• UN official: killings have risen despite monitoring mission
• Monitor resigns in protest at farcical mission
• Arab League blames Syria for attacks on monitors
Posted by
Matthew Weaver and Lizzy Davies
Wednesday 11 January 2012 10.21 GMT
guardian.co.uk
Article history
Syrian troops look on as Arab League monitors visit the southern town of Daeel Photograph: YouTube
10.14am: The immunity deal for Yemen's president Ali Abdullah Saleh amounts to a license to kill and should be rejected by the parliament, Human Rights Watch said.
Sarah Leah Whitson, its executive Middle East director, said:
Passing this law would be an affront to thousands of victims of Saleh's repressive rule, including the relatives of peaceful protesters shot dead last year. Yemeni authorities should be locking up those responsible for serious crimes, not rewarding them with a license to kill.
The US defended the deal as necessary to persuade Saleh and his supporters their "era is over".
9.42am: Horrific accounts and videos have emerged of Tuesday's violence in the eastern city of Deir Ezzor during an Arab League monitoring visit to the city.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported that 15 people were killed in the city of Deir Ezzor when the Syrian security forces opened fire on protesters.
Graphic video highlighted by US-based blogger Ammar Abdulhamid showed the moment when a young man was shot while trying to film the shooting on his mobile phone.
Another clip shows the moment when two protesters were shot in a back street [warning: disturbing content].
9.15am: The Arab League monitoring mission appears to be falling apart, according to al-Jazeera. It has this translated version of an interview with former Algerian monitor, Anwar Malek - still in his orange vest.
Blog home Syria: Arab League mission in crisis - live updates
• UN official: killings have risen despite monitoring mission
• Monitor resigns in protest at farcical mission
• Arab League blames Syria for attacks on monitors
• Read the opening summary
"The mission was a farce and the observers have been fooled. What I saw is a humanitarian disaster," he told the broadcaster. Malek said he saw snipers on the roofs of building under the command of army officers, and claimed the security forces attacked areas as soon as monitors left.
9.06am: Turkey and Cyprus have intercepted separate arms shipments to Syria.
Turkey's Zaman newspaper reported:
Turkish customs officials intercepted four trucks on Tuesday suspected of carrying military equipment from Iran to Syria, a Turkish provincial governor has said.
The governor of Kilis province said the trucks were confiscated at the Oncupinar border crossing into Syria after police received information about their cargo.
The Cyprus Mail reported:
Authorities have intercepted a cargo of ammunition bound for Syria for checks, reports said today. A vessel carrying the cargo stopped for refuelling at the port of Limassol where the cargo was intercepted, Politis newspaper reported.
The ship was carrying 60 tonnes of ammunition and had been sailing to the port of Latakia in Syria from St Petersburg in Russia, the newspaper said.
9.04am: An Iranian university professor working at a key nuclear facility has been killed in a bomb explosion, the latest in a series of assassinations and attempted killings linked by the country's authorities to a secret war by Israel and the US to stop the development of what Tehran insists would be a peaceful nuclear capability.
Mostafa Ahmadi Roshan, 32, a chemistry expert and a director of the Natanz uranium enrichment plant in central Iran, was killed after two assailants on a motorcycle attached magnetic bombs to his car, according to the semi-official Fars news agency.
8.26am: (all times GMT) Welcome to Middle East Live. The Arab League's monitoring mission to Syria is coming under increasing pressure: the UN says killings have increased since the arrival of monitors; protesters have been repeatedly shot during observer visits, monitors themselves have been attacked; and a observer has resigned claiming the mission is a farce.
Here's a round up in more detail:
Syria
• A senior UN official said 400 people been have killed in Syria since the Arab League monitors arrived in an escalation of the crackdown against protesters. The figures, revealed in a closed session of the security council, were seized on by the US ambassador to the UN Susan Rice, who chided Syria's ally Russia for its failure to produce a promise draft resolution on the crisis. "Unfortunately after a bit of a show last month of tabling a resolution, the Russians inexplicably have been more or less Awol in terms of leading negotiations on the text of that resolution," Rice said.
• Arab League chief Nabil al-Arabi has denounced attacks on Arab observers in Latakia and Deir Ezzor and said he was holding the government in Damascus responsible for their mission. He said: "The Arab League denounces the irresponsible action and acts of violence against the league's observers. It considers the Syrian government totally responsible for the protection of the members of the observer mission."
• Arab League observer Anwar Malek has resigned because he said the monitoring mission was a farce. He told al-Jazeera that Syria is failing to implement any of the League's proposals and engaging in fabrication and deception.
• Syria's embattled president, Bashar al-Assad, yesterday blamed "foreign conspiracies" supported by Arab states for the crisis in his country and promised to crack down on terrorism with "an iron fist". In a defiant speech at Damascus university he said: "We cannot relent in the battle against terrorism. We strike with an iron fist against terrorists who have been brainwashed."
• The US led international condemnation of the speech claiming it confirmed that Assad "needs to go". State department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said:
Assad manages to blame a foreign conspiracy that's so vast with regard to the situation in Syria that it now includes the Arab League, most of the Syrian opposition, the entire international community. He throws responsibility on everybody but back on himself.
French foreign minister Alain Juppe accused Assad of inciting violence in the country, AFP reports
• Assad has proved himself spectacularly ill-suited to the presidency, Simon Tisdall argues. He said Assad now has three options: flight, fight or negotiation.
• Syria's state news agency has published a full text of the speech.
A Wordle version of the text shows how much of the address was devoted to the Arab League and Arabism, and Assad's emphasis on the importance of the Syrian state.
Egypt
• Former US president Jimmy Carter dismissed concerns about the success of Islamist parties in Egypt's first elections since the fall of President Hosni Mubarak, because it represents the will of the Egyptian people. His Carter Centre has sent 40 observers to monitor Egypt's staggered parliamentary elections since voting started in late November, the freest and fairest in decades. Carter said his organisation was "very pleased" with the conduct of the elections so far.
Bahrain
• Several thousand people held a protest on Tuesday outside the United Nations' offices in Bahrain's capital, Manama, the BBC reports. The demonstrators chanted "Down, Down, Khalifa" - a reference to long-serving Prime Minister Sheikh Khalifa Bin Salman al-Khalifa, activists said. They also carried banners urging the UN to "intervene to protect civilians".
Libya
• The international criminal court granted Libyan authorities more time to answer its questions about Saif al-Islam Gaddafi, who is wanted by the court but is being held by Libyan fighters. Libya's new rulers said they need three more weeks to respond to questions about Saif "due to the security situation".
Iran
• Iran's interior ministry has blocked at least 33 MPs from running in parliamentary elections in March, adding to calls for a countrywide boycott. At least 33 Iranian MPs were told on Tuesday that their candidacies had not been approved even though they currently serve in the parliament, local news agencies reported. Many reformist MPs and even some conservatives are among those barred from running in the March vote.
***
11 comments, displaying ..
PeterBrit
11 January 2012 10:14AM
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-16497462
And away from the headlines the crisis in Iraq contonues. Yesterday:
In the deadliest incident, a bomb exploded in the village of Yathrib, near Tikrit, killing three boys - aged nine and 10 - on their way to school.
Two agriculture ministry employees were also killed when a bomb attached to their vehicle exploded in al-Sharqat, in the province of Salahuddin.
In the evening, two soldiers died when gunmen attacked an army checkpoint in the northern city of Mosul.
An army colonel was earlier killed in Saadiya, in Diyala province, when a roadside bomb struck the convoy in which he was travelling.
One unconfirmed report said another roadside bomb in western Baghdad killed two Shia pilgrims, who were walking to the holy city of Karbala for Arbain, which marks the end of 40 days of mourning for Imam Hussein.
benad361
11 January 2012 10:14AM
Assad manages to blame a foreign conspiracy that's so vast with regard to the situation in Syria that it now includes the Arab League, most of the Syrian opposition, the entire international community. He throws responsibility on everybody but back on himself.
For once I agree with a US foreign policy statement. Gaddafi blamed his demise on foreign powers, Saleh in Yemen blamed a "Zionist plot", Ceausescu blamed imperialists in 1989...notice any similarities, dictator sympathiasers? Everyone is always to blame but them.
capmint1
11 January 2012 10:19AM
re Iran alleged CIA agent
claim is based on an alledged confession which includes mention of CIA funding game developers, but such confessions, valued in sharia have been critised by human rights campaigners in Iran and abroad, but an interesting link picked up by NYT article:
'A Pentagon language-training contract won in 2009 by Kuma Games, a New York-based company that develops reality-based war games — including one called “Assault on Iran” — lists as a main contact Amir Mirzaei Hekmati, the former Marine from Flint, Mich., now on death row in an Iranian prison, convicted of spying for the C.I.A.'
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/11/world/middleeast/iran-imposes-death-sentence-on-us-man-accused-of-spying.html
capmint1
11 January 2012 10:31AM
Moscow Tmes running with report confirming (or giving disinfo) some of debkafile earlier report Adm Kuznetsov in Syria:
'Five ships, including aircraft carrier Admiral Kuznetsov and destroyer Admiral Chabanenko, put in at Russia's naval maintenance and supply facility in the Syrian port of Tartus, Interfax said.'
http://www.themoscowtimes.com/news/article/russian-warships-pay-visit-to-syrian-port/450760.html
PeterBrit
11 January 2012 10:36AM
Erdogan takes time off worrying about civil war in Syria to worry about civil war in Iraq:
"Turkish PM urges Iraqis to prevent sectarian conflict
(AFP) – 22 hours ago
ISTANBUL — Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan called on political and religious leaders in Iraq on Tuesday to prevent sectarian tensions in the country.
"The last thing we want to see in Iraq is a fight between brothers," Erdogan said in televised remarks in a weekly address to his lawmakers in parliament.
"I call on all our brothers in Iraq, regardless of their persuasion and ethnic roots to listen to their conscience and hearts," Erdogan said.
"I also invite the Iraqi government, religious leaders, community leaders and countries trying to influence Iraq to behave with consciousness and responsibility," he said.
"Countries that are fanning sectarian divisions and conflicts will be responsible for each drop of blood that is shed," Erdogan added, without naming the countries.
BrownMoses
11 January 2012 10:36AM
Reuters - Iran jamming Al Jazeera broadcasts: document
Iran is jamming broadcasts by Qatar-based news channel Al Jazeera, according to a document from satellite operator Arabsat obtained by Reuters on Tuesday, with the broadcaster saying it believed it was because of its coverage of Syria.
Interference is coming from two locations in Iran, one west of Tehran and the other near the northwestern city of Maraghen, the document showed.
"We believe that this is happening because of our coverage of Syria," a senior official at Al Jazeera told Reuters, declining to be identified.
capmint1
11 January 2012 10:44AM
debkafile earlier report, so all great powers are sending their carriers, seperately confirmed reports carriers from Russia (Kuznetsov), US (Stennis), France (DeGualle)
http://www.debka.com/article/21633/
the exception is Cam on account of SSDR means we are sending Type 45 destroyer (mine sweepers would be more useful but less headline grabbing) as our carriers sold to India, two carriers cost £7bn yet to be built and wont have planes, as Seaharriers sold to USMC, F-35 8-10 years away
benad361
11 January 2012 10:45AM
Response to BrownMoses, 11 January 2012 10:36AM
Morning. If you've noticed, Iran is seemingly stepping up aid to the Syrian government, judging by some of these accounts:
Cyprus intercepts arms bound for Syria
Turkey intercepts Syrian arms trucks.
I came across an interesting piece regarding direct Iranian and Hezbollah participation in the fighting. According to this source over 120 Hezbollah and Iranian Basij paramilitary forces have been killed by the armed Syrian opposition in the fighting.
capmint1
11 January 2012 10:46AM
mornin PB
"The last thing we want to see in Iraq is a fight between brothers," Erdogan said in televised remarks in a weekly address to his lawmakers in parliament.
"I call on all our brothers in Iraq, regardless of their persuasion and ethnic roots to listen to their conscience and hearts," Erdogan said.
bit rich given Turks recently bombed (Sept-Aug) the Kurds; and wonder if they will play the genocide card in Syria (given they deny there own, and still pissed at the french on that one)
benad361
11 January 2012 10:49AM
I found this article regarding the recent stance of Assad and comparisons to Gaddafi's attitude: http://www.yalibnan.com/2012/01/10/syrias-bashar-al-assad-chooses-the-qaddafi-model/
The part that struck me was the list of things all these dictators have done in common:
1- Shut down the internet
2- Send thugs (on foot or horseback)
3- Attack and arrest journalists
4- Shoot people
5- Promise to investigate who shot people
6- Do a meaningless political reshuffle
7- Blame Al Jazeera
8- Organise paid demonstrations in favor of your regime
9- Make a condescending speech about how much you love the youth
10- Warn that the country will fall into chaos without you
11- Blame foreign agitators
BrownMoses
11 January 2012 10:50AM
Here's a video in Arabic about the Tawerghan refugees currently staying in Benghazi, which at least gives you an idea of the conditions they are living in.
_______________
What do you think ?
Các anh chị nghĩ thế nào, có ý kiến phê bình gì qua bài viết "Syria: Arab League mission in crisis - live updates" của Matthew Weaver and Lizzy Davies và 11 Ý kiến Phê bình từ "11 Comments" của đọc giả ?
Đặc biệt, các anh chị nghĩ thế nào về nhận xét của một người là "former Algerian monitor",ông Anwar Malek đã trả lời phỏng vấn của báo chí rằng "The mission was a farce and the observers have been fooled. What I saw is a humanitarian disaster," , các anh chị có nghĩ Arab Mission là "trò hề" không và tại sao ?
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
11012012
___________
CSVN là TỘI ÁC
Bao che, dung dưỡng TỘI ÁC là đồng lõa với TỘI ÁC
No comments:
Post a Comment