organization:syrian government

  • Militants used chemical material against civilians near Idlib: Syria - Tehran Times
    http://www.tehrantimes.com/middle-east/107306-militants-used-chemical-material-against-civilians-near-idlib-sy

    Syrian Ambassador to the UN Bashar al-Jaafari has said that the foreign-backed militants in Syria have used chemical material against civilians during an attack on a town near Idlib.

    Bashar al-Jaafari said at a press conference on Tuesday that the militants spread the contents of plastic bags containing chemical material during the attack.

    Many residents were affected by the armed groups’ “heinous and irresponsible act,” the Syrian envoy said, warning that it was an attempt to “implicate the Syrian government on a false basis.”

    Some of the victims were transferred to Turkey for treatment, Jaafari added.

    The envoy went on to say that ’today or tomorrow Ankara and Western media would launch a new propaganda campaign against Damascus and claim that the Syrian government has used chemical weapons against its own people.’

    Reports say that two people were killed and 20 others injured in the militants’ chemical attack in Idlib.

    Meanwhile, U.S. President Barack Obama has said Washington did not know how chemical material was used in another recent attack in Aleppo.

    The Syrian government requested the UN to dispatch a fact-finding mission to the country after reports circulated that the foreign-backed militants had used chemical weapons against civilians in Khan al-Assal district of the northwestern province of Aleppo on March 19. Over two dozen people were killed and more than 100 injured in the chemical attack.

    Obama said at a press conference on Tuesday that, “If I can establish in a way that not only the United States but also the international community feel confident in the use of chemical weapons by the Assad regime, then that is a game-changer.”

    Syria has been gripped by deadly unrest since March 2011, and many people, including large numbers of government security forces and army personnel, have been killed in the violence.

    Damascus says the chaos is being orchestrated from outside the country, and there are reports that a very large number of the militants are foreign nationals.

  • Syrie : L’amnistie a été promulguée… mais où sont les prisonniers ?
    http://english.al-akhbar.com/content/syria-amnesty-issued-where-are-prisoners

    Many supporters of the Syrian regime have welcomed the amnesty decree issued by the Syrian government on Tuesday, April 16. But while thousands of prisoners have been released, there doesn’t seem to be any trace of them.

    In many instances, he said, “the security services do not acknowledge that they have the prisoners in the first place.”The government has yet to name the freed prisoners in the official media, while the opposition factions have not confirmed any releases. Other prisoners had their sentences commuted under the same decree, but there is also scarce information on these terms.

  • Rien ne sert de discourir, il vaut mieux mentir à point ?

    Syrie. Perspective différente des événements de Syrie offerte par l’agence de presse iranienne Fars News Agency. Dans un premier article qui reprend des informations de l’agence syrienne SANA, elle fait valoir les réussites militaires du régime. On notera qu’elle se contente de signaler qu’un « grand nombre de personnes » ont été tuées depuis mars 2011 sans mention d’un quelconque chiffre. Dans le second article, elle se fait également l’écho des déclarations des autorités de Damas (en l’occurrence le vice-ministre des affaires étrangères Faisal al-Miqdad ) pour critiquer la France et la Grande Bretagne qui soutiennent al-Qaïda puisque ces deux pays « soutiennent des groupes armées » en Syrie.

    (I) Syrian Forces Kill More Militants, Seize Arms

    TEHRAN (FNA)- The Syrian Army said it has killed more foreign-sponsored militants and seized their weapons during an operation across the country .
    2013-04-16

    http://english.farsnews.com/newstext.php?nn=9107161312

    Syrian government forces launched attacks against militants in the governorates of Homs, Idlib, Daraa, Latakia, Hama, Deir ez-Zor, Aleppo, and Damascus, on Monday and killed dozens of them, the official SANA news agency reported.

    In addition, the Syrian armed forces captured many machine guns, sniper rifles, rocket launchers, hand-made rockets, mortar shells and anti-tank missiles.

    (…) The troops dismantled five Turkish-made anti-armor mines and captured thirteen explosive devices planted on the road between Khan Shekhun and Ma’art al-Nouman in Idlib governorate.
    (…) The Syria crisis began in March 2011, and many people, including large numbers of soldiers and security personnel, have been killed in the violence. The Syrian government says that the chaos is being orchestrated from outside the country, and there are reports that a very large number of the militants are foreign nationals. In an interview recently broadcast on Turkish television, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad said that if the militants fighting against the Syrian government take power in his country they could destabilize the entire Middle East for decades. “If the unrest in Syria leads to the partitioning of the country, or if the terrorist forces take control... the situation will inevitably spill over into neighboring countries and create a domino effect throughout the Middle East and beyond,” he added.

    (II) Syria Slams France, UK for Supporting Al-Qaeda

    TEHRAN (FNA)- The Syrian government criticized Britain and France for supporting al-Qaeda terrorists in their fight against the government of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.

    http://english.farsnews.com/newstext.php?nn=9107161318

    “Britain and France were complacent about supporting al-Qaeda directly or indirectly,” Syria’s Deputy Foreign Minister Faisal al-Miqdad said in an interview on Monday, press tv reported. Miqdad described the UK and France as “new colonialists” for giving political and military support to the armed groups in Syria. The Syrian official also criticized Turkey, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, and Qatar for acting to ensure western interests. Miqdad said he hoped Jordan would not boost its involvement in the unrest in Syria. “The same forces that are killing innocent people in Syria are in Jordan too… We have stupid Arabs who are facilitating what the others are planning for the region. But the conspiracy begins in the west,” he added. In an interview recently broadcast on Turkish television, Assad accused Turkey of harboring terrorists and transferring them into Syria. Damascus says Ankara has been playing a key role in fueling the unrest in Syria by financing, training, and arming the militants since violence erupted in the Arab country in March 2011. Assad also warned that if his country “is partitioned, or if terrorist forces take control of the country, there will be direct contagion of the surrounding countries.” Many people, including large numbers of army and security personnel, have been killed in the violence in Syria.

  • Assad’s strategy shift keeps rebels at gates of Damascus - Middle East - World - The Independent
    http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-east/assads-strategy-shift-keeps-rebels-at-gates-of-damascus-8397542.html

    A rebel assault on Damascus has failed to make serious gains in the Syrian capital, diplomats have said, warning that the struggle between the regime of Bashar al-Assad and the opposition is now likely to drag on longer than had been expected.

    The diplomats say that the Syrian government has adopted a new strategy in recent weeks whereby it withdraws its troops from bases that are indefensible in order to concentrate them in Damascus and other cities it views as strategically crucial. This pull-back enabled the army to launch a successful counter offensive in the past week, relieving the military pressure on the capital and improving its negotiating position.

  • The Joy of Listing Terrorists: Nasrallah was already a designated terrorist
    http://mideastwire.wordpress.com/2012/09/13/the-joy-of-listing-terrorists-nasrallah-was-already-a-designa

    The new US sanction designates nasrallah:

    “The U.S. Department of the Treasury today imposed sanctions against Hizballah’s leadership in Lebanon, further exposing Hizballah’s active support to the regime of Syrian President Bashar Assad, as well as its role in terrorist activities. Hasan Nasrallah, Hizballah’s Secretary General, is being designated today pursuant to Executive Order (E.O.) 13582, for providing support to the Syrian government. Mustafa Badr Al-Din and Talal Hamiyah, two senior terrorist leaders of Hizballah, are being designated today pursuant to E.O. 13224, for providing support to Hizballah’s terrorist activities in the Middle East and around the world.

    But later the same press release says:

    Hasan Nasrallah was designated pursuant to E.O. 12947 in January 1995.

    via @opironet

  • Syrian Group in U.S. Seeks to Arm Rebels
    http://www.nytimes.com/2012/08/30/world/middleeast/syrian-group-in-united-states-seeks-to-arm-rebels-against-assad.html

    The Syrian Support Group came together late last year, uniting a diaspora of émigrés with close family, social and cultural ties inside Syria. Like the protesters in Syria, they began by advocating peaceful political change, but as the Syrian government cracked down ever more forcefully, they, too, became more militant, making contacts with the rebel military commands that took shape in Syria’s major cities.

    […]

    The group became more organized last spring when it formally incorporated, started its Web site and, in May, hired a former NATO political officer, Brian Sayers, as its director of government relations in Washington after finding him through an online employment agency.

    Yep. Un ancien officier politique de l’OTAN. Et vous n’auriez pas un ancien commissaire politique de la CIA pour faire le ménage dans vos bureaux, aussi ?

    • @ Nidal : Le Wall Street Journal avait évoqué l’autorisation reçue par ce groupe de collecter de l’argent aux USA. Chose intéressante, qui va dans le sens de ta remarque sarcastique finale, le site du groupe avait été créé le 8 juin, et l’autorisation du Département du Trésor ne s’était pas faite attendre puisqu’elle était arrivée à peine un mois plus tard : http://seenthis.net/messages/80790
      Au minimum on dira que ces gens là ont de l’entregent...

  • The Fog of Civil War - By Stephen Starr | Foreign Policy
    http://www.foreignpolicy.com/articles/2012/07/23/the_fog_of_civil_war

    Contrary to reports, the Syrian government is allowing foreign journalists to enter the country. Teams from Fox News and Britain’s ITV television were recently granted 10-day visas to cover Syria from the capital. Many of these journalists are reporting from the bedsides of wounded regime soldiers and have remarked that Syria is, in fact, a divided country and that significant support does exist for the regime. But the limitations on official reporting are manifold. Government minders place restrictions on travel and contact with locals, making it difficult to report anything that does not fit the regime’s narrative.

    Embedding with the rebels, who are equally eager to present themselves as victims rather than aggressors, invites similar hurdles in accessing the truth. But the rebels are a complicated bunch. Elizabeth Palmer, a journalist with CBS, recently managed to escape her government minders and go in search of fighters in the Free Syrian Army. When she found them, however, she was promptly told that she would be executed for having Syrian government stamps in her passport. Others covering events in the countryside have reported insurgents to have been a menace.

  • Hamas 2012 - Evolution of a Revolution

    February 28, 2012 - Khaled Meshaal leaves Syria for Qatar
    http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-17192278

    July 18, 2012 - Khaled Meshaal meets with israelis in Morocco
    http://www.moroccoworldnews.com/2012/07/48552/khaled-meshaal-holds-a-secret-meeting-with-an-israeli-former-advis

    July 20, 2012 - Aziz Dweik is released from israeli jail
    http://www.strategic-culture.org/pview/2012/07/20/israel-frees-senior-hamas-official.html

    July 22, 2012 - Aziz Dweik wishes fall of Syrian government
    http://www.nakhelnews.com/pages/news.php?nid=16975

  • Inside the quiet effort to plan for a post-Assad Syria | The Cable
    http://thecable.foreignpolicy.com/posts/2012/07/20/inside_the_secret_effort_to_plan_for_a_post_assad_syria

    For the last six months, 40 senior representatives of various Syrian opposition groups have been meeting quietly in Germany under the tutelage of the U.S. Institute for Peace (USIP) to plan for how to set up a post-Assad Syrian government.

    The project, which has not directly involved U.S. government officials but was partially funded by the State Department, is gaining increased relevance this month as the violence in Syria spirals out of control and hopes for a peaceful transition of power fade away. The leader of the project, USIP’s Steven Heydemann, an academic expert on Syria, has briefed administration officials on the plan, as well as foreign officials, including on the sidelines of the Friends of Syria meeting in Istanbul last month.

    The project is called “The day after: Supporting a democratic transition in Syria.”

    #Syrie #Etats-Unis

  • Diffamons, diffamons, il en restera toujours quelque chose :
    http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/middle-east-live/2012/jul/10/egypt-morsi-military-showdown-parliament-live#block-27

    4.16pm: Syria: The Lebanese daily al-Akhbar, regarded as sympathetic to the Assad regime, appears to have been given the Syrian government’s minutes of the Assad-Annan meeting yesterday.

    Diffamons, diffamons :
    ArabSaga : Minutes of Assad-Annan new truce deal
    http://arabsaga.blogspot.co.uk/2012/07/minutes-of-assad-annan-new-truce-deal.html

    Known as Syria’s mouthpiece, Beirut’s daily al-Akhbar…

  • C.I.A. Said to Aid in Steering Arms to Syrian Rebels
    http://www.nytimes.com/2012/06/21/world/middleeast/cia-said-to-aid-in-steering-arms-to-syrian-rebels.html?_r=1&hp

    A small number of C.I.A. officers are operating secretly in southern Turkey, helping allies decide which Syrian opposition fighters across the border will receive arms to fight the Syrian government, according to American officials and Arab intelligence officers.

    The weapons, including automatic rifles, rocket-propelled grenades, ammunition and some antitank weapons, are being funneled mostly across the Turkish border by way of a shadowy network of intermediaries including Syria’s Muslim Brotherhood and paid for by Turkey, Saudi Arabia and Qatar, the officials said.

    The C.I.A. officers have been in southern Turkey for several weeks, in part to help keep weapons out of the hands of fighters allied with Al Qaeda or other terrorist groups, one senior American official said. The Obama administration has said it is not providing arms to the rebels, but it has also acknowledged that Syria’s neighbors would do so.

  • D’après la FaZ (quotidien allemand) le massacre de Houla, c’est les rebelles

    Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung confirms : Houla massacre committed by Syrian “rebels”

    http://www.wsws.org/articles/2012/jun2012/houl-j16.shtml

    By Clara Weiss
    16 June 2012

    On June 13 journalist Rainer Hermann confirmed his earlier report in the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung refuting the official version of the Houla massacre in Syria.

    The media have almost unanimously described the May 5 events in Houla as an atrocity committed by the Syrian government, relying almost exclusively on reports from the so-called rebels. Western powers have used the massacre as a pretext to whip up pro-war sentiment and intensify their pressure on the Assad regime. The US and UK reacted to the massacre by withdrawing diplomats from Syria.

    In his June 7 report, Hermann asserted that the victims of the massacre in Taldou, a village in the Houla region, were members of the Alawite und Shi’ite minorities and that the killers were not troops loyal to the Assad regime, but forces aligned with the Sunni-based, sectarian Free Syrian Army (FSA).

  • Syrian troops have tortured children, executed them and used children as young as eight as “human shields” during military raids against rebels, according to a UN report released Tuesday.

    The United Nations branded the Syrian government as one of the worst offenders on its annual “list of shame” of conflict countries where children are killed, tortured and forced to fight.

    Human rights groups estimate that about 1,200 children have died during the 15-month uprising against President Bashar al-Assad, whose brutal crackdown on Arab Spring-inspired protests has been widely condemned.

    “Rarely, have I seen such brutality against children as in Syria, where girls and boys are detained, tortured, executed, and used as human shields,” Radhika Coomaraswamy, UN special representative for children in armed conflict, told AFP ahead of the report’s release.

    Government forces rounded up dozens of boys aged eight to 13 before an attack on the village of Ayn al-Arouz in Edleb province on March 9, the report said.

    The children were “used by soldiers and militia members as human shields, placing them in front of the windows of buses carrying military personnel into the raid on the village,” it said.

    Quoting witnesses, the UN report said Syrian military and intelligence forces, as well as pro-government Shabiha militiamen, surrounded the village for an attack that lasted more than four days.

    Among the 11 dead on the first day were three boys aged 15 to 17. Another 34 people, including two boys aged 14 and 16 and a nine-year-old girl, were detained.

    “Eventually, the village was reportedly left burned and four out of the 34 detainees were shot and burned, including the two boys aged 14 and 16 years,” the Children in Armed Conflict report said.

    UN chief Ban Ki-moon said the report had uncovered one of many “grave violations” against children.

    The Syrian government, and its allied militias, was one of four new parties added to the UN’s list of shame—along with organizations and political parties in Sudan and Yemen.

    The list includes 52 parties in 11 countries, ranging from the Afghan national police and the anti-US Haqqani network to the Lord’s Resistance Army in central Africa, Sudanese armed forces and various Darfur rebel groups.

    The report said children in Syria as young as nine had been victims of killing and maiming, arbitrary arrest, detention, torture and ill-treatment, including sexual violence and use as human shields.

    Schools have been regularly raided and used as military bases and detention centers, the report added.

    The report was completed before the Houla massacre on May 25, when 49 of the 108 victims were said to be children, some as young as two and three, who were shot in the head or had their skulls smashed with blunt instruments.

    “Most child victims of torture described being beaten, blindfolded, subjected to stress positions, whipped with heavy electrical cables, scarred by cigarette burns and, in one recorded case, subjected to electrical shock to the genitals,” said the UN report.

    At least one witness told investigators he had seen a boy of approximately 15 succumb to repeated beatings.

    The New York-based Human Rights Watch (HRW) said the UN Security Council should impose an arms embargo and other sanctions on the Assad government over its violations against children.

    HRW quoted the Syria Violations Documentation Center, a network of Syrian activists, as saying that at least 1,176 children have been killed since February 2011.

    It also said there were “credible allegations” that armed opposition groups, including the Free Syrian Army, are recruiting children as soldiers.

    –AFP/NOW Lebanon

  • Russian arms dealer targeted over #Syria

    Russian arms dealer targeted over Syria
    Published: June 11, 2012 at 11:51 AM
    PARIS, June 11 (UPI) — Human Rights Watch objected to a French arms expo featuring a Russian military company thought to be a major supplier to Syrian government forces.

    The Eurosatory arms show gets under way in France this week, featuring more than 1,000 exhibitors from 70 countries.

    Human Rights Watch said it objected to the participation of Russian arms supplier Rosoboronexport at the event.

    Jean-Marie Fardeau, French director for Human Rights Watch, said it’s duplicitous for the French government to both condemn the Syrian government for the ongoing bloodshed and host one of Syria’s largest arms suppliers.

    http://m.upi.com/m/story/UPI-99441339429863

    “It’s not acceptable to do business as usual with a company arming a government engaged in atrocities against its people,” he said in a statement.

    The rights organization says that providing weapons to Syria while the government there is suspected of committing crimes against humanity may by a violation of international law.

    U.N. officials last week said they suspected Syria had committed atrocities against its people during a series of massacres the government in Damascus blames on terrorists.

    Russia and China are among the leading critics of formal action against Syria at the U.N. Security Council.

    British Foreign Secretary William Hague told Sky News he would continue to pressure Russian officials to get in line behind the peace plan brokered by former U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan.

    “Every other solution of any kind to the Syrian crisis involves a lot more deaths,” he said.

  • Russian arms dealer targeted over #Syria

    Russian arms dealer targeted over Syria
    Published: June 11, 2012 at 11:51 AM
    PARIS, June 11 (UPI) — Human Rights Watch objected to a French arms expo featuring a Russian military company thought to be a major supplier to Syrian government forces.

    The Eurosatory arms show gets under way in France this week, featuring more than 1,000 exhibitors from 70 countries.

    Human Rights Watch said it objected to the participation of Russian arms supplier Rosoboronexport at the event.

    Jean-Marie Fardeau, French director for Human Rights Watch, said it’s duplicitous for the French government to both condemn the Syrian government for the ongoing bloodshed and host one of Syria’s largest arms suppliers.

    http://m.upi.com/m/story/UPI-99441339429863

    “It’s not acceptable to do business as usual with a company arming a government engaged in atrocities against its people,” he said in a statement.

    The rights organization says that providing weapons to Syria while the government there is suspected of committing crimes against humanity may by a violation of international law.

    U.N. officials last week said they suspected Syria had committed atrocities against its people during a series of massacres the government in Damascus blames on terrorists.

    Russia and China are among the leading critics of formal action against Syria at the U.N. Security Council.

    British Foreign Secretary William Hague told Sky News he would continue to pressure Russian officials to get in line behind the peace plan brokered by former U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan.

    “Every other solution of any kind to the Syrian crisis involves a lot more deaths,” he said.

  • Syrian Revolution News Round-up ملخص أحداث الثورة السورية
    Day 455: Monday, 11 June 2012 اليوم ٤٥٥: الاثنين، ١١ حزيران/يونيو ٢٠١٢
    Regime Violence Escalates Triggering More Massacres

    Top Stories

    The regime intensified its violence across the country as it killed over 101.
    UN observers visited the city of Talbiseh in the province of Hama which was heavily shelled by helicopters upon their departure.
    The Syrian government decreased the weight of the gas cylinder used by households as cooking fuel by 20% without changing the price.

    Summary of Events

    The regime intensified its violence across the country after the international community’s inability to stop it, as it killed over 101 today; 35 fell in the province of Idlib, 19 in the province of Deir Azzour, 15 in the province of Hama, and 12 in the province of Homs. Regime forces intensified its artillery and rocket shelling of most of the revolting areas. It shelled the towns of Jeser Shoghour and Heesh in the province of Idlib, the towns and cities of Ashara, Shahil, Muhasan and Deir Azzour, the cities of Karnaz and Halfaya in the province of Hama, and the cities of Talbiseh, Rastan and Homs.

    UN observers visited the city of Talbiseh in the province of Hama which was heavily shelled by helicopters upon their departure. UN observers tried to visit the Damascus neighbourhood of Jobar but were stopped by regime forces.

    The regime’s operations continued across the country, as it shelled the town of Inkhel in the province of Daraa amid torching of local crops to starve residents, while its helicopters continued to shell the city of Haffeh in the province of Latakia as more reinforcements arrived in the city. The US and Annan have warned of an imminent massacre in the city. Annan further requested that UN observers be permitted to immediately visit the cities of Haffeh and Homs.

    In the capital, regime forces besieged and raided the neighbourhood of Barzeh amid clashes with revolutionaries, and shelled the suburbs of Douma, Saqba, and Hamouriya.

    The Syrian government decreased the weight of gas cylinders used by households as cooking fuel by 20% without changing its price. The decrease in weight came after a previous hike in prices that changed the price tag to 400 Syrian pounds. In total, the regime has doubled the price of gas cylinders since the start of the revolution.

  • #Syria opposition denies Vatican report of Christians ordered out

    Opponents of the Syrian government disputed a Vatican report that Christians had fled the town of Qusair after an “ultimatum” from the rebel leader, denouncing it as government propaganda.

    News of alleged Christian persecution in the town close to the Lebanese border had been reported Saturday by the official Vatican news agency, adding to ongoing worries that the uprising against President Bashar Assad could devolve into sectarian strife between Islamists and religious minorities.

    The Vatican agency said it wasn’t clear why Christians had been ordered out of the town. “According to some, it serves to avoid more suffering to the faithful; other sources reveal ’a continuity focused on discrimination and repression.’ Still others argue that Christians have openly expressed their loyalty to the state and for this reason the opposition army drives them away,” the news agency reported.

    Read more
    http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/world_now/2012/06/syria-opposition-denies-vatican-report-of-christians-ordered-o

  • Syrian Revolution News Round-up ملخص أحداث الثورة السورية
    Day 454: Sunday, 10 June 2012 اليوم ٤٥٤: الأحد، ١٠ حزيران/يونيو ٢٠١٢

    Hundreds of Defections in the Syrian Army

    Top Stories

    The highest rates of defections within the ranks of the Syrian Army have been registered this week, as the numbers of defectors reached hundreds.
    UN observers visited the city of Banyas in the province of Tartous and headed over to the local security headquarters.
    The Syrian government allowed the private sector permission to import oil products.

    Summary of Events

    The highest rates of defections within the ranks of the Syrian Army have been registered this week, as the numbers of defectors reached hundreds in the province of Idlib and the city of Homs. Furthermore, the defection of a strategic air defence battalion armed with anti-air and anti-tanks missiles was just announced. The battalion joined the ranks of the revolutionaries in the cities of Rastan and Talbiseh.

    UN observers visited the city of Banyas in the province of Tartous and headed over to the local security headquarters where they met the local security figureheads.

    Regime forces killed at least 66 people today; 26 fell in the province of Homs as the Syrian army shelled the cities of Rastan, Houleh, Talbiseh, Qasir and Homs, and six in the province of Latakia as the shelling continued in the city of Haffeh and surrounding villages.

    The regime’s violations to Annan’s peace plan continued, as its forces shelled the city of Maaret Noman in the province of Daraa, the village of Ruz, the town of Karnaz in the province of Hama, the town of Inkhel in Daraa, the cities and towns of Hayan, Marea, Indan, Ibbeen, Jeena, Atareb, Kafar Halab, and Kafar Kameen in the province of Aleppo. Assad’s forces opened heavy fire in the cities of Deir Azzour, Boukamal, Mayadin, and the towns of Dael and Kafarshams in the province of Daraa. They also raided the neighbourhood of Qabun and the suburbs of Harasta and Douma in the capital, and invaded the town of Othman.

    The Syrian government granted permission for the private sector to import oil products. Private businessmen have been importing gas a few months ago via Lebanese imports.

  • Annan “

    gravely concerned

    ” about Syrian violence

    UN-Arab League envoy Kofi Annan was “gravely concerned” by a step up in fighting by Syrian government forces and the opposition, his spokesperson said on Monday.

    Annan “is gravely concerned by the latest reports of violence coming out of #Syria and the escalation of fighting by both government and opposition forces,” said Ahmad Fawzi in a statement.

    To read more: http://www.nowlebanon.com/NewsArticleDetails.aspx?ID=407966#ixzz1xUcyBNsb

  • Patrick Cockburn : America is deluded by its drone-warfare propaganda (The Independent)
    http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/commentators/patrick-cockburn-america-is-deluded-by-its-dronewarfare-propaganda-78

    As the US and its allies ponder what to do about Syria, one suggestion advanced by the protagonists of armed intervention is to use unmanned drones to attack Syrian government targets. The proposal is a measure of the extraordinary success of the White House, CIA and Defense Department in selling the drone as a wonder weapon despite all the evidence to the contrary. The attraction of the drone for President Obama and his administration five months before the presidential election is self-evident. The revelation that he personally selected targets from the top ranks of al-Qa’ida for assassination by remote control shows the President as tough and unrelenting in destroying America’s enemies. (...) Source: The Independent

  • Syria: rebels gain ground near Deraa as bombardment continues across the country

    Amateur video purports to show Free Syrian Army rebels taking control of some areas near the southern city of Deraa while heavy shelling and gun fights continue in Homs and Idlib.

    The fighters, said to be from the al-Farouq Brigade, said that they launched a series of attacks on Friday on the Syrian government army and gained control of some areas there.

    However, the video emerged as opposition activists said at least 35 people had been killed in a renewed Syrian army effort to regain control of Homs province.

    To read more
    http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/middleeast/syria/9322764/Syria-rebels-gain-ground-near-Deraa-as-bombardment-continues-across-the

  • Five citizen journalists killed over two days in Syria
    http://cpj.org/2012/06/five-citizen-journalists-killed-over-two-days-in-s.php

    “This is another tragic reminder of the role that citizen journalists have played covering the conflict in Syria, including the documentation of horrific violence perpetrated against civilians,” said CPJ Executive Director Joel Simon from New York. “While the Syrian government’s efforts to eliminate witnesses to its actions have failed, the cost to local and international journalists has been exceedingly high.”

    Three journalists who worked for the citizen news organization Shaam News Network were killed on May 27 while they filmed clashes between security forces and armed rebels in Damascus, a Shaam News Network representative who asked not to be identified told CPJ. Ammar Mohamed Suhail Zado, the director of Shaam in Homs, Ahmed Adnan al-Ashlaq, a correspondent, and Lawrence Fahmy al-Naimi, the head of live streaming for the network, were filming the clashes from an apartment in the Al-Midan neighborhood when their building was shelled by security forces, the representative said.