Bashar al-Assad has told the UN secretary-general, Ban Ki-moon, that military operations in Syria have stopped but more bloodshed was reported overnight. In Libya, the battle for the oil refinery in Zawiyah continues
Posted by
Haroon Siddique Thursday 18 August 2011 08.52 BST
guardian.co.uk
Syrian anti-regime protesters carry a picture of the president, Bashar al-Assad. Despite more reported bloodshed overnight, Assad claims military operations have stopped Photograph: AP
9.57am: This Googlemap shows where protests took place in Syria overnight, according to the Local Co-ordination Committees, along with videos (click on the relevant placemark).
View Nightime protests in Syria Wednesday 17 August in a larger map
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9.31am: The Washington Post has an editorial today calling on the US to be tougher towards the Syrian regime in the wake of Hillary Clinton's defence, in an interview on Tuesday, of the Obama administration's refusal to call for Assad to go. The White House is about to change that policy, according to reports, but it is interesting to read the Post's case:
Mr Assad has been slaughtering Syrians for months. They have taken to the streets seeking freedom from the brutality and stagnation his dictatorship has delivered ...
The United States has condemned all this but with great caution. For weeks, as Mr. Assad gunned down his people, the administration held out the hope that he could yet become a reformer. It has not insisted that he leave office ...
We agree that rhetoric unmoored from reality can be dangerous. It can leave the United States looking impotent; it can allow allies to duck their responsibilities; in worst cases, it can encourage people to take risks expecting assistance that is not forthcoming. Ms Clinton's behind-the-scenes efforts to rally an alliance for change in Syria could multiply the effects of actions, such as sanctions, the United States eventually takes.
But her formulation Tuesday understated the importance of US leadership. It does not seem to be true, sadly, that the Assad regime will heed Turkey and Saudi Arabia. And it certainly would be news — foremost to people inside Syria — if the United States stated that Mr. Assad should go.
Over many decades moral support from the United States has been immensely important to people who take risks for freedom — to dissidents in prisons and protesters in the streets alike. It would be important again in this case, not because Syrians would expect U.S. intervention, but because they would know that they are not alone — that people lucky enough to live in freedom are watching and admiring and rooting for them.
8.52am: Welcome to Middle East Live. Bashar al-Assad claims to have ended the crackdown against protesters but the US is set to call for him to stand down as Syrian leader.
Syria
• Assad, has told the UN secretary-general, Ban Ki-moon, that military and police operations against pro-democracy protesters have stopped, according to the United Nations. In a telephone call with Assad on Wednesday, Ban "expressed alarm at the latest reports of continued widespread violations of human rights and excessive use of force by Syrian security forces against civilians across Syria, including in the Al Ramel district of Latakia, home to several thousands of Palestinian refugees", the UN said in a statement. It added:
The secretary-general emphasised that all military operations and mass arrests must cease immediately. President Assad said that the military and police operations had stopped.
• Despite Assad's claim, more bloodshed was reported overnight. Local activists said two protesters were shot dead by pro-Assad militiamen on Wednesday after nightly Ramadan prayers in the city of Homs, and security forces carried out raids on districts of Hama and the capital Damascus. Residents of the besieged port city of Latakia said on Wednesday that Syrian forces raided houses in a Sunni district, arresting hundreds of people and taking them to a stadium after a four-day tank assault to crush protests against Assad. The Local Co-ordination Committees, which report on protests, said sporadic heavy gunfire in the central city of Homs claimed the lives of nine people on Wednesday.
• The US is poised to call for Assad to step down, with a statement expected on Thursday, according to reports. The European Union is expected to follow suit, sources told Reuters. AP reports that US officials say the Obama administration has notified Arab and European allies that an announcement is imminent. A western diplomat in Damascus told Reuters:
Assad is trying to convince Turkey that the attacks have stopped, which could also help appease the United States, thinking he could once again stop Washington from calling on him to step down. But the operations have not even stopped.
The US was expected to make the call last week. In the interim, the secretary of state, Hillary Clinton has had to fend off questions about the United States's failure to make such a statement. She has responded by insisting it is not for the US to act in isolation.
Libya
• Libyan rebels are trying to wrest control of the only functioning oil refinery in Zawiyah from Gaddafi's forces. One rebel fighter, Ramdan Keshadat, said that his forces controlled parts of the refinery complex in the city's north on the Mediterranean coast, while some regime troops and workers remain inside. Dozens of opposition fighters have surrounded the refinery and laid siege to about 100 government troops, the Associated Press reports.
Gaddafi's troops are reported to hold the main hospital to the east of the town – with government snipers firing from the roof and doctors unable to enter or leave – as well as several other areas straddling the main motorway to the capital.
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Comments in chronological order (Total 4 comments)
BrownMoses 18 August 2011 9:01AM
Zawiyah
Alex Crawford of Sky News audioboo report from Zawiyah
Advancing rebels in western Libya face snipers, shelling
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tpCbzcIugEE
Gharyan
Rebels entering Gharyan dated August 14th
Rebels inside Gharyan unknown date
I'm trying to mark the locations in the above videos on a map to confirm the location they were filmed.
Misrata
Libya Rebels Push South From Misrata
Tripoli
Jomana Karadsheh in Tripoli
twitter been weird today. Sorry haven't tweeted much. Reports of blackouts across the city earlier.rare daytime explosion in #tripoli
went for a little drive, a lot of checkpoints around #Tripoli tonight... stopping & searching cars- seemed to be on higher alert.
a lot of #NATO jet activity over #Tripoli before 5am local.
Missy Ryan of AJE in Tripoli
Just went out in #Tripoli; electricity on in center. People said it was out from noon/1 pm until around 6 pm
Elsewhere
Matthew Price of the BBC
BBC team in Nafusa mtns has heard reports that between 7 and 20 rebels have been killed in a Nato air raid on the #Libya town of Badr today (Wednesday)
Report from Sabratha in Arabic - Again, I'll try to map the locations for confirmation.
Libya map 17/08/11 frmo @iyad_elbaghaid. Personally I've not seen strong evidence Mizdah is controlled by the rebels.
LauraOliver
18 August 2011 9:35AM
@BrownMoses thanks as ever - do let us know how you get on with the map.
Aliboy
18 August 2011 9:36AM
You swallow whole everything the opposition in Syria say. That is crazy.
Both sides are lying.
The opposition is exaggerating wholesale. Look at the events in Latakia we were discussing yesterday. There was no proof of the main claims of the opposition. Like shelling from a warship. First it was a warship - a frigate one supposes -then it descended to a little gunboat. But there was never any witness to it having fired.
On the other hand, I am sure that Bashshar al-Asad is not sufficiently in control to stop the security forces. He never was. He is not a megalomaniac ogre like Qaddafi or Saddam. He is pretty much a nice man who was put in the top spot by the 'family'. That's why he mouths nice words, but is unable to carry them out.
Atvar48
18 August 2011 9:49AM
Morning All
http://uk.reuters.com/article/2011/08/18/uk-libya-transition-idUKTRE77H1D720110818
So this is shape of things to come is it, also why have we recognised the TNC when they say in their blueprint that it will be dissolved in 8 months of taking over as a council and replaced, bit dis-jointed if you ask me.
Six days and Zawiyah still not in rebels control, they got no hope of taking Tripoli then.
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What do you think ?
Các anh chị nghĩ thế nào, có ý kiến, phê bình gì qua bài viết "Libya and Middle East unrest - live updates", hôm nay, 18-8-2011 và 4 ý kiến, phê bình của độc giả ?
Các anh chị nghĩ thế nào về thái độ của Mỹ qua đọan sau đây:
_ "The US was expected to make the call last week. In the interim, the secretary of state, Hillary Clinton has had to fend off questions about the United States's failure to make such a statement. She has responded by insisting it is not for the US to act in isolation."
Tại sao bà Hillary Clinton "né tránh" ???
Những người VN BỊ MẤT NƯỚC vào tay bè lũ phản quốc CƯỚP NƯỚC DIỆT CHỦNG BÁN NƯỚC Việt gian cộng sản VN, học thêm được bài học kinh nghiệm gì qua CÁCH MẠNG LẬT ĐỔ cầm quyền độc tài ở Bắc Phi và Trung Đông ? Học thêm được kinh nghiệm gì qua thái độ của các cường quốc qua tình hình hiện nay tại Libya và Syria ???
Chân thành cám ơn Quý Anh Chị ghé thăm "conbenho Nguyễn Hoài Trang Blog"
Xin được lắng nghe ý kiến chia sẻ của Quý Anh Chị trực tiếp tại Diễn Đàn Paltalk: 1Latdo Tapdoan Vietgian CSVN Phanquoc Bannuoc .
Kính chúc Sức Khỏe Quý Anh Chị .
conbenho
Tiểu Muội quantu
Nguyễn Hoài Trang
18082011
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CSVN là TỘI ÁC
Bao che, dung dưỡng TỘI ÁC là đồng lõa với TỘI ÁC
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