#homs et thèmes voisins

Hewlett Packard, transparency and the #Brand_valuation bubble
http://reflets.info/hewlett-packard-transparency-and-the-brand-valuation-bubble

Paris – june 7th 2013 - Last tuesday, as part of an ongoing investigation exploring internet censorship and monitoring in Iran and in Syria, Reflets.info uncovered Hewlett Packard’s collaboration with TCI, Iran’s state-own ISP – controling all Iranian internet traffic -, in order to update its filtering and #Surveillance capabilities, paired with Chinese ZTE appliances. [...]

#0home #A_la_Une #Monde #brand_management #Hewlett-Packard

La reconstruction de la Syrie : entre 65 et 100 milliards de dollars. Les entreprises européennes sont sur les rangs :
http://www.al-akhbar.com/node/184498

حالياً، يُشغّل الخبراء من المنطقة والعالم الآلات الحاسبة ويُدخلون المعطيات في النماذج الرياضية ترقباً للمرحلة المنتظرة. ووفقاً لأرقام عرضتها سلمى صبرا من البنك اللبناني الفرنسي في سوريا، فإنّ كلفة إعادة الإعمار في سوريا ستراوح بين 65 مليار دولار و100 مليار دولار إذا انتهت الأزمة عام 2015.

يُذكر هنا أنّ كبير الخبراء في منظمة «إسكوا»، عبد الله الدردري – وهو شغل سابقاً نائب رئيس مجلس الوزراء السوري للشؤون الاقتصادية – أشار أخيراً إلى أنّ الأضرار التي لحقت بالاقتصاد السوري خلال عامين من الأزمة بلغت 60 مليار دولار.

ويُشير أحد المصرفيين المشاركين في اللقاء إلى حماسة الأوروبيين لهذه الجائزة: «لا شكّ أنّ البلدان الأوروبية يهمها جداً أن تُطلق العنان لشركات المقاولات والبناء التي تتميز بها والتي لا تجد أشغالاً في اقتصاد أوروبا الراكد: ولذا هي فرصة مهمة لهم لتأمين وظائف لعمال القارة العجوز». غير أنّه يستطرد في الوقت نفسه: «رغم هذه التطلعات ورصد الفرص، أعتقد أننا نبقى بعيدين عن استقرار مقنع في سوريا».

Mapping Syria’s Civil War | Latest News

http://www.location-source.com/latest-news/mapping-syria-s-civil-war.html?goback=%2Egde_1033567_member_2471970

Une expérimentation en terrain difficile

The map uses data from the Global Data on Events, Location and Tone dataset to display the evolution of violent clashes in the Syrian civil war.

Mapped events are colour coded to differentiate the number of events. Lighter colours signify a lower number of violent events, while darker shades denote a high number of events.

Users can view the number of violent events in total from the start of 2011, or view them by individual quarter as time progressed. The ability to view by time starkly illustrates the rapid spread in violent events.

In the bottom right of the map is also an interactive graph showing the number of violent events on a daily basis.

You can view the map here: http://syria.newscientistapps.com

For more information on the dataset behind the map, and how the New Scientist team extrapolated relevant data, click here: http://eventdata.psu.edu/data.dir/GDELT.html

#cartographie #syrie

Syria, like Iraq and Lebanon, is on path toward sectarian split
http://www.mcclatchydc.com/2013/06/05/193092/syria-like-iraq-and-lebanon-is.html

The men from the last Alawite family in the northern Syrian town of Darkush have been kidnapped twice. The Saleh men were fortunate both times: They were released by rebels who’d suspected them of being agents for the government of President Bashar Assad.

Their good fortune wasn’t shared by the rest of the Alawites who used to live here. They’ve all left, a pattern that’s been repeated across Syria and mirrors the demographic changes that war brought to its neighbors, Iraq and Lebanon, in past years.

That tension between various religious sects has become a driver of Syria’s civil war, a development that was at the center of a U.N. report released Tuesday that decried the sharp, savage turn in the country’s violence. “The parties to the conflict are using dangerous rhetoric that inflames sectarian tensions and risks inciting mass, indiscriminate violence, particularly against vulnerable communities,” warned the report, compiled by an international panel of inquiry on Syria for the U.N.’s Human Rights Council.

Syria: Qusayr Battle’s Unofficial Story | Al Akhbar English
http://english.al-akhbar.com/content/syria-qusayr-battle’s-unofficial-story

.. Opposition fighters’ morale was at its peak after hearing news that their comrades managed to ambush and kill 24 Hezbollah fighters on the very first day of clashes. In fact, in the first two days of fighting the Lebanese party paid a heavy price in terms of dead and injured.

(...)

The armed groups, however, surprised Hezbollah with their fighting capabilities, showing a high level of skill and experience that many of them had gained in other jihad-related conflicts.

...

Depuis quelques mois, les Etats unis entendent relancer le processus de paix. D’une conférence organisée à Tel Aviv le 27 mai sur l’Initiative de Paix arabe, Shlomi Eldar (Al-Monitor) a tiré les conclusions suivantes :
– La plus grande victoire de la droite israélienne n’est pas la colonisation mais le fait qu’elle a réussi à rendre les Israéliens apathiques et léthargiques et qu’elle a toujours repoussé les efforts internationaux de paix. Elle a délégitimé tout effort de paix.
– Si l’une des raisons est que la guerre en Syrie et le nucléaire iranien ont fait passer au second plan la question de Palestine, la véritable explication est qu’aucune force politique israélienne n’avait, et n’a toujours pas, réagi à l’offre de paix arabe qui date de 2002 et qui est régulièrement renouvelée par la Ligue arabe depuis cette époque. Cette offre n’est pourtant pas éternelle.
– Israël est incapable de concevoir une initiative arabe.
– Les Israéliens ne se rendent pas compte qu’il est dans leur intérêt d’accepter l’Initiative de paix arabe. Ils ne peuvent compter sur leur classe politique pour changer d’avis.
– En fait, les dirigeants israéliens repousseront toute initiative de paix pour faire admettre que le statut quo est préférable à un plan de paix.

By : Shlomi Eldar for Al-Monitor Israel Pulse Posted on May 31
Shlomi Eldar is a contributing writer for Al-Monitor’s Israel Pulse. For the past two decades, he has covered the Palestinian Authority and especially the Gaza Strip for Israel’s Channels 1 and 10 and has reported on the emergence of Hamas. In 2007, he was awarded the Sokolov Prize, Israel’s most important media award, for this work

http://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/originals/2013/05/arab-peace-initiative-apathy.html

The greatest achievement of the Israeli right is not the settlement enterprise. The greatest achievement of the Israeli right is its success in making most of the Israeli public lethargic and apathetic.
Earlier this week (May 27), there was a conference in Tel Aviv dedicated exclusively to the Arab Peace Initiative. The conference was organized by the S. Daniel Abraham Center for Strategic Dialogue of the Netanya Academic College, the Friedrich Ebert Foundation and Yisrael Yozemet (Israeli Peace Initiative), which is a group founded to promote the Arab Peace Initiative. The conference had a large turnout that included academics, economists and people who were once senior figures in the Israeli political system.
The only Knesset members who attended were Erel Margalit and Meirav Michaeli, both from the Labor Party. The organizers invited Knesset members from the right as well, but the invitations were turned down. These days, the Israeli political system looks dimly at the Arab world in general and the Palestinians in particular. There is almost no one who wants to begin any sort of dialogue whatsoever or to make any effort to resolve the conflict (…)

#Arab_peace_initiative, #settlement, #peace, #lethargy, #apathy, #peace_proposal, #Arab_league, #Syria, #Iran

Syria and chemical weapons: can we really get fooled again after the Iraq WMD fiasco?
http://stopwar.org.uk/index.php/syria/2525-syria-and-chemical-weapons-can-we-really-get-fooled-again-after-the

The certainty with which the French and British governments have announced proof of the use of chemical weapons in the Syrian conflict presages an escalation of western intervention there.
The samples tested at Porton Down (yes, Britain’s own chemical warfare research unit) have proved positive although even the government’s certainty cannot be assured beyond doubt.
As a ‘senior British official’ told the Guardian ‘Are we confident in our means of collection, and are we confident that it points to the regime’s use of sarin? Yes. Can we prove it with 100% certainty? Probably not.’

Al Qaida leader Zawahri urges Syrians: Unite against Assad and bring down Israel-backing U.S. - Middle East - Israel News | Haaretz Daily Newspaper
http://www.haaretz.com/news/middle-east/al-qaida-leader-zawahri-urges-syrians-unite-against-assad-and-bring-down-is

Al Qaida leader Ayman al-Zawahri urged Syrians to unite to bring down President Bashar Assad and thwart what he said were U.S. plans to set up a client state in Syria to safeguard Israel’s security.

In a 22-minute recording, posted on Islamist websites on Thursday to mark 65 years since Israel’s founding, Zawahri also said the only way to solve the Palestinian problem was through Jihad, an Islamic holy war.

“Lions of the Levant, unite around this honorable goal and rise above sectarian affiliations,” Zawahri said.

“America, its agents and allies want you to shed your blood and the blood of your children and women to bring down the criminal Baathist regime, and then set up a government loyal to them and to safeguard Israel’s security,” he added.

The recording came one day after Syrian government forces, backed by Lebanese Hezbollah fighters, captured the border town of Qusair from rebels. It appeared on the Mujahideen al-Ansar website, which carries statements from al Qaida leaders.

It was not immediately possible to verify the authenticity of the recording, which made no reference to Qusair, suggesting it was recorded before the campaign to retake the town began more than two weeks ago.

Zawahri, an Egyptian-born preacher who became al Qaida’s chief after Osama bin Laden was killed in a U.S. operation in 2011, also criticized Iran for supporting Assad, saying the conflict in Syria had “revealed the ugly face of Iran.”

The Iranian-backed group Hezbollah fought with Assad’s forces which seized the strategically important border town of Qusair from rebels on Wednesday.

Influential Sunni Muslim cleric Sheikh Youssef al-Qaradawi last week called for Jihad against Assad after Hezbollah leader Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah acknowledged his forces had joined the fighting in Qusair.

Zawahri warned Syrians not to play into the hands of the United States which, he said, wanted to turn their Jihad into a “Western tool against Iran.”

He said that fighters seeking to topple Assad in Syria had rekindled hope that one day that might happen.

“There is no solution for Palestine except Jihad,” Zawahri said.

“Every free Muslim in Palestine should unite with his Muslim brothers to implement Sharia (Islamic law) and rule by it, and make it a reference above all references, and to liberate Palestine in order to set up an Islamic state, even if the West hates that and calls it terrorism and extremism,” he added.

Zawahri’s last audio message dates to April, when he also urged Muslims to unite and support Jihad to create a state governed by Islamic law.

Gulf Arab states warn against travel to LebanonTravel & Tourism - Zawya
http://www.zawya.com/story/Gulf_Arab_states_warn_against_travel_to_Lebanon-TR20130605nL5N0EH3OR2/?lok=192341130605&&zawyaemailmarketing
mauvaise saison touristique en perspective au Liban cet été. On s’en doutait...

Gulf Arab countries issued a travel warning for Lebanon on Wednesday, telling their citizens to avoid what is a popular tourist destination for the region after a spillover of violence from neighbouring Syria.

Sectarian violence fuelled by Syria’s civil war has broken out in the northern Lebanese city of Tripoli and, last month, two rockets fired at southern Beirut, controlled by the Shi’ite Hezbollah militia, brought the violence deeper into Lebanon.

On Wednesday, Syrian government forces backed by Hezbollah fighters seized control of the Syrian town of Qusair, near the Lebanese border.

The six-nation Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) told its citizens that the unstable security situation in Lebanon “makes the presence of GCC nationals there unsafe”, GCC Secretary-General Abdulatif al-Zayani said in a statement, without elaborating.

Visitors from wealthy Gulf states account for the bulk of Lebanon’s vital tourism income, which has been hit hard by the unrest in Syria.

The United Arab Emirates and Kuwait have already issued their own travel warnings for Lebanon. The GCC also includes Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Oman.

The Sunni Muslim leaders of the Gulf Arab states have long called for Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, whose ruling establishment are mostly members of an offshoot of Shi’ite Islam, to step down. Saudi Arabia and Qatar have both been arming the rebels.

Bahrain’s deputy foreign minister said on Sunday that GCC states would consider taking action against Hezbollah if it continued its involvement in Syria’s civil war or interfered in Gulf Arab affairs.

The Arab League and the United States have also urged Hezbollah to pull its fighters from Syria. France has said up to 4,000 Hezbollah militiamen are fighting alongside forces loyal to Assad.

#Liban
#tourisme

De Aarsal à Baalbak ou Hermel, la Béqaa-nord aspirée dans la guerre

Rockets from Syria strike Baalbek | News , Politics | THE DAILY STAR
http://dailystar.com.lb/News/Politics/2013/Jun-06/219618-rockets-from-syria-strike-baalbek.ashx#axzz2VQ2Gr0vu

Nearly a dozen rockets fired from Syria hit areas in and around the city of Baalbek Wednesday night, injuring a number of people.

The National News Agency said 11 rockets, fired from the anti-Lebanon mountain range on the border with Syria, hit various locations, including the Shawarna neighborhood of the city, close to the home of MP Ghazi Zeaiter.

Agence-France Presse, citing a security source, said two projectiles landed near the city’s famous Roman ruins. Another three rockets hit the city’s center while others landed in areas near the city, AFP said. Al-Jadeed television said one child was wounded in the barrage, while other media spoke of up to five people who were injured.

The attack came hours after Syrian army troops and Hezbollah fighters gained control of the Syrian city of Qusair, near the border with Lebanon.

Dans un autre article :
http://dailystar.com.lb/News/Politics/2013/Jun-05/219518-syrian-chopper-drops-barrel-bombs-near-lebanons-arsal.ashx#ixzz

President Michel Sleiman Wednesday urged Damascus to respect Lebanese sovereignty after a Syrian helicopter attack on an area near the border town of Arsal.

#Liban
#Syrie

The Angry Arab News Service/وكالة أنباء العربي الغاضب : War criminals on both sides in Syria but one side is cuter—just ask Western media and NGOs
http://angryarab.blogspot.com/2013/06/war-criminals-on-both-sides-in-syria.html

Rapport de l’ONU sur la Syrie :

Anti-Government armed groups have also committed war crimes, including murder, sentencing and execution without due process, torture, hostage-taking and pillage. They continue to endanger the civilian population by positioning military objectives in civilian areas. The violations and abuses committed by anti-Government armed groups did not, however, reach the intensity and scale of those committed by Government forces and affiliated militia .

Sans doute, mais a-t-on déjà vu l’ONU (ou HRW ou AI) écrire que les crimes de guerre du Hamas ou du Hezbollah « n’atteignent pas l’intensité et l’échelle » de ceux commis par Israël ?

Syrie. Qoussair a été repris par l’armée syrienne (5 juin 2013)

Les forces armées rétablissent la sécurité et la stabilité dans la ville de Qusseir dans la banlieue de Homs

http://sana.sy/fra/338/2013/06/05/485832.htm
« 05 Juin 2013Homs /

Les forces armées intrépides ont rétabli la sécurité et la stabilité dans la ville de Qusseir dans la banlieue de Homs. Citée par le correspondant de Sana, une source responsable a souligné que l’armée avait exécuté des opérations spécifiques dans la ville de Qusseir et y réinstauré la sécurité après avoir tué un grand nombre de terroristes. La source a ajouté que les forces armées ont détruit des repaires des terroristes avec dedans : armes et munitions, et désamorcé des dizaines d’engins explosifs plantés par des terroristes dans les maisons des habitants et les routes de la ville dans le but d’entraver la progression des forces armées.
Le correspondant de Sana à Qusseir a affirmé que les forces armées poursuivent l’ouverture des routes et le désamorçage des engins explosifs dans nombre de routes et de bâtiments ».(…)

Invasion et dévastation de villages chrétiens de la zone d’Homs de la part de bandes armées
http://www.fides.org/fr/news/35476-ASIE_SYRIE_Invasion_et_devastation_de_villages_chretiens_de_la_zone_d_H

Homs (Agence Fides) – La tension est de nouveau élevée dans la zone d’Homs. De violents combats ont été enregistrés ces derniers jours dans le secteur de Qusayr et selon des informations parvenues à Fides par le biais du récit d’un certain nombre de réfugiés, des violences gratuites ont été perpétrées dans des villages chrétiens de la province d’Homs n’abritant que des civils.

Selon les témoignages recueillis par Fides, le 26 mai dernier, la violence de bandes armées – liées selon certains au groupe Jabhat al-Nusra – a concerné le village de Douar, où vivaient environ 100 familles de chrétiens grecs orthodoxes. Douar se trouve le long de la route qui relie Homs à Tartous. Probablement, des groupes armés rebelles, après avoir combattu à Qusayr, entendaient atteindre une école militaire de l’armée syrienne se trouvant dans les environs de Douar. Pour ce faire, ils sont passés par le village de Douar, n’épargnant pas les civils sur leur passage. Deux des habitants, un homme et sa fille, ont été tués chez eux et leur corps brûlés. Toutes les familles du village ont commencé à fuir précipitamment. Les groupes armés ont occupé l’église du village, y plaçant des tireurs embusqués et ouvrant le feu sur la population en fuite, tuant également un garçon de 11 ans et une jeune fille de 18 ans, blessant par ailleurs 10 autres personnes dont deux grièvement. Les rebelles demeurent à l’affût dans l’église et ont retenu avec eux deux chrétiens dont le maire du village, Joseph Jamil Adra. Entre temps, toutes les maisons du village ont été dévastées et incendiées. Les familles qui ont évacué, terrorisées et traumatisées, ont été accueillies dans une Paroisse arménienne orthodoxe à la périphérie d’Homs. Les autorités civiles et les prêtres locaux, en coopération avec la Croix Rouge, pourvoient actuellement à leur assistance primaire, dans des écoles ou auprès d’autres familles.

Une mésaventure du même genre est advenue, voici deux jours, à un autre village chrétien de la province d’Homs. Des groupes armés ont pénétré dans le village d’Oum Sharshouh, dans les environs de Talbisseh, et ont commencé à ouvrir le feu, faisant irruption dans les maisons, dévastant et incendiant tout sur leur passage. Plus de 250 familles chrétiennes ont été contraintes à s’enfuir, suite à l’invasion. « Pourquoi tout cela ? Pourquoi cette haine envers des civils innocents ? », se demande effarée la communauté locale. Selon des informations parvenues à Fides, certains villages de la zone d’Hama connaissent eux aussi des violences sans motivations sur leurs populations civiles. (PA) (Agence Fides 31/05/2013)

Hezbollah à Qousseir, les yeux des militaires français braqués sur la bataille.
http://www.almanar.com.lb/french/adetails.php?eid=114839&cid=18&fromval=1&frid=18&seccatid=37&s1=1

(...) L’ancien colonel de l’armée française Alain Corvez indique dans une interview avec le site Manar que Qousseir acquiert une grande importance en raison de son emplacement stratégique, lequel contrôle toutes les routes menant à la côte syrienne et à Damas. Elle constitue d’après lui le nœud de communication stratégique entre Tripoli, Homs et la Békaa libanaise d’un côté, et Tripoli et la capitale syrienne Damas de l’autre.

Celui qui contrôle cette ville remporte la bataille du centre de la Syrie, et assure la protection de son dos dans la bataille de Damas et toutes les batailles du nord de la Syrie.

De plus, confie Corvez, cette bataille permettra une étude approfondie pour mieux comprendre les tactiques du Hezbollah pour faire face à la guérilla, surtout concernant les tunnels qu’il a été le premier à inventer dans la guerre moderne. Ce qui constitue tout le contraire de la guerre de juillet 2006, menée par le Hezbollah et suivie attentivement par l’Occident, à travers un grand nombre de moyens.

Des dirigeants de l’armée française ont déclaré lors d’une réunion avec un groupe de journalistes français que le Hezbollah a dépêché de petits nombres de ses troupes d’élites à la bataille de Qousseir. Ces éléments sont chargés de la gestion de la bataille et des opérations d’intrusion. Ils sont soutenus par environ trois mille combattants bien entraînés. Mais ces derniers ne font pas partie de la force militaire de frappe qui est restée dans le sud du Liban et à Beyrouth.

Toujours selon ces commandants français, les militants de l’opposition syrienne engagés dans la bataille ont commis d’importantes erreurs stratégiques et meurtrières, tandis que le Hezbollah a réussi à les vaincre psychologiquement parlant, en les forçant à quitter une colline stratégique dans la province de Qousseir, et qu’ils n’auraient pas dû abandonner si facilement.

Les chefs militaires français ont énuméré les erreurs des miliciens dans la bataille de Qousseir : (...)

Assad backers reportedly make up 43 percent of dead in Syria
http://www.mcclatchydc.com/2013/06/03/192881/assad-backers-reportedly-make.html

According to the new statistics, which the Syrian Observatory passed to McClatchy by phone, at least 96,431 people have lost their lives in the more than two years of violence that’s wracked Syria.

Of those, Syrian soldiers and members of the government’s security forces account for 24,617, while members of pro-government militias make up 17,031. Taken together, those deaths account for 43.2 percent of the total recorded.

Civilian noncombatants are the next largest group of the dead – 35,479, or 36.8 percent of the total, according to the human rights group.

Deaths among anti-Assad fighters total 16,699, or 17.3 percent, according to the new numbers. Of those, 12,615 were Syrian civilians who’d picked up arms against the regime, 1,965 were rebel fighters who’d defected from the Syrian military and 2,119 were foreigners who were killed fighting on the Syrian rebels’ behalf.

Il n’y a pas de raison de croire ces nouveaux chiffres plus que les précédents : pourquoi sortir ces précisions maintenant ? Auparavant, l’observatoire ne prétendait pas donner de chiffres précis selon les camps.

Et franchement, ces chiffres me semblent assez nettement dénués de sens. Le seul intérêt, c’est que l’Observateur syrien de Londres se mettrait soudainement à communiquer des chiffres qui sont totalement contraires à, grosso modo, tout ce qui se dit sur la Syrie depuis deux ans.

Pour tout te dire, je m’attends à un démenti vigoureux dans les prochaines heures.

Voici donc la carte vite brossée du résultat du vote sur le traité du commerce des armes le 3 juin 2013. Comme je ne l’ai vu nulle part, j’en ai fait une esquisse rapide. Et ça donne une image pas inintéressante.

Les raisons des abstentions et absences de plus ’une trentaine de pays expliqué dans ce long communiqué de l’ONU en anglais (version française là ----> ►http://www.un.org/News/fr-press/docs/2013/AG11354.doc.htm

Overwhelming Majority of States in General Assembly Say ‘Yes’ to Arms Trade Treaty to Stave off Irresponsible Transfers that Perpetuate Conflict, Human Suffering

http://www.un.org/News/Press/docs/2013/ga11354.doc.htm

Voici donc la carte vite brossée du résultat du vote sur le trait du commerce des armes le 3 juin 2013

https://dl.dropbox.com/s/gvh97wugyba7kw4/trait%C3%A9%20commerce%20armes%20small.jpg

To a burst of sustained applause, the General Assembly today voted overwhelmingly in favour of a “historic”, first-ever treaty to regulate the astonishing number of conventional weapons traded each year, making it more difficult for them to be diverted into the hands of those intent on sowing the seeds of war and conflict.

By a vote of 154 in favour to 3 against (Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, Iran, Syria), with 23 abstentions, the Assembly passed the 28-article Arms Trade Treaty, aiming to establish the highest possible common international standards for the annual $70 billion business. The adoption follows the failure last week of the Final United Nations Conference on the Arms Trade Treaty to reach consensus on the text at the conclusion of its two-week session. (Please see annex for details of the voting.)

“The final text is, in my view, robust and actionable,” said General Assembly President Vuc Jeremić ( Serbia). It also was “groundbreaking”, in that arms-exporting countries would be legally bound to report arms sales and transfers. They would be obliged to assess whether the weapons they sold could be used to facilitate human rights abuses and humanitarian law violations.

–=-=-=-=-=-=-=

Vote on Arms Trade Treaty

The draft resolution on the Arms Trade Treaty (document A/67/L.58) was adopted by a recorded vote of 154 in favour to 3 against, with 23 abstentions, as follows:

In favour: Afghanistan, Albania, Algeria, Andorra, Antigua and Barbuda, Argentina, Australia, Austria, Azerbaijan, Bahamas, Bangladesh, Barbados, Belgium, Belize, Benin, Bhutan, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Botswana, Brazil, Brunei Darussalam, Bulgaria, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cambodia, Cameroon, Canada, Central African Republic, Chad, Chile, Colombia, Comoros, Congo, Costa Rica, Côte d’Ivoire, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Denmark, Djibouti, Dominica, El Salvador, Eritrea, Estonia, Ethiopia, Finland, France, Gabon, Gambia, Georgia, Germany, Ghana, Greece, Grenada, Guatemala, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Guyana, Haiti, Honduras, Hungary, Iceland, Iraq, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Jamaica, Japan, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Kenya, Kyrgyzstan, Latvia, Lebanon, Lesotho, Liberia, Libya, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Madagascar, Malawi, Malaysia, Maldives, Mali, Malta, Marshall Islands, Mauritania, Mauritius, Mexico, Micronesia (Federated States of), Monaco, Mongolia, Montenegro, Morocco, Mozambique, Namibia, Nauru, Nepal, Netherlands, New Zealand, Niger, Nigeria, Norway, Pakistan, Palau, Panama, Papua New Guinea, Paraguay, Peru, Philippines, Poland, Portugal, Republic of Korea, Republic of Moldova, Romania, Rwanda, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Samoa, San Marino, Senegal, Serbia, Seychelles, Singapore, Slovakia, Slovenia, Solomon Islands, Somalia, South Africa, South Sudan, Spain, Suriname, Sweden, Switzerland, Thailand, The former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Timor-Leste, Togo, Tonga, Trinidad and Tobago, Tunisia, Turkey, Turkmenistan, Tuvalu, Uganda, Ukraine, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom, United Republic of Tanzania, United States, Uruguay, Zambia.

Against: Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, Iran, Syria.

Abstain: Angola, Bahrain, Belarus, Bolivia, China, Cuba, Ecuador, Egypt, Fiji, India, Indonesia, Kuwait, Lao People’s Democratic Republic, Myanmar, Nicaragua, Oman, Qatar, Russian Federation, Saudi Arabia, Sri Lanka, Sudan, Swaziland, Yemen.

Absent: Armenia, Cape Verde, Dominican Republic, Equatorial Guinea, Kiribati, Sao Tome and Principe, Sierra Leone, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, Vanuatu, Venezuela, Viet Nam, Zimbabwe.

##armement #onu #traité_commerce_armes

Syrie : les monarchies du Golfe menacent le Hezbollah de représailles
http://www.lemonde.fr/proche-orient/article/2013/06/02/syrie-les-monarchies-du-golfe-menacent-le-hezbollah-de-represailles_3422578_

Les monarchies du Golfe ont annoncé dimanche 2 juin qu’elles envisageaient de prendre « des mesures contre les intérêts » du Hezbollah chiite libanais en représailles à son intervention armée dans le conflit syrien.

« Il a été décidé d’envisager de prendre des mesures contre les intérêts du Hezbollah dans les pays du Conseil de coopération du Golfe (CCG) », a déclaré le secrétaire général du groupe, Abdellatif Zayani, au terme d’une réunion ministérielle des pays membres à Jeddah, dans l’ouest de l’Arabie saoudite. M. Zayani, qui s’exprimait lors d’une conférence de presse, n’a pas précisé la nature des mesures à prendre ou des intérêts du Hezbollah dans les riches monarchies pétrolières du Golfe.

Bon, le Monde-avec-AFP, ça n’est pas très sorcier. Les « mesures contres les intérêts du Hezbollah », c’est assez connu :
– tuer le tourisme libanais en demandant aux ressortissants du Golfe d’éviter le Liban (ce qui a pour première conséquence de faire chuter les chiffres de la prostitution dans les villes proches du casino) ;
– expulser les expatriés libanais chiites qui font du business dans le Golfe ;
– bloquer les pélerins chiites se rendant à la Mecque et leur imposer moultes vexations ;
– comme toujours, donner un milliard de dollars au 14 Mars pour acheter les prochaines élections législatives.

Mass protests shake Turkish government - World Socialist Web Site

http://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2013/06/03/turk-j03.html

Mass protests shake Turkish government
By Alex Lantier
3 June 2013

Protests in cities across Turkey shook the Islamist government of Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Friday and over the weekend, amid rising discontent with his domestic policies and his support for the US-led proxy war in neighboring Syria.

#turquie #émeutes

Russia’s Middle East Gambit - Carnegie Moscow Center - Carnegie Endowment for International Peace

http://carnegie.ru/2013/05/30/russia-s-middle-east-gambit/g7ml

If it does nothing else, the recent Syria summit arranged by Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry formally marked the re-emergence of Russia as a power in the Middle East, after a hiatus of more than 20 years. Yet Moscow’s objectives today are vastly different. Russia is out to raise the stakes for U.S. military intervention, which it sees as destabilizing for the world order; to minimize the impact of Islamist radicalism and extremism born out of the Arab Spring; and to try to find political solutions to a host of issues, from the civil war in Syria to Iran’s nuclear issue to post-American Afghanistan.

#syrie #russie

LBCI News | One Hezbollah fighter, 14 FSA soldiers killed in overnight clashes in Lebanon
http://www.lbcgroup.tv/news/93538/1306021004-lbci-news

Des combats qui se sont déroulés dans la région de Baalbak, dans l’est du Liban, dans une localité située à la frontière avec la Syrie.

Reuters news agency quoted on Sunday Lebanese security sources as saying that several fighters were killed in an overnight clash in eastern Lebanon, close to the border with Syria, between Hezbollah fighters and Syrian rebel forces.              

In this regard, sources told LBCI that one Hezbollah fighter was killed, 4 others were wounded, and 14 Free Syrian Army soldiers were killed.            

On another note, 3 Syrian shells landed in the outskirts of the Hermel town without causing any damages.

Al-Akhbar donne plus de précisions : une embuscade aurait été tendue par le Hezbollah aux hommes de l’"ASL" qui s’apprêtaient à lancer (comme ils le font depuis jours) des roquettes dans la même région, « bastion du Hezbollah »,

Border clash kills several Syrian rebels, one Hezbollah fighter | Al Akhbar English
http://english.al-akhbar.com/content/border-clash-kills-several-syrian-rebels-one-hezbollah-fighter

The latest fighting took place near Ain el-Jaouze in a finger of Lebanese territory which extends into Syria. The sources said the rebels may have been ambushed as they set up rockets to fire into the Bekaa Valley.

The clashes came after a barrage of rockets fired from Syrian territory at Hezbollah strongholds in Lebanon in recent days.

The Lebanese National News Agency reported that at least one rocket landed in Hermel Sunday, with no immediate information on damages or casualties.

Rebels have said they will carry out attacks inside Lebanon in response to Hezbollah’s support for Assad’s assault on Qusayr, a strategic town for rebel weapons supplies and fighters coming into Syria from Lebanon.

Israël a fait part de son scepticisme devant les informations rapportées par la presse selon lesquelles la Syrie aurait acquis des missiles S-300. Le discours du président Assad était beaucoup plus vague. Quoiqu’il en soit, il faudrait des mois avant que ces missiles deviennent opérationnels. La question est de savoir dans quelle mesure les Russes sont partie prenante de cette déclaration du président Assad.

Israel doubts Assad possesses S-300 system, but has good reason to worry
By Amos Harel
Haaretz

http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/israel-doubts-assad-possesses-s-300-system-but-has-good-reason-to-worry.pre

Israel treated the report skeptically, saying it had no information to confirm it, suspecting it was merely a crude attempt at psychological warfare. And in fact, this skepticism proved warranted: When the full text of Assad’s interview with Hezbollah’s Al-Manar television station was published, it turned out that all he said, when asked whether the S-300 had been delivered yet, was, “All of our agreements with Russia will be implemented, some have been implemented during the past period and, together with the Russians, we will continue to implement these contracts in the future.”

La police turque déjoue un attentat prévu à Adana et trouve deux kilos de gaz sarin chez des membres du Jabhat al-Nosra

Today’s Zaman, your gateway to Turkish daily news
http://www.todayszaman.com/newsDetail_openPrintPage.action?newsId=316966

Report: Police foil al-Nusra bomb attack planned for Adana

Seven members of Syria’s militant al-Nusra group were detained on Wednesday after police found sarin gas, which was reportedly going to be used in a bomb attack, during a search of the suspects’ homes, Turkish media have reported.

Patrick Cockburn · Is it the end of Sykes-Picot?: The Syrian War Spills Over · LRB 6 June 2013
http://www.lrb.co.uk/v35/n11/patrick-cockburn/is-it-the-end-of-sykes-picot

Assad isn’t going to win a total victory, but the opposition isn’t anywhere close to overthrowing him either. This is worth stressing because Western politicians and journalists so frequently take it for granted that the regime is entering its last days. A justification for the British and French argument that the EU embargo on arms deliveries to the rebels should be lifted – a plan first mooted in March but strongly opposed by other EU members – is that these extra weapons will finally tip the balance decisively against Assad. The evidence from Syria itself is that more weapons will simply mean more dead and wounded.

The protracted conflict that is now underway in Syria has more in common with the civil wars in Lebanon and Iraq than with the overthrow of Muammar Gaddafi in Libya or the even swifter regime changes in Egypt and Tunisia at the start of the Arab Spring. The civil war in Lebanon lasted 15 years, from 1975 to 1990, and the sectarian divisions which caused it are as marked as ever. In Iraq, 2006 and 2007 are usually described as being the worst years of the slaughter – three thousand people murdered every month – but sectarian killings began immediately after the US invasion in 2003 and haven’t stopped since.

According to the UN some seven hundred Iraqis were killed in April: the highest monthly total since 2008. Syria is increasingly resembling its neighbours to the west and east: there will soon be a solid bloc of fragmented countries that stretches between the Mediterranean and Iran. In all three places the power of the central state is draining away as communities retreat into their own well-defended and near autonomous enclaves.

Extraordinaire, et c’est signé. http://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/originals/2013/05/hezbollah-war-syria-jabhat-nusra-lebanon.html

The rockets were fired only hours after Hezbollah Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah announced in a speech the party’s decision to fight in Syria alongside the Syrian regime. This means that military cells that support the Syrian regime are present in Lebanon and can carry out attacks at any time they are ordered.

Hezbollah urges Hamas members and officials to ‘leave Lebanon immediately’
http://www.middle-east-online.com/english/?id=59095

The powerful Lebanese Shiite movement Hezbollah called on Hamas members and officials who are still present in Lebanon to leave the country ’immediately and within hours.’ The decision comes as a response to the Palestinian Islamist movement’s role in the ongoing war in Syria against the regime of President Bashar al-Assad.

Media sources close to the Palestinian national liberation movement Fatah in Lebanon said a Hezbollah senior security official informed Hamas representative in Lebanon, Ali Baraka, that all of those related to Hamas on the Lebanese territory […] have become unwelcome.