Tunisian Revolution and the Middle East--And Now, The Withdrawal From Afghanistan (M.E.T.)

[visionary]

http://english.aljazeera.net/news/middleeast/2011/06/201169151210882741.html

IAEA reports Syria to UN Security Council

Atomic watchdog reports Damascus over claims it secretly building a nuclear reactor that was later destroyed by Israel.

Last Modified: 09 Jun 2011 15:38

The UN atomic watchdog has voted to report Syria to the UN Security Council over allegations it was building an undeclared nuclear reactor that was then destroyed by Israeli bombs, diplomats have said.

At a closed-door meeting of the 35-member board of governors of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), 17 countries voted in favour of a corresponding resolution by the US and six against.

Russia and China were among those who voted no. There were 11 abstentions and one country was absent from the vote, diplomats said.

Ministers from the IAEA's 35 governing members have been meeting since Monday to discuss a raft of issues ranging from the disaster at Japan's Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power plant to a lack of satisfactory co-operation from member states, including Syria and Iran.

In a key report before this week's meeting, IAEA Director-General Yukiya Amano said Syria should have declared the Dair Alzour site, which was destroyed by Israeli warplanes in 2007.

The IAEA has been frustrated since 2008 in repeated attempts to follow up on further evidence regarding the site.

Based on that report, the US, backed by 12 allies, drew up the referral to bring Syria before the UN Security Council, insisting that that the reputation of the IAEA, set up by the UN to enforce the peaceful use of nuclear energy, was at stake.

"Syria's nuclear intentions at Dair Alzour are clear; the reactor there was built for the express purpose of producing plutonium for possible use in nuclear weapons," Glyn Davis, the chief US envoy to the IAEA, said.

http://english.aljazeera.net/news/middleeast/2011/06/2011696563111657.html

Syrians decry 'torture' of teenage protester

Video emerges appearing to show body of Syrian boy killed in crackdown, as Russia rejects Security Council resolution.

Last Modified: 09 Jun 2011 09:24

Video footage has emerged showing the body of a Syrian boy reportedly tortured to death after his arrest in April following a government crackdown on pro-democracy protests in the country.

The video, provided to Al Jazeera by sources inside Syria, shows the mutilated body of 15-year-old Thamer al-Sahri, who was arrested for participating in an anti-government demonstration.

Hundreds of residents of the Syrian town of Jeeza filled the streets to mourn his death on Wednesday, the day his body was released from the mortuary and returned to his parents, six weeks after he went missing.

The amateur video shows al-Sahri's body riddled with bullets, missing an eye, several teeth, and according to Al Jazeera's source, returned to his family with a broken neck and leg.

Al Jazeera is unable to independently verify the footage due to restrictions on journalists in the country.

Al-Sahri was arrested along with his friend, 13-year-old Hamza al-Khateeb - the teenager whose brutal death caused much of the world to pay closer attention to the events in Syria. Al-Khateeb's body was also mutilated.

The Syrian government has denied using torture against protesters, but the latest video could lead to renewed demonstrations in the country against alleged excesses by the Syrian security forces.

The footage emerged as Russia rejected a possible UN Security Council resolution condemning the violence in Syria, saying that the situation in the country does not present a threat to international stability.

"Russia is against any UN Security Council resolution on Syria," Alexander Lukashevich, a foreign ministry spokesman, told journalists at a briefing in Moscow on Thursday.

"We do not believe the Syrian issue is a subject for consideration by the Security Council, let alone the adoption of some kind of resolution. [...] The situation in this country, in our view, does not present a threat to international peace and security."

On Wednesday, Britain, France, Germany and Portugal floated a draft resolution condemning Syria at the Security Council as the US and its allies seek to raise the pressure on Syria to end its violent crackdown on anti-government protesters.

Mark Lyall Grant, the British UN envoy, said the resolution could be put to the vote in the coming days at the UN despite the threat of a Russian veto.

"We would like a vote as soon as possible, before the end of the week," Grant, said.

The proposal falls short of calling for military action or further UN sanctions against the Syrian government.

Russia and China, which both hold vetoes, have made clear they dislike the idea of council involvement, which they say could help to destabilise a strategic Middle Eastern country.

Moscow has long been an ally and arms supplier of Syria. Russia, citing NATO's inconclusive bombing of the Libyan capital, Tripoli, said it would veto intervention against Syria in the Security Council.

---------- Post added June-9th-2011 at 12:26 PM ----------

http://blogs.aljazeera.net/liveblog/syria

6 hours 40 min ago

The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Navi Pillay, says Syria is trying to "bludgeon its population into submission'' by attacking anti-government protesters with snipers, tanks and artillery.

In a statement on Thursday, she said her office had received reports that more than 1,100 men, women and children had been killed since protests began in March and about 10,000 people have been detained.

She urged neighbouring countries such as Turkey to keep their borders open for refugees fleeing Syria.

6 hours 31 min ago

More than a thousand Syrians have fled across the border into Turkey to escape violence in the last 24 hours and taken refuge in a tent camp there, a UN High Commissioner for Refugees spokesman told Reuters on Thursday.

Spokesman Metin Corabatir said that based on figures provided by the Turkish Red Crescent and foreign ministry 1,577 Syrians were living in the Yayladagi camp, following the latest influx, with 1,050 arriving in the last 24 hours.

1 hour 20 min ago

The latest pictures form the Syria-Turkey border show refugees heading towards the Turkish side of the border on Thursday. Al Jazeera was not able to independently verify the authenticity of this footage

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17 min 52 sec ago

The number of Syrians who have fled to Turkey fearing bloodshed in their country has increased by some 400 to 2,500, Ahmet Davutoglu, the Turkish foreign minister, said.

The total number of refugees was nearly 1,900 earlier on Thursday, according to Anatolia news agency.

The arrivals have sharply increased since Tuesday, with most refugees fleeing the flashpoint town of Jisr al-Shughur, some 40km from the Turkish border, where tensions have flared amid Damascus' accusations that protesters killed 120 policemen.

Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan assured on Wednesday that Turkey would keep its door open to Syrians fleeing repression.

"It's not possible for us to shut our doors at a time when deadly violence is on the rise (in Syria) and our brothers there are looking for shelter," Erdogan said in further remarks on Thursday. Measures have been put in place in two other provinces neighbouring Syria - Mardin and Gaziantep - to meet a possible refugee wave, he said.

[visionary]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-13723810

Syria: Army 'moves on Jisr al-Shughour'

The Syrian army has moved against the town of Jisr al-Shughour where the government says 120 security personnel were killed earlier this week.

Heavy gunfire has been reported in the area. The expected action has prompted a flow of refugees to nearby Turkey.

Elsewhere in Syria, anti-government activists say at least 22 people have been killed by security forces.

Tanks are also reported to have shelled Maarat al-Numan in the north with "dozens" killed or wounded.

State TV said police stations in the town had been attacked by gunmen.

Turkey says more than 2,000 Syrians have crossed the border seeking refuge from the anticipated crackdown in Jisr al-Shughour.

Turkish PM Recep Tayyip Erdogan has said Syria is committing "atrocities", in remarks quoted by Turkish media.

Syria's government has blamed the deaths in the town on armed groups, but there are reports of a mutiny among security forces.

-Activists say at least 11 protesters were killed to the east of Idlib town, in Idlib province where Jisr al-Shughour is located 11

-Two protesters were shot dead in the Busra al-Harir area of southern Deraa province, activists say 2

-Opposition groups say four more protesters were shot dead in the Qaboun district of the capital, Damascus 4

-Five demonstrators was shot dead during protests in Latakia, according to activists 5

-Eyewitnesses in the central city of Hama tell BBC Arabic that thousands of protesters gathered in al-Aassi Square, the main square in the city centre - there is no security or police presence at all

-There are protests in the cities of Homs, Hasska, al-Qamishili and al-Amood. Gunfire has been heard in Bab Amr, a suburb of Homs

Edited June 10, 2011 by visionary

[visionary]

http://blogs.aljazeera.net/liveblog/syria

2 hours 1 min ago

Hundreds of students have gathered in north Lebanon to demand that President Bashar al-Assad step down.

"Take our blood if you want, but go," chanted around 400 students from the state-run Lebanese University - including 50 Syrians - in the city of Tripoli.

1 hour 19 min ago

The Local Coordination Committees (LCC), an activist network, says dozens of people have been killed or injured in heavy shelling by tanks in Maarat al-Numan, 40km east of Jisr al-Shughur, in the province of Idlib.

State TV earlier said gunmen had opened fire on police stations in the town, causing casualties among security officials.

The LCC said 22 protesters had been killed across the country.

1 hour 6 sec ago

An activist and blogger in Damascus tells Al Jazeera he counted at least 14 separate anti-government demonstrations in and around the capital today, the largest number since the uprising began.

A demonstration by 500 to 600 protesters who gathered outside the flashpoint Hassan Mosque in the Midan district was quickly dispersed by anti-riot police firing tear gas. The protesters chanted slogans in support of Jisr al-Shughur and called for the downfall of the regime. There was also a protest in the Qaboun neighbourhood.

Around the capital, the activist reported protests in Hajar al-Aswad, Zabadani, Artouz, Dariyah, Kiswa, Arbeen, Douma, Al-Tal and Qatana, most numbering in the several thousands.

Separately, the Local Coordination Committees reported protests in Madaya, Buqein and Jdaidet Artouz, each numbering around 2,000 people.

10 min 6 sec ago

Hundreds of students held a pro-democracy protest in Aleppo University today, before being attacked and dispersed by pro-Assad students and secret police who arrested 50, according to an opposition leader speaking to Al Jazeera from Aleppo.

Several hundred protesters also gathered in the Seif Addoulah district in Aleppo following Friday prayers, but were also attacked by secret police supported by pro-regime Aleppan families, he opposition leader said.

"It is important to see Aleppo moving towards demonstrations for freedom, although it is slowly. But it is very important to see Aleppo joining the uprising," he said.

Aleppo, Syria's largest city and the capital of trade and commerce, has been largely quiet since the uprising began, with only intermittent protests by students.

For the first time since the uprising began villages and towns around Aleppo also saw protests today, including Hraytan and Akhtareen, where several thousand gathered to call for freedom and support for Jisr al-Shughur which is less than 100km west of Aleppo.

http://twitter.com/#!/FlashNewsPlus

Hama: Sit-in of more than 100,000 protesters at Al-Assi Square! Where is Syrian State TV now?! 3 hours ago

[visionary]

http://twitter.com/#!/BreakingNews

U.S. officials tell NBC the near-fatal bomb attack on Yemen President Saleh was an 'inside job' and 'assassination attempt' 47 minutes ago

At least 5 Syrian helicopter gunships fire to disperse pro-democracy protest in Maarat al-Numaan, witnesses tell @Reuters 1 hour ago

Somalia's Interior Minister Abdi Shakur Sheikh Hassan has died after blast at his house in Mogadishu, peacekeepers say http://bit.ly/jm3n8n 3 hours ago

[visionary]

http://blogs.aljazeera.net/liveblog/syria

6 hours 33 min ago

This amateur footage shows protesters under fire from security men in Syria's Latakia city. The second video shows protesters burning the Russian flag in Homs, also on Friday, as a condemnation of Russia’s position supporting Al Assad's regime.

gTmd5MFmhQc

Those guys are having some trouble with the flag..

They seemed to have less trouble a few days back when they were burning Russian, Chinese, and Iranian flags

4 hours 12 min ago

Yavuz Baydar, a columnist for the Today's Zaman newspaper, on how the crisis on the election campaign has affected Turkey's response to the crisis on its border with Syria and its policy towards Damascus:

The increased clashes caught Ankara unprepared because of the mobilisation of the election campaigns, and that is why Ankara has reacted fairly cautiously. But from Monday [after the election] we will see new developments.

Turkey has been very cautious, holding relations with the Assad regime intact while increasingly gradually its support for the rather disarrayed opposition. But it seems now the direction of events is changing the balance of Ankara's policies.

There was a belief that Assad would change the politics in general, and perhaps breakthrough from the old guard and start reforming, but Ankara's expectations will fail, it seems. As soon as it is clear in Ankara's eyes that it has failed, there will be a very sharp turn in Turkish policy.

2 hours 59 min ago - Syria

An activist in Maarat al-Numan in north-west Syria told Al Jazeera residents had formed committees tasked with protecting public property in response to fears that regime security forces would destroy buildings as a pretext to escalating a military assault on the area.

"Locals received some threats that the regime will burn down property and accuse the protestors of doing it, so now they are surrounding the museum and the public hospital," he said.

"Just keep the thugs away from us and we can take care of ourselves: We’re not asking the army to come in."

The activist said he had also witnessed, yesterday afternoon, an attack on the head office of the local State Security branch by some of the five helicopter gunships deployed in the area.

"I think this is going to be used to accuse protestors of burning down state security. But they are peaceful protestors not using violence. It’s the regime using violence against the protestors."

Activists said at least 23 people were killed by shelling in Maarat al-Numan.

http://english.aljazeera.net/news/middleeast/2011/06/20116111029256793.html

Syrian tanks and troops have sealed the restive northern town of Jisr al-Shughur with activists saying they expect an all-out government assault soon.

President Bashar al-Assad sent heavy armour, including tanks and thousands of troops, to the region to crush a nearly three-month uprising against his family's 40-year rule.

Saturday's military operation close to the Turkish border is in response to what the government claims were attacks by "armed groups" that killed more than 120 officers and security personnel last week.

Syrian state television said troops had arrested several leaders of the alleged armed groups in Jisr al-Shughur.

The troops backed by dozens of tanks have been operating in the area for several days, securing towns and villages on their way to the northern Syrian town.

Jamil Sadeq, a resident of the town, accused the troops of intermittently opening fire.

"The army entered with tanks and used heavy weapons on the villagers. They then fled into the mountains," he told Al Jazeera.

"A second village was also attacked. The regime is attempting to regroup a military brigade there. Elsewhere in nearby villages there are shootings every half hour.

"To the east, the army stormed villages on the way to Ziyaara with tanks and reached there in the early morning. Residents fled ... either to the north or towards Turkey where the main [refugee] camp is."

About 4,000 Syrians have fled into neighbouring Turkey to escape the unrest in Jisr al-Shughur and other towns, according to the UN and Turkish officials.

Lebanon, Syria's neighbour to the west, has already absorbed about 5,000 refugees, though the UN says it is a "fluid population" and some of the refugees have already returned home.

A UN spokesperson said that Ban Ki-moon had been trying to call the Syrian president all week but was told that he was "not available."

Robert Ford, the US ambassador in the Syrian capital, Damascus, has also seen his requests for meetings with Syrian government officials repeatedly denied.

Edited June 11, 2011 by visionary

[twa]

Turkey sending troops into N Syria

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/t/turkey-is-planning-on-sen_79510185592365056.html

http://www.debka.com/article/21015/

Edited June 12, 2011 by twa

[visionary]

Turkey sending troops into N Syria

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/t/turkey-is-planning-on-sen_79510185592365056.html

http://www.debka.com/article/21015/

Wow, I hadn't heard about this yet, but Turkey has been sounding as if they were considering intervening.

I'm curious to see if the GCC or NATO get involved at some point.

I think NATO's too busy right now, but this could develop into something big in the future, if it drags on.

(especially if Iran gets more involved)

Edited June 12, 2011 by visionary

[visionary]

http://blogs.aljazeera.net/liveblog/syria

9 hours 39 min ago

Among the thousands of Syrians crossing into Turkey are soldiers who've left the army in protest against the killing of the bloody crackdown on demonstrations.

Tharwat Arafat, a refugee who described himself as a conscript with the army fourth division said he had been ordered to fire at unarmed protesters.

"We used to try to hit in the air so not to kill protesters.Five of my colleagues refused to shoot totally. They were hit in the back and killed," he told the Turkish channel NTV.

.

8 hours 53 min ago

Syrians gathered close to the border with Turkey on Saturday to take part in a funeral march for a protester.

Hundreds made their way across open fields carrying a single coffin, in full view of the television cameras on the Turkish side of the border.

7 hours 22 min ago -

Several testimonies have emerged from defected soldiers, giving an insight into the split apparently emerging in the security forces.

"They are killing my people, our brothers, whether they are Christian, Alawite or Sunni. We are in the army to defend them against the Israeli enemy. It’s not the job of the army to kill our people, our families," Ali Hassan Satouf, a non-conscripted officer, said after going into hiding.

5 hours 59 min ago

Syrian tanks stormed a border town overnight in the latest assault to crush a three-month uprising against President Bashar al-Assad that has driven thousands of refugees into Turkey, according to residents on Sunday.

"Tanks came from the south after shelling randomly and sending volleys of machinegun fire all over the town. People are still fleeing from the north," a resident of Jisr al-Shughour, a strategic town set in hills on the road between Syria's second city Aleppo and the main port of Latakia, said.

Witnesses said loyalist forces commanded by Assad's feared brother Maher deployed near Jisr al-Shughour this week.

They began attacking villages and burning crops in a scorched-earth policy designed to break the will of the local residents who had participated in protests demanding democracy an end to Assad's autocratic rule.

The authorities say the aim was to combat "terrorist saboteur groups" who had killed scores of security forces.

Damascus has banned most foreign correspondents from Syria, making it difficult to verify accounts of events.

Turkey also has restricted access to refugees in camps and hospitals, saying it is to protect their privacy.

28 min 23 sec ago

The number of Syrian refugees fleeing to neighbouring Turkey is swelling by the day. By early Sunday around 5, 000 Syrians had crossed the border.

Thousands more are sheltering among the trees close by. There have also been reports of Syrian tanks and troops storming another town overnight.

[visionary]

http://blogs.aljazeera.net/liveblog/syria

6 hours 11 min ago - Syria

Al Jazeera's Anita McNaught, reported from neighbouring Turkey, where many Syrians have fled:

There is no question the situation on the Syria-Turkey border is getting more serious and the reports we are receiving are of tanks finally rolling into Jisr al-Shugur after attacking and perhaps even destroying villages around there. But refugees will come in increasing numbers.

We don't understand why they are not here already. The number we have is about 5,000. we are hearing reports of many more hiding in the farmlands, the fields, the olive groves on the way to Turkey.

Are they being prevented from coming here by Syrian security forces as someone suggested, we don't know. The ones people are able to reach are telling stories which confirm the reports we are already hearing from phonecalls inside Syria, that is reports of th Syrian army firing and mortaring indiscriminately on civilians and also on defecting soldiers, confirming there was in fact a mutiny in Jisr al-Shugur a week ago which is what prompted in large part the severity of the government crackdown.

5 hours 33 min ago - Syria

AFP - "The Italian government is following with great concern the evolution of the humanitarian crisis provoked by the assault from government forces in northern Syria," Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi's office said in a statement.

Italy "condemns the unacceptable use of violence against (Syria's) own people which cannot lead to any solution," it said, adding that humanitarian assistance was needed to take care of "wounded, prisoners and refugees".

"Italy is asking the Syrian government to cease all violence and to allow a neutral organisation like the International Committee of the Red Cross immediate and unlimited access to the region," the statement added.

4 hours 11 min ago

Al Jazeera's Anita McNaught, reported from neighbouring Turkey, where many Syrians have fled:

Turkey has had to pick a side, it had to decide whether it could push Bashar al-assad, The Syrian president gently into the direction of democratic reforms.

The Turks have gradually had to pull back from their tactical support of him [bashar] and Damascus and are now dealing with the reality in their border which is a destabilising situation.

Turkey needs to be seen as acting humanly and also picking the right side. The message from Ankara seems to be that they are increasingly doubtful that Bashar al-Assad's government

2 hours 16 min ago

AP news agency has reported that the Syrian army has control of the northwestern town of Jisr al-Shughour. Syria's state-run news agency SANA reported "heavy" clashes and army units moved in after dismantling explosives planted on roads and bridges leading to the town.

1 hour 38 min ago

A Syrian who has crossed the border into Turkey says Assad's regime has been arming members of the Alawite minority in Jisr al-Shughur.

"Right now the regime arms all Alawite families. They give guns to every man above the age 15," Mohammed said, referring to the Shia Muslim offshoot that President Bashar al-Assad belongs to. His account could not be verified.

He also said it's getting more difficult to get close to the Turkish border.

"Soldiers and plainclothes police prevent refugees' cars from passing. We must work around secretly," the 24-year-old told AFP.

J3xr72kYOZ8

I haven't seen any more reports of Turkey sending troops into Syria, or Turkish troops being in Syria.....

[twa]

I haven't seen any more reports of Turkey sending troops into Syria, or Turkish troops being in Syria.....

Give it a day or so,elections are the 12th

Pro-Assad crowd attacks Turkish Embassy in Syria

http://www.todayszaman.com/news-247116-pro-assad-crowd-attacks-turkish-embassy-in-syria.html

http://www.todayszaman.com/columnist-247099-turkeys-choice-on-syria----a-new-momentum.html

With every step taken firmly towards the hard-line, Bashar al-Assad has put to the test Turkey’s policies and Erdoğan’s patience. Now, Assad has come to the end of the line on that matter. He has lost Turkey. Starting this week, we will in all likelihood be witnessing a different language from Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, similar to the one he has used with Israel’s leaders. President Abdullah Gül also seems weary of the shrewd tactics of Damascus as it continues killing its citizens and -- as the latest attack near the Turkish border shows -- conducting scorched earth policy in rural settlements. It should have become clear to Ankara that Assad’s ruling circle has decided to ignore the Turks completely.

[visionary]

http://blogs.aljazeera.net/liveblog/syria

20 hours 24 min ago

Al Jazeera has spoken to a resident in Jisr al Shughur who said civilians there had been trying to protect "their properties and their families" after the town came under artillery fire. He says tens of people were injured.

20 hours 12 min ago

France says it is doing what it can to secure a UN response to increasingly brutal repression in Syria.

"France is continuing its efforts with its partners in the international community to see that the United Nations Security Council takes responsibility and speaks out without delay on the Syrian crisis and regional consequences," a statement issued by the French foreign ministry said.

"France strongly condemns the ever more brutal repression in Syria, including the use of heavy weapons in Jisr al-Shughur, which many civilians are fleeing to seek refuge in Turkey ... It must stop."

17 hours 7 min ago - Syria

A new entry on Sunday in a blog purportedly by a lesbian Syrian-American living in Damascus asserted that the entire saga was a hoax, supposedly written by a man.

The post, which came days after an entry saying the blogger had been siezed, was signed by "Tom MacMaster" in Istanbul, Turkey.

The reported abduction of the blogger gained widespread attention in international media and a Facebook campaign was launched calling for her release.

In the new blog post, the author says the narrative was fictional but insists it "created an important voice for issues I feel strongly about".

4 hours 46 min ago

A cousin of the Syrian president, Bashar al-Assad, has been banned from traveling abroad as the government investigates the violence in the country.

The state-run SANA news agency said he ban was imposed on Brig. Gen. Atef Najib, who ran the security department in the southern province of Deraa.

The uprising erupted there in mid-March after the arrest of 15 teenagers who scrawled anti-government graffiti.

Judge Mohammed Deeb al-Muqatran of the Special Judicial Committee said the travel ban is precautionary in order for Najib to be available for questioning, the AP reported.

Al-Muqatran was quoted as saying on Monday that "no one has immunity, whoever he is".

3 hours 25 min ago

Residents who fled the army assault on Jisr al-Shughur have spoken out, saying troops had begun fighting among themselves in the midst of the military operation.

"The troops are divided. Four tanks defected and they began to fire on one another," said 35-year-old Abdullah, who fled Jisr al-Shughur on Sunday and crossed the border into Turkey in order to find food.

"When they started to fire on each other, I decided to flee," the AFP news agency quoted him as saying.

1 hour 31 min ago

AFP news agency reports: Recep Tayyip Erdogan, the Turkish prime minister, has expressed support for Britain's efforts to put pressure on Syria at the UN Security Council, David Cameron, the British prime minister's spokesman said Monday.

"Prime Minister Erdogan welcomed the UK's efforts to put pressure on the regime through a Security Council resolution and they agreed that Britain and Turkey should work hand in hand to achieve this," the spokesman said.

He said the two leaders noted that "the situation had deteriorated markedly in the last week and agreeing that the violence was a cause of deep concern".

"They agreed on the importance of international unity in response to a crisis that is increasingly dangerous for the Syrian people and the region," he said.

14 min 56 sec ago

Anita McNaught reports from the Turkey-Syria border about the situation of Syrian refugees that crossed the border into Turkey as Syrian troops intensify their military operation in the north.

(I can't youtube to work on this computer long enough to copy the video links even.

if you want to watch it, check out the blog link at the top of the post.)

Oh and...bad news.

We can probably write off any help for the Syrian people from Lebanon.

(Unlike when they led the UN charge on Libya)

http://english.aljazeera.net/news/middleeast/2011/06/2011613134047608919.html

Lebanese PM announces new cabinet

Najib Mikati gives Hezbollah and its allies 16 posts - six more than they had in the previous government.

Last Modified: 13 Jun 2011 14:25

Lebanon's prime minister has announced a new cabinet, dominated by allies of Hezbollah, five months after the party and its allies brought down the government.

Najib Mikati's cabinet, unveiled on Monday, gives Hezbollah and its allies 16 of the 30 seats. In the previous government, they had 10 seats.

The cabinet still must be formally presented to parliament for a vote of confidence.

Mikati was appointed to form a government after Hezbollah and its allies toppled Saad al-Hariri's coalition in January over a dispute involving the UN-backed tribunal investigating the assassination of Rafiq al-Hariri, Saad's father.

"Let us go to work immediately according to the principles and basis that we have affirmed our commitment to several times, namely defending Lebanon's sovereignty and its independence and liberating land that remains under the occupation of the Israeli enemy," Mikati said.

Political wrangling had held up the formation of the cabinet, including disagreements over sensitive posts.

Edited June 13, 2011 by visionary

[visionary]

http://www.financialmirror.com/News/Cyprus_and_World_News/23706

Darwish Mohammad Sebo, a slight 23-year-old conscript, sneaked into the Turkish border village of Guvecci, after deserting his post near Homs on May 14 and escaping to the northwestern town of Jisr al-Shughour before entering Turkey.

He described the moment which prompted him to desert.

"I was in the front line against protesters, armed with a baton and a shield. Behind me were 'shabbiha' and forces they trust more to shoot, armed with automatic rifles. No Syrian would have accepted being in my position, seeing his compatriots slaughtered," he said.

"Shabbiha" are gunmen loyal to President Bashar al-Assad.

"I paid a bribe to a lieutenant to give me sick leave and I never went back. Many more were like me. The morale is very low. They do not allow us to take leave to see our families."

Leaning against a car, Sebo appeared anxious and shaken by his experience as he showed footage on his mobile phone of a a youth lying dead, shot in the stomach.

Assad's army retook the rebellious town Jisr al-Shughour after an army assault, backed by tanks, that began last Friday.

Syrian authorities said 120 security personnel were killed there last week in fighting they blamed on "armed groups". Some residents said the killings followed a mutiny, or a refusal by some troops to shoot protesters against Assad's autocratic rule.

"I marched in the funeral of Bassel al-Masri (a demonstrator) two weeks ago when Military Intelligence fired on us. I escaped and ever since I have been going back and forth carrying wounded people to Turkey by car or taking the martyrs to be buried in the villages," said Sebo.

Almost 7,000 Syrian refugees have now fled the predominantly Sunni town, just 20 km from Guvecci, and streamed across the rolling farmland into Turkey, where Turkish soldiers take them to one of four refugee camps.

North of Guvecci at the border village of Hacipasa, Sumeyla, who declined to give her last name, was about to marry a Turkish relative. Her Syrian wedding car, festooned with pink and white ribbons and flowers, drove through the village hooting its horn.

Sumeyla, from an Alawite family, said they had seen nothing on the drive from her nearby village.

"We are very happy with our president," said a male guest at her wedding. "The stories that are circulating are lies. Foreign gangs attacked Jisr al-Shughour and the thousands who are coming to Turkey are being paid to flee," he said. :mad::mad::mad::mad::mad:

The Alawites, a Muslim sect close to Shi'ism, are a minority in mostly Sunni Syria. Assad is an Alawite, and Alawite officers hold key positions in the mostly Sunni army.

Alawites receive preferential treatment in government and security jobs, but many Alawite villages remain poor and prominent Alawite figures lead part of the secular opposition to the Assad family's four-decade rule over Syria.

Back in Guvecci 27-year-old Ahmad Yassin said he had been at his 7,000 square metre plot of land two km east of Jisr al-Shughour on Monday morning when a force of 200 soldiers and men wearing black arrived in armoured personnel carriers and cars and poured petrol over his growing wheat.

"I tried to save my three cows but there was no time. I put my wife and two children in the car and drove straight to the border."

Tractor driver Abu Achmed, 55, lives five km north of Jisr al-Shughour. Speaking to Reuters just after arriving in Guvecci to search for supplies, he described his departure from his home. "Tanks arrived in the village and started shelling randomly. We escaped."

"I heard the shabbiha were in Jisr and were ransacking houses and shops. I was afraid. My wife and children are waiting on the other side of the border in the rain. They have no food or shelter."

http://english.aljazeera.net/news/middleeast/2011/06/201161313657153837.html

Reports say hundreds of Syrians have been gathering on the northern border with Turkey, preparing to cross over if the Syrian army advances further into the area after seizing the rebellious town of Jisr al-Shughour.

Syrian security forces announced on Sunday they had retaken Jisr al-Shughur after army troops, backed by helicopter gunships and tanks, moved into the northern town.

Almost 7,000 Syrians have so far crossed the border with Turkey to escape violence, and an estimated 10,000 more are waiting for the opportunity to cross.

[visionary]

http://blogs.aljazeera.net/liveblog/syria

3 hours 56 min ago

AFP newsagency reports: Six civilians were killed Tuesday and tanks were deployed near Syria's border with Iraq, activists said as President Bashar al-Assad came under sharp pressure to halt a crackdown on democracy protests.

The latest deaths came after fresh protests erupted in the eastern town of Deir Ezzor, a human rights activist told AFP and troops pursued a scorched earth campaign in northern mountains, sending thousands fleeing.

"The armed forces are continuing their operations and the sweep of the villages near Jisr al-Shughur," the flashpoint northeastern town which the army took by force on Sunday, the activist said.

"Six civilians perished in the past few hours in Ariha," east of Jisr al-Shughur, he said, without providing further details.

"Some 10 tanks and 15-20 troop carriers were deployed around the town of Abu Kamal," 500 kilometres east of Damascus near the border with Iraq, the activist added.

3 hours 46 min ago

A YouTube video showing crowds of Syrian people at the border trying to cross over to the Turkish side.

mPPc3YgjJcc

1 hour 1 min ago

Anas al-Abdah, the Chairman of the Syrian opposition movement for justice and development, told Al Jazeera about the wide divisions within the Syrian army.

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http://english.aljazeera.net/news/middleeast/2011/06/201161445826899668.html

Syrian security forces are reportedly widening an operation in the north of the country aimed at cracking down on anti-government protests.

Troops pushed towards the northern town of Maarat al-Numaan after detaining hundreds of people in a sweep through villages near the town of Jisr al-Shughur, the Reuters news agency reported, citing residents who fled the area.

Refugees have poured across the Syrian border into neighbouring Turkey to escape the government's operation, the site of an intense military takeover on Sunday.

More than 8,000 Syrians have so far crossed the border with Turkey to escape the violence, and an estimated 10,000 more are waiting for the opportunity to cross.

Witnesses said those still in Syria had taken shelter among trees near the border since forces moved into the northwestern province of Idlib.

The uprising, now in its third month, seeks an end to Bashar al-Assad's one-party rule, more political freedom and an end to corruption and poverty.

Al Jazeera's Anita McNaught, in Guvecci on the Turkey-Syria border, spoke to Syrian refugees inside the camp in Turkey.

One of them said he saw two military helicopters hovering over Jisr al-Shughur and heard reports of indiscriminate shooting.

Another Syrian gave this account after Al Jazeera smuggled a camera into the refugee camp: "We were besieged in Jisr yesterday.

"We couldn't leave. They shot at everyone, I was shot in the chest, My cousin, who was with me, died.

"They cut our electricity and water. We were left with nothing, that is why we came to the Turkey border."

[visionary]

Oh boy....

http://www.khaleejtimes.com/DisplayArticle09.asp?xfile=data/middleeast/2011/June/middleeast_June478.xml&section=middleeast

Turkey to take aid across the Syrian border (AFP)

16 June 2011, 4:23 PM

Turkey is to supply humanitarian aid to thousands of Syrians massed just across the border after fleeing a crackdown by the Damascus regime, Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said Thursday.

‘There are at present more than 10,000 people just over our border, on the other side of the barbed wire,’ he told journalists in Ankara.

‘We have decided to help our Syrian brothers to meet their urgent needs for food.’

Other humanitarian assistance will be provided, Davutoglu said, adding that the Syrian authorities had been informed.

Speaking the day after a visit to refugee camps set up by the Red Crescent in Turkey’s southern province of Hatay, he called on President Bashar Al Assad to take steps to end the violence in Syria and the flow of refugees into Turkey.

These included convincing the Syrian population and the international community that their demands would be met.

Davutoglu did not confirm a report Thursday in the leading Turkish daily Posta that Turkish forces may enter Syrian territory to create a military buffer zone if the unrest there degenerates into a civil war and sparks a refugee crisis.

But did he deny it?

---------- Post added June-16th-2011 at 11:18 AM ----------

http://blogs.aljazeera.net/liveblog/syria

9 hours 57 min ago - Syria

Sky's News correspondent Stuart Ramsay has entered Syria, using a smuggling route from Turkey.

He's visited villages which are nearly deserted after residents fled towards Turkish border. Footage is available on Sky's website.

"We've been driving through a number of towns to Jisr al Shughur," Ramsay says.

"They are virtually empty and there is this sense of fear because the Syrian army is not very far away.

"They have been moving through villages, clearing people away and pushing them towards the Turkish border."

5 hours 34 min ago

Hollywood superstar Angelina Jolie, who is a goodwill ambassador for the UN refugee agency, will meet displaced Syrians on a tour of refugee camps in southern Turkey on Friday, officials say.

"Ms Jolie will visit Hatay province on Friday after travelling from Istanbul," Selcuk Unal, a spokesman for Turkey's foreign ministry, told AFP.

5 hours 15 min ago

The tension in Idlib province has forced about 500 Syrians to flee the country since Wednesday, raising the number of people who sought refuge in Turkey to 8,900, according to Turkish authorities.

3 hours 33 min ago

An activists says the army has closed in on yet another town in the northwest.

"Dozens of tanks, armoured cars, personnel carriers and army trucks have been deployed at entrance points to Khan Sheikhun, and soldiers have started going in" to the town near Hama, rights activist Rami Abdel Rahman, the head of the London-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, said.

He added that the military had also cut the Aleppo to Damascus road with barricades.

1 hour 7 min ago

The European Union begins work to toughen sanctions against Syria, looking at adding firms and individuals to a list of allies of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad already hit by sanctions.

Several diplomatic sources said experts from the 27-nation bloc were discussing ways of "widening sanctions" against Damascus.

"The idea is to move up a level," said a diplomat who asked not to be identified. "Talks are focusing on new names and entities."

The EU to date has slapped two sets of sanctions against Assad's government over its crackdown on protesters, with EU foreign ministers late May adding the president to a blacklist of 23 Syrian officials hit by an assets freeze and travel ban.

Further sanctions could be approved at an EU summit in a week, on June 23-24.

Several European nations - notably Britain, France, Germany and Portugal - have joined Washington in pushing for a UN resolution condemning the crackdown but this is opposed by permanent Security Council members China and Russia.

Beijing and Moscow on Thursday issued a joint statement opposing outside interference in the unrest in the Arab world.

Edited June 16, 2011 by visionary

[visionary]

http://english.aljazeera.net/news/africa/2011/06/20116206342019267.html

Tunisia's Ben Ali goes on trial in absentia

Lawyers say they will request a postponement to prepare his defence against charges related to theft, drugs and weapons.

Last Modified: 20 Jun 2011 08:15

The legal team of the ousted Tunisian president, Zine El Abidine Ben Ali, who has gone on trial in Tunis, intends to request a postponement to prepare his defence, according to one of his lawyers.

Ben Ali fled to Saudi Arabia on January 14 in the face of a popular uprising against his 23-year rule and is being tried in absentia by a criminal court over scores of cases against him and his entourage.

"We will ask for a postponement of the hearing to get in contact with our client and prepare the ways to defend him," Hosni Beja, a court-appointed lawyer, told the AFP news agency on Sunday.

Akram Azoury, another Ben Ali lawyer who is based in Beirut, said earlier that his client "strongly denies all charges they are trying to press as he never possessed the sums of money they claimed to have found in his office".

Ben Ali, the first leader toppled in a wave of Arab uprisings, faces charges related to theft, drugs and weapons, following the reported discovery of around $27m in jewels and cash plus drugs and weapons at two palaces outside Tunis.

He could face up to 20 years in prison if found guilty of the charges.

http://english.aljazeera.net/news/middleeast/2011/06/201162013102151508.html

Egypt's Mubarak 'has cancer'

Former president is due to stand trial on Aug. 3 for the killing of protesters and abuse of power.

Last Modified: 20 Jun 2011 13:14

Egypt's former President Hosni Mubarak is suffering from cancer, his defence lawyer said on Monday, citing a medical report to assess whether the former leader is fit enough to stand trial.

"Mubarak has cancer and this was included in the last medical report," said lawyer Farid el-Deeb.

Mubarak was hospitalised in the Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh after reportedly suffering heart problems during initial questioning. He is due to stand trial on Aug. 3 for the killing of protesters and abuse of power.

http://english.aljazeera.net/news/asia/2011/06/201162083142901979.html

Drone strikes claim lives in Pakistan

At least nine suspected fighters killed in two separate attacks in the country's Kurram tribal area, officials say.

Last Modified: 20 Jun 2011 09:28

Al Jazeera's sources said that in the first of Monday's two attacks, a vehicle was hit and two suspected fighters were killed.

The vehicle was attacked again but just a few minutes later, as the local tribesmen rushed to a nearby residential compound for safety, a second missile was fired killing another seven suspected fighters.

The identities of the suspected fighters have not yet been established.

Speaking on condition of anonymity, two Pakistani intelligence officials confirmed the attacks.

The US administration has intensified covert CIA drone attacks in Pakistan's tribal areas, following the killing of Osama bin Laden, the leader of al-Qaeda, particularly in the North Waziristan region, which is seen as a safe haven for the Haqqani network.

The Haqqani network is described as the most dangerous enemy of US troops in eastern Afghanistan

The US has repeatedly demanded Pakistan to launch a military offensive in North Waziristan, but the army has not yet met this demand, saying its forces are overstretched and engaged elsewhere in the tribal region.

As a result, US has stepped up its operations in the region and the rare strikes in Kurram, a tribal agency next to North Waziristan, could signify an expansion of these operations.

Monday's attacks took place in the Khardand area, a stronghold of Fazal Saeed, a local commander of fighters, closely linked to the Haqqani network.

A total of 16 US drone attacks have now been reported in Pakistan's tribal belt since US commandos found and killed bin Laden in an airborne raid on a compound in the Pakistani garrison city of Abbottabad on May 2.

http://english.aljazeera.net/news/middleeast/2011/06/201162013048808816.html

Protesters have taken to the streets across Syria to denounce a speech by President Bashar al-Assad, saying his address did not meet popular demands for sweeping political reform.

Rallies were held in major cities including Homs, Hama, Latakia and in Damascus suburbs.

In the Sleibeh and Raml al-Filistini districts of the coastal city of Latakia, protesters chanted "liar, liar".

"People were still hoping he would say something meaningful that would result in tanks and troops leaving the streets. They were disappointed and started going out as soon as Assad finished talking," one activist in the city said.

"No to dialogue with murderers," protesters chanted in the Damascus suburb of Irbin.

Demonstrations also took place in the eastern city of Albu Kamal on the border with Iraq, the southern city of Deraa and other towns in the Hauran Plain, cradle of the uprising, now in its fourth month.

Activists said dozens of students were arrested in a protest at the campus of Aleppo University

I remember back when everyone thought nothing much would happen in Syria and then what a big deal it was when the first few people starting protesting in the mosque in Daara.

It's a shame that there's still so little to show for all the people who've come out against their government and died because of it.

---------- Post added June-20th-2011 at 09:51 AM ----------

Now to concentrate on Syria a bit more:

http://english.aljazeera.net/news/middleeast/2011/06/201162084915169403.html

The Syrian president, facing three months of protests against his rule, has said a national dialogue will start soon but cautioned that no political solution was possible with people who were violent or carried arms.

In a speech at Damascus University on Monday, Bashar al-Assad said he would ask the justice ministry to study expanding a recent amnesty, but said it was important to differentiate between "saboteurs" and people with legitimate demands.

This was his third major speech since protests demanding greater freedoms and democratic reforms erupted in Syria in mid-March.

Assad said his government was instituting a process of "national dialogue" through an authority designated for the purpose. He said that about 100 people from various backgrounds had been invited to take part in the process.

He stressed the "historic" nature of the current crisis, promising his "total commitment" to wide-ranging reforms in several sectors, from politics to freedom of the media, and went as far as to say that he was in favour of the drafting of a new constitution for the country.

He said that his country had been the target of "foreign conspiracies" for "geopolitical and [...] other reasons", and that those who were taking part in the current unrest were divided into three broad categories, in his opinion: those who were peaceful and had legitimate concerns; those who were "vandals" and "outlaws" [he said there were 64,000 of these]; and finally "radical and blasphemous intellectuals".

He said the demands of the first group should be met by the state. He characterised some of those calling for reforms as wanting a return to a "period of confrontation" with the Muslim Brotherhood, which he called a "dark period".

Assad said that he had met people who were calling for reforms, including both those who took part in protests and those who did not, and it was on the basis of these conversations that he was speaking.

He said his government wished to have Syria "return to a normal way of life" and for the military to "return to its barracks", but that "vandals" had caused unrest which created a situation which was beyond the capacities of the police.

He repeatedly stated the country was at a historic crossroads, and that the legal framework of the state needed to be changed.

While Assad spoke broadly of constitutional and electoral reform, he refused to name specifics, saying only that "committees" should come up with proposals for this based on the process of national dialogue that he has suggested.

He also said that there could be no reform at a time of "sabotage and chaos". He said that no political solution was possible as long as protesters were "violent" or carried arms.

He also decried corruption in the state, and said that it needed to be rooted out, adding that the biggest danger facing the country was the weakness or collapse of its economy.

Assad also called on Syrian refugees in Turkey to return to the country, saying that the military was in place to protect them.

Al Jazeera's Anita McNaught, reporting from a camp in Turkey for Syrian refugees, however, said the Syrian president's remarks did not go down well with those present.

She said the refugees told her that they were "offended" by Assad's tone, and with the lack of specifics in terms of timelines and the nature of reforms.

Anti-Assad demonstrations were seen to erupt at all three refugee camps for Syrians in Turkey. The president had specifically asked residents of Jisr al-Shughur to return to Syria. When asked what one resident of the town thought of this plea, he said: "Come back? He wants us to come back so that he can finish us off!"

Speaking to Al Jazeera, Fares Brazat, director of the public opinion programme at the Arab Centre for Research and Policy in Doha, Qatar, termed Assad's address a "speech of denial".

http://blogs.aljazeera.net/liveblog/syria

9 min 23 sec ago

Protesters in Hama took to the streets after Assad's speech.

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3 min 23 sec ago

State TV has aired footage from a pro-Assad rally at the citadel in Aleppo. Along with the Syrian flag, demonstrators are holding the Russian flag. Dmitry Medvedev, the Russian president, told the Financial Times yesterday that his country would use its veto to block any United Nations Security Council resolution that could justify military intervention in Syria.

A lot of the anti-government protests have involved burning Russian, Chinese, and Iranian flags.

Edited June 20, 2011 by visionary

[visionary]

http://blogs.aljazeera.net/liveblog/syria

10 hours 29 min ago

Turkish President Gul says Assad's speech is "not enough" and that the president should implement a multi-party-system in Syria.

10 hours 19 min ago

The deputy secretary-general of the Arab League, Algerian Ahmed bin Heli, says Syria is a "main factor of balance and stability in the region" and that the league rejects any foreign intervention in its affairs.

9 hours 55 min ago

Radwan Ziadeh, from the Damascus Centre for Human Rights Studies in Washington, DC, talks to Al Jazeera about Assad's speech:

He said in his speech that he discovered how much the Syrian people loved him. This is an indication of the state of denial that [Libyan leader Muammar] Gaddafi before [him] and al-Assad right now [is in].

"We need the West to be much more tough on Syria. Now 12 weeks has passed and the Security Council has failed to pass that condemnation resolution."

"We don't need any military interventions, but we need to have sanctions at the UN level."

"The Syrian regime is much smarter than the Libyan regime, having soft language to the international community about dialogue, amnesty and reform, but acting on the ground exactly like Gaddafi militia. Killing more people, torturing them and having detention centres for more than 12,000 who have been detained."

9 hours 52 min ago

Guido Westerwelle, Germany's foreign minister, said: "The EU and the [uN] Security Council are working together to get towards a resolution so that it is clear that the policy of repression from the Syrian regime is not acceptable to the international community. In Europe we already have sanctions in place. Now it is about a clear political signal."

9 hours 7 min ago

Bouthaina Shaaban, a minister in Assad's government and an adviser to the president, spoke to Al Jazeera about Assad's speech a bit earlier. She said his reform agenda is based on "what the Syrian people want".

"For the last two months he's met with thousands of people from all over the country, from all walks of life, from all religions, and hence, the president's vision is based on what the Syrian people want and what the Syrian people need".

6 hours 56 min ago

Carl Bildt, the Swedish foreign minister, says the UN Security Council must act and "express the outrage of the world".

"We have sanctions and we'll probably reinforce them but as long as we have the silence of the Security Council we are in a difficult situation".

1 hour 6 min ago

REUTERS - Syrian forces have extended a security sweep near the Turkish border to the merchant city of Aleppo, activists told the Reuters news agency.

Tens of students at Aleppo University were arrested on Monday and 12 people, including a mosque preacher, were detained in the nearby village of Tel Rifaat, halfway between Aleppo and the Turkish border, following protests, the rights campaigners said.

Protesters at the university campus had criticised a speech made by Assad on Monday.

http://english.aljazeera.net/news/africa/2011/06/2011620191756405734.html

Ben Ali and wife 'guilty of theft'

Ex-Tunisian president and his wife were sentenced to 35 years in prison in absentina for misappropriating public funds.

Last Modified: 20 Jun 2011 19:25

A Tunisian court on Monday sentenced ousted president Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali and his wife, in absentia, to 35 years in jail each after finding them guilty of theft and unlawful possession of cash and jewellery.

Reading out the verdict and sentence in the courtroom after just one day of deliberation, the judge also ruled Ben Ali and his wife would have to pay fines totalling $65.6 million.

The judge said the verdict on other charges, relating to illegal possession of drugs and weapons, would be pronounced on June 30, according to the Reuters news agency.

Ben Ali fled to Saudi Arabia on January 14 in the face of a popular uprising against his 23-year rule and is being tried in absentia by a criminal court over scores of cases against him and his entourage.

Akram Azoury, a Ben Ali lawyer who is based in Beirut, said earlier that his client "strongly denies all charges they are trying to press as he never possessed the sums of money they claimed to have found in his office".

Others criticised the process, arguing it did not go far enough in answering the calls for justice from the Tunisian people.

"It's not satisfying," Zied Cherni, a Tunisian lawyer, told Al Jazeera. "President Zine al Abadine Ben Ali has obstructed justice when he governed Tunisia, and right now he is manipulating the truth. He has many, many agents here."

"You have to ask, why are they sentencing him right now?" he said, noting the broader political context in the North African country. "There's a shadow government, which is right now trying to manipulate and to mislead the Tunisian people."

[visionary]

http://blogs.aljazeera.net/liveblog/Syria

20 hours 19 min ago

In Hama, mourners have gathered for a funeral procession for a teenager activists said was killed by security forces in the city on Monday.

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19 hours 42 min ago

President Assad, who has pledged to reform the country and engage in a dialogue with demonstrators, is running low on credibility, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said on Wednesday.

"I do not see much credibility [in] what he has been saying, because the situation has been continuing like this way, and how long should the situation be going [on in] this way," Ban told reporters when asked how credible he considered Assad's pledges of reform and other statements to be.

16 hours 17 min ago

Turkish officials have been cautious in their reactions to the ongoing crackdown by President Bashar al-Assad and his reform pledges.

Al Jazeera's Anita McNaught reports from Boynuyogun refugee camp in southern Turkey, where thousands of Syrians have sought shelter after fleeing violence.

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15 hours 56 min ago

Seven well-known authors, including Salman Rushdie and Umberto Eco, have sent a letter to the United Nations Security Council urging it to adopt a resolution condemning Syria for a crackdown on its citizens.

"The outcome of this resolution is in your hands. It qualifies the repression in Syria as a crime against humanity," the letter addressed to the 15 Security Council members said.

"It does not propose sanctions against Syria nor military intervention. It is limited to condemning the repression and clearing the path for investigations into the crimes against humanity. However limited, this resolution is necessary."

The letter, published on Wednesday on the website of French intellectual and writer Bernard-Henri Levy, is also signed by David Grossman, Amos Oz, Orhan Pamuk and Wole Soyinka.

15 hours 29 min ago

Women protested in the Damascus suburb of Daraya on Wednesday, calling for the fall of the regime and the release of political prisoners.

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7 hours 9 min ago

Hundreds of displaced Syrians have fled into Turkey on Thursday after Syrian troops backed by tanks approached their makeshift camps in the bordering village of Khirbet al-Joz, the AFP news agency has reported.

They were flanked by Turkish paramilitary police vehicles and minibuses, called apparently to ferry the refugees to tent cities the Turkish Red Crescent has erected in the border province of Hatay, where more than 10,000 Syrians are already sheltering.

44 min 2 sec ago

Syrian troops have attacked the village of Managh, north of Aleppo, Syria's second city, forcing many to flee their homes, witnesses say.

"I was contacted by relatives from Managh saying armoured personnel carriers are firing their machineguns randomly and people are fleeing the village in all directions," an Aleppo resident told Reuters.

http://english.aljazeera.net/news/middleeast/2011/06/201162385846898145.html

Witnesses said on Thursday that Syrian troops had massed on the Turkish border overnight, escalating tensions with Ankara as President Bashar al-Assad uses increasing military force to try to crush a popular revolt.

Refugees from the northwestern province of Idlib said armoured vehicles and troops were now as close as 500 metres from the border in the Khirbat al-Jouz area.

Al Jazeera's Anita McNaught, reporting from the Turkish border village of Guvecci, said that she could see Syrian soldiers from where she was.

"We can see soldiers and armoured trucks just across the border, within view from this refugee camp that we're in," she said.

"We were told at 6:30 this morning, that people here received calls from Syria saying that Syrian troops had moved in with tanks and armoured vehicles and they were clearing the village out."

McNaught also said a building in Syrian territory, that had carried a Turkish flag, was now carrying a Syrian flag and had snipers based on the roof.

"We can see men carrying rifles standing on the building and we're being told that those are snipers up there, on patrol."

Syrian armoured personnel carriers were visible on a road running along the top of the hill, and machine-gun fire was heard although it was not clear who the troops were firing at.

Activists said Syrian security forces had arrived in the border town of Khirbet Al-Jouz, and people that fled to Turkey said there were about 20 tanks in the village.

[visionary]

SYRIA

http://blogs.aljazeera.net/liveblog/Syria

A Syrian refugee dries clothes as she stands between tents at a refugee camp in the Turkish border town of Reyhanli in Hatay province June 23.

Syrian refugees leave a medical tent after receiving medicines at a refugee camp in the Turkish border town of Yayladagi in Hatay province June 23 [image | reuters]

6 hours 25 min ago

The "shocking" crackdown in Syria puts the regime's legitimacy into question and those responsible for the violence must be held accountable, EU leaders say in a draft declaration obtained by the AFP news agency.

The text to be formally adopted at an EU summit later on Friday "condemns in the strongest possible terms the ongoing repression and unacceptable and shocking violence the Syrian regime continues to apply against its owns citizens".

"By choosing a path of repression instead of fulfilling its own promises on broad reforms, the regime is calling its legitimacy into question," the draft says.

"Those responsible for crimes and violence against civilians shall be held accountable."

The leaders will also welcome the adoption of fresh sanctions against Syria, in which seven individuals and four businesses were added to a list of people targetted by an assets freeze and travel ban.

They also call for the UN Security Council to adopt a resolution condemning the crackdown, a move oppose by veto-wielding member Russia.

The declaration "lends its full support to diplomatic efforts aimed at ensuring that the UN Security Council can assume its responsibility and give adequate response to the situation in Syria".

6 hours 21 min ago

There was no further sign of Syrian troops on the border with Turkey early on Friday, but makeshift camps were visible on the Syrian side, the Associated Press agency reports.

Armoured personnel carriers as well as military vehicles had been seen quite clearly in motion across the border from the Turkish Village of Guvecci in Hatay province on Thursday.

According to Syrian activists, troops backed by tanks and snipers entered the Syrian village of Khirbet al-Jouz along the Turkish border as the Syrian government expands its crackdown on a pro-democracy movement that has posed the gravest challenge to President Bashar al-Assad's rule.

The village is concealed by hills and not directly visible from the standpoint of journalists in Guvecci.

That, coupled with the fact that Syria has banned foreign journalists and restricted local media, makes it difficult to independently confirm the accounts.

5 hours 46 min ago

Turkey's Foreign Ministry says more than 1,500 Syrian refugees have crossed the border to safe havens in Turkey in one day.

The refugees crossed over late on Thursday as Syrian troops pushed to the border in their sweep against a three-month-old pro-democracy movement.

The Turkish Foreign Ministry said on Friday that more than 11,700 Syrians are housed or seeking shelter in Turkish refugee camps.

4 hours 30 min ago

The European Union has published extended sanctions on Syria, including the names of three commanders of Iran's Revolutionary Guard accused of supporting Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's crackdown on dissent.

The list, published in the European Union's Official Journal, also included a Syrian property firm, an investment fund and two other enterprises accused of funding Assad's government.

According to the names given in the Official Journal, the Iranians were Major-General Qasem Soleimani and Brigadier Commander Mohammad Ali Jafari of the Revolutionary Gaurd, and the Guard's deputy commander for intelligence, Hossein Taeb.

Four Syrian officials were also added to the list.

3 hours 12 min ago

Activists have appealed to Syrians to stage a new round of protests after Friday prayers to increase pressure on President Bashar al-Assad.

In the town of Koban, on the outskirts of Aleppo, near the borders with Turkey, a small crowd has gathered, chanting: "People want to topple down the regime".

AGarNbloZGI

18 min 42 sec ago

Around 6,000 protesters are demonstrating in Al Qala’a neighbourhood in the multi ethnic and religious area of Ghaab on outskirts of Hama an activist told Al Jazeera.

"So far it’s peaceful because there are no army or security presence," he said.

He said that the regime has been trying to provoke ethnic and religious tensions in the area through demonstrations pro the regime last week after President Bashar Al Assad's speech.

They say it's a Sunni uprising against Alewites, but that's not the case," he said. "If they could open up for international media they'll see we stand side by side against the regime. The regime is hurting Alewites as much as Sunnis."

He also said that people gather in mosques on Fridays for logistical reasons only.

He said that there is no electricity or Internet connection in the city. "The conditions are unacceptable as the temperature is over 36 degrees," he said.

According to an activist in Latakia the city is divided in two. The activist told Al Jazeera that the neighbourhoods of Sleibe, Rammel, Al Corniche, Bystan Al Samake, Ain Tamra are under de facto military siege and have been since the beginning of the uprising in March.

"That part of town is full of army check points and sandbags," he said. "It looks like a war zone. Actually it is an open prison."

He said that there are random arresting campaigns. "We are all potential detainees – even my own father who 67 years old."

"Because of the dangers we arrange "flying demonstrations"– which last no longer than 30 – 45 min. if they last more than that you get yourself killed by the army or by snipers."

Citing examples of the army occupying flats and office spaces, he said that the security forces act with impunity in that part of town freely seizing private property.

"The Mashru'a Al Sira'a and Mashru'a Al Awqaf areas in the other part of town are mainly pro regime," he said. "They too have a security presence but the difference is that the security is there to protect the people.

"At the last pro regime demonstration arranged by regime many busses and other public transport was used to ferry people from outside Latakia to the demonstration,” he said.

"They are spending a lot of our money printing t-shirts with Bashar's picture on them saying "We love you" and printing giant posters for buildings, while we can not even hold a single home made banner to express our views."

14 min 2 sec ago

Singing the Syrian national anthem and calling for the toppling of the regime around 5,000 people are demonstrating in Zabadani despite a heavy security presence, an activist told Al Jazeera.

The demonstration started at Al Jisr Mosque and was joined by around 2,000 people coming from the nearby Madaiyya and Soraghya villages.

He said that the protesters have gathered Al Saylan Square.

---------- Post added June-24th-2011 at 09:33 AM ----------

http://twitter.com/#!/MalathAumran

counted 50 protest so far, give me 15 min to spot them in the map for you

1 hour ago

Idlib towns and villages rise up, all chanting that the regime is illegitimate 1 hour ago

protests started from 4 different mosque in Midan (in Damascus) -- met with arrests and regime thugs armed with big sticks... 1 hour ago

because you refuse to stand with the people of Syria: protesters burning flags of Iran, Russia and Hizbollah in Saqba, Damascus 1 hour ago

maping the protest of Today all over Syria a working link http://j.mp/mvbdb1 1 hour ago

security opened fire on peace demonstrators near Al Rahman mosque, Lattakia 1 hour ago

we were just told that 8 brave protesters were shot+killed by security forces in Kesweh (outside Damascus) 1 hour ago

Tamer Zagreet in homs was killed by the regime while peaceful protesting 46 minutes ago

Correction: the clashes between the army and security forces In Al-kessweh Damascus Now 8 minutes ago

---------- Post added June-24th-2011 at 09:56 AM ----------

http://twitter.com/#!/LeShaque

Hama: They say more than 1 mln protested. I think closer to 500,000. People have been arriving from villages all night. 1 hour ago

Hama: It's unbelievably hot. There are about 120,000 protesters left in the Sq. The rest will come back after evening prayers. 1 hour ago

Homs: Loud explosions "rocking the entire city" heard in Baba Amr. Five dead so far. 20 minutes ago

Edited June 24, 2011 by visionary

[visionary]

http://english.aljazeera.net/news/middleeast/2011/06/201162593534638336.html

Hundreds of Syrians flee to Lebanon

Exodus from Syria continues a day after 20 people are reportedly killed in anti-government protests.

Last Modified: 25 Jun 2011 14:03

Up to 1,000 Syrians have fled across the border into Lebanon over the past two days in a bid to escape the escalating violence in Syria.

A Lebanese security official said on Saturday that those crossing had entered northern Lebanon near the border town of Wadi Khaled, a day after activists said 20 people were killed in anti-government protests in Syria.

He said six of those coming through the al-Qusair crossing had gunshot wounds and had been taken to hospital.

Al Jazeera's Rula Amin, reporting from the Lebanese capital, Beirut, said the number of Syrians fleeing to Lebanon was increasing but could not be compared to the situation on the Turkey-Syria border, where nearly 12,000 people are sheltering on the Turkish side.

"It is important to remember that Syria has a lot of influence in Lebanon and that the regime still can reach people here," she said.

"If you're an opposition figure or an activist trying to flee the regime, Lebanon is not exactly the place to go to.

"But still, these people are still coming into Lebanon and they're being sheltered by Lebanese families and even some Lebanese politicians and activists who are giving them food and a place to stay."

Meanwhile, the head of the Syrian Red Crescent said that Syrian refugees in Turkey will not face retribution or interrogation if they return to their country, Turkey's Anatolia news agency reported.

"We, as the Red Crescent, guarantee that the Syrian government will not call [the refugees] to account and under no circumstances will security forces take decisions about them," Abdurrahman Attar was quoted as saying.

"With the comprehensive amnesty declared, they would not be interrogated."

WTF? Are they stupid, or just lying?

---------- Post added June-25th-2011 at 11:02 AM ----------

Syrian refugee: Will I really be safe, if I go back to Syria?

Turkish Red Cresent official: Sure, sure! Of course....probably.

Syrian refugee: What? Probably?

Turkish Red Cresent official: Don't worry! If they do anything to you, we will get really mad!

Syrian refugee: How does that help me?

Turkish Red Cresent official: Well....not much. You'll probably be dead.

But at least they'll know we don't appreciate it.

Syrian refugee: I don't think I want to go back....

http://blogs.aljazeera.net/liveblog/syria

10 hours 17 min ago

Thousands of people demonstrated against the government in Hama on Friday. Activists said the crowds numbered as many as 200,000 people.

FByfSsvKVzc

4 hours 19 min ago

Walid al-Tabtabaiy, a Kuwaiti MP, is the Turkish city of Antakya, near the Syrian border, visiting refugee camps with other legislators.

He told Al Jazeera Arabic that he’s calling on his government to cut ties with Assad’s regime and will urge leaders in Russia and China to change their stance on Syria.

On Friday, Kuwaitis in Kuwait City demonstrated in support of the Syrian uprising.

Intruiging.

3 hours 30 min ago

Mourners have gathered to bury one of the six protesters activists say were killed yesterday in the Damascus suburb of Kiswah.

An activist at the scene told Al Jazeera that at least 20,000 people took part in the funeral and that there was a high security presence in the area..

“There is a tank every 50 metres,” he said.

51 min 5 sec ago

Indee, as our reporter Rula Amin points out, there are pro-Al-Asad demonstrations in Lebanon - here's a shot of one on Friday:

[twa]

Been a interesting six months ain't it.

[visionary]

Been a interesting six months ain't it.

If someone had told me lasrt year that tons of people in Syria would be out in the streets for months protesting against their government, Iran, Russia, China, and Hezbollah...I would have thought they were crazy.

[visionary]

http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory?id=13933017

Thousands in Yemen Demand President's Sons Leave

By AHMED AL-HAJ Associated press

SANAA, Yemen June 26, 2011 (AP)

Hundreds of thousands of anti-government protesters rallied across Yemen on Sunday, demanding that President Ali Abdullah Saleh's powerful sons and other members of his inner circle leave the country.

Saleh is currently in Saudi Arabia receiving treatment for severe wounds he suffered in an attack on his palace early this month. His two sons, Ahmed and Khaled, both command military units and have played a crucial role in protecting their father's regime and keeping his grip on power in his absence.

On Sunday, protesters in the cities Sanaa, Ibb, Taiz and others, chanting slogans calling for Saleh to step down and for his sons and other family members to flee. Some demonstrators shouted: "Saleh's orphans have to leave the country."

Thousands of anti-government protesters attend Friday prayers during a demonstration in Sanaa on June 10, calling for an interim presidential council to prevent embattled president Ali Abdullah Saleh from returning to power. [Reuters]

3 hours 3 min ago

Anti-government protesters march during a demonstration the southern city of Taiz to demand the ouster of Yemen's President Ali Abdullah Saleh.[reuters]

http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/06/26/us-yemen-idUSTRE73L1PP20110626

Yemen's Saleh to reappear as violence grips south

Wounded Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh, not seen in public since an attack on his palace in early June, is well enough to return to Yemen soon and will make a media appearance within the next couple of days.

Speculation about Saleh's health and the likelihood of his return to Yemen have been rife since he was injured when a bomb went off on June 3 in a mosque in his presidential palace. He flew to Saudi Arabia for treatment, leaving behind a country on the verge of civil war.

The president has not been seen in public since the explosion, which killed several people and wounded the prime minister, two deputy prime ministers and the speakers of both parliamentary chambers. It is not clear what role if any Saleh, under pressure to step down, sees for himself in ruling Yemen.

"He will appear within the next 48 hours despite our fear that the burns on his features and on different parts of his body will be an obstacle given that his appearance will not be as the media expects it," said Ahmed al-Sufi, the President's media secretary.

---------- Post added June-26th-2011 at 12:24 PM ----------

SYRIA

http://blogs.aljazeera.net/liveblog/Syria

19 hours 45 min ago

By day's end on Saturday, a London-based rights group confirms at least five civilians were shot and killed during funerals on Friday and Saturday:

Syrian security forces shot dead five civilians during funerals which turned into protests against President Bashar al-Assad and in raids on homes in protest areas, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.

Two protesters were killed in Kiswah, 15 km south of Damascus, during funerals of several protesters killed on Friday. Three other civilians were killed during house-to-house arrests in the Barzeh district of Damascus and in the town of Qusayr, west of Homs city, close to the Lebanon border.

'These regions have been seeing growing protests and the regime is using force to prevent them from spreading,' Rami Abdel Rahman, head of the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights told Reuters.

11 hours 14 min ago

Syrian refugees in Turkey described their experiences on Saturday, as unrest in their country continued to displace many others.

"We were at the funeral of a young Syrian man in Jisr al-Shughour and demonstrating against the regime for it to change. Then, they opened fired on us and I was shot in the leg," said one refugee the Associated Press news agency. Another claimed that he fled after his brother was killed by a sniper, while filming the protests.

The military's recent sweep through northwestern Syria, where armed resistance flared in early June, also sent more than 11,700 refugees fleeing across the border to refugee camps in Turkey. Syrian authorities have called on the refugees to return, after regaining control over the restive region in northern Syria's Idlib province, but most have rejected the offer, fearing arrest or persecution upon return.

Security forces opened fire on protesters in anti-regime demonstrations across Syria on Friday. Syrian activists said 20 people were killed, including two children aged 12 and 13. Rami Abdul-Rahman of the London-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights also reported that Syrian troops, backed by tanks, had entered yet another village, al-Najieh, near the border with Turkey, as part of their sweep against dissident centres in Idlib province.

9 hours 41 min ago

Hundreds of people protested against the regime in a demonstration in the Kurdish Aldeen neighbourhood of Damascus on Saturday evening, local co-ordination committees said. Men and women chanted slogans against the siege imposed on the Barzeh suburb near Damascus and for the release of detainees.

At the Sheikh Khaled region, thirty men of Alshabiha intercepted the demonstrators and attacked them with stones and edged weapons, according to a statement by the committees. Alshabiha, one of them from Darrage family, also fired live ammunition at the demonstrators, the statement said.

"The demonstrators were able to flee even though many of them were wounded. When the people from the neighborhood gathered to go to the police, the officer came to them and promised that the people who fired the shots will be punished.

"After some of these thugs spent ten minutes in the police station, they were released to join a bus full of the security forces and Alshabiha in a pro government demonstration in Sheikh Khaled area in support of President Bashar al-Assad."

2 hours 16 min ago

Iran has accused the European Union of conducting a "baseless" campaign against it, in response to the EU's connecting the Iranian Revolutionary Guard to attempts bolster Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's government.

"The baseless EU claims in connecting events in Syria to the Revolutionary Guards reveal the bloc's efforts to create a campaign against the Islamic republic and to distort reality," Ramin Mehmanparast, a foreign ministry spokesman, said in a statement on Sunday.

Also on Sunday, Ali Akbar Salehi, Iran's foreign minister, said: "Syrians are capable of resolving their issues."

The EU imposed sanctions on three commanders of the Revolutionary Guard, including Brigadier Mohammad Ali Jafari, its chief. Jafari has been hit by an assets freeze and travel ban for "providing equipment and support to help the Syria regime suppress protests in Syria", the EU's official journal showed on Friday.

[visionary]

http://blogs.aljazeera.net/liveblog/Syria

9 hours 7 min ago

The number of Syrians taking refuge at tent cities in Turkey has decreased to 11,122 after several hundred people went back home, Turkish officials said.

"On June 26-27, 375 of those who had crossed to our country returned home of their own free will, while another 39 Syrian citizens were admitted in," the emergency situations agency said on its website today.

The statement said 51 people, including 15 with gunshot wounds, remained in hospital.

The Turkish authorities continue to provide food to those who remain camping in squalid conditions on the Syrian side of the border, it added.

6 hours 26 min ago

Loay Hussein, a writer and political activist, talks to Al Jazeera as more than 200 independent Syrian opposition figures meet in Damascus.

4 hours 30 min ago

About 200 Kurds and other members of the exiled Syrian opposition have rallied in the northern Iraqi city of Sulaimaniyah to call for international military intervention in Syria, like the NATO intervention in Libya.

The Kurdish minority in Syria has long complained of discrimination at the hands of the Assad regime. Many Kurdish members of Syrian opposition groups live in the autonomous Kurdish region of northern Iraq.

4 hours 30 min ago

CNN Hala Gorani reports that a protest in support of President Assad is being held outside the Sheraton Hotel where opposition figures are meeting.

1 hour 42 min ago

Syria said it will hold talks with the opposition on July 10 to set the framework for a national dialogue promised by President Bashar al-Assad.

The state news agency SANA said constitutional amendments, including changes to an article which puts the Baath Party at the centre of Syrian politics, would be on the agenda of the July 10 meeting.

[visionary]

http://english.aljazeera.net/news/africa/2011/07/20117154535570851.html

Morocco votes on revised constitution

Revisions give some of the king's powers to the prime minister and the parliament while keeping him as a power-broker.

Last Modified: 01 Jul 2011 08:18

Moroccans are voting in a referendum on a revised constitution seeking to curb King Mohammed VI's near absolute powers in the north African nation.

Mohammed announced the referendum last month in what is widely seen as a move to ward off "Arab Spring" street protests sweeping the region.

Polls opened at 8am (0700 GMT) and were to close at 7pm with preliminary results expected on Friday or early on Saturday.

About 13 million of the country's 32 million people were registered to vote.

Pro-democracy movements in Morocco have been calling for more rights and greater freedoms since the beginning of the Arab Awakening earlier this year.

The revised constitution grants the government executive powers, but retains the king at the helm of the army, religious authorities and the judiciary and still allows him to dissolve parliament, though not unilaterally as is the case now.

Al Jazeera's Hashem Ahelbarra, reporting from Rabat, the capital, said voters were more concerned about other issues than the powers the king holds.

"The issue in Morocco is not just curbing the powers of the monarchy, which has been at the very centre of political life for the past 13 centuries," he said.

"What is ... interesting for Moroccans is to see how this new constitution is going to be implemented. They would like to see wages going higher; less unemployment; more transparent political systems; less political corruption; less mismanagement of public funds ... and a vibrant parliament.

"This is going to be a very long, protracted political process that starts today with the reform of the constitution and then elections, which are expected in October."

http://english.aljazeera.net/news/middleeast/2011/07/201171141613329512.html

Hundreds of thousands rally across Yemen

Pro- and anti-Saleh demonstrations held in capital, while protesters in Taiz chant slogans against Saudi Arabia.

Last Modified: 01 Jul 2011 17:14

Hundreds of thousands of Yemenis have staged rallies for and against the rule of Ali Abdullah Saleh, the president, across the country.

The demonstrations after Friday prayers came as Saleh continued to receive medical treatment in neighbouring Saudi Arabia for severe wounds sustained in an explosion at his presidential compound on June 3.

Saleh, 69, who has faced nearly six months of protests against his 33-year rule, has not appeared in public since the blast that killed 11 people and wounded 124 others, among them senior officials.

Pro-democracy protesters vowed on Friday to continue their demonstrations until their demands are met.

"Hand in hand to achieve our goal" and "the people want a transitional council," the protesters, estimated by organisers to number around 250,000, chanted in Sanaa, the capital.

The demonstrators were protected by dissident General Ali Mohsen al-Ahmar's troops.

"We are calling for freedom, justice, order and a civil government. We demand that the public income is used by the public and that people have equal job opportunities," said Abdul Hameed Abu Hatem, a protester.

Wassim al-Qurshi, a protest leader, told the AFP news agency: "We want the departure of the remains of the regime as well as the swift formation of an interim ruling council that would lead the country during a transitional period until a date is set for presidential and parliamentary elections."

In Saleh's absence, Abdrabuh Mansur Hadi, Yemen's vice president, has come under pressure from the parliamentary opposition and the West to assume power, while protesters demand that he form an interim ruling council.

But Hadi's grip on power is seen as shaky as Saleh's relatives continue to run the country's elite military divisions.

In the southern city of Taiz, protesters chanted slogans against Saudi Arabia, which is suspected of trying to prevent regime change in Yemen.

"Tell Saudi Arabia that Yemen is a republic," the crowd sang, and "Yemen is not Bahrain".

Saudi troops were deployed in Bahrain to help repress a pro-democracy protest movement in February and March.

Anti-government demonstrations also took place in Saada in the north, and in Hadramawt province in the southeast.

Witnesses said Friday saw one of the weakest shows of Saleh's support in Sanaa since rallies started in February.

Tens of thousands of people vowing to remain loyal to Saleh in southern Sanaa, carried Saleh portraits and voiced support for the president, his son and two nephews Tariq and Ammar.

Tariq heads Saleh's private guard and Ammar runs the state security service.

The country's military has already been fractured by the uprising, with hundreds of members breaking away to the opposition.

Until now the Republican Guards and other elite units that are the best trained and equipped in the country have appeared to largely remain loyal, leading the fight against Saleh's opposition.

However, military officials told the AP news agency on Friday that Saleh's son Ahmed had arrested dozens of military officers from the Republican Guard suspected of turning against his wounded father.

http://english.aljazeera.net/news/middleeast/2011/07/20117112504223572.html

Syrian protesters call on Assad to step down

Activists say eleven people killed by security forces as hundreds of thousands take to the streets across the country.

Last Modified: 01 Jul 2011 17:25

Eleven people have reportedly been killed in Syria, after hundreds of thousands of demonstrators took to the streets across the country in fresh protests against the rule of President Bashar al-Assad.

Witnesses and activists said anti-government protesters were calling on Assad to "leave", braving a security crackdown ordered by the authorities to quell unprecedented protests sweeping the nation since March.

The Local Co-ordination Committees, a network of activists, said five demonstrators were shot dead by security forces on Friday in the central city of Homs, three in the northern province of Idlib, two in Damascus suburbs and one in Latakia.

Earlier, activists told Al Jazeera that 30,000 demonstrators had gathered in Deir al-Zour in the east of the country after Friday prayers.

"They are chanting for an end to the siege on Syrian cities and for the toppling of the regime," they said.

A similar demonstration was reported from Ain al-Arab, a Kurdish-majority town on the edge of Aleppo governorate in northern Syria, with marchers holding aloft banners saying "the people want to topple the regime" and "the Syrian people are one".

A huge rally was also held in the city of Hama, were people filled the square around the central Clock Tower. Activists said at least 200,000 people were demonstrating.

http://english.aljazeera.net/news/middleeast/2011/07/2011711129442204.html

Interior minister confirms Hariri indictments

Marwan Charbel names four Hezbollah suspects indicted over the murder of former Lebanese prime minister in 2005.

Last Modified: 01 Jul 2011 16:50

Four suspects were named in the UN-backed Special Tribunal for London (STL) investigating the 2005 murder of Rafiq Hariri, the former Lebanese prime minister, Marwan Charbel, the country's interior minister, has said.

Said Mirza, Lebanon's prosecutor-general, had issued arrest warrants for Mustafa Badreddine, Salim Ayyash, Assad Sabra and Hussein Anaissi, Charbel told the AFP news agency on Friday.

The whereabouts of the suspects, who have been described as senior members of the Hezbollah movement, are unknown.

Lebanon remained calm and stable a day after the indictments were issued.

"So far things have been very quiet," said Al Jazeera's Charles Stratford, reporting from Beirut, on Friday.

"There has been drips of reaction coming through from some officials but nothing concrete yet."

Media reports had spoken of a possible backlash after the indictments.

Badreddine, one of the suspects, is the brother-in-law of top Hezbollah operative Imad Mughniyeh, who died in a 2008 bombing in Damascus, the Syrian capital.

He is suspected of having masterminded the February 14, 2005 seaside bombing that killed Hariri and 22 others.

Ayyash, another senior party official who holds US citizenship, allegedly carried out the attack.

Sabra and Anaissi allegedly co-ordinated with Ahmad Abu Adas, a Palestinian who contacted Al Jazeera television following the Hariri assassination to claim responsibility for the bombing.

Charbel said a meeting among all concerned security services was planned on Saturday to co-ordinate search operations for the suspects.

http://english.aljazeera.net/news/africa/2011/06/201163018229379353.html

US 'extends drone strikes to Somalia'

First such attack reported in East African nation wounds two leaders of anti-government group al-Shabab.

Last Modified: 01 Jul 2011 10:17

A US drone aircraft is reported to have fired upon two senior members of al-Shabab, the Islamist anti-government armed group, in Somalia last week, marking the first time a US unmanned plane has been used for such an attack inside the country.

The strike, said to have been carried out on June 23, is believed to have targeted a convoy of fighters belonging to al-Shabab, which is fighting to overthrow Somalia's weak Transitional Federal Government and impose Islamic law.

The attack was not immediately identified as a drone strike, but a senior US military official familiar with the operation told the Washington Post newspaper on Thursday that it had come from such an aircraft.

The strike would make Somalia the sixth country where the US has reportedly used drones to conduct attacks. They have also been used in Libya, Yemen, Iraq and far more extensively in Pakistan and Afghanistan.

The strike hit the convoy of fighters as it drove along the cost in Kismayo, a southern port town, the AP news agency reported. Two men were wounded, and the US official identified them as senior Shabab members.

Abdirashid Mohamed Hidig, the deputy defence minister, declined to identify who the fighters were or who carried out the attack, except to say it had been done by a "partner country".

[visionary]

http://blogs.aljazeera.net/liveblog/syria

16 hours 38 min ago

The United Nations security council plans to meet next week to discuss Syria's refusal to cooperate with an investigation into the country's alleged secret nuclear activities, diplomats have told the Associated Press.

The International Atomic Energy Agency resolution that reported the matter to the security council expressed "serious concern" over "Syria's lack of cooperation with the IAEA Director General's repeated requests for access to additional information and locations as well as Syria's refusal to engage substantively with the Agency on the nature of the Deir el-Zour site".

16 hours 20 min ago

The Local Co-ordination Committees (LCC), a loose coalition of activists who have been organising protests against Bashar al-Assad's rule, have just sent out a release claiming that 35 people were detained on Monday.

The LCC says that at least 20 "boys" were detained in Hama, three female activists in Sabounieh and 12 "grade 9 students in Nemer [and] Deraa".

It added that "mass detention" also took place in Zabadany and Dumair, and that Omar al-Assad, a journalist who has helped Al Jazeera cover events in Syria, was also detained (there's a report on Omar's detention here), in addition to Adham al-Kak, an activist.

It said that the students were later released after the "intervention of town figures".

The LCC also says that Khalil al-Haj Saleh and 37 other people were released in Raqa.

7 hours 15 min ago

Seven people have been killed in Syria, among them a 13-year-old boy.

Witnesses told Al Jazeera that two people were shot dead by security gunfire in Kafr Nasij in the Deraa governorate when security forces dispersed night-time protests that called for toppling of the regime.

Security forces had arrested around 250 people in Hama on Monday, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.

Reuters reports that Syrian forces killed three civilians in the city of Hama on Monday as tanks amassed at its entrances and inhabitants blocked streets to prevent a possible advance, residents said. The three included a 13-year-old boy and a man whose body had been dumped in the Orontes river, a doctor in the city sai.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said tanks had surrounded the city after hundreds of troops and security police entered Hama at dawn in buses, according to residents.

7 hours 4 min ago

This unconfirmed video from Hama shows a teenager wounded after gunfire is heard on Monday.

7yOq24xUAHM

5 hours 7 min ago

This video shows Colonel Ryad Mousa a senior officer in the Syrian air force declaring defection and joining the 'free officer's movement'.

buDt7qjBFiQ

4 hours 53 min ago

A Syrian activist says buses carrying security forces have been spotted heading to restive, mountainous areas near the Turkish border, according to the Associated Press.

Lebanon-based activist Omar Idilbi says witnesses told him the vehicles were rushing to the area early Tuesday. Idilbi is a spokesperson for the Local Coordination Committees, which track the protests in Syria.

He says the forces appear to be heading to a series of villages in northeastern Syria. President Bashar al-Assad has unleashed a military siege in the area to prevent the opposition from establishing a base.

About 10,000 Syrians have fled to Turkey amid the crackdown.

The opposition says the crackdown has killed some 1,400 people in the four-month-old uprising, but the government disputes that toll.