person:assad

Syrian officials ID Jordanians, Saudis as heavy financiers of opposition
►http://www.worldtribune.com/worldtribune/WTARC/2011/me_syria1126_09_08.asp

Officials said the Syrian security forces have captured Jordanians accused of joining the revolt. In one case, they said, 10 Jordanians were identified as shooting toward civilians in an effort to inflame opposition against Assad.

A Defense Ministry official confirmed that foreign Arab nationals were in custody in connection with the revolt. The official told the Brussels-based International Crisis Group that foreigners from Lebanon and Saudi Arabia were paying Syrians to demonstrate against Assad, particularly in the southern city of Dera.

“The Saudis are also pouring money into Dera,” the official was quoted as saying. “And there are Lebanese providing slogans and paying people to demonstrate.”

On n’est évidemment pas obligé de croire ces accusations (ou d’accepter qu’elles servent à justifier la répression), mais je pense qu’il faut les connaître (elles vont à coup sûr beaucoup circuler sur les réseaux pro-régime).

Très étonnante déclaration du nouveau patriarche maronite au sujet des événements de Syrie :
►http://www.lorientlejour.com/category/Dernières+Infos/article/721254/Le_patriarche_dAntioche_redoute_une_transition_en_Syrie_et_defend_al-

Le patriarche maronite libanais, Mgr Béchara Boutros Raï, a exprimé mercredi à Paris sa « crainte d’une transition en Syrie » qui pourrait selon lui représenter une menace pour les chrétiens d’Orient et a défendu Bachar al-Assad.

« J’aurais aimé qu’on donne plus de chances à M. Assad pour faire les réformes politiques qu’il a commencées » en Syrie, a-t-il déclaré lors d’une conférence de presse à la Conférence des évêques de France.

« Nous lisons dans une clé occidentale les choses orientales qui sont tout à fait différentes », a répondu à une question sur la répression le nouveau patriarche d’Antioche, légèrement embarrassé.

« En Syrie, le président n’est pas comme quelqu’un qui, à lui seul, peut décider des choses. Il a un grand parti Baas qui gouverne. (Assad) lui, en tant que personne, est ouvert. Il a étudié en Europe. Il est formé à la manière occidentale. Mais il ne peut pas faire des miracles, lui, le pauvre ».

« Nous, nous avons enduré le régime syrien. Je n’oublie pas, je voudrais être objectif. Il (Bachar al-Assad) a commencé une série de réformes politiques. Il fallait donner plus de chance au dialogue interne. Plus de chance à soutenir les réformes nécessaires, mais éviter les violences et la guerre ».

« Nous ne sommes pas avec le régime, mais nous craignons la transition », a reconnu Mgr Béchara Boutros Raï. « Nous devons défendre la communauté chrétienne. Nous aussi, nous devons résister. »

Robert Fisk : It’s his fast-disappearing billions that will worry Assad, not words from Washington - Robert Fisk, Commentators - The Independent
►http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/commentators/fisk/robert-fisk-its-his-fastdisappearing-billions-that-will-worry-assad-n

If “strong economic sanctions” mean a mere freeze on petroleum products of Syrian origin, the fact remains that Syria can scarcely produce enough oil for itself, let alone for export. A Swedish government agency recently concluded that Syria was largely unaffected by the world economic crisis – because it didn’t really have an economy.

L’idée qu’un pays de plus de 20 millions d’habitant n’aurait « pas vraiment d’économie » est une simplification qui sent bon le racisme orientaliste.

Dans la version anglaise d’Al-Akhbar aujourd’hui, un article décrit à peu près exactement le contraire :
Syria’s Banks : Boom or Bubble ? | Al Akhbar English
►http://english.al-akhbar.com/content/syria’s-banks-boom-or-bubble

In the past decade, the private banking sector in Syria grew visibly. Based on a recent report prepared by UK-based consulting firm Deloitte and obtained by Al-Akhbar, total assets in Syrian banks almost doubled between 2007 and 2010. This expansion was the result of the open-economy policy adopted by the regime at the beginning of the new millennium. But the current uprising across Syria has cast fresh doubts over the country’s financial future.

Intéressante également, la question de la dette :
Economy of Syria - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
►http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Economy_of_Syria#Foreign_Debt

Syria has made progress in easing its heavy foreign debt burden through bilateral rescheduling deals with virtually all of its key creditors in Europe.In December 2004, Syria and Poland reached an agreement by which Syria would pay $27 million out of the total $261.7 million debt. In January 2005, Russia and Syria signed a deal that wrote off nearly 80% of Syria’s debt to Russia, approximately €10.5 billion ($13 billion). The agreement left Syria with less than €3 billion (just over $3.6 billion) owed to Moscow. Half of it would be repaid over the next 10 years, while the rest would be paid into Russian accounts in Syrian banks and could be used for Russian investment projects in Syria and for buying Syrian products. This agreement was part of a weapons deal between Russia and Syria. And later that year Syria reached an agreement with Slovakia, and the Czech Republic to settle debt estimated at $1.6 billion. Again Syria was forgiven the bulk of its debt, in exchange for a one time payment of $150 million. Syria has also settled its debt with Iran and the World Bank.

Robert Fisk aurait peut-être plutôt dû supposer que la Syrie n’a pas été très affectée par la crise des dette publiques parce que elle n’a pas réellement de problème de dette :
– dette extérieure :
►http://www.indexmundi.com/g/g.aspx?c=sy&v=94&l=fr
– dette publique :
►http://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liste_de_pays_par_dette_publique

Les sbires d’Assad écrasent les mains d’un caricaturiste syrien | Rue89
►http://www.rue89.com/neo-arabia/2011/08/25/les-sbires-del-assad-ecrasent-les-mains-dun-caricaturiste-syrien-219199

Depuis le début de la révolution syrienne, ses caricatures arrachent des sourires ironiques aux protestataires qui les échangent et les commentent sur leurs pages Facebook. Enlevé à l’aube ce jeudi 25 août sur une place centrale de Damas, Ali Farzat, dessinateur mondialement connu, a été retrouvé tabassé au bord de la route.

Cet article va certainement être beaucoup discuté. Pas parce qu’il serait plus fiable ou moins fiable que ce qu’on lit habituellement, mais parce qu’il prend le contrepied de ce qui s’écrit sur la Syrie.

Syrian opposition admits armed insurgents are operating on fringe of uprising against Assad regime - Telegraph
►http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/8686582/Syrian-opposition-admits-armed-insurgents-are-operating-on-fringe-of-up

A number of activists at the forefront of the civilian protest movement in Syria confirmed that a bloody attack on government troops in the city of Hama last week was almost certainly the work of extremists involved in the insurgency against US forces in Iraq.

[...]

“Now the opposition has to deal with both the brutality of the regime and the stupidity of a few people who don’t understand that this has to be kept peaceful.”

[...]

Until this week, many in the opposition had also constantly tried to blame the deaths of soldiers on their own commanders seeking retribution against those who refused to shoot unarmed protesters.

But this policy of denial has changed after footage, broadcast repeatedly on Syrian state television showed the bloodied corpses of soldiers being tossed from a bridge near Hama last week. The grisly pictures showed the muddied waters of the Orontes River crimson as they land with a sickening splash.

[...]

But, after satellite imagery and other evidence emerged to show that the incident did indeed take place near Hama, the opposition has been forced to come clean.

“This act was carried out by Syrian fighters who have come back from Iraq,” an activist in Damascus said. “We can’t control them and we are very disturbed by this because ultimately it plays into the government’s hands.”

[...]

According to Joshua Landis, a prominent Syria analyst whose wife’s cousin was among the dead, the soldiers were killed after a carefully planned ambush by unknown gunmen on two of their lorries. Video footage that has emerged appears to bear this out.

More images suggest that the same happened in Jisr al-Shughur, where the regime claims more than 100 soldiers were killed. One video shows a large group of soldiers taking a break inside a building, the next shows their bodies strewn across rooms and a corridor inside the building and littering the ground outside.

Syria’s Assad gives tacit OK to online attacks on press - Internet - Committee to Protect Journalists
►http://www.cpj.org/internet/2011/06/syrias-assad-gives-tacit-ok-to-online-attacks-on-p.php

ASSAD: “There is the #electronic_army which has been a real army in virtual reality. There were those who took part in the blood donation campaign, and other initiatives. I met a number of youth delegations from different sections of society and found that Syrian youth enjoy a high sense of patriotism, and this is self-evident because they belong to this country.”

(...) a direct reference to the Syrian Electronic Army, a pro-government hacking group.
(...) to my knowledge this is the first time a head of state has explicitly approved of such actions. Governments are usually careful to distance themselves from nationalistic hacking groups, even if they tacitly permit it through lack of law enforcement. By mentioning the Electronic Army, al-Assad is signaling his support of computer sabotage and vigilante censorship in the name of his country. At least, that is how his online supporters are likely to interpret his words.

#cyberguerre #internet #syrie

Syria neighbors : Syria in chaos sends shivers in region - latimes.com
►http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-syria-neighbors-20110427,0,4386461.story?page=2

Analysts say Saudi Arabia may be considering using its diplomatic and political influence to offer Assad a way out of his predicament, but for a price: breaking his alliance with Iran, which is accused of stirring up trouble among Shiite minorities in countries such as Bahrain and Saudi Arabia.

Ici, le Los Angeles Times suggère que l’Arabie Séoudite serait capable de mettre fin aux évéments en Syrie. Ah bon.

Avant de se raviser.

Other than possibly toning down news coverage, it remained unclear how much influence Saudi Arabia and its Arabian Peninsula allies, or anyone else, may have on events in Syria, which appear to have taken on a life of their own.

Donc... on ne sait pas trop.