Syria warns West against intervention

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Bashar Assad Vows To Fight And Die For Syria

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3:54am UK, Sunday November 20, 2011



Gamal Fahnbulleh, Sky News reporter






Syria's President Bashar Assad has vowed to defend and die in his country if necessary, as anti-government protests continue.


Speaking to the Sunday Times in his first Western media interview
since the uprising began, Mr Assad promised to crackdown on all
opponents despite alienation from the international community.


He told the newspaper of a promise to personally fight and die to resist foreign forces.


"You have to ask who killed 800 officers, soldiers and policemen on
the streets, so we are not talking about peaceful demonstrators, we are
talking about militants," President Assad said.


His comments come as at least 14 people died in clashes between
government troops and protesters. But President Assad remains defiant.


The interview comes just days before Foreign Secretary William Hague is due to meet with Syrian rebel leaders in London.


"Whenever you have militants you have killings so the role of the
government is to fight the militants in order to restore stability and
to protect the civilians," Mr Assad said.


"Not by leaving them to do what they want to do. This is our job and that's what we are doing."


Mr Assad has also accused the 22-member Arab League, which suspended
Syria last week, of meddling in his country's affairs and creating a
pretext for western intervention into Syria.


But he also accepts mistakes have been made but by individuals and
not the state, and is adamant external forces are to blame for Syria's
problems.










The Syrian regime is fighting to maintain control over many ethnic groups





"We have to prevent militants from killing civilians and doing
massacres in different places around Syria. We have to stop smuggling of
armaments from outside Syria through the border of neighbouring
countries," he said.


"We have to stop the money coming in to support the militants - again across the borders. That's what we have to do."


Mr Assad was speaking after the Free Syrian Army, which includes
defectors from his own military, attacked an air force base in Damascus
and killed 34 soldiers in an ambush in the south of the country.


As evidence mounts that Syria is sliding into full scale civil war,
President Assad continued to defend his actions of trying to unify the
country.


"I'm here to server the country, my country is not here to serve me.
It's not about me it's about Syria. The problem is not about the
President it's about the stability of Syria and how we can keep Syria
unified," he said.


If the President is a factor in unifying the country he has to stay.
If he's a factor of dividing the country he has to leave. This is the
principle."


Mr Assad came to power at the age of 34 after his father's death in 2000.

November 2011 Last updated at 15:20
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Arab League rejects Syrian demand to change peace
plan

Sunday saw a new large rally in
Damascus in support of President Assad
Continue
reading the main story
Syria
Crisis

• Q&A: Syria sanctions
  
• Businesses loyal
  
• Guide to opposition
  
• Jordan king's candid call
  

The Arab League has rejected a demand
by Syria to alter its plan for ending the country's conflict, which has
reportedly left at least 3,500 dead.

It dismissed Syria's demand to amend its proposal for a 500-strong observer
mission to be sent to the country.

The Arab League's deadline for Syria to end its crackdown passed overnight
with no sign of violence abating.

President Bashar al-Assad has said his country will not bow to "pressure" and
predicted the conflict would continue.

Speaking to the UK's Sunday Times, he said the unity and stability of Syria
were at stake.
Continue reading the main story
Analysis


Jim Muir BBC News

---

Despite accusing the Arab League of bias and of acting as a stalking horse
for the Western powers, the Syrian foreign minister did not close the door on
the Arab initiative.

He said Damascus would reply with a list of queries before deciding whether
to sign a protocol allowing the pan-Arab body to deploy observers in the
country.

In its statement a few hours earlier, the league ruled out proposed Syrian
changes, which it said would radically alter the nature of the mission. But it
reiterated its own commitment to resolving the Syrian crisis within an Arab
framework. So in theory a last-minute deal cannot be ruled out.

But time is running short. The League announced that an emergency meeting of
Arab foreign ministers would be held in Cairo on Thursday to follow up on Syria.


If Damascus cannot find a way of complying seriously with the Arab initiative
by then, it could face tougher sanctions from the League - and renewed pressure
for hostile moves at the UN Security Council.


The Arab League plan, seen by the world as the best hope
for resolving the conflict peacefully, seems to have crashed in flames, the
BBC's Jim Muir reports.

On Sunday, there were reports of a grenade attack on a building of the ruling
party in the capital Damascus.

If confirmed, it would be the first such attack reported inside the capital
since the uprising began in March. It was claimed by the Free Syrian Army, a
group of military defectors.

At least 27 people were killed on Saturday, according to opposition
activists, including four government intelligence agents whose car was ambushed
in Hama by gunmen believed to be army defectors.

Foreign journalists are unable to move around Syria freely, making it
difficult to verify reports.

League 'tool'

The Arab League's plan has been the focus of efforts to find a diplomatic
solution and comes as key international players such as Russia and the US warned
of the danger of civil war in Syria.

In a statement on Sunday, the Arab League said: "It was agreed that the
amendments and appendices proposed by the Syrian side affect the core of the
document and would radically change the nature of the mission which is to
oversee the implementation of the Arab plan to end the crisis in Syria and
protect Syrian civilians."



Syria's Foreign Minister Walid al-Muallem: "We behaved in a
positive manner"


Reacting to the statement, Syrian Foreign Minister Walid al-Muallem
reiterated that Damascus has accepted the Arab League plan - with what he stated
were minor amendments designed to safeguard Syrian sovereignty.

Speaking to reporters in Damascus, Mr Muallem said "slow and steady"
discussions were needed and warned against "haste and overreaction".

He also criticised the league, saying "parts of the Arab world" were using
the organisation as a "tool" to involve UN Security Council in the crisis.

A Western-backed draft resolution condemning Syria's crackdown has been
vetoed in the Security Council by China and Russia.

Tensions between the Arab League and Syria have increased as violence has
escalated in the country.
Continue reading the main story
Arab League proposals

• End to violence and killing
  
• Allow foreign journalists to work freely
  
• Release prisoners recently detained
  
• Withdraw all military equipment from Syrian cities
  
• Government-opposition dialogue within two weeks
  

• Revolution at the Arab
  League
  
• Profile: Arab League
  
  

Last weekend the league suspended Syria's membership
after it failed to honour the terms of its peace plan.

Syria said it had agreed to the plan in principle, but was seeking
amendments. Reports said it wanted to reduce the number of observers from 500 to
40. Critics accused Damascus of stalling for time.

Mr Assad told the Sunday Times: "The conflict will continue and the pressure
to subjugate Syria will continue."

"However, I assure you that Syria will not bow down and that it will continue
to resist the pressure being imposed on it."

Mr Assad appeared to dismiss the Arab League plan, the BBC's Jim Muir reports
from Beirut.

The Syrian president said it was designed to show that the Arabs were
divided, and to prepare the way for outside military intervention which, he
repeated, would have dire consequences for the whole region.

Mr Assad's supporters took to the streets of Damascus again on Sunday,
carrying a giant portrait of Mr Assad.

Arab League foreign ministers are to meet again on Thursday to discuss
Syria.

Activist: Blood can run, but Syrian people won't back down



By Ashley Fantz, CNN
December 3, 2011 -- Updated 0333 GMT (1133 HKT)






A Syrian boy holds a photo illustrating violence by security forces against children during a July protest in Sarajevo, Bosnia.


STORY HIGHLIGHTS

• Syrian protester's father was political prisoner when she was a girl
  
• She was arrested during uprising, detained in same jail where he was held
  
• Catherine al-Talli: Bloodshed won't deter protesters demanding regime's end
  
• UN: Death toll has exceeded 4,000, including hundreds of children
  

(CNN) -- When Catherine al-Talli was 13 years old, a group of strangers came knocking at her family's home in Syria. It was 1992.

Her mother let them in, and feverishly they explained that earlier
that day they saw Syrian security forces surround al-Talli's father, a
democracy activist, at a bus station.

"They told us that 10 of them, the forces, had their guns out and
they were all around my father. They kidnapped him and pushed him into a
car," she recalled. Though they were just children, she and her
siblings knew exactly what had happened.

They knew their father risked his life as an activist who opposed the
Syrian regime. He was paying for that, and now too would their family.

It's hard for al-Talli to talk about her father. Shortly after the
regime changed hands in 2000 from father to son, he was released from
prison. But al-Talli's father had been tortured, forever scarred and
changed.

"This is difficult to talk about," said al-Talli who became a human
rights attorney and activist, inspired by her father's work. "It's
really hard to find your dad kidnapped because of his doing good."

Until a few months ago, father and daughter were living in Syria. But
their activism had made them both targets, and they're now temporarily
living in the United States. They watch the horror of their country on
the nightly news.

On Thursday, the United Nations announced
that the number of people killed since protests began this year against
the regime of Bashar al-Assad had surpassed 4,000. More than 300
children have lost their lives, and the U.N. reports that children have
been specifically targeted, and some tortured to death.

According to a September U.N. report, the human suffering behind those numbers looks like this:




Pro-Assad Damascus demo after sanctions





Syria's cyber warfare





Syria's 'graphic' video misleading





Losing stability in the Middle East?


Security forces opening fire on a funeral procession in Dar'aa, a
city near the border with Jordan; security force snipers on rooftops
picking off demonstrators in Damascus; the bodies of those missing,
including children, being returned to their families with their bodies
torn apart by torture.

Water tanks, food supplies, electricity -- everything needed to
survive has been targeted by Syrian army and security forces, according
to the report.

Thousands of people have been arrested. More than 14,000 are reported
to be in detention as a result of al-Assad's crackdown on the
opposition, Pillay said, and at least 12,400 people have fled their
homes to neighboring countries.

U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay cited a report
released Monday by the Independent International Commission of Inquiry
which concluded that security and military forces "committed crimes
against humanity" against civilians. Syria officially denied access to
commission investigators but they still managed to interview 223 victims
and witnesses, including military and security forces who had defected.

Foreign journalists have been blocked from entering Syria. Al-Assad told a British paper that Syria "will not bow down" and that any potential foreign military action against his country would lead to "very dire" consequences.

But the bloodshed and the blocking of journalists and rights workers will not discourage protesters, al-Talli said.

"The Syrian people have known what the price of freedom would be," she said. "They knew it would be very high.

"We know that the rest of the world understands that. They believe that the international community will not let the al-Assad regime commit more crimes."

Al-Talli has participated in demonstrations against al-Assad,
including the March 16 rally in Marjeh Square in Damascus when 150
protesters held pictures of their imprisoned relatives. While
demonstrating in mid-May, she was detained by security forces who took
her cell phone and her professional attorney identification, she told
CNN.com.

"I don't them, 'You cannot arrest me without [reason], I'm a lawyer.' They didn't listen."

Al-Talli said she was held in a cell in Damascus for 48 hours in the
same government building where he father had spent time behind bars. She
believes that because she was a well-known activist and attorney, her
case was pushed to a judge and she was released within a week.

From May to September, al-Talli went into hiding, sleeping in different places constantly. She felt that the government was constantly watching her
and monitoring her cell phone conversations, a tactic that the al-Assad
regime is reportedly using to track and thwart opposition strategy.

She chose to leave Syria in September and relocated in the United
States. She continues to talk with her friends in Syria, all of varying
religious and tribal backgrounds.

She insisted that it's a falsehood spread by al-Assad's regime that the fighting in Syria is between tribes and religions.

"I have stood next to people of all religions," she said. "I am
Christian. I have stood beside Muslims, Christians, Alawis, Druze and
Sunnis. This is not about our differences."

Andrew Tabler,
an American journalist, scholar and Syria expert, has lived in the
country and experienced firsthand the growth of discontent against
al-Assad, who become president in 2000 when his father, Hafez al-Assad,
died after ruling for 29 years.

Tabler's new book, "In the Lion's Den," is an in-depth look at the Assads, as well as a deep-dive analysis of Washington's long fraught relationship with Syria.

Bashar al-Assad and his British wife, Asma al-Assad, were perceived
for years as reformers, by and large. They touted social-service
nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) and spoke about reliance on civil
society. The NGOs were efforts to stem what the regime understood as a
huge threat -- frustration and restlessness among Syria's young
population and the lack of jobs and opportunities in the country, Tabler
said.

"Determination has been growing for some time. Now, did we expect
[the protesting] to go on this long? No. I don't think anyone did," he
said.

Tabler said he believes sanctions imposed recently on Syria will
weaken the Assad regime. The European Union stepped up sanctions against
the nation's oil industry by blacklisting state-owned firms that
oversee exploration and trade.

The U.S. Treasury on Thursday sanctioned two government-controlled
entities and two high-ranking Syrians, including Mohammad Makhlouf,
al-Assad's uncle and father of long-serving financial adviser Rami
Makhlouf. Rami Makhlouf is already under U.S. sanctions. Another was Aus
Aslan, a Syrian general. Turkey has also imposed sanctions against
regime insiders.

"In terms of Syria running out of money, they'll have an impact,"
Tabler said. "These are comprehensive [sanctions] and they will have a
tremendous impact. Will the regime be over tomorrow? Not at all. That's
going to take some work and time. But the death toll for November is the
highest it has been so far so that means it's getting worse, not
better."

During her exile, al-Talli has met with British Foreign Secretary
William Hague and Foreign Office Minister Alistair Burt to stress that
the protests will continue until al-Assad's regime ends. In October she
joined the Syrian National Council, an opposition coalition created
during the 2011 uprising. The Council was formed in Istanbul last month
and encompasses representatives of local committees inside Syria and
exiled personalities, as well as Islamist and secular representatives.

Al-Talli wants to continue speaking out. One day she'll return to Syria.

"We called our revolution the Syrian Dignity Revolution," she said.
"We decided as Syrian people to go into the street and get our human
dignity back. We will not go back to our homes without it."

Sanctions For Syria As Violence Continues

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Footage of what is claimed to be a Syrian tank on fire was placed online





1:17am UK, Sunday December 04, 2011





The Arab League has confirmed it will be implementing
sanctions on Syria following continued violence against anti-government
protesters.


The measures include a travel ban and the freezing of assets for 19
of the country's senior officials and associates of President Bashar
Assad.


There will also be a ban on the supply of weapons to Syria.


Syria's membership of the Arab League was suspended by the group last month.


Qatar's foreign minister says Damascus must sign an agreement today
to end the violence and allow monitors into the country to ensure a
guarantee is met.


The Arab League is following the European Union and the United States in announcing sanctions against Syria.


It comes as Syrian opposition groups claimed at least 25 people were killed in clashes between army defectors and regime forces.


Amateur video appeared to show government tanks on fire following an attack by the Free Syrian Army in the city of Homs.










The violence in Syria is thought to have claimed more than 4,500 lives





The number of people killed in the uprising is close to 4,600 according to activists.


Syrian authorities say they are fighting foreign-backed terrorist groups, intent on causing a civil war.


That message was reinforced by the state news agency SANA which said
security forces were involved in clashes with "terrorists" and had
caught several people suspected of smuggling weapons and armed men into
the country from Lebanon.

9 December 2011
Last updated at 16:25











Syrian protests trigger new deadly clashes











Activists posted videos of protests across Syria, including in Dail, near Deraa


Continue reading the main story













Syria Crisis
















At least 14 people have been killed in renewed anti-government protests across Syria, activists says.

Nine of those killed were in the flashpoint city of Homs and
two in Deraa, the UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.

Another activist group, the Local Co-ordination Committees (LCC), put the death toll at more than 30.

The UN estimates more than 4,000 people have died in the uprising against President Bashar al-Assad since March.

A number of pro-government demonstrations have also been reported across the country, including in the capital Damascus.

Demonstrators regularly take to the streets following Friday prayers.

The Syrian observatory said nine civilians were killed in or
around Homs, two in Deraa and one each in Idlib, Hama and Douma near
Damascus.

It said two of those killed in Homs were boys, aged 10 and twelve. Homs has emerged as the epicentre of the uprising.

The LCC said 18 had died in Homs, five in Idlib, four in Hama, two in Deraa and three in the suburbs of Damascus.

Activists in Deraa said telephone and internet lines had been cut.




Supporters of Syrian President Assad have also taken to the streets


Syria severely restricts access to foreign media so reports of unrest cannot be verified.

Pipeline attacked
The violence comes a day after a major oil pipeline serving the Homs region was blown up.

Activists accused Mr Assad's government of deliberately
destroying the pipeline, while state-run media blamed "an armed
terrorist group".

Opposition groups accuse the government of stoking up fears of religious extremism and terrorism to rally support
behind Mr Assad.

In a rare interview on Wednesday, Mr Assad told ABC News he
had never ordered the brutal suppression of anti-government protesters.

However, he faces growing international pressure to curb the
bloodshed, with Turkey, the Arab League and the EU imposing sanctions on
Syria.

The Arab League is pressing for Syria to allow in foreign observers or face more sanctions.

Massacre' feared brewing in Syrian city



By Joe Sterling, CNN
December 10, 2011 -- Updated 0106 GMT (0906 HKT)






Pro-regime supporters hold up flag showing President al-Assad at a rally
in Damascus, while opposition leaders warn of a brutal crackdown by the
military.


STORY HIGHLIGHTS

• The Syrian National Council warns a government operation appears imminent in Homs
  
• At least 46 people died in Syria on Friday, 17 of them in Homs, activists say
  
• The council says the regime is working to stoke sectarian strife
  
• The United States and Britain express concern about Homs
  

(CNN) -- Syria's leading opposition movement warned
Friday of an impending government "massacre" designed to crush activists
in the city of Homs, which has emerged as a center of anti-regime
unrest.

The Syrian National Council said military troops and vehicles had
surrounded the western city and thousands of troops were manning more
than 60 checkpoints just inside the city.

"These are all signs of a security crackdown operation that may reach
the level of a total invasion of the city," the council said in a news
release. It said that a "massive number of casualties" could occur.

"Evidence received from reports, videos and information obtained by
activists on the ground in Homs indicate that the regime is paving the
way to commit a massacre in order to extinguish the revolution in Homs
and to discipline, by example, other Syrian cities that have joined the
revolution," the council said.

At least 17 people were killed Friday in Homs and at least 29 were
killed elsewhere across Syria, according to the Local Coordination
Committees of Syria, an opposition group. It said women, children and
dissident soldiers were among the dead.




Syrian exile: Bashar al-Assad in denial





Violence continues to engulf Syria





Activist: Video refutes Assad





Syria's Assad denies death orders


The United Nations said last week that more than 4,000 people have
died in Syria since a government crackdown against protesters erupted in
mid-March. The regime's actions have outraged world powers and sparked
sanctions by the Arab League, Turkey, the United States and the European
Union.

The council said the Bashar al-Assad regime is "driving violent
sectarian incidents to justify this potential murder." More than 30
corpses -- all thought to be victims of sectarian violence -- were found
Monday in Homs.

The city of Homs is in a province of the same name. The Local
Coordination Committees of Syria says it is the "amalgamation of the
national Syria identity combined: urban, country, and Bedouin."

It says "Muslims in Homs are Sunni, Alawite, Ismaelis and Druze.
Christian in Homs are Orthodox and Catholic." The city also includes
Kurds, Armenians and Turkmens, the LCC says.

Sunnis make up the majority of the country and Alawites hold sway in the military and government.

"The regime has tried hard to ignite the sectarian conflict using
many dirty methods, which have included bombing and burning mosques,
torturing and killing young men, and kidnapping women and children," the
Syrian National Council said in its news release. "The regime also took
a significant step today ... in burning oil pipelines in the
neighborhood of Baba Amr to blame what the regime calls 'armed gangs' in
an attempt to crush the peaceful uprising on the pretext of a war on
terrorism." A strike on a pipeline was reported on Thursday.

The council likens what the regime may be planning to the 1982
government assault on the city of Hama, an operation that left thousands
dead. Syria was led at the time by then-president Hafez al-Assad,
Bashar's father.

"We hold accountable the regime, and behind it the Arab League and
the international community, (for) what could happen to innocent
civilians in the next few hours or days, and the implications for the
region as a whole in the near future," the council said.

The LCC says Homs has been suffering "from a suffocating siege and
heavy, continuous security campaigns that are resulting with tens of
casualties and wounded every day. This is why it deserves to be declared
as a crisis zone."

The LCC said the regime is trying to foment sectarian feuds. It said
the anti-government Free Syrian Army, made up of army defectors, has
been standing up to the regime's army and pro-regime shabiha, whom they
call "thugs."

U.S. State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland expressed concern about developments Friday.

"It is extremely concerning that in places like Homs we have a huge
number of reports that they are preparing something large scale," she
told reporters. "It's a perfect example for them to prove that they are
not the propagators of this violence. And obviously they've chosen not
to do so. And they are not going to be able to hide who's responsible if
there is a major assault on the weekend."

She added that U.S. officials hold al-Assad responsible for the
violence. "We think he needs to go; that that is how peace is going to
come to Syria."

British minister for the Middle East Alistair Burt said his
government "is deeply concerned by reports of a build-up of Syrian
security forces and armored vehicles in the besieged city of Homs," also
the "scene of disturbing crackdowns in recent months."

Human Rights Watch last month issued a report detailing "the
systematic nature of abuses against civilians in Homs by Syrian
government forces."

The International Crisis Group issued a report on Syria in July,
saying "Homs had become a miniature Syria, a microcosm of its numerous
problems."

"Its economic dynamism benefited only a narrow circle of people," the
report said. The swelling number of migrants who lived on the city's
outskirts suffered from declining services and living standards, it
said. The security services, predominantly controlled by and staffed
with Alawites, earned a particularly bad reputation.

"If the picture appeared reasonably positive to one who visited the
center of the city, for most of its underprivileged residents it was
appalling," the report said.
---------------------

Assad says this is nothing to do with him, he knows nothing about these massacres of innocent people.!!!!

Syria: 'Suicide Bomb Attacks' Kill Dozens

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4:52pm UK, Friday December 23, 2011


At least 40 people have been killed and 150 injured after two car bombs
ripped through security bases in Damascus, Syrian authorities have said.


The explosions happened in the Kfar Sousa district of the capital, close to a
complex housing security and intelligence services.

State television said several soldiers and many civilians had been killed. It
showed pictures of a huge crater at one of the sites and pools of blood on
surrounding pavements.


A damaged car is seen at the site of a car bomb attack in
Damascus



Members of an Arab League delegation, who are in the country to begin the
implementation of a peace planfollowing months of deadly
violence, were later taken to the scene of the explosions.

"We said it from the beginning, this is terrorism. They are killing the army
and civilians," deputy foreign minister Faysal Mekdad told reporters outside the
headquarters of the General Intelligence Agency, where bodies still littered the
ground.

Syrian officials said the attacks were suicide
bombs, the work of al Qaeda-linked militants - a claim dismissed by groups
opposed to President Bashar al Assad'sregime.

The government has previously said anti-government protests, which began in
March, were the work of terrorists rather than a popular uprising.

The country's deputy foreign minister, Faysal Mekdad, told reporters: "We
said it from the beginning, this is terrorism. They are killing the army and
civilians."

A government spokesman added that Lebanon had warned Damascus two days ago of
an infiltration by al Qaeda into Syria.

But Omar Idilbi, a member of the Turkey-based opposition group, the Syrian
National Council, expressed doubt about the regime's explanation of the
attacks.

"The presence of the Arab League advance team of observers pushed the regime
to give this story in order to scare the committee from moving around Syria," he
said.

"(This is) an attempt to make the Arab League and international public
opinion believe that Syria is being subjected to acts of terrorism by members of
al Qaeda."


LATEST FROM THE WEB

on TUESDAY THERE WAS A BIG DEFECTION OF SOLDIERS IN IDLIB,THERE WAS A LOT OF KILLING.

Cairo (CNN) -- Syrian security forces opened fire on
protesters in a Damascus suburb Thursday as Arab League monitors
arrived, an opposition activist group said.

More than 20 demonstrators were injured in the Grand Mosque area of
Douma as the observers arrived at the city's municipal building, the
Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.

The Local Coordination Committees of Syria, another opposition
activist network, said two people in Douma were among 10 killed in Syria
on Thursday. It is not clear how and where those deaths occurred.

The incident comes as Arab League monitors worked in the opposition
epicenter of Homs, arrived in the restive cities of Daraa, Idlib, and
Hama, and visited the Damascus area. Arab League Secretary-General Nabil
el-Araby met in Cairo with Burhan Ghalioun, head of Syrian National
Council opposition movement. They discussed the purpose of the
monitoring mission and its execution, the league said.




Syria's frightening reality





Netto: Arab League concerns in Syria





Journalist: Post-curfew deaths in Syria





Russia doesn't want NATO option in Syria


Fact-finders are monitoring an Arab League initiative that calls for
President Bashar al-Assad's security forces to withdraw from cities,
release detainees and end violence.

Many Syrians have been supportive of the mission, but others have derided the effort as pointless.

Opposition activists have criticized the selection of a Sudanese
military commander, Lt. Gen. Mohamed Ahmed Mustafa al-Dabi as the head
of the monitoring group. The activists said he had a key position in the
government as atrocities occurred in Sudan's embattled Darfur region.

Khaled Abo Saleh, an opposition activist who said he met with al-Dabi
and others from the mission in Homs on Wednesday, said Syrians want the
observers "to reveal the truth to the world. To show what is happening
here accurately and completely and to protect civilians."

"The people of Homs and the youth activists have no faith in the Arab
League mission. It is clear now they are just another ploy by the
Syrian regime to buy time. They are ineffective and have no resources to
change the situation.

"But we are doing our part showing them what is happening in Homs,
submitting evidence of killing and arbitrary arrest, and showing them
what is happening," he said.

Saleh said killings have decreased but have not stopped in Syria
since the observers arrived. More than 5,000 people have been killed
since mid-March, the United Nations said. Activist groups count more
than 6,000 deaths.

"Generally we have 25 to 30 killed in Homs every day, now maybe the
death toll is 9 to 10. But the martyrs cannot be counted in numbers they
must be counted in the loss to their family and the devastation to
their people," Saleh said.

"I told al-Dabi that 15 people were killed in a protest the day the
mission arrived in Homs. I showed him the body of a toddler killed by
Syrian security forces. I took him to see the destroyed neighborhoods
and the parts of Homs completely cut off from food, water, and
electricity," Saleh said.

CNN cannot independently verify opposition accounts of violence or
reports of deaths and injuries in Syria. Al-Assad's government has
restricted access by international journalists.

An Arab League official told CNN that 75 monitors were in Syria with
more expected to arrive in coming days. A permanent team will remain in
Homs, which had been under a military siege for days, said the official,
who asked not to be named.

Ibrahim Zafarani, a founding member of the Arab Doctors Association,
pulled out of the Arab League fact-finding mission after being selected
as a monitor, saying he disagreed with the mission's methods.

On Thursday, he added his voice to the growing criticism of al-Dabi,
saying, "All I see now is the head of the mission barely announcing any
information, while dozens have died in the first two days of the
mission."

"I would not have allowed people dying under the umbrella of the
monitors mission and face the guilt on my consciousness or under the
responsibility of our association," he said.

In Syria, the unrest began in March when the government brutally
cracked down on peaceful demonstrators calling for political reforms and
criticizing security force actions. The movement quickly spiraled into a
call for the ouster of al-Assad.


CNN's Joe Sterling, Salma Abdelaziz and journalist Mohamed Fadel Fahmy contributed to this report

Large Protests Held in Syria to Prove Discontent to Monitors

By KAREEM FAHIM and HWAIDA SAAD

Published: December 30, 2011






BEIRUT, Lebanon — Despite a continuing government crackdown, tens and possibly hundreds of thousands of people filled the streets of several Syrian cities on Friday, as protesters seemed intent on showing visiting Arab League monitors the extent of opposition to President Bashar al-Assad.






Activists said that soldiers opened fire on several of the demonstrations, killing or injuring protesters in Hama and the Damascus suburb of Douma. Al Jazeera television showed live footage of what appeared to be tens of thousands of protesters in Homs, where activists said observers were visiting several neighborhoods.
The crowd estimates were provided by activists and appeared to be corroborated not only by the Al Jazeera broadcast, but other footage posted on the Internet. While such large crowds are not unprecedented, the numbers underscored the resilience of the protest movement.
A protester in Dara’a, who reported huge demonstrations, said, “We want to show the Arabs and the world that we are peaceful protesters, not criminals or armed gangs,” he said. “The coming days and weeks will prove our statements, not the regime’s story.”
Although peaceful protests continue in cities across the country, the opposition has been joined in recent months by increasing numbers of armed men — including army defectors — who have attacked government installations and soldiers.
On Friday, the rebel Free Syrian Army, a militia of defectors, said that it had halted its offensive against government targets for the monthlong mission by the Arab League monitors. The leader of the rebel group, Col. Riad al- al-As’aad, told Reuters that the group had halted attacks since the observers arrived last week.
His claim seemed to be contradicted by a video posted on the Internet on Wednesday that showed armed gunmen firing on a government convoy. One of the men in the video held up a sign saying the men belonged to the Free Syrian Army. Activists later said that four soldiers were killed in the attack.
The show of popular strength on Friday came despite mounting misgivings about the much-anticipated observer mission.
On Thursday, a prominent Syrian dissident, Haytham Manna, who has supported the observers, called for the delegation’s leader to be replaced or have his powers reduced. The leader, Lt. Gen. Muhammed al-Dabi of Sudan, has become a lightning rod for complaints about the team. Human rights activists say his credentials — including time as the chief of a military intelligence branch in Sudan that has been accused of atrocities — make him a poor choice for the job.
In a statement, Mr. Manna said he was “surprised” by the choice of Mr. Dabi for the Arab League mission, though he did not refer to him by name. “We know his history and his shallow experience in this area,” Mr. Manna said. “I call for the Secretariat of the Arab League to work quickly to save the observers’ mission.”
The observers are supposed to monitor promises by the government to withdraw its forces from populated areas and release political prisoners.
A surge of violence in recent days has almost completely eclipsed the observers’ work. Activists have complained that government attacks have accelerated and that security forces have tried to mislead the observers by dressing soldiers in police uniforms and using other subterfuges.
“We were almost sure the regime wouldn’t change with the presence of the observers,” said Omar Idlibi, a spokesman for the Local Coordinating Committees, which guide the antigovernment demonstrations. But, he added: “We are cooperating. Closing the door is wrong.”

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   • Sandy Reiburn
     
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As Americans, dallying in our Republican primary sideshow, we must stop and understand how precious the right to individual liberties and fairness from government is...these Syrians, as the Libyans, as the Egyptians and indeed,even as the Russians... are willing to sacrifice their lives for justice and to rid themselves of corrupt dictatorships.

We need to stop treating the ever entertaining pack of Republican candidates and their enablers, much of the hype seeking press, as though it's a sports event. We must not disparage the Occupy Wall Street heroes who are inconveniencing themselves and at times putting their own safety in harm's way, by changing the subject to their alleged "smells" and long hair. They believe, as do these bloodied demonstrators, that "inherent dignity and equal and inalienable rights" must not be suppressed by tyrants, oligarchs and thieves.

Let's look at the games Gaddafi played...at the supposed Peoples' Egyptian Military...at the Arab League monitors-headed by a brutal Sudanese chief in a play-acting scheme which everyone knew would go nowhere. These authoritarian representatives must be our warning of ceding power to those with their own selfish interests....sound familiar?

• Dec. 30, 2011 at 7:59 p.m.
  
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• RWNorman
  
• Silver Spring, MD
  

Well, at least the protestors timed it right. There's no use in protesting if no one is watching. And we haven't been watching at all, which is good.

The Arab League are exactly the right people to observe the problems and place it upon themselves to become the leadership that hasn't yet been present in the Middle East.

The question is whether the Arab League desires to gnaw on this serious bone of contention, or whether they are toothless in the power to do so.

Personally I'm really glad for the Arab Spring, and I'm hoping to see more that brings about a one time event of becoming part of the modern world for all.

I don't care where you look, within your view will be both of beauty and hideousness, and we are seeing the pendulum move back away of the negative extreme. But only if the people of the Middle East absolutely refuse to bend to coercion, illegal acts, and abuses of what has for twenty years been the code of human rights throughout the modern world

Look, we fight for resources that are depleted by our fighting for them. Our best resources are the people of the world, but to get everyone on the same playing field we pretty much have to fess up to not always being moral players.

We have to be moral players if we want sit at the table of humanity.

And so do the Arabs.

Roger W. Norman

• c holland
  
• 
  

assad's situation reminds me of the two guys fighting in a prison yard: neither one can stop fighting, because then the other would kill him, but if they keep fighting, the guards will kill them.

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   • RockinRod
     
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Was that supposed to be profound? Or simply irrelevant? No mention of their heroism, their lives given in the name of tyranny from a dictator, just a demeaning comparison to "two guys fighting in a prison yard."
I think the entire Arab Spring has been a wonder, but then I believe in humanity's right to assemble and protest. You sound more like a Republican!

• Dec. 30, 2011 at 8:35 p.m.
  
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As an American, I cannot fathom the courage and bravery of the Syrian people. I could not wake up in the morning to plan to go protest knowing that I may die that day. As a freedom loving American I wish for the Syrian people all the help in the world, both human and Godly. Please understand that many Americans wish the best possible luck to the people of Syria. May the new year bring to the people of Syria a new beginning.

• JudyW
  
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Syria is a huge country and the monitors cannot be everywhere at once. So while they may see peace in one place - it is a shooting war somewhere else where they are not. I am not sure these Observers will turn out to be useful - events in Syria will have to play out on their own and the US and Hillary CLinton need to shut up and not stick their nose in. They already made a mess in Libya - we don't need them to make a mess in Syria

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• Dec. 30, 2011 at 5:04 p.m.
  

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   • Ralph H.
     
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We made a mess in Libya?? If getting rid of a brutal dictator in concert with NATO and then leaving without committing troops is making a mess, I can't wait until we make more!!

• Dec. 30, 2011 at 7:59 p.m.
  
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Better to be thought a fool than to open your mouth and remove all doubt. I agree with the other people who responded to your post. It is a very partisan and foolish post.

• Dec. 30, 2011 at 8:35 p.m.
  
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• HAIDER ALI
  
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Arab League is itself a bunch of crooks and thugs, most of its members are on the payroll of CIA. It was the Arab League which had asked United Nation to intervene in Libya, which culminated in the cold blooded murder of Colonel Qadaffi, his sons and grandsons. And now what the hell Arab League is doing, why its eyes are closed on the massacre of Yemnis and Egyptians. Do not they receive the briefs every morning from The State Department?
Each of Arab League members should be prosecuted for lying to the people and for the obstruction of justice and receiveing bribes.

• Dec. 30, 2011 at 5:04 p.m.
  
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I am not convinced that Assad has the complete control of his own government as most commentators assume. Allowing in the Arab League observers, but continuing to attack protesters seems to strong a contradiction to reflect a united government. It seems like the military leaders want to continue the crackdown while Assad and/or others in top government posts was to reconcile with the protesters to some extent but may be blocked by the military high command. There may be an opportunity here to play one side off against the other and split the Syrian leadership.

• Dec. 30, 2011 at 4:16 p.m.
  
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Your analysis makes sense. Otherwise, why would the army fire on protesters with the Arab League monitors watching? That undercuts the narrative that the Assad regime has been telling the world, that the army is not firing on protesters, only combating armed gangs.

Syrian opposition group: More than 5,800 died in 2011



By the CNN Wire Staff
January 1, 2012 -- Updated 0003 GMT (0803 HKT)






Supporters of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad carry his image through Damascus during a demonstration in October 2011.


STORY HIGHLIGHTS






(CNN) -- More than 5,800 people, including 395
children, died in 2011 during the crackdown on protests in Syria,
according to an opposition activist group.

The grim tally of "martyrs" from the Local Coordination Committees of
Syria totaled 5,862, including 287 prisoners it said were tortured to
death. The LCC said 19 doctors and 146 women were among those killed.

The first death in 2012 was an individual who died due to the lack of blood plasma platelets at a hospital, the group said.

The LCC has a network of contacts across Syria.

President Bashar al-Assad in mid-March began the crackdown on
anti-government protesters calling for his ouster. The Syrian government
blames "armed terrorist groups" for violence during the uprising.

CNN cannot independently verify opposition accounts of violence or
reports of deaths and injuries in Syria. Al-Assad's government has
restricted access by international journalists.

Two major Syrian opposition groups, meanwhile, have forged a deal
that charts a course for democracy if President al-Assad's regime
crumbles.

Representatives of the Syrian National Council and the National
Coordination Body for Democratic Change in Syria signed an agreement
late Friday in Cairo for a transition in a post-Assad era, the NCB said
on its Facebook page.

Protesters turned out on Saturday for anti-regime rallies in restive
cities, including Homs, Idlib, and Hama, activists said. They occurred
as an Arab League fact-finding mission continued its work to determine
whether the Syrian government is abiding by a peace agreement to end a
brutal crackdown on protesters.

The LCC said at least 13 people died Saturday amid gunfire, a
bolstered police presence and massive demonstrations. Seven were killed
in Homs. One each was killed in Hama in the west, Banias and Idlib in
the northwest, Abu Kamal in the east, Kafar Soseh in Damascus province,
and Daraa in the south.

In Douma, outside Damascus, security forces and shabiha, opposition
activists' term for people they say are pro-government "thugs," attacked
mourners, raided the town's main square and made many arrests, the LCC
said.

Security forces in Aleppo province arrested Moussa Al-Moussa, a
senior municipal official in the town of Marea. He was charged with
protesting and inciting others to protest, the group said.

Several shabiha dressed like the Arab League delegates in Latakia
Friday, the LCC said. When a 14-year-old boy approached them to tell
them what is happening in the city, he was "brutally beaten."

The opposition groups hope to end such violence, the al-Assad
regime's push against demonstrators and the still well-entrenched
government's tenacious efforts to maintain its power across the country.

The NCB is a coalition of 15 functioning parties operating in Syria
and in exile dominated by pro-democracy liberal, Marxist and Kurdish
parties. The SNC has broad support, with a strong Sunni Muslim component
and is backed by the Turkish government. Syria is nearly 75 percent
Sunni Muslim. Alawites, who dominate in the al-Assad government, number
at least 10 percent, according to estimates.

Their efforts to shape Syria's future signals a maturation and a strengthening of the anti-regime forces.

"This is a key step on a road to building an effective opposition
that can not only win the support of foreign governments but build a
unified military machine that's going to be able to take on a major
power," said Joshua Landis, an associate professor and director of the
Center for Middle East Studies at the University of Oklahoma.

"What we are watching today is nation building. Major factions within
the Syrian political community coming together and agreeing on
strategy."

A Syrian National Council official said the deal still has to be signed off by its board.

"This is a political agreement for the transitional phase that ends
with true democratic process and ultimately with elections," said
council executive board member Walid Buni. "The preliminary points have
been agreed upon but it will be presented to the board of the SNC
tonight or tomorrow for final approval. An SNC committee will then
present it to the Arab League."

The NCB says the agreement is final.

In a statement on its Facebook page, the NCB said the "agreed text
sets out the political and democratic rules for the transitional period,
and determines the important parameters for Syria's future which aspire
to ensure that the homeland and every citizen's rights are treated with
dignity, and for the foundation of a civil democratic state,"

The talks between the two groups lasted more than a month. The
agreement will be "deposited as an official document" with the Arab
League on Sunday in the presence of league Secretary-General Nabil
el-Araby, the NCB said.

Khalaf Dahowd, a senior NCB member based in the United Kingdom, said
the agreement was signed by the SNC's Burhan Ghalioun and the NCB's
Haytham Manna in the presence of people from both groups.

"The reason the SNC has not called it final yet may have to do with internal politics. But the agreement is final," he said.

Dahowd said the agreement serves to unify ranks and create a post-Assad political framework.

He said the agreement calls for the refusal of any non-Arab foreign
intervention, an important issue because some Syrians want international
intervention to overthrow the al-Assad regime. At present, the Free
Syrian Army, a rebel force composed of military defectors who've taken
some actions against regime targets, is on the scene.

The deal calls for "protection of civilians with all legitimate means
within international law for human rights" and "honors all soldiers who
refused to act on orders to kill civilians," Dahowd said.

The agreement also recognizes the suffering, language and history of
the country's Kurdish minority and paves the way for a "democratic,
parliamentary, pluralistic and power-sharing system."

"It is also a message to friends of the regime, the Russians and the
Chinese who have been raising fears that once the Syrian regime falls
there will be a civil war and chaos. So in the agreement we say do not
have any of these fears. This will also make it easy to gain political
(international) recognition," Dahowd said.

Ahmed Hamoudi, general coordinator of a small Egypt-based opposition
group called the Syrian Revolution Coordination, said there are "certain
reservations" from some opposition people about the agreement's failure
to mention putting al-Assad on trial and forbidding military
intervention "while the Syrians on the ground are calling for a no-fly
zone."

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a British-based opposition
activist network, said it supports and encourages "any agreement or
decision" that would forge unity, promote democracy and end the
bloodshed and suffering.

The Arab League, the United States, the European Union and Turkey
have deplored the al-Assad regime's crackdown and initiated sanctions.
But Russia and China have stood in the way of a strong U.N. Security
Council resolution toward the Syrian government.

Earlier this month, al-Assad agreed to a peace initiative with the
Arab League that calls for security forces to withdraw from cities,
release detainees and end violence. Part of the agreement calls for Arab
League observers to monitor whether the government abides by the
initiative.


Journalist Mohamed Fadel Fahmy and CNN's Salma Abdelaziz, Amir Ahmed and Joe Sterling contributed to this report.

Advisory group head calls for withdrawal of observers from Syria



By the CNN Wire Staff
January 1, 2012 -- Updated 2024 GMT (0424 HKT)






A protester in the flahspoint Syrian city of Homs throws a tear gas bomb back to security forces on December 27, 2011.


STORY HIGHLIGHTS

• NEW: At least 10 people are killed on Sunday, an activist group says
  
• The Arab League says the fact-finding mission is going "according to plan"
  
• Observers provide a "cover" for the Syria regime, the head of an advisory group says
  
• State media reports that 21 troops killed "by armed terrorist groups" are laid to rest
  

(CNN) -- The head of an advisory board to the Arab
League called Sunday for the withdrawal of observers from Syria,
claiming the mission has allowed Syrian officials to continue a brutal
crackdown on protesters.

"What is happening allows the Syrian regime a cover for the exercise
of its inhumane practices under the Arab League's watch," Ali Salem
al-Deqbasi said in a statement, according to Egypt's state-run MENA news
agency. Al-Deqbasi heads the Arab Parliament, an advisory board to the
Cairo-based Arab League.

The statement said abuse and killing of civilians have continued as
Arab League monitors visit Syria, and requested a meeting of Arab League
foreign ministers to address the issue.

An Arab League official said in a statement Sunday that the
observers' field work was going "according to plan," noting that only
the organization's official governing council has the authority to stop
the fact-finding mission.

Additional observers are scheduled to head to Syria this week to join
efforts to determine whether the Syrian government is abiding by an
agreement to end its crackdown on demonstrators, said Adnan al-Khodeir,
head of the Arab League's operations team in charge of the observers'
mission.

As the fact-finding mission continued Sunday, at least 10 people were
killed in Syria, according to an opposition activist group.

Three people died in Hama, four were killed in Homs, two were killed
in the Damascus suburb of Daraya and one was killed in Idlib, the Local
Coordination Committees of Syria said. The organization said a child was
among its tally of "martyrs," but did not provide additional
information.

Since Arab League monitors entered Syria, the LCC said Sunday that it
had documented the deaths of 315 people, including 24 children.

Meanwhile, the state-run Syrian Arab News agency said Sunday that the
bodies of 21 troops "killed in the line of duty by armed terrorist
groups" were taken from military hospitals to their final resting
places.

CNN cannot independently verify accounts of violence or reports of
deaths and injuries in Syria. President Bashar al-Assad's government has
restricted access by international journalists.




Protesters carry on in Syria





Suffering in Syria





Videos show monitors talking to Syrians





Homs in grief after 'eye of truth' dies


In mid-March, al-Assad began a crackdown on anti-government
protesters calling for his ouster. The Syrian government has repeatedly
blamed "armed terrorist groups" for violence during the uprising.

The LCC, which has a network of contacts across Syria, said that more
than 5,800 people were killed in 2011 during the crackdown on
opposition protests.

A number of amateur videos posted online have surfaced purporting to
show Arab League observers since the group arrived in Syria last week.
One video posted Friday purported to show residents of the southwestern
city of Daraa telling a monitor about a man who they said had been a
victim of torture. Another video purported to show that same monitor
saying he had witnessed snipers firing in the city, which has been a
flashpoint for clashes between anti-government protesters and security
forces.

On Sunday, the head of the Arab League monitors' mission said observers had not seen sniper attacks.

"We are monitoring the alleged presence of snipers on buildings, but
(there is) no evidence of that yet," said Lt. Gen. Mohamed Ahmed Mustafa
al-Dabi.

Protesters turned out Saturday for anti-regime rallies in restive cities, including Homs, Idlib and Hama, activists said.

On Friday, two major Syrian opposition groups forged a deal that
charts a course for democracy if al-Assad's regime crumbles -- a move
which analysts said signals maturation and strengthening of the
anti-regime forces.

After talks that lasted for more than a month, representatives of the
Syrian National Council and the National Coordination Body for
Democratic Change in Syria signed an agreement late Friday in Cairo for a
transition in a post-Assad era, the NCB said on its Facebook page.

The agreement was scheduled to be filed with the Arab League on Sunday, the NCB said.

Opposition groups hope to end the al-Assad regime's push against
demonstrators and its efforts to maintain power across the country.

The Arab League, the United States, the European Union and Turkey
have condemned the government crackdown and initiated sanctions. But
Russia and China have stood in the way of a strong U.N. Security Council
resolution toward the Syrian government.

Earlier this month, al-Assad agreed to a peace initiative with the
Arab League that calls for security forces to withdraw from cities,
release detainees and end violence. Part of the agreement calls for Arab
League observers to monitor whether the government abides by the
initiative.


CNN's Amir Ahmed and Mohammed Jamjoom and journalist Mohamed Fadel Fahmy contributed to this report.

Arab League to strengthen Syria mission, official says



From Mohamed Fadel Fahmy, for CNN
January 2, 2012 -- Updated 1108 GMT (1908 HKT)






STORY HIGHLIGHTS

• The Arab body has no plan to act on a call to pull its observers out of Syria, an official says
  
• Monitors went in last month after the U.N. estimated more than 5,000 people have died
  
• The advance team is preparing a report on the situation in Syria
  
• Bashar al-Assad says his forces are cracking down on armed terrorists
  

(CNN) -- Arab League monitors remain in Syria, and
more are on the way, a top official with the Arab body said, despite a
call by an Arab League advisor to pull the observers out.

An advance team of monitors returned to Cairo on Sunday after 10 days
in the violence-wracked country, but the main body of observers remains
in Syria, said the official, who asked not to be named discussing
diplomatic business.

The team that has returned is preparing a report which should be released soon, said the official, speaking late on Sunday.

Arab League observers went into Syria in December after the United
Nations estimated that 5,000 people had been killed since March in an
uprising against the government.




Syria: New Year's protests





Protesters carry on in Syria





Syria man records his own death





Suffering in Syria


President Bashar al-Assad's government says it is cracking down on armed terrorists.

The head of an advisory board to the Arab League called Sunday for
the withdrawal of observers from Syria, claiming the mission has allowed
Syrian officials to continue a brutal crackdown on protesters.

"What is happening allows the Syrian regime a cover for the exercise
of its inhumane practices under the Arab League's watch," Ali Salem
al-Deqbasi said in a statement, according to Egypt's state-run MENA news
agency.

Al-Deqbasi heads the Arab Parliament, an advisory board to the Cairo-based Arab League.

The Arab League has not scheduled a meeting to discuss al-Deqbasi's statement, the Arab League source said.

As the fact-finding mission continued Sunday, at least 10 people were
killed in Syria, according to an opposition activist group.

Three people died in Hama, four were killed in Homs, two were killed
in the Damascus suburb of Daraya and one was killed in Idlib, the Local
Coordination Committees of Syria said. The organization said a child was
among its tally of "martyrs," but did not provide additional
information.

Since Arab League monitors entered Syria, the LCC said Sunday that it
had documented the deaths of 315 people, including 24 children.

Meanwhile, the state-run Syrian Arab News agency said Sunday that the
bodies of 21 troops "killed in the line of duty by armed terrorist
groups" were taken from military hospitals to their final resting
places.

CNN cannot independently verify accounts of violence or reports of
deaths and injuries in Syria because al-Assad's government has
restricted journalists from working freely in the country.

In mid-March, al-Assad began a crackdown on anti-government
protesters calling for his ouster. The Syrian government has repeatedly
blamed "armed terrorist groups" for violence during the uprising.

The LCC, which has a network of contacts across Syria, said that more
than 5,800 people were killed in 2011 during the crackdown on
opposition protests.

A number of amateur videos posted online have surfaced purporting to
show Arab League observers since the group arrived in Syria last week.

One video posted Friday purported to show residents of the
southwestern city of Daraa telling a monitor about a man who they said
had been a victim of torture.

Another video purported to show that same monitor saying he had
witnessed snipers firing in the city, which has been a flashpoint for
clashes between anti-government protesters and security forces.

On Sunday, the head of the Arab League monitors' mission said observers had not seen sniper attacks.

"We are monitoring the alleged presence of snipers on buildings, but
(there is) no evidence of that yet," said Lt. Gen. Mohamed Ahmed Mustafa
al-Dabi.

The Arab League, the United States, the European Union and Turkey
have condemned the government crackdown and initiated sanctions. But
Russia and China have stood in the way of a strong U.N. Security Council
resolution toward the Syrian government.

Last month, al-Assad agreed to a peace initiative with the Arab
League that calls for security forces to withdraw from cities, release
detainees and end violence. Part of the agreement calls for Arab League
observers to monitor whether the government abides by the initiative.


CNN's Amir Ahmed and Mohammed Jamjoom contributed to this report.

League meeting



By the CNN Wire Staff
January 8, 2012 -- Updated 1940 GMT (0340 HKT)















Arab League to discuss Syria








STORY HIGHLIGHTS

• NEW: A foreign ministry spokesman says Syria has hidden nothing from monitors
  
• Attacks Sunday kill at least 21, an opposition activist network says
  
• The Arab League will recommend adding to the current 165 observers
  
• Arab League officials consult with the United Nations about Syria
  

(CNN) -- Arab League officials met in Cairo on
Sunday to discuss their Syria mission amid escalating tension and a
growing international outcry over the unrest that has killed thousands.

"The option of suspending the monitors' mission is not on the table
and the mission will continue as more Arab nations are sending experts
to join the mission," the organization said.

The head of the group will recommend beefing up the mission, which
currently has 165 observers, said Ali Erfan, a senior adviser to the
Arab League chief.

Arab League officials have consulted with the United Nations about the situation in Syria, he said.

While the mission does not have a mandate for peacekeeping or to stop
the conflict, it is tasked with verifying Syria complies with the four
points of the Arab League's action plan.

Those points are: release detainees, allow access for media and other
observers, halt the violence and pull heavy equipment off the streets.

A spokesman for Syria's Foreign Ministry said Sunday that the
nation's government had not hidden anything from the Arab League's
monitors.

"We let them move freely anywhere. We have provided all the things they need," spokesman Jihad Makdissi said.

Human Rights Watch noted that League Secretary General Nabil el-Araby
said, "Syria has already taken some steps under the terms of the
agreement, withdrawing heavy weapons from Syrian cities, and releasing
about 3,500 prisoners."

But it cites examples of Syria failing to abide by the League
initiative, including security forces' attacks on peaceful demonstrators
since the mission began.

Early Sunday morning, clashes between government security forces and
army defectors killed at least 11 in the village of Basr al-Harir in
Daraa, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a
London-based opposition human rights group with contacts throughout the
country.

Later Sunday, opposition activists from the Local Coordination
Committees of Syria said at least 21 people were killed in attacks
throughout the country. The LCC's tally listed 14 deaths in Homs, five
deaths in Damascus suburbs, one death in Deir Ezzor and one death in
Daraa.

CNN cannot independently confirm events inside Syria because the
government has restricted activities by international journalists.




26 die in Damascus suicide bombing





Syrian defector's horrific revelations





Arab League accused of failing Syrians


The brutal Syrian government crackdown began in mid-March in Daraa.
Last week, human rights groups asked the Arab League to initiate action
against President Bashar al-Assad's regime. They accused Syria of
failing to comply with efforts to end the 10-month-long crackdown.

The Arab League fact-finding mission under way in the nation is part
of a larger initiative to end security forces' attacks on peaceful
protesters. Death estimates range between 5,000 to 6,000.

Residents say attacks have continued during visits by Arab League officials, but at later times.

Most shelling occurs after officials have gone back to their hotels, a resident in the besieged city of Homs said.

"They take the leaguers where they want," he said Saturday. "These
are massacres. We have tens dying daily. Stores are closed ... civilian
life is at a halt."

Relatives of victims of a suicide bombing in the capital and lethal
clashes elsewhere buried their dead Saturday as crowds flocked to a
central square in Damascus to condemn the blasts, the Syrian Arab News
Agency reported.

At least 26 people died and at least 63 people were injured in the
Friday blast, SANA said, with most of the casualties being civilians
along with some law enforcement personnel.

The Interior Ministry has vowed to "strike with an iron fist" anyone
who threatened the nation's security after the second such bombing in
the capital in two weeks.

The government has blamed the suicide attack on terrorists while the opposition pointed fingers at the regime.


CNN's Nic Robertson, Ben Wedeman and Joe Sterling contributed to this report.

Al-Assad blames 'external conspiracy' for Syria violence



By the CNN Wire Staff
January 10, 2012 -- Updated 0924 GMT (1724 HKT)
















Protests, tensions rise in Syria








STORY HIGHLIGHTS

• NEW: Al-Assad blames an "external conspiracy" for Syria's violence
  
• Amnesty International has called for the U.N. Security Council to act on Syria
  
• 24 people are dead after violence in Syria on Monday, an opposition group says
  
• Funerals on Monday yield both pro- and anti-Assad activists
  

Damascus, Syria (CNN) -- In a rare speech Tuesday,
Syrian President Bashar al-Assad blamed the unabated violence in his
country on an "external conspiracy."

"The mask has fallen off these faces," he said, without elaborating whom he was referring to.

Throughout his speech, al-Assad referred to a conspiracy, but never
coming out and explicitly saying who was behind it. He would only say it
was both "Arabian" and "Western."

"No wise person denies these international conspiracies that is being
done in order to spread fear inside," he said. "But this time, it was
done with people from inside."

Al-Assad's speech came the same day that the U.N. Security Council is
expected to meet for the first time this year to discuss the brutal and
sustained government crackdown on anti-regime protesters.

The Security Council itself has been under pressure to act on the
violence. Amnesty International, which wants human rights groups to be
granted access to the country, has urged the Security Council to refer
Syria to the International Criminal Court, "impose a comprehensive arms
embargo" and "freeze the assets of President al-Assad and others
involved in human rights violations."

Reports of bloodshed in Syrian cities escalate virtually every day.

On Monday, 24 people were killed across the country, according to the
Local Coordination Committees of Syria, a network of opposition
activists. The deaths included 13 in Homs, eight in Idlib, one in a
Damascus suburb, one in Deir Ezzor and one in Hama, the group said.

CNN has not been given permission to travel to Homs, where an
onslaught of violence has been reported for months. A CNN crew was
allowed into the capital, Damascus, after a long period of the Syrian
regime refusing the entry of international journalists.

But the crew's equipment for live broadcasting was confiscated on
arrival. And a government minder is assigned to the team, though he has
not accompanied the team at every turn.

Since Arab Spring demonstrations swept the region early last year,
protesters in Syria have demanded a country free of the Assad regime and
true democratic elections. Assad has been in power since 2000; his
father, Hafez, ruled Syria for three decades.

Thousands have been reported killed by security forces throughout the
uprising. Death estimates range from 5,000 to more than 6,000. But the
Syrian government has consistently blamed the violence on "terrorists."

Many Syrians mourn the dead while simultaneously denouncing al-Assad.

On Monday, tens of thousands of people turned out to a funeral procession and rally against the president.

At one funeral, crowds chanted, "Overthrow Assad! Overthrow the regime!" They blamed the man's death on government forces.

But at a separate funeral in Damascus, another crowd mourned a man,
this time chanting slogans supporting al-Assad and blaming that death on
opposition forces.

SANA reported that seven "martyrs" from the army and security forces
were buried Monday. It also said a citizen was killed by "an armed
terrorist group" in Hama.

Arab League officials are scrambling to end the bloodshed and has pledged to add to its 165 observers already in the country.

The Arab League fact-finding mission in Syria is part of a larger
initiative to end security forces' attacks on peaceful protesters.

But the group's mission has been met with skepticism from both
pro-Assad supporters, who view the monitors as stooges for regime
change, and anti-government activists, who see the observers as weak and
ineffective.


CNN's Nic Robertson contributed to this repor

Qatari Leader: Send Arab Troops Into Syria

• 
  
• 
  
• 
  

Hundreds of protesters have been killed in the 10-month uprising





7:07pm UK, Saturday January 14, 2012





The leader of Qatar has said Arab troops should be sent to Syria to stop the regime's violent crackdown on protesters.


Emir Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani's comments, made to CBS, are
the first by an Arab leader calling for the deployment of troops inside
Syria.










Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa al Thani





They come amid growing claims that a team of Arab League observers
dispatched to the country to curb the bloodshed has failed in its
mission.


Qatar, which once had close relations with Damascus, has been a harsh critic of the 10-month crackdown by President Bashar al Assad's government.


The wealthy and influential Gulf state withdrew its ambassador to Syria in the summer to protest against the killings.


The leading Qatar-based al Jazeera television has also been a strong
supporter of the Arab uprisings, although some say the station remained
largely silent during anti-government protests in the Gulf state of
Bahrain.

'Does
anyone speak English?' I shouted as a group of Syrian prisoners were
paraded before us. Several men said yes, one said 'come and talk to me'.

Read Tim Marshall's blog from Damascus











Qatar and Bahrain are part of the Saudi-led six-nation Gulf Cooperation Council.


Arab League observers began work in Syria on December 27, to verify whether the government is abiding by its agreement to end the military crackdown on dissent.


Meanwhile, the US has accused Iran of supplying Syria with weapons to reinforce its crackdown on protesters.


Officials in Washington claim the head of the Iranian Revolutionary
Guards visited Damascus this month, a sign - they say - that Iranian aid
to Syria includes military hardware.












"We are confident that he was received at the highest levels of the
Syrian government, including by President Assad," an official said on
condition of anonymity.


"We think this relates to Iranian support for the Syrian government's attempts to suppress its people.


"The US government believes Iran has supplied Syria with munitions for use in the military crackdown," he said.


The US has long suspected that Iran has been aiding Syria's purge
against protesters as President Assad tries to cling to power and avoid
the fate of other Arab dictators felled by the Arab Spring uprisings.


At least 5,000 people are believed to have been killed in the violence.

15 January 2012
Last updated at 10:15











Syria crisis: Assad 'gives amnesty for uprising crimes'






Comments (3)






Syria's President Bashar al-Assad is under growing pressure from the international community


Continue reading the main story













Syria Crisis

• 
  Deepening crisis in Damascus
  
• 
  Arab mission test
  
• 
  Civil war fears
  
• 
  Q&A: Syria sanctions
  

Syria's
President Bashar al-Assad has granted a general amnesty for all crimes
committed during the 10-month uprising, state-run media reports.

It would apply to army deserters who turned themselves in
before the end of January, peaceful protesters and those who handed in
unlicensed weapons, Sana state news agency is quoted as saying.

The UN says more than 14,000 people are in detention.

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has urged Mr Assad to end the violence.

"Stop the violence. Stop killing your people. The path of
repression is a dead end," Mr Ban said in a speech at a conference on
Arab world democracy in Beirut.

President Assad has issued several prisoner amnesties since
the start of the uprising in March, but thousands of people are believed
to remain in prison.

The BBC's Jonathan Head in neighbouring Turkey says the
latest amnesty offer still does not address the issue of how the
conflict may be brought to an end.


Continue reading the main story Syria deaths

• More than 5,000 civilians have been killed, says the UN
  
• More than 400 killed since start of Arab League mission on 26 December
  
• UN denied access to Syria
  
• Information gathered from NGOs, sources in Syria and Syrians who have fled
  
• Vast majority of casualties were unarmed, but the figure may include armed defectors
  
• Tally does not include serving members of the security forces
  

Source: UN's OHCHR




Tens of thousands of people
across Syria continue to take to the streets calling for an end to the
Assad regime - defying a crackdown that, the UN says, has killed 5,000
people.

In a rare public address last week, President Assad again
accused international powers of trying to destabilise Syria, and vowed
to crush "terrorists" with an "iron fist".

On Saturday, the ruler of Qatar, Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al
Thani, said Arab countries should send troops into Syria to end the
bloodshed.

"For such a situation to stop the killing... some troops
should go to stop the killing," he told US television channel CBS for a
programme to be aired on Sunday.

It is the first time an Arab leader has publicly called for military intervention in Syria.

Arab League proposes unity government in Syria



From Mohamed Fadel Fahmy, For CNN
January 22, 2012 -- Updated 2117 GMT (0517 HKT)






Syrian anti-regime demonstrators wave flags in the Khalidiya neighbourhood of the flashpoint city of Homs on January 20, 2012.


STORY HIGHLIGHTS

• NEW: The Arab League demands the Syrian government start dialogue with the opposition
  
• NEW: It wants al-Assad to hand over powers to his VP after the formation of the new government
  
• Arab League chief: Syria is not complying with parts of a league agreement
  
• An Arab League committee requests a one-month extension of observers in Syria
  

Are you there? Send your images, video to iReport.

Cairo (CNN) -- The Arab League demanded Sunday that
Syrian President Bashar al-Assad hand over powers to his vice president
following the formation of a national unity government.

It called for the Syrian government to start a national dialogue with
the opposition within two weeks, and for the new government to be
formed within two months.

Earlier, Arab League Secretary-General Nabil el-Araby said the group
will request an extension of its monitoring mission in Syria and an
increase in the number of observers there.

The mission was scheduled to end last Thursday. It was not clear whether Syrian officials would accept the offer.

The secretary-general said the Syrian government has not complied
with some parts of an Arab League agreement aimed at ending a violent
crackdown on protesters. Syrian officials are treating the crisis as a
security problem, he said, noting that armed opposition factions
controlling some areas made it difficult for observers to do their jobs.

But Arab League monitors have seen some aspects of the situation improve, he said.

"The presence of the Arab monitors provided security to opposition
parties, which held an increase in number of peaceful protests...in the
areas where the monitors were present," el-Araby said.

Before el-Araby's statement, Saudi Arabia's foreign minister said his
nation planned to withdraw its members of the observer team, according
to an Arab League official. Prince Saud al-Faisal told Arab League
foreign ministers that "Syria did not comply with the Arab resolution
plan," according to the Arab League official, who asked to remain
anonymous because he was not authorized to speak to the media.

Earlier Sunday, a five-nation committee led by Qatar requested a
one-month extension of the mission from the foreign ministers of the
league's 22 member states.

The committee made its request after reviewing a report submitted by
Sudanese Lt. Gen. Mohammad Ahmad al-Dabi, head of the league's
monitoring mission in Syria.

Before leaving Damascus for the meeting in Cairo, al-Dabi said the
mission of the monitoring group is "not to stop the killing and violence
in Syria but to investigate the Syrian government's execution of the
article of the Arab plan aimed at solving the Syrian crisis."

The Arab League has called on President al-Assad'sregime
to stop violence against civilians, free political detainees, remove
tanks and weapons from cities and allow outsiders, including the
international news media, to travel freely in Syria.

Senior Arab League diplomats said the Syrian government has not accepted or rejected the possibility of a one-month extension.

Some worry the observers haven't been allowed to see the full situation in Syria.

Members of the opposition Syrian National Council met Saturday with
Arab League Secretary-General Nabil el-Araby. The council has demanded
that the mission document "the atrocities committed by the Syrian regime
against civilians in all cities and towns," the group said in a
statement.

"We requested (el-Araby) to raise the Syria file to the U.N. Security
Council as soon as possible to protect the lives and dignity of the
Syrian people," SNC senior official Walid Buni said Saturday. "We will
have to wait until the final Arab (League) monitor's report is discussed
(Sunday), but we already know what it contains and do not think it
reflects the situation on the ground."

Arab League official Ali Jaroush said the mission has gained momentum
and that there is "a general inclination" to extend it for another
month, the state-run Syrian Arab News Agency reported.

But the presence of Arab League monitors in the country hasn't quelled daily reports of deadly violence.

At least 59 people were found dead across Syria on Saturday,
according to the Local Coordination Committees of Syria, an opposition
activist group.

They include 30 unidentified corpses found at the National Hospital
in Idlib and at least 16 dead from a bus explosion in Idlib province, in
northwestern Syria..

CNN cannot confirm the claims by opposition groups of violence and
deaths, as Syria's government has limited access by foreign journalists.

For more than 10 months, Syria has been engulfed by an
anti-government public uprising and a brutal security crackdown against
protesters. The United Nations last month estimated well over 5,000
deaths since mid-March. Opposition groups estimate more than 6,000
people have died.

While activists blame the violence on al-Assad's regime, the government says terrorists have been responsible for the bloodshed.

Both sides reported the deadly bus bombing Saturday.

The LCC said the bus went over a mine, killing at least 16 people and
wounding many more. The state-run Syrian Arab News Agency reported that
"an armed terrorist group" was responsible for the attack, killing 14
people and wounding 26 others.

Mohamed Hamado, a Free Syrian Army lieutenant colonel, said civilians
moving toward the Turkish-Syrian border were ambushed by Syrian
security forces using tanks and armed personal carriers near the town of
Kherbeit Al Joz.

The Free Syrian Army, which includes defected regime soldiers, fought
with the Syrian army and injured and killed about 24 soldiers, Hamado
said. "We then retreated to safer positions."


CNN's Salma Abdelaziz, Joe Sterling and Samira Said contributed to this report.