Syria: a Soviet hangover turned headache
Russia inherited its Middle East presence from the Soviet Union. Is it about to lose its last ally in a newly democratised Arab world?
Comments (20)
Editorial
The Guardian,
Wednesday 1 February 2012
Article history
The uprisings in Libya and now Syria have pitched the Arab League, a body which had little relevance to conflicts raging on its doorstep, into the centre of the diplomatic arena. The league matters not merely because some of its member governments are becoming representative of their peoples for the first time in their recent history. Sunni monarchies like Saudi Arabia that are vulnerable to the very forces unseating Bashar al-Assad in Syria are also taking active steps. Granted, almost all of what the Saudis do in Syria can be seen as a way of rolling back Iran's influence. However, by pulling its members out of the Arab League observer mission and then making sure the mission is suspended, Riyadh has propelled itself into the frontline. It is no longer leading from behind.
The Arab League's activism on Syria put its general secretary, Nabil el-Araby, Egypt's former foreign minister, into an unusual position – proposing a plan to the UN which his own government has yet to endorse. It is encapsulated in a draft resolution to the UN security council which calls on Assad to step down and hand over to his deputy, who will oversee a political transition, or face further unspecified measures in 15 days' time. This has the potential to isolate Russia within a reshaped Arab world. Moscow has to address two questions as it prepares to wield its veto. First, as Assad's principal arms supplier, is it backing the loser? If so, it will lose not only the $550m deal it signed with Damascus for trainer aircraft, but the only base it has outside the former Soviet Union and a string of listening posts. The second question is more pressing: is it about to lose its last ally in a newly democratised Arab world, of which Syria will remain a vital hub whatever happens? Russia inherited its Middle East presence from the Soviet Union, but it did not gain any new friends. With Gaddafi gone and Assad on his way out, Russia stands to lose more than physical assets.
Russia could yet be assuaged by a clause explicitly ruling out the use of force. The current wording emphasises the need to resolve the crisis peacefully, but does not preclude future military action. Given what happened after the loosely worded UN resolution on Libya, which Russia let through, it has a point. But Russia is wrong to warn that the resolution will risk civil war. Continuing to back Assad, as it is doing, will propel a civil war. The sooner Assad sees he has no future – and even a watered-down resolution would help that – the sooner leading members of the regime will try to salvage something from the wreckage. The coming civil war will not guarantee the property of minority Alawites or the Sunni merchant class in Damascus and Aleppo. It will engulf them, and the score-settling in Libya will be as nothing to what takes place in Syria.
***
20 comments, displaying
dirkbruere
1 February 2012 1:12AM
It's last ally might be Iran - something for the USA to contemplate
DrChris
1 February 2012 1:33AM
If people are oppressed by their government, they can count on Russia to side with their tormentors every time.
jokaz
1 February 2012 1:42AM
Saudi Arabia is now giving Syria lessons in democracy have monitors on the ground! This has become a laughable matter!
This isn't about democracy and human rights as the western and most Arab media portrays, it about how much of a puppet the government is to escape scrutiny.
noterow
1 February 2012 1:53AM
Russia and Syria have a strong, traditional friendship that goes back several decades. The two countries and their peoples share common interests of keeping a lasting friendship and economic and cultural cooperation, and combating foreign interference in the affairs of western Asia. When Syria was languishing under western imperialism during 1920s-30s, it was Russia alone that gave strong moral support to the Syrian people. It was thanks in part to the vigorous support from Russia that the English and French imperialists finally withdrew from Syrian soil on 17 April 1946, known as Liberation Day in Syria. When Syria was subjected to foreign aggression, particularly by the Israeli regime, it was Russia again that firmly stood by the Syrian people. Russia has done a great deal to support Syria's freedom and independence, as shown by how the Russians granted favorable credit, helped to construct infrastructure projects, and the extensive military cooperation between the two countries. Without Russia, a strong Syria that can defend its freedom and independence cannot exist.
myfellowprisoners
1 February 2012 2:04AM
Response to noterow, 1 February 2012 1:53AM
Nice heartwarming story. However, there remains the problem of the mad bunch of sadists, crooks, torturers and murderers who comprise the Syrian government.
I'm rather inclined to agree with a previous poster that Saudi Arabia is in no position whatsover to lecture Syria on the joys of human rights and democracy, but when Assad finally gets his cocoa and ends up head-first in a storm drain, which, I hope won't be a long time coming, I won't be weeping for the grisly bastard.
And let's get one thing clear, the Russian government cares no more for democracy and the wellbeing of the inhabitants of Syria than the USA government does when considering their friends in Saudi Arabia.
I'm personally against all tyrants. Hard as it may be to compute.
noterow
1 February 2012 2:10AM
There are lot of problems with this editorial. The characterization of events in Syria and Libya as "uprisings" is demonstrably false. What occurred in Libya was not an uprising, but rather something like the fascist takeover of Spain in 1936-39, where the forces of reaction prevailed over the democratic forces due largely to foreign aggression. Similarly, Syria is not facing a popular uprising like what's been seen in Egypt, but instead a terrorist campaign like the contras in Nicaragua, against which the Syrians have every right to struggle and crush.
after the loosely worded UN resolution on Libya, which Russia let through, it has a point.
Not only the Russians oppose the outside meddling in Syria's affairs, but so does the rest of the world,including China. So it's not the Russian's who are isolated on Syria.
Granted, almost all of what the Saudis do in Syria can be seen as a way of rolling back Iran's influence.
The Saudis throughout the world, from Chechnya to Afghanistan, have been spreading their poisonous cult with the aim of stirring unrest and spreading their influence. From the Arab states, the Saudis are the biggest supporters of terrorism in the world, and forces from their country are involved in the financing and arming of the bandits that are fighting the Syrian government and Syrian people. Saudis have always played a reactionary role in the region with their struggle against the Arab and Islamic liberation movement represented by Egypt during Nasser, Libya during Gaddafi, the Islamic Republic of Iran, and now the progressive government of Syria.
is it about to lose its last ally in a newly democratised Arab world
What "last ally"? Russia is on friendly terms with almost all states in the region.
Russia inherited its Middle East presence from the Soviet Union, but it did not gain any new friends.
This is false. Russia and Iran had a difficult relationship during the 1980s, but the two countries have developed a good friendship over the last 20 years.
The sooner Assad sees he has no future – and even a watered-down resolution would help that – the sooner leading members of the regime will try to salvage something from the wreckage.
What goes on in Syria is an internal affair that is solely the business of the Syrian people. It is up to the Syrian people to choose their own government, not for America or England through the UN imposing their will on Syria.
Baccalieri
1 February 2012 2:25AM
Response to DrChris, 1 February 2012 1:33AM
Or if the US is about to screw your country over, Russia will normally oppose it
noterow
1 February 2012 2:43AM
Nice heartwarming story. However, there remains the problem of the mad bunch of sadists, crooks, torturers and murderers who comprise the Syrian government.
Assad is a good leader, and the Baath Party since 1963 has constructed a successful, prosperous country, a model for all others in the region. Syria achieved an anti-imperialist, democratic revolution in 1964, and the country has made big progress since that time, with improved living standards and political freedoms. The government nationalized banks and insurance companies, brought about agrarian reform, and expanded the state sector of the economy.
And let's get one thing clear, the Russian government cares no more for democracy and the wellbeing of the inhabitants of Syria than the USA government does when considering their friends in Saudi Arabia.
This a false equivalence. The Russians have long said that they support peacefully resolving conflicts in the region, and have emphasized the need for stability in Syria for the sake of the Syrian people's welfare as well as interests of countries around the world.
By contrast, the tyrants of the NATO aggressor bloc and the terrorist bands that they support are pursuing a strategy of bringing chaos to Syria in order to pave the way for regime change. You don't condemn any of this and see the need to defeat them, but instead repeat the malicious lies about Syria coming from anonymous "activists".
I'm personally against all tyrants. Hard as it may be to compute.
You put on this cloak of "objectivity", but what you're really doing is undermining the Syrian people's struggle against the foreign-backed terrorist bands that seek to turn Syria into another Iraq or Libya. Inspired by reactionary propaganda,you paint these caricatures about the evil dictatorship in Syria, the purpose of which is to support and justify the counter-revolutionary movement going on in the country.
guardiandoommonger
1 February 2012 2:44AM
Politicians doing what they do best. Spreading hate, fear, death and murder to humanity. The people running this world are mad. Power makes people mad.
Leondeinos
1 February 2012 2:50AM
Perhaps the Russians understand, based on past experience, that it is simply wrong for the UN to pick a side in a long brewing (and currently active) civil war.
Look at the results of the US intervention in Iraq and Libya. Almost immediately, the new moustaches have begun to show strength in the same way as their predecessors.
The places where the US did not intervene (Tunisia, Egypt) seem to be doing a bit better.
CraigSummers
1 February 2012 2:57AM
To the editor
Regime change is the only logical course of action in Syria. Throwing Assad under the bus, however, does not guarantee regime change or reform. Once Assad is ousted, the "temporary" replacement government must be carefully monitored to insure that power does change hands to the Syrian people.
JohnCan45
1 February 2012 3:11AM
Foreign relations are always marked by hypocrisy, but better a hypocrite than a consistent sinner. Or tyrant. Moscow is backing the wrong horse, and will end up losing the arms deals, the bases, the influence, all of it. Assad is going down sooner or later. Russia should help make it sooner, so thay can salvage something from this.
MichaelPetty
1 February 2012 3:20AM
Response to DrChris, 1 February 2012 1:33AM
Presumably Russia has learned from the USA.
ibneadam
1 February 2012 4:34AM
It is about time for Russia to move on. The leadership is still stuck in the past, it need to be forward looking and be on the right side of the history. I do understand, it is hard to kick the old habits.
DavidEG
1 February 2012 4:54AM
Bravo Russians!
Finally, they found the strength and courage to stand up to brutal US-NATO reign of "humanitarian" terror.
The world got a chance to be a safer saner from now on. In old cold war days "humanitarians" would think twice before attempting any of their "liberation" adventures, be it Iraq, Libya or Syria.
OliverHenrietta
1 February 2012 5:01AM
Response to JohnCan45, 1 February 2012 3:11AM
Foreign relations are always marked by hypocrisy, but better a hypocrite than a consistent sinner. Or tyrant. Moscow is backing the wrong horse, and will end up losing the arms deals, the bases, the influence, all of it. Assad is going down sooner or later. Russia should help make it sooner, so thay can salvage something from this.
Very true.
But still. The biggest loser in all this is the Mad Mullahs of Iran. They have lost their pivot into the Middle East and the capture of Iranians by 'the rebels' pretty much closes the door on Iranian expansionism into the Sunni areas. The large amounts of money and goods that The Mad Mullahs and Ahmadinejad have been supplying to Hamas and Hezbollah will dry up. Internal pressures inside Iran over the huge amount of resources trying to develop a nuclear bomb for ;peaceful purposes; and 'wiping Israel off the map' will go down the drain. The Mad Mullahs will soon see their own extinguishing and a less aggressive, possibly even democratic Iran will result.
Erdogan has refused refuge for Hamas in Turkey. Perhaps, looking around him, he suddenly sees that the immediate area has changed to 'accommodate' his aggressiveness. It is less friendly. Erdogan has made Turkey a pariah state.
Oh. The sheer horror of it all.
NunOfTheAbove
1 February 2012 5:19AM
The league matters not merely because some of its member governments are becoming representative of their peoples for the first time in their recent history. The second question is more pressing: is it about to lose its last ally in a newly democratised Arab world
These are democracies? In any meaningful way? Are they as democratic as the USA (a corporate dictatorship)? Is Egypt democratised yet? Is that in the same way Iraq, Libya and Kuwait have been democratised after USA led intervention
The sooner Assad sees he has no future
He only has no future because Western interests (big business interests) are forcing him out with the craven backing of the Graun. Why no pushing for regime change in Saudi Mr Rushbridger?
So Russia is bad for trying to stop USA meddling, the USA meddling is not mentioned
CarefulReader
1 February 2012 5:21AM
Russia inherited its Middle East presence from the Soviet Union. Is it about to lose its last ally in a newly democratised Arab world?
Democratised? Where? Only Tunisia has been a partial success for democracy. The rest of "Arab spring" was either suppressed by western-backed governments, or directly organized by them.
Harold5678
1 February 2012 5:22AM
Galioun's militia doing ethnic cleansing. They killed two families in Homs because they refused to leave the building. They killed a priest and two nouns in a convent. All in the name of freedom. Don't forget all media networks portray them as peaceful protestors... Please come and see for yourself. They hanged the witness who testified against Galioun's militia during the Arab league tour in the city. The list goes on and on. Family members begged for help just to reach the corpses. Why CNN refusing to the see the other side of the mirror? Who killed the French reporter? The opposition claiming it was a mistake but at first they've tried to frame Syria's official army. Thank God a Danish reporter witnessed the event and spoke the truth. What did Sarkozy do about it or the EU who originally wanted a detailed and official investigation from the Syrian government. Once the reality kicked in, I don't see anyone trying to gain justice for Gilles Jacquier. How come his country is not asking Galioun the father of the opposition to be accountable, especially that Galioun resides in France. Food for thoughts...
CarefulReader
1 February 2012 5:22AM
"Western-backed" dictatorships, I should say.
___________
What do you think ?
Các anh chị nghĩ thế nào, có ý kiến, phê bình gì qua bài viết "Syria: a Soviet hangover turned headache" và 20 Ý kiến- Phê bình từ "20 Comments" của đọc giả ?
Từ những nguồn tin tức khác nhau, và cũng từ bài viết trên, cùng nhữnng ý kiến, phê bình khác nhau, các anh chị nghĩ thế nào về "comment" cuối của nick CarefulReader đã cho rằng "Western-backed" dictatorships,... " ?
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Tuesday, January 31, 2012
WORLD_ Syria resolution faces Russian opposition at UN security council
Syria resolution faces Russian opposition at UN security council
During tense debate at UN in New York, Moscow says it will oppose 'meddling' attempt to force Assad to resign
Miriam Elder in Moscow, Martin Chulov in Beirut and Ian Black, and Ed Pilkington in New York
The Guardian,
Wednesday 1 February 2012
Article history
Syria's opposition calls on UN to denounce Assad. Link to this video Russia has declared its intention to scupper any attempt to force President Bashar al-Assad of Syria to step down, denouncing a push for a new United Nations security council resolution backed by the US and UK as "meddling" that could lead to conflict and military intervention.
In outspoken comments to a packed security council in New York, the Russian ambassador to the UN, Vitaly Churkin, was scathing about efforts led by the Arab League and backed by Washington, Paris and London to secure a new resolution that would call on Assad to stand aside.
"The international community should not be meddling in economic sanctions or through the use of military force. We will not stand for any sanctions resolution or using the council's tool box to foment conflict and military intervention in the future," Churkin said.
Russia's contribution, together with a statement from the Assad regime itself, stood in stark contrast to a virtually unified voice from security council members who lined up to decry the violence in Syria that the UN says has claimed at least 5,400 lives over the past 10 months.
Speaking after the meeting, the US secretary of state, Hillary Clinton, responded to Russia's discordant note by insisting there was no intention "to pursue any kind of military intervention. This is a crisis that should be resolved peacefully".
She said she would be speaking to the Russian foreign minister, Sergei Lavrov, who had been expected to attend the meeting but was pointedly absent.
William Hague, the foreign secretary, also emphasised the peaceful nature of the joint resolution, rebutting claims by the Syrian ambassador to the UN, Bashar Ja'afari, that it was an attempt to reimpose colonialism on the region.
"This is not the west telling Syria what to do," Hague said. "It is not the permanent members of the UN security council imposing their view. This is the Arab world calling on the UN security council to help address the crisis in Syria and the threat which it poses to the stability of their region."
Hague also stressed that the UN text did not call for western or Arab military intervention, unlike last year's resolution on Libya, which led eventually to the overthrow of Muammar Gaddafi and which still rankles with Russia.
The draft expresses "grave concern" over the bloodshed, and "the continued transfer of weapons into Syria, which fuels the violence", and calls on member states "to take necessary steps to prevent such flow of arms" – a clear message to Moscow, Assad's principal supporter on the world stage and main source of arms.
"The resolution does not call for military action and could not be used to authorise it," Hague said. But he went on to warn Assad that "measures will be considered by this council if there is not an immediate end to the violence".
Speaking for the Syrian regime, Ja'afari launched a salvo against the Arab League, which he accused of violating its own founding principles by turning for help to the UN security council, which had been the source of "hundreds of vetos against Arab causes".
Russia's unbending opposition to a resolution now paves the way for a protracted round of closed-door negotiations over the next 24 hours in New York. Analysts and diplomats say Russia could yet soften its stance by abstaining or, much less likely, voting for the draft – if a clause banning the use of force were introduced.
The draft currently emphasises "the need to resolve the current crisis in Syria peacefully" but does not explicitly exclude future military action. Negotiations are to be held today ahead of a vote tomorrow. China, which also has a veto, would probably follow Russia.
The fight over dealing with Syria is a perfect cauldron of Russia's main foreign policy concerns: anger at what it sees as a unipolar world led by the United States, a belief in the inviolability of national sovereignty, and an attempt to hold on to Soviet-era allies and customers that are increasingly few in number.
The main official narrative inside Russia continues to be that the popular uprisings across the Middle East, like Russia's own protests, are a US-led plot to gain influence and resources.
On the ground in Syria, meanwhile, government forces continued a campaign to reclaim pockets of Damascus from rebel groups which had briefly seized them – producing dramatic and morale-boosting TV pictures for the rebels but possibly a distorted image of the true balance of forces in the country of 23 million people.
The sound of artillery and gunfire thundered throughout the afternoon in the areas of Kfar Badna and Saqba as irregulars fought street battles with loyalist forces who had earlier retaken contested areas in northern Damascus.
Several dozen tanks were seen moving towards the east of the capital in the afternoon, until the past weekend a rare sight in the heart of the regime's power base.
Opposition groups remain vastly outnumbered and outgunned in Damascus, but say they have opened up a guerrilla campaign aimed at wearing down the loyalist military.
So far there is little sign of that happening in the capital, which remains under the regime's control and is heavily guarded by security forces whose senior ranks remain solidly supportive of Assad.
However, the embattled president's troops continue to fight a more organised opposition in the country's fourth city, Homs, where tanks and artillery were again firing intensively into the rebel-held Bab al-Amr district. Residents of Homs, the frontline of an armed insurgency against the Assad family's four-decade rule, say neighbourhoods are fast being emptied of families whom loyalists suspect of supporting the rebellion.
They described dire living conditions, with poor sanitation and streets that are regularly raked by gunfire.
Over the past week, Syria has intensified its crackdown against what is now a full blown insurgency in many parts. The nearby city of Hama has seen renewed violence, although residents said the military had now pulled back to the city limits after four days of arrests and incursions.
"There are many families homeless here and many homes destroyed," said Manhal Abo Bakr, a resident of Hama and a citizen journalist for the global campaigning group Avaaz. Hama was the scene of a brutal massacre carried out by Assad's father, Hafez, in 1982, when he claimed to have been targeting Sunni extremists who were plotting against him.
Leader comment, page 30
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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 .
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Nguyễn Hoài Trang
01022012
___________
CSVN là TỘI ÁC
Bao che, dung dưỡng TỘI ÁC là đồng lõa với TỘI ÁC
During tense debate at UN in New York, Moscow says it will oppose 'meddling' attempt to force Assad to resign
Miriam Elder in Moscow, Martin Chulov in Beirut and Ian Black, and Ed Pilkington in New York
The Guardian,
Wednesday 1 February 2012
Article history
Syria's opposition calls on UN to denounce Assad. Link to this video Russia has declared its intention to scupper any attempt to force President Bashar al-Assad of Syria to step down, denouncing a push for a new United Nations security council resolution backed by the US and UK as "meddling" that could lead to conflict and military intervention.
In outspoken comments to a packed security council in New York, the Russian ambassador to the UN, Vitaly Churkin, was scathing about efforts led by the Arab League and backed by Washington, Paris and London to secure a new resolution that would call on Assad to stand aside.
"The international community should not be meddling in economic sanctions or through the use of military force. We will not stand for any sanctions resolution or using the council's tool box to foment conflict and military intervention in the future," Churkin said.
Russia's contribution, together with a statement from the Assad regime itself, stood in stark contrast to a virtually unified voice from security council members who lined up to decry the violence in Syria that the UN says has claimed at least 5,400 lives over the past 10 months.
Speaking after the meeting, the US secretary of state, Hillary Clinton, responded to Russia's discordant note by insisting there was no intention "to pursue any kind of military intervention. This is a crisis that should be resolved peacefully".
She said she would be speaking to the Russian foreign minister, Sergei Lavrov, who had been expected to attend the meeting but was pointedly absent.
William Hague, the foreign secretary, also emphasised the peaceful nature of the joint resolution, rebutting claims by the Syrian ambassador to the UN, Bashar Ja'afari, that it was an attempt to reimpose colonialism on the region.
"This is not the west telling Syria what to do," Hague said. "It is not the permanent members of the UN security council imposing their view. This is the Arab world calling on the UN security council to help address the crisis in Syria and the threat which it poses to the stability of their region."
Hague also stressed that the UN text did not call for western or Arab military intervention, unlike last year's resolution on Libya, which led eventually to the overthrow of Muammar Gaddafi and which still rankles with Russia.
The draft expresses "grave concern" over the bloodshed, and "the continued transfer of weapons into Syria, which fuels the violence", and calls on member states "to take necessary steps to prevent such flow of arms" – a clear message to Moscow, Assad's principal supporter on the world stage and main source of arms.
"The resolution does not call for military action and could not be used to authorise it," Hague said. But he went on to warn Assad that "measures will be considered by this council if there is not an immediate end to the violence".
Speaking for the Syrian regime, Ja'afari launched a salvo against the Arab League, which he accused of violating its own founding principles by turning for help to the UN security council, which had been the source of "hundreds of vetos against Arab causes".
Russia's unbending opposition to a resolution now paves the way for a protracted round of closed-door negotiations over the next 24 hours in New York. Analysts and diplomats say Russia could yet soften its stance by abstaining or, much less likely, voting for the draft – if a clause banning the use of force were introduced.
The draft currently emphasises "the need to resolve the current crisis in Syria peacefully" but does not explicitly exclude future military action. Negotiations are to be held today ahead of a vote tomorrow. China, which also has a veto, would probably follow Russia.
The fight over dealing with Syria is a perfect cauldron of Russia's main foreign policy concerns: anger at what it sees as a unipolar world led by the United States, a belief in the inviolability of national sovereignty, and an attempt to hold on to Soviet-era allies and customers that are increasingly few in number.
The main official narrative inside Russia continues to be that the popular uprisings across the Middle East, like Russia's own protests, are a US-led plot to gain influence and resources.
On the ground in Syria, meanwhile, government forces continued a campaign to reclaim pockets of Damascus from rebel groups which had briefly seized them – producing dramatic and morale-boosting TV pictures for the rebels but possibly a distorted image of the true balance of forces in the country of 23 million people.
The sound of artillery and gunfire thundered throughout the afternoon in the areas of Kfar Badna and Saqba as irregulars fought street battles with loyalist forces who had earlier retaken contested areas in northern Damascus.
Several dozen tanks were seen moving towards the east of the capital in the afternoon, until the past weekend a rare sight in the heart of the regime's power base.
Opposition groups remain vastly outnumbered and outgunned in Damascus, but say they have opened up a guerrilla campaign aimed at wearing down the loyalist military.
So far there is little sign of that happening in the capital, which remains under the regime's control and is heavily guarded by security forces whose senior ranks remain solidly supportive of Assad.
However, the embattled president's troops continue to fight a more organised opposition in the country's fourth city, Homs, where tanks and artillery were again firing intensively into the rebel-held Bab al-Amr district. Residents of Homs, the frontline of an armed insurgency against the Assad family's four-decade rule, say neighbourhoods are fast being emptied of families whom loyalists suspect of supporting the rebellion.
They described dire living conditions, with poor sanitation and streets that are regularly raked by gunfire.
Over the past week, Syria has intensified its crackdown against what is now a full blown insurgency in many parts. The nearby city of Hama has seen renewed violence, although residents said the military had now pulled back to the city limits after four days of arrests and incursions.
"There are many families homeless here and many homes destroyed," said Manhal Abo Bakr, a resident of Hama and a citizen journalist for the global campaigning group Avaaz. Hama was the scene of a brutal massacre carried out by Assad's father, Hafez, in 1982, when he claimed to have been targeting Sunni extremists who were plotting against him.
Leader comment, page 30
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
01022012
___________
CSVN là TỘI ÁC
Bao che, dung dưỡng TỘI ÁC là đồng lõa với TỘI ÁC
Monday, January 30, 2012
Ý Kiến- Phê Bình- Thảo Luận qua bài viết "Syria: Bashar al Assad and family 'will be killed like Gaddafi' "
Syria: Bashar al Assad and family 'will be killed like Gaddafi'
The Syrian President Bashar al Assad, his British wife Asma and their family will meet a bloody end 'like Gaddafi' as his regime falls from power, a leading member of the opposition movement has warned.
Friends of Mrs Assad, who grew up in Acton and attended Queens College Marylebone, said they were sure she was repulsed by the violence in defence of the dictatorship Photo: STR/AFP/Getty Images
By Damien McElroy
6:49PM GMT 30 Jan 2012
91 Comments
Haitham Maleh, a member of the executive committee of the Syrian National Council, told The Daily Telegraph that Mr Assad had forfeited any chance of a peaceful exit from Syria as a result of his regime's brutal crackdown on protesters.
The former judge, who has spent decades in Syrian prisons for his human rights activism, predicted that Mr Assad, his wife and three children would be killed in revenge for his failure to respond positively to peaceful demands for change.
"Assad and his family will be killed in Syria, their next steps will be very bloody," he said. "Two months ago we offered him the option to leave us alone and go but instead he went for the blood of his people. The end for him will be that he is killed like Gaddafi."
Persistent reports have emerged around the Middle East that Mrs Assad has sought to return to England - or at least flee the fighting in Damascus - with her three children, Hafez, Zein and Lareem. Al-Masry-Al-Youm reported yesterday that she was among a group of family members including the president's mother and cousins that was driving to the airport to leave but forced to turn back by an opposition ambush.
The UN estimates that more than 5,000 have died on both sides of Syrian fighting as the regime uses tanks, shell fire and sniper units to snuff out protests. The government assault is a particularly familial affair with Mr Assad's brother Maher commanding the 4th Division of ultra loyal troops that have spearheaded operations.
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Mr Maleh said that very soon "two armies" would be clashing around Syria as the security forces desert the regime enmasse.
"Most of the army will separate off from the Assad troops to protect their people," he said. "Maher is particularly brutal, he will go out and shoot people himself, the ordinary troops don't want this."
The 80-year old dissident rebuffed Russian attempts to broker talks with the regime to end spiralling violence. "Talks will not happen. How can we have dialogue with a criminal regime, we can't do it now," Mr Maleh, a founding member of the executive committee of the SNC, said. "The game is over. How can we talk with a person who has put a pistol to our heads. It is impossible to make dialogue with this person.
The SNC was increasing its support for the Free Syria Army which has gained increasing numbers of army defections.
"We are sending them money and they ask for weapons, we are sending them some," he said. "The Turkish government has allowed us to open an account in the name of the national council."
Friends of Mrs Assad, who grew up in Acton and attended Queens College Marylebone, said they were sure she was repulsed by the violence in defence of the dictatorship.
"She would be horrified with what is happening," said Malik al-Abdeh, a TV magnate speaking to The Times. "She lived most of her life here. Her ethics and morality were formed here. I think she must be genuinely shocked."
***
Showing 1-25 of 91 comments
canadiansyrian
38 minutes ago
she`s saying : Oh mine Fuhrer , er ist mine man
wolfe
Today 03:42 AM
Eva Braun comes to mind! Bashar Assad's father had form - he murdered tens of thousands of Syrians in his time and fought Israel - how could she not know that her own husbands inheritance of power was gained through bloodshed!? Serves her right - other English women thinking they might like to marry rich Arab despots take note!
______ canadiansyrian
Today 03:47 AM
she was a Slu*
Wisdom of Josh
Today 03:10 AM
It's 2012 - the Google and Facebook age. But Islam hasn't advanced one single iota - in fact it is moving backwards.
The only things coming out of Islamic countries are murder, extremism, terrorism, bombings, hangings, slayings, torture, marrying infants, amputations, honor-killings etc.
They are always bitter, angry, resentful - constantly screaming, burning flags, throwing stones and overturning cars.
And it's all Israel's fault
______ canadiansyrian
Today 03:49 AM
how about Google Christian EU between 700 and 1500s ? and how long it took Christian EU to become civilized ?
how about in Northeren Irland ?
______ harrythomas2
28 minutes ago
True, Christianity's history was bloody... IN THE PAST - up until a few hundred years ago. Then it went through an Enlightenment and Reformation. Whatever happened in the past happened in the past and can't be changed.
The previous poster was speaking about islam TODAY - in 2012. It is where Christianity was a few hundred years ago. But now in 2012 - i.e. THE PRESENT - muslims have a chance to change things for the better, to move forwards instead of backwards. Will they take that chance, or will they continue as usual, all the while blaming others for their misfortune?
______ canadiansyrian
19 minutes ago
oh , I agree with you , they have to go through what they are going through now , its gonna take more than a 100 years , history tells us that , but some morons have never read any history and they forget that the Christian world didnt arrive to where it is now without the blood and the killing that inflicted upon eachother , my goodness , it was 70 years ago when EU were slaughtering eachother and now who would`ve thought they will become one country and peace at last
Wisdom of Josh
Today 03:03 AM
Democracy doesn't work in Islamic countries
______ canadiansyrian
Today 03:49 AM
ask Henry the 8th
ellierosa
Today 02:49 AM
Sorry, but I can't believe Assad's British born wife doesn't realize what sort of a man her husband is (i.e. a murderous one.)
If she didn't know when she married him, she must know now.
______ harrythomas2
18 minutes ago
Are he and she related? They look similar (same eyes, nose....) - perhaps they're cousins? (Cousin marriages are the norm the middle east). If they are related then it's very unlikely she'd be unaware of what kind of man her husband is.
However, if they're unrelated and when they met she was simply a naive westerner with little or no knowledge of the middle east and its history (and even less about the Assad family) then she may simply have fallen for his "charms". Obviously now she can't fail to notice what kind of man she married - a monster!
_______ canadiansyrian
Today 03:52 AM
if she didnt know ,,that is a problem , if she did know , that is a calamity, and i guess she Knew but hey ,, back then he was a reformer ( a closet butcher)
russell61
Today 02:35 AM
..the end must be nigh if one can't get to the airport..
ojb
Today 02:29 AM
Och, just come back to the uk with swags of gold and lord it over the indigeneous.
Thats the way the uk elite like it.
C.O.Jones
Today 01:46 AM
Israel would concoct misery even if the World was at peace !
When are the people of america going to realise that their Capital city is Tel-Aviv !!
______ canadiansyrian
Today 03:55 AM
when it comes to interest , America`s Capital can be Makka .
or Lybia.
stay a way from saying anything against the jews , there are lots of poor jews as poor as arabs
Joe lieberman , the US Senator is the most anti Assad in America and he is jewish and i LOVE the guy
______ bart
Today 02:46 AM
Tel Aviv is their moat. If the Islamofascists take out Israel, then the US/Europe is next.
____________ canadiansyrian
Today 04:15 AM
how could an Islamist army ride on Camels and donkeys attack Isreal with its 200 Nuke ? throwing Falafel at them ?
get reall , who is gonna mess with Isreal`s 200 Nuke ?
Isreal can OBLITERATE the arabs and Muslem world 7 times
maias
18 minutes ago
Maybe, but they had better get the wind direction right when firing their nukes or whatt goes around will come around. But then they'll probably blame the nuclear fall out on some one else's unknown WMD
chrysostomos
Today 01:19 AM
A devout muslim human rights activist is a contradiction in terms. Western human rights are incompatible with islam hence there exists the Cairo Declaration which makes amendments to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights that curtail free speech, freedom of conscience etc.
I hope Assad somehow manages to cling to power, for the sake of the minorities who have been largely left alone under his regime.
towhommaybe
Today 12:45 AM
Putin is putrid, and he is behind this strong-arm, defend dictator policy, you can bet. In future the present Russian elite - if it survives long - will be blackballed be the entire new Middle East, and they have well deserved it.
______ jmklampwick
Today 01:35 AM
One can judge a man by the company he keeps.
Euripides
maias
Today 12:27 AM
Russia's stance in supporting the Assad regime seems ironic, since it was the former Russian leader, Boris Yeltsin,who reportedly said "You can build a throne with bayonets but you can't sit on it for very long".
cinnamon
Yesterday 11:41 PM
i wonder if lieberman and putin discussed the moslem brotherhood (and it's penetration into chechnya as well as misrata and cairo-thanks barry-) in the kremlin on dec. 17th. 2011. lol.
no1important
Yesterday 11:40 PM
Well I don't have much sympathy towards her, she knew what she was marrying into and I'm sure money and power swayed her decision just a little.
_____________
What do you think ?
Các anh chị nghĩ thế nào, có ý kiến, phê bình gì qua bài viết "Syria: Bashar al Assad and family 'will be killed like Gaddafi'" và 25 Ý kiến- Phê bình từ "91 Comments" của đọc giả ?
Những nhà "Đạo đức" thường cứ đưa những lý thuyết "lấy tình thương xóa bỏ hận thù", dùng những lý thuyết đạo đức để cảm hóa những kẻ gây TỘI ÁC, làm TỘI ÁC, GIẾT NGƯỜI, nhúng MÁU đồng lọai không biết tanh nhưng hình như những lý thuyết "đạo đức" đó không có hiệu quả gì để khiến cho bọn cầm quyền độc tài bạo ác ngưng GIẾT NGƯỜI .
Tuy nhiên gây nợ máu hẳn nhiên phải trả bằng máu, làm TỘI ÁC phải ĐỀN TỘI là hậu quả không thể tránh khỏi .
and
Người dân Syria chắc chắn sẽ quyết định số phận tên cầm quyền SÁT NHÂN Assad một cách xứng đáng một ngày gần .
Còn nữa, bè lũ phản quốc CƯỚP NƯỚC DIỆT CHỦNG BÁN NƯỚC Việt gian vô lọai cộng sản VN cũng không ngọai lệ .
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
31012012
___________
CSVN là TỘI ÁC
Bao che, dung dưỡng TỘI ÁC là đồng lõa với TỘI ÁC
The Syrian President Bashar al Assad, his British wife Asma and their family will meet a bloody end 'like Gaddafi' as his regime falls from power, a leading member of the opposition movement has warned.
Friends of Mrs Assad, who grew up in Acton and attended Queens College Marylebone, said they were sure she was repulsed by the violence in defence of the dictatorship Photo: STR/AFP/Getty Images
By Damien McElroy
6:49PM GMT 30 Jan 2012
91 Comments
Haitham Maleh, a member of the executive committee of the Syrian National Council, told The Daily Telegraph that Mr Assad had forfeited any chance of a peaceful exit from Syria as a result of his regime's brutal crackdown on protesters.
The former judge, who has spent decades in Syrian prisons for his human rights activism, predicted that Mr Assad, his wife and three children would be killed in revenge for his failure to respond positively to peaceful demands for change.
"Assad and his family will be killed in Syria, their next steps will be very bloody," he said. "Two months ago we offered him the option to leave us alone and go but instead he went for the blood of his people. The end for him will be that he is killed like Gaddafi."
Persistent reports have emerged around the Middle East that Mrs Assad has sought to return to England - or at least flee the fighting in Damascus - with her three children, Hafez, Zein and Lareem. Al-Masry-Al-Youm reported yesterday that she was among a group of family members including the president's mother and cousins that was driving to the airport to leave but forced to turn back by an opposition ambush.
The UN estimates that more than 5,000 have died on both sides of Syrian fighting as the regime uses tanks, shell fire and sniper units to snuff out protests. The government assault is a particularly familial affair with Mr Assad's brother Maher commanding the 4th Division of ultra loyal troops that have spearheaded operations.
Related Articles
_ Graphic: Syrian army retakes Damascus suburbs - 30 Jan 2012
_ Syrian forces open fire on funeral procession - 30 Jan 2012
_ Syrian rebels claim destruction of tank - 30 Jan 2012
_ Britain warns Russia not to block UN over Syria - 30 Jan 2012
_ Syrian forces tighten grip on Damascus suburb - 30 Jan 2012
_ Syria: regime troops take Damascus suburbs - 30 Jan 2012
Mr Maleh said that very soon "two armies" would be clashing around Syria as the security forces desert the regime enmasse.
"Most of the army will separate off from the Assad troops to protect their people," he said. "Maher is particularly brutal, he will go out and shoot people himself, the ordinary troops don't want this."
The 80-year old dissident rebuffed Russian attempts to broker talks with the regime to end spiralling violence. "Talks will not happen. How can we have dialogue with a criminal regime, we can't do it now," Mr Maleh, a founding member of the executive committee of the SNC, said. "The game is over. How can we talk with a person who has put a pistol to our heads. It is impossible to make dialogue with this person.
The SNC was increasing its support for the Free Syria Army which has gained increasing numbers of army defections.
"We are sending them money and they ask for weapons, we are sending them some," he said. "The Turkish government has allowed us to open an account in the name of the national council."
Friends of Mrs Assad, who grew up in Acton and attended Queens College Marylebone, said they were sure she was repulsed by the violence in defence of the dictatorship.
"She would be horrified with what is happening," said Malik al-Abdeh, a TV magnate speaking to The Times. "She lived most of her life here. Her ethics and morality were formed here. I think she must be genuinely shocked."
***
Showing 1-25 of 91 comments
canadiansyrian
38 minutes ago
she`s saying : Oh mine Fuhrer , er ist mine man
wolfe
Today 03:42 AM
Eva Braun comes to mind! Bashar Assad's father had form - he murdered tens of thousands of Syrians in his time and fought Israel - how could she not know that her own husbands inheritance of power was gained through bloodshed!? Serves her right - other English women thinking they might like to marry rich Arab despots take note!
______ canadiansyrian
Today 03:47 AM
she was a Slu*
Wisdom of Josh
Today 03:10 AM
It's 2012 - the Google and Facebook age. But Islam hasn't advanced one single iota - in fact it is moving backwards.
The only things coming out of Islamic countries are murder, extremism, terrorism, bombings, hangings, slayings, torture, marrying infants, amputations, honor-killings etc.
They are always bitter, angry, resentful - constantly screaming, burning flags, throwing stones and overturning cars.
And it's all Israel's fault
______ canadiansyrian
Today 03:49 AM
how about Google Christian EU between 700 and 1500s ? and how long it took Christian EU to become civilized ?
how about in Northeren Irland ?
______ harrythomas2
28 minutes ago
True, Christianity's history was bloody... IN THE PAST - up until a few hundred years ago. Then it went through an Enlightenment and Reformation. Whatever happened in the past happened in the past and can't be changed.
The previous poster was speaking about islam TODAY - in 2012. It is where Christianity was a few hundred years ago. But now in 2012 - i.e. THE PRESENT - muslims have a chance to change things for the better, to move forwards instead of backwards. Will they take that chance, or will they continue as usual, all the while blaming others for their misfortune?
______ canadiansyrian
19 minutes ago
oh , I agree with you , they have to go through what they are going through now , its gonna take more than a 100 years , history tells us that , but some morons have never read any history and they forget that the Christian world didnt arrive to where it is now without the blood and the killing that inflicted upon eachother , my goodness , it was 70 years ago when EU were slaughtering eachother and now who would`ve thought they will become one country and peace at last
Wisdom of Josh
Today 03:03 AM
Democracy doesn't work in Islamic countries
______ canadiansyrian
Today 03:49 AM
ask Henry the 8th
ellierosa
Today 02:49 AM
Sorry, but I can't believe Assad's British born wife doesn't realize what sort of a man her husband is (i.e. a murderous one.)
If she didn't know when she married him, she must know now.
______ harrythomas2
18 minutes ago
Are he and she related? They look similar (same eyes, nose....) - perhaps they're cousins? (Cousin marriages are the norm the middle east). If they are related then it's very unlikely she'd be unaware of what kind of man her husband is.
However, if they're unrelated and when they met she was simply a naive westerner with little or no knowledge of the middle east and its history (and even less about the Assad family) then she may simply have fallen for his "charms". Obviously now she can't fail to notice what kind of man she married - a monster!
_______ canadiansyrian
Today 03:52 AM
if she didnt know ,,that is a problem , if she did know , that is a calamity, and i guess she Knew but hey ,, back then he was a reformer ( a closet butcher)
russell61
Today 02:35 AM
..the end must be nigh if one can't get to the airport..
ojb
Today 02:29 AM
Och, just come back to the uk with swags of gold and lord it over the indigeneous.
Thats the way the uk elite like it.
C.O.Jones
Today 01:46 AM
Israel would concoct misery even if the World was at peace !
When are the people of america going to realise that their Capital city is Tel-Aviv !!
______ canadiansyrian
Today 03:55 AM
when it comes to interest , America`s Capital can be Makka .
or Lybia.
stay a way from saying anything against the jews , there are lots of poor jews as poor as arabs
Joe lieberman , the US Senator is the most anti Assad in America and he is jewish and i LOVE the guy
______ bart
Today 02:46 AM
Tel Aviv is their moat. If the Islamofascists take out Israel, then the US/Europe is next.
____________ canadiansyrian
Today 04:15 AM
how could an Islamist army ride on Camels and donkeys attack Isreal with its 200 Nuke ? throwing Falafel at them ?
get reall , who is gonna mess with Isreal`s 200 Nuke ?
Isreal can OBLITERATE the arabs and Muslem world 7 times
maias
18 minutes ago
Maybe, but they had better get the wind direction right when firing their nukes or whatt goes around will come around. But then they'll probably blame the nuclear fall out on some one else's unknown WMD
chrysostomos
Today 01:19 AM
A devout muslim human rights activist is a contradiction in terms. Western human rights are incompatible with islam hence there exists the Cairo Declaration which makes amendments to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights that curtail free speech, freedom of conscience etc.
I hope Assad somehow manages to cling to power, for the sake of the minorities who have been largely left alone under his regime.
towhommaybe
Today 12:45 AM
Putin is putrid, and he is behind this strong-arm, defend dictator policy, you can bet. In future the present Russian elite - if it survives long - will be blackballed be the entire new Middle East, and they have well deserved it.
______ jmklampwick
Today 01:35 AM
One can judge a man by the company he keeps.
Euripides
maias
Today 12:27 AM
Russia's stance in supporting the Assad regime seems ironic, since it was the former Russian leader, Boris Yeltsin,who reportedly said "You can build a throne with bayonets but you can't sit on it for very long".
cinnamon
Yesterday 11:41 PM
i wonder if lieberman and putin discussed the moslem brotherhood (and it's penetration into chechnya as well as misrata and cairo-thanks barry-) in the kremlin on dec. 17th. 2011. lol.
no1important
Yesterday 11:40 PM
Well I don't have much sympathy towards her, she knew what she was marrying into and I'm sure money and power swayed her decision just a little.
_____________
What do you think ?
Các anh chị nghĩ thế nào, có ý kiến, phê bình gì qua bài viết "Syria: Bashar al Assad and family 'will be killed like Gaddafi'" và 25 Ý kiến- Phê bình từ "91 Comments" của đọc giả ?
Những nhà "Đạo đức" thường cứ đưa những lý thuyết "lấy tình thương xóa bỏ hận thù", dùng những lý thuyết đạo đức để cảm hóa những kẻ gây TỘI ÁC, làm TỘI ÁC, GIẾT NGƯỜI, nhúng MÁU đồng lọai không biết tanh nhưng hình như những lý thuyết "đạo đức" đó không có hiệu quả gì để khiến cho bọn cầm quyền độc tài bạo ác ngưng GIẾT NGƯỜI .
Tuy nhiên gây nợ máu hẳn nhiên phải trả bằng máu, làm TỘI ÁC phải ĐỀN TỘI là hậu quả không thể tránh khỏi .
and
Người dân Syria chắc chắn sẽ quyết định số phận tên cầm quyền SÁT NHÂN Assad một cách xứng đáng một ngày gần .
Còn nữa, bè lũ phản quốc CƯỚP NƯỚC DIỆT CHỦNG BÁN NƯỚC Việt gian vô lọai cộng sản VN cũng không ngọai lệ .
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
31012012
___________
CSVN là TỘI ÁC
Bao che, dung dưỡng TỘI ÁC là đồng lõa với TỘI ÁC
WORLD_ Secretary of State Hillary Clinton calls for action on Syria
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton calls for action on Syria
THE AUSTRALIAN
From: AFP January 31, 2012 8:31AM
US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton says that the UN Security Council "must act" on Syria to end President Bashar al-Assad's "violent and brutal attacks" against demonstrators.
Amid Russian opposition to a tough resolution on Syria, Clinton said that she would travel to the United Nations tomorrow to "send a clear message of support to the Syrian people: we stand with you."
"The United States condemns in the strongest possible terms the escalation of the Syrian regime's violent and brutal attacks on its own people," Ms Clinton said in a statement.
"The Security Council must act and make clear to the Syrian regime that the world community views its actions as a threat to peace and security. The violence must end, so that a new period of democratic transition can begin," she said.
"The longer the Assad regime continues its attacks on the Syrian people and stands in the way of a peaceful transition, the greater the concern that instability will escalate and spill over throughout the region," she said.
Ms Clinton will join other top officials at the United Nations including French Foreign Minister Alain Juppe, British Foreign Secretary William Hague and Arab League chief Nabil al-Arabi, who on Saturday announced a suspension of an Arab monitoring mission to Syria due to escalating violence.
"The regime has failed to meet its commitments to the Arab League to halt its acts of violence, withdraw its military forces from residential areas, allow journalists and monitors to operate freely and release prisoners arrested because of the current unrest," Ms Clinton said.
But Russia, a main military supplier to Syria, has said that it will use its veto against a draft Security Council resolution, pointing to language against arms deliveries.
Russia has suggested that Assad and the opposition meet in Moscow for "informal contacts" without any preconditions.
White House spokesman Jay Carney said that the United States supported a political solution in Syria but was "intensely discussing" with Russia the "real deterioration on the ground."
"We're discussing with the Russians and other partners how best to use all the levers at the command of the international community and the United Nations to press the Syrian government to stop its appalling and, ultimately, ineffective and harmful repression," Carney told reporters.
Human rights groups say that more than 5400 people have died in Syria, including 80 on Sunday alone, as Assad cracks down on the latest in a wave of Arab uprisings that have overthrown authoritarian leaders in Egypt, Libya and Tunisia.
AFP
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
31012012
___________
CSVN là TỘI ÁC
Bao che, dung dưỡng TỘI ÁC là đồng lõa với TỘI ÁC
THE AUSTRALIAN
From: AFP January 31, 2012 8:31AM
US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton says that the UN Security Council "must act" on Syria to end President Bashar al-Assad's "violent and brutal attacks" against demonstrators.
Amid Russian opposition to a tough resolution on Syria, Clinton said that she would travel to the United Nations tomorrow to "send a clear message of support to the Syrian people: we stand with you."
"The United States condemns in the strongest possible terms the escalation of the Syrian regime's violent and brutal attacks on its own people," Ms Clinton said in a statement.
"The Security Council must act and make clear to the Syrian regime that the world community views its actions as a threat to peace and security. The violence must end, so that a new period of democratic transition can begin," she said.
"The longer the Assad regime continues its attacks on the Syrian people and stands in the way of a peaceful transition, the greater the concern that instability will escalate and spill over throughout the region," she said.
Ms Clinton will join other top officials at the United Nations including French Foreign Minister Alain Juppe, British Foreign Secretary William Hague and Arab League chief Nabil al-Arabi, who on Saturday announced a suspension of an Arab monitoring mission to Syria due to escalating violence.
"The regime has failed to meet its commitments to the Arab League to halt its acts of violence, withdraw its military forces from residential areas, allow journalists and monitors to operate freely and release prisoners arrested because of the current unrest," Ms Clinton said.
But Russia, a main military supplier to Syria, has said that it will use its veto against a draft Security Council resolution, pointing to language against arms deliveries.
Russia has suggested that Assad and the opposition meet in Moscow for "informal contacts" without any preconditions.
White House spokesman Jay Carney said that the United States supported a political solution in Syria but was "intensely discussing" with Russia the "real deterioration on the ground."
"We're discussing with the Russians and other partners how best to use all the levers at the command of the international community and the United Nations to press the Syrian government to stop its appalling and, ultimately, ineffective and harmful repression," Carney told reporters.
Human rights groups say that more than 5400 people have died in Syria, including 80 on Sunday alone, as Assad cracks down on the latest in a wave of Arab uprisings that have overthrown authoritarian leaders in Egypt, Libya and Tunisia.
AFP
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
31012012
___________
CSVN là TỘI ÁC
Bao che, dung dưỡng TỘI ÁC là đồng lõa với TỘI ÁC
Sunday, January 29, 2012
WORLD_ Syria military offensive in Damascus suburbs aims to drive out rebels
Syria military offensive in Damascus suburbs aims to drive out rebels
Activists say troops killed at least 19 people in some of the bloodiest fighting in Damascus since start of 10-month uprising
Luke Harding
guardian.co.uk, Sunday 29 January 2012 17.58 GMT
Article history
Free Syrian Army fighters patrol a street in the Damascus suburb of Saqba. Photograph: Ahmed Jadallah/Reuters
Syria launched a major military offensive to seize back parts of Damascus under de facto rebel control on Sunday, a day after the Arab League said it was abandoning its monitoring mission in the face of out-of-control violence.
Government forces killed at least 19 people, activists said, in some of the bloodiest fighting in the capital since Syria's 10-month uprising began. Witnesses inside Damascus described scenes of mayhem, with troops shelling residential areas and fierce house-to-house fighting.
"It's urban war. There are bodies in the street," one activist, speaking from the suburb of Kfar Batna, told Reuters.
Around 2,000 troops, together with at least 50 tanks and armoured vehicles, began a major operation at dawn, when they headed towards the al-Ghouta area in eastern Damascus. The foray was part of a wider offensive against the suburbs of Saqba, Hammouriya and Kfar Batna, activists said.
Video footage showed tanks trundling forward, followed by government soldiers on foot. The army pushed deep into the centre of Kfar Batna. Witnesses reported four tanks in the main square.
Activists said 14 civilians and five insurgents from the opposition Free Syrian Army (FSA) were killed. Gruesome unconfirmed video showed the mangled bodies of what appeared to be civilians caught by mortar or shellfire.
The unprecedented operation appears an attempt to regain the initiative from the rebels, who have grown increasingly bold in recent weeks. The BBC's Middle East correspondent, Jeremy Bowen, discovered the FSA openly manning roadblocks in Damascus last week, just 30 minutes away from Bashar Al-Assad's presidential palace.
The insurgency, which is still raging in towns and cities across Syria - with further protests in Aleppo on Sunday — has now definitively reached the capital. The suburbs are made up of conservative Sunni Muslim towns, surrounded by countryside and farmland, known as the al-Ghouta.
The area has seen large demonstrations demanding the overthrow of Assad and his minority Alawite regime. The Alawite sect has traditionally dominated Syria's government and armed forces.
One activist in Saqba suburb told Reuters that mosques there had been turned into field hospitals and were appealing for blood supplies.
"They cut off the electricity. Petrol stations are empty and the army is preventing people from leaving to get fuel for generators or heating," he said.
Sunday's army offensive came after the Arab League said on Saturday that it was suspending its widely-criticised monitoring mission, which has proved incapable of stopping the killing. The League's chief, Nabil Elaraby, flew to New York to try to win support on the UN security council for his peace plan, designed to end the violence through political means.
Under the plan, Assad would step down in favour of his vice-president, allow free and fair elections to take place and a national unity government to be formed. The plan is modelled on the solution to the crisis in Yemen, which saw the country's president, Ali Abdullah Saleh reluctantly hand over power to his deputy, albeit after months of delay. Saleh is now seeking medical treatment in the US.
Syria has categorically rejected the Arab League's plan as "foreign interference". There were also indications that Russia, Syria's closest strategic ally and key military supplier, would not accept it either.
Russia's foreign minister, Sergei Lavrov, said Moscow would not sign off on any deal that forced Assad out. Additionally, Moscow wanted a clear commitment that there would be no Libya-style foreign intervention in Syria, he said.
Speaking shortly before he left Cairo for New York, Elaraby said he hoped to overcome resistance from China and Russia, both of which have veto powers on the security council. "There are contacts with China and Russia on this issue," he said. A Syrian government official, meanwhile, was quoted as saying Damascus was surprised by the League's decision to suspend operations, and interpreted it as an attempt to prepare the way for foreign intervention in Syria. The aim was also to encourage violent armed groups, he suggested.
Assad has repeatedly dubbed the uprising against his rule as the work of terrorists. State news agency SANA reported the funerals on Saturday of 28 soldiers and members of the security forces killed by "armed terrorist groups" in Homs, Hama, Deraa, Deir al-Zor and Damascus province.
Another 16 soldiers were reported killed on Sunday. SANA said six soldiers died in a bombing sout-west of Damascus, while the opposition Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said 10 soldiers were killed when their convoy was attacked in Jabal al-Zawiya in northern Syria.
In Rankous, 20 miles north of Damascus by the Lebanese border, Assad's forces have killed at least 33 people in recent days in an attack aimed at dislodging army defectors and insurgents, locals reported. Rankous is a mountain town of 25,000 people. It has been under tank fire since Wednesday, when several thousand troops laid siege to it, they added.
The foreign secretary, William Hague, said he was deeply concerned by the violence in Syria and the decision by the Arab League to call a halt to its monitoring activities. Hague called on the international community to unite this week and to agree a UN security council resolution that would stop "the killing and the repression of civilians".
France, which has been leading calls for a stronger international response, said the Arab League decision highlighted the need to act.
"France vigorously condemns the dramatic escalation of violence in Syria, which has led the Arab League to suspend its observers' mission," the French foreign ministry said.
"Dozens of Syrian civilians have been killed in the past days by the savage repression undertaken by the Syrian regime … Those responsible for these barbarous acts must answer to their crimes."
The Arab League mission began at the end of last year. Its brief was to observe Syria's supposed implementation of a peace plan, but the plan failed. Gulf states withdrew monitors last week, saying their team could not stop the violence.
In December the UN said more than 5,000 people had been killed in the protests and crackdown. Syria says more than 2,000 security force members have been killed by militants.
On Friday, the UN security council discussed a European-Arab draft resolution aimed at halting the bloodshed. Britain and France said they hoped to put it to a vote next week. Russia joined China in vetoing a previous western draft resolution in October, and has said it wants a Syrian-led political process, not "an Arab League-imposed outcome" or Libyan-style "regime change".
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
30012012
___________
CSVN là TỘI ÁC
Bao che, dung dưỡng TỘI ÁC là đồng lõa với TỘI ÁC
Activists say troops killed at least 19 people in some of the bloodiest fighting in Damascus since start of 10-month uprising
Luke Harding
guardian.co.uk, Sunday 29 January 2012 17.58 GMT
Article history
Free Syrian Army fighters patrol a street in the Damascus suburb of Saqba. Photograph: Ahmed Jadallah/Reuters
Syria launched a major military offensive to seize back parts of Damascus under de facto rebel control on Sunday, a day after the Arab League said it was abandoning its monitoring mission in the face of out-of-control violence.
Government forces killed at least 19 people, activists said, in some of the bloodiest fighting in the capital since Syria's 10-month uprising began. Witnesses inside Damascus described scenes of mayhem, with troops shelling residential areas and fierce house-to-house fighting.
"It's urban war. There are bodies in the street," one activist, speaking from the suburb of Kfar Batna, told Reuters.
Around 2,000 troops, together with at least 50 tanks and armoured vehicles, began a major operation at dawn, when they headed towards the al-Ghouta area in eastern Damascus. The foray was part of a wider offensive against the suburbs of Saqba, Hammouriya and Kfar Batna, activists said.
Video footage showed tanks trundling forward, followed by government soldiers on foot. The army pushed deep into the centre of Kfar Batna. Witnesses reported four tanks in the main square.
Activists said 14 civilians and five insurgents from the opposition Free Syrian Army (FSA) were killed. Gruesome unconfirmed video showed the mangled bodies of what appeared to be civilians caught by mortar or shellfire.
The unprecedented operation appears an attempt to regain the initiative from the rebels, who have grown increasingly bold in recent weeks. The BBC's Middle East correspondent, Jeremy Bowen, discovered the FSA openly manning roadblocks in Damascus last week, just 30 minutes away from Bashar Al-Assad's presidential palace.
The insurgency, which is still raging in towns and cities across Syria - with further protests in Aleppo on Sunday — has now definitively reached the capital. The suburbs are made up of conservative Sunni Muslim towns, surrounded by countryside and farmland, known as the al-Ghouta.
The area has seen large demonstrations demanding the overthrow of Assad and his minority Alawite regime. The Alawite sect has traditionally dominated Syria's government and armed forces.
One activist in Saqba suburb told Reuters that mosques there had been turned into field hospitals and were appealing for blood supplies.
"They cut off the electricity. Petrol stations are empty and the army is preventing people from leaving to get fuel for generators or heating," he said.
Sunday's army offensive came after the Arab League said on Saturday that it was suspending its widely-criticised monitoring mission, which has proved incapable of stopping the killing. The League's chief, Nabil Elaraby, flew to New York to try to win support on the UN security council for his peace plan, designed to end the violence through political means.
Under the plan, Assad would step down in favour of his vice-president, allow free and fair elections to take place and a national unity government to be formed. The plan is modelled on the solution to the crisis in Yemen, which saw the country's president, Ali Abdullah Saleh reluctantly hand over power to his deputy, albeit after months of delay. Saleh is now seeking medical treatment in the US.
Syria has categorically rejected the Arab League's plan as "foreign interference". There were also indications that Russia, Syria's closest strategic ally and key military supplier, would not accept it either.
Russia's foreign minister, Sergei Lavrov, said Moscow would not sign off on any deal that forced Assad out. Additionally, Moscow wanted a clear commitment that there would be no Libya-style foreign intervention in Syria, he said.
Speaking shortly before he left Cairo for New York, Elaraby said he hoped to overcome resistance from China and Russia, both of which have veto powers on the security council. "There are contacts with China and Russia on this issue," he said. A Syrian government official, meanwhile, was quoted as saying Damascus was surprised by the League's decision to suspend operations, and interpreted it as an attempt to prepare the way for foreign intervention in Syria. The aim was also to encourage violent armed groups, he suggested.
Assad has repeatedly dubbed the uprising against his rule as the work of terrorists. State news agency SANA reported the funerals on Saturday of 28 soldiers and members of the security forces killed by "armed terrorist groups" in Homs, Hama, Deraa, Deir al-Zor and Damascus province.
Another 16 soldiers were reported killed on Sunday. SANA said six soldiers died in a bombing sout-west of Damascus, while the opposition Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said 10 soldiers were killed when their convoy was attacked in Jabal al-Zawiya in northern Syria.
In Rankous, 20 miles north of Damascus by the Lebanese border, Assad's forces have killed at least 33 people in recent days in an attack aimed at dislodging army defectors and insurgents, locals reported. Rankous is a mountain town of 25,000 people. It has been under tank fire since Wednesday, when several thousand troops laid siege to it, they added.
The foreign secretary, William Hague, said he was deeply concerned by the violence in Syria and the decision by the Arab League to call a halt to its monitoring activities. Hague called on the international community to unite this week and to agree a UN security council resolution that would stop "the killing and the repression of civilians".
France, which has been leading calls for a stronger international response, said the Arab League decision highlighted the need to act.
"France vigorously condemns the dramatic escalation of violence in Syria, which has led the Arab League to suspend its observers' mission," the French foreign ministry said.
"Dozens of Syrian civilians have been killed in the past days by the savage repression undertaken by the Syrian regime … Those responsible for these barbarous acts must answer to their crimes."
The Arab League mission began at the end of last year. Its brief was to observe Syria's supposed implementation of a peace plan, but the plan failed. Gulf states withdrew monitors last week, saying their team could not stop the violence.
In December the UN said more than 5,000 people had been killed in the protests and crackdown. Syria says more than 2,000 security force members have been killed by militants.
On Friday, the UN security council discussed a European-Arab draft resolution aimed at halting the bloodshed. Britain and France said they hoped to put it to a vote next week. Russia joined China in vetoing a previous western draft resolution in October, and has said it wants a Syrian-led political process, not "an Arab League-imposed outcome" or Libyan-style "regime change".
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
30012012
___________
CSVN là TỘI ÁC
Bao che, dung dưỡng TỘI ÁC là đồng lõa với TỘI ÁC
Saturday, January 28, 2012
Vài suy nghĩ khi đọc bản tin "384 children killed during 10 months of Syrian violence, says UN"
384 children killed during 10 months of Syrian violence, says UN
At least 384 children have been killed during 10 months of violence in Syria and almost the same number detained, the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) has said.
Image 1 of 2
Bodies lie at a mortuary in Homs Photo: AFP/GETTY
The UN said about 380 children have been detained, "some less than 14 years old." Photo: AFP/Getty Images
3:26PM GMT 27 Jan 2012
The Telegraph
"As of January 7, 384 children have been killed, most are boys," Rima Salah, acting UNICEF deputy executive director, told a press briefing in Geneva.
She said about 380 children have been detained, "some less than 14 years old."
The figure was revealed as the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said violence claimed at least 35 lives in Syria on Friday, including the first fatalities in the commercial city of Aleppo and a car bomb in the northwest.
The figure was reported as activists and residents said security forces killed 37 people in Syria on Friday, as people in Homs mourned 14 members of a family they said were slain by militiamen in one of the worst sectarian attacks in a revolt against President Bashar al-Assad.
The UN Security Council was to meet later in the day to discuss Syria before a possible vote next week on a new Western-Arab draft resolution aimed at halting 10 months of bloodshed.
Related Articles
Arab League halts Syria monitoring mission - 28 Jan 2012
Fighting intensifies in Syrian city of Homs - 27 Jan 2012
Syrian security forces launch all-out assault on Douma - 26 Jan 2012
Syria: account of the death of Samer Izz Aldeen - 26 Jan 2012
Arab League chief to head to UN - 26 Jan 2012
Arab League resumes observer mission in Syria - 26 Jan 2012
Russia, which joined China in vetoing a previous Western draft resolution in October and which has since promoted its own draft, said the Western-Arab version was unacceptable and vowed to block any text calling for Assad's resignation.
There was no let-up in violence on Friday, when anti-Assad protests again erupted after weekly Muslim prayers.
Tank and mortar fire killed 15 people in Hama, a resident said, on the fourth day of an army assault on rebellious districts of the city, where Assad's father crushed an armed Islamist uprising in 1982, killing many thousands.
The opposition Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported 22 people killed elsewhere in Syria, including 12 when security forces fired on a funeral march in the southern town of Nowa, five in the normally peaceful city of Aleppo, and four in Homs.
Machinegun fire wounded five people in the Qusour district of Homs, one activist there said, adding that the city was calmer than it was at the height of Thursday's violence, when 16 people were also killed by mortar fire from security forces.
The state news agency SANA said "terrorists" killed a security man in Homs on Friday and a bomb killed a child and wounded several civilians and security personnel in the Damascus district of Midan.
SANA also said a bomb wounded three civilians and three security men in the northeastern town of Albukamal and that a suicide bomber had wounded two security men at a checkpoint in the northwestern province of Idlib.
Arab League observers headed for the Damascus suburb of Douma, where government troops battled rebel fighters the previous day as the struggle to topple Assad rumbled close to the Syrian capital.
The Arab League has demanded that the Syrian leader step down as part of a transition to democracy, a call rejected by Damascus. The government says it is fighting foreign-backed armed "terrorists" who have killed 2,000 soldiers and police.
____________
What do you think ?
Các anh chị nghĩ thế nào, có ý kiến, phê bình gì qua bản tin "384 children killed during 10 months of Syrian violence, says UN" và những bài viết liên quan ?
Những người dân VN BỊ MẤT NƯỚC vào tay bè lũ phản quốc CƯỚP NƯỚC DIỆT CHỦNG BÁN NƯỚC Độc tài ĐỘc đảng Việt gian cộng sản VN học thêm bài học gì nữa qua tình hình Syria hiện tại ?
Những kẻ mở miệng ra là "tranh đấu cho tự do dân chủ nhân quyền cho đồng bào trong nước" nhưng vẫn tiếp tục bơm hơi tiếp máu duy trì chế độ TÀN ÁC DÃ MAN của bè lũ vô lọai cộng sản VN, vẫn tiếp tục chờ "đèn xanh đèn vàng" của ngọai bang, vẫn tiếp tục nuôi dưỡng vi khuẩn vọng ngọai trong huyết quản, vẫn tiếp tục mê ngủ van xin, cầu khẩn bè lũ GIẾT DÂN BÁN NƯỚC vô lọai cộng sản VN, là bè lũ BÁN NƯỚC, là tội đồ truyền kiếp của dân tộc VN "hồi tâm" để bố thí QUYỀN LÀM NGƯỜI cho dân VN có cảm thấy XẤU HỔ, NHỤC NHÃ trước những người dân Bắc Phi, Trung Đông và bây giờ là người dân 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
29012012
___________
CSVN là TỘI ÁC
Bao che, dung dưỡng TỘI ÁC là đồng lõa với TỘI ÁC
At least 384 children have been killed during 10 months of violence in Syria and almost the same number detained, the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) has said.
Image 1 of 2
Bodies lie at a mortuary in Homs Photo: AFP/GETTY
The UN said about 380 children have been detained, "some less than 14 years old." Photo: AFP/Getty Images
3:26PM GMT 27 Jan 2012
The Telegraph
"As of January 7, 384 children have been killed, most are boys," Rima Salah, acting UNICEF deputy executive director, told a press briefing in Geneva.
She said about 380 children have been detained, "some less than 14 years old."
The figure was revealed as the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said violence claimed at least 35 lives in Syria on Friday, including the first fatalities in the commercial city of Aleppo and a car bomb in the northwest.
The figure was reported as activists and residents said security forces killed 37 people in Syria on Friday, as people in Homs mourned 14 members of a family they said were slain by militiamen in one of the worst sectarian attacks in a revolt against President Bashar al-Assad.
The UN Security Council was to meet later in the day to discuss Syria before a possible vote next week on a new Western-Arab draft resolution aimed at halting 10 months of bloodshed.
Related Articles
Arab League halts Syria monitoring mission - 28 Jan 2012
Fighting intensifies in Syrian city of Homs - 27 Jan 2012
Syrian security forces launch all-out assault on Douma - 26 Jan 2012
Syria: account of the death of Samer Izz Aldeen - 26 Jan 2012
Arab League chief to head to UN - 26 Jan 2012
Arab League resumes observer mission in Syria - 26 Jan 2012
Russia, which joined China in vetoing a previous Western draft resolution in October and which has since promoted its own draft, said the Western-Arab version was unacceptable and vowed to block any text calling for Assad's resignation.
There was no let-up in violence on Friday, when anti-Assad protests again erupted after weekly Muslim prayers.
Tank and mortar fire killed 15 people in Hama, a resident said, on the fourth day of an army assault on rebellious districts of the city, where Assad's father crushed an armed Islamist uprising in 1982, killing many thousands.
The opposition Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported 22 people killed elsewhere in Syria, including 12 when security forces fired on a funeral march in the southern town of Nowa, five in the normally peaceful city of Aleppo, and four in Homs.
Machinegun fire wounded five people in the Qusour district of Homs, one activist there said, adding that the city was calmer than it was at the height of Thursday's violence, when 16 people were also killed by mortar fire from security forces.
The state news agency SANA said "terrorists" killed a security man in Homs on Friday and a bomb killed a child and wounded several civilians and security personnel in the Damascus district of Midan.
SANA also said a bomb wounded three civilians and three security men in the northeastern town of Albukamal and that a suicide bomber had wounded two security men at a checkpoint in the northwestern province of Idlib.
Arab League observers headed for the Damascus suburb of Douma, where government troops battled rebel fighters the previous day as the struggle to topple Assad rumbled close to the Syrian capital.
The Arab League has demanded that the Syrian leader step down as part of a transition to democracy, a call rejected by Damascus. The government says it is fighting foreign-backed armed "terrorists" who have killed 2,000 soldiers and police.
____________
What do you think ?
Các anh chị nghĩ thế nào, có ý kiến, phê bình gì qua bản tin "384 children killed during 10 months of Syrian violence, says UN" và những bài viết liên quan ?
Những người dân VN BỊ MẤT NƯỚC vào tay bè lũ phản quốc CƯỚP NƯỚC DIỆT CHỦNG BÁN NƯỚC Độc tài ĐỘc đảng Việt gian cộng sản VN học thêm bài học gì nữa qua tình hình Syria hiện tại ?
Những kẻ mở miệng ra là "tranh đấu cho tự do dân chủ nhân quyền cho đồng bào trong nước" nhưng vẫn tiếp tục bơm hơi tiếp máu duy trì chế độ TÀN ÁC DÃ MAN của bè lũ vô lọai cộng sản VN, vẫn tiếp tục chờ "đèn xanh đèn vàng" của ngọai bang, vẫn tiếp tục nuôi dưỡng vi khuẩn vọng ngọai trong huyết quản, vẫn tiếp tục mê ngủ van xin, cầu khẩn bè lũ GIẾT DÂN BÁN NƯỚC vô lọai cộng sản VN, là bè lũ BÁN NƯỚC, là tội đồ truyền kiếp của dân tộc VN "hồi tâm" để bố thí QUYỀN LÀM NGƯỜI cho dân VN có cảm thấy XẤU HỔ, NHỤC NHÃ trước những người dân Bắc Phi, Trung Đông và bây giờ là người dân 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
29012012
___________
CSVN là TỘI ÁC
Bao che, dung dưỡng TỘI ÁC là đồng lõa với TỘI ÁC
Wednesday, January 25, 2012
WORLD_ France, Britain join Syria peace push at U.N.
France, Britain join Syria peace push at U.N.
Video:
Dozens of monitors leave Syria (00:58)
By Mariam Karouny
DAMASCUS |Wed Jan 25, 2012 4:12pm EST
DAMASCUS (Reuters) - Arab League monitors said the withdrawal of colleagues by Gulf Arab states would not hinder their work in Syria while France and Britain Wednesday joined efforts at the United Nations to end President Bashar al-Assad's rule.
"The U.N. Security Council must support the Arab League's courageous decisions which are trying to end the repression and violence in Syria and find a solution to the political crisis," French Foreign Ministry spokesman Bernard Valero said.
"Our aim is to get a resolution approved." The Security Council could vote as early as next week on a Western-Arab draft resolution, council diplomats said.
U.S. President Barack Obama said in his State of the Union address that Assad would "soon discover that the forces of change can't be reversed."
Russia's Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said his country remained opposed to sanctions on Syria and reiterated its opposition to military intervention.
But it is unclear whether Russia is prepared to wield its veto powers again to block council action on Syria.
More than 50 observers from Gulf Arab states left Syria on Wednesday after their governments said they were certain "the bloodshed and killing of innocents would continue."
Their colleagues in Damascus, about 120 strong, pledged to continue the monitoring mission, now extended until February 23, to verify Syria's compliance with an earlier Arab peace plan.
"The departure of the GCC (Gulf Cooperation Council) countries will not have an impact on the mission's work. We are all professionals here and we can do the job," said a senior Arab monitor, who asked not to be named.
"We need more monitors of course and more will come soon to replace those who left."
Syrian opposition groups have accused the observer mission, which began on December 26, of giving Assad diplomatic cover to pursue a crackdown on protesters and rebels in which more than 5,000 people have been killed since March, by a U.N. tally.
Arab League chief Nabil Elaraby and Qatari Prime Minister Hamad bin Jassim al-Thani, who heads the League's committee on Syria, wrote jointly to U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon setting out their plan for a political solution in Syria.
Several diplomats at the United Nations said France and Britain were working with Qatar and other Arab delegations on a new draft resolution supporting the Arab League plan which envisages Assad stepping down and making way for a unity government to halt the bloodshed of a 10-month uprising.
Valero said the talks should enable the Security Council to support and enforce the Arab plan by giving it the necessary international guarantees for it to be implemented.
"TERRORISTS"
The head of the Syrian Arab Red Crescent in the northern town of Idlib was shot dead Wednesday, the International Committee of the Red Cross said, in an attack which Damascus blamed on "terrorists."
State news agency SANA also said a priest was killed by "terrorists" while helping a wounded person in the city of Hama.
The government says it is fighting foreign-backed Islamist "terrorists" who have killed 2,000 soldiers and police. SANA said 30 more were buried in the last two days.
The British-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said seven other people were killed Wednesday. One was killed by soldiers surrounding the Bab Qabli district of Hama and a woman died after a shell landed on her house near the town of Qusair, 10 km from the Lebanese border, it said.
It also reported clashes between army deserters and state soldiers in the rebellious province of Idlib that disabled three armored vehicles and killed or wounded six soldiers.
The revolt in Syria was inspired by other uprisings that have toppled three autocratic Arab leaders over the past year and the bloodletting has battered Assad's standing in the world.
The Arab League has suspended Syria's membership and Iran, at loggerheads with Western powers over its disputed nuclear ambitions, is among Assad's few remaining allies.
Foreign Minister Walid al-Moualem wrote to the Arab League accepting an extension of the monitoring mission. But he rejected the 22-member body's call for Assad to hand power to his deputy and allow a new unity government to prepare for parliamentary and presidential elections.
"TO THE MOON"
"They have abandoned their role as the Arab League and we no longer want Arab solutions to the crisis," Moualem declared on Tuesday. "Heading to the Security Council will be the third stage in their plan, and the only thing left is the last step of internationalization."
Moualem said that while "half the universe is against us" Syria's long-time ally and arms supplier Russia would never permit foreign intervention. "That is a red line for them."
Britain, France and the United States have chastised Moscow for continuing to arm Syria despite the upheaval there.
"The supply of arms and aircraft to the Syrian regime will only fuel bloodshed - which is why the EU has imposed an arms embargo on Syria, and we are calling for the U.N. to do the same," a spokeswoman for the British Foreign Office said.
"All Security Council members, including Russia, need to throw their collective weight behind the Arab League's efforts to stop the violence and achieve a peaceful transition.
"We urge Russia to support these efforts instead of providing cover for a regime's brutal repression."
(Additional reporting by Edmund Blair and Ayman Samir in Cairo, John Irish in Paris and Dominic Evans in Beirut; Writing by Alistair Lyon; Editing by Robert Woodward)
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
26012012
___________
CSVN là TỘI ÁC
Bao che, dung dưỡng TỘI ÁC là đồng lõa với TỘI ÁC
Video:
Dozens of monitors leave Syria (00:58)
By Mariam Karouny
DAMASCUS |Wed Jan 25, 2012 4:12pm EST
DAMASCUS (Reuters) - Arab League monitors said the withdrawal of colleagues by Gulf Arab states would not hinder their work in Syria while France and Britain Wednesday joined efforts at the United Nations to end President Bashar al-Assad's rule.
"The U.N. Security Council must support the Arab League's courageous decisions which are trying to end the repression and violence in Syria and find a solution to the political crisis," French Foreign Ministry spokesman Bernard Valero said.
"Our aim is to get a resolution approved." The Security Council could vote as early as next week on a Western-Arab draft resolution, council diplomats said.
U.S. President Barack Obama said in his State of the Union address that Assad would "soon discover that the forces of change can't be reversed."
Russia's Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said his country remained opposed to sanctions on Syria and reiterated its opposition to military intervention.
But it is unclear whether Russia is prepared to wield its veto powers again to block council action on Syria.
More than 50 observers from Gulf Arab states left Syria on Wednesday after their governments said they were certain "the bloodshed and killing of innocents would continue."
Their colleagues in Damascus, about 120 strong, pledged to continue the monitoring mission, now extended until February 23, to verify Syria's compliance with an earlier Arab peace plan.
"The departure of the GCC (Gulf Cooperation Council) countries will not have an impact on the mission's work. We are all professionals here and we can do the job," said a senior Arab monitor, who asked not to be named.
"We need more monitors of course and more will come soon to replace those who left."
Syrian opposition groups have accused the observer mission, which began on December 26, of giving Assad diplomatic cover to pursue a crackdown on protesters and rebels in which more than 5,000 people have been killed since March, by a U.N. tally.
Arab League chief Nabil Elaraby and Qatari Prime Minister Hamad bin Jassim al-Thani, who heads the League's committee on Syria, wrote jointly to U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon setting out their plan for a political solution in Syria.
Several diplomats at the United Nations said France and Britain were working with Qatar and other Arab delegations on a new draft resolution supporting the Arab League plan which envisages Assad stepping down and making way for a unity government to halt the bloodshed of a 10-month uprising.
Valero said the talks should enable the Security Council to support and enforce the Arab plan by giving it the necessary international guarantees for it to be implemented.
"TERRORISTS"
The head of the Syrian Arab Red Crescent in the northern town of Idlib was shot dead Wednesday, the International Committee of the Red Cross said, in an attack which Damascus blamed on "terrorists."
State news agency SANA also said a priest was killed by "terrorists" while helping a wounded person in the city of Hama.
The government says it is fighting foreign-backed Islamist "terrorists" who have killed 2,000 soldiers and police. SANA said 30 more were buried in the last two days.
The British-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said seven other people were killed Wednesday. One was killed by soldiers surrounding the Bab Qabli district of Hama and a woman died after a shell landed on her house near the town of Qusair, 10 km from the Lebanese border, it said.
It also reported clashes between army deserters and state soldiers in the rebellious province of Idlib that disabled three armored vehicles and killed or wounded six soldiers.
The revolt in Syria was inspired by other uprisings that have toppled three autocratic Arab leaders over the past year and the bloodletting has battered Assad's standing in the world.
The Arab League has suspended Syria's membership and Iran, at loggerheads with Western powers over its disputed nuclear ambitions, is among Assad's few remaining allies.
Foreign Minister Walid al-Moualem wrote to the Arab League accepting an extension of the monitoring mission. But he rejected the 22-member body's call for Assad to hand power to his deputy and allow a new unity government to prepare for parliamentary and presidential elections.
"TO THE MOON"
"They have abandoned their role as the Arab League and we no longer want Arab solutions to the crisis," Moualem declared on Tuesday. "Heading to the Security Council will be the third stage in their plan, and the only thing left is the last step of internationalization."
Moualem said that while "half the universe is against us" Syria's long-time ally and arms supplier Russia would never permit foreign intervention. "That is a red line for them."
Britain, France and the United States have chastised Moscow for continuing to arm Syria despite the upheaval there.
"The supply of arms and aircraft to the Syrian regime will only fuel bloodshed - which is why the EU has imposed an arms embargo on Syria, and we are calling for the U.N. to do the same," a spokeswoman for the British Foreign Office said.
"All Security Council members, including Russia, need to throw their collective weight behind the Arab League's efforts to stop the violence and achieve a peaceful transition.
"We urge Russia to support these efforts instead of providing cover for a regime's brutal repression."
(Additional reporting by Edmund Blair and Ayman Samir in Cairo, John Irish in Paris and Dominic Evans in Beirut; Writing by Alistair Lyon; Editing by Robert Woodward)
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Tuesday, January 24, 2012
Q & A_ "Ian Black on Syria – live Q&A"
Ian Black on Syria – live Q&A
The Guardian's Middle East editor answered your questions on the Syrian crisis
Comments (55)
Ian Black
guardian.co.uk, Tuesday 24 January 2012 10.46 GMT
Article history
Syrian soldiers man a checkpoint in Homs. Photograph: Ahmed Jadallah/Reuters
Ten months after protesters first took to the streets calling for the resignation of President Bashar al-Assad, unrest in Syria continues unabated.
Thousands have been killed, and many fear that the uprising, which began with a group of schoolchildren daubing graffiti on a wall, is gradually transforming into a civil war.
The Guardian's Middle East editor, Ian Black, recently spent 10 days reporting in Syria in a rare visit to a country that has been in effect closed to foreign journalists for nearly a year.
While there, he interviewed regime officials and underground activists, witnessed the bloody aftermath of a bomb attack in Damascus, and visited the besieged town of Zabadani where opposition gunmen successfully fought off government troops.
Ian came online to answer your questions on the Syria crisis – and on the challenges of reporting in a closed but increasingly divided country.
From NasrallahsNightmare:
Hi Ian,
What is Saudi Arabia's percieved role in the situation? Both in the narrative of those you've met in the opposition and those supporting the regime? Detail would be greatly appreciated here.
Also, do you have any new information on the developing relations between the NCC and the SNC? What sort of compromises -if any- do you see necessary and possible for there to be a unified opposition movement? What would the role of the FSA be in this equation?
How is the conflicted sunni bourgeoisie handling/justifying its position in the big cities?
Thank you.
From IanBlack:
The Saudis are seen by both the Syrian government and opposition as being against the Assad regime, though they have until recently taken a backseat role compared to the Qataris. The Syrian government is especially hostile to Saudi-owned al-Arabiyya TV. It has also been incensed by broadcasts by Sheikh Adnan al-Arour, a former member of the Syrian Muslim Brotherhood who fled to Saudi Arabia in the early 1980s and has become a popular satellite television preacher with a wide following in Syria. Bitter Syrian-Saudi rivalry has been played out for years over Lebanon and relations with Iran. Syrians scorn Saudi support for change in Syria by pointing to the lack of fundamental freedoms in the kingdom, noit least for women. The Saudi decision to pull out of the Arab League monitoring mission was a significant escalation in favour of the anti-Assad camp.
Another question from NasrallahsNightmare:
Also, What are the thoughts of the protestors that you have met concerning both the NCC and SNC? How is the NCC working within the country? Are they monitored and restricted in their movement?
From IanBlack:
It is hard to gauge support for these two bodies on the ground in Syria. Activists from the local coordination committees, the tansiqiyyat, tend to see things locally - and as far as I know the SNC - dubbed the "Istanbul council" by the regime- has no formal or at least open presence on the ground. Its supporters certainly keep a low profile. But the SNC has certainly given help in areas such as Homs and Hama. The NCC by contrast operates openly and seems to be tolerated by the regime with occasional harrassment. I was able to meet Hassan Abdel-Azim, the NCC leader, at his Damascus office.
From Irishman45:
Do you believe the regime can actually crush the revolt, or has it got too much momentum and spread to too many cities to be fully crushed, so they can try and contain it, but that is best the regime can hope for?
From IanBlack:
The current consensus is that there seems to be a rough balance of forces between the two sides, though they are far from equal: the regime cannot crush the protests/uprising and the protestors cannot overthrow the regime. But a regime decision to deploy far greater force or significant foreign intervention could upset that equilibrium. And remember that at the moment 20-30 protestors/rebels are being killed on average every day, as well as smaller numbers of security force personnel.
From lanaca:
How are universities, either faculty or study body, in the anti-Assad protests? How is academic life now? Campus protests/crackdowns? Do you know of any scientists/academics leading protests?
From IanBlack:
Protests have been reported at universities in Damascus and Aleppo. I met students who had not been able to attend classes since last March either because they are living underground or unable to get to their place of study. I also met several academics and intellectuals involved in the protest movement.
From JollyBoy:
In your opinion, what is the likelihood that a full scale civil war will ensue if the Assad regime is overthrown? How much evidence of sectarian division did you see during your recent trip?
From IanBlack:
Opposition people were keen to stress that they are not sectarian and quick to accuse the regime of deliberately fomenting sectarian tensions in order to bolster its own position. That is easily done when so many senior figures in the security forces are drawn from Assad's own Alawite minority - maybe 10% of the population. In Homs, which I visited with government minders, there seems to have been a process of ethnic cleansing of previously mixed neighbourhoods. Christians have traditionally supported the regime and seen it as a defence against sectarianism. Regime supporters often stress the danger of Islamic extremism, citing Salafis and al-Qaida-type groups, but the extent of that seems to be deliberately exaggerated by the authorities. Sectarianism is a real issue in Syria, but it needs to be treated with caution: there are Alawites who oppose the regime and Sunnis who support it.
From disgraceofgod:
What is the general level of appetite among Syrians for foreign military intervention, and how has this changed in recent months?
According to your best available evidence, who was responsible for the two suicide bomb attacks on Damascus?
How significant a portion of the opposition do the Muslim Brotherhood and any other Islamist outfits constitute?
From IanBlack:
I heard people asking for protection without always knowing exactly what they wanted: talk of safe areas/ buffer zones and certainly weapons and equipment. I didn't meet anyone suggesting a foreign military presence on the ground.
There are a lot of unanswered questions about the Damascus bombings, especially about the al-Midan one on January 6 when i was there. Many Syrians assume that their government faked them to reinforce its narrative about facing a terrorist campaign and to intimidate people into halting protests. Lots of circumstantial evidence that adds up to significant doubts
The Muslim Brotherhood are part of the Syrian National Council. There is evidence of activity by Salafi groups too but it is very hard to gauge their significance.
From patasola:
How easy was it to report in Syria? Did you have a minder? Did you sense that people felt able to talk to you freely? Were people put in danger by talking to you? And how did you get to Zabadani?
From IanBlack:
Easy enough in central Damascus. I did not have a minder. I felt many ppl were speaking far more openly than ever before - I have been visiting Syrian for 25 years- but those at pro-govt rallies were nervous and cagey. I think ppl take far greater risks than talking to a foreign journalist.
From capmint1:
I'd also like to say glad your back safe, I read your account of the killing of french journalist, is there any truth to rumur that Syrian govt was not allowing journalists to wear own body armour (if so were govt issued offered as alternative); and do you have view on the french journalist who was in the same group, that the grenade was a govt set up (given a impartial investigation is very unlikely)?
From IanBlack:
Suicide bombing point addressed previously.
Arab League mission was far too weak to make a significant impact. A bigger mission with better training, equipment and powers could have.
Defections: agree with you. Nothing at a high enough level to really matter.
I assume some arms supplies getting through to FSA, but it still looks more like a local defence militia than a strategic challenge to govt.
From capmint1:
- Suicide bombings: Assad narrative is that it is a foriegn insuregency and he has played the AQ card, what is latest thinking on the recent suicide bombing bearing in mind Abdullah Azzam denied Dec 23 but havent issued formal denial yet?
- UN role v Arab League: UNSC reminds me off League of Nations in that it is divided, and therefore powerless, which leaves Arab League to act; but they have no history off peace keeping or monitoringhow do you view the Arab League mission, my own view, 50 was always going be to few, and not trained, but did they make a positive impact?
- Defections: what are the levels of defections to FSA given Assad has stacked allawites in officers, and used loyal divisions with allawites (excepting the goon squad thugs), what is the feel on the levels of defections, in my view media in low tens, hundreds, but so far, nothing on scale of Yonnis and his Interior Ministry troops in Libya (hence my view that external support via Libya and Qatar, Saudi are at least credible)?
- External actors: looking at the arms of FSA, indicates some smuggling from Lebanon; and assume for reasons posted that FSA are not just defectors, there are also a number of credible reports, including from ex CIA Philip Giraldi that Nato already shipping arms into Turkey, and Belhaj has a contingent of fighters (in 000s); do you have a view on credibility of these accounts given that Jalil has provided his approval, US implicit approval?
- can the FSA win, what is there end game as at moment, it looks like a long drawn out insurgency / civil war?
- how unified and representative are the SNC?
From IanBlack:
Suicide bombing point addressed previously.
Arab League mission was far too weak to make a significant impact. A bigger mission with better training, equipment and powers could have.
Defections: agree with you. Nothing at a high enough level to really matter.
I assume some arms supplies getting through to FSA, but it still looks more like a local defence militia than a strategic challenge to govt.
From credster:
How do Syrians feel about Iranian influence? How do they view their relationship with Iran? Do they worry that a distabilisied Syria leads to a weaker Iranian influence in the Levant and therefore a stronger US and Israeli presence?
I hear what you say about that influence not being decisive but could Syria become the battle ground between the west and Iran that Lebanon once was?
From IanBlack:
I would say that the roots of Syria's uprising are the grievances of its own people, like revolutions in Egypt, Tunisia etc. Don't believe it was started by US, Israel or anyone else. Yes, other govts have geopolitical interests - opposition to Iran etc- and are certainly pursuing own agendas. But they are not decisive. Assad's claim that the whole thing is a foreign conspiracy is nonsense.
From localsyrian:
Ian Black: we have seen millions of Syrians take to the street in support for their president, did you find out that the true support from the Syrian people for president Assad is in the Majority as they say ? and at what percentage would you put it in your judgment??
From IanBlack:
The first thing to say is that it is impossible to answer this question. It is not possible in current circumstances in Syria accurately to gauge the popularity of the president. Mass rallies are no substitute for reliable polling and a free media. I have the impression that many pro-govt demos are organised in peoples' workplaces and that attendance is compulsory. "Creative" camera angles have been employed to give an impression of large crowds.
It is possible that Assad still enjoys the support of the majority. But several people I spoke to estimated that 30%-40% was about right.
From CarefulReader:
An honest question about journalism: Do you think that your own political leanings and/or those of people you befriended in Syria influence your view of the issue.
E.g. I notice you say "Lots of circumstantial evidence that adds up to significant doubts", when you could just as well say "There is no real evidence that the government was behind it", and it would be equally correct based on the available evidence. You also use the opposition numbers of victims among demonstrator without qualification, though there is currently no way to independently confirm them.
Is this slight bias in favor of the opposition a consequence of your own political leaning, or is it based on any concrete evidence? Do you think a reporter should (or even could) avoid having his political leaning and hunches influence his reporting?
From IanBlack:
My job is to try to describe/ assess/analyze/contextualise what is happening. Clearly different ppl have different views in situation of conflict. U cld say "there is no real evidence that govt was behind" bombings. but it is i think more accurate to say what i did - and reflects what a lot of syrian ppl say. it's true that casualty figures cannot be confirmed - largely due to lack of access for journalists, human rights monitors etc. it is in the power of the syrian government to make it easier for outsiders to judge what is happening. hope u find that an honest answer.
The live Q&A has now ended. Thanks for all your questions and comments.
***
Comments (55)
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
25012012
___________
CSVN là TỘI ÁC
Bao che, dung dưỡng TỘI ÁC là đồng lõa với TỘI ÁC
The Guardian's Middle East editor answered your questions on the Syrian crisis
Comments (55)
Ian Black
guardian.co.uk, Tuesday 24 January 2012 10.46 GMT
Article history
Syrian soldiers man a checkpoint in Homs. Photograph: Ahmed Jadallah/Reuters
Ten months after protesters first took to the streets calling for the resignation of President Bashar al-Assad, unrest in Syria continues unabated.
Thousands have been killed, and many fear that the uprising, which began with a group of schoolchildren daubing graffiti on a wall, is gradually transforming into a civil war.
The Guardian's Middle East editor, Ian Black, recently spent 10 days reporting in Syria in a rare visit to a country that has been in effect closed to foreign journalists for nearly a year.
While there, he interviewed regime officials and underground activists, witnessed the bloody aftermath of a bomb attack in Damascus, and visited the besieged town of Zabadani where opposition gunmen successfully fought off government troops.
Ian came online to answer your questions on the Syria crisis – and on the challenges of reporting in a closed but increasingly divided country.
From NasrallahsNightmare:
Hi Ian,
What is Saudi Arabia's percieved role in the situation? Both in the narrative of those you've met in the opposition and those supporting the regime? Detail would be greatly appreciated here.
Also, do you have any new information on the developing relations between the NCC and the SNC? What sort of compromises -if any- do you see necessary and possible for there to be a unified opposition movement? What would the role of the FSA be in this equation?
How is the conflicted sunni bourgeoisie handling/justifying its position in the big cities?
Thank you.
From IanBlack:
The Saudis are seen by both the Syrian government and opposition as being against the Assad regime, though they have until recently taken a backseat role compared to the Qataris. The Syrian government is especially hostile to Saudi-owned al-Arabiyya TV. It has also been incensed by broadcasts by Sheikh Adnan al-Arour, a former member of the Syrian Muslim Brotherhood who fled to Saudi Arabia in the early 1980s and has become a popular satellite television preacher with a wide following in Syria. Bitter Syrian-Saudi rivalry has been played out for years over Lebanon and relations with Iran. Syrians scorn Saudi support for change in Syria by pointing to the lack of fundamental freedoms in the kingdom, noit least for women. The Saudi decision to pull out of the Arab League monitoring mission was a significant escalation in favour of the anti-Assad camp.
Another question from NasrallahsNightmare:
Also, What are the thoughts of the protestors that you have met concerning both the NCC and SNC? How is the NCC working within the country? Are they monitored and restricted in their movement?
From IanBlack:
It is hard to gauge support for these two bodies on the ground in Syria. Activists from the local coordination committees, the tansiqiyyat, tend to see things locally - and as far as I know the SNC - dubbed the "Istanbul council" by the regime- has no formal or at least open presence on the ground. Its supporters certainly keep a low profile. But the SNC has certainly given help in areas such as Homs and Hama. The NCC by contrast operates openly and seems to be tolerated by the regime with occasional harrassment. I was able to meet Hassan Abdel-Azim, the NCC leader, at his Damascus office.
From Irishman45:
Do you believe the regime can actually crush the revolt, or has it got too much momentum and spread to too many cities to be fully crushed, so they can try and contain it, but that is best the regime can hope for?
From IanBlack:
The current consensus is that there seems to be a rough balance of forces between the two sides, though they are far from equal: the regime cannot crush the protests/uprising and the protestors cannot overthrow the regime. But a regime decision to deploy far greater force or significant foreign intervention could upset that equilibrium. And remember that at the moment 20-30 protestors/rebels are being killed on average every day, as well as smaller numbers of security force personnel.
From lanaca:
How are universities, either faculty or study body, in the anti-Assad protests? How is academic life now? Campus protests/crackdowns? Do you know of any scientists/academics leading protests?
From IanBlack:
Protests have been reported at universities in Damascus and Aleppo. I met students who had not been able to attend classes since last March either because they are living underground or unable to get to their place of study. I also met several academics and intellectuals involved in the protest movement.
From JollyBoy:
In your opinion, what is the likelihood that a full scale civil war will ensue if the Assad regime is overthrown? How much evidence of sectarian division did you see during your recent trip?
From IanBlack:
Opposition people were keen to stress that they are not sectarian and quick to accuse the regime of deliberately fomenting sectarian tensions in order to bolster its own position. That is easily done when so many senior figures in the security forces are drawn from Assad's own Alawite minority - maybe 10% of the population. In Homs, which I visited with government minders, there seems to have been a process of ethnic cleansing of previously mixed neighbourhoods. Christians have traditionally supported the regime and seen it as a defence against sectarianism. Regime supporters often stress the danger of Islamic extremism, citing Salafis and al-Qaida-type groups, but the extent of that seems to be deliberately exaggerated by the authorities. Sectarianism is a real issue in Syria, but it needs to be treated with caution: there are Alawites who oppose the regime and Sunnis who support it.
From disgraceofgod:
What is the general level of appetite among Syrians for foreign military intervention, and how has this changed in recent months?
According to your best available evidence, who was responsible for the two suicide bomb attacks on Damascus?
How significant a portion of the opposition do the Muslim Brotherhood and any other Islamist outfits constitute?
From IanBlack:
I heard people asking for protection without always knowing exactly what they wanted: talk of safe areas/ buffer zones and certainly weapons and equipment. I didn't meet anyone suggesting a foreign military presence on the ground.
There are a lot of unanswered questions about the Damascus bombings, especially about the al-Midan one on January 6 when i was there. Many Syrians assume that their government faked them to reinforce its narrative about facing a terrorist campaign and to intimidate people into halting protests. Lots of circumstantial evidence that adds up to significant doubts
The Muslim Brotherhood are part of the Syrian National Council. There is evidence of activity by Salafi groups too but it is very hard to gauge their significance.
From patasola:
How easy was it to report in Syria? Did you have a minder? Did you sense that people felt able to talk to you freely? Were people put in danger by talking to you? And how did you get to Zabadani?
From IanBlack:
Easy enough in central Damascus. I did not have a minder. I felt many ppl were speaking far more openly than ever before - I have been visiting Syrian for 25 years- but those at pro-govt rallies were nervous and cagey. I think ppl take far greater risks than talking to a foreign journalist.
From capmint1:
I'd also like to say glad your back safe, I read your account of the killing of french journalist, is there any truth to rumur that Syrian govt was not allowing journalists to wear own body armour (if so were govt issued offered as alternative); and do you have view on the french journalist who was in the same group, that the grenade was a govt set up (given a impartial investigation is very unlikely)?
From IanBlack:
Suicide bombing point addressed previously.
Arab League mission was far too weak to make a significant impact. A bigger mission with better training, equipment and powers could have.
Defections: agree with you. Nothing at a high enough level to really matter.
I assume some arms supplies getting through to FSA, but it still looks more like a local defence militia than a strategic challenge to govt.
From capmint1:
- Suicide bombings: Assad narrative is that it is a foriegn insuregency and he has played the AQ card, what is latest thinking on the recent suicide bombing bearing in mind Abdullah Azzam denied Dec 23 but havent issued formal denial yet?
- UN role v Arab League: UNSC reminds me off League of Nations in that it is divided, and therefore powerless, which leaves Arab League to act; but they have no history off peace keeping or monitoringhow do you view the Arab League mission, my own view, 50 was always going be to few, and not trained, but did they make a positive impact?
- Defections: what are the levels of defections to FSA given Assad has stacked allawites in officers, and used loyal divisions with allawites (excepting the goon squad thugs), what is the feel on the levels of defections, in my view media in low tens, hundreds, but so far, nothing on scale of Yonnis and his Interior Ministry troops in Libya (hence my view that external support via Libya and Qatar, Saudi are at least credible)?
- External actors: looking at the arms of FSA, indicates some smuggling from Lebanon; and assume for reasons posted that FSA are not just defectors, there are also a number of credible reports, including from ex CIA Philip Giraldi that Nato already shipping arms into Turkey, and Belhaj has a contingent of fighters (in 000s); do you have a view on credibility of these accounts given that Jalil has provided his approval, US implicit approval?
- can the FSA win, what is there end game as at moment, it looks like a long drawn out insurgency / civil war?
- how unified and representative are the SNC?
From IanBlack:
Suicide bombing point addressed previously.
Arab League mission was far too weak to make a significant impact. A bigger mission with better training, equipment and powers could have.
Defections: agree with you. Nothing at a high enough level to really matter.
I assume some arms supplies getting through to FSA, but it still looks more like a local defence militia than a strategic challenge to govt.
From credster:
How do Syrians feel about Iranian influence? How do they view their relationship with Iran? Do they worry that a distabilisied Syria leads to a weaker Iranian influence in the Levant and therefore a stronger US and Israeli presence?
I hear what you say about that influence not being decisive but could Syria become the battle ground between the west and Iran that Lebanon once was?
From IanBlack:
I would say that the roots of Syria's uprising are the grievances of its own people, like revolutions in Egypt, Tunisia etc. Don't believe it was started by US, Israel or anyone else. Yes, other govts have geopolitical interests - opposition to Iran etc- and are certainly pursuing own agendas. But they are not decisive. Assad's claim that the whole thing is a foreign conspiracy is nonsense.
From localsyrian:
Ian Black: we have seen millions of Syrians take to the street in support for their president, did you find out that the true support from the Syrian people for president Assad is in the Majority as they say ? and at what percentage would you put it in your judgment??
From IanBlack:
The first thing to say is that it is impossible to answer this question. It is not possible in current circumstances in Syria accurately to gauge the popularity of the president. Mass rallies are no substitute for reliable polling and a free media. I have the impression that many pro-govt demos are organised in peoples' workplaces and that attendance is compulsory. "Creative" camera angles have been employed to give an impression of large crowds.
It is possible that Assad still enjoys the support of the majority. But several people I spoke to estimated that 30%-40% was about right.
From CarefulReader:
An honest question about journalism: Do you think that your own political leanings and/or those of people you befriended in Syria influence your view of the issue.
E.g. I notice you say "Lots of circumstantial evidence that adds up to significant doubts", when you could just as well say "There is no real evidence that the government was behind it", and it would be equally correct based on the available evidence. You also use the opposition numbers of victims among demonstrator without qualification, though there is currently no way to independently confirm them.
Is this slight bias in favor of the opposition a consequence of your own political leaning, or is it based on any concrete evidence? Do you think a reporter should (or even could) avoid having his political leaning and hunches influence his reporting?
From IanBlack:
My job is to try to describe/ assess/analyze/contextualise what is happening. Clearly different ppl have different views in situation of conflict. U cld say "there is no real evidence that govt was behind" bombings. but it is i think more accurate to say what i did - and reflects what a lot of syrian ppl say. it's true that casualty figures cannot be confirmed - largely due to lack of access for journalists, human rights monitors etc. it is in the power of the syrian government to make it easier for outsiders to judge what is happening. hope u find that an honest answer.
The live Q&A has now ended. Thanks for all your questions and comments.
***
Comments (55)
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
25012012
___________
CSVN là TỘI ÁC
Bao che, dung dưỡng TỘI ÁC là đồng lõa với TỘI ÁC
Monday, January 23, 2012
WORLD_ Syria rejects Arab League demands - 23 January 2012
Syria rejects Arab League demands - 23 January 2012
(continuing ...)
• Arab League sets timetable for the end of Assad regime
• Syria rejects the plan as 'flagrant interference'
• Free Syrian Army resistance in Zabadani and Douma
• First day of Egypt's new parliament
Read the latest summary
An Arab League observer takes photographs of anti-government protesters in Syria. Photograph: Reuters
4.02pm: Here's a summary of today events:
Syria
• The regime of president Bashar al-Assad has rejected Arab League demands for a transition of power in Syria. It accused the league of blatant interference and claimed the proposals showed that the organisation was part of an international conspiracy against Syria.
• Syrian activists also rejected the league's proposals claiming they were unattainable. The Local Coordination Committees in Syria said the league's mission should be declared a failure. The opposition Syrian National Council said Syria should be referred to the United Nations and the international criminal court.
• The Sudanese general in charge of the Arab League mission has defended the initiative claiming it helped reduce violence in Syira Mohammad Ahmad al-Dabi blamed part of the violence on armed elements within the opposition.
• Up to 150,000 people attended the funeral of people killed by the security forces in Douma, close to the capital Damascus. Part of the town is reported to be controlled by military defectors. Activists claimed up to 18 people were killed across Syria today, including at least one defector.
• The European Union has approved a new round of sanctions against 22 senior members of the Assad regime. The EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton said: "We're deeply concerned with the situation in Syria. There needs to be a peaceful transition in that country."
Egypt
• The first new parliament of the post-Mubarak era held its inaugural session. Some Salafist MPs in the Islamist-dominated parliament pledged to serve the nation only if it did not "contradict God's doctrine".
3.28pm: The activist group, the Local Coordination Committee in Syria claims that 18 people were killed today, including a child and a military defector.
It reports deaths in Deraa in the south, Homs in centre, Idlib in the north-west, Bokamal in the east, and the suburbs of Damascus. It reports cannot be independently verified.
AFP says 15 people were killed including five defectors, al-Jazeera's live blog reports.
3.20pm: "The longer the Arab League's mission in Syria is seen to fail, the greater the damage to its credibility," argues David Hartwell, Middle East analyst at IHS Janes.
Given that the monitoring mission is only allowed to operate in Syria at all with the permission of the Syrian government, the League may be optimistic in its assumption that it can strengthen and extend the mission's mandate without incurring Damascus' displeasure, especially now that the organisation has explicitly called for removal of the Assad regime. Damascus may not choose to throw out the observers for fear of angering what little support it can still muster in international diplomatic circles, but there will surely now be new, more stringent, limits on the level of co-operation it affords al-Dabi and his fellow monitors.
The likelihood of increased Syrian intransigence may ultimately call into question the point of continuing the monitoring mission, but withdrawal appears to be something that the Arab League does not want to contemplate at this time, despite the continuation of the violence. It may be ineffective but as long as the monitors are in Syria at all, goes this argument, then some form of leverage, however limited, is maintained over Syrian policy. The counter to this though, and a critique that has already been made by opposition sources, is that this makes the Arab League look weak and indirectly complicit in the deaths of civilians. If the mission is failing in its primary objective, what is the point of it remaining in the country?
The problem this has created for the Arab League is one of credibility. Making the choice of whether to stay or leave Syria exposes the potential for a major policy failure at a time when the organisation is seeking to capitalise and maintain the democratising wave of the Arab Spring by being more active and interventionist in the affairs of its members than at anytime in its history. In this context, and against a backdrop of UN political gridlock, mistakes were almost bound to have occurred. However, this does not alter the fundamental dilemma of where League policy towards should go from here.
2.46pm: Even if Washington and Tehran remain determined to avoid an all-out war, with every passing month there is a rising chance of one breaking out by accident, warns our diplomatic editor Julian Borger.
There are a spectrum of options falling well short of total closure [of the strait of Hormuz], forms of harassment of the oil trade that would drive the price of crude up and keep it up, very much to Iran's benefit, but fall short of a casus belli for war. However, exercising such options requires subtlety and fine judgment on all sides and that is by no means a given. In a period of sustained high tension, an over-zealous Iranian Revolutionary Guards commander could seize his moment to start a war, or a nervous American captain, his vessel just seconds from Iran's anti-ship missiles, could just as easily miscalculate. The last time Iran and America played chicken in this particular stretch of water, in 1988, a missile cruiser called the USS Vincennes shot down an Iranian Airbus, killing 290 civilians including 66 children.
Spencer Ackerman, author of Wired magazine's Danger Room blog, fears that tensions are now so high that naval blunder could spark a war.
Speaking on Blogginheads he said: "You can easily imagine some scenario where some [Iranian] fast boats come too close to a ship in that [US] carrier fleet. Both sides are on edge, shots are fired and the whole thing escalates. The possibility of that is lot more significant than a lot of strategists are giving credit for. Perhaps I'm being paranoid."
2.19pm: AP has this account of al-Dabi's defence of the Arab League mission:
The head of the Arab League observers in Syria defended his team's work Monday, saying its job is not to stop the violence stemming from the country's 10-month-old uprising against President Bashar Assad.
Mohammed Ahmed al-Dabi told reporters in Cairo that the mission's task rather is to monitor progress on the League's plan — which Damascus agreed to in December — to end the country's crisis.
"The delegation's mission is observation, not to stop killing or to stop destruction," al-Dabi said. "If the violence stops, we'll say that it has. And if this doesn't happen, we'll say so" ...
Al-Dabi said the observers' presence had cut down on the bloodshed in Syria.
"When the delegation arrived, there was clear and obvious violence," he said. "But after the delegation arrived, the violence started to go lessen gradually."
The observers have confirmed 136 killings, committed by both sides, since their arrival in Syria, al-Dabi said. The UN says 400 have been killed.
He said that in some areas, observers had found evidence of machine guns fired over people's heads. In other places, they saw evidence of direct clashes. In yet other regions, armed opposition groups attacked security forces who were "forced to respond to this fire," he said.
1.54pm: The opposition Syrian National Council has called for an international criminal court investigation into the Syrian government's crackdown against protesters, AFP reports.
It urged the Arab League to refer Syria to the UN who in turn should call in call in the ICC, it said.
A new SNC statement also calls for the establishment of a no fly zone over Syria and humanitarian safety zones.
1.46pm: The ICC has an important clarification about the trial of Saif al-Islam., as BrownMoses notes in the comments section.
Reuters reports:
The International Criminal Court said on Monday it has not decided whether Saif al-Islam Gaddafi, son of the overthrown Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi, should be tried in Libya, contradicting earlier comments by a Libyan minister ...
The ICC has given Libya a January 23 deadline to confirm whether and when it would surrender Saif al-Islam and to give information about his mental and physical health. It also asked Libya to answer concerns, raised by activists, that Saif al-Islam was being held incommunicado, without access to lawyers.
ICC spokesman Fadi El-Abdallah said that the court had received information on Monday from Libya but declined to give details, saying it was confidential.
1.12pm: Video from Douma, north west of Damascus, purports to show tens of thousands of people attending the funeral of 12 people killed over the weekend.
Parts of the area were reported to have been under the control of military defectors.
AFP said 150,000 people attended the funeral.
12.08pm: Here's a summary of the main events so far today:
Syria
• The regime of president Bashar al-Assad has rejected Arab League demands for a transition of power in Syria. It accused the league of blatant interference and claimed the proposals showed that the organisation was part of an international conspiracy against Syria. Syrian activists also rejected the proposals claiming they were unattainable.
• The Sudanese general in charge of the Arab League mission claimed that the presence of observers helped reduce violence in the country. Speaking at a press conference in Cairo, Mohammad Ahmad al-Dabi blamed part of the violence on armed elements within the opposition.
• The European Union has approved a new round of sanctions against 22 senior members of the Assad regime. The EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton said: "We're deeply concerned with the situation in Syria. There needs to be a peaceful transition in that country."
Libya
• The new Libyan authorities have confirmed that they want to hold a trial for Saif al-Islam Gaddafi on Libyan soil. The international criminal court has has asked Libya for access to Saif and for details about the conditions under which he is being held.
Egypt
• The first new parliament of the post-Mubarak era has started its inaugural session. The new assembly, which is dominated by Islamists, was due to elect a speaker and two deputies later in the session.
11.38am: Interesting breaking news on the fate of Saif al-Islam Gaddafi, via Sky News:
Sky News Newsdesk
✔@SkyNewsBreak Libyan Justice Minister says Gaddafi's son Saif Al-Islam will be tried in Libya, not the Hague
23 Jan 12 ReplyRetweetFavoriteCNN's Ben Wedeman tweets:
benwedeman
@bencnn International Criminal Court [ICC] accepts that Saif al-Islam Gadhafi is to be tried in #Libya.
***
128 comments, displaying
PeterBrit
23 January 2012 9:13AM
Potentially serious developments in Libya at the weekend, the most serious being the pelting with bottles of Jalil and the torching of his car. This is serious because Jalil has been basically the only nationally popular and credible character leading the revolution. If he is falling out of favour with the masses, then there ia potentially serious problem along the lines of: who's going to hold all the different groups and forces in libya united?
There was so much pro-revolution progaganda flying around during the war telling people that Libya would be rich and perfect if only Gaddafi was removed, that inevitably people are hugely disappointed that currently Libya is still a mess.
Reuters: "In Shajarah Square in central Benghazi a group of protesters have been staging a sit-in for more than a month. "We are worried about the establishment of a democracy," said Suleiman Abdul, an unemployed engineer, who stood in front of an Arabic language banner reading: "Make actions, not just promises." "Our families have died for this revolution, but the way it is going it was actually better before, under Gaddafi. The banks worked, there was no rubbish and people did not have to fear all the guns around the country."
BrownMoses
23 January 2012 9:18AM
It should also be noted that Abdel Hafiz Ghoga, who was attacked by protesters early on last week, has resigned as deputy chief, and the protests have also delayed the offical release of the new election laws.
Atvar48
23 January 2012 9:21AM
Morning All
Sky Smuggled Past Army Checkpoints Into Homs
http://news.sky.com/home/world-news/article/16154459
“On the way out we spotted a family loading up a small truck with their household goods. "We're leaving the bullets behind," the head of the family told us. He added: "We're going to Damascus."
A woman appeared shouting about the nightmare of bombs and bullets. "Five families have left, just on this street," she said, pointing at the shrapnel-marked walls of her home.
Last week, when we were in a government-controlled Allawite/Christian neighbourhood of Homs, we met Allawite and Christian people from Bab Amr who had come to live with their co-religionists.
Syria is slowly splitting - there are many caught in the middle who don't want to have to be on either side.”
Just like in Libya where you had a majority who didn’t support either side in war, yet their lives are turned upside down.
More trouble and strife in Libya
Deputy head of Libya's NTC quits after protests
"We still don't know who exactly is in the NTC. There is no transparency," said Al-Rabia, a protester standing outside the building with a group of about 30 other men.
Another protester, 24-year-old Mohammed Mahmoud, said he fought against Gaddafi during the revolt and wounded his shoulder and hand.
"We fought on the front line and received injuries but we did not see the NTC with us," he said. "I have one single question: Why has the NTC failed at everything except selling oil.?
http://uk.reuters.com/article/2012/01/22/libya-benghazi-protests-idUKL5E8CM07X20120122
Libya could fall into "bottomless pit"-NTC chief
http://uk.reuters.com/article/2012/01/22/libya-benghazi-protests-idUKL5E8CM06F20120122
Iran's Press TV loses UK licence
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-16652356
Nice to see “Freedom of Speech” alive and well, OFCOM decision and not government we are told, yeah right, interestenly was looking at some blogs on this issue and a lot of people unhappy with this decision.
capmint1
23 January 2012 9:30AM
also in the news at the weekend, Iraq;
HRW raising concerns that Iraq is turning into a police state:
Iraq is quickly slipping back into authoritarianism as its security forces abuse protesters, harass journalists, and torture detainees,” said Sarah Leah Whitson, Middle East director at Human Rights Watch. “Despite U.S. government assurances that it helped create a stable democracy, the reality is that it left behind a budding police state.”
http://www.hrw.org/news/2012/01/22/iraq-intensifying-crackdown-free-speech-protests
the US govt assurances are are a little odd given that its security forces abuse protesters, harass journalists, and torture detainees
BrownMoses
23 January 2012 9:33AM
It's good to find the Syrian Government and opposition finally managing to find common ground on at least one issu
PeterBrit
23 January 2012 9:37AM
Sarkozy's premature recognition of the NTC may return to haunt him and Libya. Plenty of critics of the war warned that Western recognition of the NTC was far too early. Because the NTC was a self-appointed Benghazi clique of mainly lawyers and academics which didn't represent the main revolutionary forces, in Misrata, Zintan and the West. And that democratic deficit has never really been addressed. The NTC has operated largely in secret and even the interim government, though there has been an attempt to achieve a better geogrpahic spread has little democratic mandate because the NTC created it.
We just have to hope that the peace can be held untol elections in June and that those elections will somehow produce politicians who can gel into a united national, and effective government.
In the meantine the NTC badly needs to get serious about what actual money it has and what it's going to do with it. There are plenty of reports online which Libyans see of Libya planning mul-tbillion pound projectcs, but then they loo around them and see nothing improving. That's exactly like the Gaddafi period:
A professor quoted in Reuters, "The government is working without a judiciary or police. We know they are getting money from the over one million barrels of oil they sell a day, but where is it being spent?" Rabia said in fluent English.
PeterBrit
23 January 2012 9:42AM
Meanwhile in Iraq:
Rising Strife Threatens Tenuous Iraqi Stability - New York Times
Iraq becoming 'police state', says rights group - AFP
Iraq risks slipping into authoritarianism: rights group - Reuters
Rights group says Iraq is a 'budding police state'- The Independent
Looks like soon we'll be able to say for 100% definite that almost no good whatsoever came out of the Iraq invasion. CAN WE SEND BLAIR TO THE HAGUE NOW?
capmint1
23 January 2012 9:44AM
morning Atvar, PB, BM
I read the various accounts of events in Benghazi at the weekend. I'm not sure if you read the WP version, but its AP account that they picked up, its worth checking as it included some additional details not in Reuters, namely, that Jalil suspended six other delegates, and that was also the reason behind the Deputy PM resignation
this is slightly more worrying than the usual protests about corruption and inefficiency, it would be interesting to know the background of the six that were suspended, if they were secular, human rights campaigners etc
http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/middle-east/libyas-leader-suspends-members-of-transitional-government-after-protests/2012/01/22/gIQA5VHPIQ_story.html
shaun
23 January 2012 9:44AM
The "Arab Mission" underlines the Sunni (Qatar, Saudi Arabia) - Shiite Muslim split. The Western backed (lol, run, countries) want Assad to step down.
Note that Bahrein protests are almost never reported in the West, (with toxic tear gas !) and the 12'000 US soldiers recently sent to Kuwait could well be there to stifle Shiite protests.
BUT; in their haste to cause anothre war - one thing is being deliberatly ignored. - the mass (millions) of displaced persons in Syria. Who are NOT going to appreciate their peace and haven being destroyed yet again.
1/. Palestinians fleeing Israeli brutality (see the article on child cruelty in Israel and the indefinite "arrests" without trial or accusation, of 24 elected ministers, Dr. Dweik included, 7000 others - enabling Israel to eliminate any end to the "Palestinian problem" entailing a PA unity Governement). 2/ Those that fled the US invasion of Iraq.
The main problem is that the US and Israel will continue to create wars in the middle east even if Assad did step down. This is self evident, and until the world realises that an end to wars comes through a stop to agression, assasination, and undercover destruction, the world will will get the third world war it is trying for.
----
The biggest stupidity is by the EU who will destroy it's own economy by sending oil prices through the roof. Just who are Sarkosy, Hague and the others working for? Israel or the US? (The 60% of "Israel's Gas is on Palestinian/Gaza territorial waters and the Leviathan and other gas fields are close to Lebanon. = Lebanese war too? The supply/sale of that gas to Europe would normally cross Syrian waters - yet another reason for Israel to want a war?.)
BrownMoses
23 January 2012 9:48AM
Al Jazeera's Inside Story also covered the protests and the reasons behind them, you can watch the full 25 minute programme here.
____________
What do you think ?
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(continuing ...)
• Arab League sets timetable for the end of Assad regime
• Syria rejects the plan as 'flagrant interference'
• Free Syrian Army resistance in Zabadani and Douma
• First day of Egypt's new parliament
Read the latest summary
An Arab League observer takes photographs of anti-government protesters in Syria. Photograph: Reuters
4.02pm: Here's a summary of today events:
Syria
• The regime of president Bashar al-Assad has rejected Arab League demands for a transition of power in Syria. It accused the league of blatant interference and claimed the proposals showed that the organisation was part of an international conspiracy against Syria.
• Syrian activists also rejected the league's proposals claiming they were unattainable. The Local Coordination Committees in Syria said the league's mission should be declared a failure. The opposition Syrian National Council said Syria should be referred to the United Nations and the international criminal court.
• The Sudanese general in charge of the Arab League mission has defended the initiative claiming it helped reduce violence in Syira Mohammad Ahmad al-Dabi blamed part of the violence on armed elements within the opposition.
• Up to 150,000 people attended the funeral of people killed by the security forces in Douma, close to the capital Damascus. Part of the town is reported to be controlled by military defectors. Activists claimed up to 18 people were killed across Syria today, including at least one defector.
• The European Union has approved a new round of sanctions against 22 senior members of the Assad regime. The EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton said: "We're deeply concerned with the situation in Syria. There needs to be a peaceful transition in that country."
Egypt
• The first new parliament of the post-Mubarak era held its inaugural session. Some Salafist MPs in the Islamist-dominated parliament pledged to serve the nation only if it did not "contradict God's doctrine".
3.28pm: The activist group, the Local Coordination Committee in Syria claims that 18 people were killed today, including a child and a military defector.
It reports deaths in Deraa in the south, Homs in centre, Idlib in the north-west, Bokamal in the east, and the suburbs of Damascus. It reports cannot be independently verified.
AFP says 15 people were killed including five defectors, al-Jazeera's live blog reports.
3.20pm: "The longer the Arab League's mission in Syria is seen to fail, the greater the damage to its credibility," argues David Hartwell, Middle East analyst at IHS Janes.
Given that the monitoring mission is only allowed to operate in Syria at all with the permission of the Syrian government, the League may be optimistic in its assumption that it can strengthen and extend the mission's mandate without incurring Damascus' displeasure, especially now that the organisation has explicitly called for removal of the Assad regime. Damascus may not choose to throw out the observers for fear of angering what little support it can still muster in international diplomatic circles, but there will surely now be new, more stringent, limits on the level of co-operation it affords al-Dabi and his fellow monitors.
The likelihood of increased Syrian intransigence may ultimately call into question the point of continuing the monitoring mission, but withdrawal appears to be something that the Arab League does not want to contemplate at this time, despite the continuation of the violence. It may be ineffective but as long as the monitors are in Syria at all, goes this argument, then some form of leverage, however limited, is maintained over Syrian policy. The counter to this though, and a critique that has already been made by opposition sources, is that this makes the Arab League look weak and indirectly complicit in the deaths of civilians. If the mission is failing in its primary objective, what is the point of it remaining in the country?
The problem this has created for the Arab League is one of credibility. Making the choice of whether to stay or leave Syria exposes the potential for a major policy failure at a time when the organisation is seeking to capitalise and maintain the democratising wave of the Arab Spring by being more active and interventionist in the affairs of its members than at anytime in its history. In this context, and against a backdrop of UN political gridlock, mistakes were almost bound to have occurred. However, this does not alter the fundamental dilemma of where League policy towards should go from here.
2.46pm: Even if Washington and Tehran remain determined to avoid an all-out war, with every passing month there is a rising chance of one breaking out by accident, warns our diplomatic editor Julian Borger.
There are a spectrum of options falling well short of total closure [of the strait of Hormuz], forms of harassment of the oil trade that would drive the price of crude up and keep it up, very much to Iran's benefit, but fall short of a casus belli for war. However, exercising such options requires subtlety and fine judgment on all sides and that is by no means a given. In a period of sustained high tension, an over-zealous Iranian Revolutionary Guards commander could seize his moment to start a war, or a nervous American captain, his vessel just seconds from Iran's anti-ship missiles, could just as easily miscalculate. The last time Iran and America played chicken in this particular stretch of water, in 1988, a missile cruiser called the USS Vincennes shot down an Iranian Airbus, killing 290 civilians including 66 children.
Spencer Ackerman, author of Wired magazine's Danger Room blog, fears that tensions are now so high that naval blunder could spark a war.
Speaking on Blogginheads he said: "You can easily imagine some scenario where some [Iranian] fast boats come too close to a ship in that [US] carrier fleet. Both sides are on edge, shots are fired and the whole thing escalates. The possibility of that is lot more significant than a lot of strategists are giving credit for. Perhaps I'm being paranoid."
2.19pm: AP has this account of al-Dabi's defence of the Arab League mission:
The head of the Arab League observers in Syria defended his team's work Monday, saying its job is not to stop the violence stemming from the country's 10-month-old uprising against President Bashar Assad.
Mohammed Ahmed al-Dabi told reporters in Cairo that the mission's task rather is to monitor progress on the League's plan — which Damascus agreed to in December — to end the country's crisis.
"The delegation's mission is observation, not to stop killing or to stop destruction," al-Dabi said. "If the violence stops, we'll say that it has. And if this doesn't happen, we'll say so" ...
Al-Dabi said the observers' presence had cut down on the bloodshed in Syria.
"When the delegation arrived, there was clear and obvious violence," he said. "But after the delegation arrived, the violence started to go lessen gradually."
The observers have confirmed 136 killings, committed by both sides, since their arrival in Syria, al-Dabi said. The UN says 400 have been killed.
He said that in some areas, observers had found evidence of machine guns fired over people's heads. In other places, they saw evidence of direct clashes. In yet other regions, armed opposition groups attacked security forces who were "forced to respond to this fire," he said.
1.54pm: The opposition Syrian National Council has called for an international criminal court investigation into the Syrian government's crackdown against protesters, AFP reports.
It urged the Arab League to refer Syria to the UN who in turn should call in call in the ICC, it said.
A new SNC statement also calls for the establishment of a no fly zone over Syria and humanitarian safety zones.
1.46pm: The ICC has an important clarification about the trial of Saif al-Islam., as BrownMoses notes in the comments section.
Reuters reports:
The International Criminal Court said on Monday it has not decided whether Saif al-Islam Gaddafi, son of the overthrown Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi, should be tried in Libya, contradicting earlier comments by a Libyan minister ...
The ICC has given Libya a January 23 deadline to confirm whether and when it would surrender Saif al-Islam and to give information about his mental and physical health. It also asked Libya to answer concerns, raised by activists, that Saif al-Islam was being held incommunicado, without access to lawyers.
ICC spokesman Fadi El-Abdallah said that the court had received information on Monday from Libya but declined to give details, saying it was confidential.
1.12pm: Video from Douma, north west of Damascus, purports to show tens of thousands of people attending the funeral of 12 people killed over the weekend.
Parts of the area were reported to have been under the control of military defectors.
AFP said 150,000 people attended the funeral.
12.08pm: Here's a summary of the main events so far today:
Syria
• The regime of president Bashar al-Assad has rejected Arab League demands for a transition of power in Syria. It accused the league of blatant interference and claimed the proposals showed that the organisation was part of an international conspiracy against Syria. Syrian activists also rejected the proposals claiming they were unattainable.
• The Sudanese general in charge of the Arab League mission claimed that the presence of observers helped reduce violence in the country. Speaking at a press conference in Cairo, Mohammad Ahmad al-Dabi blamed part of the violence on armed elements within the opposition.
• The European Union has approved a new round of sanctions against 22 senior members of the Assad regime. The EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton said: "We're deeply concerned with the situation in Syria. There needs to be a peaceful transition in that country."
Libya
• The new Libyan authorities have confirmed that they want to hold a trial for Saif al-Islam Gaddafi on Libyan soil. The international criminal court has has asked Libya for access to Saif and for details about the conditions under which he is being held.
Egypt
• The first new parliament of the post-Mubarak era has started its inaugural session. The new assembly, which is dominated by Islamists, was due to elect a speaker and two deputies later in the session.
11.38am: Interesting breaking news on the fate of Saif al-Islam Gaddafi, via Sky News:
Sky News Newsdesk
✔@SkyNewsBreak Libyan Justice Minister says Gaddafi's son Saif Al-Islam will be tried in Libya, not the Hague
23 Jan 12 ReplyRetweetFavoriteCNN's Ben Wedeman tweets:
benwedeman
@bencnn International Criminal Court [ICC] accepts that Saif al-Islam Gadhafi is to be tried in #Libya.
***
128 comments, displaying
PeterBrit
23 January 2012 9:13AM
Potentially serious developments in Libya at the weekend, the most serious being the pelting with bottles of Jalil and the torching of his car. This is serious because Jalil has been basically the only nationally popular and credible character leading the revolution. If he is falling out of favour with the masses, then there ia potentially serious problem along the lines of: who's going to hold all the different groups and forces in libya united?
There was so much pro-revolution progaganda flying around during the war telling people that Libya would be rich and perfect if only Gaddafi was removed, that inevitably people are hugely disappointed that currently Libya is still a mess.
Reuters: "In Shajarah Square in central Benghazi a group of protesters have been staging a sit-in for more than a month. "We are worried about the establishment of a democracy," said Suleiman Abdul, an unemployed engineer, who stood in front of an Arabic language banner reading: "Make actions, not just promises." "Our families have died for this revolution, but the way it is going it was actually better before, under Gaddafi. The banks worked, there was no rubbish and people did not have to fear all the guns around the country."
BrownMoses
23 January 2012 9:18AM
It should also be noted that Abdel Hafiz Ghoga, who was attacked by protesters early on last week, has resigned as deputy chief, and the protests have also delayed the offical release of the new election laws.
Atvar48
23 January 2012 9:21AM
Morning All
Sky Smuggled Past Army Checkpoints Into Homs
http://news.sky.com/home/world-news/article/16154459
“On the way out we spotted a family loading up a small truck with their household goods. "We're leaving the bullets behind," the head of the family told us. He added: "We're going to Damascus."
A woman appeared shouting about the nightmare of bombs and bullets. "Five families have left, just on this street," she said, pointing at the shrapnel-marked walls of her home.
Last week, when we were in a government-controlled Allawite/Christian neighbourhood of Homs, we met Allawite and Christian people from Bab Amr who had come to live with their co-religionists.
Syria is slowly splitting - there are many caught in the middle who don't want to have to be on either side.”
Just like in Libya where you had a majority who didn’t support either side in war, yet their lives are turned upside down.
More trouble and strife in Libya
Deputy head of Libya's NTC quits after protests
"We still don't know who exactly is in the NTC. There is no transparency," said Al-Rabia, a protester standing outside the building with a group of about 30 other men.
Another protester, 24-year-old Mohammed Mahmoud, said he fought against Gaddafi during the revolt and wounded his shoulder and hand.
"We fought on the front line and received injuries but we did not see the NTC with us," he said. "I have one single question: Why has the NTC failed at everything except selling oil.?
http://uk.reuters.com/article/2012/01/22/libya-benghazi-protests-idUKL5E8CM07X20120122
Libya could fall into "bottomless pit"-NTC chief
http://uk.reuters.com/article/2012/01/22/libya-benghazi-protests-idUKL5E8CM06F20120122
Iran's Press TV loses UK licence
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-16652356
Nice to see “Freedom of Speech” alive and well, OFCOM decision and not government we are told, yeah right, interestenly was looking at some blogs on this issue and a lot of people unhappy with this decision.
capmint1
23 January 2012 9:30AM
also in the news at the weekend, Iraq;
HRW raising concerns that Iraq is turning into a police state:
Iraq is quickly slipping back into authoritarianism as its security forces abuse protesters, harass journalists, and torture detainees,” said Sarah Leah Whitson, Middle East director at Human Rights Watch. “Despite U.S. government assurances that it helped create a stable democracy, the reality is that it left behind a budding police state.”
http://www.hrw.org/news/2012/01/22/iraq-intensifying-crackdown-free-speech-protests
the US govt assurances are are a little odd given that its security forces abuse protesters, harass journalists, and torture detainees
BrownMoses
23 January 2012 9:33AM
It's good to find the Syrian Government and opposition finally managing to find common ground on at least one issu
PeterBrit
23 January 2012 9:37AM
Sarkozy's premature recognition of the NTC may return to haunt him and Libya. Plenty of critics of the war warned that Western recognition of the NTC was far too early. Because the NTC was a self-appointed Benghazi clique of mainly lawyers and academics which didn't represent the main revolutionary forces, in Misrata, Zintan and the West. And that democratic deficit has never really been addressed. The NTC has operated largely in secret and even the interim government, though there has been an attempt to achieve a better geogrpahic spread has little democratic mandate because the NTC created it.
We just have to hope that the peace can be held untol elections in June and that those elections will somehow produce politicians who can gel into a united national, and effective government.
In the meantine the NTC badly needs to get serious about what actual money it has and what it's going to do with it. There are plenty of reports online which Libyans see of Libya planning mul-tbillion pound projectcs, but then they loo around them and see nothing improving. That's exactly like the Gaddafi period:
A professor quoted in Reuters, "The government is working without a judiciary or police. We know they are getting money from the over one million barrels of oil they sell a day, but where is it being spent?" Rabia said in fluent English.
PeterBrit
23 January 2012 9:42AM
Meanwhile in Iraq:
Rising Strife Threatens Tenuous Iraqi Stability - New York Times
Iraq becoming 'police state', says rights group - AFP
Iraq risks slipping into authoritarianism: rights group - Reuters
Rights group says Iraq is a 'budding police state'- The Independent
Looks like soon we'll be able to say for 100% definite that almost no good whatsoever came out of the Iraq invasion. CAN WE SEND BLAIR TO THE HAGUE NOW?
capmint1
23 January 2012 9:44AM
morning Atvar, PB, BM
I read the various accounts of events in Benghazi at the weekend. I'm not sure if you read the WP version, but its AP account that they picked up, its worth checking as it included some additional details not in Reuters, namely, that Jalil suspended six other delegates, and that was also the reason behind the Deputy PM resignation
this is slightly more worrying than the usual protests about corruption and inefficiency, it would be interesting to know the background of the six that were suspended, if they were secular, human rights campaigners etc
http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/middle-east/libyas-leader-suspends-members-of-transitional-government-after-protests/2012/01/22/gIQA5VHPIQ_story.html
shaun
23 January 2012 9:44AM
The "Arab Mission" underlines the Sunni (Qatar, Saudi Arabia) - Shiite Muslim split. The Western backed (lol, run, countries) want Assad to step down.
Note that Bahrein protests are almost never reported in the West, (with toxic tear gas !) and the 12'000 US soldiers recently sent to Kuwait could well be there to stifle Shiite protests.
BUT; in their haste to cause anothre war - one thing is being deliberatly ignored. - the mass (millions) of displaced persons in Syria. Who are NOT going to appreciate their peace and haven being destroyed yet again.
1/. Palestinians fleeing Israeli brutality (see the article on child cruelty in Israel and the indefinite "arrests" without trial or accusation, of 24 elected ministers, Dr. Dweik included, 7000 others - enabling Israel to eliminate any end to the "Palestinian problem" entailing a PA unity Governement). 2/ Those that fled the US invasion of Iraq.
The main problem is that the US and Israel will continue to create wars in the middle east even if Assad did step down. This is self evident, and until the world realises that an end to wars comes through a stop to agression, assasination, and undercover destruction, the world will will get the third world war it is trying for.
----
The biggest stupidity is by the EU who will destroy it's own economy by sending oil prices through the roof. Just who are Sarkosy, Hague and the others working for? Israel or the US? (The 60% of "Israel's Gas is on Palestinian/Gaza territorial waters and the Leviathan and other gas fields are close to Lebanon. = Lebanese war too? The supply/sale of that gas to Europe would normally cross Syrian waters - yet another reason for Israel to want a war?.)
BrownMoses
23 January 2012 9:48AM
Al Jazeera's Inside Story also covered the protests and the reasons behind them, you can watch the full 25 minute programme here.
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What do you think ?
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conbenho
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Nguyễn Hoài Trang
24012012
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