Syrian opposition urges rebels to join key battle - Yahoo! News
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In Germany, the weekly Der Spiegel reported that the German intelligence chief has revised his assessment of the Syrian civil war.
The chief, Gerhard Schindler, told a small group of politicians dealing with security issues in a secret briefing that Assad’s military is stronger than it has been in a long time, according to Der Spiegel. Additional successful offensives of the regime are possible anytime, he said.
The German intelligence agency BND believes this is a turning point. At the end of 2012, it appeared the regime was in its end phase.
He said the channels for restocking the regime’s weapons supplies are now open, and the supply of gas for tanks and aircraft is also working again. Schindler said Assad most likely won’t be able to defeat the rebels, but he can contain them and even win back some territory.
The BND predicts that in 2013, regime troops will be able to recapture additional territory. If the fighting continues as it has in recent weeks, the regime could recapture the entire south by the end of the year. In this case, the rebels would be left with only the north.
On Wednesday, Germany’s Foreign Ministry said it supports adding Hezbollah to the EU’s list of terrorist groups. The ministry linked the recommendation to a deadly attack on Israeli tourists in Bulgaria last year that was tied to Hezbollah.
Sylke Tempel, a Mideast expert at the German Council on Foreign Relations in Berlin, said she believed the German support for sanctions against Hezbollah’s military wing was due in part to its role in Syria fighting.
She said the presence of Hezbollah fighters in Syria has led Western and regional governments to ponder “what if Assad is going to win this thing” and “what if Hezbollah is a factor in making Assad win, or at least not lose.”