Crisis in Syri� #18 Waar Assad de clown op wereldtoneel is

quote:

Syrian offensive aims to retake jail

Rebels claim they freed over 300 prisoners but more remain trapped amid government shelling in Idlib.

Syrian army seeks to retake Idlib prison

Syrian government troops are fighting to retake control of the largest prison in Idlib province.

The prison houses both criminal and political prisoners.

Two religious groups and a Free Syrian Army Brigade freed hundreds of inmates on Friday, setting off intense fighting with government forces.

Al Jazeera's Sue Turton reports from outside the prison, west of Idlib.

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Op maandag 28 januari 2013 02:21 schreef Aloulou het volgende:
De vernietigingen van "shrines"/tombes is niet alleen aan het adres van het Sjitische Sayyida Zaineb heiligdom in Damascus. Eerder in November was al een tombe vernietigt (van een soennitische "heilige") door vermoedelijk Juhbat an-Nosra. De Syrische soenni-soefi shaykh Yaqoubi (ook bekend in de UK) vroeg zich openlijk af of de "oorlog tegen de soennieten nu ook in Syrie (shaam) is aangebroken?" En daarmee doelt hij op salafisten die tombes vernietigen, zoals in Mali is gebeurd, en ook in Libie, Tunesie en Egypte (na de revolutie) tombes zijn vernietigd/verbrandt etc. Overigens kent Syrie verschrikkelijk veel sheikhs/geleerden die soefi zijn qua achtergrond en tegen die eeuwenlange traditie in Syrie kunnen salafisten moeilijk op. Maar dat is mijn persoonlijke mening.

http://freehalab.wordpres(...)r-on-sunnis-started/

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Inside the war for Syria's mountains
Rebels are occupying Alawite houses in a region known for its tradition of sectarian coexistence in an offensive that looks likely to determine the fate of the country's cosmopolitan heart

The stone houses were half hidden amid the orchards, their doors kicked in and their walls scorched by flames. Every home in this tiny Alawite hamlet, amid the apple and plum trees, had been ransacked and abandoned.

"There were three families here until yesterday," said a young woman, a Sunni Muslim, pointing to her neighbours' homes. "Now there's no one left, not one."

The village sloped towards a river that had broken its banks a week before. Plastic bags and bottles hung in the trees, marking the line of the flood that coursed between the soaring cliffs of the nearby valley and then surged onwards, across the fields to Turkey.

The water reached so far, and so high, that it inundated the orchards. Mud still covered the road, exposing the footprints of the raiders who followed the flood. They were a far more formidable force even than the raging waters.

Scraped in charcoal on the wall of one house were three words in Arabic: Jabhat al-Nusra.

Until two months ago, locals in this corner of north-western Syria had not had to contend with the Jabhat al-Nusra organisation. Like much else about the war now crippling the nearby cities of Idlib and Aleppo, it was out of sight and out of mind, a distant bogeyman that posed little threat to this border town.

Then came a campaign by rebel units pushing south towards cities still controlled by the regime after almost two years of civil war. "That's when we first saw them," a rebel, Mahmoud Darwiche, said of Jabhat al-Nusra, which insurgent leaders simply call al-Qaida.

"They were good at first, quiet and respectful. Even now, they are still trying to behave. But they will kill any Alawite fighter they capture."

Until December, the town of Darkoush was roughly divided: the north supported the opposition while the south supported the regime; the frontline was marked by a line of ransacked security buildings.

Now, it is a staging point for a coming battle in the mountains to the south, a battle that will decide the fate of Syria's cosmopolitan heart.

Rebel leaders are preparing what they say will be imminent attacks on regime cities. Jabhat al-Nusra is also making plans, with new arrivals to the group turning up on most days over the past few weeks. Some are taking over empty Alawite homes near Darkoush; others are pushing south to frontlines near Latakia.

Al-Nusra fighters like to see themselves as being everywhere but nowhere. They play willingly to the regime characterisation of them as phantom-like figures who can outmanoeuvre the Syrian military. And they are now more evident than at any time in this war.

The al-Nusra member the Guardian met had not been expecting strangers. His head swathed in a black turban, and with a Kalashnikov strapped to his chest, he walked slowly down a potholed road towards us before stopping warily several metres away. He scanned us purposefully from head to toe, inhaled deeply, then said: "What's going on?"

The American-accented English was as much a surprise as finding him there in the first place, living in a house next door to the main rebel outpost in the region, along with 20 or so other members of the group at the vanguard of the fighting.

Rebels are pushing towards Latakia, redoubt of the Assad regime
His opening remark was less an icebreaker, however, than the beginning of an interrogation. For 40 minutes, sometimes chilling, sometimes charming, he tried to gauge our provenance and our reason for journeying south into Jebel al-Krud, the giant plateau that soars above Latakia and Tartous to the south.

The region is steeped in Islamic history, and has a tradition of sectarian coexistence. About 800 years ago, the Islamic warrior Salah al-Din – a Kurd better known to Europeans as Saladin – used the mountains and valleys of the area to prepare to battle the Crusaders. Kurds travelled with him from what is now northern Iraq, and settled here. Christian and Alawite communities are also long established.

Our interrogator eventually offered tea. "You do not share my ideology," he said. "But you are here on humanitarian grounds." The concession amounted to a travel pass. "Where is your flak jacket? We have an obligation before God to do what we can to protect ourselves," he said, pointing at the camouflage vest covering his shirt. "So should you."

Sheer cliffs climbed vertically from the first stretch of the road south, soon giving way to plunging, emerald ravines still flush with blue floodwaters. Villages peppered the hilltops, grey blobs against an iridescent green whenever they emerged from the fog.

Around one bend, white crosses jutted starkly from the graves on a hilltop. This was the Christian village of Jdeida, on the edge of Idlib province and Jebel al-Krud. Barely a home here had escaped shell damage since it was taken by rebel groups six weeks earlier. And next to none of the locals had remained.

One family had stayed behind. "We don't have an option," the elderly Christian man said. "The situation is as you see it. This is the first time there hasn't been shelling here in more than a week. We haven't seen the sun or sat in our garden in all that time."

The man's wife picked an orange from the tree at the centre of the courtyard and offered it on a silver tray.

His 90-year-old mother sat on a stone wall, her left eye red with a chronic infection, her right streaming with tears. "We can't go anywhere to get medicine," she said between sobs. "We are not with anyone, my son. We are too old for this. Please let it end."

Neither side seems to have any will to bring the war for the mountains to a close. Further up the hill, the town's church stood empty and barricaded, part of a wall hit by a shell. And from the bell tower, rebels pointed out the next target in their seemingly relentless sweep to the east and south, the town of Yaccubiya.

"We have a very big problem with this town," said the leader of the military council in Idlib province. "These Christians are our friends. We have lived with them for a long time, and we respect them. But the regime has put weapons in the cathedral there. We don't want to attack it but we know we must."

Purple-grey smoke from at least a dozen cigarettes and a wood-burning stove swirled around the room. The 10 or so men sitting cross-legged on the floor seemed to crouch ever lower as the haze descended before one finally opened a window, letting in a shock of frigid air.

"We have asked the Christian authorities," the rebel leader said as the smoke cleared. "We have even asked the priests in the north what to do. One gave us his permission to attack the town; another said not to. We want some guidance. Will the west talk to us about this?"

On Sunday, rebel reservations about Yaccubiya were set aside. The Free Syrian Army, which acts as an umbrella group for all the rebel groups except al-Nusra, announced the town had fallen. "There are only two old ladies left in the town," said a rebel leader, Abu Ghaith. "And, praise be to God, the church was not damaged. They ran away."

Evidence of the regime forces' flight from the villages of Jebel al-Krud is everywhere. Along a highway near another Christian village, al-Ghassaneyah, scores of makeshift graves have been dug for Syrian army soldiers killed in battles for nearby areas.

Several dozen destroyed armoured personnel carriers, lorries and tanks dot the roadside. Torched and rusting formations of armour mark overrun checkpoints that not long ago were part of Latakia's ring of defence. Battleground Christian and Alawite villages are largely abandoned. Al-Nusra had not looted the homes of Christian families who had fled, said Abu Ghaith. "They are being careful about them," he said. "But they do whatever they want with the Alawites."

Resentment of the minority Alawite sect, to which Bashar al-Assad belongs and from which he draws his power, is close to universal among rebels in the area. However, while non-jihadists dislike the Alawites because of their links to the regime, al-Nusra's distaste centres on their beliefs.

"They see them as Shia, as heretics," said a rebel fighter who called himself Abu Hamza, standing near a roadside butcher. "I am from here, and I have never got to know them. They have always kept to themselves. They are very insular."

Hamza wore his beard in the style of a Salafist Muslim, black and low and without a moustache. "People often think I'm al-Qaida," he laughed. He then reached into the left breast pocket of his ammunition vest and pulled out a Bible. "It's for you," he said. "I have a Qur'an in my right pocket, and I want to get a Torah for here," he said, pointing at an empty pocket on his hip.

"This area was built on the religions of the book, and it will stay that way, God willing."

Over a ridge ahead, tank shells rumbled in a rebel-held village on the edge of Jebel al-Krud and Latakia. Another two families, their battered cars laden with overflowing bags of belongings, moved slowly north along the deserted highway.

Night was drawing near when a driver stopped in the gathering dark to ask about the way ahead. A cross swung from his rear-view mirror. "Don't be afraid, my brother," a bearded rebel said. "God is with you, just as he is with us."

The rebel looked at his feet and said: "When the people come back, after we win, it will be like it was before. They will buy meat for us, and we will visit them for Christmas.

"But we can't let things get worse than they are here, because people who have known each other for ever may lose their trust. This was the Syria of our dreams."

The Guardian

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Newlyweds fight together on Syria frontline
A couple fighting against government forces discover love and tie the knot amid death and destruction.
Basma Atassi Last Modified: 28 Jan 2013 13:10
Mahmoud al-Halabi and Nour al-Hassan got married one year after they met

Aleppo, Syria - Mahmoud al-Halabi was once the driver of a Syrian minister's wife. Nour al-Hassan was a stylish hairdresser. In the early days of the Syrian uprising, their personal rebellions brought them together and have since pushed them both to become fighters in Aleppo's battle against President Bashar al-Assad's forces.

Mahmoud, a 28-year-old rebel fighting on the frontline in the Sheikh Saeed neighbourhood, was fired from his job three years ago. He said he was jailed and tortured by the regime for a year, and then forced to leave Syria.

His crime? He had fallen in love with the minister's daughter.

He fled to Libya, where he took up his professional passion: sculpting. But when the Libyan revolution broke out in February 2011, he joined his friends in their battle against Muammar Gaddafi's forces.

"This is where I learned most of the fighting skills I now use in the fight against Assad," Mahmoud told Al Jazeera in Sheikh Saeed, now the most active frontline in the city.

Nour, 22, was a hair stylist at a salon in the centre of Aleppo. She is also the daughter a senior official in the ruling Baath Party.

A few months into the Syrian uprising, Mahmoud returned to Aleppo to join his countrymen in the struggle against Assad. Nour, meanwhile, had created a Facebook account under a pseudonym and became an activist on social media, organising protests and spreading news about the regime's crackdown.

When her father and brother, staunch supporters of Assad, learned about her opposition activities, they beat her to the point that she wound up in hospital. Her story became the talk of the town, and Mahmoud heard about her.

"After I was released from hospital, I was stuck at home. Mahmoud came to help me escape the house," she said. "I didn't know him well, but I still left with him. I completely defected from my family."

On the frontline

The two began organising protests and distributing anti-regime pamphlets. As the uprising turned into an armed struggle, they were both in favour of it.

"We began transporting weapons into the Salaheddin neighbourhood together. I taught her how to use guns. Initially, I was teaching her for self-protection because her father organised several kidnapping attempts to bring her back home," Mahmoud said.
Nour is a sniper on the frontline in the Sheikh Saeed neighbourhood of Aleppo

"Later she wanted to participate in the fighting. We had many fights because of that but she eventually got her way," he said..

Nour has become a sniper on the frontline in Sheikh Saeed, where rebels are trying to push back regime forces and block the main road to Aleppo International Airport.

Recently, she said she had shot down a regime sniper who was targeting rebels in the neighbourhood.

Her comrades call her Abu al-Nour - a masculine nickname.

"I don't see her as a female. She is one of the best snipers we have in the battalion. That's how I see her," Ahmad, a rebel fighter, said.

Nour said she leaves all femininity behind when she goes to the frontline.

"I do not feel like a woman whatsoever when I am here," she said.

'For the sake of Allah'

At first glance, Nour is indistinguishable from male fighters. Dressed in wide, black clothes, along with a black scarf that covers her head and face and a headband that reads "there is no God but God and Muhammad is his prophet," she could pass as a male member of Jabhat al-Nusra, a self-proclaimed jihadist rebel group, who usually adopt a similar dress code.

But a closer look at her big brown eyes - the only uncovered part of her body - reveals her long feminine eyelashes.

While women fighters are rare in Syria, videos have emerged of women holding guns, claiming to be fighting with the rebels. The regime has also deployed women in the fight against "terrorists" - the term it uses to describe opposition fighters.
In-depth coverage of escalating violence across Syria

Nour said nobody is stopping women from joining the armed battle, "but they don't, probably because of weakness in faith or in heart".

Nour and Mahmoud got married in July 2012, one year after they met.

"When I was injured on the battlefield, she covered me and dragged me from the line of fire. No other rebel in the battalion would have dared to do that," Mahmoud said.

"This is when I decided she was the right person. We got married just a few days later."

Nour says she is fighting "for the sake of Allah", and will not go back to her family.

"My parents have a shield over their eyes. They cannot see the truth and there is nothing I can do about that."
Source:
Al Jazeera

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De jihadi's in Aleppo

_{Toegevoegd: dinsdag 29 jan 2013, 16:55
Update: dinsdag 29 jan 2013, 17:01}

Door verslaggever Lex Runderkamp

"Wij houden niet van journalisten," zegt hij tegen me met een geknepen blik. Drie zwartgeklede rebellen met lange baarden zijn bij me komen staan in de snackbar in Aleppo. E�n draagt een AK-47 en alle drie hebben ze een pistool in een holster op hun borst. "Is hij moslim?," vragen ze aan mijn reismaatje Ali. Hij legt vriendelijk uit dat ik huis en haard heb verlaten om de wereld te laten zien wat er met de Syrische bevolking gebeurt. En hij vertelt dat ik geen moslim ben.

Tijdens de Arabische woordenwisseling die ontstaat, kijk ik gebiologeerd naar hun uitrusting. De spreker draagt een kogelvrij vest, althans dat denk ik, maar er loopt een elektrisch kabeltje naar zijn linkerhand. "Niet aan dat kabeltje trekken," zegt een vader tegen zijn jonge kind dat om ons heen draait. Ik durf het niet meteen te vragen maar later vertelt de vader dat de man een bomvest draagt.

Sommige leden van Jabhat al-Nusra, wat "Steunfront voor het Syrische volk" betekent, zijn bereid zichzelf op te blazen als ze in handen van Assads leger dreigen te vallen. En aangezien dat weinig voorspelbaar is lopen ze de hele dag met een bom op hun buik. Het kabeltje is verbonden met een knop bij zijn hand zodat hij altijd is voorbereid.

Jehova's getuigen
"Hij vraagt of hij je kan bekeren tot de islam," zegt Ali. De grimmige blik van de jihadist is al veranderd in een vrolijke glimlach. Ik moet even nadenken over een antwoord. "Ik ben nu bezig met het leed van de Syrische bevolking. Mijn eigen leven moet ik even op de achtergrond plaatsen", probeer ik. Dat helpt niet. Ali raakt in een nog heftiger debat met de man.

De man doet me ineens denken aan jehova's getuigen die op zondag bij je aan de deur komen. Inhoudelijk discussi�ren heeft geen enkele zin. Het belangrijkste verschil is dat deze zwarte rebel niets vraagt maar alles eist. Gelukkig is onze gebraden kip snel klaar en kunnen we afscheid nemen. De jihadist geeft me een verpakte bonbon en verontschuldigt zich bij Ali dat ie er maar ��n heeft. Het is een gebaar dat moslims onderling vaak maken, een klein cadeautje geven als blijk van waardering. We nemen hartelijk afscheid.

Jabhat al-Nusra probeert zijn invloed onder de Syrische bevolking sterk uit te breiden. Militair zijn ze behoorlijk succesvol en daarmee winnen ze veel aanhang onder jongeren. Ze hebben hun vlag aangepast om weerzin onder de Syri�rs weg te nemen, want aanvankelijk gebruikten ze de zwarte vlag van al-Qaida. Maar nu hebben ze de vlag van Syrische islamisten gekopieerd met als enige toevoeging een kleine al-Qaida stempel in het midden.

Eerste levensbehoeften
Jabhar al-Nusra wint ook veel sympathie met het organiseren en verdelen van eerste levensbehoeften onder de bevolking. Elke Syri�r kan je vertellen dat diesel in het oosten tien keer goedkoper is, waar al-Nusra gebieden beheerst.

"We hebben ze nu nodig. Maar als Assad is verdwenen rekenen we wel met ze af," zegt een regimentsofficier van het Vrije Syrische Leger tegen me, als we eenmaal in zijn huis aan de kip zitten. De officier heeft duizenden rebellen onder zich. "Mijn jongens zijn onervaren. De meesten zijn nooit in het leger geweest. Ik heb ze al drie maanden geen salaris meer kunnen betalen, dus hun zorgen zijn groot, want ze kunnen hun families niet steunen." Hij maakt onderdeel uit van de al-Tawheed brigade, die in zijn beginselverklaring niets heeft opgenomen over een islamitische staat. Hij is zelf godsdienstleraar.

Checklist religie
"Hoe kan ik onderscheid maken tussen religieuze fanatiekelingen, salafisten of gewone Syrische gelovigen die religie buiten de politiek houden?," vraag ik hem. Hij geeft een handzame checklist. "Als je bij een gewone soennitische Syri�r thuis komt, spreekt hij niet meteen over religie. Hij zal je dankbaar zijn als je vraagt of hij met je wil bidden. Als je bij een salafist thuis komt, zal hij je vragen om met hem te bidden, maar als je dat niet doet is het ook goed. Als je een al-Nusra-aanhanger bezoekt zal hij je alleen maar binnenlaten als je eerst met hem bid."

De commandant is niet blij met al-Nusra. Maar hij zal met ze bidden totdat er iemand anders langskomt die het gevecht met Assads leger aangaat. Hij heeft nog een handzame manier voor mij om te herkennen in wat voor kringen ik verkeer. "Als je een sigaret opsteekt bij een gewone Syri�r zal hij vaak meeroken. Als je bij een salafist rookt zal hij vragen om je sigaret te doven. Bij al-Nusra krijg je niet eens de kans er een op te steken." Ik moet maar weer eens wat gaan roken.

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Op maandag 28 januari 2013 01:21 schreef Frikandelbroodje het volgende:

[..]

Behoorlijk bagger, maar geef maar een link, haal ik 'm wel door google translate In ieder geval vind ik kranten in Irak niet bepaald betrouwbaar als ik zo de huidige persvrijheid in Irak zie.
Maliki zegt nu ook dat de demonstraties worden veroorzaakt door buitenlanders, Al-Qaida en de leden van de oude Ba'ath. Dan weet ik wel weer hoe laat het is

[..]

Ja, die zaak van Al-Hashami is ook een van de oorzaken van de huidige onrust. Soennieten zeggen dat de beschuldiging onterecht is. Persoonlijk weet ik niet wat ik daarvan moet denken, niet genoeg in verdiept.

[..]

Ik geloof er geen bal van. Het verschil met Syri� is toch wel dat Hezbollah, Iran en wat Iraakse sjiieten tot hun nek in dit conflict zitten.

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Op dinsdag 29 januari 2013 23:15 schreef Peunage het volgende:

Ja, ik weet dat het een heel stuk is, en een beetje offtopic, maar het heeft wel raakvlakken met Syri�

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Op dinsdag 29 januari 2013 23:47 schreef Slayage het volgende:

[..]

de irakese sjia gesteund door sjia iran zijn in irak aan het afrekenen met de irakese soennieten en in syrie probeert een (seculier) sjia regime gesteund door sjia iran en de sjia in libanon, te beletten dat de soennieten de macht krijgen, das de raakvlak die ik zie

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Terzake drukt morgen op de pauzeknop voor Syri�. Een statement. Omdat de redactie zich in de nieuwsstroom van elke dag blijft verbazen over de gruwel.

Na 22 maanden oorlog met meer dan 60.000 slachtoffers is er nog geen einde in zicht voor de oorlog in Syri�. Dagelijks bereiken gruwelijke beelden de nieuwsredacties. Donderdag verschijnt een nieuw rapport van Human Rights Watch waarin we nog eens met de neus op de feiten gedrukt worden.

Kathleen Cools en Lieven Verstraete presenteren de uitzending samen vanuit de Terzake-studio met publiek. In reportages wordt uitgelegd hoe het conflict tot stand is gekomen en zien we de menselijke impact van de oorlog. Aan de debattafel bespreken Kathleen en Lieven waarom er geen actie ondernomen wordt en wat de mogelijke scenario’s zijn voor de toekomst.
Hun gesprekspartners zijn:

Didier Reynders (Minister van Buitenlandse Zaken)
Hala Naoum Nehme (Syrisch-Nederlandse politicologe)
Koert Debeuf (was onlangs in Syri� in opdracht van de Europese liberale fractie)
Rudi Vranckx

Hoe de Syri�rs zelf de oorlog beleven, vertelt de Belgische Syri�r Rani Jabbour in de studio.En Terzake-journalist Steven Decraene brengt verslag uit vanop de donorconferentie in Koeweit, waar de wereld geld verzamelt voor de slachtoffers van het conflict in Syri�.

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Op woensdag 30 januari 2013 01:11 schreef Peunage het volgende:

[..]

De Sjiieten rekenen af met de soennieten? Hoe kom je daar bij?

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Op woensdag 30 januari 2013 08:55 schreef zuiderbuur het volgende:
Voor de ge�nteresseerden, vanavond op Canvas in Ter Zake uitzonderlijk een aflevering die volledig gewijd is aan Syri�:

Koert Debeuf zit volgens mij voornamelijk in Cairo maar goed...
http://www.canvas.be/prog(...)10:13bae8811da:-5976
Woensdag 30 januari om 20u00,
Woensdag 30 januari om 01u45 (herhaling),
Donderdag 31 januari om 09u00 (herhaling)
(komt ook op de site achteraf maar ik weet niet zeker of dat ook buiten Belgi� bekijkbaar is)

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Op woensdag 30 januari 2013 11:57 schreef Slayage het volgende:

[..]

door de eeuwen heen is dat de geschiedenis van irak geweest, periodes met soenni overheersing en periodes met shia overheersing, nu is de shia periode aangeslagen met behulp van de vs en iran

sunni turkije/saudi/qatar steunen de rebellen en shia iran/irak steunen assad en deze allianties zijn niet meer dan natuurlijk

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Op woensdag 30 januari 2013 12:09 schreef Peunage het volgende:

[..]

Wanneer is de Shiva overheersing in Irak geweest dan? Zelfs nu is er geen overheersing. De Sjiieten zijn heel erg verdeeld.

De Sjiieten in Irak steunen assad niet omdat hij Sjiitisch is, ze hebben dezelfde Baath partij in Irak al meegemaakt onder Saddam Hoessein en gezien dat religie er niks mee te maken heeft. Ze willen gewoon geen Salafisten en Wahhabieten aan de macht in Syri� omdat het voor veel problemen zou zorgen. En wanneer Syri� valt ontstaat er vast en zeker chaos, en dan is het nog maar de vraag wie er snel genoeg is om de macht te grijpen.

quote:

Israel attacks target on Syria-Lebanon border, Western sources say

Report of attack comes soon after Lebanese army says IAF fighter planes flew over Lebanon in three separate missions; Israeli officials have repeatedly warned this week that Syrian chemical weapons could be falling into the wrong hands.

Israeli forces attacked a target on the Syrian-Lebanese border overnight, a Western diplomat and a security source said on Wednesday, at a time of growing concern in the Jewish state over the fate of Syrian chemical and conventional weapons.

"There was definitely a hit in the border area," one of the sources said.

The sources, who declined to be named because of the sensitivity of the issue, had no further information about what might have been hit or where precisely the attack happened.

The Israel Defense Forces refused to confirm or deny the report. "We do not comment on reports of this kind," an Israel Defense Forces spokeswoman said.

The reported attack came soon after the Lebanese media said that Israel Air Force jets had flown over Lebanon's air space in three separate missions late Tuesday and early Wednesday. There was no confirmation of that report from Israel.

Earlier this week, the Lebanon Army reported that the IAF had violated Lebanon's airspace on Saturday in four different incidents. The Lebanese newspaper The Daily Star reported that IAF fighter jets were seen flying around the Beka'a Valley.

Also Saturday, the Lebanese daily Al-Mustaqbal said that an explosion struck a weapons storage facility in an area of southern Lebanon controlled by Hezbollah. The report was not confirmed by Lebanon's government or by the Lebanese army. The latter said it had conducted a number of controlled explosions on Saturday of munitions left over from the Second Lebanon War.

According to the daily, the explosion took place in the small town of Machghara, located in the Beka'a Valley. It said that a cloud of smoke was seen rising from the site, which was quickly cordoned off by Hezbollah forces.

On Sunday, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned his cabinet ministers of the risk that chemical weapons from Syria could be falling into the hands of Hezbollah in Lebanon.

"It is necessary to look at our surroundings, both at what is happening with Iran and its proxies, and what is happening in other arenas - lethal weaponry in Syria, which is steadily breaking up," Netanyahu said during the weekly cabinet meeting in Jerusalem.

Also Sunday, Vice Premier Silvan Shalom said that any sign that Syria's grip on its chemical weapons was slipping, as President Bashar al-Assad fights rebels trying to overthrow him, could trigger Israeli intervention. 

quote:

U.S. 'backed plan to launch chemical weapon attack on Syria and blame it on Assad's regime'

Leaked emails from defense contractor refers to chemical weapons saying 'the idea is approved by Washington'
Obama issued warning to Syrian president Bashar al-Assad last month that use of chemical warfare was 'totally unacceptable'

Leaked emails have allegedly proved that the White House gave the green light to a chemical weapons attack in Syria that could be blamed on Assad's regime and in turn, spur international military action in the devastated country.
A report released on Monday contains an email exchange between two senior officials at British-based contractor Britam Defence where a scheme 'approved by Washington' is outlined explaining that Qatar would fund rebel forces in Syria to use chemical weapons.
Barack Obama made it clear to Syrian president Bashar al-Assad last month that the U.S. would not tolerate Syria using chemical weapons against its own people.

According to Infowars.com, the December 25 email was sent from Britam's Business Development Director David Goulding to company founder Philip Doughty.
It reads: 'Phil... We’ve got a new offer. It’s about Syria again. Qataris propose an attractive deal and swear that the idea is approved by Washington.
'We’ll have to deliver a CW to Homs, a Soviet origin g-shell from Libya similar to those that Assad should have.
'They want us to deploy our Ukrainian personnel that should speak Russian and make a video record.
'Frankly, I don’t think it’s a good idea but the sums proposed are enormous. Your opinion?
'Kind regards, David.'
Britam Defence had not yet returned a request for comment to MailOnline.



The emails were released by a Malaysian hacker who also obtained senior executives resum�s and copies of passports via an unprotected company server, according to Cyber War News.
Dave Goulding's Linkedin profile lists him as Business Development Director at Britam Defence Ltd in Security and Investigations. A business networking profile for Phil Doughty lists him as Chief Operationg Officer for Britam, United Arab Emirates, Security and Investigations.
The U.S. State Department had not returned a request for comment on the alleged emails to MailOnline today at time of publication.
However the use of chemical warfare was raised at a press briefing in D.C. on January 28.
A spokesman said that the U.S. joined the international community in 'setting common redlines about the consequences of using chemical weapons'.

A leaked U.S. government cable revealed that the Syrian army more than likely had used chemical weapons during an attack in the city of Homs in December.
The document, revealed in The Cable, revealed the findings of an investigation by Scott Frederic Kilner, the U.S. consul general in Istanbul, into accusations that the Syrian army used chemical weapons in the December 23 attack.

An Obama administration official who had access to the document was reported as saying: 'We can't definitely say 100 per cent, but Syrian contacts made a compelling case that Agent 15 was used in Homs on Dec. 23.'
Mr Kilner's investigation included interviews with civilians, doctors, and rebels present during the attack, as well as the former general and head of the Syrian WMD program, Mustafa al-Sheikh.
Dr. Nashwan Abu Abdo, a neurologist in Homs, is certain chemical weapons were used. He told The Cable: 'It was a chemical weapon, we are sure of that, because tear gas can't cause the death of people.'

Eye witness accounts from the investigation revealed that a tank launched chemical weapons and caused people exposed to them to suffer nausea, vomiting, abdominal pain, delirium, seizures, and respiratory distress.
The symptoms suggest that the weaponized compound Agent-15 was responsible. Syria denied using chemical weapons and said it would never use them against citizens.
Speaking to Pentagon reporters at the time, Defense Secretary Leon Panetta said his biggest concern was how the U.S. and allies would secure the chemical and biological weapons sites scattered across Syria and ensure the components don't end up in the wrong hands if the regime falls, particularly under violent conditions.
Government forces and rebels in Syria have both been accused by human rights groups of carrying out brutal warfare in the 22-month-old conflict, which has claimed more than 60,000 lives.

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Opposition leader says could hold talks outside Syria

(Reuters) - The head of Syria's main opposition coalition, Mouaz Alkhatib, said on Wednesday he was ready to hold talks with representatives of President Bashar al-Assad outside Syria if authorities released tens of thousands of detainees.

Syrian officials said this week that political opposition figures could return to Damascus for "national dialogue" and that any charges against them would be dropped.

That followed a speech Assad gave three weeks ago in which he called for reconciliation talks, but said there would be no dialogue with opponents he called "terrorists".

Assad has been trying to crush a 22-month-old uprising which began in March 2011 with mainly peaceful political protests but has escalated into a civil war in which 60,000 people have died.

His comments were dismissed by most opposition figures, who insist on his departure as a precondition for talks, but Alkhatib appeared to soften that position slightly.

"I am prepared to sit down directly with representatives of the Syrian regime in Cairo, Tunis or Istanbul," Alkhatib said in a statement on his Facebook page.

He set out two conditions of his own: the release of what he said was 160,000 detainees held in Syrian prisons and intelligence facilities, and instructions to Syrian embassies to issue new passports to Syrians whose documents had expired.

Underlining the continued rifts amongst Assad's foes, the opposition Syrian National Council - some of whose members are represented on Alkhatib's council - immediately distanced itself from his comments.

"The Syrian people are paying a high price to obtain their right to full freedom ... The Syrian National Council affirms its absolute commitment to the Syrian people's will, and rejects any settlement with the Syrian regime or negotiation with it."

Assad announced in early January plans for a reconciliation conference with opposition figures "who have not betrayed Syria", though he said the must first be an end to regional funding and arming of rebels fighting to overthrow him.

"Should we speak to gangs recruited abroad that follow the orders of foreigners? Should we have official dialogue with a puppet made by the West, which has scripted its lines?" he said.