelijke stad Idlib in handen gekregen.

Rebellen zijn op de vlucht geslagen en militairen doorzoeken de huizen. Dat heeft een activist uit de stad vandaag gezegd. Berichten uit Syri� kunnen nauwelijks worden gecontroleerd.

Idlib ligt bij de grens met Turkije. De stad was een van de haarden van protest in Syri�. Het regime heeft Idlib 4 dagen lang belegerd. Eerder veroverden regeringstroepen al de stad Homs, waar ook fel werd gedemonstreerd.

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'Assad verwerpt voorstellen Annan'

De Syrische dictator Bashar al-Assad verwerpt de voorstellen die de internationale gezant Kofi Annan heeft gedaan om het geweld in het land te be�indigen. Dat hebben drie bronnen rond de Amerikaanse regering dinsdag tegen nieuwszender CNN gezegd.

Voormalig secretaris-generaal van de VN Kofi Annan onderhandelde afgelopen weekeinde namens de VN en de Arabische Liga met Assad. De president van Syri� zou echter hebben geantwoord dat hij Annan niet erkent als vertegenwoordiger van de Liga en niets zal doen voordat de Syrische oppositie de wapens neerlegt.

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Op dinsdag 13 maart 2012 20:44 schreef Papierversnipperaar het volgende:

[..]

De ene week voer er een Russiche boot naar Syri�, en de volgende week werd Homs bestookt met 2S4 Tyulpan mortieren. Noem dat maar irrelevant.

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Op woensdag 14 maart 2012 17:27 schreef zuiderbuur het volgende:
Misschien is het al voldoende aan bod gekomen elders op Fok!, maar bij ons is door de brandstichting in Brussel waarbij een sjiiitische imam omkwam, discussie op gang gekomen over die scheiding binnen de moslimwereld. De dader is een soennitische salafist die wraak wou nemen voor wat alawieten in Syri� aanrichtten.
Hij zou Noord-Afrikaans en moslim zijn, maar zeer vaag zijn omtrent zijn identiteit:
http://www.deredactie.be/(...)et_verhoor_verdachte
Sjiieten zijn in Brussel veruit in de minderheid (met slechts 1 moskee tegenover een 40-tal soennitische) en leven eerder gescheiden, maar normaal zonder grote problemen.

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Exclusive: secret Assad emails lift lid on life of leader's inner circle

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• Messages show Bashar al-Assad took advice from Iran
• Leader made light of promised reforms
• Wife spent thousands on jewellery and furniture

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The messages, which have been obtained by the Guardian, are said to have been intercepted by members of the opposition Supreme Council of the Revolution group between June and early February.

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Op donderdag 15 maart 2012 01:27 schreef Billy-jazz het volgende:
Syria's turmoil has been laid bare on our TV screens for more than a year, but some networks are being accused of affecting rather than reflecting the conflict. Maria Finoshina reports now, on how there's more to the coverage on the Qatari-owned Al Jazeera TV channel, than meets the eye.

'Media - West proxy to fuel Syria conflict'

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Op donderdag 15 maart 2012 01:51 schreef Papierversnipperaar het volgende:
Gelukkig maar dat we een objectieve Russische zender hebben

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Op donderdag 15 maart 2012 01:59 schreef Billy-jazz het volgende:

[..]

Dat maakt al-Jazeera niet minder subjectief.

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Op donderdag 15 maart 2012 02:03 schreef Papierversnipperaar het volgende:
Ach, ze zijn een beetje activistisch, maar het is geen Press TV.

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Syrisch leger opent aanval op Daraa

Syrische regeringstroepen hebben de aanval geopend op de zuidelijke stad Daraa, waar de opstand tegen het regime van Bashar Assad een jaar geleden begon. Daarbij is een nog onbekend aantal doden en gewonden gevallen.

Dit meldt een woordvoerder van het Vrije Syrische Leger vanuit Jordani�.

Volgens het in Londen gevestigde Observatorium voor de Mensenrechten zijn bij het offensief tegen Daraa al dertien burgers om het leven gekomen.

Het regeringsleger lijkt de smaak te pakken te hebben nu het eerder deze week de noordelijke stad Idlib op de opstandelingen heeft heroverd. Idlib was een van de bolwerken van het Vrije Syrische Leger. Na een maandenlange campagne tegen de opstandelingen in de centraal gelegen stad Homs wist het Syrische leger die stad op 1 maart te heroveren.

Rebellen claimen gijzeling generaal
De Syrische rebellen zeggen een generaal van het regeringsleger gevangen te hebben genomen. Ze eisen dat het regime gevangenen vrijlaat, anders wordt generaal Naim Jalil Oda gedood. Dat heeft de tweede man van het Vrije Syrische Leger vandaag gezegd.

Oda zou zijn overmeesterd in de plaats Douma, een voorstad van de hoofdstad Damascus. Het bericht kan niet worden gecontroleerd.

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Marno de Boer is militair historicus.

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Toekomstscenario Syri�: een bloedige, door-etterende strijd'

De Syrische president Assad heeft te weinig steun om het hele land onder controle te houden en het verzet is niet genoeg getraind om te winnen. Zo ettert het conflict door, vindt Marno de Boer.

Nu het rebellenbolwerk Baba Amr in Homs is gevallen en het Syrische leger Idlib is binnengetrokken, lijkt de Syrische opstand haar momentum verloren te hebben.

Verscheidene analisten wijzen Assad reeds als winnaar aan. Het verloop van zijn militaire campagne wijst er echter op dat hij waarschijnlijk niet de orde in het hele land kan herstellen. Het toekomstperspectief is daarom een bloedige, voortsudderende strijd waarin geen van beide partijen de beslissende slag kan uitdelen.
Assad beschikt over een aantal steunpilaren. De Shabiha-militie en de veiligheidstroepen van de geheime dienst zijn innig met het regime verbonden. Ze zijn net als Assad hoofdzakelijk uit de Alawietenminderheid afkomstig.

Assads broer
In de strijd tegen de voornamelijk soennitische opstandelingen hebben ze inmiddels zoveel bloed aan hun handen dat ze geen weg terug zien.
Ook op de Gardedivisie en Vierde Gepantserde Divisie kan het regime rekenen. Deze bestaan ook vooral uit Alawieten en staan onder persoonlijk bevel van Assads broer Maher. De rest van het leger bestaat hoofdzakelijk uit soennieten en is dus minder loyaal.

De compositie van het veiligheidsapparaat bepaalt Assads aanpak. De hoofdstad Damascus moet kost wat kost onder controle blijven. Dit lukt redelijk door de Gardedivisie permanent naast de Shabiha en veiligheidstroepen in te zetten. Hier heeft het regime dan ook nog geen artilleriebeschietingen hoeven te gebruiken.

In de andere steden van het land zijn bijna alleen veiligheidstroepen en Shabiha actief. Zij proberen met terreur het verzet te breken, maar verliezen toch regelmatig de controle over dorpen en wijken. Het leger staat hoofdzakelijk buiten de bebouwde kom opgesteld en beschiet van daaruit onrustige buurten. Dat het vooral die taak heeft, komt doordat het regime de soennitische soldaten niet vertrouwt en alleen met executies de discipline kan bewaren.

Stadsoorlog
Begeleidende veiligheidstroepen controleren of de manschappen wel schieten en of ze niet proberen te deserteren. Dit kan echter alleen gebeuren als ze overzichtelijk in een open veld staan. In een chaotische stadsoorlog, waar kleine eenheden van gebouw tot gebouw vechten, zouden teveel militairen de benen nemen.

Daar komt nog bij dat veel legereenheden waarschijnlijk ongemotiveerd zijn, waardoor ze matig zouden presteren in intensieve en stressvolle gevechten tegen stadsguerrilla's.

Extreem traag
De enige eenheid die overblijft om buiten Damascus effectieve grondoperaties uit te voeren, is de Vierde Divisie. Dit verklaart waarom het regime de verzetshaarden stad voor stad aanpakt. Het verklaart ook waarom de eenheid pas na een maand voorbereidende beschietingen de wijk Baba Amr in Homs introk. Dit is extreem traag voor een elitedivisie die slechts matig getrainde guerrilla's met lichte wapens tegenover zich heeft. Het regime kan echter geen risico nemen met wat in feite haar enige troefkaart is.

Het lijkt onwaarschijnlijk dat deze ene divisie, die bovendien ook met uitputtingsverschijnselen te maken gaat krijgen, heel Syri� kan pacificeren. Veelzeggend is dat als het gewone leger, de Shabiha en veiligheidstroepen het gedrie�n moeten opknappen ze een stad niet onder controle kunnen houden. Dit gebeurt in Homs, Idlib, Deraa, Hama, Aleppo en in talloze kleinere plaatsen.

Martelingen
De opstand is namelijk nog lang niet be�indigd. De val van Baba Amr was een tegenslag, maar het verzet heeft een brede achterban van soennieten die zo'n driekwart van de bevolking uitmaken. Hoe gemotiveerd zij zijn, valt af te lezen aan het feit dat ze ondanks de sluipschutters en martelingen al meer dan een jaar dagelijks massaal de straat opgaan, zelfs nu weer in Homs.

Saoedi-Arabi� en Qatar beginnen hen nu ook van wapens te voorzien. Zij zien hun kans schoon om rivaal Iran dwars te zitten door diens bondgenoot Syri�, tevens doorvoerhaven van wapens naar Hezbollah, instabiel te houden. De Golfstaten beseffen dat zolang er beelden van de gruweldaden van Assad opduiken, de internationale gemeenschap de leveringen stilzwijgend zal toestaan.

Geen beslissing
Dit wil niet zeggen dat het verzet wint. De Shabiha en de veiligheidstroepen vechten met de moed der wanhoop. De opstandelingen moeten ook nog veel vorderingen maken in training, co�rdinatie en bewapening voordat ze de Gardedivisie of de Vierde Divisie kunnen verslaan.

Het meest waarschijnlijke toekomstscenario is dan ook een door-etterend conflict waarin geen van beide partijen een beslissing kan forceren. Intussen zal het dodental blijven stijgen en komen bevolkingsgroepen nog meer tegenover elkaar te staan.

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Het lijkt onwaarschijnlijk dat deze ene divisie, die bovendien ook met uitputtingsverschijnselen te maken gaat krijgen, heel Syri� kan pacificeren. Veelzeggend is dat als het gewone leger, de Shabiha en veiligheidstroepen het gedrie�n moeten opknappen ze een stad niet onder controle kunnen houden. Dit gebeurt in Homs, Idlib, Deraa, Hama, Aleppo en in talloze kleinere plaatsen.

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Op donderdag 15 maart 2012 11:54 schreef Billy-jazz het volgende:

[..]

Een massale opstand in Syrisch Koerdistan zou dus fataal kunnen zijn voor de Syrische veiligheidsdiensten. Alleen willen de Koerden daar waarschijnlijk iets voor terughebben. Ze zijn niet van plan om de ene Arabische fascist met de andere in te ruilen.

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Op donderdag 15 maart 2012 11:57 schreef Andre3000 het volgende:
Absoluut niet. Een dergelijk opstand zou moord betekenen en de Koerdische kop zou kleiner worden.

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Syria: Assad's emails, the aftermath - live updates

12.36pm: The Syrian government is furious about the leak of the Assad emails and appears to have tried to block the Guardian in Syria, according Rime Allaf, associate fellow Syria and specialist at the foreign policy thinktank Chatham House.

"I think the regime is annoyed to no end by this," she said speaking via Skype from Vienna.

Allaf, who was monitoring Syrian TV channels after the emails were published, described a government spokesman "excitedly" dismissing the emails as a foreign media conspiracy. "They didn't expect this," she said.

. Immediately [after the emails were published] state TV was showing how easy it is to fake emails. They are very very annoyed by this and they want to immediately instill the notion of doubt in the mind's of their followers.

Allaf's contacts in Syria claimed the Guardian was being blocked in the country. But activists have translated versions of the emails online, she said.

"There is a wish by many Syrians in the opposition that other Syrians read about this," she said.

[audio]

The emails confirm what many Syrians feel about the Assads, she said.

. Nobody thought that they would be agonising about all the Syrians that have been killed [but] it is the banality of these emails which is most striking. It is not really the amount that is being spent, but it is the fact that while people are being shelled, and under siege and dying, they are exchanging what they think are funny links and ordering things on the internet.

For most Syrians the luxury life style of the Assad will not be news, Allaf said.

What is not normal is that this should happen when the brutality of the Syrian regime was at full strength. Syrian friends have had no heart to joke, nobody is in the mood to shop. These [the Assads] are people who live as if nothing else is happening.

. What we have read so far confirms a perception we have had about them [the Assads] that they are completely detached and uncaring about what happens to the country. It shows that these are people who never ever had any intention of being serious about any kind of reform.

Asked about the veracity of the emails, Allaf said:

. They emails are too flippant and short to be a big hoax. I do think they are genuine. They fit an image that we have formed about the regime over the past year.

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Op donderdag 15 maart 2012 19:53 schreef Gabriel-Omar-Batistuta het volgende:
Pro-Assad demonstratie, ik denk niet dat we dit straks bij het NOS journaal te zien zullen krijgen.

SYRIAN GLOBAL MARCH - 2012/3/15 - part 1 المسيرة السورية العالمية الكبرى

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Assad emails: father-in-law gave advice from UK during crackdown

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Dr Fawas Akhras, who is the father of Assad's wife, Asma, used a private email channel to the Syrian leader to offer advice on how the regime should spin its suppression of the uprising, including how best to rebut graphic video footage appearing to show the torture of children by Syrian forces.

The 66-year-old west London-based consultant has until now been regarded as a modernising influence on his son-in-law. He is co-chair of the British Syrian Society, which has said it is "saddened and appalled at the violence and loss of life in Syria", where more than 8,000 people are believed to have been killed since the uprising against Assad's rule began a year ago. But a collection of several thousand messages to and from the Assads' private email accounts obtained by the Guardian appears to show that as the violence escalated in recent months, Akhras offered the Syrian president detailed political and media handling advice as well as moral support in dozens of emails direct to his personal inbox.

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The revelation that Akhras has taken such an active role helping the Syrian regime will create embarrassment for a number of establishment figures with links to him. Fellow directors of the British Syrian Society include Sir Andrew Green, former UK ambassador to Syria, and Sir Gavyn Arthur, former lord mayor of London, while Lord (Charles) Powell, Margaret Thatcher's former chief of staff, is a trustee of the Syria Heritage Foundation, a British charity which was set up by Akhras.

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Syria: Songs of Defiance

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He says: "I was walking through Homs and sniper fire started and I was the only one in the crowd that actually flinched. And a father with his kids was standing by the door and they were sort of laughing at me and pointing, saying 'why don't you fall on the floor while you are at it?' It's amazing how Syrians, who never heard gunfire because they lived in a very peaceful country, have gotten used so quickly to living in a state of war, how to respond to it. They've very quickly become a mobilised revolutionary society, whereas before they had no experience of doing this.

"Despite all this violence and attacks every night there are demonstrations. People come out in defiance. It has become something that they have to do ... like they have freedom for just that moment of time. And people will say that they feel depressed if they don't go out. There's a phenomenon: late at night, people will yell 'Allahu Akbar'. Mostly it has become a statement of defiance: 'We're still here.'

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‘Doden bij explosies rond overheidsgebouwen Damascus’

Bij twee explosies in de Syrische hoofdstad Damascus zouden vanochtend een aantal doden zijn gevallen. Dat heeft het Syrische staatspersbureau SANA vanochtend gemeld. Onder de doden zouden enkele burgers en leden van de veiligheidstroepen zijn.

Volgens de staatstelevisie vond een van de twee “terroristische explosies” plaats bij een gebouw van de douane. De andere explosie zou gehoord zijn in de wijk al-Wasala. Uit eerste onderzoek zou zijn gebleken dat de explosies veroorzaakt zijn door autobommen.

In Damascus, dat relatief rustig is gebleven gedurende de nu precies een jaar durende volksopstand tegen het regime van president Bashar al-Assad, vonden ook in december en januari al grote explosies plaats. Bij die explosies, die het regime ook als terroristische aanslagen betitelden, vielen enkele tientallen doden.

Wie er precies verantwoordelijk zijn voor de explosies of aanslagen in Damascus en andere Syrische steden is onduidelijk. Het regime heeft terreurnetwerk Al-Qaeda geregeld van geweld in het land beschuldigd en wil zo de indruk wekken dat de Syrische oppositie samenwerkt met terroristen. De oppositie heeft altijd ontkend aan te slagen te plegen en vermoedt dat het regime de hand heeft in de explosies.

quote:

http://blogs.aljazeera.net/liveblog/russia-mar-18-2012-1107

Sun, 18 Mar 2012, 08:07 GMT+3 - Russia

Russia's foreign minister urged Syria to support UN-Arab League envoy Kofi Annan's peacemaking efforts "without delay" in comments published on Saturday, adopting an unusually firm tone with the government of President Bashar al-Assad.

Russia disagrees with many of the decisions Assad's government has made in a year of bloodshed, Sergei Lavrov told state television in an interview, according to a transcript posted on the Foreign Ministry website.

Lavrov's comments did not signal a shift in Russia's stance, but suggested Moscow wants the world to know it is motivated by the urgent need to end the violence in Syria rather than by the desire to prop up a longtime ally.

Russia, with China, on Feb. 4 vetoed a Western-Arab draft UN Security Council resolution that would have condemned the government for violence the United Nations says has killed more than 8,000 civilians and backed a call for Assad to step aside.

Russia has vocally supported a mission by Annan, who met with Assad last weekend as part of a push for a ceasefire, the deployment of monitors and political dialogue between the government and opposition.

"We believe the Syrian government should quickly, without delay, support (Annan's) approaches," Lavrov said. "We will expect the same from the armed and political opposition." [Reuters]

quote:

Syria: reports of heavy firefight in western Damascus

Free Syrian Army rebels and forces loyal to Bashar al-Assad clashing in Mezze district, say residents

Heavy fighting has broken out between Free Syrian Army rebels and forces loyal to President Bashar al-Assad in a main district of Damascus that is home to several security installations, according to witnesses.

The sound of heavy machinegun fire and rocket-propelled grenades echoed through the heavily guarded Mezze district in the pre-dawn hours of Monday, residents said. There was no immediate word on casualties but residents said by telephone the fighting was intense.

"There is fighting near Hamada supermarket and the sound of explosions there and elsewhere in the neighbourhood. Security police have blocked several side streets and the street lighting has been cut off," a resident of the area said.

The fighting in the capital came after a car bomb ripped through a residential area of Syria's second city, Aleppo, on Sunday, and as activists reported heavy clashes across the country between state forces and rebels fighting to overthrow Assad.

As hundreds gathered on Sunday in Damascus to mourn victims of car bombings the previous day, activists said security forces beat and arrested people at a march of more than 200 when protesters began shouting "the people want to topple the regime".

Among those arrested and beaten was Mohammed Sayyed Rassas, a leader of the National Co-ordinating Body for Democratic Change (NCB), an opposition group whose members have visited China and Russia in attempts to promote dialogue between Assad and the opposition.

Most opposition groups have rejected the NCB over its insistence on non-violence and its stance against foreign intervention.

Security forces also arrested Farzand Omar, a doctor and politician from the party Building the Syria State, when he arrived at the Damascus airport from his hometown of Aleppo.

World powers have been unable to stop more than a year of bloodshed in Syria. Recent army gains against rebel positions have shown no sign of quelling the violence and no negotiated settlement is in sight.

The United Nations says more than 8,000 people have been killed and humanitarian conditions are grim. The government says about 2,000 members of security forces have been killed.

In Aleppo, Syria's commercial hub, the state news agency Sana said terrorists were behind the car bomb that killed two people and wounded 30 others when it exploded in a central area close to a state security office and a church.

The explosion came a day after twin blasts on Saturday killed 27 people in Damascus and wounded nearly 100 others.

The semi-official news channel al-Ikhbariya said security forces had been tipped off about the bomb in Aleppo and had been moving residents out of the area when it went off. It said the car had been filled with 200kg of explosives.

Pictures on the Sana website showed building fronts blasted open and aid workers standing near piles of shattered masonry and bomb craters, while Syria TV showed a street corner splattered in blood.

"The explosion came suddenly and the only thing I thought to do was fall to the ground," a girl told Syria TV, her hands and face covered in shards of glass. "Nothing remained. All the building fronts collapsed. God curse them."

No group claimed responsibility for the Aleppo attack and an activist from the opposition's local Revolutionary Council said the government was behind it.

Reports from Syria are difficult to verify as the government restricts foreign journalists' access.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said at least 19 people, including four children, were killed in rocket attacks and by gunfire during army raids and fighting with rebels across the country on Sunday.

Fighting subsided overnight in the eastern city of Deir al-Zor on the Euphrates river after army tanks shelled a Free Syrian Army hideout there in the morning, killing at least six rebels.

The insurgents retaliated by attacking roadblocks and security compounds in various districts of the city, residents and opposition activists said.

"The Free Syrian Army responded fiercely. Around 200 rebels took to the streets and hit army patrols stationed at roundabouts and schools and government buildings that have been turned into shabbiha [pro-Assad militiamen] headquarters," said Wael Ghaith, an opposition activist.

"The army has all but pulled out from the main thoroughfares by night."

A statement by rebels said they had killed Major Ayham al-Hamad, a key operative in Airforce Intelligence, a secret police division that has been spearheading the crackdown on the revolt in the city.

In Raqqa, another poor Sunni Muslim tribal city on the Euphrates, troops and military intelligence agents deployed and army snipers took to rooftops after security forces shot dead at least 20 people in the last three days, opposition activists said.

Most of the casualties were protesters killed when a large crowd tried to bring down a big statue of Assad's father in the middle of the city, they said, adding that sporadic demonstrations continued in Raqqa on Sunday and that fighting was reported between army defectors and loyalist troops.

quote:

Russische antiterreureenheid aangekomen in Syrie
Een Russische antiterreureenheid is met een schip van de Zwarte Zeevloot in de Russische militaire basis Tartus in Syri� aangekomen. De eenheid moet Russen helpen bij hun eventuele vlucht uit het Arabische land.

Dat heeft de leiding van de vloot in de Oekra�ense stad Sevastopol op de Krim maandag volgens het persbureau Interfax gezegd.

Rusland is een bondgenoot van president Bashar al-Assad van Syri�. Ook is het een belangrijke wapenleverancier aan het bewind. Moskou heeft met China verhinderd dat de VN-Veiligheidsraad het gewelddadig optreden van Assad tegen de oppositie veroordeelde.

quote:

Syria: leaked documents reveal Bashar al-Assad's role in crushing protests

Documents leaked by Syrian defector show that Assad personally signs off security crackdown plans

Leaks of what appear to be official Syrian documents reveal how the country's president, Bashar al-Assad, personally signs off plans drawn up by his government's crisis management centre, prioritising a security crackdown to prevent demonstrations against his regime spreading to Damascus.

Hundreds of pages of confidential papers shown to al-Jazeera TV by a defector describe daily meetings of the heads of all Syria's security and intelligence agencies, who review events and issue orders that are then approved by the president.

Amid reports of fighting in the Mezzeh area of Damascus – the heaviest in the capital since the uprising began a year ago – al-Jazeera said on Monday that the documents were smuggled out of Syria by Abdel-Majid Barakat, head of information for the crisis management unit, who is now hiding in Turkey with opposition activists.

Emails published by the Guardian last week, which were also obtained from Syrian opposition sources, showed the gilded lifestyle of Assad and his wife Asma, apparently insulated from the bloodshed and violence raging across the country.

The emails included details of iTunes purchases, flirtatious exchanges with a female aide, and advice on PR and media policy.

The latest documents appear to shed more direct light on the regime's strategy against the uprising, including the deployment of thousands of militia known as "shabiha" and members of the Ba'ath party in operations designed to cut off Damascus, Aleppo, Idlib and other large cities from their surrounding regions.

In the capital, the documents show, the main squares are the responsibility of different branches of Syria's large security apparatus, including the notorious air force intelligence directorate, which has been repeatedly accused of brutality and torture by Syrian opposition supporters and foreign human rights watchdogs.

On Fridays, the day of the biggest anti-regime protests since the uprising began, the plan is to isolate the capital by using 35 checkpoints to control movement. Roads into Damascus from nearby towns are also routinely closed. One thousand security personnel are deployed in the central Ummayad mosque alone.

Al-Jazeera said the papers made clear that Assad was personally involved in approving measures to crush the unrest. The president's signature was visible on one document authorising prison sentences for illegal demonstrations.

In one leaked document marked confidential, the government warned the foreign minister about countries trying to persuade Syrian diplomats to defect.

Al-Jazeera said: "Every evening at 7pm Damascus time, there is a meeting of all the intelligence and security chiefs looking back at what happened across the country during the day, making their plans, making their orders for the next day. These plans go to the office of the president the next morning and he himself signs all the orders, gives the final go ahead."

Al-Jazeera described Barakat as an opposition "mole" inside the HQ directing the crackdown, who realised last month that he had been compromised and fled the country with 1,400 documents, which the TV station believes are genuine.

"My mission was to transfer the information to the opposition internally and abroad," Barakat said in an interview with the Qatar-based satellite channel, which is considered profoundly hostile by the Assad regime.

"Anyone who reads these reports will be shocked, will realise that Syria is living a real crisis: killings, criminality and suppression of protesters. However security chiefs paint [a] beautiful picture in their reports. They ignore many substantial facts on the ground simply to boost the president's morale," he said.

The Syrian government made no comment on the documents, which came to light amid witness reports of fighting in Damascus in which state TV said three "terrorists" and a member of the security forces had been killed.

Heavy machine-gunfire and rocket-propelled grenades echoed throughout the night from the western suburb of Mezzeh, one of the most heavily guarded areas of the capital.

The Revolution Leadership Council of Damascus also reported 35 people had been injured by gunfire in the Barzeh area.

Russian media meanwhile reported that Russian anti-terrorism forces had arrived in the Syrian port of Tartous. Experts sent by the UN and Arab League envoy Kofi Annan also arrived in Syria to discuss ceasefire and monitoring plans.

quote:

Op maandag 19 maart 2012 20:30 schreef LXIV het volgende:
Nu lees ik op een Duitse site dat de doden in Homs voornamelijk christenen zijn, vermoord door de rebellen. En dat Al-Qa�da in Syri� olie op het vuur gooit met autobomaanslagen.

Net als in Lybi� weet ik niet of het zo verstandig is om die rebellen maar blind te steunen. Vaak zitten er moslimextremisten achter. Assad is helemaal niet zo'n slechte president, hij kan de boel er tenminste onder houden.

quote:

Op maandag 19 maart 2012 20:32 schreef Papierversnipperaar het volgende:

[..]

Het begon gewoon met ongewapende burgers die gingen demonstreren. Assad heeft er een burgeroorlog van gemaakt, net als Ghaddafi in Libi�. Dat de oppositie zich nu bewapend is de schuld van de agressie van het Assad-regime. Self-fulfilling prophecy.

quote:

Op maandag 19 maart 2012 20:34 schreef LXIV het volgende:

[..]

Ik denk niet dat het zo simpel is. Het is helemaal niet in het belang van Assad of Ghadaffi om iets te laten escalleren tot een burgeroorlog, dus waarom zouden ze dat doen?

quote:

Verder heb ik mijn sterke twijfels bij de doelstellingen van de 'rebellen'. Zie Egypte.

quote:

Russian Anti-Terror Troops Arrive in Syria

A Russian military unit has arrived in Syria, according to Russian news reports, a development that a United Nations Security Council source told ABC News was "a bomb" certain to have serious repercussions.

Russia, one of President Bashar al-Assad's strongest allies despite international condemnation of the government's violent crackdown on the country's uprising, has repeatedly blocked the United Nations Security Council's attempts to halt the violence, accusing the U.S. and its allies of trying to start another war.

Now the Russian Black Sea fleet's Iman tanker has arrived in the Syrian port of Tartus on the Mediterranean Sea with an anti-terror squad from the Russian Marines aboard according to the Interfax news agency. The Assad government has insisted it is fighting a terrorist insurgency.

The Iman replaced another Russian ship "which had been sent to Syria for demonstrating (sic) the Russian presence in the turbulent region and possible evaluation of Russian citizens," the Black Sea Fleet told Interfax.

RIA Novosti, a news outlet with strong ties to the Kremlin, trumpeted the news in a banner headline that appeared only on its Arabic language website. The Russian embassy to the US and to the UN had no comment, saying they have "no particular information on" the arrival of a Russian anti-terrorism squad to Syria.

Moscow has long enjoyed a cozy relationship with the Assad regime, to which it sells billions of dollars of weapons. In return Russia has maintained a Navy base at Tartus, which gives it access to the Mediterranean.

Last week Russia's Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Russia had no plans to send troops to Syria.

"As for the question whether I consider it necessary to confront the United States in Syria and ensure our military presence there… in order to take part in military actions -- no. I believe this would be against Russia's national interests," Lavrov told lawmakers, according to RIA Novosti.

Russia's Defense Minister Anatoly Serdyukov denied reports that Russian special forces were operating inside Syria. He did say, however, that there are Russian military and technical advisors in the country.

U.S. State Department spokesperson Victoria Nuland said the U.S. government had not heard of the reports of Russian troops in Syria and declined to comment.

quote:

Op maandag 19 maart 2012 20:30 schreef LXIV het volgende:
Nu lees ik op een Duitse site dat de doden in Homs voornamelijk christenen zijn, vermoord door de rebellen.

quote:

En dat Al-Qa�da in Syri� olie op het vuur gooit met autobomaanslagen.

شهادات جرحى العمل الإرهابي في حلب 18-3-2012

quote:

De ene oorlog is de andere niet

Door: Mark van Assen
Gepubliceerd: gisteren 22:16
Update: vandaag 06:35

In een oorlog komt het slechtste in de mens naar boven. In een b�rgeroorlog, zoals in nu Syri�, gaat alles een tandje harder. Niks haat zo makkelijk als je eigen buurman, zeker als hij ook nog eens een ander geloof heeft.

Soms zeggen simpele voorbeelden het meest.

Het is bijna lente. In een zacht zonnetje staat hij zijn erf te vegen, het knarst van glasscherven en klein gruis. Het is een absurd tafereel, want heel de stad ligt in puin.

Dik twee maanden eerder, tot november 1991, vochten hier in Vukovar Servi�rs en Kroaten om elke straat en elk huis. Hij ook. Hij zag hoe zijn beste vriend een kogel door het hoofd kreeg. Hij zag wie het deed, en hij wist wie het was.

Nu stopt hij even met vegen en vertelt tot in detail hoe hij de man eerst zijn neus afsneed, toen zijn oren, toen zijn geslacht, toen liet hij hem even reutelen en toen sneed hij hem de keel door.

Slachtoffer en martelaar kenden elkaar, ze waren van dezelfde leeftijd. Ze zaten bij elkaar in de klas. ‘Pa sta da kazem, to je rat. Tja, wat zal ik zeggen. Dat is de oorlog.’

Het was niet de eerste en ook niet de laatste keer dat hij iemands keel doorsneed. Soms waren er mensen bij die hij kende. Daar had hij dan extra aandacht voor. Berouw? Nee, niet echt.

Kip met rijst

Dan Irak, het is april 2003.

Weer zo’n mooie lentedag. We zitten in de tuin van Salam in Abu Ghraib, een stad vlak bij Bagdad. Alsof er de afgelopen maand niks gebeurd is, lachen we om de grapjes van een rare neef. We eten kip met rijst. Dat eten we al de hele week, want is er niks anders in het Bagdad van deze dagen.

Salam heeft ons uitgenodigd om te laten zien dat soennieten (zoals hij) best in vrede kunnen leven met sjiieten (zoals zijn vrouw). Daar gaat het namelijk al maanden over, dat dat niet kan.

De Amerikanen hebben Saddam Hoessein verjaagd en niet nagedacht over hoe nu verder. Hij was zelf een soenniet en kon alleen maar aan de macht blijven door de sjiitische meerderheid met harde hand te onderdrukken. De sjiieten zinnen dus op wraak.

Maar niet in Abu Ghraib, bezweren Salam en zijn familie. Hier eten we gewoon kip en rijst met elkaar. Hier kunnen we lachen met elkaar.

Een paar jaar later spreken we Salam weer, nu over de telefoon. Hij kan zich die mooie middag in april nog goed herinneren. Hij kan zich ook herinneren hoe de Amerikanen vechtend door Bagdad trokken. Dat ging heel gestroomlijnd, zegt hij bijna bewonderend. ‘Heel clean.’ Geen onnodige doden, althans, niet veel. Geen onnodige schade aan huizen en wegen. Hij weet nog hoe hij ons de zwartgeblakerde luchtdoelgeschutten liet zien die Saddams leger midden in woonwijken had geplaatst. Alleen de kannonnen waren verwoest, aan de huizen en straten eromheen was niks te zien.

De handboor

Inmiddels, en daarom klinkt hij zo treurig, heeft hij gezien wat soennieten en sjiieten elkaar kunnen aandoen. Hij heeft gezien hoe mannen van de Mehdi-brigade van de sjiitische geestelijke Moqtada al-Sadr ontvoerde soennieten hebben mishandeld. De oorlog die de Amerikanen tegen Saddam voerden, hij zegt het met veel moeite, was niks vergeleken met de gruwelen van nu.

Salam vertelt over de mannen die na een vermissing van een paar maanden worden teruggevonden in een greppel langs de weg. Ze hebben keurige ronde gaatjes in hun schedels of in hun gewrichten, vaak in allebei. Ze zijn bewerkt met het favoriete martelwerktuig van sjiitische milities: de elektrische handboor.

De soennitische milities, want die heb je natuurlijk ook, werken het liefst met zuur en loden pijpen. Het is niet genoeg om mensen te doden, zucht Salam, mensen moeten eerst heel erg lijden en d�n pas dood. Ook in zijn familie zijn er mensen ontvoerd, gemarteld en gedood. ‘Zij hadden niks gedaan. Ze hadden alleen maar het verkeerde geloof.’

We hebben Salam nooit meer gesproken.

En nu in Syri� anno 2012 zien we het weer. Ook daar is het niet genoeg om mensen te doden, ze moeten vermorzeld worden. Eerst waren het de Joegoslaven die elkaar afslachtten, daarna de Irakezen en nu de Syri�rs.

Zelfs in een belegerde stad zoals Homs maandenlang was, vochten religieuze groepen onderling een vreselijke strijd uit. Alewieten bewerkten soennieten met strijkijzers, sji�eten gingen met hun handboor los op christenen, soennieten lieten gruwelijk verminkte lijken achter waar iedereen ze kon zien. En ondertussen vielen er bommen van het Syrische leger.

Daar hoeft geen Amerikaan of Rus of wie dan ook aan te pas te komen.

quote:

Syrian activists targeted by fake YouTube

Spoof site can plant malware on PCs of people who leave comments on videos, pressure group warns

Syrian activists are being targeted by a fake version of Google's YouTube video site which plants malware on the PCs of people who leave comments on videos shown there, the Electronic Frontier Foundation has warned.

The EFF, a pressure group for free speech online, said that the site has been used to target people watching videos showing the conflict inside Syria, and that it may have captured the login details for Google accounts belonging to activists inside or outside the country. It also warns that the site offers a fake "update" to the Flash software used on most PCs to view video content.

The discovery ratchets up the online attacks against Syrian anti-government activists, who have been increasingly targeted by malware which is capable of capturing webcam details, turning off antivirus programs and capturing passwords.

The organisation warned last week that it had found two cases of pro-Syrian government malware – which can take over a machine or silently watch everything that the user types – being sent as web links in emails and chat.

It found that that malware sent back details to an internet address, 216.6.0.28, which has been assigned to the Syrian Telecommunications Establishment – indicating that unlike the vast majority of malware, which is used by criminals to download bank or other details and controlled via machines on the wider web, this one connects back to an official address inside Syria. That makes it likely that it is controlled by agencies acting for the Syrian government. The online security company Symantec detailed the effects of the malware in February.

The EFF warns people who have recently viewed such videos that they should check the security of their Google account, including the enabling of "two-factor authentication" – which requires special login details and will send a warning to the user's phone if the account is accessed from a different machine than the one which they normally use.

The fake YouTube uses the same layout as the official one, with Arabic script as Syrian users would expect.

YouTube has become an important channel for Syrian activists trying to get news about attacks by the government on citizens and locations out to the rest of the world. Videos uploaded to the site have revealed detail about the effects of shelling on cities and the killing of citizens. By targeting those who watch such videos, pro-government activists might be able to build up information about the networks and members of activist groups.

In a statement, the EFF noted that "EFF is deeply concerned about this pattern of pro-government malware targeting online activists in authoritarian regimes. We will continue to keep a close eye on future developments in this area."

quote:

Rusland steunt plan Annan voor missie in Syri�

Rusland zal steun verlenen aan de VN-resolutie die de missie van Kofi Annan mogelijk maakt. Dat zegt de Russische minister van Buitenlandse Zaken Sergej Lavrov vandaag.

Oud-VN-chef Annan, die namens de VN en Arabische Liga in onderhandeling is met Syri�, stuurt deze week mensen naar Damascus om in overleg te gaan over een mogelijke nieuwe waarnemersmissie in het land. Annan wil de gesprekken voortzetten die hij vorige week met de Syrische regering voerde over be�indiging van het geweld. Hij heeft twee keer een ontmoeting gehad met president Bashar al-Assad en voorstellen gedaan om het bloedvergieten, die nog niet openbaar zijn gemaakt te be�indigen.

Lavrov zei echter dat de Veiligheidsraad Annan’s voorstel niet moet interpreteren als een ultimatum, maar gewoon als een basis voor de afwikkeling van de crisis. Rusland heeft het Syrische regime tot dusver beschermd voor VN-sancties naar aanleiding van het harde optreden van het regime tegen de demonstranten.

quote:

Syrische leger herwint stad Deir al-Zor op rebellen

Het Syrische leger heeft zich vandaag met behulp van tanks toegang verschaft tot de stad Deir al-Zor in het oosten van Syri�. Het legersleger greep eenmaal binnen de stadsmuren na wat kleine gevechten snel weer de controle over de stad die enkele dagen in handen was van de rebellen.

Dat hebben tegenstanders van het regime van de Syrische president Bashar al-Assad gezegd tegen persbureau AP.

Een activist in Syri� vertelde AP dat tanks en legertroepen de stad vandaag van vier zijden binnenvielen. De rebellen zouden na een kort vuurgevecht dekking hebben gezocht in huizen en gebouwen, uit angst dat langdurige gevechten de stad volledig zouden verwoesten. Zoals dat bijvoorbeeld bij de stad Homs gebeurde.

Rami Abdul-Rahman, van de in Groot-Brittanni� gevestigde organisatie Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, zei eerder dat de rebellen weinig tegenstand ondervonden toen zij Deir al-Zor een paar dagen geleden innamen.

De laatste drie dagen zouden troepen van Assad echter de schuilplaatsen van de strijders in de wijk Omal hebben aangevallen en ten minste 25 strijders hebben gedood.

In de gevechten van vandaag zou niemand zijn gedood. Gisteren vonden in Damascus de hevigste gevechten plaats sinds het begin van de opstand een jaar geleden. Volgens de VN zijn er sindsdien al meer dan 8.000 doden gevallen.

quote:

Op woensdag 21 maart 2012 00:45 schreef boekenplank het volgende:
Geweldig knip en plak topic weer.

quote:

'Messi geeft signalen aan Syrische rebellen'
De Syrische staatstelevisie beweert dat Lionel Messi en de andere spelers van Barcelona geheime boodschappen, meer bepaald smokkelroutes, doorgeven aan de Syrische rebellen die vechten tegen president Bashar Assad. Dat doen ze volgens hen door middel van dribbels en passes tijdens een wedstrijd tegen Real Madrid.

In de match tegen de Madrilenen begint Lionel Messi aan een lange actie om vervolgens de bal aan Pedro te geven die de bal in doel legt. Volgens de staatstelevisie zouden de spelers de positie van de wapensmokkelaars symboliseren en zou de positie van de bal de locatie van de wapens weergeven.

Door de actie van Messi, de pass van Messi aan Pedro en het doelpunt van Pedro, zou volgens de spreker in het filmpje de operatie succesvol afgerond zijn. Toch maar vreemd als u het ons vraagt.

quote:

Akkoord veiligheidsraad over Syrie
De VN-Veiligheidsraad steunt het vredesplan van Kofi Annan voor Syri�. Ook Rusland en China zijn akkoord gegaan met een verklaring waarin die steun wordt gegeven. Dat melden diplomaten aan verschillende persbureaus.

Het plan van Annan bestaat uit zes stappen die moeten leiden tot vrede in Syri�; onderdeel ervan is een staakt-het-vuren. Annan is namens de internationale gemeenschap bemiddelaar in het conflict in Syri�.

In de verklaring van de Veiligheidsraad staat ook dat er verdere stappen zullen worden genomen als Syri� zich niet houdt aan het voorstel van Annan. Wat voor stappen dat zijn, is nog niet bekend.

quote:

Op woensdag 21 maart 2012 16:04 schreef Frutsel het volgende:

[..]

(filmpje - zie bronlink)
wtf

quote:

Op woensdag 21 maart 2012 04:32 schreef AryaMehr het volgende:
Vrijheidsstrijders:

شنق رجل أمن في سوريا 04-06-2011.flv

إعدام أخطرشبيح في مدينة كفر تخاريم .إدلب

Demonstrators prepare scenes - "wounded people in demonstrations" in Syria

Martyr who blinked his eye - Only in Syria

Caught: Staged CNN Syria Interviews Faked By Activist Danny

Homs Massacre a Fake, Syria 04-02-2012

quote:

Armed Terrorist Groups faked a Massacre in Homs.

They killed Civilians and Army Members and made a fake Video

Mrs. Thana al-Mohamad, a resident of Homs, said that she recognized two corpses of her relatives among those shown by fabrications satellites, who were kidnapped since 17 days in Homs Governorate. Khalid al-Shalabi, another resident of Homs, said to Syrian TV, that some members of the armed terrorist groups are disguised in military uniforms shooting randolmly at the citizens of Homs.

Tens of innocent civilians were kidnapped by armed terrorist groups in different places inside Syria; many of them were tortured, raped and killed at the hands of the terrorists, supported by some countries like Qatar, Turkey, France and many others.

However, the TV satellites of lies and fabrications did not highlight the fact that had the killed were hit by mortars, as they claim, their bodies would have been turned into tiny pieces.

”The TV Satellites of instigation, partners with the armed terrorist groups and so-called the Istanbul council, have been launching a hysterical campaign of provocation and incitement to the shedding of the more of Syrian blood as to influence the stances of some countries at the UN Security Council,” added the source.

quote:

Op woensdag 21 maart 2012 22:12 schreef rakotto het volgende:
Mja, sommige filmpjes zijn nep, maar anderen zijn overduidelijk echt. Het is en blijft zo, al die regimes/dictaturen moeten dood/weg.

quote:

T E L E C O M I X opsyria has established a secure dropbox

quote:

#opsyria has established a secure dropbox, administrated by LulzPanda, where you can put informations and files to publish without fear of being identified.

quote:

Op donderdag 22 maart 2012 16:54 schreef killfrenzy het volgende:
Bashar

Moge hij alle opstandelingen aanpakken .

quote:

Op donderdag 22 maart 2012 14:54 schreef horned_reaper het volgende:
Mensen, ik heb een hele abstracte en toch simpele vraag. Ik moet vanavond een betoog houden over het wel of juist niet militair ingrijpen in Syri�.

E�n hele belangrijke vraag waar ik dan telkens over blijf stranden is de vraag: "vindt er nu ook daadwerkelijk genocide plaats in Syri�? "

Ik moet direct toegeven dat ik lang niet zo onderlegd ben in de situatie zoals deze in Syri� zich voltrekt als sommigen in dit topic, maar bovenstaande vraag maakt het antwoord op de stelling wel een stuk makkelijker.

De Verenigde Naties namen in 1948 het Verdrag inzake de voorkoming en de bestraffing van genocide aan, waarin genocide wordt verboden. Deze conventie definieert in artikel 2 genocide als:
'een van de volgende handelingen, gepleegd met de bedoeling om een nationale, etnische, godsdienstige groep, dan wel een groep, behorende tot een bepaald ras, geheel of gedeeltelijk als zodanig te vernietigen: 'het doden van leden van de groep; het toebrengen van ernstig lichamelijk of geestelijk letsel aan leden van de groep; het opzettelijk aan de groep opleggen van levensvoorwaarden die gericht zijn op haar gehele of gedeeltelijke lichamelijke vernietiging; het nemen van maatregelen, bedoeld om geboorten binnen de groep te voorkomen en het gewelddadig overbrengen van kinderen van de groep naar een andere groep.'

Dus wat denken jullie?

En vinden jullie dat er militair ingegrepen moet worden?

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Op donderdag 22 maart 2012 17:19 schreef SteelDogg het volgende:

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Op donderdag 22 maart 2012 18:21 schreef killfrenzy het volgende:

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Ik meen het anders wel.

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'Moeder Assad wil weg'

DUBAI - In de heersende clan van de Assads in Syri� woedt een discussie over ballingschap, melden waarnemers van de Syrische nieuwswebsite All4Syria.

Zo zou de moeder van president Bashar al-Assad, Anisa Makhlouf, willen dat de hele familie snel het land verlaat.

Eerder zouden zowel Rusland als de VS Assad hebben beloofd hem tegen strafvervolging te beschermen indien hij de macht opgeeft en in ballingschap gaat. Qatar heeft zich ook als toevluchtsoord aangeboden.

Een deel van de familie piekert er echter niet over om op te geven. Dat zijn Assads die ervan overtuigd zijn dat het ruim veertig jaar oude regime zich met hulp uit Moskou en Teheran kan herstellen en handhaven.

Beledigend

Het lijkt erop dat Bashar al-Assad en zijn vrouw Asma het in het familiedebat niet eens zijn met Anisa. Asma zou in e-mails het idee van ballingschap als beledigend hebben afgewezen.

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Op donderdag 22 maart 2012 18:24 schreef Papierversnipperaar het volgende:

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Tuurlijk

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Op donderdag 22 maart 2012 21:17 schreef sl44 het volgende:
ergens heb ik medelijden met assad, volgens mij wil hij echt het beste voor zijn volk en heeft hij echt het idee dat de tegenstanders dat niet willen.

Hij wilt echt het beste en probeert ze te beschermen, te beschermen tegen het westen en hij probeert alles zo goed mogelijk voor hem te doen, echter doet hij dat op de verkeerde manier door zijn tegenstanders(wat ook zijn volk is af te schieten) wat zeer triest is.

Hij wilt het beste, maar heeft het gevoel dat het onder zijn vingers wegglipt en dat probeert hij verkeerd op te lossen.

Het is geen verkeerde man, zijn doel is oke, maar de middelen die hij gebruikt om zijn doel te bereiken zijn zeer zeer slecht en verwerpelijk en dienen zo snel mogelijk gestopt te worden.

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Tens of thousands in Syria call for fall of regime

Associated Press= BEIRUT (AP) — Tens of thousands of Syrians braved tear gas and gunfire to protest across the country Friday, vowing to storm the capital Damascus to oust President Bashar Assad as the European Union ramped up pressure on the regime by imposing sanctions on his wife and other close relatives.

Security forces deployed in many cities to disperse protests, but opposition groups reported fewer protester deaths than in past weeks. Activists said more than 20 people were killed nationwide in army attacks on opposition areas or clashes with armed rebels.

International condemnation and high-level diplomacy have failed to stop the year-old Syria crisis, which the U.N. says has killed more than 8,000 people, many of them civilian protesters.

Friday's sanctions bring to 13 the sets imposed by the EU to try to compel the regime to halt its violent crackdown on dissent. The U.S. and others have also imposed sanctions. Previous measures were aimed at Syrian companies and Assad himself.

Those imposed Friday targeted Asma Assad, Syria's British-born first lady, banning her from traveling to EU countries and freezing any assets she may have there. They also included the president's mother, sister, sister-in-law and eight government ministers.

French Foreign Minister Alain Juppe said sanctions were weakening the regime.

"Their economic situation becomes ever more difficult. Syria has few reserves," he said. "We think its economic situation will become untenable."

While the measures have hurt Syria's economy, they appear to have had little effect on the regime's actions. It has regularly deployed troops, pro-government thugs and snipers to attack anti-regime protests. Human rights groups accuse the regime of shelling civilian areas and torturing and killing detainees in its push to stop the uprising, which it blames on terrorists carrying out a foreign conspiracy.

In Geneva, the U.N. Human Rights Council blasted Syria's crackdown and extended the mandate of a U.N. expert panel tasked with reporting on alleged abuses in the country.

A resolution passed by the 47-member body condemned "widespread, systematic and gross violations of human rights and fundamental freedoms perpetrated" by Syrian authorities, including summary executions, torture and sexual abuse of detainees and children.

Also Friday, UNICEF said at least 500 children have been killed in the conflict, while hundreds more have been injured, detained or abused. The U.N. children's agency said schools have closed and health centers have shut down or become too dangerous for many families to reach.

Throughout the conflict, China and Russia have protected Syria from censure by the U.N. Security Council, fearing a strongly worded resolution condemning Assad could pave the way for military intervention, as happened in Libya last year.

Russia, however, softened its stance Thursday by calling for Assad to pull his troops out of Syrian cities. The U.N. has been trying to secure a cease-fire so all parties could hold a dialogue on a political solution to end the conflict. So far, both sides have refused talks.

Regime forces continued to pound oppositions areas Friday, and activists reported major shelling and fire with heavy machine-guns in the provinces of Homs in central Syria, Idlib in the north and Daraa.

The London-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said at least 23 civilians were killed in government attacks Friday. Government troops and armed rebels clashed in a number of places, with at 13 soldiers and three rebel fighter killed, the group said.

Another group, the Local Coordination Committees, said government troops killed 36 civilians on Friday. It did not provide details on each civilian killed.

Activists reported dozens of anti-regime protests in towns and cities across Syria under the banner "Damascus, we are coming." Security forces broke up many of them with gunfire and tear gas, and there were reports of wounded.

Activists reported fewer protester deaths and Rami Abdul-Rahman, head of the Observatory, said he had yet to confirm a single protester death on Friday, remarking that this was unusual.

"We hope it happens like this every time because we don't want anyone to die," he said.

The Syrian government has barred most media from working in the country, and activist accounts could not be independently verified.

Syria's state news agency said hundreds marched in a pro-Assad demonstration in the capital Damascus and published photos of them carrying Syrian flags and Assad photos.

In Jordan's capital Amman, blind Syrian cleric Ahmad al-Sayasneh called on a congregation of 1,000 Syrians to "remain steadfast until our tyrant leadership is ousted."

It was the cleric's first public appearance since fleeing Syria two months ago. Al-Sayasneh rose to prominence though his fiery sermons calling for civil disobedience at a mosque in the southern Syrian town of Daraa, considered the uprising's birthplace.

twitter:

Mou2amara twitterde op vrijdag 23-03-2012 om 23:06:45 BREAKING: Pilot refuses orders to strike civilian targets. He targets a security bldg in #Aziziyeh in #Aleppo & defects to #Turkey. #Syria reageer retweet

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In Syria, the primary headline was arguably the use of helicopters to attack ground targets for the first time that we can confirm. There were several instances of this today and last night, all of them between Aleppo and the border with Turkey.

At nightfall, there are more reports of widespread fighting between FSA soldiers and the Assad military, specifically in Hama and to the east of Damascus.

The other noteworthy video was posted at 1544 GMT, showing an IED attack against Assad infantry in Hama.

However, once again the fact that will be lost to most headline writers is that there were large and widespread protests across the country, including in Damascus and Aleppo. Once again the Syrian opposition has used another Friday to prove that their resistance to the regime cannot be shot or shelled into submission.

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Activists: Syrian troops storm northwestern town

Associated Press= BEIRUT (AP) — Syrian troops backed by tanks stormed Friday a northwestern town amid intense shelling in the latest push by regime forces in their attempt to regain rebel-held areas, activists said.

The British-Based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights and the Local Coordination Committees said the troops entered Saraqeb from the north and were pushing forward. The Observatory said at least one civilian was killed in the attack.

The LCC said the troops were accompanied by pro-government gunmen known as shabiha and plainclothes security agents who arrived in buses and started conducting raids and detaining people. Calls to the city could not get through. The government is known to cut networks in areas where operations are underway.

Saraqeb, in the northern province of Idlib that borders Turkey, has been held by army defectors for months.

The attack on Saraqeb came 11 days after troops retook Idlib city, the provincial capital, which had been under rebel control for months. President Bashar Assad's forces have been on a series of offensives over the last month, and in the last two weeks have targeted rebel-held areas in Idlib province and in the central city of Homs.

International condemnation and high-level diplomacy have failed to stop the year-old Syria crisis that the U.N. says has killed more than 8,000 people, many of them civilian protesters.

Earlier this week, a U.N. Security Council statement called for a cease-fire to allow for dialogue between all sides on a political solution. Assad's government played down the statement, saying Damascus is under no threats or ultimatums.

The Syrian uprising began last March with protests calling for political reforms. Unrest spread as Assad's forces violently tried to quash dissent, and many in the opposition took up arms to defend their towns and attack government troops.

Earlier Saturday, the Observatory and the LCC said troops fired mortar rounds at the rebel-held neighborhood of Khaldiyeh in the central city of Homs in apparent preparation to storm the area.

Rami Abdul-Rahman, who is head of the Observatory, said the heavily-populated Khaldiyeh has been shelled since early Saturday. The LCC posted a video on its Facebook page showing smoke billowing from a residential area it said was in Khaldiyeh.

The neighborhoods, one of Homs' largest, has been under rebel control for months.

Homs has seen some of the heaviest fighting in Syria's year-long uprising. Government forces crushed a rebel stronghold in Baba Amr neighborhood on March 1.

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Op vrijdag 23 maart 2012 23:15 schreef Papierversnipperaar het volgende:

twitter:

Mou2amara twitterde op vrijdag 23-03-2012 om 23:06:45 BREAKING: Pilot refuses orders to strike civilian targets. He targets a security bldg in #Aziziyeh in #Aleppo & defects to #Turkey. #Syria reageer retweet

Ik wil bevestiging!

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'Burgers Syri� als menselijk schild'; VS en Turkije beloven 'niet-dodelijke' hulp

De Syrische regeringstroepen gebruiken burgers als menselijk schild om zich te beschermen tegen aanvallen van de rebellen. De militairen lieten mensen voor zich uit lopen tijdens aanvallen op dorpen en steden, maar ook bij arrestaties of als de troepen zich willen verplaatsen. Dat stelde mensenrechtenorganisatie Human Rights Watch vandaag.

De organisatie baseert zich op gesprekken met ooggetuigen en op filmpjes op YouTube. Niet alleen het leger, maar ook de militie Shabeeha, die Damascus steunt, zou sinds dit jaar zijn toevlucht hebben genomen tot de methode.

Een van de getuigen, die door de organisatie wordt opgevoerd als Abdullah uit Kafr Nabl, vertelde dat hij samen met 25 anderen gedwongen werd om voor een aantal gepantserde voertuigen uit te lopen. 'We liepen ongeveer 600 meter. Ze beledigden ons heel de tijd. Nadat ze wat mensen hadden gearresteerd in huizen, dwongen ze ons om naar hun basis terug te lopen.' De hele operatie duurde ongeveer 2 uur.

Ooggetuige Ahmed vertelde ook over de menselijke schilden, die in Kafr Rouma werden ingezet: 'Ik was samen met 15 anderen opgepakt tijdens een arrestatie. Ze stopten ons in politiebusjes. Af en toe keek ik naar buiten en zag dat 30 mensen voor de tanks uitliepen.' Ibrahim, een inwoner van dezelfde plaats, vertelde Human Rights Watch dat het wel vaker gebeurde dat het leger mensen uit bussen en auto's haalde, om hen voor zich uit te laten lopen. Ouderen en kinderen moesten ook meelopen.

'Door burgers te gebruiken als menselijk schild, toont het Syrische leger overduidelijk dat het geen acht slaat op de veiligheid van de burgers', aldus een medewerker van Human Rights Watch. ,'Het Syrische leger moet onmiddellijk stoppen met deze weerzinwekkende praktijken.'

'Niet-dodelijke hulp'
De Amerikaanse president Barack Obama en de Turkse premier Recep Tayyip Erdogan zijn het vandaag eens geworden over het sturen van 'niet-dodelijke hulp' aan de opstandelingen in Syri�. De hulp bestaat uit communicatieapparatuur en andere goederen, meldde de Amerikaanse veiligheidsadviseur Ben Rhodes.

De twee leiders ontmoetten elkaar in Zuid-Korea, voorafgaand aan een top over nucleaire veiligheid. Turkije huisvest al veel vluchtelingen uit buurland Syri�.

De aankondiging is de meest openlijke steun van Amerika aan de rebellen, die momenteel in meerdere steden onder vuur liggen van regeringstroepen. Rhodes zei dat de levering van medische hulp en andere voorraden boven aan de agenda moeten staan bij een topbijeenkomst van Vrienden van Syri� op zondag 1 april in Istanbul.
Nederland geeft al langer financi�le en technische hulp aan de Syrische oppositie, zodat die met laptops en communicatieapparatuur bijvoorbeeld toegang tot internet kunnen krijgen.

Ingrijpen in Syri� ligt gevoelig, omdat Rusland steun geeft aan de Syrische president Bashar al-Assad. De laatste tijd begint Rusland echter geduld te verliezen met het regime van Assad, dat alsmaar doorgaat met het bombarderen van de eigen bevolking. Bij het conflict zijn volgens de oppositie al ruim 9000 doden gevallen.

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Op dinsdag 27 maart 2012 12:06 schreef Eyjafjallajoekull het volgende:
http://www.nu.nl/buitenla(...)hten-in-libanon.html

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Abu Ahmed, een 63-jarige bewoner van het berggebied al-Qaa:

“Meer dan 35 Syrische soldaten hebben de grens overgestoken en zijn begonnen met het verwoesten van huizen.”

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Op dinsdag 27 maart 2012 12:16 schreef theNull het volgende:

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Oftwel, langzamerhand wordt de gehele regio meegetrokken in al het geweld.

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@ NRC

Als dat zo is, op andermans grondgebied, is dat gewoon een oorlogsmisdaad (verklaring)

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'Syrische troepen vallen Libanon binnen'

DAMASCUS - Syrische troepen zijn dinsdag het noorden van Libanon binnengegaan. Ze vechten daar tegen opstandelingen die een einde willen aan het bewind van president Bashar al-Assad.
Foto: AFP Dat hebben inwoners van de regio laten weten. Die zeggen dat de militairen boerderijen hebben verwoest.

Een inwoner van het berggebied al-Qaa in Libanon verklaart tegenover persbureau Reuters dat er zeker 35 militairen de grens zijn overgestoken.

Anderen zeggen dat de soldaten het vuur hebben geopend op de tegenstanders van Assad die zich in het gebied bevinden.

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Op dinsdag 27 maart 2012 14:20 schreef Nielsch het volgende:

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http://www.nu.nl/buitenla(...)libanon-binnen-.html

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Op dinsdag 27 maart 2012 22:37 schreef Veldkamp het volgende:

Syri� is geen Libi�.

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Op dinsdag 27 maart 2012 12:34 schreef Frikandelbroodje het volgende:
Een paar dagen geleden kwamen er al berichten van activisten binnen dat hij de grens met Turkije had geschonden en in de buurt alle dorpen aanviel. Zelfs degene die niet/nauwelijks hadden geprotesteerd. Assad is nu echt compleet doorgedraaid.

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Op dinsdag 20 maart 2012 21:13 schreef Papierversnipperaar het volgende:

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Op dinsdag 27 maart 2012 14:19 schreef Nielsch het volgende:
Syrische soldaten zijn Libanon binnen gevallen om opstandelingen op te jagen.

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Op dinsdag 27 maart 2012 22:47 schreef Papierversnipperaar het volgende:
Veel internationaal politiek geleuter. Burgers eisen hun vrijheid op, een wereldrevolutie is begonnen tegen alle regimes. Ook de westerse regimes komen aan de beurt. Burgers laten zich steeds moeilijker verdelen door propaganda.

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Op dinsdag 27 maart 2012 22:54 schreef Veldkamp het volgende:

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Wereldrevolutie? Na�eve linkse sullige praat helaas.

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Kofi Annan: Assad moet als eerste wapens neerleggen – deadline is nu.

Het regime in Syri� moet als eerste partij de wapens neerleggen om de crisis in het land een halt toe te roepen. Dat heeft Kofi Annan, Syri�-gezant van de Verenigde Naties en de Arabische Liga, vandaag bij monde van zijn woordvoerder laten weten.

Annan roept de “sterkere partij” op om een gebaar “van goed vertrouwen” te maken en de gewelddadigheden onmiddellijk te stoppen.

. “De regering moet eerst stoppen en dan een staking van de vijandelijkheden met de tegenpartij bespreken. De deadline is nu.”

Annan, die een zespuntenplan heeft opgesteld om een eind te maken aan het geweld, is van mening dat de Syrische president Bashar Assad de eerste stap moet zetten.

“We verwachten dat hij dit plan direct invoert. We hebben nog niet gezien dat de vijandelijkheden worden gestaakt en dat baart ons grote zorgen”, liet zijn woordvoerder weten.

Assad wil dat de oppositie de wapens neerlegt

Assad heeft eerder als voorwaarde voor een volledig staakt-het-vuren gesteld dat de oppositie stopt met aanvallen. Dit kan Annans pogingen een eind te maken aan de bloedige strijd bemoeilijken. De komende dagen voert een afgevaardigde van Annan, Nasser El-Kidwa, daarom overleg met de tegenstanders van het regime in Damascus. El-Kidwa gaat er bij de oppositie op aandringen ‘de wapens neer te leggen en overleg te voeren’.

China heeft eerder gezegd Annans vredesplan te steunen, maar meent dat er geen sprake moet zijn van buitenlandse inmenging. De regering in Beijing liet vandaag weten dat de opstandelingen in Syri� zich moeten toeleggen op gesprekken en geen aanvallen meer moeten uitvoeren. Het Chiness ministerie van buitenlandse zaken:

. “We roepen de Syrische oppositie op om zo snel mogelijk de omstandigheden te cre�ren voor het aangaan van een dialoog en het stoppen van het geweld”

De Syrische oppositie heeft Annans vredesplan voorzichtig verwelkomd, maar is sceptisch of Assad het ook daadwerkelijk gaat uitvoeren. De oppositie meent dat Assad slechts heeft ingestemd met het plan om tijd te winnen, terwijl zijn troepenmacht ondertussen gewoon doorgaat met de onderdrukking van de opstand.

Ondanks de onderhandelingen en Annans vredesplan vonden vandaag in het noorden van Syri� opnieuw ongeregeldheden plaats tussen soldaten en opstandelingen. Volgens de Verenigde Naties zijn bij het aanhoudende geweld, dat een jaar geleden begon, meer dan negenduizend mensen om het leven gekomen.

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Op donderdag 29 maart 2012 15:31 schreef Papierversnipperaar het volgende:

Syria - Assad Helicopter Gunship Fires on Aleppo 3-23-12 Haritan - No Fly Zone Now !!

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Op vrijdag 30 maart 2012 19:14 schreef Stephen_Dedalus het volgende:
Als Assad zijn wapens neerlegt betekend dat het einde van zijn regime en zijn leven. Gaat niet gebeuren.

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Op vrijdag 30 maart 2012 19:18 schreef Papierversnipperaar het volgende:

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Het is sowieso het einde van zijn regime.

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Op vrijdag 30 maart 2012 19:18 schreef Papierversnipperaar het volgende:

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Het is sowieso het einde van zijn regime.

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Op vrijdag 30 maart 2012 19:24 schreef killfrenzy het volgende:

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Hopelijk niet. Assad en zijn leger zijn gelukkig nog even sterk (zo niet sterker) en de meerderheid van de Syri�rs is gelukkig voor Assad en niet voor losgeslagen debielen.

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Op vrijdag 30 maart 2012 19:14 schreef Stephen_Dedalus het volgende:
Als Assad zijn wapens neerlegt betekend dat het einde van zijn regime en zijn leven. Gaat niet gebeuren.

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Syrische minister is duidelijk: wij trekken ons niet als eerste terug

Er komt vanuit Damascus geen bevel aan de regeringstroepen om zich terug te trekken voordat het dagelijks leven in Syri� weer “normaal” is. Het regime van Bashar al-Assad laat weten dat het leger blijft waar het is “uit zelfverdediging en om burgers te beschermen”.

Aan het woord was Jihad Makdessi, zo weet persbureau AP. Hij reageerde gisteravond op de Syrische staatstelevisie op een oproep van de VN-Arabische Liga-gezant Kofi Annan eerder op de dag. Die vroeg de regering van Assad de militaire acties als eerste te staken, zijnde de “sterkere partij” en als blijk van “goed vertrouwen”.

De uitspraken van Makdessi komen niet bepaald als een verrassing aangezien het regime al tijdens eist dat de oppositie eerst de wapens neerlegt. Assad ging eerder deze week akkoord met een vredesplan dat de speciale gezant van de VN en Arabische Liga opstelde.

Maar daarna veranderde er, eigenlijk zoals verwacht, niets. Beide partijen moeten volgens het plan van Annan de wapens neerleggen maar voorlopig is er dus nog geen consensus over wie dat doet en wanneer.

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Op zaterdag 31 maart 2012 11:52 schreef Papierversnipperaar het volgende:

[..]

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Could the Druze Minority Tip the Scales of Syria’s Revolution?

BEIRUT, Mar 26, 2012 (IPS) - The Druze stronghold of Sweida, Syria, witnessed several pro-democracy protests last week. While the movement remains marginal, it is charged with symbolism: the Druze have long been considered the "spiritual cousins" of the Alawites, the religious group to which the Assad family belongs.

The question now on the table is whether or not the recent outbursts of Druze opposition to the regime could be a tipping point in favour of the Syrian revolutionaries.

Over the centuries the Druze minority, which make up about three percent of the Syrian population and are located primarily in the Sweida area, also known as Jabal al-Druze (the Druze mountain), has spearheaded various Syrian revolutions, including battling Ottoman rule and the authority of the French mandate system.

Over the last decade, the community developed excellent relations with president Bashar al-Assad, who could sometimes be spotted visiting local Druze families.

These close ties, however, did not make Sweida immune to the pro-democracy uprising, which has claimed almost 7,500 lives in Syria since Jan. 2011.

"Demonstrations are taking place more frequently although on a much smaller scale than in other regions. Last week, fifteen protests took place in several Druze villages," Rima Fleyhan, a member of the Syrian opposition, told IPS.

Protests are mostly taking place in the Sweida capital and Qraya – the birthplace of the historical Druze revolutionary figure, Sultan Pacha al-Atrash, who led the Syrian Revolution from 1925–1927 – and springing up more regularly in Chahba, another city in the Druze region.

"While still marginal, the protest movement is essentially comprised of students, lawyers and engineers as well as leftists. Since its inception, it always consisted of the community’s elite," acknowledged Talal el-Atrache, author of ‘When Syria awakes’, who spoke to IPS over the phone from Sweida.

Conversely, elsewhere in the country, the overwhelming majority of protestors have been from farming communities and impoverished areas, with the movement slowly expanding into the upper echelons of society.

"When the pro-democracy movement first started, Bashar al-Assad met with the (Druze) community’s three (highest ranking) sheikhs (clerics) and warned: ‘We are both Druze and Alawites, minorities in this country. Do not get involved in the protests’," activist Muntaha al-Atrash, daughter of Sultan Pasha al- Atrash, told IPS.

According to several sources, Druze sheikhs tried to contain the movement before things got out of hand by intervening personally to quell demonstrations in order to avoid violent repercussion from the government.

In spite of such efforts, two local ‘popular committees’ have been formed, affiliated with the opposition’s Local Coordination Committee (LCC). "We have also formed a unit comprised of Druze military men," added colonel Aref Hamoud from the Free Syrian Army (FSA), who spoke to IPS on the phone from Turkey.

According to a post by the LCC, the FSA’s Sultan Pasha Al-Atrash Brigades attacked a military outpost yesterday, resulting in the killing of one officer from the national army and the defection of 28 soldiers, though this information is difficult to verify independently, due to the media ban enforced in Syria.

Several obstacles continue to hamper the Sweida-based pro-democracy movement. Security police and "shabiha" (thugs) loyal to President Assad have been able to disperse most protests rapidly. According to Fleyhan, the absence of religious centres poses a major logistical problem for the Druze, since mosques have served as convenient rallying points for protestors elsewhere in the country.

Another factor accounting for lower turnout at protests can be attributed to the massive emigration of Druze youth, leaving the region devoid of a group that has been at the very core of the revolution in other parts of Syria.

Experts like Talal el-Atrache cite several other reasons as possible causes, "mainly, the ongoing militarisation of the rebellion resulting from repression, which is diverting the popular uprising from its initial goals," he said.

Ashraf Jaramani, a local resident also involved in politics believes that the deadly threat of civil strife as well as the Islamist dimension of the protests may have discouraged the Druze from plunging into the movement.

"If Syria follows Egypt and Libya, who will guarantee the Druze that the Muslim Brotherhood will not govern the country? What will happen to minorities rights then?" Jaramani asked IPS.

The community is also wary of an internationalisation of the conflict, in which Syria could become a battleground for the rivalry between Shiite and Sunni countries.

"The Druze do not want Syria to follow in Lebanese footsteps," stressed Talal el-Atrache, referring to the decade and a half long civil war that plagued Lebanon from 1975 to 1990.

The Druze community in Lebanon has attempted to inflame their coreligionists. In several editorials in his weekly newspaper, Walid Joumblatt, the most prominent leader of the community, urged the Druze in Syria to take the side of the revolution.

"Beware you Arab strugglers in the Druze Mountain against yielding to the Shabbiha in confronting your brothers in Syria," he said. The Druze leader had also previously called on young Druze soldiers in the Syrian army to "disobey military commands to kill their brothers."

The Center for Documenting Violations in Syria, run by activists in the LCC, puts the number of slain soldiers from Sweida at 31, as of Jan. 25. Others believe the most recent figure is likely closer to 80.

For Muntaha al-Atrash, the Druze playing a larger role in the protests will be a major drawback for the regime, as Sweida, together with the Daraa province, form the District of Hauran.

The Assad regime, wary of the threat such a united front might pose, is still attempting to court the minority. Security forces have avoided killing any Druze demonstrators while activists say that detained prisoners were given preferential treatment. The regime is avoiding a violent crackdown in regions inhabited by religious minorities, in order to preserve the ‘Islamic label’ given to the Syrian revolution, said Fleyhan.

But some activists believe that security forces are losing patience and will end up making tactical mistakes, which will backfire as pressures mounts in the region.

"When (the whole) of Hauran rises," predicts Muntaha al-Atrash, "it will be difficult to bring it down."

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Damascus on edge as Syria's strife encroaches on capital

Food prices on the rise, gas and electricity run short and latest influx of people fleeing Homs rattles capital

Yasser sits in the dark in his clothes shop in Damascus's Old City, listening to the whirr of generators outside – a sound that was alien to Syria until recently. Usually his shop is packed with friends and customers, but Yasser, wrapped in a fleece and scarf, sits alone. "Trade is down and the price of everything is going up," he says dejectedly.

The middle-aged father of five has teabags but no sugar, and last week he could not afford gas to refill the small canister that heats his kettle. "Sugar has become five times more expensive and I've had to change to smoking terrible cigarettes," he says with a wry smile. On the way home from work the day before, he gave in to an ache to treat his family and bought a roast chicken – something that he used to do weekly – so now all his money is gone. "Tell me, how do I survive," he says.

The mood in central Damascus has moved in peaks and troughs since the start of the uprising against Bashar al-Assad. The suburbs and towns that ring the capital have long been up in arms, and trouble inches ever closer to the seat of power. But life in the city is different to that in places such as Homs or Idleb, which are caught in a cycle of protests, armed rebel activity and regime crackdown.

On a sunny day, people wander the cracked streets, peering at new DVDs. The wealthy are back in the upmarket cafes sipping $4 lattes – at least for now. Against the background of a crisis that has put lives on hold, Damascenes are trying to find new routine.

But life is getting gradually harder. Depression and insomnia are reportedly growing as the tales of death and torture mix with uncertainty about the future, exacting a heavy mental toll. Sanctions applied by the US, Europe and some Arab countries have pushed up food and heating prices. The Syrian pound has lost half its value over a year, reaching one US cent in February.

Gas is short and electricity too. A joke has been circulating about a wife who asks her husband how she is supposed to cook without gas. "Use the microwave," he says, only to have her respond that there is no electricity either. The poorest now add that they have no food.

Yasser's life has changed in another way. A month ago he decided to leave his home in the suburb of Zamalka, east of Damascus, and rent a room for his family closer to the city centre. The power cuts there last four hours a day, compared with eight or more at home where his newborn baby was getting cold. Others in the city of seven million now sleep five to a room as relatives pay visits for indefinite periods of time. The UN says there are more than 200,000 internally displaced Syrians, adding to 39,000 refugees in Turkey, Lebanon and Jordan, and others who have paid their own way to move further afield.

The latest influx from Homs, where a month of shelling Baba Amr and other neighbourhoods tore families apart and sent survivors scattering, is rattling Damascus. Residents are conflicted: the bloody tales are harrowing, but there are many in the capital who still have much to lose.

A rich businessman says his friends grow more disgusted with the regime by the day. But Assad's supporters are still passionate, too. A man from the coastal city of Latakia who drives a taxi in Damascus loudly rails against the protesters, screaming that they are "dogs" and berating them for using arms. Some, whatever their political hue, just want the crisis to end.

"I am with the uprising," says a Damascene in his 20s who works for an NGO. "But look, what a mess. I can't help sometimes wishing this had never started, or would end – somehow."

There is no sign of that happening. Instead, people's circles of movement are getting smaller as the bombs and violence encroach. "As I was cowering on the floor I thought, this is a showdown and the crisis will be over," says a young woman who lives in Mezze, an affluent district in west Damascus that was recently the scene of a dawn gunfight. "But then I realised that this is just everyday life in my country now."

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Op zondag 25 maart 2012 23:04 schreef waht het volgende:
Hitler gebruikte geen kinderen als schild.

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Op zondag 1 april 2012 20:15 schreef Stephen_Dedalus het volgende:
Weer veel praten maar weinig actie op die conferentie in Istanbul.

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Op zondag 1 april 2012 20:22 schreef Papierversnipperaar het volgende:

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Tja, word tijd dat ze Damascus gaan bombarderen.

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Op zondag 1 april 2012 20:22 schreef Papierversnipperaar het volgende:

[..]

Tja, word tijd dat ze Damascus gaan bombarderen.

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Op zondag 1 april 2012 20:42 schreef Chooselife het volgende:

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Tijd dat ze jou en je familie bombarderen. Janken zul je.

SPOILER

Hoe kan ik nou janken als ik gebombardeerd ben.

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Op zondag 1 april 2012 20:22 schreef Papierversnipperaar het volgende:

[..]

Tja, word tijd dat ze Damascus gaan bombarderen.

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Coalitie Syri�-top gaat anti-regimestrijders financieel steunen

Een coalitie van zeker zeventig landen heeft toegezegd enkele miljoenen dollars per maand beschikbaar te stellen aan de syrische oppositiestrijders en activisten. Hiermee neemt de internationale gemeenschap een grotere rol op zich in het conflict met Bashar al-Assads regime. Het geloof in dat alleen diplomatie en sancties het conflict kunnen oplossen lijkt verloren.

De manoeuvre van de Verenigde Staten and haar westerse en Arabische bondgenoten, de zogenoemde Vrienden van Syri�, komt na een jaar waarin diplomatie gefaald heeft. Er wordt een poging gedaan de militaire verhoudingen in het conflict recht te trekken. Tot nu toe bleken de opstandelingen geen echte partij voor de veel beter uitgeruste regimetroepen.

Twijfel aan slagingskans vredesplan Kofi Annan

Hillary Clinton en andere deelnemers aan de Syri�-top dit weekend in Istanbul uitten gezamenlijk hun zorgen over het slagen van Kofi Annan’s vredesplan. Assad heeft zijn wil uitgesproken het plan te laten slagen, maar treuzelt met het nemen van volgende stappen. De Syri�-top vreest dat het vredesplan van de gezant van de VN en Arabische Liga het regime alleen maar langer in stand zal houden.

Clinton zei vandaag een update over de status van het plan af te wachten. Annan rapporteert morgen aan de Veiligheidsraad van de VN. De Vrienden van Syri� kozen er ook voor de Syrische Nationale Raad te erkennen als legitieme vertegenwoordiger van het volk.

Rosenthal roept op Syrische overlopers te steunen

In de slotverklaring van de Syri�-top is eveneens opgenomen dat de internationale gemeenschap Syrische militairen en functionarissen moet aanmoedigen over te lopen en hen daarbij steunen. Minister van Buitenlandse Zaken Uri Rosenthal (VVD) deed deze oproep vandaag tijdens de tweede bijeenkomst van de coalitie.

Tegelijk moet de druk op het Syrische regime verder worden opgevoerd. De voornemens zijn opgenomen in de slotverklaring van de bijeenkomst, waaraan meer dan tachtig landen, organisaties en oppositiegroepen deelnamen. Rosenthal hield eerder al een soortgelijk pleidooi in de Europese Unie.

Nederland ondersteunt de oppositie financieel en met communicatiemiddelen voor bloggers. Verder is Nederland betrokken bij een sanctiewerkgroep onder leiding van Frankrijk, die scherpere strafmaatregelen voorbereidt en meer landen de sancties strikt wil laten uitvoeren.

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Op zondag 1 april 2012 20:51 schreef Stephen_Dedalus het volgende:
Er gaan gewoon wapens gekocht worden met dat geld. Dan zal het vast een stuk beter worden daar in Syri�....

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Op zondag 1 april 2012 20:48 schreef Die_Hofstadtgruppe het volgende:

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Ja zodat de jihadis het lekker over kunnen nemen.

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Op zondag 1 april 2012 20:51 schreef Stephen_Dedalus het volgende:
Er gaan gewoon wapens gekocht worden met dat geld. Dan zal het vast een stuk beter worden daar in Syri�....