Syria warns West against intervention
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Re: Syria warns West against intervention
Panda Wed 22 Aug - 17:16
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Aug 22, 11:31 AM EDT Syrian forces kill at least 31 in Damascus raids By HAMZA HENDAWI Associated Press | ||||||||||||||||
BEIRUT (AP) -- Syrian regime forces shelled two Damascus districts Wednesday before troops backed by tanks swept through to carry out house-to-house raids in search of opposition fighters, killing at least 31 suspected rebels, activists said. The violence is part of a dramatic surge in fighting over the past month in Damascus, one of many fronts President Bashar Assad's regime is struggling to contain as the 17-month-old rebellion against his rule gains strength. Government forces are also engaged in a major battle for control of the northern city of Aleppo as well as smaller scale operations in the country's south, east and center. Also Wednesday, a prominent opposition figure rejected as "more lies" comments by a senior Syrian official that Damascus would be willing to discuss Assad's resignation but only after the opposition agreed to join in negotiating a peaceful settlement. "As for his resignation, making his resignation a condition for dialogue effectively makes holding such a dialogue impossible," said the official, Deputy Foreign Minister Qadri Jamil. "During the negotiating process any issues can be discussed, and we are ready to discuss even this issue." Reached in Turkey, Adib Shishakly of the Syrian National Council, a key umbrella opposition group, said: "It's the first time that we hear such talk, but it's difficult to believe. We have grown accustomed to the regime's lies." Around dawn Wednesday, regime forces in Damascus rained mortars down on the upscale Kafar Soussa neighborhood and the adjacent Nahr Eishah area of the Syrian capital, activists said. Government troops appeared to be shelling the districts from Qasioun mountain overlooking the capital, a Damascus resident said on condition of anonymity for fear of retribution. The attacks may have been designed to kill or capture rebel mortar teams who have used the two neighborhoods in recent days to target the city's strategically located Mazzeh military airport, activists said. The British-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said at least 20 people were killed in Kafar Soussa on Wednesday and that fierce battles were raging in an area just outside the neighborhood between the rebels and government troops. An activist in Kafar Soussa reached on Skype corroborated the observatory's report. He spoke on condition of anonymity because he feared reprisals. Earlier, an activist who only wanted to be identified by the name Bassam for fear of retribution, said 11 people were killed in Kafar Soussa and that as many as 22 tanks stormed the district with about 20 soldiers on foot behind each one. He spoke via Skype from central Damascus. Bassam and the observatory also reported heavy government shelling of Nahr Eishah early Wednesday. They said regime forces then conducted house-to-house raids in search of rebels. Bassam said as many as 12 people were killed in Nahr Eishah, while the observatory had no word on casualties. It was not clear whether those killed in the two areas died in the shelling or later government raids. Activists, including the one reached by Skype in Kafar Soussa, spoke of execution-style killings in both areas. The activists' reports could not be independently verified. Syria's ongoing civil war has its roots in a mostly peaceful uprising against Assad's regime that began in March last year. The uprising grew increasingly violent as the government launched a brutal crackdown on protesters, prompting many to take up arms to forcefully overthrow Assad's regime. The conflict has to date defied all international efforts to end it. © 2012 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Learn more about our Privacy Policy and Terms of Use. |
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Re: Syria warns West against intervention
Panda Thu 23 Aug - 8:39
22 August 2012 Last updated at 22:54
Syria crisis: UK joins US in chemical weapons warning
Fierce fighting is continuing in the northern city of Aleppo
Continue reading the main story
Syria conflict
The UK has joined the US in warning Syria that the use or threat of chemical weapons would force them "to revisit their approach".
The warning came after a telephone call between Prime Minister David Cameron and US President Barack Obama.
The PM also spoke to French President Francois Hollande. The three discussed building support for the opposition.
Earlier, Chinese state media accused Mr Obama of using the chemical arms issue as an excuse for military intervention.
Also on Wednesday, fierce fighting raged in the northern Syrian city of Aleppo and in Damascus, which residents said had witnessed the heaviest attack by government forces since the army re-asserted its control of the capital last month.
'Real unity'
A Downing Street spokesman said the "appalling situation that continues in Syria" was the main focus of Mr Cameron's conversations with Mr Hollande and Mr Obama.
The UK believes Mr Assad's fall is "inevitable"
Mr Cameron and Mr Obama both agreed "that the use - or threat - of chemical weapons was completely unacceptable and would force them to revisit their approach so far", said the spokesman.
The comments echoed those by Mr Obama earlier in the week, when he said he would change his thinking on intervention if Syria used chemical weapons.
The two leaders, along with Mr Hollande, discussed "how to build on the support already given to the opposition" and "help a potential transitional Syrian government after the inevitable fall of [President Bashar al-] Assad".
Mr Obama and Mr Cameron called for a "credible opposition" that would "show real unity of purpose and coherence in working towards transition".
The three leaders also discussed the plight of Syrian refugees.
The spokesman said: "The prime minister emphasised the need to work with the UN and... that more should be done by the international community to channel humanitarian aid through the UN appeal."
The plight of refugees is also a serious concern for the UK, US and France
Earlier, the Chinese state news agency Xinhua accused Western powers of "digging deep for excuses to intervene militarily".
In its commentary, Xinhua criticised Mr Obama's earlier remarks as "dangerously irresponsible" and said they would aggravate the conflict, reducing the chances of a political settlement.
China insists a ceasefire and UN-led mediation remain the best ways to end Syria's woes.
China and Russia have both blocked attempts to impose UN sanctions on Syria.
A Russian foreign ministry source told the Kommersant newspaper on Wednesday that Moscow believed Syria had no intention of using its chemical weapons and was able to safeguard them.
'Journalist killed'
Fierce fighting continued across Syria on Wednesday.
Continue reading the main story
Syria's chemical weapons
Sources: CSIS, RUSI
An aerial bombardment preceded an assault by tanks on several areas of Damascus.
Activists said at least 37 people had been killed in the capital, in the areas of Kafar Soussa and Nahr Eishah.
A journalist working for the state-run Tishreen newspaper, Mosaab al-Odallah, was killed by the military during house-to-house searches in Nahr Eishah, activists and friends said.
Odallah was said to be sympathetic to the opposition.
Reuters reporters said they had heard shells and gunfire every minute in the northern city of Aleppo.
Elsewhere, rebels and troops fought for control of a military base and airfield near the eastern town of Albu Kamal.
Activists said at least three people were killed in a helicopter bombardment of Qastoun, in Hama province.
Shelling was also reported in Deraa, and heavy fighting was reported in Deir Ezzor in the east.
The opposition Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said at least 115 people, including 71 civilians, were killed across the country on Wednesday.
The figures cannot be independently verified.
Opposition activists say more than 20,000 people - mostly civilians - have died since the uprising against Mr Assad began last year
Syria crisis: UK joins US in chemical weapons warning
Fierce fighting is continuing in the northern city of Aleppo Continue reading the main story
Syria conflict
The UK has joined the US in warning Syria that the use or threat of chemical weapons would force them "to revisit their approach".
The warning came after a telephone call between Prime Minister David Cameron and US President Barack Obama.
The PM also spoke to French President Francois Hollande. The three discussed building support for the opposition.
Earlier, Chinese state media accused Mr Obama of using the chemical arms issue as an excuse for military intervention.
Also on Wednesday, fierce fighting raged in the northern Syrian city of Aleppo and in Damascus, which residents said had witnessed the heaviest attack by government forces since the army re-asserted its control of the capital last month.
'Real unity'
A Downing Street spokesman said the "appalling situation that continues in Syria" was the main focus of Mr Cameron's conversations with Mr Hollande and Mr Obama.
The UK believes Mr Assad's fall is "inevitable" Mr Cameron and Mr Obama both agreed "that the use - or threat - of chemical weapons was completely unacceptable and would force them to revisit their approach so far", said the spokesman.
The comments echoed those by Mr Obama earlier in the week, when he said he would change his thinking on intervention if Syria used chemical weapons.
The two leaders, along with Mr Hollande, discussed "how to build on the support already given to the opposition" and "help a potential transitional Syrian government after the inevitable fall of [President Bashar al-] Assad".
Mr Obama and Mr Cameron called for a "credible opposition" that would "show real unity of purpose and coherence in working towards transition".
The three leaders also discussed the plight of Syrian refugees.
The spokesman said: "The prime minister emphasised the need to work with the UN and... that more should be done by the international community to channel humanitarian aid through the UN appeal."
The plight of refugees is also a serious concern for the UK, US and France Earlier, the Chinese state news agency Xinhua accused Western powers of "digging deep for excuses to intervene militarily".
In its commentary, Xinhua criticised Mr Obama's earlier remarks as "dangerously irresponsible" and said they would aggravate the conflict, reducing the chances of a political settlement.
China insists a ceasefire and UN-led mediation remain the best ways to end Syria's woes.
China and Russia have both blocked attempts to impose UN sanctions on Syria.
A Russian foreign ministry source told the Kommersant newspaper on Wednesday that Moscow believed Syria had no intention of using its chemical weapons and was able to safeguard them.
'Journalist killed'
Fierce fighting continued across Syria on Wednesday.
Continue reading the main story
Syria's chemical weapons
- The CIA believes Syria has had a chemical weapons programme "for years and already has a stockpile of CW agents which can be delivered by aircraft, ballistic missile, and artillery rockets"
- Syria is believed to possess mustard gas and sarin, a highly toxic nerve agent
- The CIA also believes that Syria has attempted to develop more toxic and more persistent nerve agents, such as VX gas
- A report citing Turkish, Arab and Western intelligence agencies put Syria's stockpile at approximately 1,000 tonnes of chemical weapons, stored in 50 towns and cities
- Syria has not signed the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC) or ratified the Biological and Toxin Weapons Convention (BTWC)
Sources: CSIS, RUSI
An aerial bombardment preceded an assault by tanks on several areas of Damascus.
Activists said at least 37 people had been killed in the capital, in the areas of Kafar Soussa and Nahr Eishah.
A journalist working for the state-run Tishreen newspaper, Mosaab al-Odallah, was killed by the military during house-to-house searches in Nahr Eishah, activists and friends said.
Odallah was said to be sympathetic to the opposition.
Reuters reporters said they had heard shells and gunfire every minute in the northern city of Aleppo.
Elsewhere, rebels and troops fought for control of a military base and airfield near the eastern town of Albu Kamal.
Activists said at least three people were killed in a helicopter bombardment of Qastoun, in Hama province.
Shelling was also reported in Deraa, and heavy fighting was reported in Deir Ezzor in the east.
The opposition Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said at least 115 people, including 71 civilians, were killed across the country on Wednesday.
The figures cannot be independently verified.
Opposition activists say more than 20,000 people - mostly civilians - have died since the uprising against Mr Assad began last year
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Re: Syria warns West against intervention
Panda Fri 24 Aug - 7:12
Aug 23, 10:48 PM EDT Paris backs Syria no-fly zone as fighting grows By BASSEM MROUE Associated Press | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
BEIRUT (AP) -- France signaled Thursday that it was prepared to take part in enforcing a partial no-fly zone over Syria, piling pressure on President Bashar Assad's embattled regime as it widens a major offensive against rebels in Damascus and surrounding areas. French Defense Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian urged the international community to consider backing a no-fly zone over parts of Syria, but cautioned that closing the Arab nation's entire air space would be tantamount to "going to war" and require a willing international coalition that does not yet exist. He told France 24 television that Paris would participate in a full no-fly operation if it followed international legal principles. But for now, he suggested that a partial closure - which U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said Washington was considering - should be studied. Syria's chief backer, Russia, meanwhile, said it was working closely with the Damascus government to ensure that its arsenal of chemical weapons stays under firm control and has won promises that it will not be used or moved. In Syria, troops backed by tanks and helicopters broke into the Damascus suburb of Daraya, the scene of intense fighting over the last two days. At least 18 people were killed. Across the country, at least 100 people died Thursday in shelling and clashes, according to the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights and the Local Coordination Committees. The bloodshed coincided with the departure from the Syrian capital of the last of the United Nations military observers after their mission failed. The observers were part of a six-point peace plan by outgoing envoy Kofi Annan. As the country slides deeper into civil war, activist groups now routinely report the deaths of anywhere between 100 and 250 people on a daily basis, but it is virtually impossible to verify these figures. Residents of Damascus said troops were bombing Daraya and nearby Moadamiyeh from the Qasioun mountain overlooking Damascus. "It's just another regular day in Damascus," said a resident of the city of 1.7 million, who spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of reprisals. "I woke up to the sound of explosions and it hasn't stopped since." In the eastern part of the country, Syrian rebels fought with regime troops in the town of al-Bukamal, across the border from the Iraqi town of Qaim. The border crossing has been in rebel hands since last month, but wresting control of al-Bukamal itself from regime troops would expand the opposition foothold along the frontier. The opposition already controls a wide swath of territory along the border with Turkey in the north, as well as pockets along the frontier with Jordan to the south and Lebanon to the west. Together, they have proven key to ferrying people and supplies into and out of the country. Rebels have been fighting troops for days in al-Bukamal and early Thursday took over several checkpoints, the main police station and the local command of the Political Security Directorate, one of Syria's powerful intelligence agencies, according to Rami Abdul-Rahman, who heads the Observatory. "There is an attempt to take full control of al-Bukamal," Abdul-Rahman said. The Local Coordination Committees said warplanes bombed al-Bukamal, but Abdul-Rahman said the jets were flying over the town and struck nearby areas, not the town itself. At least six people were killed, activists said. Meanwhile, the Washington Post reported that an American freelance journalist who has been reporting from Syria for The Post, McClatchy Newspapers and other outlets had not been heard from in more than a week. Austin Tice, 31, spent time with rebel fighters in the north after entering Syria from Turkey in May, then traveled to Damascus, where he was one of the few Western journalists reporting from the capital. "We're focused intensively on trying to ascertain his whereabouts and ensure his safe return," Post executive editor Marcus Brauchli said in a statement. Spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said the U.S. State Department was working through the Czech Embassy, which represents U.S. interests in Syria, to get more information about Tice's welfare and whereabouts. "We have long expressed concern about the safety for journalists in Syria, and note that freedom of movement throughout the country for journalists is one of the 6 points in the Annan Plan endorsed by the United Nations Security Council," she said in a statement. " We strongly urge all sides to ensure the safety of journalists in Syria." The seemingly intractable conflict in Syria has defied all attempts at mediation. Human rights groups say more than 20,000 people have been killed since the uprising against Assad began in March 2011. In the past month the fighting has spread from the country's smaller towns and cities to the regime strongholds of Damascus and Aleppo. Annan announced earlier this month that he will resign on Aug. 31. He is to be replaced by veteran diplomat Lakhdar Brahimi. In Damascus, Deputy Foreign Minister Faysal Mekdad said Syrian officials were "looking forward" to working with Brahimi but said the crisis would continue as long as foreign countries were interfering. Mekdad accused Turkey of giving "terrorists," including al-Qaida, free access to cross into Syria from Turkey. The Syrian regime refers to the rebels as terrorists. Turkey - once an ally of Syria - has emerged as one of Assad's harshest critics and taken in some 44,000 refugees from its Arab neighbor. The main battle fronts over the past month have been in the capital, Damascus, as well as Aleppo, where regime forces have struggled to stamp out a rebel offensive that began last month and succeeded in capturing several districts in the city of 3 million people. In a report released Thursday, Amnesty International said artillery, mortar fire and airstrikes by government forces in Aleppo are killing mostly civilians, including children. The rights group said that during a 10-day, fact-finding visit to Aleppo in the first half of August, it found that some 30 attacks killed more than 80 civilians and wounded many more. Amnesty said that among the dead were 10 members of one family, seven of them children, whose home was destroyed in two airstrikes on Aug. 6. It said the bodies of young men, many of them handcuffed and shot in the head, were found near the local headquarters of the powerful Air Force Intelligence, which is in a government-controlled area. The uprising against Assad's regime began with largely peaceful protests but has since morphed into a civil war that has spread to almost all parts of the country. In Daraya, the Local Coordination Committees said the government shelling killed a mother and her five children, all members of the al-Sheik family who had fled their hometown of Moadamiyeh to escape the violence. An amateur video showed the children draped in white shrouds with their faces showing; the body of the mother was covered. The potential use of chemical weapons in the Syrian conflict has put Russia in a rare point of agreement with the United States, which has pressured Assad to step down. Syria first acknowledged its possession of chemical weapons last month and threatened to use them if foreign nations intervened militarily in the conflict. President Barack Obama said Monday the United States might have to intervene in Syria if the Assad regime used or moved chemical weapons. He also warned of the threat of such weapons falling into the hands of rebels fighting the government or militant groups aiding either side. Deputy Foreign Minister Gennady Gatilov, Russia's point man on Syria, said his country was in full agreement with the Americans on the need to prevent Assad's regime from using the weapons or allowing them to slip out from under its control. "We have guarantees from the Syrian government that it will not take any steps involving chemical weapons," Gatilov told The Associated Press. Senior diplomatic, military and intelligence officials from the U.S. and Turkey met in Istanbul on Thursday to go over detailed operational plans for dealing with emergency scenarios that may arise in Syria, including the possible use of chemical weapons. These include positioning stocks of bio-hazard gear in the region as part of the planning for an international response if chemical weapons are used, U.S. officials said. --- AP reporters Sarah DiLorenzo in Paris, Lynn Berry in Moscow, Albert Aji in Damascus and Matthew Lee in Washington contributed to this report. © 2012 The Associated Press. All rights reserved |
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Re: Syria warns West against intervention
Panda Fri 24 Aug - 15:52
Syria: Jets Attacking Targets Near Aleppo
2:23pm UK, Friday 24 August 2012
The jets attacked targets near Marea, north of Aleppo
Fighter jets are attacking targets near Marea, north of Aleppo, according to Sky's special correspondent Alex Crawford.
Reporting from the scene, Crawford said: "We were right under one of the President's fighter jets which was operating in the Marea area 25km north of Aleppo.
"This jet flew down very low, we saw it drop two sets of bombs, there appeared to be no military targets there.
"One bomb landed near a school; it landed right on top of a house that was un-occupied at the time, the other landed near a communications target.
"We also saw the fighter jet strafing the area with machine-gun fire for a period of about half an hour.
"Earlier in the day there were more flights by fighter jets, both times they appeared to be targeting the two hospitals in Aleppo.
"One bomb landed 150m away from the main hospital, the other landed a few streets away, very close to the other operating hospital.
"There have been a lot of injuries as a result, many of them children. One child was only 11 years old who had shrapnel in the left side of his lung which had gone all the way through.
"The main hospital is used by the Free Syrian Army (FSA) as its main field hospital. It can't really be called a proper hospital.
"The top three floors have been bombed and are completely out of operation. Many of the injured are FSA soldiers which is why I think it may be a target.
"All the medics operating there tell me they are working in an atmosphere of fear. Many of them don't want to be filmed because they fear their relatives will be attacked and tortured if they're identified as helping FSA soldiers.
"There were a number of injured soldiers; one was shot in the head but he had a very lucky escape, (the bullet) just skimmed the side of this head.
"But there were many more civilian casualties, including one dead child I saw. The back of his head had been completely blown away when one of the shells landed in his garden."
2:23pm UK, Friday 24 August 2012
The jets attacked targets near Marea, north of Aleppo
Fighter jets are attacking targets near Marea, north of Aleppo, according to Sky's special correspondent Alex Crawford.
Reporting from the scene, Crawford said: "We were right under one of the President's fighter jets which was operating in the Marea area 25km north of Aleppo.
"This jet flew down very low, we saw it drop two sets of bombs, there appeared to be no military targets there.
"One bomb landed near a school; it landed right on top of a house that was un-occupied at the time, the other landed near a communications target.
"We also saw the fighter jet strafing the area with machine-gun fire for a period of about half an hour.
"Earlier in the day there were more flights by fighter jets, both times they appeared to be targeting the two hospitals in Aleppo.
"One bomb landed 150m away from the main hospital, the other landed a few streets away, very close to the other operating hospital.
"There have been a lot of injuries as a result, many of them children. One child was only 11 years old who had shrapnel in the left side of his lung which had gone all the way through.
"The main hospital is used by the Free Syrian Army (FSA) as its main field hospital. It can't really be called a proper hospital.
"The top three floors have been bombed and are completely out of operation. Many of the injured are FSA soldiers which is why I think it may be a target.
"All the medics operating there tell me they are working in an atmosphere of fear. Many of them don't want to be filmed because they fear their relatives will be attacked and tortured if they're identified as helping FSA soldiers.
"There were a number of injured soldiers; one was shot in the head but he had a very lucky escape, (the bullet) just skimmed the side of this head.
"But there were many more civilian casualties, including one dead child I saw. The back of his head had been completely blown away when one of the shells landed in his garden."
Last edited by Panda on Sat 25 Aug - 14:04; edited 1 time in total
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Re: Syria warns West against intervention
Panda Sat 25 Aug - 14:03
The Child Victims Of Syria's Civil War
Sky's special correspondent Alex Crawford witnesses the human cost of the conflict at a hospital in Aleppo.
6:35am UK, Saturday 25 August 2012
Video: Children Bear Brunt Of Aleppo Bombs
At least 20 children in Syria's largest city, Aleppo, are being seriously injured every day by government forces, Sky News has learned.
Although the Free Syrian army claims to control 60% of the city, the area is still coming under heavy bombardment from regime fighter jets.
Sky's special correspondent Alex Crawford has visited a hospital in an opposition controlled part of the city which medical staff say has been shelled six times.
She witnessed a boy being rushed in after shrapnel sliced through his lower chest, missing his lung by inches.
As he arrived at the hospital, he pleaded: "I am dying, I am dying, please can I have some water."
A father of another child also receiving treatment at the hospital said: "Bashar al Assad promised us reforms and all we are getting is killing. He is killing our children by the hundreds."
Doctors and nurses - all volunteers - are working in two rooms on the lower floor after jets bombed the upper levels.
Staff say the hospital has been shelled six times
Dr Abu Samir, who qualified just two years ago and is virtually running the hospital, said: "I feel pain inside in myself... More than 20 children a day come to the hospital."
Crawford said hospital staff were so overwhelmed that "dead children were being laid outside".
Earlier, Crawford witnessed fighter jets attacking targets near Marea, north of Aleppo, which included hospitals and a school on top of a house that was unoccupied at the time.
In Damascus, shells from mountains overlooking the Syrian capital crashed into the suburb of Daraya as part of a regime offensive to regain control of the area. Activists said at least 15 people were killed.
Activists also blamed a government warplane for bombing an apartment building in the eastern city of Mayadin, killing at least 21 people.
Meanwhile, new UN-Arab League envoy Lakhdar Brahimi has said he is "scared" at the size of the task of ending the Syria conflict.
The former Algerian foreign minister spoke as he started meetings with UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, UN ambassadors and other top officials before replacing Kofi Annan on September 1.
"When you called me, I told you that I was honoured, flattered, humbled and scared. I am still in that frame of mind," Mr Brahimi told Mr Ban before their meeting at UN headquarters.
"I will definitely give this my very, very best. I know a few people in Syria and in the region," added Mr Brahimi, who as an Arab League envoy brokered the 1989 accord that ended Lebanon's civil war.
Mr Ban said that the new envoy faced a "crucial task" as the Syrian war worsens. The UN leader made a new plea for the divided UN Security Council to unite behind Mr Brahimi.
Mr Annan, a former UN chief, ended his six-month bid to bring peace to Syria, complaining about the lack of international support for his efforts to make Mr Assad implement an agreed peace plan.
Sky's special correspondent Alex Crawford witnesses the human cost of the conflict at a hospital in Aleppo.
6:35am UK, Saturday 25 August 2012
Video: Children Bear Brunt Of Aleppo Bombs
At least 20 children in Syria's largest city, Aleppo, are being seriously injured every day by government forces, Sky News has learned.
Although the Free Syrian army claims to control 60% of the city, the area is still coming under heavy bombardment from regime fighter jets.
Sky's special correspondent Alex Crawford has visited a hospital in an opposition controlled part of the city which medical staff say has been shelled six times.
She witnessed a boy being rushed in after shrapnel sliced through his lower chest, missing his lung by inches.
As he arrived at the hospital, he pleaded: "I am dying, I am dying, please can I have some water."
A father of another child also receiving treatment at the hospital said: "Bashar al Assad promised us reforms and all we are getting is killing. He is killing our children by the hundreds."
Doctors and nurses - all volunteers - are working in two rooms on the lower floor after jets bombed the upper levels.
Staff say the hospital has been shelled six times Dr Abu Samir, who qualified just two years ago and is virtually running the hospital, said: "I feel pain inside in myself... More than 20 children a day come to the hospital."
Crawford said hospital staff were so overwhelmed that "dead children were being laid outside".
Earlier, Crawford witnessed fighter jets attacking targets near Marea, north of Aleppo, which included hospitals and a school on top of a house that was unoccupied at the time.
In Damascus, shells from mountains overlooking the Syrian capital crashed into the suburb of Daraya as part of a regime offensive to regain control of the area. Activists said at least 15 people were killed.
Activists also blamed a government warplane for bombing an apartment building in the eastern city of Mayadin, killing at least 21 people.
Meanwhile, new UN-Arab League envoy Lakhdar Brahimi has said he is "scared" at the size of the task of ending the Syria conflict.
The former Algerian foreign minister spoke as he started meetings with UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, UN ambassadors and other top officials before replacing Kofi Annan on September 1.
"When you called me, I told you that I was honoured, flattered, humbled and scared. I am still in that frame of mind," Mr Brahimi told Mr Ban before their meeting at UN headquarters.
"I will definitely give this my very, very best. I know a few people in Syria and in the region," added Mr Brahimi, who as an Arab League envoy brokered the 1989 accord that ended Lebanon's civil war.
Mr Ban said that the new envoy faced a "crucial task" as the Syrian war worsens. The UN leader made a new plea for the divided UN Security Council to unite behind Mr Brahimi.
Mr Annan, a former UN chief, ended his six-month bid to bring peace to Syria, complaining about the lack of international support for his efforts to make Mr Assad implement an agreed peace plan.
Last edited by Panda on Mon 27 Aug - 16:42; edited 1 time in total
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Re: Syria warns West against intervention
Panda Sun 26 Aug - 6:42
1. Life with Syria's rebels in a cold and cunning war
CJ Chivers | New York Times | 20 August 2012
Reporter embeds with the "Lions of Tawhid", a rebel group fighting near the northern Syrian city of Aleppo. The commander was an accountant in civilian life, married with two children, before he took up arms. His colleagues include an estate agent, several farmers and construction workers, and a nurse who owned a fast-food restaurant. They've since been joined by army defectors. Together they roam the Aleppo region "plotting attacks with other commanders, evading air strikes, meeting with smugglers and bomb makers to gather more weapons, and rotating through front-line duties in a gritty street-by-street urban campaign". As Chivers says, it's a cross-section of a nation at war with itself
CJ Chivers | New York Times | 20 August 2012
Reporter embeds with the "Lions of Tawhid", a rebel group fighting near the northern Syrian city of Aleppo. The commander was an accountant in civilian life, married with two children, before he took up arms. His colleagues include an estate agent, several farmers and construction workers, and a nurse who owned a fast-food restaurant. They've since been joined by army defectors. Together they roam the Aleppo region "plotting attacks with other commanders, evading air strikes, meeting with smugglers and bomb makers to gather more weapons, and rotating through front-line duties in a gritty street-by-street urban campaign". As Chivers says, it's a cross-section of a nation at war with itself
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Re: Syria warns West against intervention
Panda Sun 26 Aug - 6:46
26 August 2012 Last updated at 04:24
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Syria conflict: 'Scores of bodies found' near Damascus
Syria's government troops launched an assault on Daraya on Saturday
Continue reading the main story
Syrian opposition activists say scores of bodies have been found in a town near the capital Damascus, accusing government troops of "massacre".
The activists say many of the victims in the town of Daraya had been "summarily executed".
One unconfirmed report said more than 200 bodies were discovered in houses and basement shelters.
Without commenting on the activists' claim, Syrian state TV said Daraya was being "purified of terrorist remnants".
'House-to-house' raids
The forces of President Bashar al-Assad launched an assault on the town on Saturday, after days of heavy bombardment.
Activists on the ground later posted video footage on the internet, which apparently showed numerous bodies in the Abu Auleiman al-Darani mosque.
The activists say that many of the victims had gunshot wounds to the head and chest and were killed during house-to-house raids by government troops.
"Assad's army has committed a massacre in Daraya," an opposition member in Deraa told Reuters.
The activist added that most of the victims had been killed from close range, and some died from sniper fire.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a UK-based opposition activist group, had earlier put the number of dead in Deraa at more than 120 for this week alone.
The claims by the activists have not been independently verified because of restrictions placed on on foreign media across Syria.
Failed ceasefire
In a separate development, the head of the UN mission to Syria left the country after the mission had been wound up.
Senegalese Lt Gen Babacar Gaye joined a UN convoy to Lebanon on Saturday.
Last week, the UN decided against extending the mission, which was originally part of a six-point peace plan for Syria.
However, the ceasefire mandated by the plan never took hold and rising violence forced the UN monitors to be confined to their hotels since June.
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Syria conflict: 'Scores of bodies found' near Damascus
Syria's government troops launched an assault on Daraya on Saturday Continue reading the main story
Syrian opposition activists say scores of bodies have been found in a town near the capital Damascus, accusing government troops of "massacre".
The activists say many of the victims in the town of Daraya had been "summarily executed".
One unconfirmed report said more than 200 bodies were discovered in houses and basement shelters.
Without commenting on the activists' claim, Syrian state TV said Daraya was being "purified of terrorist remnants".
'House-to-house' raids
The forces of President Bashar al-Assad launched an assault on the town on Saturday, after days of heavy bombardment.
Activists on the ground later posted video footage on the internet, which apparently showed numerous bodies in the Abu Auleiman al-Darani mosque.
The activists say that many of the victims had gunshot wounds to the head and chest and were killed during house-to-house raids by government troops.
"Assad's army has committed a massacre in Daraya," an opposition member in Deraa told Reuters.
The activist added that most of the victims had been killed from close range, and some died from sniper fire.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a UK-based opposition activist group, had earlier put the number of dead in Deraa at more than 120 for this week alone.
The claims by the activists have not been independently verified because of restrictions placed on on foreign media across Syria.
Failed ceasefire
In a separate development, the head of the UN mission to Syria left the country after the mission had been wound up.
Senegalese Lt Gen Babacar Gaye joined a UN convoy to Lebanon on Saturday.
Last week, the UN decided against extending the mission, which was originally part of a six-point peace plan for Syria.
However, the ceasefire mandated by the plan never took hold and rising violence forced the UN monitors to be confined to their hotels since June.
Last edited by Panda on Tue 28 Aug - 17:33; edited 1 time in total
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Re: Syria warns West against intervention
Panda Sun 26 Aug - 16:52
Assad's Forces 'Kill Over 200 In Syrian Town'
The Syrian army is accused by activists of killing hundreds of people in Daraya, including many during house-to-house raids.
4:44pm UK, Sunday 26 August 2012
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Syria's vice president ends defection rumours
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The bodies of more than 200 people, including women and children, have been found in a town close to Damascus after being killed by Syrian troops, according to opposition activists.
They said most of the victims were discovered in houses and basements of buildings in Daraya and had been shot by President Bashar al Assad's forces conducting house-to-house raids.
Pictures of Syrian army tanks said to be taken in the town also emerged.
Pro-government television has blamed terrorists for the attacks.
The official state news agency said: "Our heroic armed forces cleansed Daraya from remnants of armed terrorist groups who committed crimes against the sons of the town."
Syrian rebel fighters pictured during target practice in Daraya this month
Opposition activist Abu Kinan said: "Assad's army has committed a massacre in Daraya."
Foreign Office minister Alistair Burt said if confirmed, the massacre "would be an atrocity on a new scale requiring unequivocal condemnation from the entire international community".
He added that it "highlights the urgent need for international action to bring an end to the violence, end this culture of impunity and hold to account those responsible for these terrible acts".
The Daraya Coordination Committee activists' group said in a statement that among those found with shots to the head were eight members of the al Qassaa family: three children, their father and mother and three other relatives.
Their bodies were found in a residential building near Mussab bin Umeir mosque in Daraya, the group said.
Heavy fighting continues across Syria
Due to restrictions on non-state media, it is impossible to independently verify the accounts.
Video released by activists showed numerous bodies of young men side-by-side at the Abu Suleiman al Darani mosque in Daraya, many with what looked like gunshot wounds to the head and chest.
"A massacre," said the voice of the man who appeared to be taking the footage.
"You are seeing the revenge of Assad's forces from the people of Daraya: more than 150 bodies on the floor of this mosque."
Mohammad Hur, another activist in the town, said 36 bodies of young men were found in the morning in one building, along with several badly wounded people who could not be transferred to hospitals in the area because the army had occupied them.
"We are in the process of identifying the bodies and documenting how they died. Initial evidence shows that they were mostly shot at close range in the face, neck and head, execution style," he said.
The army overran Daraya, one of a series of large, mostly run-down Sunni Muslim towns that surround Damascus, on Saturday after three days of heavy bombardment that killed around 70 people.
The attack was part of an army campaign to regain control of the outskirts of the capital, a mixture of built up areas and farmland where rebels had regrouped and relaunched guerrilla attacks on Mr Assad's forces.
Meanwhile, Sky's Foreign Affairs Editor has confirmed that Syrian Vice President Farouk al Sharaa has not defected from the Assad government.
Tim Marshall spoke to Mr Sharaa in the Syrian capital and wrote on Twitter: "I am with the Syria Vice President. In Damascus. He has not defected."
Officials had been forced to issue repeated denials amid rumours that Mr Sharaa - the most senior Sunni Muslim in the Damascus regime - had joined the opposition.
The Syrian army is accused by activists of killing hundreds of people in Daraya, including many during house-to-house raids.
4:44pm UK, Sunday 26 August 2012
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Syria's vice president ends defection rumours
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The bodies of more than 200 people, including women and children, have been found in a town close to Damascus after being killed by Syrian troops, according to opposition activists.
They said most of the victims were discovered in houses and basements of buildings in Daraya and had been shot by President Bashar al Assad's forces conducting house-to-house raids.
Pictures of Syrian army tanks said to be taken in the town also emerged.
Pro-government television has blamed terrorists for the attacks.
The official state news agency said: "Our heroic armed forces cleansed Daraya from remnants of armed terrorist groups who committed crimes against the sons of the town."
Syrian rebel fighters pictured during target practice in Daraya this month Opposition activist Abu Kinan said: "Assad's army has committed a massacre in Daraya."
Foreign Office minister Alistair Burt said if confirmed, the massacre "would be an atrocity on a new scale requiring unequivocal condemnation from the entire international community".
He added that it "highlights the urgent need for international action to bring an end to the violence, end this culture of impunity and hold to account those responsible for these terrible acts".
The Daraya Coordination Committee activists' group said in a statement that among those found with shots to the head were eight members of the al Qassaa family: three children, their father and mother and three other relatives.
Their bodies were found in a residential building near Mussab bin Umeir mosque in Daraya, the group said.
Heavy fighting continues across Syria Due to restrictions on non-state media, it is impossible to independently verify the accounts.
Video released by activists showed numerous bodies of young men side-by-side at the Abu Suleiman al Darani mosque in Daraya, many with what looked like gunshot wounds to the head and chest.
"A massacre," said the voice of the man who appeared to be taking the footage.
"You are seeing the revenge of Assad's forces from the people of Daraya: more than 150 bodies on the floor of this mosque."
Mohammad Hur, another activist in the town, said 36 bodies of young men were found in the morning in one building, along with several badly wounded people who could not be transferred to hospitals in the area because the army had occupied them.
"We are in the process of identifying the bodies and documenting how they died. Initial evidence shows that they were mostly shot at close range in the face, neck and head, execution style," he said.
The army overran Daraya, one of a series of large, mostly run-down Sunni Muslim towns that surround Damascus, on Saturday after three days of heavy bombardment that killed around 70 people.
The attack was part of an army campaign to regain control of the outskirts of the capital, a mixture of built up areas and farmland where rebels had regrouped and relaunched guerrilla attacks on Mr Assad's forces.
Meanwhile, Sky's Foreign Affairs Editor has confirmed that Syrian Vice President Farouk al Sharaa has not defected from the Assad government.
Tim Marshall spoke to Mr Sharaa in the Syrian capital and wrote on Twitter: "I am with the Syria Vice President. In Damascus. He has not defected."
Officials had been forced to issue repeated denials amid rumours that Mr Sharaa - the most senior Sunni Muslim in the Damascus regime - had joined the opposition.
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Re: Syria warns West against intervention
Panda Mon 27 Aug - 16:38
Aug 27, 8:01 AM EDT Syrian helicopter downed in Damascus clashes By HAMZA HENDAWI Associated Press | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
BEIRUT (AP) -- A Syrian military helicopter caught fire and crashed Monday after it was apparently hit during fighting between government forces and rebels in the capital Damascus, an activist group said. State-run media confirmed the crash in Damascus but gave no details. A video posted on the Internet showed the chopper engulfed in flames shortly before it hit the ground. The authenticity of the video could not be independently verified. The official Syrian News Agency, SANA, also reported that authorities on Monday released a total of 378 people detained for their participation in street protests. It said those freed were never involved in acts of violence. The prisoners were released at the police headquarters in Damascus and the central city of Homs. Authorities have issued similar pardons in the past, a practice apparently designed to isolate the rebels and create the image of a compassionate regime. The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, which reported the chopper crash, said there was intense fighting between troops backed by helicopter gunships and rebels in the western Damascus neighborhood of Jobar. State media said the chopper crashed in al-Qaboun district, which is close to Jobar. With its forces stretched thin by fighting on multiple fronts, President Bashar Assad's regime has been increasingly using air power against the rebels - both helicopters and fighter jets. The military has for more than a month been fighting major battles against rebels in Damascus and its suburbs while engaged in what appears to be a stalemated fight in the north against rebels for control of Aleppo, the nation's largest city and commercial capital. The rebels are not known to have any answer to the regime's warplanes except anti-aircraft guns that they mostly use as an anti-personnel weapon. Last month, rebels claimed to have shot down a Russian-made MiG fighter, but the government blamed the crash on a technical malfunction. The Syrian conflict began 17 months ago with mostly peaceful protests demanding that Assad step down, but it has since morphed into a civil war. Rights activists say at least 20,000 people have so far been killed. Monday's fighting in Damascus followed mounting evidence of a spate of killings by government forces in the Damascus suburb of Daraya. Activists over the weekend reported government forces going on a killing spree after they seized Daraya from rebels Thursday. Reports of the death toll ranged from more than 300 to as many as 600. It was impossible to independently verify the death tolls because of severe restrictions on media coverage of the conflict. Video footage posted on the Internet by activists showed rows of bodies, many of them men with gunshot wounds to their heads. During mass burials on Sunday, bodies were sprayed with water from hoses - a substitute for the ritual washing prescribed by Islam in the face of so many dead. The gruesome images appeared to expose the lengths to which Assad's authoritarian regime was willing to go to put down the rebellion that broke out in March last year. In an ominous commentary, Assad was quoted by Syrian state media Sunday as saying during a meeting with a senior Iranian official that his regime would carry on fighting "whatever the price." © 2012 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Learn more about our Privacy Policy and Terms of Use. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Re: Syria warns West against intervention
Panda Tue 28 Aug - 17:26
Aug 28, 12:03 PM EDT Syrian opposition leader criticizes US By ZEINA KARAM Associated Press | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
BEIRUT (AP) -- The head of the main Syrian opposition group seeking to oust President Bashar Assad criticized U.S. officials Tuesday for saying it was premature to speak about a transitional Syrian government. The comments came on the same day a car bomb ripped through a Damascus suburb, killing 12 people, according to Syria's official state news agency. Activists also said an airstrike in the town of Kfar Nabl in Idlib killed at least 13 people as fighting raged nationwide. International diplomatic efforts have so far failed to stem the bloodshed. The leader of the Syrian National Council called on the United States and other allies to take decisive action instead of placing blame on the divided opposition. Abdelbaset Sieda was responding to the U.S. reaction to French President Francois Hollande's assertion that the Syrian opposition should form a provisional government and promise that France would recognize it. Hollande's statement, believed to be the first of its kind, was quickly shot down by U.S. officials who said it was premature to speak about a provisional government when Syria's fractured opposition hasn't even agreed yet on a transition plan. The U.S. officials, speaking on condition of anonymity because they weren't authorized to speak publicly on the matter, cited persistent disagreements among factions including the Syrian National Council, rival groups, opposition figures campaigning outside the country and rebels fighting the regime on the front line. Sieda told The Associated Press that the Syrian National Council is making "serious" preparations and consulting with other groups and rebels to form a government that could fill the leadership vacuum if Assad falls. "Yes there are differences within the Syrian opposition and this is normal in any country, but as long as we are agreed on a common vision, these differences can be overcome," Sieda said in a telephone interview. Sieda admitted no names have been discussed and an announcement was not imminent but insisted various factions would eventually pull together. He said the U.S. comments show the international community is "not ready" to be decisive when it comes to Syria and is trying to put all blame on the opposition. "The international community must make a move before it's too late," he added. Syria's opposition has been plagued by divisions and infighting since the start of the uprising last year, and forming a transitional government is fraught with difficulties. In addition to the SNC, several other groups are known to be making similar plans, including a new alliance headed by veteran opposition figure Haitham Maleh. Human rights groups say more than 20,000 people have been killed in Syria since the revolt against Assad began in March 2011. Fighting persisted Tuesday in Aleppo - the nation's largest city and commercial capital - as well as the southern province of Daraa and eastern and northern provinces of Deir el-Zour and Idlib. In Damascus, military helicopters dropped thousands of leaflets over the city and its suburbs, urging rebels to hand over their weapons or face "inevitable death." The psychological warfare is part of a widening and deadly offensive to recapture areas near the capital that have fallen into rebel hands. In Jaramana, the car bomb badly damaged a five-story apartment building, knocking out windows and shaving off balconies, according to an AP reporter who visited the scene. At least 10 cars also were charred. The windows from two nearby buildings were shattered from the impact of the blast, and vegetables and fruits from a nearby vendor were strewn across the street. SANA earlier reported that the blast targeted a funeral procession for two people who were killed a day earlier in the area. It was the third bombing in Jaramana in the past 24 hours, according to SANA. No further details were immediately available. The British-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said a bomb exploded during the funeral of two pro-regime civilians killed in overnight bombings in Jaramana. Jaramana, southeast of Damascus, has a majority of Christians and Druze and is close to the capital's international airport. Pro-regime youth groups have recently set up checkpoints in the area to try to stop rebels from the neighboring Ghota neighborhood from crossing over. Those killed Tuesday included a 6-year-old girl, Farah, who was playing in the street with her brother when the blast hit. Her brother was wounded. "Where is my Farah?" her 24-year-old mother Hoda Mohammed, asked repeatedly as she wept on the street. For more than a month, the military has been fighting major battles against rebels in the outskirts of Damascus and its suburbs while engaged in what appears to be a stalemated fight in the north against rebels for control of Aleppo, the nation's largest city and commercial capital. The government recently has stepped up its offensive to recapture rebellious districts on the capital's periphery, and hundreds of people have been killed in several days of shelling and clashes in the affected areas. Over the weekend evidence mounted of mass killings by regime forces in the Damascus suburb of Daraya after it was stormed by troops. Some of the leaflets dropped Tuesday, which were signed by the armed forces and the army's general command, read: "The Syrian army is determined to cleanse every inch in Syria and you have only two choices: Abandon your weapons ... or face inevitable death." "No one will help you. They have implicated you in taking up arms against your compatriots," they said. "They drown in their pleasures while you face death. Why? And for whom?" Syrian authorities blame the more than 17-month uprising on a foreign conspiracy and accuse oil-rich Gulf countries Saudi Arabia and Qatar, in addition to the U.S. and Turkey, of backing "terrorists" seeking to oust the regime. Assad told an Iranian delegation this week that he was determined to crush the conspiracy against Syria "whatever the price." --- Associated Press 28/8/12 |
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Re: Syria warns West against intervention
Panda Wed 29 Aug - 8:29
29 August 2012 Last updated at 07:19
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Deadly car bomb hits funeral in Damascus suburb
Barbara Plett says the government has called the attack a "terrorist car bomb"
Continue reading the main story
Syria conflict
Twelve people have been killed by a car bomb at a funeral in the Jaramana suburb of the Syrian capital Damascus, state TV has reported.
Injuries were also reported, with state media saying 48 people were wounded.
The funeral was for two supporters of the regime of President Bashar al-Assad, according to a UK-based opposition group.
Activists estimate over 20,000 people have died since March 2011, with over a million thought to be displaced.
The two who were being buried had reportedly been killed in a bomb attack on Monday.
A taxi had been used to carry the bomb, according to state-run news agency Sana.
The suburb of Jaramana where the blast occurred is predominantly populated by Christians and Druze, who follow an offshoot of Shia Islam.
Pictures of the aftermath of the bombing showed several destroyed vehicles and damage to surrounding buildings.
Barbara Plett BBC News, Beirut
In the latest battle for Damascus, the regime has unleashed overwhelming force to try to inflict a definitive defeat on the armed opposition in the capital.
Its indiscriminate bombardments and sweeping ground assaults also appear aimed at sending a message of deterrence to the sympathetic communities who host the rebels. The risk is that this will only breed greater hatred for the state amongst these working-class Sunni districts, rather than turn them against the fighters.
The rebels have adopted guerrilla tactics that are almost impossible for a conventional army to counter, and they're still mounting attacks more than a week after the military offensive was launched. In such an uneven battle the rebels win by not losing, and the regime loses by not winning.
Violence continued across Syria on Tuesday, with reports of shelling around Damascus and fighting in the northern province of Idlib.
Several districts to the east of Damascus came under heavy attack, activists said, as government forces step up efforts to clear the area of anti-government forces.
Opposition fighters regrouped there after the regime claimed to have expelled them from the capital a month ago, the BBC's Barbara Plett reports from neighbouring Lebanon.
Anti-regime forces have been using guerrilla-style hit-and-run tactics in the capital since then, our correspondent adds.
Over the weekend, more than 200 people were reported killed in the town of Darayya near Damascus, the latest in a series of mass killings which have shocked Syrians.
Clashes were also reported on Tuesday in Idlib province, with activists saying 13 people had been killed by an air strike in the town of Kafr Nabl.
Refugee influx
Meanwhile, the number of refugees fleeing into Turkey from Syria could reach 200,000, the UN's refugee agency has warned.
In the past two weeks, 5,000 people have been crossing the border every day, compared with 500 a day earlier in the month, according to the UNHCR.
The flow of refugees into Turkey has increased significantly in recent weeks, the UNHCR says
The Turkish authorities are planning to set up extra camps for the refugees but have warned they may soon run out of space.
Turkey already plays host to almost 80,000 Syrian refugees and has called on the international community to help share the burden.
Turkish officials have suggested the UN may need to create safe zones in Syria to cope with the influx.
The rate of arrivals at the Zaatari camp in northern Jordan has also doubled over the past week, according to the UNHCR.
The agency says it has also noted an increase in the number of unaccompanied children arriving in Jordan.
"Some children report that their parents have died, or are staying behind in Syria to look after relatives, or are working in other countries," UNHCR spokeswoman Melissa Fleming said.
In a separate development, a prominent figure in the main opposition coalition, the Syrian National Council (SNC), has resigned.
Basma Kodmani, one of few women in the council, said she would continue working to support the uprising.
"The council did not win the needed credibility and did not preserve the confidence that was given to it by the people when it was formed, it has diverted from the path that we wanted for it when we formed it," she said.
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380
Deadly car bomb hits funeral in Damascus suburb
Barbara Plett says the government has called the attack a "terrorist car bomb"
Continue reading the main story
Syria conflict
Twelve people have been killed by a car bomb at a funeral in the Jaramana suburb of the Syrian capital Damascus, state TV has reported.
Injuries were also reported, with state media saying 48 people were wounded.
The funeral was for two supporters of the regime of President Bashar al-Assad, according to a UK-based opposition group.
Activists estimate over 20,000 people have died since March 2011, with over a million thought to be displaced.
The two who were being buried had reportedly been killed in a bomb attack on Monday.
A taxi had been used to carry the bomb, according to state-run news agency Sana.
The suburb of Jaramana where the blast occurred is predominantly populated by Christians and Druze, who follow an offshoot of Shia Islam.
Pictures of the aftermath of the bombing showed several destroyed vehicles and damage to surrounding buildings.
Barbara Plett BBC News, Beirut In the latest battle for Damascus, the regime has unleashed overwhelming force to try to inflict a definitive defeat on the armed opposition in the capital.
Its indiscriminate bombardments and sweeping ground assaults also appear aimed at sending a message of deterrence to the sympathetic communities who host the rebels. The risk is that this will only breed greater hatred for the state amongst these working-class Sunni districts, rather than turn them against the fighters.
The rebels have adopted guerrilla tactics that are almost impossible for a conventional army to counter, and they're still mounting attacks more than a week after the military offensive was launched. In such an uneven battle the rebels win by not losing, and the regime loses by not winning.
Violence continued across Syria on Tuesday, with reports of shelling around Damascus and fighting in the northern province of Idlib.
Several districts to the east of Damascus came under heavy attack, activists said, as government forces step up efforts to clear the area of anti-government forces.
Opposition fighters regrouped there after the regime claimed to have expelled them from the capital a month ago, the BBC's Barbara Plett reports from neighbouring Lebanon.
Anti-regime forces have been using guerrilla-style hit-and-run tactics in the capital since then, our correspondent adds.
Over the weekend, more than 200 people were reported killed in the town of Darayya near Damascus, the latest in a series of mass killings which have shocked Syrians.
Clashes were also reported on Tuesday in Idlib province, with activists saying 13 people had been killed by an air strike in the town of Kafr Nabl.
Refugee influx
Meanwhile, the number of refugees fleeing into Turkey from Syria could reach 200,000, the UN's refugee agency has warned.
In the past two weeks, 5,000 people have been crossing the border every day, compared with 500 a day earlier in the month, according to the UNHCR.
The flow of refugees into Turkey has increased significantly in recent weeks, the UNHCR says The Turkish authorities are planning to set up extra camps for the refugees but have warned they may soon run out of space.
Turkey already plays host to almost 80,000 Syrian refugees and has called on the international community to help share the burden.
Turkish officials have suggested the UN may need to create safe zones in Syria to cope with the influx.
The rate of arrivals at the Zaatari camp in northern Jordan has also doubled over the past week, according to the UNHCR.
The agency says it has also noted an increase in the number of unaccompanied children arriving in Jordan.
"Some children report that their parents have died, or are staying behind in Syria to look after relatives, or are working in other countries," UNHCR spokeswoman Melissa Fleming said.
In a separate development, a prominent figure in the main opposition coalition, the Syrian National Council (SNC), has resigned.
Basma Kodmani, one of few women in the council, said she would continue working to support the uprising.
"The council did not win the needed credibility and did not preserve the confidence that was given to it by the people when it was formed, it has diverted from the path that we wanted for it when we formed it," she said.
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Re: Syria warns West against intervention
Panda Wed 29 Aug - 16:24
Aug 29, 7:18 AM EDT Assad says Syria regime needs time to win battle By HAMZA HENDAWI Associated Press | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
BEIRUT (AP) -- Syrian President Bashar Assad said Wednesday that his government forces need time to win the country's civil war, which he says has drawn in regional and international powers. The remarks were a sign Assad's regime may be hunkering down for a drawn out struggle against rebels on a multitude of fronts, including Damascus, the capital and Assad's seat of power, Aleppo, the nation's largest city, and a string of cities and towns across the Arab nation. They also appeared to reinforce Assad's remarks to a visiting Iranian official over the weekend that his regime would continue the fight against the rebels "whatever the price." "We are fighting a regional and global war, so time is needed to win it," he told privately owned Dunya television, which is majority owned by Rami Makhlouf, a cousin of Assad and one of Syria's wealthiest men. Assad responded with a hearty laugh when told by the interviewer that rumors about his whereabouts often made the rounds among Syrians. "I am here with you in the studio in Damascus," he said. The comments were given in an advance excerpt of a television interview to be aired in full later Wednesday. "I can sum up all this explanation in one sentence: We are moving forward. The situation is practically better but it has not been decided yet. That takes time." Confident and relaxed, Assad paid tribute to the Syrian people, saying they stood steadfastly behind him and his armed forces, and criticized the leaders of onetime ally Turkey, saying some of them were "ignorant." Syrian officials routinely cite neighboring Turkey, along with Saudi Arabia and Qatar, as among the rebels' main supporters, providing them with money and weapons. "The fate of Syria, I tell the Syrian people, is in your hands," Assad said. "This broad base of the Syrian people protects the country." Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said Wednesday he would press the U.N. Security Council to set up a safe haven inside Syria to protect thousands of people fleeing the violence. Turkey has long been floating the idea of a no-fly zone, or buffer zone, to protect displaced Syrians from attacks by Assad's forces, but the issue has become more pressing now the number of refugees in Turkey has exceeded 80,000 - an amount it says approaches its limits. "We expect the U.N. to step in and protect the refugees inside Syria, and if possible, to shelter them in camps there," Davutoglu told reporters before leaving for New York to attend Thursday's high-level U.N. Security Council meeting on Syria. The rebels are fighting to overthrow Assad, who came to office in 2000 after succeeding his father, the late Hafez Assad who ruled Syria with an iron fist for some 30 years. The Syrian conflict has its roots in a wave of mostly peaceful protests that began last year but later morphed into a civil war. At least 20,000 Syrians have been killed in the conflict, according to anti-regime rights activists. Assad's description of the civil war as a regional and global battle stays true to form for a regime that refers to the rebels as members of terrorist bands and speaks often of a Western conspiracy to break Syria, which he sees as the last bastion of Arab resistance against Israel. Rights groups monitoring the violence report the death of 100 to 250 or more Syrians on daily basis, but these figures are impossible to independently verify. The fighting however is intense enough to force hundreds of thousands of Syrians to flee their homes, seeking refuge elsewhere in the country or in neighboring nations. © 2012 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Learn more about our Privacy Policy and Terms of Use. |
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Re: Syria warns West against intervention
Panda Wed 29 Aug - 19:59
Syria's Assad says military 'needs time to win battle'
President Assad: "The situation on the ground is better but we have not yet won"
Continue reading the main story
Syria conflict
Syrian President Bashar al-Assad has said the government needs more time to "win the battle" against rebel forces.
In an interview with pro-government al-Dunya TV, Mr Assad also dismissed as "unrealistic" the idea of creating humanitarian buffer zones within Syria.
Opposition activists say the army has launched offensives across the country to regain control of rebel-held areas.
Heavy shelling has been reported in the capital, Damascus, Aleppo, and the north-western province of Idlib.
Officials told state media on Wednesday that soldiers had repelled a "terrorist attack" on the military air base in the northern town of Taftanaz, inflicting heavy losses.
The reports came after rebel fighters claimed they had destroyed several military helicopters using two captured tanks.
The claims could not be independently verified, but a video posted online by local activists purported to show the destroyed helicopters. Smoke could be seen rising from the airfield.
Continue reading the main story
Analysis
Barbara Plett BBC News, Beirut
President Assad's intervention comes as the war escalates in Syria. He wants to both reassure his constituency that, "despite several mistakes", the government's military strategy is working, and to prepare it for a long struggle.
He says the task is difficult because the army is facing a "global and regional" battle, reflecting the government's view that it is the victim of a foreign conspiracy aimed at weakening Syria's resistance to Israel and the West.
And his tone echoes earlier comments of winning the war "at any price", again a sign that the government is digging in its heels for a military victory. His aim is also to dispel any idea of weakness: he emphasises that he's in the presidential palace, and not in hiding following a bomb blast that killed members of his inner circle last month. He shrugs off recent high-level defections as the "self-cleansing" of weak regime elements.
And his comment that a Western-imposed buffer zone in Syria is "unrealistic" is probably true, given international reluctance to intervene militarily.
Opposition activists also said that at least 11 people had been killed in fighting in the eastern suburbs of Damascus.
State media said "terrorist mercenaries" had killed four civilians in the Zamalka district.
Security forces 'heroic'
In excerpts of his interview with al-Dunya, which will be broadcast in full on Wednesday evening, Mr Assad said the Syrian government was "fighting a battle both regionally and internationally".
"It definitely needs time to bring it to a decisive end. But I can sum it up in one sentence: we're heading forward," he told al-Dunya. "The situation on the ground is better now, but the conclusion is not there yet. That needs some time."
The security forces were "doing a heroic job in every sense", he added.
"Everyone is worried about their country - that is normal. But [the rebels] will not be able to spread fear, they never will," he said. "I say to Syrians: destiny is in your hands, and not in the hands of others."
The president mocked senior government and military officials who have defected in recent months, saying their departure amounted to a "self-cleansing of the government firstly, and the country generally".
Responding to rumours about his whereabouts since a July bombing in Damascus killed four senior officials, he revealed that he was being interviewed from the presidential palace in the capital.
'Safe zone'
Mr Assad also addressed the proposal by Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu to set up a United Nations-sanctioned "safe zone" inside Syria to shelter refugees and help distribute humanitarian aid.
"Talk of buffer zones firstly is not on the table and secondly it is an unrealistic idea by hostile countries and the enemies of Syria," he said.
Turkey says extra refugee camps will be ready next week but says it is rapidly running out of space
"Do we go back because of the ignorance of some Turkish officials or do we focus on our relationship with the Turkish people, especially those people who have stood by us during the crisis and were not swayed by the media and material propaganda?"
French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius admitted on Wednesday that creating a buffer zone would be impossible without imposing a no-fly zone deploying ground forces.
"We are thinking about this. It is very complicated. We cannot do it without the agreement of the Turks and other countries," he told France Inter radio.
"But what we want is for things to move forward, to make Bashar fall as quickly as possible and at the same time find humanitarian solutions."
The UN refugee agency warned on Tuesday that as many as 200,000 refugees could flee to Turkey to escape fighting in Syria - almost double the number Turkey has said it can take.
The UNHCR said 5,000 refugees were now arriving at the Turkish border every day, compared to about 500 earlier this month. There are already more than 74,000 in Turkey, and 128,000 in other countries.
There are also thought to be more than 1.2 million internally displaced people in Syria, and 2.5 million in need of humanitarian assistance.
President Assad: "The situation on the ground is better but we have not yet won"
Continue reading the main story
Syria conflict
Syrian President Bashar al-Assad has said the government needs more time to "win the battle" against rebel forces.
In an interview with pro-government al-Dunya TV, Mr Assad also dismissed as "unrealistic" the idea of creating humanitarian buffer zones within Syria.
Opposition activists say the army has launched offensives across the country to regain control of rebel-held areas.
Heavy shelling has been reported in the capital, Damascus, Aleppo, and the north-western province of Idlib.
Officials told state media on Wednesday that soldiers had repelled a "terrorist attack" on the military air base in the northern town of Taftanaz, inflicting heavy losses.
The reports came after rebel fighters claimed they had destroyed several military helicopters using two captured tanks.
The claims could not be independently verified, but a video posted online by local activists purported to show the destroyed helicopters. Smoke could be seen rising from the airfield.
Continue reading the main story
Analysis
Barbara Plett BBC News, Beirut President Assad's intervention comes as the war escalates in Syria. He wants to both reassure his constituency that, "despite several mistakes", the government's military strategy is working, and to prepare it for a long struggle.
He says the task is difficult because the army is facing a "global and regional" battle, reflecting the government's view that it is the victim of a foreign conspiracy aimed at weakening Syria's resistance to Israel and the West.
And his tone echoes earlier comments of winning the war "at any price", again a sign that the government is digging in its heels for a military victory. His aim is also to dispel any idea of weakness: he emphasises that he's in the presidential palace, and not in hiding following a bomb blast that killed members of his inner circle last month. He shrugs off recent high-level defections as the "self-cleansing" of weak regime elements.
And his comment that a Western-imposed buffer zone in Syria is "unrealistic" is probably true, given international reluctance to intervene militarily.
Opposition activists also said that at least 11 people had been killed in fighting in the eastern suburbs of Damascus.
State media said "terrorist mercenaries" had killed four civilians in the Zamalka district.
Security forces 'heroic'
In excerpts of his interview with al-Dunya, which will be broadcast in full on Wednesday evening, Mr Assad said the Syrian government was "fighting a battle both regionally and internationally".
"It definitely needs time to bring it to a decisive end. But I can sum it up in one sentence: we're heading forward," he told al-Dunya. "The situation on the ground is better now, but the conclusion is not there yet. That needs some time."
The security forces were "doing a heroic job in every sense", he added.
"Everyone is worried about their country - that is normal. But [the rebels] will not be able to spread fear, they never will," he said. "I say to Syrians: destiny is in your hands, and not in the hands of others."
The president mocked senior government and military officials who have defected in recent months, saying their departure amounted to a "self-cleansing of the government firstly, and the country generally".
Responding to rumours about his whereabouts since a July bombing in Damascus killed four senior officials, he revealed that he was being interviewed from the presidential palace in the capital.
'Safe zone'
Mr Assad also addressed the proposal by Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu to set up a United Nations-sanctioned "safe zone" inside Syria to shelter refugees and help distribute humanitarian aid.
"Talk of buffer zones firstly is not on the table and secondly it is an unrealistic idea by hostile countries and the enemies of Syria," he said.
Turkey says extra refugee camps will be ready next week but says it is rapidly running out of space "Do we go back because of the ignorance of some Turkish officials or do we focus on our relationship with the Turkish people, especially those people who have stood by us during the crisis and were not swayed by the media and material propaganda?"
French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius admitted on Wednesday that creating a buffer zone would be impossible without imposing a no-fly zone deploying ground forces.
"We are thinking about this. It is very complicated. We cannot do it without the agreement of the Turks and other countries," he told France Inter radio.
"But what we want is for things to move forward, to make Bashar fall as quickly as possible and at the same time find humanitarian solutions."
The UN refugee agency warned on Tuesday that as many as 200,000 refugees could flee to Turkey to escape fighting in Syria - almost double the number Turkey has said it can take.
The UNHCR said 5,000 refugees were now arriving at the Turkish border every day, compared to about 500 earlier this month. There are already more than 74,000 in Turkey, and 128,000 in other countries.
There are also thought to be more than 1.2 million internally displaced people in Syria, and 2.5 million in need of humanitarian assistance.
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Re: Syria warns West against intervention
Panda Thu 30 Aug - 9:06
Assad: West's Buffer Zone Is 'Not Practical'
As Turkey struggles to control the mounting refugee crisis on its border, the Syrian leader rejects calls for a buffer zone.
3:37pm UK, Wednesday 29 August 2012
Video: Assad Rejects Buffer Zone Plan
Enlarge
Syria's President Bashar al Assad has said that talk of a Western-imposed buffer zone on Syrian territory is "not practical", adding that more time is needed to win the conflict against rebels trying to overthrow the regime.
Mr Assad spoke in an interview with Syria's Addounia television, excerpts of which were broadcast on Wednesday.
"I believe that talk about a buffer zone is not practical, even for those countries which are playing a hostile role (against Syria)," Mr Assad said.
Neighbouring Turkey has floated the idea of a buffer zone to be set up for civilians under foreign protection as the fighting intensifies in the 17-month-old uprising against Mr Assad's rule.
The Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu has urged the United Nations to care for displaced Syrians inside their own country instead of letting them flood into Turkey.
"We expect the United Nations to engage on the topic of protecting refugees inside Syria and if possible sheltering them in camps there," Mr Davutoglu told a news conference in Ankara.
Ankara fears a repeat of the flight of half a million Iraqi Kurds into Turkey after the 1991 Gulf War.
Turkey already hosts more than 80,000 Syrian refugees. The United Nations has said that up to 200,000 Syrians could flee to Turkey if the conflict worsens.
But Nato-member Turkey is reluctant to act alone to set up the safe haven, since protecting it from attack by Syrian forces would effectively mean military intervention in the conflict.
There is scant Western appetite for military action in Syria and no prospect of a UN Security Council mandate for it, given Russian and Chinese willingness to veto any such proposal.
Mr Assad's comments on the safe haven come a day after a car bomb exploded at the funeral of two government loyalists in a Damascus suburb, killing 27 people, and as the Syrian army kept up its bombardment of rebel strongholds in the east of the capital.
Fighting between rebels and loyalist troops continues in several flashpoint regions, including in the commercial hub Aleppo, the northwestern Idlib province and in eastern Deir Ezzor.
Meanwhile, a commander with the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) has appeared to acknowledge that the Islamic republic is playing a military role in the Syrian conflict.
General Salar Abnoush said in a speech reported by the regime-run Daneshjoo news agency that Iran was "involved in fighting every aspect of a war" in Syria.
"Today we are involved in fighting every aspect of a war, a military one in Syria and a cultural one as well," he said.
The comments contradict those of top Iranian officials, who have previously insisted that the country is not involved in the Syrian conflict.
As Turkey struggles to control the mounting refugee crisis on its border, the Syrian leader rejects calls for a buffer zone.
3:37pm UK, Wednesday 29 August 2012
Video: Assad Rejects Buffer Zone Plan
Enlarge
A young Syrian girl wipes her tears after not being allowed entry to Turkey.
1 of 10
Some 9,000 Syrian refugees have massed on the country's northwest border with Turkey, waiting for more camps to be set up to accommodate those fleeing the fighting.
2 of 10
A young Syrian boy lies on the ground after not being allowed entry with his family into Turkey on the Syrian-Turkish border line.
3 of 10
Free Syrian Army fighters drive through the area after missiles fired from a fighter jet hit a petrol tanker in the Bab al-Nayrab district in Aleppo.
4 of 10
A Syrian woman sits in her wheelchair near her damaged house, after an air raid by the Syrian army forces in Homs.
5 of 10
An FSA sniper takes his position at the Seif El Dawla neighborhood in Aleppo.
6 of 10
A mass burial for the victims killed by forces loyal to Syria's President Bashar Al-Assad in Daraya near Damascus.
7 of 10
Members of the Free Syrian Army stand on top of a tank captured from forces loyal to Assad at Al-Maideen in Deir al-Zor province.
8 of 10
A Syrian boy rides a bicycle as smoke rises over the Syrian city of Aleppo .
9 of 10
Smoke rises from the Damascus suburbs of Ain-Terma.
10 of 10
Syria's President Bashar al Assad has said that talk of a Western-imposed buffer zone on Syrian territory is "not practical", adding that more time is needed to win the conflict against rebels trying to overthrow the regime.
Mr Assad spoke in an interview with Syria's Addounia television, excerpts of which were broadcast on Wednesday.
"I believe that talk about a buffer zone is not practical, even for those countries which are playing a hostile role (against Syria)," Mr Assad said.
Neighbouring Turkey has floated the idea of a buffer zone to be set up for civilians under foreign protection as the fighting intensifies in the 17-month-old uprising against Mr Assad's rule.
The Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu has urged the United Nations to care for displaced Syrians inside their own country instead of letting them flood into Turkey.
"We expect the United Nations to engage on the topic of protecting refugees inside Syria and if possible sheltering them in camps there," Mr Davutoglu told a news conference in Ankara.
Ankara fears a repeat of the flight of half a million Iraqi Kurds into Turkey after the 1991 Gulf War.
Turkey already hosts more than 80,000 Syrian refugees. The United Nations has said that up to 200,000 Syrians could flee to Turkey if the conflict worsens.
But Nato-member Turkey is reluctant to act alone to set up the safe haven, since protecting it from attack by Syrian forces would effectively mean military intervention in the conflict.
There is scant Western appetite for military action in Syria and no prospect of a UN Security Council mandate for it, given Russian and Chinese willingness to veto any such proposal.
Mr Assad's comments on the safe haven come a day after a car bomb exploded at the funeral of two government loyalists in a Damascus suburb, killing 27 people, and as the Syrian army kept up its bombardment of rebel strongholds in the east of the capital.
Fighting between rebels and loyalist troops continues in several flashpoint regions, including in the commercial hub Aleppo, the northwestern Idlib province and in eastern Deir Ezzor.
Meanwhile, a commander with the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) has appeared to acknowledge that the Islamic republic is playing a military role in the Syrian conflict.
General Salar Abnoush said in a speech reported by the regime-run Daneshjoo news agency that Iran was "involved in fighting every aspect of a war" in Syria.
"Today we are involved in fighting every aspect of a war, a military one in Syria and a cultural one as well," he said.
The comments contradict those of top Iranian officials, who have previously insisted that the country is not involved in the Syrian conflict.
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Re: Syria warns West against intervention
Panda Thu 30 Aug - 10:55
30 August 2012 Last updated at 10:39
Egypt condemns 'oppressive' Syria sparking walkout
Syrian delegates walked out of the summit as Mr Mursi began speaking about Syria, reports said
Continue reading the main story
Related Stories
Egypt's president has told a summit of the Non-Aligned Movement (Nam) that the Syrian uprising is a "revolution against an oppressive regime".
Mohammed Mursi, making the first visit to Iran by an Egyptian leader since 1979, said the movement had an "ethical duty" to support the uprising.
His comments prompted a walkout by the Syrian delegation, reports said.
The Nam summit, which represents 120 countries, will also discuss human rights and nuclear disarmament.
Mr Mursi used his speech to tell delegates: "Our solidarity with the struggle of the Syrian people against an oppressive regime that has lost its legitimacy is an ethical duty as it is a political and strategic necessity."
Continue reading the main story
Non-Aligned Movement
"We all have to announce our full solidarity with the struggle of those seeking freedom and justice in Syria, and translate this sympathy into a clear political vision that supports a peaceful transition to a democratic system of rule that reflects the demands of the Syrian people for freedom."
"Egypt is ready to work with all to stop the bloodshed," he said.
His description of the uprising differs from Iran, which is one of the few remaining allies of embattled Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and has been accused by the US of training militia in Syria to reinforce Mr Assad's forces.
The Syrian government says it is fighting to protect its people against terrorists and its delegation walked out as Mr Mursi began to speak about the conflict.
UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, who is at the summit, met Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad on Wednesday and urged them to "really reach out to the Syrian leadership and impress on them the really urgent need to stop the violence", his spokesman said.
But the website of Ayatollah Khamenei said the Supreme Leader told Mr Ban in their meeting that the solution to the crisis was halting the trafficking of weapons to Syrian rebel fighters.
He said it was "natural" for there to be weapons in the hands of the Syrian government, because it was conducting an official military like any other country.
Earlier, Mr Ban made frank remarks about Iran's human rights record during his visit
Mr Mursi's visit is the first by an Egyptian leader since the 1979 Islamic Revolution, when Iran cut ties with President Anwar Sadat's administration over its signing of a peace treaty with Israel.
Mr Ban's acceptance of Tehran's invitation has been described by the US State Department as "strange".
But the South Korean has not shied from drawing attention to the Islamic Republic's human rights record.
In a press conference, seated next to the speaker of Iran's parliament and one of the country's most powerful politicians, he told reporters that he had "serious concerns" about human rights in Iran.
'Overt dictatorship'
Nuclear disarmament is also on the agenda of the talks and in his speech to delegates on Thursday, Ayatollah Khamenei said that, contrary to the view held in the West, Iran "is never seeking nuclear weapons".
He said such weapons were "a major and unforgivable sin", but that Iran would "never give up the right to peaceful nuclear energy".
He said sanctions imposed on Iran because of its nuclear programme "not only do not and will not paralyse us, but have made our steps steadier and elevated our resolve and boosted our confidence in our assessments".
The ayatollah also criticised the "illogical" structure of the United Nations Security Council, saying it enabled the US to impose its "bullying manner" on the world, Reuters reports.
"The UN Security Council has an irrational, unjust and utterly undemocratic structure, and this is an overt dictatorship," he said, while denying that UN-imposed sanctions had had any effect on Iran.
Egypt condemns 'oppressive' Syria sparking walkout
Syrian delegates walked out of the summit as Mr Mursi began speaking about Syria, reports said Continue reading the main story
Related Stories
- Iran seeks to reap summit rewards
- Egypt and Iran: Old enemies become new friends?
- Profile: Non-Aligned Movement
Egypt's president has told a summit of the Non-Aligned Movement (Nam) that the Syrian uprising is a "revolution against an oppressive regime".
Mohammed Mursi, making the first visit to Iran by an Egyptian leader since 1979, said the movement had an "ethical duty" to support the uprising.
His comments prompted a walkout by the Syrian delegation, reports said.
The Nam summit, which represents 120 countries, will also discuss human rights and nuclear disarmament.
Mr Mursi used his speech to tell delegates: "Our solidarity with the struggle of the Syrian people against an oppressive regime that has lost its legitimacy is an ethical duty as it is a political and strategic necessity."
Continue reading the main story
Non-Aligned Movement
- Formed in 1961, originally an alliance of newly independent Afro-Asian states
- Currently 120 members, comprising nations ostensibly unaligned with the major world powers
- Aims to represent the political, economic and cultural interests of the developing world
"We all have to announce our full solidarity with the struggle of those seeking freedom and justice in Syria, and translate this sympathy into a clear political vision that supports a peaceful transition to a democratic system of rule that reflects the demands of the Syrian people for freedom."
"Egypt is ready to work with all to stop the bloodshed," he said.
His description of the uprising differs from Iran, which is one of the few remaining allies of embattled Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and has been accused by the US of training militia in Syria to reinforce Mr Assad's forces.
The Syrian government says it is fighting to protect its people against terrorists and its delegation walked out as Mr Mursi began to speak about the conflict.
UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, who is at the summit, met Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad on Wednesday and urged them to "really reach out to the Syrian leadership and impress on them the really urgent need to stop the violence", his spokesman said.
But the website of Ayatollah Khamenei said the Supreme Leader told Mr Ban in their meeting that the solution to the crisis was halting the trafficking of weapons to Syrian rebel fighters.
He said it was "natural" for there to be weapons in the hands of the Syrian government, because it was conducting an official military like any other country.
Earlier, Mr Ban made frank remarks about Iran's human rights record during his visit Mr Mursi's visit is the first by an Egyptian leader since the 1979 Islamic Revolution, when Iran cut ties with President Anwar Sadat's administration over its signing of a peace treaty with Israel.
Mr Ban's acceptance of Tehran's invitation has been described by the US State Department as "strange".
But the South Korean has not shied from drawing attention to the Islamic Republic's human rights record.
In a press conference, seated next to the speaker of Iran's parliament and one of the country's most powerful politicians, he told reporters that he had "serious concerns" about human rights in Iran.
'Overt dictatorship'
Nuclear disarmament is also on the agenda of the talks and in his speech to delegates on Thursday, Ayatollah Khamenei said that, contrary to the view held in the West, Iran "is never seeking nuclear weapons".
He said such weapons were "a major and unforgivable sin", but that Iran would "never give up the right to peaceful nuclear energy".
He said sanctions imposed on Iran because of its nuclear programme "not only do not and will not paralyse us, but have made our steps steadier and elevated our resolve and boosted our confidence in our assessments".
The ayatollah also criticised the "illogical" structure of the United Nations Security Council, saying it enabled the US to impose its "bullying manner" on the world, Reuters reports.
"The UN Security Council has an irrational, unjust and utterly undemocratic structure, and this is an overt dictatorship," he said, while denying that UN-imposed sanctions had had any effect on Iran.
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Re: Syria warns West against intervention
Panda Thu 30 Aug - 13:08
U.S. training opposition how to administer 'liberated' Syrian towns
By Jill Dougherty
As more areas in Syria slip from control of the Syrian military, the United States is training local opposition members how to run a local government free from the grip of the Assad regime.
The State Department says it is running "training programs" for the members of opposition local coordinating councils in "liberated" areas who are beginning to re-establish civilian authority. The programs help them on issues of civil administration, human-rights training and other services.
The council members are learning "the kinds of things that they might need from the international community as they begin to rebuild their towns," State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said in her Wednesday briefing.
"They're asking for help in how to budget. They're asking for help in how to keep utilities running. How to ensure that the institutions of the state that, you know, provide services to the population, come back up and running. So we are open to supporting all of those kinds of needs," she explained.
Nuland called it a "first round" of training, tailored to help form a nascent democratic society, even before President Bashar al-Assad is gone.
"It also gives us an opportunity," she said, "to talk to them about inclusion and protection of minorities and all those things." The first step is to assess the need, she explained. Training could get more detailed as the opposition requests what it needs from the international community.
Concerned for the security of the new administrators, State Department officials are reluctant to provide details of the training programs, but Nuland said the department is running the programs outside of Syria for those who can exit and return to Syria. For those who remain inside Syria, there are what she called "pretty extensive contacts."
In addition, the department runs programs in Istanbul that train Syrian student and women leaders, as well as members of the media, in areas like justice and accountability.
Just how much of Syria is out of regime control is unclear. Nuland said it is a "mixed picture."
"Great swaths" of the country have now been wrenched away from the regime in the north and the east and, increasingly, between some of the major towns, she said, but the fighting is intense in Aleppo, Damascus and some of the major population centers.
The opposition, however, remains deeply divided, unable to form a cohesive front let alone a transitional government. Tuesday a top member of the opposition Syrian National Council, Bassma Kodmani, currently residing in Paris, quit the organization.
Nuland sidestepped questions about the Syrian National Council's disorganization, saying only that Kodmani "made absolutely clear that she intends to remain committed to the cause of a new day, a democratic day, in Syria. So how she chooses to do that is obviously her decision."
The United States, she said, "from the beginning" has seen the council as "a legitimate representative" of the opposition movement, "but we never embraced them as the sole representative because the Syrians themselves had a number of other groups."
For now, the Obama administration appears frustrated at divisions between the "external" opposition - those located outside of Syria - and the "internal" opposition who are actively involved in fighting the Assad regime.
The United States has supported efforts by the Arab League to help the external groups - "no matter how they label themselves," she said - to come up with a democratic code of conduct as part of a strategy for a post-Assad transitional government.
The objective, she said, "is that will be a pluralistic system that, whether you are Sunni or Allawi or Druze or Christian or Kurd, or anybody else - man, woman - you will feel safe. You will feel part of the new Syria. That's job one as we see it. To ensure that we are all talking about a democratic Syria before they get to the point of picking leaders."
A senior administration official, however, told CNN that "no one is under any illusion" that post-Assad leaders will come from the external opposition. Speaking on background because of the diplomatic sensitivity of the issue, this official said the internal opposition members are the ones with "legitimacy, with street cred," because they have been risking their lives in the fight against al-Assad.
CNN News
By Jill Dougherty
As more areas in Syria slip from control of the Syrian military, the United States is training local opposition members how to run a local government free from the grip of the Assad regime.
The State Department says it is running "training programs" for the members of opposition local coordinating councils in "liberated" areas who are beginning to re-establish civilian authority. The programs help them on issues of civil administration, human-rights training and other services.
The council members are learning "the kinds of things that they might need from the international community as they begin to rebuild their towns," State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said in her Wednesday briefing.
"They're asking for help in how to budget. They're asking for help in how to keep utilities running. How to ensure that the institutions of the state that, you know, provide services to the population, come back up and running. So we are open to supporting all of those kinds of needs," she explained.
Nuland called it a "first round" of training, tailored to help form a nascent democratic society, even before President Bashar al-Assad is gone.
"It also gives us an opportunity," she said, "to talk to them about inclusion and protection of minorities and all those things." The first step is to assess the need, she explained. Training could get more detailed as the opposition requests what it needs from the international community.
Concerned for the security of the new administrators, State Department officials are reluctant to provide details of the training programs, but Nuland said the department is running the programs outside of Syria for those who can exit and return to Syria. For those who remain inside Syria, there are what she called "pretty extensive contacts."
In addition, the department runs programs in Istanbul that train Syrian student and women leaders, as well as members of the media, in areas like justice and accountability.
Just how much of Syria is out of regime control is unclear. Nuland said it is a "mixed picture."
"Great swaths" of the country have now been wrenched away from the regime in the north and the east and, increasingly, between some of the major towns, she said, but the fighting is intense in Aleppo, Damascus and some of the major population centers.
The opposition, however, remains deeply divided, unable to form a cohesive front let alone a transitional government. Tuesday a top member of the opposition Syrian National Council, Bassma Kodmani, currently residing in Paris, quit the organization.
Nuland sidestepped questions about the Syrian National Council's disorganization, saying only that Kodmani "made absolutely clear that she intends to remain committed to the cause of a new day, a democratic day, in Syria. So how she chooses to do that is obviously her decision."
The United States, she said, "from the beginning" has seen the council as "a legitimate representative" of the opposition movement, "but we never embraced them as the sole representative because the Syrians themselves had a number of other groups."
For now, the Obama administration appears frustrated at divisions between the "external" opposition - those located outside of Syria - and the "internal" opposition who are actively involved in fighting the Assad regime.
The United States has supported efforts by the Arab League to help the external groups - "no matter how they label themselves," she said - to come up with a democratic code of conduct as part of a strategy for a post-Assad transitional government.
The objective, she said, "is that will be a pluralistic system that, whether you are Sunni or Allawi or Druze or Christian or Kurd, or anybody else - man, woman - you will feel safe. You will feel part of the new Syria. That's job one as we see it. To ensure that we are all talking about a democratic Syria before they get to the point of picking leaders."
A senior administration official, however, told CNN that "no one is under any illusion" that post-Assad leaders will come from the external opposition. Speaking on background because of the diplomatic sensitivity of the issue, this official said the internal opposition members are the ones with "legitimacy, with street cred," because they have been risking their lives in the fight against al-Assad.
CNN News
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Re: Syria warns West against intervention
Panda Thu 30 Aug - 14:47
Rebels 'Shoot Down Syrian Warplane'
Rebels claim to have shot down a Syrian fighter plane as Egypt's new president condemns the regime in Damascus.
12:49pm UK, Thursday 30 August 2012
Video: Rebels 'Shoot Down Syrian Warplane'
Enlarge
Idlib is near the Turkish border
Rebels have claimed they shot down a Syrian fighter jet in the northwestern province of Idlib near the Turkish border.
The Free Syrian Army opposition group said the plane was brought down near a military airport close to the town of al-Thayabiya.
Video footage on al Arabiya television showed what appeared to be smoke in the sky and a person parachuting down.
An army helicopter hovered over the area, apparently in search of the pilot.
Colonel Afif Mahmoud Suleiman, head of the FSA Military Council in Idlib, said: "I can confirm that a MiG was shot down this morning by our men using automatic weapons, shortly after taking off from Abu Zohur military airport in Idlib province.
"The two pilots who parachuted from the plane were captured."
It came as Egypt's leader Mohamed Morsi caused a storm while on a landmark visit to Iran by slamming the Syrian regime as "oppressive" and urging backing for rebels to topple President Bashar al-Assad.
President Morsi is the first Egyptian leader to visit Iran in decades
He made the comments to the Non-Aligned Movement summit in Tehran in a clear rebuke to Syria's key ally Iran and sparking a walkout by the Syrian delegation.
Mr Morsi said: "The revolution in Egypt is the cornerstone for the Arab Spring, which started days after Tunisia and then it was followed by Libya and Yemen and now the revolution in Syria against its oppressive regime.
"Our solidarity with the struggle of Syrians against an oppressive regime that has lost its legitimacy is an ethical duty, and a political and strategic necessity."
Mr Morsi, whose Muslim Brotherhood movement is affiliated with one of Syria's main opposition groups, is the first Egyptian leader to visit Iran since the Islamic revolution in 1979.
Damascus accused the Egyptian president of inciting bloodshed in Syria.
Foreign minister Walid Muallem said Mr Morsi's speech amounted to "interference in Syria's internal affairs".
Meanwhile, human rights organisations said Syrian jets and artillery had struck at least ten bakeries in Aleppo in the last three weeks, killing dozens of people as they waited in line to buy bread.
The US-based Human Rights Watch said: "The attacks are at least recklessly indiscriminate and the pattern and number of attacks suggest that government forces have been targeting civilians.
"Both reckless indiscriminate attacks and deliberately targeting civilians are war crimes."
New death toll claims also came from the military hospital in Damascus.
A doctor who holds the rank of general said more than 8,000 members of Syria's security forces have been killed since an anti-regime uprising broke out in March 2011.
Rebels claim to have shot down a Syrian fighter plane as Egypt's new president condemns the regime in Damascus.
12:49pm UK, Thursday 30 August 2012
Video: Rebels 'Shoot Down Syrian Warplane'
Enlarge
Idlib is near the Turkish border
Rebels have claimed they shot down a Syrian fighter jet in the northwestern province of Idlib near the Turkish border.
The Free Syrian Army opposition group said the plane was brought down near a military airport close to the town of al-Thayabiya.
Video footage on al Arabiya television showed what appeared to be smoke in the sky and a person parachuting down.
An army helicopter hovered over the area, apparently in search of the pilot.
Colonel Afif Mahmoud Suleiman, head of the FSA Military Council in Idlib, said: "I can confirm that a MiG was shot down this morning by our men using automatic weapons, shortly after taking off from Abu Zohur military airport in Idlib province.
"The two pilots who parachuted from the plane were captured."
It came as Egypt's leader Mohamed Morsi caused a storm while on a landmark visit to Iran by slamming the Syrian regime as "oppressive" and urging backing for rebels to topple President Bashar al-Assad.
President Morsi is the first Egyptian leader to visit Iran in decades He made the comments to the Non-Aligned Movement summit in Tehran in a clear rebuke to Syria's key ally Iran and sparking a walkout by the Syrian delegation.
Mr Morsi said: "The revolution in Egypt is the cornerstone for the Arab Spring, which started days after Tunisia and then it was followed by Libya and Yemen and now the revolution in Syria against its oppressive regime.
"Our solidarity with the struggle of Syrians against an oppressive regime that has lost its legitimacy is an ethical duty, and a political and strategic necessity."
Mr Morsi, whose Muslim Brotherhood movement is affiliated with one of Syria's main opposition groups, is the first Egyptian leader to visit Iran since the Islamic revolution in 1979.
Damascus accused the Egyptian president of inciting bloodshed in Syria.
Foreign minister Walid Muallem said Mr Morsi's speech amounted to "interference in Syria's internal affairs".
Meanwhile, human rights organisations said Syrian jets and artillery had struck at least ten bakeries in Aleppo in the last three weeks, killing dozens of people as they waited in line to buy bread.
The US-based Human Rights Watch said: "The attacks are at least recklessly indiscriminate and the pattern and number of attacks suggest that government forces have been targeting civilians.
"Both reckless indiscriminate attacks and deliberately targeting civilians are war crimes."
New death toll claims also came from the military hospital in Damascus.
A doctor who holds the rank of general said more than 8,000 members of Syria's security forces have been killed since an anti-regime uprising broke out in March 2011.
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Re: Syria warns West against intervention
Panda Fri 31 Aug - 6:22
31 August 2012 Last updated at 04:28
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'Difficult' demand for refugee camps in Syria vexes UN
Turkey's Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu called on the United Nations to act "without delay" to set up refugee camps inside Syria
Continue reading the main story
Related Stories
The UN Security Council has discussed a request by Turkey to create refugee camps inside Syria.
Turkey's foreign minister told the council to act "without delay", but the UN deputy head said the issue raised "serious questions".
The opposition Syrian National Council has again demanded a no-fly zone.
Earlier, Egypt's president prompted a walkout by Syrian delegates at a summit in Tehran, when he called Syria an "oppressive regime" without legitimacy.
Fighting continued in Syria on Thursday, with rebels saying they had shot down an air force fighter jet in the north-western province of Idlib.
Activists said government forces had responded with shelling in the province, killing 20 people, including eight children.
'Critical consideration'
Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu demanded immediate UN action to set up refugee camps inside Syria.
"How long are we going to sit and watch while an entire generation is being wiped out by random bombardment and deliberate mass targeting?" he said.
Mr Davutoglu said more than 80,000 Syrians had fled to Turkey, with another 4,000 crossing each day, and 10,000 more waiting at the frontier.
Continue reading the main story
“Start Quote
James Reynolds BBC Iran correspondent
He has said Turkey will not be able to cope when the number reaches 100,000.
However, ahead of the UN meeting, UK Foreign Secretary William Hague said there would be "considerable difficulties" with the idea.
"We have to be clear that anything like a safe zone requires military intervention and that of course is something that has to be weighed very carefully."
But Mr Hague added: "We are excluding no option for the future."
France's Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius said "large-scale" military resources would be needed to protect refugees but if the conflict worsened "we will have to look at the different solutions".
Going into the UN meeting, the organisation's Deputy Secretary-General Jan Eliasson said of the camps issue: "Such proposals raise serious questions."
The Security Council remains deeply divided on Syria, with both Russia and China staunchly opposed to any external intervention.
Mohammed Mursi's comments will "really have hurt", the BBC's Jon Leyne says
They are unlikely to back any military element to the creation of refugee camps.
The difficulties were highlighted by the fact that of the 15 council members, only France, Britain, Colombia, Morocco and Togo sent ministers to the current meeting.
On Wednesday, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad dismissed as "unrealistic" the idea of creating humanitarian buffer zones within Syria.
The Syrian National Council again called for a no-fly zone, to cancel the government's air power monopoly.
In their joint press conference, Mr Hague and Mr Fabius also announced new financial help for the UN's refugee work in Syria.
France will add 5m euros ($6.2m) to its current 20m euro pledge and the UK will add £3m ($4.75m) to its £27.5m commitment.
Both called on other nations to increase their pledges.
Earlier, Egyptian President Mohammed Mursi, making the first visit to Iran by an Egyptian leader since 1979, told the Non-Aligned Movement (Nam) summit in Tehran that the Syrian uprising was a "revolution against an oppressive regime".
Continue reading the main story
Non-Aligned Movement
He told delegates of the 120-member body: "Our solidarity with the struggle of the Syrian people against an oppressive regime that has lost its legitimacy is an ethical duty, as it is a political and strategic necessity."
His comments sparked a walkout by the Syrian delegation.
Syria's Foreign Minister Walid Muallem said Mr Mursi's speech "incites continued bloodshed in Syria".
The US, which questioned Mr Mursi's attendance at the summit, praised his "very clear and very strong" remarks.
The BBC's Iran correspondent, James Reynolds, says Tehran's hope for the summit was to show the West the Islamic Republic had plenty of friends elsewhere, but Mr Mursi's comments would certainly have upset the hosts.
Iran has been solid in its support for the Assad government.
Our correspondent says that for many years both countries have seen themselves as the natural leader of the Middle East and this fight is being played out at the summit.
Separately on Thursday, in an interview with BBC Arabic, the Chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen Martin Dempsey warned that Syria might turn into "a failed state" as there was no end in sight to the conflict.
"It will be a terrible outcome, especially for the Syrian people, but also for the region," he said.
Parachutes
In Thursday's fighting in Syria, Free Syrian Army chief for Idlib province, Col Afif Mahmoud Suleiman, told Agence France-Presse: "A MiG [fighter] was shot down this morning by our men using automatic weapons, shortly after taking off from Abu al-Zohur military airport."
Footage on al-Arabiya TV shows what appears to be smoke in the sky and a person parachuting - This footage has not been independently verified
Amateur footage broadcast by Arabic satellite TV stations of the purported incident showed smoke billowing and two figures parachuting to the ground.
The UK-based opposition activist group, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, said that 20 people, including eight children and nine women, were killed in bombardments by security forces in Abu al-Zohur that were carried out in response to the rebel attacks.
Clashes were said to be continuing elsewhere in the country on Thursday, with activists reporting pre-dawn fighting in the eastern suburbs of Damascus.
Activists also said fierce fighting was continuing in the bitterly contested commercial city of Aleppo.
Share this page
'Difficult' demand for refugee camps in Syria vexes UN
Turkey's Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu called on the United Nations to act "without delay" to set up refugee camps inside Syria Continue reading the main story
Related Stories
The UN Security Council has discussed a request by Turkey to create refugee camps inside Syria.
Turkey's foreign minister told the council to act "without delay", but the UN deputy head said the issue raised "serious questions".
The opposition Syrian National Council has again demanded a no-fly zone.
Earlier, Egypt's president prompted a walkout by Syrian delegates at a summit in Tehran, when he called Syria an "oppressive regime" without legitimacy.
Fighting continued in Syria on Thursday, with rebels saying they had shot down an air force fighter jet in the north-western province of Idlib.
Activists said government forces had responded with shelling in the province, killing 20 people, including eight children.
'Critical consideration'
Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu demanded immediate UN action to set up refugee camps inside Syria.
"How long are we going to sit and watch while an entire generation is being wiped out by random bombardment and deliberate mass targeting?" he said.
Mr Davutoglu said more than 80,000 Syrians had fled to Turkey, with another 4,000 crossing each day, and 10,000 more waiting at the frontier.
Continue reading the main story
“Start Quote
End Quote
Both Iran and Egypt see themselves as the natural leader of the Middle East and this fight is being played out at the summit”
James Reynolds BBC Iran correspondent He has said Turkey will not be able to cope when the number reaches 100,000.
However, ahead of the UN meeting, UK Foreign Secretary William Hague said there would be "considerable difficulties" with the idea.
"We have to be clear that anything like a safe zone requires military intervention and that of course is something that has to be weighed very carefully."
But Mr Hague added: "We are excluding no option for the future."
France's Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius said "large-scale" military resources would be needed to protect refugees but if the conflict worsened "we will have to look at the different solutions".
Going into the UN meeting, the organisation's Deputy Secretary-General Jan Eliasson said of the camps issue: "Such proposals raise serious questions."
The Security Council remains deeply divided on Syria, with both Russia and China staunchly opposed to any external intervention.
Mohammed Mursi's comments will "really have hurt", the BBC's Jon Leyne says
They are unlikely to back any military element to the creation of refugee camps.
The difficulties were highlighted by the fact that of the 15 council members, only France, Britain, Colombia, Morocco and Togo sent ministers to the current meeting.
On Wednesday, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad dismissed as "unrealistic" the idea of creating humanitarian buffer zones within Syria.
The Syrian National Council again called for a no-fly zone, to cancel the government's air power monopoly.
In their joint press conference, Mr Hague and Mr Fabius also announced new financial help for the UN's refugee work in Syria.
France will add 5m euros ($6.2m) to its current 20m euro pledge and the UK will add £3m ($4.75m) to its £27.5m commitment.
Both called on other nations to increase their pledges.
Earlier, Egyptian President Mohammed Mursi, making the first visit to Iran by an Egyptian leader since 1979, told the Non-Aligned Movement (Nam) summit in Tehran that the Syrian uprising was a "revolution against an oppressive regime".
Continue reading the main story
Non-Aligned Movement
- Formed in 1961, originally an alliance of newly independent Afro-Asian states
- Currently 120 members, comprising nations ostensibly unaligned with the major world powers
- Aims to represent the political, economic and cultural interests of the developing world
He told delegates of the 120-member body: "Our solidarity with the struggle of the Syrian people against an oppressive regime that has lost its legitimacy is an ethical duty, as it is a political and strategic necessity."
His comments sparked a walkout by the Syrian delegation.
Syria's Foreign Minister Walid Muallem said Mr Mursi's speech "incites continued bloodshed in Syria".
The US, which questioned Mr Mursi's attendance at the summit, praised his "very clear and very strong" remarks.
The BBC's Iran correspondent, James Reynolds, says Tehran's hope for the summit was to show the West the Islamic Republic had plenty of friends elsewhere, but Mr Mursi's comments would certainly have upset the hosts.
Iran has been solid in its support for the Assad government.
Our correspondent says that for many years both countries have seen themselves as the natural leader of the Middle East and this fight is being played out at the summit.
Separately on Thursday, in an interview with BBC Arabic, the Chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen Martin Dempsey warned that Syria might turn into "a failed state" as there was no end in sight to the conflict.
"It will be a terrible outcome, especially for the Syrian people, but also for the region," he said.
Parachutes
In Thursday's fighting in Syria, Free Syrian Army chief for Idlib province, Col Afif Mahmoud Suleiman, told Agence France-Presse: "A MiG [fighter] was shot down this morning by our men using automatic weapons, shortly after taking off from Abu al-Zohur military airport."
Footage on al-Arabiya TV shows what appears to be smoke in the sky and a person parachuting - This footage has not been independently verified
Amateur footage broadcast by Arabic satellite TV stations of the purported incident showed smoke billowing and two figures parachuting to the ground.
The UK-based opposition activist group, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, said that 20 people, including eight children and nine women, were killed in bombardments by security forces in Abu al-Zohur that were carried out in response to the rebel attacks.
Clashes were said to be continuing elsewhere in the country on Thursday, with activists reporting pre-dawn fighting in the eastern suburbs of Damascus.
Activists also said fierce fighting was continuing in the bitterly contested commercial city of Aleppo.
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Re: Syria warns West against intervention
Panda Sat 1 Sep - 9:26
1 September 2012 Last updated at 08:21
Syria conflict: Government 'repels air base attack'
Fighting has continued in Aleppo and other cities
Continue reading the main story
Syria conflict
The Syrian government says it has repelled a major rebel attack on an air base near the northern city of Aleppo.
State TV showed vehicles with mounted machine guns and other equipment seized from the Rasm al-Abboud base attack.
This was one of several air bases which have come under attack in recent days, as opposition fighters try to halt the regime's use of helicopters and military jets to support ground forces.
About 100 people were killed in fighting on Friday, activists said.
Battles have continued in Aleppo, in suburbs of Damascus and in other parts of the country.
It is impossible to independently verify the claims, as reporting by foreign journalists is severely restricted in Syria.
'More victories'
State TV has been leading its bulletins with a report from the Rasm al-Abboud air force college, which it said had come under heavy attack by rebel fighters.
The pro-rebel Syrian Observatory for Human Rights and other activists said government troops had been killed and wounded in the attack, the Associated Press reported.
There are also reports by activists of prolonged fighting at the Abu Zohur air base in Idlib province.
And rebel sources quoted by the Dubai TV channel al-Arabiya said another air base in Deir al-Zour had been seized, its commander killed and 50 soldiers captured.
State media, meanwhile, has reported a string of other victories scored over what it called "armed terrorist groups".
However, the BBC's Jim Muir in neighbouring Lebanon says the government seems no closer to winning control of Aleppo or taming the rebellious suburbs around the capital Damascus.
The fighting came as Syrian Prime Minister Wail al-Halqi met Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.
Both assured him of Iran's continuing support in fighting what it agrees is a US and Israeli-backed campaign to undermine Syria because of its resistance to Israel.
The meetings came during a summit of the Non-Aligned Movement in Tehran.
Iran has been solid in its support for the Assad government.
But days earlier at the summit, Egyptian President Mohammed Mursi described the Syrian uprising as a "revolution against an oppressive regime", prompting a walkout by the Syrian delegation.
Syria conflict: Government 'repels air base attack'
Fighting has continued in Aleppo and other cities Continue reading the main story
Syria conflict
The Syrian government says it has repelled a major rebel attack on an air base near the northern city of Aleppo.
State TV showed vehicles with mounted machine guns and other equipment seized from the Rasm al-Abboud base attack.
This was one of several air bases which have come under attack in recent days, as opposition fighters try to halt the regime's use of helicopters and military jets to support ground forces.
About 100 people were killed in fighting on Friday, activists said.
Battles have continued in Aleppo, in suburbs of Damascus and in other parts of the country.
It is impossible to independently verify the claims, as reporting by foreign journalists is severely restricted in Syria.
'More victories'
State TV has been leading its bulletins with a report from the Rasm al-Abboud air force college, which it said had come under heavy attack by rebel fighters.
The pro-rebel Syrian Observatory for Human Rights and other activists said government troops had been killed and wounded in the attack, the Associated Press reported.
There are also reports by activists of prolonged fighting at the Abu Zohur air base in Idlib province.
And rebel sources quoted by the Dubai TV channel al-Arabiya said another air base in Deir al-Zour had been seized, its commander killed and 50 soldiers captured.
State media, meanwhile, has reported a string of other victories scored over what it called "armed terrorist groups".
However, the BBC's Jim Muir in neighbouring Lebanon says the government seems no closer to winning control of Aleppo or taming the rebellious suburbs around the capital Damascus.
The fighting came as Syrian Prime Minister Wail al-Halqi met Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.
Both assured him of Iran's continuing support in fighting what it agrees is a US and Israeli-backed campaign to undermine Syria because of its resistance to Israel.
The meetings came during a summit of the Non-Aligned Movement in Tehran.
Iran has been solid in its support for the Assad government.
But days earlier at the summit, Egyptian President Mohammed Mursi described the Syrian uprising as a "revolution against an oppressive regime", prompting a walkout by the Syrian delegation.
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Re: Syria warns West against intervention
Panda Sat 1 Sep - 17:27
Rebels Strike Air Defence Targets
Russia warns it would be "naive" for Western nations to expect the Syrian President to withdraw his troops.
3:56pm UK, Saturday 01 September 2012
Aircraft have increasly been used to target the rebels
Syrian rebels have attacked regime air force facilities as Russia warned it would be "naive" for outside powers to expect President Bashar al Assad to call an end to fighting first.
Anti-government forces seized an air defence facility and attacked a military airport in eastern Syria, according to an opposition group based in the UK, hitting back at the air force which is increasingly being used to target the rebels.
Rami Abdulrahman, of the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, said rebels in Deir al Zor took at least 16 people captive and seized an unknown number of anti-aircraft rockets.
Video posted on the internet by activists allegedly showed the officers and soldiers captured by the rebel fighters, and Al Arabiya television broadcast footage of what it said were rockets and ammunition seized in the raid.
Rebels also attacked the Hamdan military airbase at Albu Kamal, close to Syria's eastern border with Iraq, but did not succeed in breaking into it, according to Mr Abdulrahman.
The attacks in the eastern oil-producing Deir al Zor province follow strikes against military airports in Aleppo - the country's largest city and commercial hub - and Idlib, earlier in the week.
As opposition fighters gain ground across the country, Mr Assad's forces have continued an aerial bombardment with helicopter gunships and fighter jets.
There have been claims of rebel fighters shooting down helicopter gunships, though they have not been confirmed by the Syrian government.
Free Syrian Army fighters run after an army fighter jet attacks Aleppo
Russia's foreign minister Sergei Lavrov said it would be "naive" for the international community to expect Mr Assad to be the first to call an end to the fighting and withdraw his troops from cities and wait for the opposition to follow suit.
He said such a demand on the regime amounted to a call for "capitulation" that Western and Arab nations had no right to make.
Mr Lavrov insisted Russia was not trying to support Assad or his government but was basing its policies on the daily situation on the ground.
He admitted that there were "serious differences" over the conflict between Moscow and the other nations.
Russia has vetoed three UN Security Council resolutions threatening sanctions against Mr Assad.
Meanwhile, the new UN and Arab League envoy Lakhdar Brahimi took up the international attempts to end the 17-month Syrian conflict on Saturday, amid low expectations that he will any more success than his predecessor, UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan.
China's foreign minister Yang Jiechi raised Beijing's concerns about the worsening situation in Syria with Mr Brahimi on Friday.
Yang said political dialogue was the only correct way to solve the crisis, and warned outside powers against forcing a solution on Syria.
China has taken a similar stance to Russia and has also vetoed Security Council resolutions on the issue.
Russia warns it would be "naive" for Western nations to expect the Syrian President to withdraw his troops.
3:56pm UK, Saturday 01 September 2012
Aircraft have increasly been used to target the rebels
Syrian rebels have attacked regime air force facilities as Russia warned it would be "naive" for outside powers to expect President Bashar al Assad to call an end to fighting first.
Anti-government forces seized an air defence facility and attacked a military airport in eastern Syria, according to an opposition group based in the UK, hitting back at the air force which is increasingly being used to target the rebels.
Rami Abdulrahman, of the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, said rebels in Deir al Zor took at least 16 people captive and seized an unknown number of anti-aircraft rockets.
Video posted on the internet by activists allegedly showed the officers and soldiers captured by the rebel fighters, and Al Arabiya television broadcast footage of what it said were rockets and ammunition seized in the raid.
Rebels also attacked the Hamdan military airbase at Albu Kamal, close to Syria's eastern border with Iraq, but did not succeed in breaking into it, according to Mr Abdulrahman.
The attacks in the eastern oil-producing Deir al Zor province follow strikes against military airports in Aleppo - the country's largest city and commercial hub - and Idlib, earlier in the week.
As opposition fighters gain ground across the country, Mr Assad's forces have continued an aerial bombardment with helicopter gunships and fighter jets.
There have been claims of rebel fighters shooting down helicopter gunships, though they have not been confirmed by the Syrian government.
Free Syrian Army fighters run after an army fighter jet attacks Aleppo Russia's foreign minister Sergei Lavrov said it would be "naive" for the international community to expect Mr Assad to be the first to call an end to the fighting and withdraw his troops from cities and wait for the opposition to follow suit.
He said such a demand on the regime amounted to a call for "capitulation" that Western and Arab nations had no right to make.
Mr Lavrov insisted Russia was not trying to support Assad or his government but was basing its policies on the daily situation on the ground.
He admitted that there were "serious differences" over the conflict between Moscow and the other nations.
Russia has vetoed three UN Security Council resolutions threatening sanctions against Mr Assad.
Meanwhile, the new UN and Arab League envoy Lakhdar Brahimi took up the international attempts to end the 17-month Syrian conflict on Saturday, amid low expectations that he will any more success than his predecessor, UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan.
China's foreign minister Yang Jiechi raised Beijing's concerns about the worsening situation in Syria with Mr Brahimi on Friday.
Yang said political dialogue was the only correct way to solve the crisis, and warned outside powers against forcing a solution on Syria.
China has taken a similar stance to Russia and has also vetoed Security Council resolutions on the issue.
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Re: Syria warns West against intervention
Panda Sun 2 Sep - 12:24
2 September 2012 Last updated at 12:15
Syria conflict: Explosion 'hits Damascus security area'
Continue reading the main story
Syria conflict
An explosion has hit an area of the Syrian capital Damascus in which major military and security compounds are located, reports say.
The blast took place in the Mehdi area of Abu Remmaneh district, according to state TV and residents.
The TV described the explosion as "terrorism" and said four people had been injured.
Rebels and government forces have been involved in a fierce battle for Damascus since July.
Syria conflict: Explosion 'hits Damascus security area'
Continue reading the main story
Syria conflict
An explosion has hit an area of the Syrian capital Damascus in which major military and security compounds are located, reports say.
The blast took place in the Mehdi area of Abu Remmaneh district, according to state TV and residents.
The TV described the explosion as "terrorism" and said four people had been injured.
Rebels and government forces have been involved in a fierce battle for Damascus since July.
Last edited by Panda on Wed 5 Sep - 5:55; edited 1 time in total
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Re: Syria warns West against intervention
Panda Sun 2 Sep - 15:39
Egypt’s Peace Plan for Syria Could Help the U.S., Too
Illustration by Bloomberg View
By the Editors Aug 30, 2012 11:30 PM GMT+0100
Egyptian President Mohamed Mursi chose for his first big foreign policy move to visit Iran and propose a regional quartet to end the conflict in Syria that would include Iran but not the U.S.
He could hardly have made a clearer public declaration of independence from U.S. foreign policy. But the State Department should relax. It should even -- quietly -- help Mursi out.
By involving all the important regional players, Mursi’s plan addresses the core threat that the 17-month-old Syria conflict poses to U.S. interests: a widening confrontation between Shiites and Sunnis across the Middle East.
The Egyptian leader’s statement of intent has triggered renewed hand-wringing in parts of Washington over the loss of U.S. influence in the region, as President Barack Obama pulls forces out of Afghanistan after their departure from Iraq, holds off on the airstrike on Iran’s nuclear facilities that Israelwants, and balks at military intervention in Syria. It doesn’t help those concerns that Mursi hails from the Muslim Brotherhood.
The hand-wringers should relax, too. The U.S. still has a great deal of influence in the Middle East. Supporting Egypt as it takes a lead of its own is smart diplomacy and can advance interests that the U.S. happens to share, while strengthening shaky ties with the new government in Cairo.
Mursi’s decision to become the first Egyptian president to visit Iran since the 1979 revolution looked like a propaganda coup for the regime in Tehran, but the speech he made Thursday to a summit of the nonaligned movement was nothing his hosts wanted to hear. He said Syria’s leaders, who are closely allied to Iran, had lost their legitimacy and that outsiders had a moral duty to intervene to help the Syrian people against an“oppressive” regime. The Syrian delegation walked out.
Mursi’s proposal would bring Egypt, Iran, Saudi Arabia andTurkey to the table to secure a negotiated end to Syrian bloodletting, with the clear proviso that President Bashar Al- Assad must go. The initiative is designed to recapture for Egypt the role of the Arab world’s key mover that it had in the 1950s and 1960s, under President Gamal Abdel Nasser, but long since ceded to Saudi Arabia and even tiny Qatar.
The quartet idea is far from guaranteed to get traction. Both Assad and Syria’s fragmented opposition clearly intend to fight to the finish. There’s growing evidence that Iran’s security forces are involved in Syria, while Saudi Arabia and Qatar are funding arms for the Free Syrian Army. Turkey, for its part, pressed Thursday at the United Nations to create safe zones for refugees inside Syria, a move that would require military intervention. None of that augurs well for a deal.
Saudi Arabia, meanwhile, would take some persuading even to sit down with its archrival, Shiite Iran, and the U.S. killed off a previous bid to involve Iran by the UN’s former Syria envoy Kofi Annan. Iran already responded informally to Mursi by floating a ludicrous spoiler plan that wouldn’t include the Sunni Saudis and Turks, but would involve Venezuela and Shiite-run Lebanon and Iraq.
Yet the same sectarian factors demonstrate why Mursi’s effort to bring the region’s crucial Sunni and Shiite players together makes sense and should stay on the table as events unfold, especially with a view to the conflict’s aftermath. A win by one side or the other in Syria is unlikely to end the fighting or the risk of regional spillover, and all the surrounding nations share an interest in preventing that. So doChina, Israel, Russia and the U.S.
Mursi’s plan also has the advantage of circumventing the UN Security Council, which has been paralyzed since the start of the conflict by differences between France, the U.K. and the U.S. on one side, and China and Russia on the other.
There is a precedent for such regional mediation. Qatar was once the go-between for Saudi Arabia on one side and Iran and its proxies on the other. It brokered a peace deal between Lebanon’s factions in 2007, when both Iran and Saudi Arabia were critical players in the background. Qatar can’t mediate theSyria conflict, having helped to arm the Sunni opposition. Egypt has called on Assad to go, but hasn’t become so deeply involved. It also has no major problems of Sunni-Shiite sectarianism (Muslim-Christian tensions are another matter).
Mursi’s plan may not succeed, but the U.S., which could reap benefits from it, shouldn’t shoot it down. Given that nothing else is working in Syria, it’s hard to see how an Egyptian attempt at regional mediation could do harm.
Illustration by Bloomberg View
By the Editors Aug 30, 2012 11:30 PM GMT+0100
Egyptian President Mohamed Mursi chose for his first big foreign policy move to visit Iran and propose a regional quartet to end the conflict in Syria that would include Iran but not the U.S.
He could hardly have made a clearer public declaration of independence from U.S. foreign policy. But the State Department should relax. It should even -- quietly -- help Mursi out.
By involving all the important regional players, Mursi’s plan addresses the core threat that the 17-month-old Syria conflict poses to U.S. interests: a widening confrontation between Shiites and Sunnis across the Middle East.
The Egyptian leader’s statement of intent has triggered renewed hand-wringing in parts of Washington over the loss of U.S. influence in the region, as President Barack Obama pulls forces out of Afghanistan after their departure from Iraq, holds off on the airstrike on Iran’s nuclear facilities that Israelwants, and balks at military intervention in Syria. It doesn’t help those concerns that Mursi hails from the Muslim Brotherhood.
The hand-wringers should relax, too. The U.S. still has a great deal of influence in the Middle East. Supporting Egypt as it takes a lead of its own is smart diplomacy and can advance interests that the U.S. happens to share, while strengthening shaky ties with the new government in Cairo.
Mursi’s decision to become the first Egyptian president to visit Iran since the 1979 revolution looked like a propaganda coup for the regime in Tehran, but the speech he made Thursday to a summit of the nonaligned movement was nothing his hosts wanted to hear. He said Syria’s leaders, who are closely allied to Iran, had lost their legitimacy and that outsiders had a moral duty to intervene to help the Syrian people against an“oppressive” regime. The Syrian delegation walked out.
Mursi’s proposal would bring Egypt, Iran, Saudi Arabia andTurkey to the table to secure a negotiated end to Syrian bloodletting, with the clear proviso that President Bashar Al- Assad must go. The initiative is designed to recapture for Egypt the role of the Arab world’s key mover that it had in the 1950s and 1960s, under President Gamal Abdel Nasser, but long since ceded to Saudi Arabia and even tiny Qatar.
The quartet idea is far from guaranteed to get traction. Both Assad and Syria’s fragmented opposition clearly intend to fight to the finish. There’s growing evidence that Iran’s security forces are involved in Syria, while Saudi Arabia and Qatar are funding arms for the Free Syrian Army. Turkey, for its part, pressed Thursday at the United Nations to create safe zones for refugees inside Syria, a move that would require military intervention. None of that augurs well for a deal.
Saudi Arabia, meanwhile, would take some persuading even to sit down with its archrival, Shiite Iran, and the U.S. killed off a previous bid to involve Iran by the UN’s former Syria envoy Kofi Annan. Iran already responded informally to Mursi by floating a ludicrous spoiler plan that wouldn’t include the Sunni Saudis and Turks, but would involve Venezuela and Shiite-run Lebanon and Iraq.
Yet the same sectarian factors demonstrate why Mursi’s effort to bring the region’s crucial Sunni and Shiite players together makes sense and should stay on the table as events unfold, especially with a view to the conflict’s aftermath. A win by one side or the other in Syria is unlikely to end the fighting or the risk of regional spillover, and all the surrounding nations share an interest in preventing that. So doChina, Israel, Russia and the U.S.
Mursi’s plan also has the advantage of circumventing the UN Security Council, which has been paralyzed since the start of the conflict by differences between France, the U.K. and the U.S. on one side, and China and Russia on the other.
There is a precedent for such regional mediation. Qatar was once the go-between for Saudi Arabia on one side and Iran and its proxies on the other. It brokered a peace deal between Lebanon’s factions in 2007, when both Iran and Saudi Arabia were critical players in the background. Qatar can’t mediate theSyria conflict, having helped to arm the Sunni opposition. Egypt has called on Assad to go, but hasn’t become so deeply involved. It also has no major problems of Sunni-Shiite sectarianism (Muslim-Christian tensions are another matter).
Mursi’s plan may not succeed, but the U.S., which could reap benefits from it, shouldn’t shoot it down. Given that nothing else is working in Syria, it’s hard to see how an Egyptian attempt at regional mediation could do harm.
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Re: Syria warns West against intervention
Panda Mon 3 Sep - 18:49
3 September 2012 Last updated at 15:48
Share Syria crisis: 'Deadly Aleppo strike' as UN envoy starts job
Aleppo has seen some of the worst of the recent fighting
Continue reading the main story
Syria conflict
Violence is continuing in Syria, with opposition activists saying that a warplane may have killed as many as 25 people in a strike in Aleppo province.
In Damascus, a bomb left at least five people dead and many more wounded in the Jaramana area of the city.
Meanwhile, speaking to the BBC, the new international envoy to Syria, Lakhdar Brahimi, said he viewed his new mission as near-impossible.
He is expected to visit Syria and meet President Bashar al-Assad on Saturday.
The explosion in Damascus targeted the predominantly Druze and Christian area of Jaramana
Separately, the head of the Red Cross was travelling to Damascus on Monday in an attempt to improve aid access to civilians.
Peter Maurer said in a statement that "an adequate humanitarian response is required to keep pace" with the worsening violence.
In Aleppo, human rights groups said several women and children were among the 25 victims when a building was hit in the town of al-Bab.
Al-Bab, just to the north-east of Aleppo, appears to be largely in rebel hands, and has been heavily pounded by government forces in recent weeks, says the BBC's Jim Muir in Lebanon.
Increasingly, as the conflict deepens, the regime has made fuller use of its air power - attack helicopters and fixed-wing jets - to support its ground forces as they try to root out the lightly-armed rebels from towns, cities and villages all over the country, our correspondent says.
Continue reading the main story
Analysis
Lyse Doucet Chief International Correspondent, BBC News
Lakhdar Brahimi has embarked on one of the world's toughest jobs.
But as one of the UN's most experienced troubleshooters, he may offer the skills needed in a conflict where both sides seem to believe they have no choice but to fight to the end.
Mr Brahimi often deployed a "no victor, no vanquished" power-sharing approach in previous mediations, including the 1989 agreement that ended Lebanon's 15-year civil war.
UN sources who have worked closely with Mr Brahimi over many years say he will be more involved in the minutiae of the process, engaging personally with all the key players, and drawing on his own extensive experience and contacts in the region and beyond, not to mention his understanding of Arab politics and language.
He plans to base his office in Damascus if possible, or in Cairo, and to spend as much time as possible in the region.
But for the time being, there is little optimism anywhere that much can be done. Even Mr Brahimi sees his job as keeping expectations low.
In the car bombing in the Damascus suburb, one building was badly damaged and Syrian state news agency Sana reported that women and children were among the victims. Sana blamed "an armed terrorist group" for the attack.
The explosion is the second deadly bombing within a week targeting the predominantly Druze and Christian area of Jaramana.
At least 12 people were killed when a car bomb blew up at a funeral for two people said by opposition activists to have been supporters of President Assad.
'No illusions'
Mr Brahimi, the new UN-Arab League envoy on Syria, was appointed after his predecessor, Kofi Annan, resigned, saying he no longer saw a way to fulfil his mission after his peace plan failed to achieve a meaningful ceasefire.
"I'm coming into this job with my eyes open, and no illusions," Mr Brahimi told the BBC's Lyse Doucet in an interview in New York. "I know how difficult it is - how nearly impossible. I can't say impossible - [it is] nearly impossible.
Mr Brahimi said he had so far failed to see "any cracks" in the "brick wall" that had defeated Mr Annan - an "intransigent" Syrian government, escalating rebel violence and a paralysed UN Security Council, where China and Russia have vetoed several resolutions aimed at putting pressure on Damascus.
He said he would keep Mr Annan's six-point peace plan - now seen by many as irrelevant - in his "tool box" for possible adaptation, but admitted he "had ideas, but no plan yet", apart from talking to as many people as possible.
Addressing the Syrian government, he said the need for political change in Syria was "fundamental and urgent", but he refused to be drawn on whether President Assad should step down, as the opposition and several Western leaders are demanding.
//
Share Syria crisis: 'Deadly Aleppo strike' as UN envoy starts job
Aleppo has seen some of the worst of the recent fighting Continue reading the main story
Syria conflict
Violence is continuing in Syria, with opposition activists saying that a warplane may have killed as many as 25 people in a strike in Aleppo province.
In Damascus, a bomb left at least five people dead and many more wounded in the Jaramana area of the city.
Meanwhile, speaking to the BBC, the new international envoy to Syria, Lakhdar Brahimi, said he viewed his new mission as near-impossible.
He is expected to visit Syria and meet President Bashar al-Assad on Saturday.
The explosion in Damascus targeted the predominantly Druze and Christian area of Jaramana Separately, the head of the Red Cross was travelling to Damascus on Monday in an attempt to improve aid access to civilians.
Peter Maurer said in a statement that "an adequate humanitarian response is required to keep pace" with the worsening violence.
In Aleppo, human rights groups said several women and children were among the 25 victims when a building was hit in the town of al-Bab.
Al-Bab, just to the north-east of Aleppo, appears to be largely in rebel hands, and has been heavily pounded by government forces in recent weeks, says the BBC's Jim Muir in Lebanon.
Increasingly, as the conflict deepens, the regime has made fuller use of its air power - attack helicopters and fixed-wing jets - to support its ground forces as they try to root out the lightly-armed rebels from towns, cities and villages all over the country, our correspondent says.
Continue reading the main story
Analysis
Lyse Doucet Chief International Correspondent, BBC News Lakhdar Brahimi has embarked on one of the world's toughest jobs.
But as one of the UN's most experienced troubleshooters, he may offer the skills needed in a conflict where both sides seem to believe they have no choice but to fight to the end.
Mr Brahimi often deployed a "no victor, no vanquished" power-sharing approach in previous mediations, including the 1989 agreement that ended Lebanon's 15-year civil war.
UN sources who have worked closely with Mr Brahimi over many years say he will be more involved in the minutiae of the process, engaging personally with all the key players, and drawing on his own extensive experience and contacts in the region and beyond, not to mention his understanding of Arab politics and language.
He plans to base his office in Damascus if possible, or in Cairo, and to spend as much time as possible in the region.
But for the time being, there is little optimism anywhere that much can be done. Even Mr Brahimi sees his job as keeping expectations low.
In the car bombing in the Damascus suburb, one building was badly damaged and Syrian state news agency Sana reported that women and children were among the victims. Sana blamed "an armed terrorist group" for the attack.
The explosion is the second deadly bombing within a week targeting the predominantly Druze and Christian area of Jaramana.
At least 12 people were killed when a car bomb blew up at a funeral for two people said by opposition activists to have been supporters of President Assad.
'No illusions'
Mr Brahimi, the new UN-Arab League envoy on Syria, was appointed after his predecessor, Kofi Annan, resigned, saying he no longer saw a way to fulfil his mission after his peace plan failed to achieve a meaningful ceasefire.
"I'm coming into this job with my eyes open, and no illusions," Mr Brahimi told the BBC's Lyse Doucet in an interview in New York. "I know how difficult it is - how nearly impossible. I can't say impossible - [it is] nearly impossible.
Mr Brahimi said he had so far failed to see "any cracks" in the "brick wall" that had defeated Mr Annan - an "intransigent" Syrian government, escalating rebel violence and a paralysed UN Security Council, where China and Russia have vetoed several resolutions aimed at putting pressure on Damascus.
He said he would keep Mr Annan's six-point peace plan - now seen by many as irrelevant - in his "tool box" for possible adaptation, but admitted he "had ideas, but no plan yet", apart from talking to as many people as possible.
Addressing the Syrian government, he said the need for political change in Syria was "fundamental and urgent", but he refused to be drawn on whether President Assad should step down, as the opposition and several Western leaders are demanding.
//
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Re: Syria warns West against intervention
Panda Wed 5 Sep - 5:50
Syrian Children Offer Glimpse of a Future of Reprisals
Moises Saman for The New York Times
Syrian children at a playground last week at a refugee camp in Zaatari, Jordan. Many speak of exacting revenge on the Alawites when they get back home. More Photos »
Moises Saman for The New York Times
The Zaatari Refugee Camp, Jordan, near the Syrian border. More Photos »
But not if that means living with Alawites, members of the same minority offshoot of Shiite Islam as Syria’s president, Bashar al-Assad. “I hate the Alawites and the Shiites,” Ibtisam said as a crowd of children and adults nodded in agreement. “We are going to kill them with our knives, just like they killed us.”
If the fighters seeking to oust Mr. Assad sometimes portray their battle as a struggle for democracy, the Sunni Muslim children of the Zaatari camp tell a much uglier story of sectarian revenge. Asked for their own views of the grown-up battle that drove them from their homes, child after child brought up their hatred of the Alawites and a thirst for revenge. Children as young as 10 or 11 vowed never to play with Syrian Alawite children or even pledged to kill them.
Parroting older relatives — some of whom openly egged them on — the youngsters offered a disturbing premonition of the road ahead for Syria.
Their unvarnished hatred helps explain why so many Alawites, who make up more than 10 percent of the Syrian population, have stood by Mr. Assad even as the world has written him off. They see him as their best protection against sectarian annihilation.
The children’s refusal to share a playground or a classroom with Alawites dramatizes the challenge of ever putting together a political solution to the conflict. And the easy talk of blood and killing from such young children illustrates the psychic toll that the revolt and repression are taking on the next generation of Syrians.
“We hear it all the time from the kids, but also from the parents — that this is not political at all, and not a call for democracy, but is about people fed up and angry at rule by a minority, the Alawites,” said Saba al-Mobaslat, director for Jordan of the nonprofit group Save the Children, which provides toys to refugee children and tries to teach them understanding. “There is a concern that this is a whole generation that is being brought up to hate, that can’t see the other’s side.”
The roots of the animosity toward the Alawites from members of Syria’s Sunni Muslim majority, who make up about 75 percent of the population, run deep into history. During the 19th-century Ottoman Empire, the two groups lived in separate communities, and the Sunni majority so thoroughly marginalized Alawites that they were not even allowed to testify in court until after World War I.
Then, in a pattern repeated across the region, said Joshua Landis, a Syria scholar at the University of Oklahoma, French colonialists collaborated with the Alawite minority to control the conquered Syrian population — as colonialists did with Christians in Lebanon, Jews in Palestine and Sunni Muslims in Iraq. The French brought Alawites into the colony’s military to help control the Sunnis. And after Syria’s independence from France, the military eventually took control of the country, putting Alawites in top government positions, much to the resentment of the Sunni majority.
“Now the Alawites believe — possibly correctly — that the Sunnis are going to try to kill them, and that is why the Alawite Army now is killing Sunnis in this beastly way,” Professor Landis said. “The Alawites feel justified in brutality because they fear what may be in store for them if they lay down their guns.”
“I don’t see any way out of that,” he said, “except to say that we are in for a long, difficult ride, and you pray that the Syrians are going to get over this somehow.”
At the Zaatari camp, a desolate tent city where nearly half of the 25,000 residents are younger than 12 and desperately bored, many of the children retain a disarming innocence. “Who will rule Syria next? Another president, but we will choose him,” Rahaf, 11, said confidently. “I don’t know who yet, because we have not seen the names.”
Just as the Syrian uprising began as a peaceful protest movement inspired by calls for democracy around the Arab world, some children at the Zaatari camp sought to describe the struggle in ideological terms.
“Why are they bombing us?” Ahmed, 12, from the Hauran region near the border with Jordan, asked rhetorically. “Because we are asking for our freedom.”
His father interrupted to explain what freedom might mean. “The biggest general in Hauran, a young Alawite soldier can step his foot on the general’s head,” his father said. “A young Alawite soldier can humiliate the biggest officer.”
Moises Saman for The New York Times
Syrian children at a playground last week at a refugee camp in Zaatari, Jordan. Many speak of exacting revenge on the Alawites when they get back home. More Photos »
Moises Saman for The New York Times
The Zaatari Refugee Camp, Jordan, near the Syrian border. More Photos »
But not if that means living with Alawites, members of the same minority offshoot of Shiite Islam as Syria’s president, Bashar al-Assad. “I hate the Alawites and the Shiites,” Ibtisam said as a crowd of children and adults nodded in agreement. “We are going to kill them with our knives, just like they killed us.”
If the fighters seeking to oust Mr. Assad sometimes portray their battle as a struggle for democracy, the Sunni Muslim children of the Zaatari camp tell a much uglier story of sectarian revenge. Asked for their own views of the grown-up battle that drove them from their homes, child after child brought up their hatred of the Alawites and a thirst for revenge. Children as young as 10 or 11 vowed never to play with Syrian Alawite children or even pledged to kill them.
Parroting older relatives — some of whom openly egged them on — the youngsters offered a disturbing premonition of the road ahead for Syria.
Their unvarnished hatred helps explain why so many Alawites, who make up more than 10 percent of the Syrian population, have stood by Mr. Assad even as the world has written him off. They see him as their best protection against sectarian annihilation.
The children’s refusal to share a playground or a classroom with Alawites dramatizes the challenge of ever putting together a political solution to the conflict. And the easy talk of blood and killing from such young children illustrates the psychic toll that the revolt and repression are taking on the next generation of Syrians.
“We hear it all the time from the kids, but also from the parents — that this is not political at all, and not a call for democracy, but is about people fed up and angry at rule by a minority, the Alawites,” said Saba al-Mobaslat, director for Jordan of the nonprofit group Save the Children, which provides toys to refugee children and tries to teach them understanding. “There is a concern that this is a whole generation that is being brought up to hate, that can’t see the other’s side.”
The roots of the animosity toward the Alawites from members of Syria’s Sunni Muslim majority, who make up about 75 percent of the population, run deep into history. During the 19th-century Ottoman Empire, the two groups lived in separate communities, and the Sunni majority so thoroughly marginalized Alawites that they were not even allowed to testify in court until after World War I.
Then, in a pattern repeated across the region, said Joshua Landis, a Syria scholar at the University of Oklahoma, French colonialists collaborated with the Alawite minority to control the conquered Syrian population — as colonialists did with Christians in Lebanon, Jews in Palestine and Sunni Muslims in Iraq. The French brought Alawites into the colony’s military to help control the Sunnis. And after Syria’s independence from France, the military eventually took control of the country, putting Alawites in top government positions, much to the resentment of the Sunni majority.
“Now the Alawites believe — possibly correctly — that the Sunnis are going to try to kill them, and that is why the Alawite Army now is killing Sunnis in this beastly way,” Professor Landis said. “The Alawites feel justified in brutality because they fear what may be in store for them if they lay down their guns.”
“I don’t see any way out of that,” he said, “except to say that we are in for a long, difficult ride, and you pray that the Syrians are going to get over this somehow.”
At the Zaatari camp, a desolate tent city where nearly half of the 25,000 residents are younger than 12 and desperately bored, many of the children retain a disarming innocence. “Who will rule Syria next? Another president, but we will choose him,” Rahaf, 11, said confidently. “I don’t know who yet, because we have not seen the names.”
Just as the Syrian uprising began as a peaceful protest movement inspired by calls for democracy around the Arab world, some children at the Zaatari camp sought to describe the struggle in ideological terms.
“Why are they bombing us?” Ahmed, 12, from the Hauran region near the border with Jordan, asked rhetorically. “Because we are asking for our freedom.”
His father interrupted to explain what freedom might mean. “The biggest general in Hauran, a young Alawite soldier can step his foot on the general’s head,” his father said. “A young Alawite soldier can humiliate the biggest officer.”
| ? | |
Last edited by Panda on Wed 5 Sep - 5:58; edited 1 time in total
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Re: Syria warns West against intervention
Panda Wed 5 Sep - 5:54
One Syrian story: A sniper's bullet, a dying child, a family's desperation
By Nick Paton Walsh, CNN
September 4, 2012 -- Updated 1412 GMT (2212 HKT)
Young girl hit by sniper bullet in Aleppo
Source: CNN
STORY HIGHLIGHTS
Aleppo, Syria (CNN) -- Rena was playing on her lounge floor, in her mother's lap, when the shot tore through her cheek. She grimaced, cried for her mother and then went silent, as the blood began to flow in her mouth.
The bullet came from nowhere, bursting through the frosted-glass window on the family balcony, knocking out one of her teeth, and shattering her family's world. But in Aleppo, their ordeal had just begun because the struggle here is always to find medical help, fast.
Her neighbor -- the women looking after Rena can't leave their home unaccompanied by male relatives -- then rushed her to the street, carrying her body. That's when we saw him, the sight of a man carrying a limp girl still striking even amid the daily atrocities of Aleppo.
He flagged down a truck and they began to race towards the hospital. We followed, unsure what had happened. After a minute, the neighbor noticed us and clearly decided our car might move through the traffic faster. He stopped the truck he was in, leapt out and ran towards us, Rena bleeding in his arms, and screamed for help.
Inside Syria: Bombs, road blocks and ice cream
CNN.expElements.expand16Store=mObj;
Syrians wait to get out and into Turkey
Syrian's duty: Record the dying
Are Syrian forces targeting civilians?
He threw Rena onto the back seat and told us to race to the hospital, saying, "Guys, she's choking."
Amid the traffic and blast of our horns, the sound of Rena's struggle to breathe was clear. A sucking sound, coupled with a gargle. The blood was flowing down her cheeks. Her neighbor screamed out of the window for cars to pass. After a minute that seemed to creep by, the car arrived at the hospital.
Dar Al'Shifa sees trauma every hour in many forms. But a child shot in the face still causes doctors to jolt. They raced her into the back emergency room and began to work on her face. The bullet had entered her mouth cleanly but had torn up the other side of her mouth. Soon it became clear they thought she would live. She was breathing more easily. The bandages made the wounds seem less severe.
Opposition: Syrian bomb kills a family
But one problem remained. Dar Al'Shifa is in rebel territory where medical supplies are exhausted and hard to replenish. The decisions doctors take daily defy belief. In Rena's case, she could not get the surgery on her face she clearly needed there, so the doctors dared to think the unthinkable, and sent her across the front lines to the better equipped government hospital. She was piled into a truck and then vanished.
The women who were caring for her when the bullet struck -- her grandmother and mother -- were still at home trying to understand what had happened. On the stairs up to the apartment was Rena's blood. Inside the apartment was her tooth. In the window was the small hole that the bullet had made.
More than 100,000 refugees flee Syria in one month
A military-trained safety adviser working with the CNN crew assessed the hole made by the bullet and the trajectory when it hit Rena.
It was clear to him that it must have been fired from one of the high apartment blocks opposite Rena's home. These buildings are inside rebel territory, but snipers -- particularly those working for the infamous pro-government militia known as the Shabeeha -- are thought to work inside rebel-held areas, and few could explain why the Free Syrian Army would shoot into areas that were sympathetic to it.
The glass through which the bullet passed was frosted, meaning the gunman would not have seen exactly who were his targets. But the deliberate nature of how indiscriminate this was made it all the more chilling.
The family members were, at that time, calm. They believed that Rena was getting the best of care and prepared for their hazardous trip to government territory to see her. It seemed like there had been a miraculous escape.
The next morning, we returned. Locals in the street broke the news to us. Rena was dead. It was hard to believe that the girl we had seen recover, and who appeared so free from the bullet that should have killed her, had died from her wounds.
The family refused to speak to us at first. We were told the father was angry we had entered the home and feared reprisals.
After an hour, one relative met us outside. They said Rena had been rushed to two government hospitals. At each, they said, doctors had tried to help her. At each, they failed. It appears the bullet, which we did not find inside their home, had lodged inside her throat.
A sniper's bullet had killed a four-year-old girl, leaving us wondering how the violence now engulfing Aleppo will ever end, whether its civilians will ever recover life as they knew it.
Syria faces societal fissures
By Nick Paton Walsh, CNN
September 4, 2012 -- Updated 1412 GMT (2212 HKT)
Young girl hit by sniper bullet in Aleppo
Source: CNN
STORY HIGHLIGHTS
- A bullet comes from nowhere but finds 4-year-old Rena, in her mother's lap
- The shot tears through her cheek; a family's desperate rush for help begins
- Dar Al'Shifa hospital sees trauma every hour, in many forms, in a city scourged by war
- But a child shot in the face still causes doctors to jolt
Aleppo, Syria (CNN) -- Rena was playing on her lounge floor, in her mother's lap, when the shot tore through her cheek. She grimaced, cried for her mother and then went silent, as the blood began to flow in her mouth.
The bullet came from nowhere, bursting through the frosted-glass window on the family balcony, knocking out one of her teeth, and shattering her family's world. But in Aleppo, their ordeal had just begun because the struggle here is always to find medical help, fast.
Her neighbor -- the women looking after Rena can't leave their home unaccompanied by male relatives -- then rushed her to the street, carrying her body. That's when we saw him, the sight of a man carrying a limp girl still striking even amid the daily atrocities of Aleppo.
He flagged down a truck and they began to race towards the hospital. We followed, unsure what had happened. After a minute, the neighbor noticed us and clearly decided our car might move through the traffic faster. He stopped the truck he was in, leapt out and ran towards us, Rena bleeding in his arms, and screamed for help.
Inside Syria: Bombs, road blocks and ice cream
CNN.expElements.expand16Store=mObj;
Syrians wait to get out and into Turkey Syrian's duty: Record the dying Are Syrian forces targeting civilians? He threw Rena onto the back seat and told us to race to the hospital, saying, "Guys, she's choking."
Amid the traffic and blast of our horns, the sound of Rena's struggle to breathe was clear. A sucking sound, coupled with a gargle. The blood was flowing down her cheeks. Her neighbor screamed out of the window for cars to pass. After a minute that seemed to creep by, the car arrived at the hospital.
Dar Al'Shifa sees trauma every hour in many forms. But a child shot in the face still causes doctors to jolt. They raced her into the back emergency room and began to work on her face. The bullet had entered her mouth cleanly but had torn up the other side of her mouth. Soon it became clear they thought she would live. She was breathing more easily. The bandages made the wounds seem less severe.
Opposition: Syrian bomb kills a family But one problem remained. Dar Al'Shifa is in rebel territory where medical supplies are exhausted and hard to replenish. The decisions doctors take daily defy belief. In Rena's case, she could not get the surgery on her face she clearly needed there, so the doctors dared to think the unthinkable, and sent her across the front lines to the better equipped government hospital. She was piled into a truck and then vanished.
The women who were caring for her when the bullet struck -- her grandmother and mother -- were still at home trying to understand what had happened. On the stairs up to the apartment was Rena's blood. Inside the apartment was her tooth. In the window was the small hole that the bullet had made.
More than 100,000 refugees flee Syria in one month
A military-trained safety adviser working with the CNN crew assessed the hole made by the bullet and the trajectory when it hit Rena.
It was clear to him that it must have been fired from one of the high apartment blocks opposite Rena's home. These buildings are inside rebel territory, but snipers -- particularly those working for the infamous pro-government militia known as the Shabeeha -- are thought to work inside rebel-held areas, and few could explain why the Free Syrian Army would shoot into areas that were sympathetic to it.
The glass through which the bullet passed was frosted, meaning the gunman would not have seen exactly who were his targets. But the deliberate nature of how indiscriminate this was made it all the more chilling.
The family members were, at that time, calm. They believed that Rena was getting the best of care and prepared for their hazardous trip to government territory to see her. It seemed like there had been a miraculous escape.
The next morning, we returned. Locals in the street broke the news to us. Rena was dead. It was hard to believe that the girl we had seen recover, and who appeared so free from the bullet that should have killed her, had died from her wounds.
The family refused to speak to us at first. We were told the father was angry we had entered the home and feared reprisals.
After an hour, one relative met us outside. They said Rena had been rushed to two government hospitals. At each, they said, doctors had tried to help her. At each, they failed. It appears the bullet, which we did not find inside their home, had lodged inside her throat.
A sniper's bullet had killed a four-year-old girl, leaving us wondering how the violence now engulfing Aleppo will ever end, whether its civilians will ever recover life as they knew it.
Syria faces societal fissures
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