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(Reuters) - Syrian rebels broke through government lines to ease a siege of their positions in the strategic central city of Homs on Sunday despite coming under fierce aerial bombardment, opposition campaigners said. The communally mixed city of Sunni Muslims and Alawites, the minority sect that has dominated Syria since the 1960s, has emerged as a major battleground in the two-year-old uprising against President Bashar al-Assad. The bloodshed has claimed about 70,000 lives so far, according to the United Nations. Homs, 140 km (88 miles) north of Damascus in central Syria, lies on a vital road juncture linking army bases on the Mediterranean coast, home to a large proportion of Assad's Alawites, and government forces in the capital Damascus. In a counter-offensive, Sunni rebels punched their way through government lines in the north and west to loosen a months-long army siege on their strongholds in the center of the Syria's third biggest city, opposition sources said. Insurgents based in the provinces of ...

Syria's opposition umbrella group, the Syrian National Coalition, will meet in the Turkish city of Istanbul next week to elect a provisional prime minister to run a political transition if President Bashar al-Assad falls, coalition members said. The opposition wants to create a provisional government to administer rebel-held areas in Syria and to show it can fill a power vacuum left by collapsing state institutions, putting structures in place to curb chaos in a post-Assad era. The Istanbul meeting - to be held on March 12 and 13 - was called after former Prime Minister Riad Hijab, the highest-ranking civilian defector from Assad's government, withdrew his candidacy, several coalition members said on Thursday. Hijab had run into opposition from Islamists and liberals in the coalition for his past ties with Syria's ruling hierarchy. "The field of candidates has been expanding since Hijab withdrew," said one coalition member who asked not to be named. The opposition had planned to meet on March 2, but postp ...

Syrian Rebels Accuse Assad of Deals with Israel Syrian rebels are claiming clandestine deals between Assad and the Jewish State while kidnapping UN peacekeepers. Arutz Sheva By Chana Ya'ar First Publish: 3/8/2013, 2:44 AM Israel-Syria ceasefire line on Golan Heights Reuters Syrian rebels have begun to show their colors with anti-Israel accusations claiming a clandestine deal between President Bashar al-Assad and the Jewish State and kidnapping United Nations peacekeeping forces. Businessman Piras Tlass, a member of the opposition, told the Al Arabiya television news network this week that the office of President Bashar al-Assad had arranged secret deals with Israel, among them a direct delivery of Syrian crude oil to the Jewish State. Tlass claimed Assad agents murdered former Prime Minister Mahmoud Zuabi because he planned to expose the agreements. Tlass, son of former Syrian Defense Secretary Mustafa Tlass, is the brother of Manaf Tlass, a former Brigadier-General in the Syrian Republican Guard and a me ...

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said Wednesday that “a lot of countries” are training Syrian rebels as part of stepped up efforts to topple President Bashar al-Assad’s regime. “It’s one part of it. But other nations are doing other things. There are a lot of nations working at this...

Press TV l Iraqi gunmen kill 42 Syrian soldiers, 7 Iraqis: officials At least 42 Syrian soldiers and seven Iraqis have been killed in an ambush attack by Iraqi gunmen near the two countries sharing border, Iraqi army officers say. The convoy of the Syrian soldiers entered Iraq through the Yaarubiyeh border when militants fighting against President Bashar al-Assad's troops took the Syrian side of the border on Saturday, Lieutenant Colonel Mohammed Khalaf al-Dulaimi of the border protection forces said on Monday. There are reports that several Syrian government officials were also among the dead. The soldiers were on their way back to the border in Iraq’s western Anbar province, where Iraqi authorities were going to hand them over to Syrian officials, Dulaimi said. Gunmen attacked the convoy from two sides with mortar rounds, automatic weapons and mines. Eight Syrians and four Iraqis were also wounded, and three vehicles in the convoy destroyed. Syria has been experiencing unrest since March 2011. Many pe ...

Published reports penetration for social networking accounts to Qatar Foundation The Washington Post reported on Saturday that U.S. success anonymous hackers - who call themselves Syrian electronic army loyal to President Bashar al-Assad - to penetrate the website of the Qatar Foundation is a reminder that the Internet has opened new fronts in the war. And suspended the newspaper on piracy new to this national institution on Education, Culture and Science, saying that these pirates loyal to the Syrian regime succeeded in penetrating the tens of websites and accounts social networking sites during the past two years, including pages with President Barack Obama and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and site organization Amnesty International. But with prolonged conflict in Syria, such electronic intrusions no longer have value news reporting which had in the past, according to the U.S. newspaper. If what you pour Syrian electronic army to achieve exactly? Asks the Washington Post. Some believe that the ans ...

Iran says Assad 'will take part' in 2014 vote Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi also says President Bashar al-Assad has "no choice" but to keep fighting rebels. Last Modified: 03 Mar 2013 02:49 President Bashar al-Assad will take part in Syria's next presidential election in 2014, the foreign minister of close Damascus ally Iran has said. "In the next election, President Assad, like others, will take part, and the Syrian people will elect whomever they want," Ali Akbar Salehi said at a news conference on Saturday with his visiting Syrian counterpart, Walid al-Muallem. "The official position of Iran is that... Assad will remain legitimate president until the next... election" in 2014, Salehi said. Muallem arrived on Saturday for talks aimed at ending the nearly two-year conflict in Syria that the United Nations says has killed at least 70,000 people and is tearing the country apart. His visit comes after a week of intense international diplomacy aimed at ending the bloodshed. Salehi threw Iran's weight beh ...

Syria fighting sparks tension on Iraq border Iraqi troops fire warning shots after Syria rebels seize control of most of Yaarabiya town, including Iraqi border post. Last Modified: 02 Mar 2013 21:30 Clashes between the Syrian army and rebels at a border crossing have brought the conflict close to neighbouring Iraq, where troops fired warning shots, residents and officials have reported. Opposition fighters seized control of half of the northeastern Syrian town of Yaarabiya, including a shared border crosssing with Iraq, in a battle with forces loyal to President Bashar al-Assad on Friday and early Saturday, activists said. Mayor of Iraq's Nineveh Province told Al Jazeera that Syrian government planes shelled Yaarabiya border crossing from Iraqi airspace. The central government has not commented on the statement. A Syrian rebel commander earlier said the Iraqi army fired across the border at Syrian rebels, but Iraqi military sources denied the report. A medical source from a hospital in Iraq's Telafar vill ...

ROME (Reuters) - The United States will send non-lethal aid directly to Syrian rebels for the first time, Secretary of State John Kerry said on Thursday, disappointing opponents of President Bashar al-Assad

Syrians in BRAZIL Voice Support to Political Program of Solving Crisis in A symposium on the situations in Syria has been held at the Syrian Cultural Center in Sao Paolo City through which the participants voiced support to the approach adopted by the Syrian Government in implementing the integrated political program proposed by President Bashar al-Assad. During the event, various political, social and economic activities affirmed their standing by the steadfast Syrian people in face of the international, imperialistic and Zionist conspiracies. They stressed that the Syrian community and Syria's friends in Brazil strongly support the Syrian army. They condemned the role played by Qatar, Turkey, Saudi Arabia and other countries as well as the Arab League, denouncing media fabrications and its criminal tools. They also condemned Turkey's role in robbing the factories and facilitating the entrance of armed terrorists to Syria through the Syrian-Turkish borders. The participants affirmed rejection of all the ...

Religion Main article: Religion in Syria Great Mosque of Aleppo, Aleppo Sunni account for 74% of the population,[108] while 13% are Shia (Alawite, Twelvers, and Ismailis combined),[108] 10% Christian[108] (the majority Antiochian Orthodox, the rest include Greek Catholic, Assyrian Church of the East, Armenian Orthodox, Protestants and other denominations), and 3% Druze.[108] Druze number around 500,000, and concentrate mainly in the southern area of Jabal al-Druze.[109] President Bashar al-Assad's family is Alawite and Alawites dominate the government of Syria and hold key military positions.[110] Christians (2.5 million), a sizable number of which are found among Syria's population of Palestinian refugees, are divided into several groups. Chalcedonian Antiochian Orthodox make up 35,7% of the Christian population; the Catholics (Melkite, Armenian Catholic, Syriac Catholic, Maronite, Chaldean Catholic and Latin) make up 26,2%; the Armenian Apostolic Church 10,9%, the Syrian Orthodox make up 22,4%; Assyrian ...

U.S. condemns attacks on Aleppo U.S. government has condemned the recent rocket attacks on the Syrian city Aleppo sharp. State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said in Washington yesterday, the Russian attacks with Scud missiles showed the "ruthlessness of the Syrian regime and its lack of concern for the Syrian people." The Damascus government is legitimized by nothing and remain "only by brute force in power." Those responsible, including President Bashar al-Assad would have to resign and clear the way for a political transition to rebuilding the country, it said in the statement. The United States saw an early meeting with the "legitimate representative of the Syrian people", the opposition National Coalition against. It should be discussed "how the United States and other friends of the Syrian people more to support the Syrian people could do in the political transition".

" US, UK armies make plans to seize Syria's chemical weapons " London :- American and British military commanders have planned to seize or destroy Syria's chemical weapons if the country slides into further chaos. They fear that nerve agents and chemical weapons held by forces loyal to President Bashar al-Assad's regime could fall into terrorists' hands if the government collapses entirely. According to the Telegraph, senior officers have also held talks on a range of 'rogue state' contingency plans to prevent chemical, biological or nuclear weapons from being seized by terrorists. British intelligence believes Syria has amassedan extensive arsenal of WMD, including nerve agents such as Sarin, one of the most deadly weapons ever created, and chemical weapons such as mustard gas. They have so far not been used and are currently considered to be well guarded by the Syrian security forces, the report said. Intelligence sources said that militant Islamistgroups, however, were already in Syria fighting against ...

The hindu editorial Striving for dialogue in Syria 18 February 2013 The February 12 capture of an airfield near Aleppo by a Syrian rebel group is the first in which the insurgents have seized usable warplanes; it also marks a change in the rebels’ approach, from battles in cities — including Damascus — to attacks on military bases. A month earlier, rebels had taken the Taftanaz airfield in northernSyria. In response, government forces have launched air attackson al-Jarrah, as they have done after previous rebel captures of airfields. Captured warplanes will strengthen the Syrian National Coalition (SNC) forces, because President Bashar al-Assad’s troops have so far been able to repulse ground-based rebel attacks by using their vast air power; it is not clear, however, if those pilots who have defected can fly the rebel-held machines. Meanwhilethe civil war rages on, and the United Nations High Commissioner for Human RightsNavanethem Pillay has given theU.N. Security Council a sharply increased est ...

DAMASCUS: Syria's civil war has burst into central Damascus and its indiscriminate violence has put civilians in the firing line. Thursday's powerful bomb which killed more than 60 people in the capital's Mazraa district may have targeted President Bashar al-Assad's ruling Baath Party or the emba

Disgraceful occurrences in Syria DAMASCUS — Rebel fighters in Damascus are disciplined, skilled and brave. In a month on the frontline, I saw them defend a swathe of suburbs in the Syrian capital, mount complex mass attacks, manage logistics, treat their wounded - and die before my eyes. But as constant, punishingly accurate, mortar, tank and sniper fire attested, President Bashar al-Assad's soldiers on the other side, often just a room or a grenade toss away, are also well drilled, courageous - and much better armed. So while the troops were unable to dislodge brigades of the Free Syrian Army from devastated and depopulated neighborhoods just east of the city centre - and indeed made little effort to do so - there seems little immediate prospect of the rebels overrunning Assad's stronghold. The result is bloody stalemate. I watched both sides mount assaults, some trying to gain just a house or two, others for bigger prizes, only to be forced back by sharpshooters, mortars or sprays of machinegun fire. ...

GENEVA (Reuters) - United Nations investigators said on Monday that Syrian leaders they had identified as suspected war criminals should face the International Criminal Court (ICC). The investigators urged the U.N. Security Council to "act urgently to ensure accountability" for violations, including murder and torture, committed by both sides in a conflict that has killed an estimated 70,000 people since a revolt against President Bashar al-Assad began in March, 2011. "Now really it's time...We have a permanent court, the International Criminal Court, who would be ready to take this case," Carla del Ponte, a former ICC chief prosecutor who joined the U.N. team in September, told a news briefing in Geneva. The inquiry, led by Brazilian Paulo Pinheiro, is tracing the chain of command to establish criminal responsibility and build a case for eventual prosecution. "Of course we were able to identify high-level perpetrators," del Ponte said, adding that these were people "in command responsibility...deciding, ...

Britain, apparently backed by a handful of European Union allies, is fighting to lift an EU arms embargo barring the supply of weapons to the Syrian rebel coalition battling President Bashar al-Assad. As EU foreign ministers go into a daylong meeting on the issue Monday, the internal…

rebels on offensive as accused DAMASCUS: Rebels pressed the "Battle of the airports" in north Syria, striking three key facilities, as the main opposition bloc on Sunday accused Lebanon's Hezbollah of fighting alongside its regime allies in Damascus. Peace envoy Lakhdar Brahimi urged backing for an opposition offer of talks with President Bashar al-Assad's regime after the UN rights chief called for international action against the Syrian leader. In Aleppo, fierce clashes raged between Syrian troops and several rebel battalions, with insurgents seizing an army checkpoint near Nayrab military airbase, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. Nayrab is adjacent to Aleppo International Airport, a key target for the rebels who have also been battling troops guarding Kwiyres military airbase east of the city and Menegh airbase to the north. The opposition Syrian National Council, meanwhile, accused members of Lebanon's powerful Shiite militant group Hezbollah of intervening in the two-year conflic ...

Red Cross: Syria 'Catastrophic' The Red Cross says the humanitarian situation in Syria is now "catastrophic." Pierre Kraehenbuehl, a top Red Cross official, said the organization was working with both sides in the conflict to ensure humanitarian aid gets through to people impacted by the nearly two-year-old conflict to unseat President Bashar al-Assad, which has left some 70,000 dead. In Geneva, the UN World Food program said some 40,000 Syrians have fled the northeastern town of Shadadah. Rebels seized the town and most of a nearby oil field in days of clashes this week. Meanwhile, on the ground inside Syria, rebels said they had seized a military airbase near the International Airport in Aleppo. Activists said government warplanes bombed areas around Aleppo's International Airport earlier on February 15. Quoted by AP, activists said some 150 people have died in fighting around the International Airport in Aleppo in recent days. Elsewhere, activists said regime tanks shelled the town of Khan Sheikhun in ...

Samaha said Dr. Ahmad Badr Eddin Hassoun Grand Mufti of the Republic: "Syria today dressing wounds to start to build the same building new They pay tax positions of pro-Arab issues and her fault she did not kneel not subject to the dictates of the projects American and Zionist targeting fragmentation region," stressing that the world will see and hear soon about the birth of new Syria learned new lessons and learned how to take prevention as a result of what has happened during the past two years, from the machinations of about one hundred Western country and close neighbor. He Hassoun in an interview with Channel fields night: "Freedom comes from the people, not from outside the country and the Arab world is still in chaos Rabia alleged looking for salvation," adding that the political program presented by President Bashar al-Assad on dialogue was wider than the statement Geneva issued by International Working Group on Syria in thirty of the month of June, pointing out that Syria doors wide open to anyon ...

Is It Time We Fight Syria? There’s an unfortunate tendency among foreign policy decision makers in Washington to believe that all options remain on the table indefinitely. Hence, President Obama may believe that the same debates and policy options that occurred two years ago, at the start of the Syrian uprising, still exist today. The fact of the matter, be it in Syria, Afghanistan, Iran, North Korea, or anywhere else is that realistic policy options and opportunities to achieve the most favorable outcome for the United States diminish over time. Two years ago, it made sense to support the Syrian opposition. President Bashar al-Assad, far from being the Western-educated reformer in which the Clinton administration and State Department officials placed so much hope, was a brute who supported Hezbollah, transformed Syria into an underground railroad for Al Qaeda terrorists infiltrating Iraq, and sought to build a covert nuclear program. The United States is never the only player in the sandbox, however. B ...

Pushkov: We Reject Precondition of President al-Assad Departure Feb 13, 2013 MOSCOW, (SANA) – Chairman of the State Duma International Affairs Committee, Alexei Pushkov, stressed that Russia does not agree with the approach that calls for President Bashar al-Assad to step aside before going for dialogue. "We reject the requirement of the departure of President al-Assad as a precondition to launch dialogue between the parties concerned in Syria," Russia Today website quoted Pushkov as saying on Wednesday. Speaking during a press conference in Moscow, the Russian official stressed that the US has started to move toward the Russian position regarding the crisis in Syria as it acknowledged that the downfall of the government institutions in Syria would result in grave repercussions. "The US realized that if everything would fall apart we would be having a second Afghanistan," Pushkov added. He reiterated that the settlement in Syria will be as follows: "dialogue comes first and the future of the political s ...

COVERING SYRIA: THE INFORMATION WAR Al Mayadeen TV interviews Aisling Byrne, the Projects Co-ordinator with Conflicts Forum and is based in Beirut The narrative that has been constructed by the Western mainstream media on Syria may seem to be self-evident from the scenes presented on television, but it is a narrative duplicitously promoted and coordinated so as to conceal and facilitate the regime-change project that is part of the war on Iran. What we are seeing is a new stage of information war intentionally constructed and cast as a simplistic narrative of a struggle for Human Rights and democracy so as deliberately to exclude other interpretations and any geo-strategic motivation. The narrative, as CNN puts it, is in essence this: "The vast majority of reports from the ground indicate that government forces are killing citizens in an attempt to wipe out civilians seeking [President Bashar] al-Assad's ouster" - the aim being precisely to elicit a heart-wrenching emotional response in Western audiences ...

Iran and Hezbollah build militia networks in Syria, officials say US and Middle East officials say Iran is seeking to protect interests in Syria if Assad falls or leaves Damascus Share inShare2 Email Karen DeYoung and Joby Warrick for the Washington Post Guardian Weekly, Tuesday 12 February 2013 13.59 GMT Syria conflict Syrian anti-regime protesters wave pre-Baath Syrian flags, now used by the Free Syrian Army. Phot: Aamir Qureshi/AFP/Getty Iran and Hezbollah, its Lebanese proxy, are building a network of militias inside Syria to preserve their interests in the event that President Bashar al-Assad's government falls or is forced to retreat from Damascus, according to US and Middle Eastern officials. The militias are fighting alongside Syrian government forces. But officials believe Iran's long-term goal is to have reliable operatives in place in the event that Syria fractures into separate ethnic and sectarian enclaves. A senior Obama administration official cited Iranian claims that Tehran was backing as ...

"An Egyptian delegation in Damascus to “support President Bashar al-Assad in his war against extremism.” The agency quoted Hassan telling Syrian parliament speaker Mohamed Jihad al-Lahham: the Syrian conflict had nothing to with the Arab Spring, Syria's people and army are committed to unity in the face of armed militias. Arab countries would prevail against colonialist plans to divide them and build a bright future, Egypt and Syria are both fighting Muslim Brotherhood and Salafi extremist ideologies and terrorism."

WHY ASSAD WILL FIGHT TO THE END From Bashar al-Assad's perspective, he really has no option other than to fight to the death. A striking fact about civil wars is that the outcome is often clear months or even years before the war ends. Jefferson Davis knew he would lose the American Civil War after the fall of Atlanta, yet continued to fight to the end. Muammar Gaddafi almost certainly knew that he would lose the war in Libya as soon as NATO assaults began, yet he continued to fight. The same is true of President Bashar al-Assad of Syria. History has shown that determined leaders will continue to fight a civil war even if they know they will eventually lose. President Assad continues this tradition as he engages in his own costly march to defeat. Assad will not emerge victorious from this war. This was known as early as February 2011 when both the Director of US Intelligence and the CIA testified to the US Senate that Assad would not weather this challenge. If it is true that Assad will lose this war, why ...

The Vancouver Sun, Canada / Canada warned world arming Syrian rebels would lead to civil war OTTAWA — Canada voiced major concerns about other countries arming Syrian rebel groups last April and wanted the international community to push those same groups to limit themselves to “peaceful, non-violent protests,” government documents show. The warnings, contained in briefing documents prepared for Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird, show Canadian officials were worried that providing weapons to the Syrian opposition could lead to an escalation in the conflict, including divisions along religious lines and an increase in terrorist activity across the region That, of course, is exactly what has happened. The documents also show that despite strong statements calling for an end to President Bashar al-Assad’s rule in Syria, Canadian initiatives within the war-torn country have faced setbacks over the past year.

AMMAN/BEIRUT (Reuters) - Rebels have captured Syria's biggest hydro-electric dam and battled army tank units near the center of Damascus, activists said as the opposition renewed an offer on Monday to negotiate the departure of President Bashar al-Assad. On the Turkish border, nine people were kille...

Can Social Media Disarm Syria ’s Chemical Arsenal? Feb 8, 2013 4:45 AM EST If you are a Syrian military officer in charge of some nasty chemical weapons, you’ve probably been friended or Skyped by the U.S. government. The message is simple: think twice before using or selling that mustard gas you are guarding. On July 18, when a suicide bomber struck a meeting of Syria’s security cabinet, killing the defense minister and President Bashar al-Assad’s brother-in-law, it was a major victory for Syria ’s opposition. But it was also a cause for serious alarm at the Pentagon. In public, Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta warned what was left of the regime’s leadership to protect the state’s large stockpile of chemical weapons. Privately, the U.S. intelligence community began to worry that the Syrian officials known to have the ability to authorize the use of that arsenal were now dead or gravely injured. A scramble then ensued: who were the midlevel officers in charge of the Syrian Air Force and Arm ...

AMMAN, Feb 8, Reuters - President Bashar al-Assad's forces fought back on Friday in an effort to retake sections of the Damascus ring road from rebels trying to tighten their noose around the capital, opposition activists said. Rebel fighters based in the eastern Ghouta region broke through defensiv...

Washington (AFP) Feb 7, 2013 - Defense Secretary Leon Panetta on Thursday admitted for the first time that the Pentagon had backed proposals to arm the Syrian opposition battling to oust President Bashar al-Assad.

President Bashar al-Assad’s government said it was ready for talks with opposition leaders provided there were no preconditions, an indication there may still be a slight chance for a political solution to the conflict. “The door is open, the negotiating table is there, welcome to an...

Moscow appreciates the opposition willingness for dialogue… Dmitry Peskov the spokesman of Russian President Vladimir Putin said that his country is convinced that the future of Syria should be determined by the concerned parties in Syria and not abroad, and that Moscow's position on the Syrian crisis is characterized by connecting with all the conflict parties to ensure comprehensive dialogue .Peskov said that Russia's position on the Syrian crisis is unique, because we communicate not only with one side but with the President Bashar al-Assad’ government, who we consider to be a legitimate president and a legitimate governor to Syria, and we communicate with the opposition representatives. The spokesman of Russian President added We are working with our international partners in order to ensure dialogue between all Syrian Concerned parties without any external pressure, adding that his country appreciates the willingness of the opposition for dialogue, which must begin in Damascus between President . ...

AMMAN (Reuters) - Heavy fighting erupted in Damascus on Wednesday after opposition fighters launched a coordinated offensive from the suburbs against President Bashar al-Assad's forces, breaking a lull in the capital, opposition campaigners said. The authorities closed the main Abbasid Square and th...

Syrian rebels and regime forces fought their most intense clashes in weeks inside the heavily guarded capital of Damascus on Wednesday, activists said, with the sounds of shell blasts echoing through the downtown area and keeping many children home from school while residents hid in their houses. The opposition fighters blasted army checkpoints with rifles and anti-aircraft guns while government forces shelled the eastern and southern suburbs, trying to repel a new insurgent effort to push the civil war into the heart of the capital, the anti-regime activists said Although bordered by rebellious suburbs that have seen fierce fighting, widespread clashes have remained mostly on the capital's edges, saving it from the destruction that has ravaged other major cities such as Aleppo and Homs. The military of President Bashar has focused on securing the capital, and the dozens of rebels groups that have established footholds in Damascus suburbs have failed to form a united front, each fighting for its own area ...

MAYADIN, Syria (Reuters) - In a small town in Syria's east, Islamist militants have taken unclothed mannequins they see as sexually enticing out of the shops. Members of the al-Nusra Front, al Qaeda's Syria affiliate, have also prevented women from wearing trousers, preferring that they adopt the shapeless head-to-toe black veil. The town of 54,000 on the Euphrates river offers a snapshot of what life could be like if Islamist rebels take control of significant areas of Syria as President Bashar al-Assad loses further ground. Of all the hundreds of rebel units, al-Nusra is considered the most effective. Its fighters, who seek out death in battle as a form of martyrdom, have achieved victories in attacks on several military bases across the country. They still represent a small fraction of the armed anti-Assad groups fighting in Syria but are growing in size and influence. Their militants, bolstered by veteran Iraqis who battled U.S. forces, fought alongside rebel units from the Free Syrian Army, an umbrel ...

To the Saudi Regime: Beware of the Syrian Spring (Ahlul Bayt News Agency) - Anyone following the current events in Syria moment by moment can only be fully certain and confident that these venerable successive events will not have but only one single happy end i.e. the victory of the Syrian people, led by President Bashar al-Assad, at the head of the common reform-oriented march, led by this president, who showed that he has ability, courage, wisdom and strength, the thing that the rulers of the modern world, or most of them at least, do lack. There is no doubt that this is what will happen, and what will be achieved. This is the happy foreseen end regarding the Syrian situation, and reaching and achieved it is only a matter of time!!! www.rizvia.net What we are going to witness in the near future is a victory for the opposing resisting Syria, both the government and people, and an overwhelming and thunderous defeat for the hordes of terrorism, those who are being funded and fully backed by the Arab worn ...

BEIRUT | Mon Feb 4, 2013 8:17am EST (Reuters) - Iran told Israel on Monday it would regret its air strike against Syria last week, without spelling out whether Iran or its ally planned any military response. "They will regret this recent aggression," Saeed Jalili, Secretary of Iran's Supreme National Security Council, told a news conference in Damascus a day after holding talks there with President Bashar al-Assad. Jalili likened Israel's attack on a military compound north-west of Damascus on Wednesday to previous conflicts including its 34-day war with Lebanon's Shi'ite militant group Hezbollah in 2006, all battles that he said Israel had lived to regret. "Today, too, both the people and the government of Syria are serious regarding the issue. And also the Islamic community is supporting Syria," he said. Jalili said Iran, in its current role as head of the Non-Aligned Movement, would work on Syria's behalf on the international stage in response to the attack. Israeli Defence Minister Ehud Barak said on ...

Fight against al-Qaida could last a generation The west's fight against al-Qaida is like the battle against revolutionary communism, says Tony Blair, who warns that it could last for a generation. The former prime minister said on Sunday that Britain was right to send troops to support the French effort in Mali to put down a terrorist attempt to overthrow the country's government. David Cameron faced difficult decisions to fight terrorism, Blair said, but warned the cost of standing aside would be far greater. Britain at least had to try to "shape" events in the Middle East, he added, telling the BBC's Andrew Marr Show that in Syria there was already a danger the more extreme elements of the opposition forces fighting President Bashar al-Assad's regime would take over. Blair said: "I think we should acknowledge how difficult these decisions are. Sometimes in politics you come across a decision which the choice is very binary, you go this way or that way and whichever way you go the choice is very messy. " ...

President Bashar al-Assad is a punishment from Allah to the Wahabis to reveal their hypocrisy. In Iraq, Saddam Hussein (may Allah curse him) was a secularist Baathist who killed Muslims yet Wahabis praise him so Allah sent a person who is more violent than him to discipline the Wahabis. May Allah bless you President Bashar you revealed their hypocrisy!

By Ruth Sherlock, Beirut7:30AM GMT 02 Dec 2012 The blocks of explosive that lay neatly stacked on the back seat, connected by thin wires, weighed down the silver saloon car. Gripping the steering wheel tightly, the man known to his comrades as Abu Hafez al-Shami looked steadily at the video camera, uttering a final message as he prepared himself to die: "I ask God to make me do well in this operation, and please, my brothers, pray for us." A few minutes later, a small grey mushroom cloud erupted over the military base in central Damascus that al-Sibahi attacked – blowing four Syrian soldiers to oblivion along with himself, and injuring many more. This was one of the growing number of suicide bomb attacks that are changing the face of the Syrian rebellion against President Bashar al-Assad's regime. They have shifted the balance of power away from the regime by bringing destruction to some of its most sensitive and well-guarded strongholds, often in the capital, but in doing so have also killed or maimed ...

Guardian Syria threatens revenge over Israeli air strike THURSDAY, 31 JANUARY 2013 21:24 EDITOR NEWS - WORLD Ban expresses grave concern over attack THE Syrian government has threatened to retaliate over what it claimed was an Israeli air raid, just as President Bashar al-Assad’s allies rushed to denounce the strike that threatened to take the conflict beyond Damascus‘s borders. But expectedly, Israel maintained a stony silence over Syria’s claims, as well as over separate reports that its jets had struck a weapons convoy near the Lebanon border. However, United Nations (UN) leader, Ban Ki-moon, expressed grave concern about reports of an Israeli air strike on Syria but cannot independently verify what happened, a spokesman said Thursday. Ban noted the reported strike with “grave concern,” said deputy UN spokesman Eduardo del Buey. “The secretary general calls on all concerned to prevent tensions or their escalation in the region,“ Buey added. Syria’s foreign ministry said Israel “and th ...

BRUSSELS (Reuters) - Britain's call to amend a European Union embargo on arms sales to Syria to help opponents of President Bashar al-Assad met opposition on Thursday when EU governments warned it could allow weapons to end up in the wrong hands. A package of EU sanctions against Syria comes up for renewal at the start of March, and Britain, backed among others by France, has said EU rules should be eased to allow some equipment to be sent to the rebels. But many EU capitals are reluctant to agree any changes, arguing they could open the way for more arms to reach Assad or Islamist groupings among the Syrian opposition. At a meeting in Brussels, EU foreign ministers agreed to continue discussions on the issue in February to determine what types of equipment, particularly protective gear, can be provided under existing rules and to find a compromise. "On the one hand we have to support moderate forces of the opposition," German Foreign Minister *** Westerwelle said after the meeting. "On the other hand i . ...

Donors meet target of $1.5B aid for stricken Syrians - UN By SYLVIA WESTALL, REUTERSJanuary 31, 2013 1:45am KUWAIT - Donor countries have pledged more than $1.5 billion to aid Syrians stricken by civil war, U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said on Wednesday after warning that the conflict had wrought a catastrophic humanitarian crisis. In a pointed message for Syria's leader, Ban told a fund-raising conference that President Bashar al-Assad bore primary responsibility to stop his country's suffering after nearly two years of conflict that have cost an estimated 60,000 lives. "Every day Syrians face unrelenting horrors," Ban told the gathering in Kuwait, adding these included sexual violence and arbitrary killings. Sixty-five people were shot dead execution-style in Aleppo on Tuesday, opposition activists said. "We cannot go on like this. He should listen to the voices and cries of so many people," Ban said. "I appeal to all sides and particularly the Syrian government to stop the killing ... in the name ...

ption:The Syrian civil war, also referred to as the Syrian uprising, is an ongoing armed conflict in Syria between forces loyal to the Syrian Ba'ath Party government and those seeking to oust it. The conflict began on 15 March 2011 with nationwide demonstrations, as part of the wider protest movement known as the Arab Spring. Protesters demanded the resignation of President Bashar al-Assad, the present personification of his family's decades-long rule, as well as the end to nearly five decades of Ba'ath Party rule.

Here's a rather long article published in Today's Zaman. It seems there ARE good people living in places other than the US: Active Charities Reflect Turkey’s Compassionate Face 27 January 2013 /İBRAHİM TÜRKMEN, ISTANBUL They rushed to extend a hand to Syrian refugees when thousands of people crossed the border to escape the atrocities of President Bashar al-Assad. They amassed tons of humanitarian aid and donations and sent it to Somalia, where hundreds of thousands of people starved during a deadly famine. They were in Pakistan to help the victims of a deluge that left 455 dead and 400,000 homeless. They extended a helping hand to relieve the suffering of the Rohingya Muslims, who are subjected to massacre, torture and starvation in Myanmar by extremist Buddhists. They were in Gaza to heal the wounds of the civilians suffering in severe conditions due to a tight blockade by the Israeli government. They were in Africa to drill thousands of water wells and to treat disease. They built homes for orphan ...

Lebanese Newspaper Reveals Turkish, Qatari Plots against Syria Qatari and Turkish officials in a recent meeting discussed a plot to prevent the nomination of incumbent President Bashar al-Assad in 2014 presidential election, including all-out efforts to topple the Syrian government before election, a Lebanese newspaper reported on Wednesday. In a meeting with Qatari Crown Prince Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad bin Khalifa Al-Thani, Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davoudoglu told Tamim that Bashar Assad should not have the opportunity to rule the country until 2014, al-Akhbar said. The Lebanese daily reported that Davoudoglu has also underlined that Syria should go under financial sanctions in a bid to have the Syrian government weakened. Turkey is among the countries that support militants inside Syria. Ankara provides military training for anti-Damascus militants along its borders with Syria. The unrest in Syria began in March 2011. The Syrian government of Bashar al-Assad says that the chaos is being orchestrated ...

About 80 Russian citizens crossed the Syrian border into Lebanon and flew into a Moscow airport before dawn on Wednesday, a small-scale evacuation that may signal the dwindling Russian hopes that President Bashar al-Assad will regain control of the country. The move came as a United Nations’ humanitarian official emerged after a rare mission through the conflict zone to express shock at the scale of devastation. A Syrian rebel during heavy fighting in the Damascus suburbs on Tuesday. Russia took pains to issue assurances that the departures of its citizens was not a large-scale evacuation, seeking to avoid sending a dire message to Mr. Assad and his circle. One top Foreign Ministry official said that the two Emergency Services planes had been sent to Beirut to deliver humanitarian aid and had simply offered a free trip to Russia for those “wishing to go.” The number of people who left was small, considering that more than 30,000 Russians are believed to live in Syria. Still, the flights had symbolic ...

January 18, 2013 12:08 PM EDT Over 100 Massacred Near Christian-Populated Homs in Syria By Stoyan Zaimov | Christian Post Reporter (Photo: Reuters/Zaman Al) Over 100 people have reportedly been massacred on Tuesday and Wednesday in the Syrian city of Homs, which has one of the largest Christian populations in the country, with witnesses linking the murders to President Bashar al-Assad's army. "The Observatory has the names of 14 members of one family, including three children, and information on other families who were completely killed, including one of 32 people," said Rami Abdelrahman, head of British-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, the Guardian shared. The group revealed that at least 106 people were shot, stabbed and burned to death over the two-day period. Homs, Syria's third largest city, has often felt the brunt of the ongoing civil war between government loyalists and rebel groups who are bent on taking down what they see as an oppressive regime. "Three charred bodies lay sprawled just ...

Al-MonitorJordan Fears Rise of Muslim Brotherhood in Syria Tamer al-Samadi for Al-Hayat (Pan Arab)December 20, 2012 Jordanian government institutions are expressing concern over the possibility that the Muslim Brotherhood will rise to power in Syria after the fall of the regime of President Bashar a...

BEIRUT -- Syrian government troops battled rebels in several areas outside Damascus on Sunday while regime warplanes bombed opposition-held areas around the capital, including an airstrike on one village that killed at least seven people, activists said. Rebels seeking to topple President Bashar *** ..

Anisa Makhluf, the mother of President Bashar al-Assad, has left the war-torn country and joined her daughter in Dubai, Syrian expatriates in the United Arab Emirates and an activist said on Sunday. Makhluf has been living next to her daughter, Bushra, the only sister of Assad, in Dubai since around 10 days, Syrian expatriates told AFP. Bushra's husband General Assef Shawkat, an army deputy chief of staff, was killed along with three other high-ranking Syrian officials in a July 18 bombing at the National Security headquarters in Damascus. In September, Syrian residents in the Gulf emirate said that Bushra had enrolled her five children at a private school in Dubai where she had moved. Makhluf's "departure from Syria is another indication of Assad losing support even from within his family," said Ayman Abdel Nour, head of the newly-formed group Syrian Christians for Democracy and editor-in-chief of opposition news website all4syria.com. Analysts say that Assad is increasingly relying on the tightly-knit c ...

ANKARA, Turkey (AP) — French President Francois Hollande offered condolences Friday for a French journalist slain in the Syrian city of Aleppo while reporting on the civil war there. The journalist, Yves Debay, was covering clashes between rebels and forces loyal to President Bashar *** ..

For the rule of President Bashar and Syria is impossible to do For our children and Syria is stronger than their terror Mr. President and guarantee everyone a safety valve for Syria and the entire region Our President Bashar al-Assad a young man (the son of that great man unprecedented) cultured saturated with new ideas of modern democracy and is a Human Rights is essential, not a minor and does not seek to the position of not running away from responsibility, he and the likes of the sons of the homeland attached hopes to achieve reform, but the others are not like him and has said that the masses of citizens and the Baathists Yes to President Bashar al-Assad because he has all these qualities and that an extension of the leader Hafez Al-Assad Allah's mercy and God rest his soul and is now waiting masses of the people and the party a quantum leap to achieve change and development and reform required that meets the needs of development in all directions Orbiter and the informed and the biography of Preside ...

“We should send a strong signal to Assad that all options are on the table. We will therefore seek to amend the EU sanctions so that the possibility of additional assistance is not closed off.” William Hague . “Tens of thousands of Syrians have died during the civil war as Assad tries to cling to power.” Says Nicholas Cecil, a cheerleader for imperialism. Hague is implying that he wants to offer additional assistance to the Syrian opposition. This means Her Majesty’s Foreign Secretary is admitting, supporting armed insurgents in a country, which is no threat to Her Majesty or Her subjects . Unprovoked aggression, that is the stuff of war crimes, the Nuremburg Tribunal hung people for such. Cecil 11 January 2013 Britain could ship hundreds of sets of night vision goggles, body armour and helmets to Syrian rebels under new plans to oust President Bashar al-Assad. The Government is seeking to strike an agreement, possibly within weeks, with other EU countries to relax the arms embargo ...

January 06, 2013 President al-Assad : Out of Womb of Pain, Hope Should Be Begotten, from Suffering Important Solutions Rise DAMASCUS, (SANA)- President Bashar al-Assad on Sunday delivered a speech at the Opera House in Damascus in which he touched upon the latest developments in Syria and the region. The following in the full text of President al-Assad's speech: Mr. Primer, Ministers, Heads and members of the leaderships of popular organizations and trade unions, Sisters and brothers, Today I look at your faces and the faces of the people of our country as they are covered with sorrow and pain. I look into the eyes of Syria's children and I don't see an innocent laugh shinning, nor do I see toys that draw a smile on their faces. I watch the hands of elderly people and see them open to prayer for the safety of a son, a daughter or a grandson. We meet today with suffering prevailing over Syria's land leaving no room for joy in any corner of the homeland. Safety and security have been absent from the country ...

Comment is free Monday 7 January 2013 14.41 GMT Syria: why Assad may yet claim victory Perhaps it's not Bashar al-Assad who is detached from reality but Obama and Hague. Intervention looks extremely unlikelySimon TisdallReacting angrily to President Bashar al-Assad's speech on Sunday calling for an end to the rebellion, the US State Department said the Syrian leader was "detached from reality". But much the same might be said of the US and of Assad's other western and Arab foes, and with greater justification. After two years of bloody attrition, the unpalatable truth is Assad is still in power, shows no sign of heeding demands to quit and is far from beaten. The evolving reality is that Assad may yet see off his many enemies and claim victory in Syria's civil war.Explanations for this remarkable feat of survival lie not with Assad's personal abilities, which are limited, nor with the durability of his domestic supporters, who are in the minority, nor with the president's ruthlessness in prosecuting the m ...

Syria's state-run media Thursday lashed out at United Nations envoy Lakhdar Brahimi, calling him a "puppet" of the West after he criticized a plan by President Bashar al-Assad to end the country's nearly two-year conflict, reported dpa.

Syria has armed dozens of bombs with sarin gas and other chemical weapons that could be used to target opposition less than two hours after President Bashar al-Assad issues orders, US officials have claimed.

World CBS News Hagel nomination causes jitters in Israel Zee News - 53 minutes ago Jerusalem: Chuck Hagel's nomination by US President Barack Obama as the country's next secretary of defence has unnerved Israel, where many see the ex-Nebraska senator as unsympathetic or even hostile. CBS News Assad's peace plan would do no good, say Syrians Zee News - 1 hour ago Beirut: Syrians battled clashes across the country on Monday even as President Bashar al-Assad unveiled a "peace plan". Fighting raged just a few miles from where Assad unveiled the plan with Syrians on both sides claiming it would do no good to the ... New York Times Protest Grows Over Censoring of China Paper New York Times - 59 minutes ago Editors' Note Appended. BEIJING - Hundreds of people gathered outside the headquarters of a newspaper company in southern China on Monday, intensifying a battle over media censorship that poses a test of the willingness of China's new leadership to ... MSNBC Hillary Clinton returns to work, receives standi .. ...

President Bashar al-Assad has made his first speech for six months, confirming he is still in his capital Damascus but taking a hardline stance offering no new concessions to the rebel opposition which has seized swathes of Syria.

A defiant President Bashar al-Assad offered no compromise to Syria's rebels on Sunday, using his first public speech in six months to rule out any negotiation with an opposition he described as nothing more than "al-Qaeda terrorists" and "murderous armed criminals".

Sunday - January 6th, 2013 Day no. 664 of the uprising Total number of lives lost today in Syria: 101 (Documented) Today, as President Bashar al-Assad faced the nation to address the ongoing crisis and to suggest an initiative to resolve the problem, areas across the country witnessed heavy gunfire, shelling, raids and random arrests by regime forces. In a neighborhood of Damascus, regime forces detained 11 women at a checkpoint while a few families, comprising mostly women and children, were kidnapped in a town in the Damascus Suburbs. In another suburb of Damascus, two people were summarily executed, and in a city of Daraa, a man and his wife were found dead at the hands of regime forces. The suburbs of Damascus witnessed fierce violence today, as numerous towns were subject to rocket, artillery and mortar shelling and one city was attacked with cluster bombs, many of which did not explode. Various districts of Damascus city faced mortar shelling and heavy gunfire as well. Many casualties fell in Damasc ...

Syrian rebels beheaded Christian, fed his body to dogs ? A nun sounded the alarm that the Syrian conflict was becoming sectarian when she said that a Christian man was beheaded by Syrian rebels in the northern town of Ras al-Ayn on the Turkish border, and his body was fed to dogs, a British newspaper reported Monday. Sister Agnes-Mariam de la Croix speaking from her sanctuary in Lebanon said the newlywed taxi driver, Andrei Arbashe, was kidnapped after his brother was heard complaining that the rebels fighting against beleaguered President Bashar al-Assad were behaving like bandits, The Daily Mail reported. The 38-year-old Arbashe, who was soon to be a father, was found headless by the side of the road, surrounded by hungry dogs, Sister Agnes-Miriam, who is mother superior of the Monastery of St James the Mutilated, added. “His only crime was his brother criticized the rebels, accused them of acting like bandits, which is what they are.” Mid-December, the newly formed Syrian National Coalition obtaine ...

President Bashar al Assad on Sunday called for a general mobilization during the war for the unity of the country. He stressed that the negotiations will be conducted, but these will not include terrorists and mercenaries slung to Syria by the West

the death toll insyria now exceeds 60,000, the United Nations says. Another 100,000 may die this year, warns U.N.-Arab League envoy Lakhdar Brahimi. About 220 were killed on Wednesday alone. “When numbers get serious, they leave a mark on your door,” goes a song by American musician Paul Simon. But in Syria those bloody notches show no signs of braking a headlong struggle to the death watched from afar by divided outside powers, most of whose leaders seem convinced that the risks of direct intervention outweigh any possible rewards. Syrians realise they are essentially on their own, and 21 months after the start of protests against President Bashar al-Assad inspired by Arab revolts elsewhere, some of the civilians caught up in what has become a civil war are near despair. “It’s all nonsense,” said Adnan Abu Raad, an elderly man wrapped in a scarf against the cold, as he watched fresh graves being dug after 11 people were killed in a weekend air strike in the rebel-held Syrian town of Azaz near t ...

American troops and missile batteries arrived on the Syrian border on Friday in the most high-profile escalation of international pressure on the embattled Syrian regime of President Bashar al-Assad in months.

By Erika Solomon BEIRUT, Dec 24 (Reuters) - Syria special envoy Lakhdar Brahimi discussed solving the country's conflict with President Bashar al-Assad on Monday, but the opposition expressed deepening frustration with the mission following what it called the latest massacre of civilians.

BEIRUT, Jan 2 (Reuters) - Internet video posted by Syrian rebels appears to show fighters loyal to President Bashar al-Assad stabbing two men to death and stoning them with concrete blocks in a summary execution lasting several minutes. Assad's forces and rebels have both been acc...

Egyptian Media Mogul Goes on a Rant about Syria: All Free Syrians Should Back Assad Egyptian media mogul, Tawfik Okasha, owner of the anti-Muslim Brotherhood Egyptian channel al-Fara'een, went on a loud rant about the Syrian crisis, blaming the Mainstream Media of being complicit with the Muslim Brotherhood in feeding the Egyptian people lies about the Syrian crisis. He calls for all free Syrians to back President Bashar al-Assad as the issue is not about him but goes beyond to include the destruction of Syria and its transformation into three weaker states incapable of confronting Israel.

By Oliver Holmes BEIRUT, Jan 1 (Reuters) - Syrians woke on New Year's Day to countrywide aerial bombardment, while President Bashar al-Assad's forces and rebels fighting to topple him clashed on the outskirts of the capital. Residents of Damascus entered the New Year...

As the world celebrated the dawn of 2013, in Syria, the regime and the rebels were fighting for the suburbs of Damascus. President Bashar al Assad’s reportedly launched air raids that struck across the country, killing at least 160 people. Aleppo’s International Airport shut down, said AFP, reportedly after a rebel assault. The bottom line: more deadly fighting, with neither side really able to take control.

HE HAD just got married and his wife was about to give birth but this did not save Andrei Arbashe, a young Christian, from a horrific fate at the hands of rebels fighting President Bashar al-Assad's regime earlier this month.

MUST READ THIS ARTICLE -IMP ARTICLE Diplomacy gathers steam on Syria; Russia key player Faint outlines of an end-game in Syria seemed to be emerging on Thursday with Russia playing the lead role in steering diplomacy that has gathered pace after a military solution appeared more unlikely than ever. Having spent quality time in Damascus in the last five days, Lakhdar Brahimi, the U. N. and Arab League envoy, on Thursday reinforced the merits of the Geneva accord — the result of deliberations between his predecessor Kofi Annan and the global powers — to resolve the crisis. The Geneva pact focuses on the formation of a transitional government without demanding the exit of President Bashar al-Assad. Russia has been consistently advocating the enforcement of the Geneva plan that has evoked a tepid response from the U.S., which repeatedly demanded that Mr. Assad should step down. However, a report in the French daily Le Figaro — having all the likely trappings of a trial balloon — says a joint U.S.-Russ ...

December 27, 2012 - UAE dismantles terrorist cell UAE said yesterday that they dismantled a terrorist cell includes Emiratis and Saudis after it received intelligence from Riyadh about the cell that planned to execute attacks in Saudi Arabia and UAE. A source told al Sharq al Awsat newspaper that the cell consists of more than 15 members who carries different nationalities of the Gulf States, assuring that according to the security agreement among these states every one of them will be delivered to his country. The source said that the Saudi authorities arrested an Emirati member of the cell on its territories and that he belongs to "Dawa al Islah group" that adopts beliefs similar to Muslim Brotherhood beliefs, assuring that the Saudis delivered him to the Emirati side. Syria military police defects to rebels The head of Syria’s military police has defected from President Bashar al-Assad's government and accused the army of having turned into "murderous gangs", according to a security source in an onli ...

(REFUGEES/ MIGRANTS) In Syria, hunger spreads as war intensifies... BEIRUT: Desperation for food is growing in parts of Syria, where fist fights or dashes across the civil war front lines have become part of the daily struggle to secure a loaf of bread. Conditions are especially dire in the northern city of Aleppo, where civilians enduring incessant clashes and air raids in rebel-held districts say hunger is a new threat to survival in the 20-month-old revolt against President Bashar al-Assad. “I went out yesterday and could not get any bread. If only the problem was just lack of food – there is also a huge shortage of fuel, which the bakeries need to run,” said Ahmed, a resident of the battle-scarred Salaheddine district. “A few days ago, the bakery workers had no fuel so they tried to sell off packets of flour,” he said. “People started getting into fist fights over the flour. Some days, rebels have to fire in the air to stop the fighting.” With rebels closing in on Damascus, and Western a ...

TIME Interview with Official of Jabhat Al-Nusra, Syria’s Mujahideen Group Abu Adnan smirked from behind his black balaclava, his auburn whiskers peeking through the fabric as the corners of his mouth rose. A religious scholar and Shari‘a law official in Jabhat al-Nusra’s leadership in the Aleppo area, the 35-year-old had a ready answer for what he thought of the U.S. designating his Islamist group a terrorist organization: “It’s not a problem,” he said. “We know the West and its oppressive ways. We know the oppression of the [U.N.] Security Council, the lies of the international community. It’s not news. This means nothing to us.” The designation, officially announced on Dec.11, lists Jabhat al-Nusra as an alias of al-Qaeda in Iraq and says that since November 2011 the group has claimed responsibility for “nearly 600 attacks, killing and wounding hundreds of Assad' soldiers.” The group was unknown until late January 2012, when it announced its formation, although Abu Adnan admits tha ...

Power has become increasingly concentrated in the hands of just a few people in Assad's clan, which has grown autistic and seems to have chosen to just keep going. This is the group that takes the decisions. Bashar, who runs the show, only listens to people who owe him, for the most part, for their rise. 1. His brother Maher, 44, who heads the army's elite Fourth Division and his wife Asma. (Alawites) 2. Assad's notorious businessmen uncle Mohammed Makhluf, 80, cousin Rami Makhluf, 43, and Damascus security chief, Hazem Makhluf, 41. (Alawites) 4. His wife, who is a Sunni Muslim. 5. Presidential affairs minister since 2009, Mansur Azzam, 52, and former Al-Jazeera journalist Luna al-Shibl are also close to Assad. Both are members of the Druze community. 6. Alawite Hussam Sukkar, a security advisor to the president, is also key, as are two Sunni veterans: National Security director Ali Mamluk and Political Security chief Rostom Ghazali.

CAIRO -- Several Syrians have died after inhaling poisonous gas released by government forces in rebel-held districts of Homs, local eyewitnesses and activists claimed Monday. Civilians were admitted to hospital with serious breathing problems after Sunday’s attack, accord …

# # Homs Yes we ate meat military (. Q), which is a city (p) ..??!!. Thank God for safety 11/21/2012 In this corner we will meet with the kidnapped editor and tell him thank God for safety and we ask kidnapped conditions and circumstances edited to recall that benefited anniversary No mercy his seventy years I do not know why one can feel It corresponds to the first time kidnapped editor probably feels meets a man out of death after falling from a floor twenty or perhaps out of the feet elephants that were trampling slave in the court of King Roman to entertain King It feels out the description and unable languages world for a kidnapped Description Editor subjected to all forms of torture, degrading the dignity of stone, how is with humans ... Our meeting today with Abu Samer Mr. (t. H). Which exceeded five and sixty years of age, a retired HRC car driver and ice cream was not Abu Samer is expected even for a moment that the black car that put a picture of President Bashar al-Assad Stkhtafh for fifty days ...

According to doctors in the area Syrian President Bashar al-Assad has used chemical weapons, specifically the paralytic Agent 15, in his attacks on rebels in recent days. The Syrian Medical Society (SAMS) interviewed witnesses and victims of the recent gas bomb attack and reported that it is imposs...

As Envoy Meets Syria’s Assad, Russia Signals New Pessimism The envoy Lakhdar Brahimi said he presented President Bashar al-Assad of Syria with “steps” to end the war, while Russia accelerated efforts to evacuate its diplomats and other expatriates.

The army of embattled President Bashar al-Assad has turned into a “gang” to kill and terrorize the Syrian people, Abdulaziz Al-Shalal, a top defected major general, told Al Arabiya in an exclusive interview on Tuesday. Major General Al-Shalal, who is considered to be the highest-ranking military of...

"Syria repeated on Sunday that it would never use chemical weapons, but activists released reports later that day of what they said was a poison gas attack in the city of Homs." - [Reuters, 12/24/2012] - "Syrian opposition groups say they have documented 18 incidents in which the regime has used chemical weapons." - [UPI, 12/25/2012] - "Israel voiced doubt on Tuesday about the accuracy of Syrian activists' reports that chemical weapons had been used against rebels fighting to topple President Bashar al-Assad. "We have seen reports from the opposition. It is not the first time. The opposition has an interest in drawing in international military intervention," Vice Prime Minister Moshe Yaalon said on Army Radio. "As things stand now, we do not have any confirmation or proof that (chemical weapons) have already been used, but we are definitely following events with concern," he said." - [Reuters, 12/25/2012]

Dec. 25 - Amateur video purportedly shows Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's forces launching air strikes on Damascus suburbs as rebels again bring fighting to the president's seat of power. Lindsey Parietti reports.

ALEPPO COUNTRYSIDE, Syria (Reuters) - Syrian rebels are surrounding bases and military airports loyal to President Bashar al-Assad across the northern province of Aleppo, a commander said, but are struggling

Washington, December 25 (QNA) - The United States has accused the Syrian regime of launching a "vicious" attack on civilians at a bakery that proved President Bashar al-Assad's days as leader were numbered.

Christmas Mass at Melkite Catholics Cathedral in Damascus Dec 25, 2012 DAMASCUS, (SANA) – A Divine Mass was conducted on Monday evening at the Melkite Catholics Cathedral in Damascus on the occasion of the birth of Jesus Christ, the passenger of peace and amity. Bishop Joseph al-Absi, who led the mass, said that the message of Jesus Christ will remain victorious forever across the globe. He pointed out that Christianity is a declaration for humankind that God loves them, and it means that people should stand by the oppressed, give the poor, care for the discarded, receive the displaced and work for peace. The Bishop prayed to God to protect Syria and its leader President Bashar al-Assad, have mercy on Syria's martyrs, heals its wounded and to restore security and stability to the homeland. Pope Benedict XVI Calls For Peace in the Middle East Pope Benedict XVI, the Pope of the Vatican called for peace in the Middle East during holding the Christmas Eve in Rome on Monday. Pope Benedict XVI said that he p ...

24 December 2012 / REUTERS, BEIRUT, Syrian activists said opposition fighters in central Hama province shot down a government fighter jet on Monday, in clashes outside a village loyal to President Bashar al-Assad. Opposition forces began a push into Hama last week, declaring it a new front in their 21-month-old revolt against Assad. The largely Sunni Muslim opposition forces have now brought the fight to several minority Christian and Alawite towns, where Assad forces are located and where many residents are loyal to the government. Activist Sami al-Hamawi said opposition fighters used anti-aircraft machineguns to bring down the plane outside the Alawite village of Maan, which opposition forces have been trying to lay siege to for several days. He said the plane was flying low over an area opposition fighters had seized. It was not possible to independently verify the report.

REPORT: SAUDI-SPONSORED PAKISTANIS FIGHTING IN SYRIA December 24, 2012 • 9:17AM Iran's Press TV says that "around 1,000... Pakistani Taliban members, who were killed during battles around Syria's International Airport near Damascus, have been buried in mass graves..." As EIR and LPAC have documented at length, it is the British Empire's policy of creating and arming Al-Qaeda and related terrorists, with the aid of the Saudi monarchy and others, that is behind the Obama administration's support for the deployment of international terrorists into Syria, to aid in the overthrow of Assad. The Iranian press agency reports, "Many Salafists from Pakistan have been illegally sent into Syria through the Saudi and Qatari intelligence services... A recent UN report has revealed that militants from 29 countries have so far filtered into Syria to fight against the government of President Bashar al-Assad, most of whom are extremist Salafists." Press TV says, "the families of those Pakistani Salafists sent into Syria ...

This album documents a horrific massacre that has just taken place in Halafaya, Syria. Dozens of starving, innocent civilians, including women and children, were killed while they were waiting in line for bread outside of a bakery. "'A MiG [jet] has attacked! Look at [President Bashar al-] Assad's weapons. Look, world, look at the Halfaya massacre,' says an unidentified cameraman shooting an amateur video distributed by the Observatory." (Source: The Australian)

UAE urges citizens not to travel to Lebanon The United Arab Emirates has urged citizens not to travel to Lebanon, a popular New Year holiday destination for Gulf Arabs, after Syria's civil war fanned sectarian clashes in north Lebanon. The UAE issued the warning because of "difficult and sensitive political circumstances" in Lebanon, saying Emiratis should not visit unless they had to, state news agency Wam reported. Syria's conflict has provoked fighting in the Lebanese city of Tripoli, whose communal make-up mirrors that of the opposing sides in the war. Majority Sunnis in the city support Syria's mostly Sunni-led uprising, while Alawites, the Shi'ite-linked minority sect to which Syrian President Bashar al-Assad belongs, are generally supportive of him. Tensions in northern Lebanon have run particularly high since at least 14 Sunni Muslim Lebanese and Palestinian gunmen from the area were killed by Syrian security forces in a Syrian border town in early December. The men appeared to have joined the arm ...

Syria air strike on bakery ‘kills over 90 Dozens of people have been killed and many wounded in a government air strike on a bakery in Syria’s central Hama province, opposition activists say. The incident took place in Halfaya, a town recently captured by rebels. If activists’ reports of 90 deaths are confirmed, this would be one of the deadliest air strikes of the civil war. Syrian state TV blamed an “armed terrorist group” for the attack, saying the group had then filmed the incident to blame it on government troops. Rebels have been fighting President Bashar al-Assad for 21 months, with opposition groups saying more than 44,000 people have been killed. The latest violence comes as the joint United Nations-Arab League special envoy on Syria, Lakhdar Brahimi, arrived in Damascus to discuss ways to end the unrest. ‘Women and children’ One activist in Halfaya, Samer al-Hamawi, told Reuters news agency: “There is no way to really know yet how many people were killed. When I got there, I coul ...

ASSAD WILL NEVER STEP DOWN, RUSSIA’S LAVROV SAYS Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said that neither side would win the civil war in Syria, and that China and Russia would be unable to persuade President Bashar al-Assad to quit if they tried. Replying questions of press members ahead of his departure for Russia-European Union Summit to be held in Brussels, Lavrov said, “Listen, no one is going to win this war. Assad is not going anywhere, no matter what anyone says, be it China or Russia”. Lavrov recalled that Russia had rejected requests from countries in the region to pressure Assad to go or offer him safe haven, and that his exit might lead to an upsurge in fighting. The Russian foreign minister added, “Some regional powers suggested that we tell Assad we were ready to accommodate him. And we replied Why do we have to do it? If you have these plans, go to him yourselves directly”. Lavrov noted that Syria's chemical weapons had been concentrated in one or two areas and were "under control ...

turns up heat on rebels as envoy arrives International Syria envoy Lakhdar Brahimi has arrived in to discuss the Syrian crisis with President Bashar Assad. In the meantime, Syrian sources including the Information Ministry and the independent Al-Watan news service have reported gains made by the Syrian army in its operations to bust rebels. In several southeastern suburbs of Damascus, their rebel defenders are laying down arms. In villages and orchards east of the Syrian capital, scattered groups of 15 to 50 armed rebels are desperately trying to evade entrapment. The army says it is determined to crush the rebels and chase them out of Syria. VOR M.D

John Kerry, who is expected to be nominated as secretary of state later this afternoon, has made frequent visits to Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad. Assad is now under fire for mass murdering his own civilians, as he fights an internal war to keep his position of power. Even Obama has called for As...

Syria, Damascus / President Bashar al-Assad on Sunday issued law No. 35 specifying the general state budget for the fiscal year 2013 with SYP 1383 billion. President al-Assad also issued decree No. 481 stipulating for the establishment of the Second Architectural Engineering Faculty in Salamiyeh, Hama. The faculty is affiliated to al-Baath University.

President Bashar al-Assad's military has fired more Scud-type missiles inside Syria, Nato officials said on Friday, more than a week after the Western alliance first detected such arms being used on rebel targets.

Funeral Ceremony Held for Sheikh Aql of Muslim Muwahhideen with Minister's Azzam Participation - y.kh Dec 21, 2012 SWEIDA, (SANA)- Amid a popular and official participation, Sheikh Aql (leader) of the Muslim Muwahhideen community in Syria, sheikh Hussein Jarbou', was escorted to his final resting place in Sweida on Friday. Upon the directives of President Bashar al-Assad, Minister of Presidential Affairs, Mansour Azzam, took part in the funeral ceremony and offered condolences to the family of late sheikh Jarbou', who died last Wednesday after suffering from disease. In a speech during the ceremony, Syria's Grand Mufti Sheikh Ahmad Badr Eddin Hassoun, highlighted the virtues of Sheikh Jarbou', stressing that all religious leaders should work for the good of all mankind, especially at this stage when the enemies of the nation seek to ignite confessional and sectarian sedition. He said "Don't be worried about Syria because it is blessed by the prayers of the prophets and guarded by their light." Sheikh Hass ...

Vladimir Putin has signalled that he is not concerned about the fate of President Bashar al-Assad, insisting that Russia wants only stability in Syria. But he gave no sign of a policy shift that would help galvanise international action to help end the country’s deepening crisis.

FP: Syrian rebels gain ground in Hama province Top news: Syrian rebels gained ground in the central Hama province on Thursday, taking control of parts of the strategic town of Morek, which lies along the route from Damascus to Aleppo. Victory over President Bashar al-Assad's forces in Morek would allow the rebels to cut off government supply lines into the northern Idlib province, where rebels have made sizeable gains. Rebels also laid siege to the Alawite town of al-Tleisia, contributing to fears that the conflict could become even more deeply sectarian. Meanwhile, additional reports emerged detailing the use of cluster bombs by government forces, including a Dec. 12 attack on the town of Marea, which deliberately targeted civilians. The Syrian army has also resumed firing Scud ballistic missiles at rebel strongholds, the New York Times reports. In Moscow, Russian President Vladimir Putin, long a stalwart ally of Assad, further distanced himself from the Syria government, saying Russia would not defend i ...

A Syrian merchant in his 40s shot dead his Russian wife in the embattled northern city of Aleppo because she supported President Bashar al-Assad’s regime, the killer's cousin told AFP on Wednesday. Clothes shop owner Mohammed on Tuesday evening used a pistol to shoot his wife dea...

BEIRUT (Reuters) - Russia sent warships to the Mediterranean to prepare a potential evacuation of its citizens from Syria, a Russian news agency said on Tuesday, a sign President Bashar al-Assad's key ally is worried about rebel advances that now threaten even the capital. Moscow acted a day after i...

Eli Lake reports: "In the same week that Syria started using its Scud missiles against rebels, North Korea tested a long-range missile thousands of miles away over the Pacific Ocean. The two developments are more connected that it might appear. North Korea is a supplier and adviser to Syria’s Scud-missile program, according to former and current U.S. intelligence officials. The North Koreans also have helped President Bashar al-Assad to develop a program for the Syrian regime to make the medium- to long-range missiles itself." -

Nasser Qandil wrote Farouk al-Shara When deciding Syrian Vice President Farouq al-Shara to speak publicly while maintaining the position described in the party and the state in Syria and says words does not reflect the opinion of the party and the state, it means three things: - That the state and the party in Syria and especially President Bashar al-Assad are not an obstacle nor restriction on the multiplicity of opinions within the leadership at the top or less the even expressed their multiplicity publicly and this fall's arguments all those who invoked the impossibility of having another opinion is like claiming Riad veil and Manaf Tlass and others reveals that the issue is either in cheese these or not having an opinion or Bnoeithm researcher for the spoils running behind in power beyond They are so out of politics in its true sense. - That Shara, who knows everybody you know that the owner of Ray last time ago early decided to talk any talk openly and natural wonder is this talk and what are its con ...

The head of the Hizbullah terror group, Hassan Nasrallah, warned Al-Qaeda on Sunday that it had been tricked into fighting in Syria, and said that the rebellion would not be able to topple the regime of President Bashar al-Assad militarily, AFP reported. "The Americans, Europeans and some governments in the Arab and Muslim world have set a trap for you in Syria," Nasrallah said, according to the report. "They have opened the entire country for you to congregate there from all corners of the world and kill one another," he said, in a speech broadcast during a university graduation ceremony in the southern suburbs of Beirut. "And you are complicit in this trick," Nasrallah added. His comments came amid increased debate over the rise of jihadist terrorist groups in Syria, notably the Al-Nusra Front, which was blacklisted as a terrorist organisation by Washington last week for its alleged links to Al-Qaeda in Iraq. The group has rejected a coalition of Syrian opposition groups and has expressed its desire to ...

AMMAN (Reuters) - Syrian government defectors and opposition figures formed a body on Saturday that would step in to prevent the collapse of state institutions if President Bashar al-Assad is overthrown.The

Palestinian faction leader Jibril leaves Damascus: rebels. Ahmed Jibril, veteran leader of a Damascus-based Palestinian faction that backs President Bashar al-Assad, has left the Yarmouk district of the Syrian capital after 12 days of clashes, Syrian rebels and Palestinian sources said on Saturday. They said Jibril, head of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine-General Command (PFLP-GC), departed Yarmouk with his son bound for the Mediterranean city of Tartous, a stronghold of Assad's minority Alawite community. The move followed heavy fighting during which Syrian rebels, together with a brigade of Palestinian fighters known as Liwa al-Asifah (Storm Brigade), had gained ground in Yarmouk, home to thousands of Palestinian refugees, they said. Jibril's PFLP-GC has maintained strong ties to Assad throughout the 21-month uprising, unlike the militant Islamist Hamas movement whose Damascus-based officials - including leader-in-exile Khaled Meshaal - quietly pulled out of Syria as the mainly Sunni M ...

The Obama administration has invited the head of the newly recognised Syrian rebel coalition, Moaz al-Khatib, to Washington as the US attempts to build a sympathetic administration to slot into place and keep hostile Islamist forces at bay when President Bashar al-Assad falls.

In a move that notches up the potential for a western military intervention in Syria, the US government on Tuesday formally recognized factions of the armed opposition group facing off against President Bashar al-Assad in what has been an escalating and bloody civil war in the Middle East country.

Western and Arab nations sympathetic to Syria's uprising against President Bashar al-Assad gave full political recognition on Wednesday to the opposition, reflecting a hardening consensus that the 20-month-old uprising might be nearing a tipping point. -