Nidal

“You know what I did? I left troops to take the oil. I took the oil. The only troops I have are taking the oil, they’re protecting the oil. I took over the oil.”

  • Nusra deflects blame for protest suppression ; ‘mandate flag… sows division’
    http://syriadirect.org/news/nusra-deflects-blame-for-protest-suppression-%E2%80%98mandate-flag%E2%8

    There were two kinds of flags carried at the protest, said a second protester who requested anonymity. “The first, and the most widespread, was a white flag with the words ‘No God but God, Mohamed is the Prophet of God,’” and the second was the mandate flag.

    When some protesters insisted on raising the disputed flag anyway, masked men began beating people and confiscating cameras, said the same protester.

    “They pulled one young guy into a café across from the clock tower square and started beating him until other protesters were able to pull him out,” he said.

    The masked men arrested 10 protesters and smashed five cameras and three camera phones throughout the dispersal, three protesters told Syria Direct.

    Once the mandate flags were gathered up and confiscated the men replaced them with black Jabhat al-Nusra flags, said the eyewitnesses.

    Despite the security personnel driving Victory Army vehicles, the men who dispersed the protest were acting specifically on behalf of Jabhat al-Nusra and Jund al-Aqsa, an official with Ahrar a-Sham, one of the largest fighting groups within the rebel coalition, told Syria Direct on Tuesday.

    (L’article nous dit en passant qu’il y avait deux genres de drapeaux dans la manif ; curieusement les vidéos Youtube qui ont fait le tour du Web ne montraient jamais celui avec la chahada – “the most widespread”.)

    • C’est un détail ici, mais pas inintéressant, le drapeau de la « rébellion » qui était celui du mandat français , n’a pas été remplacé par Assad en 1970 comme l’indique l’article - manière de dire qu’il symbolise toute la Syrie pre-Assad :

      The so-called “mandate flag” was used by the Syrian Republic during the period of the French mandate from 1920–1946, the latter being the year of Syria’s independence. The flag remained Syria’s national symbol until Hafez al-Assad seized power in 1970. Since 2011, the flag has served as a symbol of the revolution against the government of Hafez al-Assad’s son Bashar, but is seen as a remnant of foreign influence by some Islamist groups.

      Il a d’abord été abandonné au profit du drapeau aux couleurs du nationalisme arabe durant la République Arabe Unie (1958-1961), puis repris durant le gouvernement al-Qudsi (1961-1963) qui était soutenu par les Frères musulmans et des forces pro-occidentales. Il a finalement été définitivement abandonné après le coup d’Etat de 1963 qui a mené al-Atassi et le parti Baath au pouvoir, au profit de différents drapeaux successifs reprenant tous les 3 couleurs du nationalisme arabe.

    • La conclusion de l’article est presque comique :

      “The Victory Army must put an end to these infringements on people’s freedom,” said Abu Bara.
      “Otherwise Idlib will be ruled by gangs like Nusra and Aqsa.”

      « Otherwise » ? Encore ce mythe selon lequel al-Nousra se contenterait des exploits militaires tandis qu’elle laisserait l’administration des zones qu’elle contrôle à la gentille rébellion modérée...
      Sur la question de la présence d’al-Nousra, et de qui est la force dominante à Idlib et dans sa province, Balanche est assez clair dans son dernier article :
      http://www.washingtoninstitute.org/policy-analysis/view/how-to-prevent-al-qaeda-from-seizing-a-safe-zone-in-northwester