U.N. Says Aid for Syria Refugees Is Running Out - NYTimes.com
GENEVA — The United Nations will soon have to start cutting off lifesaving aid to people fleeing the war in Syria because the exodus has far outstripped financial support from international donors, one agency at the center of the humanitarian relief effort warned on Friday.
http://graphics8.nytimes.com/images/2013/04/06/world/middleeast/sub-SYRIA/sub-SYRIA-articleLarge.jpg
Le croissant rouge syrien est beaucoup plus clair sur le degré réel de l’amitié des #amis_du_peuple_syrien. http://seenthis.net/messages/125862
Syria says Jordan ’playing with fire’ over assistance to rebels | World news | The Guardian
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2013/apr/05/syria-jordan-fire-assistance-rebels
Jordan tightens security along Syrian border as tensions soar amid reports of arms shipments to anti-Assad forces
Ian Black, Middle East editor
Friday 5 April 2013
Jordan is facing mounting tension with neighbouring Syria amid signs that it has moved to a more active role in support of the rebels fighting to overthrow President Bashar al-Assad’s government.
The border between the countries was reinforced on the Jordanian side on Thursday after Syrian state media warned the western-backed kingdom it was “playing with fire” and poised “on the edge of a volcano” by backing the opposition.
Recent weeks have seen a spate of reports about arms shipments from Jordan to anti-Assad rebels who have been making gains around Deraa, the Syrian city closest to the border. Opposition sources say the military situation reflects enhanced supplies and training.
Barack Obama discussed the crisis with King Abdullah II in Amman on his Middle East tour last month. Jordan was the only Arab state the US president visited – an indication of the pressure the king is under to be more supportive of the Gulf-driven effort to drive Assad from power.
Diplomats say they have discussed plans for a buffer zone in southern Syria as well as accelerated training for rebel fighters by the US and Jordan. British and French special forces are reported to be involved in training, advice, logistics and intelligence support.
In an apparent reflection of nervousness about the issue, a government spokesman in Amman insisted on Friday that Jordan was “not part of the conflict” in Syria and maintained its support for a “peaceful solution” – the formal stance of all Arab states. The spokesman refused to comment either on the training or the buffer zone, the Al-Ghad newspaper reported.
The Washington Post cited Jordanian security officials this week as saying that a plan to complete the training of 3,000 Free Syrian Army officers by the end of June has been brought forward to the end of April in light of the border victories. The FSA is backed by western and Arab governments as a bulwark against the rise of Salafi or Jihadi-type Islamist groups.
Jordanian sources describe a “double discourse” – an official one that reiterates the formal position alongside clandestine training and Saudi-financed arms supplies delivered with the help of the CIA. Jordan’s powerful Mukhabarat secret service enjoys a close relationship with its western partners, including MI6.
Karl reMarks : The EU is running a Jihadi exchange programme in Syria
http://www.karlremarks.com/2013/04/the-eu-is-running-jihadi-exchange.html
The EU is running a Jihadi exchange programme in Syria
En général, c’est très bien, mais là, il fait très très fort !
Puisque le nom de Tammam Salam circule pour être le prochain Premier ministre libanais, j’ai effectué une recherche dans les #cablegate de #Wikileaks. A priori, rien de bien intéressant.
05BEIRUT654, Lebanon Biographies of Potential Prime Ministers, 3 mars 2005
http://wikileaks.org/cable/2005/03/05BEIRUT654.html
Tammam Salam, former Member of Parliament
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¶7. Salam was born in Beirut in 1945. The Salam family is one of the prominent traditional Sunni political families of Beirut. His late father was one of the heroes of Lebanon’s independence in 1943. Hariri’s political and financial powers undermined the role of the Salam family in Beirut. He is the son of former Prime Minister Saeb Salam.
Salam was elected a Member of Parliament in 1996. He lost his seat in 2000 because of the late Prime Minister Hariri’s efforts against him. Salam was trying to mend fences with the Hariri camp in early 2005, ahead of the Spring Parliamentary elections. When Speaker Berri launched his response to the Bristol opposition group meetings, Salam participated in Berri’s counterpart conclave known as “Ain Tineh.” Salam abstained from attending the subsequent meeting “Ain Tineh II” after Hariri’s assassination.
08BEIRUT1699, Lebanon: Jumblatt peased with his U.S. visit, 28 novembre 2008
http://wikileaks.org/cable/2008/11/08BEIRUT1699.html
¶13. (C) Jumblatt worried that the recent wave of Lebanese officials visiting Syria would continue indefinitely. Hamadeh noted that President Sleiman asked Defense Minister Elias Murr to visit his counterpart in Damascus, but wondered why Culture Minister Tammam Salam needed to go now as well. “We should not send too many at one time,” said Hamadeh.
09BEIRUT495, Lebanon: UNRWA director says Nahr al-Barid reconstruction must begin now, 30 avril 2009
http://wikileaks.org/cable/2009/04/09BEIRUT495.html
HISTORY HOLDS UP CONSTRUCTION
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¶7. (C) Another issue that has come up recently is the discovery of an archaeological site on the grounds of the Nahr al-Barid camp. Two, 3,000 year-old sarcophagi were discovered on the camp site. According to Lebanese law, the GOL is responsible for preserving the site. There exists a number of options on how to do this. However, UNRWA favors leaving the site as is and building around/above the archaeological find (known as back-filling), as it is the quickest and easiest option. Minister of Culture, Tammam Salam’s recommendation on how to preserve the site is needed before construction can begin. Lombardo asked the Ambassador to speak with Salam to urge him to support this option.
09BEIRUT967, Legal challenge adds delays to Nahr al-Barid reconstruction, 27 août 2009 http://wikileaks.org/cable/2009/08/09BEIRUT967.html
LATE-BREAKING LEGAL CHALLENGE FROM AOUN
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¶2. (C) In mid-August, Michel Aoun filed a lawsuit with the Shura court requesting an injunction against the backfilling of recently discovered Roman ruins underneath areas of the Nahr al-Barid (NAB) Palestinian refugee camp near Tripoli. The basis for the suit is how to best preserve the remains of the Roman village discovered during rubble and UXO removal. The Directorate General of Antiquities (DGA) earlier in the year carried out a extensive survey at the site and, with cabinet approval, agreed that construction could continue if the ruins were “backfilled” with compressed soil at least one meter above the tallest portion of the ruins after UXO and rubble removal. Caretaker Culture Minister Tammam Salam told us on August 25 that Aoun was demanding the GOL relocate the camp to new land, an option already studied and rejected due to the cost and procedural delays in appropriating the land. Salam described Aoun’s demand as disingenuous since, were the GOL to appropriate new land, Aoun would accuse the GOL of instituting a permanent resettlement plan or “tawteen” for the refugees, a policy universally rejected across the Lebanese political spectrum. One of the issues being considered by the court is whether Aoun has legal standing for the suit, either as a private citizen or an MP.
¶3. (C) The GOL filed an appeal to Aoun’s lawsuit, caretaker Justice Minister Ibrahim Najjar confirmed to Ambassador on August 14. Najjar said that both Aoun and the GOL had one month to prepare their cases. Meanwhile, on August 25 caretaker PM Siniora met with Salam, the DGA, the secretary general of the cabinet and a Lebanese Armed Forces (LAF) representative to “consolidate” the government’s position before presenting their appeal to the court later in September. Salam, who underscored earlier acceptance by some members of the opposition of the DGA’s proposal, noted that two of the three judges on the State Council, which must rule on the appeal, are Aoun supporters. On August 26 UNRWA’s Deputy Director for Lebanon Roger Davies told the Ambassador the court had ordered the previously agreed-upon work on backfilling to cease while the case is adjudicated. Only archeological surveying, rubble and UXO removal will continue. Davies said that Siniora had advised UNRWA on August 26 to obey the instruction, which asserting that the GOL was “100 percent behind” the NAB reconstruction project. Davies told us August 27 that UNRWA planned to order its contractor to cease backfilling operations on August 31. According to Regional UNRWA Director Filipo Grandi, the end of October was previously the projected date to complete the clearance work and begin constructing building foundations.
09BEIRUT973, With cabinet negotiations stalled, Hariri hints at brinkmanship, 28 août 2009
http://wikileaks.org/cable/2009/08/09BEIRUT973.html
AOUN THE PROBLEM?
OR HARIRI?
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¶4. (C) The General does not fold easily, however, and underscored that his demands are firm and he will not “visit” anyone, adding cheekily that if “someone” wants to negotiate, he can visit the broad terrace of Aoun’s house. Caretaker Minister of Culture and Future Party stalwart Tammam Salam told the Ambassador August 25 that despite being “unstable,” Aoun is extremely intelligent, a political animal who does his homework and commits himself to a plan. “Even his allies can’t reel him in,” said Salam. “With or without the blessing of Syria, he will do what he wants.” Alain Aoun explained to PolChief August 26 that the General’s obstinacy was the result of Hariri’s marginalizing him (reftel) and insisted Hariri will need to find a way to meet with the General in order to move forward.
¶5. (C) Hariri has remained stoic in his responses to Aoun’s recent rants, winning praise from his allies, including Salam, who assessed that his performance has been “perfect” to date. Nonetheless, Hariri’s attempts to isolate Aoun have brought criticism from the opposition (reftel). Opposition MP Yassine Jaber, who is closely allied to Nabih Berri’s Amal party, suggested Hariri should have started negotiating with Aoun from the beginning instead of expecting Hizballah to push him. Indeed, Raad has insisted consistently in his public comments that Hizballah is Aoun’s ally, but not his mediator.
[…]
OUTSIDE FORCES
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¶9. (C) Many contacts still contend that the Hariri-Aoun spat cannot be the only thing holding up the government and that outside pressures are the real source of stalemate. Salam suggested that Syria, working from a strengthened regional and international position, must be working to freeze the process. Jaber assessed that the Egyptians had been interfering in Lebanon’s cabinet formation to serve its own regional interests. Numerous Embassy interlocutors insist that nothing can move forward in Lebanon until the Saudis and Syrians return to the negotiating table. The mood of many is summed up by Jumblatt’s comment to the Ambassador that Lebanon cannot form a government “while Saudi Arabia and Iran are fighting from Yemen to Iraq.”
09BEIRUT1214, New lebanese cabinet announced, 10 novembre 2009
http://wikileaks.org/cable/2009/11/09BEIRUT1214.html
¶7. (U) The following ministers were not returned in the new cabinet: Prime Minister Fouad Siniora, Deputy Prime Minister Issam Abou Jamra, Finance Minister Mohammad Chatah, Social Affairs Minister Mario Aoun, Industry Minister Ghazi Zoayter, Tourism Minister Elie Marouni, Culture Minister Tammam Salam, Environment Minister Antoine Karam, Minister of the Displaced Raymond Audi, Administrative Reform Minister Ibrahim Shamseddine, Youth and Sports Minister Talal Arslan, Education Minister Bahia Hariri, Foreign Affairs Minister Fawzi Salloukh, Energy and Water Minister Alain Tabourian, Agriculture Minister Elie Skaff, State Minister Ali Qanso, State Minister Khaled Qabbani, and State Minister Nassib Lahoud.
Hezbollah and Future Movement may end stalemate: sources | Al Akhbar English
http://english.al-akhbar.com/content/hezbollah-and-future-movement-may-end-stalemate-sources
Lebanon’s fate has long been viewed as hinged to the outcome of Syria’s war between rebels and President Bashar al-Assad, with the Future Movement backing the former and Hezbollah the latter. But pro-dialogue Hezbollah members are arguing that Lebanon ought to disentangle itself from their neighbor’s crisis by resolving issues among themselves.
Up to 600 Europeans fighting in Syria: study | Al Akhbar English
http://english.al-akhbar.com/content/600-europeans-fighting-syria-study
As many as 600 Europeans have joined the rebels fighting government forces in Syria, a British study found.
Jihadists from 14 European countries including France, Germany, Britain and the Netherlands are among those to enter the conflict, according to research published Tuesday by the International Center for the Study of Radicalization (ICSR) at King’s College London.
“Between 140 and 600 Europeans have gone to Syria since early 2011,” said researcher Aaron Y. Zelin.
Up to 441 Europeans are still in the country, he added.
The ICSR’s lowest estimates consist solely of confirmed individuals, while higher estimates include unverified estimates provided by government and media sources.
The ICSR based the figures on some 250 “martyrdom notices” posted on jihadi websites as well as hundreds of Arab and Western media reports.
It estimated that as many as 134 fighters from Britain have headed to Syria, along with up to 107 from the Netherlands, 92 from France and 85 from Belgium.
Others came from Denmark, Germany, Ireland, Finland, Spain, Sweden, Albania, Austria, Bulgaria and Kosovo.
“There is no ’true census’ of foreign fighters, and publicly available sources are inevitably incomplete... and will probably remain so for years to come,” said Zelin.
The study dismissed Syrian government claims that many of the fighters battling against troops loyal to President Bashar al-Assad are foreigners, estimating that they make up less than ten percent of the opposition.
Zelin also stressed that not all foreigners fighting in Syria are Muslim extremists.
“Not everyone who has joined the Syrian rebels is Al-Qaeda, and only a small number may ever become involved in terrorism after returning to Europe,” he said.
“That said, it would be wrong to conclude that individuals who have trained and fought in Syria pose no potential threat.”
Last month the Netherlands raised the threat of a terror attack to “substantial”, saying the increased risk stemmed mainly from jihadi returning from fighting in Syria.
(AFP)
U.S., Jordan stepping up training of Syrian opposition - The Washington Post
http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/middle_east/us-jordan-stepping-up-training-of-syrian-opposition/2013/04/02/e51831d2-9ba1-11e2-a941-a19bce7af755_print.html
Des zones tampons sont envisagés dans le Sud de la Syrie, dont le type de protection reste à préciser, et qui doivent protéger Israël avant tout.
“The last thing anyone wants to see is al-Qaeda gaining a foothold in southern Syria next to Israel. That is a doomsday scenario,” said a U.S. diplomat in Jordan who was not authorized to speak publicly on the subject.
The west’s alliance against Assad is riddled with contradictions
Claire Spencer
The Guardian, Tuesday 26 March 2013 19.36 GMT
The tragedy in Syria lies as much in the dysfunctional international response as in the war on the ground
Over the past week there has been much wringing of hands over Syria, and rightly so. At every turn, the Gordian knot has been tightening, with little prospect of it being cut.
Monday’s grim news was that the founder of the Free Syrian Army (FSA), the erstwhile Syrian army colonel Riad al-Asaad, was seriously wounded in a targeted car bomb just before the Syrian National Coalition assumed Syria’s seat in place of the Assad regime at the Arab League meeting in Doha.
In war things rarely run smoothly, but the tragedy of Syria lies as much in the fragility of the coalition supporting the rebels as in the inconclusiveness of the rebels’ own political and military battles. Since the Russian and Chinese vetoes at the UN in early 2011, there has been no single “international community” voice on Syria. On team A we have the US, EU, Turkey, Saudi Arabia and Qatar. Russia, China, Iran and sundry others make up team B. Far from resolving the crisis, these competing actors cancelled out each other’s efforts over the ensuing two years. As the main instigators of Libya’s liberation from Muammar Gaddafi, the French and British clearly want to do more than train rebel soldiers in Jordan, or increase humanitarian assistance to refugees. In pushing for arms to reach the FSA in Syria, however, they are failing to manage their own allies, much less the opposing team.
The Arab League, meeting this week, is once again calling for more robust UN action, but this reflects neither diplomatic realities nor developments on the ground. Journalists covering Syria from the inside have revealed how Turkey and the Gulf states are already training, funding and arming rebel groups; but from a Franco-British perspective, they are clearly the wrong ones. Last week’s news that a low-level, chlorine-based chemical weapons may have been deployed from an area controlled by Jabhat al-Nusra, the Islamist militia supported by Qatar, sits uneasily with the more secular FSA’s appeals for hardware from the west.
So far, the US is sitting on the fence – the new secretary of state, John Kerry, having failed to convince President Obama that inserting more weaponry into Syria will save lives down the line. The alliance struck with Qatar, Saudi Arabia and Turkey over Syria remains circumstantial. It is not clear that all of team A wants the same thing. Opposing Iranian, or indeed Russian, influence in Syria is not the same thing as securing the best outcome for the Syrian people. With the shadow of 2003 Iraq hanging heavily over western intervention, which lacks domestic support in both Europe and the US, the next best options remain no-fly zones and humanitarian corridors. Neither is anywhere close to being legally viable or practical on the ground.
What worked in Libya in 2011 now looks like a fortuitous sleight of hand. Given the EU’s tensions with Russia over Cyprus, the solid veto of China, and the regional activism of Qatar and Turkey, the Nato-led Libyan campaign may go down in history as one of the last actions of a consensus-based “international community”. The closer the crisis, the more local agendas prevail. Whether this means the Gulf favouring jihadist strongmen over democracy, or Turkey backing some of Syria’s ethnic and sectarian communities over others, it is not the Syrian people who will emerge victorious in any of the senses championed by the US and EU.
Facing up to the dysfunctionality of its own alliance over Syria should now be the priority of any UK-French plan. The alternative is to continue to back one increasingly narrow, divided and poorly resourced set of Syrians against another armed and championed by the west’s own regional allies
Syrian Newspapers Emerge to Fill Out War Reporting
By NEIL MacFARQUHAR
The New York Times
Published: April 1, 2013
“ANTAKYA, Turkey — Absi Smesem became the editor in chief of a new weekly Syrian newspaper hoping to leave behind what he disparaged as the “Facebook phase” of the uprising. The tall tales and outright misinformation that tainted so much reporting from Syria convinced him that more objective coverage was essential to bolster the effort to overthrow President Bashar al-Assad. Too often, he said, he could not believe what passed for news on popular satellite channels, like the Qatari-owned Al Jazeera and the Saudi-runAl Arabiya, both staunch opposition supporters. The two channels relied heavily on unfiltered reports from local activists hired as correspondents, or, failing that, grabbed whatever they , Binnish, in northern Syria, was under siege by the Syrian Army, he said, one activist-cum-correspondent used the local expression “Dabahoona dbah,” which in Arabic literally means “We are being slaughtered” — but which the people of northern Syria use to mean “We cannot breathe.” Within minutes, a breaking-news headline scrolled across the television screen saying Syrian government forces were committing a massacre in Binnish. “There are no objective sources of information on either side, neither with the regime nor the rebels,” said Mr. Smesem, 46, a veteran reporter with graying hair and an easy laugh.” (…)
Hala Droubi contributed reporting from Antakya, and Sebnem Arsu from Gaziantep, Turkey.
Les médias, comme ceux qui les suivent, auront été mis à rude épreuve pendant la « révolution » puis la « guerre » en Syrie. Dans le suivi médiatique des événements, la palette est large qui va de la rareté de l’information à la désinformation en passant par le « wishful thinking » ou la distorsion. Un bilan de la manière dont les événements en Syrie ont été rapportés des deux côtés reste à faire. En attendant, il aura fallu apprendre à aimer puis à se distancier des actions de l’Armée libre syrienne, se gausser des mails échangés entre la famille Assad et un grand magasin londonien puis se demander si tous étaient authentiques, prendre pour argent comptant des articles qui ne reflétaient que les positions nationales de tel ou tel pays, se demander s’il fallait dire « révolutionnaires » ou « groupes armés, « combattants de l’intérieur » ou « conspiration de l’extérieur », « rebelles » ou « insurgés », « déserteurs » ou « combattants de la liberté ». Fallait-il, faute de temps ou de moyens, reprendre aveuglement les très nombreuses informations que Rami Abdulrahman - responsable de « l’Observatoire syrien des Droits de l’homme »- transmettaient à la presse occidentale depuis son domicile de Coventry ? A-t-on eu raison de ne porter qu’une attention discrète au rapport de la Ligue arabe dont les observateurs, dépêchés en Syrie fin 2011 début 2012, avaient déjà noté des distorsions entre réalité du terrain et image véhiculée dans les médias internationaux ?
David Ignatius: Sorting out the rebel forces in Syria - The Washington Post
http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/david-ignatius-sorting-out-the-rebel-forces-in-syria/2013/04/02/aaaa0110-9bd3-11e2-9a79-eb5280c81c63_story.html
The Free Syrian Army has developed a rough “order of battle” that describes these rebel groups, their ideology and sources of funding. This report was shared last week with the State Department.
...
... rebel sources say there are several [ islamist ] major factions.
The biggest umbrella group is called the Jabhat al-Tahrir al-Souriya al-Islamiya. It has about 37,000 fighters, drawn from four main subgroups based in different parts of the country. These Saudi-backed groups are not hard-core Islamists but are more militant than the political coalition headed by Sheik Moaz al-Khatib, who last week claimed Syria’s seat in the Arab League.
The second-largest rebel coalition is more extreme and is dominated by hard-core Salafist Muslims. Its official name — Jabhat al-Islamiya al-Tahrir al-Souriya — is almost identical to that of the Saudi-backed group. Rebel sources count 11 different brigades from around the country that have merged to form this second coalition. Financing comes from wealthy Saudi, Kuwaiti and other Gulf Arab individuals. Rebel sources estimate about 13,000 Salafist fighters are gathered under this second umbrella.
A third rebel group, known as Ahfad al-Rasoul, is funded by Qatar. It has perhaps 15,000 fighters.
The most dangerous group in the mix is the Jabhat al-Nusra, which is an offshoot of al-Qaeda in Iraq. By one rebel estimate, it has grown to include perhaps 6,000 fighters. But this group, perhaps fearing that it will be targeted by Western counterterrorism forces, is said to be keeping its head down — and perhaps commingling with the Salafist umbrella group.
Idriss and his Free Syrian Army command about 50,000 more fighters, rebel sources say.
PressTV - CNN spreads lies against Iran, Syria: Ex-correspondent
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/2013/04/01/296014/cnn-lies-about-iran-syria-exreporter
An outspoken investigative journalist and former CNN correspondent has once again stressed that the US-based network is engaged in spreading Western propaganda against Iran and Syria.
More about Amber Lyon on :
Oppositions syriennes. L’auteur utilise les récents accrochages entre deux des groupes d’opposants syriens - les Bataillons Farouq et le Front al-Nusra – pour dresser un portrait à charge de ce dernier (considéré comme une organisation terroriste par les Etats Unis). En creux, il s’attache à dessiner une Syrie partagée entre les tenants d’un islam modéré, ambitionnant de mettre en place un régime laïc, et les islamistes pour lesquels seul un émirat placé sous le régime de la loi islamique à sa place.
Islamists, secular rebels battle in Syria over Nusra Front’s call for Islamic state
By David Enders, Mc Clatchy Newspapers
Tuesday March 26, 2013
http://www.mcclatchydc.com/2013/03/26/186970/islamists-secular-rebels-battle.html?storylink=addthis
“TAL ABYAD, Syria — Two Syrian rebel groups – one seeking an elected civil government, the other favoring the establishment of a religious state – are battling each other in the city of Tal Abyad, on the border with Turkey, in a sign of the tensions that are likely to rule this country if the government of President Bashar Assad falls. Four people were killed Sunday in fighting here between the Farouq Battalions, which favors elections, and Jabhat al Nusra, or the Nusra Front, which the United States has declared an al Qaida-affiliated terrorist group. Since then, Farouq has been massing men here in an example of the growing friction that’s emerged in recent months as Nusra has captured strategic infrastructure across Syria’s north and east, including oil and gas installations, grain silos and a hydroelectric dam.”
Syrian rebel fighters blast Muslim Brotherhood for ’delaying victory’- ►http://www.thenational.ae/news/world/middle-east/syrian-rebel-fighters-blast-muslim-brotherhood-for-delaying-victory
ANTAKYA, TURKEY // Syrian rebel fighters have accused the Muslim Brotherhood of undermining the revolt against Bashar Al Assad and trying to dictate opposition politics.
Rebel officers said the Brotherhood was putting narrow factional politicking over the broad interests of the revolt.
(...)
Just as the Brotherhood’s critics can accuse it of having little sway on the ground inside Syria, so the Joint Command of the FSA is, to a greater or lesser degree, something of a fiction.
Despite the corporate branding of the FSA, it is really more of a loosely knit umbrella organisation containing various armed factions that pay only lip service to the idea of a unified chain of command.
The most powerful and effective fighting units, controlled and manned by Islamists, do not take orders from distant FSA commanders.
“It’s true that some FSA units, especially in Damascus, are unhappy with the Muslim Brotherhood but there are armed units elsewhere which are backed by the Brotherhood and which are loyal to them,” said a leading activist in the Syrian capital.
“The divisions inside the opposition are real and seem to be getting worse, they have started breaking out into the open more and more,” he said.
Syria accuses rebels of setting fire to oil wells amid internal disputes - Middle East - Israel News | Haaretz Daily Newspaper
http://www.haaretz.com/news/middle-east/syria-accuses-rebels-of-setting-fire-to-oil-wells-amid-internal-disputes-1.
La bataille pour Damas ? CBS News rassemble, à son tour, des informations qui tendent à démontrer que la grande offensive sur Damas (la sixième ?) est en vue. Si les financements qataris et saoudiens de fourniture d’armes à destination de l’opposition syrienne étaient largement médiatisés, en revanche l’implication des Etats Unis et d’autres Etats occidentaux était assez peu commentée. Ce n’est plus le cas puisqu’on dispose désormais d’un grand nombre de commentaires de presse sur les types d’armes exportées vers la Turquie et la Jordanie, sur le rôle de la CIA qui interviendrait pour s’assurer que ces armes finissent entre des mains « modérés et légitimes » (Kerry en marge d’une réunion de l’opposition tenue en Italie) et qu’elles rééquilibrent l’effort militaire fourni par l’Iran à Assad, enfin, sur l’abondance des matériels militaires qui arrivent en Syrie en préparation à une offensive finale sur Damas.
CBS/AP/ March 28, 2013, 5:26 AM
AP : "Master plan" underway to help Syria rebels take Damascus with U.S.-approved airlifts of heavy weapons
“Mideast powers opposed to President Bashar Assad have dramatically stepped up weapons supplies to Syrian rebels in coordination with the U.S. in preparation for a push on the capital of Damascus, officials and Western military experts said Wednesday. A carefully prepared covert operation is arming rebels, involving Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Qatar, with the United States and other Western governments consulting, and all parties hold veto power over where the shipments are directed, according to a senior Arab official whose government is participating. His account was corroborated by a diplomat and two military experts. Saudi Arabia and other regional powers have been arming Syria’s rebels for months, but the scale and coordination with the West — and the suggestion by the AP’s sources that the effort is linked to a plan for the rebels to try and seize Damascus — represents a potentially significant escalation in the civil war.”
#Syria #weapons_supplies #escalation #battle_for_Damascus #Croatian_arms #Qatar #Turkey #Jordan #chemical_weapons #Kerry
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Des nouvelles d’Iran sur la Syrie. Interview conduite par Press TV [Iran, anglophone) avec Daoud Khirallah, professeur de Droit à l’université de Georgetown, qui conteste la décision prise par la Ligue arabe de donner à l’opposition syrienne le siège occupé jusqu’à il y a quelques mois par le régime de Damas. (voir video)
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/2013/03/26/295318/al-violated-its-own-charter-on-syria
26 March 2013. Arab League violating its own charter on Syrian crisis: Daoud Khairallah
“Khairallah: Well simply they can disregard the Charter of the Arab League, they can disregard any legal or moral rule and they can apply corruption and money in every way they can to prevent any peaceful negotiated solution in Syria. “
Jerusalem Ignores the Outreached Hand of the Arab League - Al-Monitor: the Pulse of the Middle East
http://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/originals/2013/03/jerusalem-ignores-the-outreached-hand-of-the-arab-league.html
Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s army, opposition fighters and offshoots of al-Qaeda are turning Syria into a network of cemeteries and ruins; Lebanon is collapsing under the weight of hundreds of thousands of refugees arriving from its bleeding neighbor; the regime of Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi is hanging on by a thread; in Saudi Arabia, King Abdullah lies on his deathbed; and Shiite Iran is stirring this boiling cauldron.
Amidst this commotion, the leaders of the Arab states who convened on March 26 in Doha, the capital of Qatar, took the time and energy to address the diplomatic freeze in Israeli-Palestinian negotiations, the occupation and the settlements. As it does annually — despite the upheavals besetting the region — the Arab League summit made sure to reaffirm its peace initiative of March 28, 2002. And, as they do annually, Israel’s political echelons ignored the Arab leaders’ historic peace plan. The summit’s decision to send a special delegation to Washington in April to discuss ways of kick-starting the stalled negotiations, did not elicit any reaction, either.
It is no surprise that the ratification of this regional peace plan and the Arab League’s interest in promoting the two-state solution are being received with such a cool welcome; since the start of the Arab Spring, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has been using the regional instability as a reason, or excuse, to entrench himself in a holding position on the Palestinian front and focus on the Iranian arena. And now, even though the Arab Peace Initiative is the product of pre-Arab Spring regimes, the leaders of the new regimes have again affirmed their peace plan, for the second time since the outbreak of the revolutions in the region. The initiative, which proposes that Israel relinquish the territories it captured in 1967, and in return enjoy normal relations with all the Islamic states, has become one of their anchors.
Middle East scholar, Dr. Matti Steinberg, who has been researching the initiative for years, poured over dozens of pages of Doha summit decisions and found no reference to the issue of the Right of Return — the one that deters most Israelis. The reference to the refugee issue is done so in passing, in reference to the Arab initiative, according to which the solution must be just and agreed upon, based on UN Resolution 194 (which refers to the return of the refugees to their places of residence and the restitution of their property). Steinberg stresses that in the announcement summing up the previous summit, held last year in Baghdad, the right of return was specifically mentioned alongside the Arab initiative, and so, too, in the announcement of the Islamic summit, which was held in Cairo last September (and quoted Resolution 194). One can thus infer that the Arab League delegation will focus its discussions in Washington next month on the territorial issue and will try to talk the US administration into forcing Israel to present its own map for a permanent arrangement. It marks the first time that the Arab League will conduct official talks with the United States about a solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict as part of a regional arrangement.
The new US Secretary of State, John Kerry, has on his desk a proposal to replace the bilateral negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians with a multilateral platform. Acceptance of the Arab initiative as the basis of a permanent arrangement between Israel and its neighbors will enable the renewal of the multilateral channels established following the 1991 Madrid peace conference on the issues of regional security, refugees, water and economic and environmental development. Parallel to the start of negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians, and as part of the regional initiative, the sides will agree that following the establishment of a stable regime in Syria, the new regime will be invited to renew negotiations based on the principles of the initiative. The negotiations with Lebanon, which began in Madrid, will also be renewed.
Acceptance of the Arab initiative’s principles, as the basis for a permanent agreement on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, will enable gradual progress toward the final stop. This, according to the course laid out on the road map of the Quartet (which will mark its 10th year of existence in April), which was also unanimously adopted as a Security Council resolution (1515). The road map [introduced by President Bush in 2002] states that agreement reached in negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians will be based, inter alia, on the initiative of Saudi Arabia’s Prince Abdullah approved at the Arab League summit in Beirut that calls for the acceptance of Israel as a neighbor in the region, living in peace and security, within the context of an overall agreement. The road map also states, “This initiative is a vital element of international efforts to promote a comprehensive peace on all tracks, including the Syrian-Israeli and Lebanese-Israeli track.”
Negotiations with the Palestinians under the auspices of the Arab League and the Organization of Islamic States, which includes Turkey, could make it easier for the Benjamin Netanyahu government to enlist support from the public and its coalition partners for significant steps, such as recognition, in principle, of a Palestinian state, gradual transfer of lands in the West Bank to the sole responsibility of Palestine and passage of a bill concerning “eviction and reparations” for residents of the settlements east of the separation barrier. The government would be able to present these steps as the first stage of a regional peace plan, supported by the United States and the rest of the international community. On the other hand, Israeli willingness to adopt the Arab initiative as a framework for negotiations, to recognize Palestine and to hand it lands, will help the United States put pressure on Saudi Arabia and other Arab states that do not maintain relations with Israel in order to accelerate steps toward normalization.
The Arab summit in Doha illustrates that the new Arab regimes, like the ones that preceded them, regard resolution of the Palestinian issue as the key to strengthening their legitimacy. As far as they are concerned, the way to solve the Syrian problem and to prevent it being turned into a base for Iran or global jihad runs through Ramallah and Jerusalem.
Akiva Eldar is a contributing writer for Al-Monitor’s Israel Pulse. He was formerly a senior columnist and editorial writer for Haaretz and also served as the Hebrew daily’s US bureau chief and diplomatic correspondent. His most recent book (with Idith Zertal), Lords of the Land, on the Jewish settlements, was on the best-seller list in Israel and has been translated into English, German and Arabic.
Iran, Syria and North Korea Stall Arms Treaty - NYTimes.com
UNITED NATIONS — The global effort to regulate the sale of conventional weapons suffered a significant but not fatal setback on Thursday after Iran, Syria and North Korea opposed the draft Arms Trade Treaty, blocking the consensus needed for passage after years of arduous negotiations.
A rural exodus as drought takes hold of Syria | Toronto Star
http://www.thestar.com/news/world/2013/03/16/a_rural_exodus_as_drought_takes_hold_of_syria.html
A rural exodus as drought takes hold of Syria
Un écho de plus sur une thèse qui revient régulièrement...
C’est notre AFP qui informe les Israéliens que leur armée a installé un hôpital dans le Golan pour les rebelles syriens !
Events in Syria pushed Israel to apologize to Turkey - Diplomacy & Defense - Israel News | Haaretz Daily Newspaper
http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/events-in-syria-pushed-israel-to-apologize-to-turkey-1.512388
The Israeli apology to Turkey, made before the Passover holiday under heavy pressure on both sides by President Barack Obama at the end of his visit to Israel, was justified by the prime minister’s bureau mostly due to the new conditions in Syria. The seriousness of the situation of our northern neighbor, explained Netanyahu’s staff, requires the renewal of cooperation with Ankara.
Wednesday, less than a week later, a French news agency report from the Golan Heights said the IDF had opened a field hospital on the Syrian border in the northern part of the Golan. This report quickly followed another report that Israel had for the third time in a month allowed Syrian rebels to enter Israel to receive medical treatment for the wounds they received in fighting the regime.
According to the French news agency AFP, the hospital is situated at Fortification 105 in the northern section of the Golan Heights. The army has declined to comment on the AFP report, but the IDF senior command has for some time been weighing the possibility of establishing a field hospital in a Golan Heights army base, in light of the increasing number of wounded Syrians being sent to the border with Israel.
BBC News - Syria crisis: University of Damascus hit by mortars
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-21964299
Mortar fire has hit the University of Damascus, killing 15 students, Syrian state media say.
Syrie : au moins 12 étudiants tués par des obus tombés sur une faculté à Damas
http://fr.news.yahoo.com/syrie-%C3%A9tudiants-tu%C3%A9s-obus-%C3%A0-damas-121247872.html
Avec les contorsions verbales de rigueur déjà signalées par Nidal ici ►http://seenthis.net/messages/124131
Assad’s Israeli friend
Haaretz Daily Newspaper
http://www.haaretz.com/opinion/assad-s-israeli-friend.premium-1.512146
Along with the smiles and backslapping last week in Jerusalem, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and U.S. President Barack Obama also revealed their disagreements over Syria. At their joint press conference the president had harsh words for Bashar Assad, saying the Syrian president “must go.” Netanyahu settled for mentioning the carnage in the neighboring state without naming those responsible or saying anything about political change in Damascus.
For the past three years Netanyahu was Assad’s silent ally. With the Syrian regime becoming destabilized, its borders breached and the struggle for its future rupturing the region, Israel had the back of the tyrant from Damascus. It made no deterrent military moves, did not openly support the Syrian opposition and did not even use the horrors in Syria for obligatory propaganda like “Arabs murder Arabs and the hypocritical world does not care, and we are criticized for much less.” Netanyahu made do with general statements about the “breakup” of Syria and warnings against chemical weapons and missiles falling into the hands of terrorists.
Alliances between states do not require meetings between leaders, exchanges of ambassadors and declarations of support and affection. Mutual interests that the parties understand and act upon are sufficient.
Islamists, secular rebels battle in Syria over Nusra Front’s call for Islamic state | McClatchy
http://www.mcclatchydc.com/2013/03/26/186970/islamists-secular-rebels-battle.html
Des combats meurtriers entre rebelles syriens à la frontière turque.
TAL ABYAD, Syria — Two Syrian rebel groups – one seeking an elected civil government, the other favoring the establishment of a religious state – are battling each other in the city of Tal Abyad, on the border with Turkey, in a sign of the tensions that are likely to rule this country if the government of President Bashar Assad falls.
Four people were killed Sunday in fighting here between the Farouq Battalions, which favors elections, and Jabhat al Nusra, or the Nusra Front, which the United States has declared an al Qaida-affiliated terrorist group. Since then, Farouq has been massing men here in an example of the growing friction that’s emerged in recent months as Nusra has captured strategic infrastructure across Syria’s north and east, including oil and gas installations, grain silos and a hydroelectric dam.
Raqqa province, where Tal Abyad is, and Hasaka province, to the east, are poverty-stricken but vital to Syria’s agriculture. Hasaka and Deir el Zour province to the south are the center of the country’s oil industry.
“They want to control the border crossing here,” said Abu Mansour, a member of Farouq in Tal Abyad. Like other rebels, he uses a nom de guerre to hide his identity from the government.
The rivalry between the groups is a reminder of how divided Syria’s rebel factions are and how inaccurate it is to refer to the anti-Assad forces as if they were a single group, with a single goal. Indeed, while news stories for months often referred to rebels as the Free Syrian Army, that term is more an idea than an organization. Instead, the rebel movement comprises dozens of groups whose ideologies have only one common goal: the toppling of the Assad regime.
In Syria, the Rebels Have Begun to Fight Among Themselves | TIME.com
http://world.time.com/2013/03/26/in-syria-the-rebels-have-begun-to-fight-among-themselves
Partitioning Syria at the Doha Summit
http://english.al-akhbar.com/content/partitioning-syria-doha-summit
The conspiracy against Syria being hatched at the Doha summit is a massive gamble, as well as a historic crime. The Gulf sheikhs, in conjunction with Western and Arab capital, are launching a step-by-step process of partitioning Syria.
Maj. Gen. Mansour al-Turki says “involvement in the Syrian crisis is against Saudi laws.”
Al-Turki said Monday authorities will also crack down on those planning to travel to Syria to join the fighting there and that some Saudis who joined the Syrian conflict have already fought for al-Qaida outside the kingdom.
AP
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/M/ML_SAUDI_SYRIA?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT