Yahoo: Assad predicts disaster if West meddles in Syria

https://twitter.com/#!/BintAlRifai

3 hours 18 min ago
Turkey has arrested five people over the forced extradiction of Hussein Harmoush, a defected Syrian army officer.

Authorities announced on Friday that those arrested included Turkish intelligence agents.

1 hour 43 min ago
Syrians demonstrated in Paris against Assad and the visit of Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati on Friday. Protesters accused Mikati of supporting Assad's crackdown on dissidents. [AFP]

1 hour 8 min ago - United Nations
The UN rights office said on Friday that Syrian officials responsible for carying out or ordering crimes against humanity should face prosecution by the International Criminal Court, but that only the Security Council can seek such action.

"We believe, and we've said it and we'll keep repeating it, that the case of Syria belongs in the International Criminal Court," Rupert Colville, spokesman for UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay, said at a briefing.

Russia and China would never allow that.

38 min 9 sec ago
A firefight broke out on Friday in a poor district of Damascus between loyalist forces and opposition fighters, a witness and activists said.

Members of the Free Syrian Army fought for four hours with armoured backed troops who entered al-Qaboun neighbourhood in the north of the capital, they said, adding that the fighters sustained several casualties but it was not known if any were killed. There was no word on any casualties among loyalist forces. [Reuters]

check her page for a very touching story about her life and the Syrian revolution.

(not going to copy it all here and it would be pointless in pieces)

EDIT: 5:51 PM EST

https://twitter.com/#!/THE_47th

Thanks to the Lebanese Gov, they now have made it impossible to smuggle first aid/humanitarian supplies thru Wadi Khalid to Homs
5:05 PM

Honestly I don't know if I know enough english vocabulary to describe the situation in Homs.. It is just terrible.. Honestly bad..

5:14 PM

There r kids that can be saved if there was blood donations. But there is none. Lives tht can be saved by a simple blood donation r now gone

5:19 PM

https://twitter.com/#!/Samsomhoms

I'm tweeting live from Homs ,residences here talking about"trusted news" that Assad's army will invade city with tanks this morning
5:20 PM

till now Assad's army didn't enter BabaAmr area of Homs Overland just randomly shelling from outside and Blockade and isolated it

5:33 PM

https://twitter.com/#!/edwardedark

streets of Aleppo deserted tonight. atmosphere very tense. shops & restaurants closed, armed security & checkpoints everywhere
5:27 PM

Pw3RMCoPRCI

https://twitter.com/#!/Thanku4theAnger

They never surrender! Residents of Karam Zeytun in Homs chanting for Bab Amr & Khalidia suburbs.
5:29 PM

AJA: LCC: 150 mortars fell on Zabadani today launched by Basahr forces on civilians

5:52 PM

https://twitter.com/#!/oh_bergine

My family was able to escape from Inshaat to a safer area. This is personal good news. I hope to hear news Assad is rotting in hell soon
5:29 PM

visionary · February 10, 2012

https://twitter.com/#!/iyad_elbaghdadi

Heavy reinforcements by the regime near Idlib. Seems like preparations for a ground assault.
5:52 PM

https://twitter.com/#!/JShahryar

Syria: Explosions reported in Kafer Souseh, center of Damascus - gun battle in Irbeen http://bit.ly/xpfyjX
5:57 PM

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

BREAKING: KSA is distributing a resolution on Syria in the UN General Assembly.
6:02 PM

AJA: Draft UN GA resolution condemns violations of human rights and gives support to the Arab League initiative.

6:09 PM

https://twitter.com/#!/michaeldweiss

I've said it once and I'll say it again: Robert Ford was Obama's best decision on Syria: http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/blogpost/post/syria-satellite-images-show-government-using-artillery-and-mortars-against-homs/2012/02/10/gIQAcj8y3Q_blog.html?tid=sm_twitter_washingtonpost
6:11 PM

http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/02/10/us-syria-un-idUSTRE8190SN20120210

There are no vetoes in the General Assembly. The 193-nation body's resolutions have no legal force, unlike those of the Security Council, but were the Syria text to pass it would add to pressure on Assad and his government.
The assembly is due to discuss Syria on Monday, when it will be addressed by U.N. human rights chief Navi Pillay. Diplomats said the resolution was not expected to be voted on then, but that there could be a vote later next week.

The assembly draft, seen by Reuters, broadly follows the one voted down in the council. While calling for an end to violence by all sides, it lays blame primarily on the Syrian authorities, whom it strongly condemns for "continued widespread and systematic violations of human rights and fundamental freedoms."

The draft urges accountability for those guilty of human rights violations, but makes no specific mention of the International Criminal Court, to which Pillay has said Syrian officials should be sent. Only the Security Council can refer Syria to the court - an unlikely move given its divisions.

In one addition to the council text, the assembly draft invites Secretary-General Ban to appoint a special envoy for Syria - a proposal that Arab League Secretary-General Nabil Elaraby put to the U.N. chief earlier this week.

https://twitter.com/#!/NuffSilence

What you need to know about Aleppo, such long, big protests were not possible a month ago. Watch Marjeh today:
5:32 PM

Jwx6jHgAITY

The real reason for the security buildup in Aleppo today.

---------- Post added February-10th-2012 at 06:44 PM ----------

More from Ambassador Ford on Facebook

(images of Syrian artillery used to shell Zabadani):

For best quality, go to the link below, click download, and choose ‘JPG’
http://www.stateondemand.com/Latest-Stories/satellite-images-of-syrian-military-artillery/s/63057bec-e32d-4bee-9d9c-ba8531a3a90a

the artillery is clearly there, it is clearly bombing entire neighborhoods, and it marks a new low for the Assad regime. We are intent on exposing the regime's brutal tactics for the world to see.

http://www.cnn.com/video/#/video/bestoftv/2012/02/10/tsr-intv-us-amb-to-syria-robert-ford.cnn

U.S. Amb.: Syria 'absolutely horrifying'
The Situation Room

Added on February 10, 2012

CNN's Wolf Blitzer talks to U.S. Ambassador to Syria, Robert Ford, about the humanitarian crisis in Syria.

visionary · February 11, 2012

Wow...if this is true, it adds a whole new dimension to things....

http://www.mcclatchydc.com/2012/02/10/138593/us-officials-al-qaida-behind-syria.html

U.S. officials: Al Qaida behind Syria bombings
The U.S. intelligence reports indicate that the bombings came on the orders of Ayman al Zawahiri

Shelling has restarted on Baba Amr now - 4am
9:14 PM

visionary · February 11, 2012

http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/02/10/us-syria-refugees-idUSTRE81919W20120210

Around 19 explosions heard in Baba Amr in last 4 hours, includes mortar shells and missiles onto civilian homes.
1:44 AM

"@StephenShiflett: @tweets4peace Baba Amr will forever stand as a stark reminder of the evils of an unchecked tyranny

1:46 AM

6 girl-friends across Homs have been offline for 7 days now. 7 days no news of them. None. They used to update about their areas 4 us.

1:50 AM

As Syria bleeds, neighbors brace for refugees
When the Syrian refugees first came into his Lebanese border town, Abdullah Taseer found them rooms in people's homes. Now, he has nowhere left to put them but garages and cowsheds.

"The barns were supposed to be our emergency plan, but with the numbers coming in now we're going to have to start using them already," said the 30-year-old dentist, who spends his free time organizing volunteers to help Syrians streaming over the snowy mountains on the border and into Lebanon's Bekaa Valley.

It's no paradise, especially not in mid-winter. But for Abu Ammar, a 43-year-old carpenter from the besieged city of Homs, it's better than home: "We want to save ourselves," he said. "Forget our money, our car, our home. All we want is to live."

Yet Taseer, for the hosts, worries what comes next:

"At this rate I don't think we can continue beyond another month or so," he says, frowning at a chart of statistics he has drawn up showing 2,500 refugees in the Bekaa, more than half of whom arrived in the past month as violence in Syria spiraled.

Despite freezing rains, snowdrifts and a heavy deployment of Syrian troops near the borders, Turkey, Lebanon and Jordan have registered around 20,000 refugees. But with thousands more not registered and the pace of flight increasing from President Bashar al-Assad's onslaught on rebel bastions like Homs, Syria's neighbors are bracing for a refugee crisis of epic proportions.

In Turkey, the official number of Syrian refugees in neat rows of white-tented camps has jumped to 9,700 from 7,200 in the last two months. That is a tiny proportion of Syria's 23 million population and most are from districts close to the frontier.
Ankara, which has given safe haven to rebel army commanders and is now vocal in opposing its former ally Assad, has been building a more permanent container camp to hold some 10,000 people set on 30 hectares (75 acres) of land near the border.

"We are ready to house them for as long as necessary. It depends on the situation in Syria," said a Turkish official who spoke on condition of anonymity. He said a new camp that could hold some 10,000 is nearly finished - and it could be expanded should the much-feared prospect of civil war in Syria materialize and bring "tens of thousands" over the border.

I didn't think anyone was able to get out of Syria past the security forces anymore.

I guess that means people and supplies can still get in too.

http://www.cnn.com/2012/02/10/world/meast/syria-unrest/index.html?hpt=hp_c2

Arab League member Saudi Arabia on Friday warned of a humanitarian disaster if nations don't intervene now.
"The failure of the Security Council in issuing a resolution to support the Arab Peace Initiative should not preclude its endeavor to take decisive actions to protect the lives of innocent people and stop the bloodshed and all acts of violence that threaten dire consequences for the Syrian people and the stability of the entire region," said Yousef bin Ahmad Al-Othaimeen, a member of the Saudi cabinet, which took up the issue Friday.

Do they mean voting for the new resolution...or are they speaking of some sort of direct intervention?

visionary · February 11, 2012

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

2012-02-10T225457Z_1930857979_GM1E82B0JB401_RTRMADP_3_SYRIA.JPG

Demonstrators gather during a protest against Syria's President Bashar al-Assad in Homs on Friday [Reuters]

1 hour 56 sec ago
President Bashar al-Assad's forces killed at least four civilians in an intensified tank and rocket bombardment in the Syrian city of Homs on Saturday to put down a popular revolt demanding his removal, activists said.

"This is the most violent barrage since the attack on Homs started six days ago. The four included a 55-year old woman. They were killed by shelling that hit a building where they live in Bab Amro," opposition activist Mohammad Hassan told Reuters by satelite phone from Homs.

The account could not be independently confirmed. Syria restricts access by most foreign journalists. [Reuters]

visionary · February 11, 2012

http://www.cnn.com/2012/02/11/world/meast/syria-unrest/index.html?hpt=hp_t1

Fresh violence flared in several Syrian cities Saturday as world powers mulled a way to halt the government's bloody offensive against civilians.
Hundreds of people have died in Homs in the past week and at least six were killed Saturday, said the Local Coordination Committees of Syria, a network of opposition activists. Homs, located in the country's west, is Syria's third largest city.

"Today is the seventh day in a row we're under shelling -- nonstop bombardment," an activist named Omar said Saturday. He said government forces have surrounded the area with thousands of soldiers and dozens of tanks: "Not the normal tanks. Big tanks. Russian tanks."

"We just want from Assad to give us permission to move the injured baby -- they are just the babies," said an activist named Omar, referring to President Bashar al-Assad. "They have to leave the area to have a good treatment. ... He don't even let us save and treat our (injured) babies."

Unrest rippled in the south as five men in the southern province of Daraa were killed when a a tank attacked them in the town of Al Musefra, LCC activist Abu Oudai said. Daraa is where the government security crackdown and the nationwide uprising started in mid-March.

http://www.cnn.com/2012/02/10/world/meast/syria-everyday-life/index.html?hpt=hp_t1

Basma Jandali spent days consumed with fear. Her brother was stranded in the Syrian city of Homs, where government forces have killed hundreds of people this week.
She didn't know he was alive until they spoke Friday.

"I feel relieved now," she said.

Her brother is one of the lucky ones.

Several hundred thousand people remain in Homs, a city suddenly peppered with snipers and surrounded by soldiers. Syrian forces unleashed an assault this week that has destroyed clinics and homes. It has dramatically altered the rhythm of everyday life.

Parents keep their kids at home, afraid to send them to school. They get food from activists delivering flour and sugar at night. Those who do venture out use street smarts -- doctors make rounds at night, for example, jumping walls to avoid checkpoints.

People have a tough time getting soap, toothbrushes, shampoo, and medications.

"The simple act of opening your door could be the last thing you do in your life," said Dima Moussa, an attorney in Chicago and Syrian activist who opposes the regime of President Bashar al-Assad.

Another article on Homs:

http://www.cnn.com/2012/02/11/world/meast/syria-life-under-fire/index.html?hpt=hp_t1

http://www.tunisia-live.net/2012/02/11/syrian-government-orders-tunisia-and-libya-to-close-their-embassies/

Syria has given the Libyan and Tunisian governments 72 hours to close their embassies in Damascus, according to a Syrian foreign ministry spokesman on Saturday, after both Tunisia and Libya announced similar measures against Syria.
The Tunisian Foreign Minister has confirmed that Tunisian Ambassador to Syria Mohammed Lawiti left Syria on Friday and is believed to be in Lebanon.

https://twitter.com/#!/ArabSpringFF

@Makdissi spokesman of Syria's FM just tweeted that humanitarian aid arrived 4m Jordan will be distributed through the Syrian red crecent.
11:24 AM

Not clear to where it's be distrubuted.

11:24 AM

Are they run by the government?

Mass defections today
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=SZjXc7csG8s

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zgPonhkt3gs

11:37 AM

https://twitter.com/#!/libyansrevolt

Several killed in North Lebanon in clashes between pro and anti Syria regime militias - via @AJArabic
11:47 AM

https://twitter.com/#!/TrellaLB

Note to the scumbag with a gun in Tripoli, the free people of Syria does not need stupid sectarian militias in their fight against Assad
11:48 AM

http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2012/feb/10/syria-not-iraq-wrong-intervene

BREAKING: 46 Martyrs today, 20 of them in Homs.
12:14 PM

Wonderful pictures from Yesterdays demonstration all over Syria http://on.fb.me/y3rfzo

12:14 PM

---------- Post added February-11th-2012 at 12:29 PM ----------

Interesting:

Syria is not Iraq. And it is not always wrong to intervene
But if it is nonsensical to propose military force in every case, as some on the bellicose right do, then it is surely just as nonsensical (for anyone but an absolute pacifist) to oppose it in every case. We need to see again what we understood well before Iraq: that every case is different.

Take Syria. I am not with those who, appalled at the sight of the world doing nothing as children and their parents are killed and maimed by Bashar al-Assad's troops, immediately demand military action. There is not a binary choice between nothing and war.

A range of non-violent steps in between are available to western nations. These include sabotage, electronic interference with the Assad forces' communications, the offer of incentives to high-level Syrian defectors and the public naming of those units directly involved in the current brutality and their commanding officers. That way Assad's generals will know that, however this ends, they will never be able to travel freely again, for fear of arrest and prosecution. In addition, of course, the west can support the opposition, which, we should remember, is not a rival army, but began as a non-violent protest movement of ordinary citizens, lethally crushed.

That menu of options comes from Carne Ross, who resigned from his post as the lead official on the Middle East inside the UK mission at the UN over Iraq. Specifically, he quit because he did not believe Britain and the US had exhausted all other options before resorting to war.

Once again, in Syria's case, he believes there are non-violent steps the west could and should take first. I agree. But if those stops don't end the slaughter?

"When innocent civilians are killed in large numbers, military force has to be an option," he says.

https://twitter.com/#!/THE_47th

US ambassador to syria said military intervention was not an option & UD still seeking a peaceful political solution
12:24 PM

US ambassador to Syria :“We believe Assad should step down, but the Syrian people will make the decision, not the US."

12:26 PM

---------- Post added February-11th-2012 at 01:07 PM ----------

The street where my aunt lives.... Watch what Assad Forces do when they pass by a street

https://twitter.com/#!/MagdyBasha123

Assad militia is telling pple who R leaving their homes escaping Assad militia "Since u don't want Assad, forget about ur homes"
12:54 PM

Assad militia is breaking into homes in Homs and stealing everything including gold and any cash they may find...

12:57 PM

https://twitter.com/#!/syrianintegrity

Residents of neighborhoods around BabaAmro Homs were forced to leave today.Houses broken on, Huge massacres on its way to BabaAmro
12:56 PM

visionary · February 11, 2012

http://www.nowlebanon.com/NewsArticleDetails.aspx?ID=363672

OTV: Army arrests 35 people in Tripoli
OTV television reported on Saturday evening that the Lebanese army arrested 35 people in relation to the latest clashes between Tripoli’s neighborhoods of Bab al-Tabbaneh and Jabal Mohsen.

The TV station added that the situation has been calm since 5:00 pm, “but a grenade was thrown at 7 PM in [Tripoli’s] Al-Biqar neighborhood.”

http://www.aljazeera.com/news/middleeast/2012/02/2012211131327549801.html

Government intensifies assaults on Homs and Hama, while opposition forces are said to have killed high-ranking general.
Syrian security forces have renewed their assaults on the central cities of Homs and Hama, while anti-government forces are said to have killed soldiers in Idlib and a senior military official in Damascus, activists, rights groups and the state news agency report.

Opposition neighbourhoods in Homs were hit by tank and rocket bombardments on Saturday in the government's continuing crackdown on protesters there, with the city's Bab Amr area coming under concerted fire.

Rights groups say at least four people were killed during Saturday's violence in Homs, and that three bodies of people who had been killed earlier were also recovered.

In Hama, the Syrian Revolutionary General Commission (SRGC), a rights group that has organised protests against President Bashar al-Assad's rule, says that the army is continuing to maintain a heavy presence. The group said troops raided the city's al-Sharia neighbourhood and that heavy gunfire and mass arrests were reported from there and at least three other districts.

Reports of violence between security forces and anti-Assad forces were also reported from Zabadani and Douma, which is just outside the capital Damascus.

The SRGC said that at least 46 people were killed in Saturday's violence: 20 in Homs, 11 in Deraa, 11 outside Damascus, three in Idlib and one in Hama.

Elsewhere, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR), an UK-based rights group, reported that 10 soldiers were killed in an ambush by army defectors on Friday in the Idlib area, near the Turkish border. The defectors hit a patrol between two villages with hand grenades and roadside bombs, the SOHR said.
Army defectors also fought government troops for hours overnight in the al-Qaboun neighbourhood of Damascus.

Also in Damascus, state media reported that anti-government forces had killed a senior Syrian military doctor outside his home.

https://twitter.com/#!/SkyNewsBreak

7 hours 4 min ago
This video shows a tank firing as Friday prayers take place in the Baba Amr neighborhood of Homs.

The prayers can be clearly heard. The first part of the video is unclear, but the tank’s muzzle can be seen near the middle of the image.

vaRlUGkhLmA

4 hours 1 min ago
This video, uploaded by YouTube user DoumaCommandoes, purports to show a small tank firing its guns in the streets of Douma, just outside Damascus.

KXg6vuUiShU

3 hours 58 min ago
This video, uploaded by the Shaam News Network, shows a large funeral procession for a child named Omar Ibrahim in al-Dumeir, outside Damascus, today

161_FLAvU4c

visionary · February 11, 2012

Reuters: Opposition spokesman says Assad forces enter Syrian town of Zabadani on border with Lebanon after agreeing ceasefire with rebels
2:13 PM

https://twitter.com/#!/abuhatem

Syria activists in zabadani say govt forces are now in control of the town which lies close to Lebanon's eastern border
2:19 PM

Syria opposition claims govt forces entered zabadani after ceasefire agreement; homes not to be searched & list of wanted FSA scrapped

2:21 PM

Zabadani : opposition statement said they agreed to the army's entry to avoid further bloodshed but "the town didn't fall"

2:27 PM

I'm sure the troops will treat them nicely....

I guess Assad wins...at least this time.

I'm so so afraid Assad crushes this uprising and rules for decades to come with a divided society and a Hamah massacre in Baba Amro etc.
1:56 PM

WSJ says Homs opposition is weakening and now news of Zabadani invasion - this is why I have worries.

2:21 PM

https://twitter.com/#!/Thanku4theAnger

They never surrender! Khalidia Suburb of Homs protest tonight in defiance ... Allahu Akbar

2:59 PM

ADe9elTuXdM

http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/02/11/us-syria-idUSL5E8DB0BH20120211

Syria forces shell Homs as Russia to oppose U.N. resolution

http://feb17.info/media/video-syrian-ambassador-fleeing-embassy-in-libya/

The army has continued to reinforce its forces along the country’s northern border with Syria, National News Agency reported
2:52 PM

Lebanon army has dispatched patrols bolstered with tanks and armored personnel carriers in a number of border areas with Syria

2:52 PM

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EN6AiugDPYo&feature=player_embedded

2/9/12
The Interim Government gave the Syrian Ambassador 72 hours to pack up earlier this week.

Here are his last moments fleeing from the embassy on the way to the airport.

EN6AiugDPYo

---------- Post added February-11th-2012 at 03:39 PM ----------

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

BREAKING AJA: 4 Syrians were kidnapped in the Bekaa while they were on their way back to Syria. Lebanon
3:23 PM

People are being forced out of their homes in many areas of Homs, as the goverment forces move in closer to Bab Amr.

https://twitter.com/#!/AmalHanano

What's happening in Insha'at right now is a tragedy. People are leaving their homes on foot, with only the clothes on their back.
3:19 PM

The people who were still in Insha'at are the ones who didn't leave not because they couldn't, but because they refused.

3:20 PM

The people from Insha'at were the fortunate of #Homs, and many had already fled to Lebanon, the Gulf, the States, wherever.

3:21 PM

But the ones who stayed, did so because they could not leave #Homs or the revolution behind.

3:22 PM

Today, they leave their homes and lives behind and flee under gunfire even though they have "permission" to go. Syria

3:23 PM

https://twitter.com/#!/Thanku4theAnger

When people protest for the Syria'n revolution in Tel Aviv, Israel know that we're getting closer.
3:35 PM

BREAKING: There is an attempt by the Syria'n regime forces to invade BabAmr Homs and there is heavy shelling right now!

3:25 PM

LCC : 76 martyrs today in Syria killed by Bashar forces
3:34 PM

LCC: Bashar forces NOW trying to storm Bab Amr in the midst of heavy shelling of this suburb of Homs

3:35 PM

People pray for Homs ... LCC reporting a ground assault is taking place NOW not just shelling ... I hope its not true

3:45 PM

visionary · February 12, 2012

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/middleeast/syria/9076596/Free-Syrian-Army-is-all-that-stands-between-civilians-and-tanks.html

Free Syrian Army is all that stands between civilians and tanks
The last straw for Captain Abu Mahmoud came when 13 of his fellow officers were lined up and shot by a Syrian firing squad. They had been identified as potential deserters - all officers have their own team of watchers from military intelligence to monitor their behaviour - and were executed just in case, he said.

He was headed at the time with his Third Division for Idlib in the north, scene already of many battles and massacres in this encroaching civil war. He turned tail, shook off his spies and went home.

In a fine example of how the paranoias of dictators eventually make themselves come true, he is now with the Free Syrian Army on the front line of the battle for Homs.

He is a helpless spectator as the Syrian tanks and artillery, which his Free Syrian Army cannot match, drop round after round of shell fire on to the defenceless citizens of the Homs neighbourhoods Bab al-Amr and Khalidiya, enclaves now to match the names of Sarajevo and Misurata.

Calls from inside Homs said that only Bab al-Amr remained as a pocket of FSA resistance, but that army tanks were approaching....

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/feb/11/syria-french-surgeon-saves-lives

Syria: veteran French surgeon saves lives after 44 years in world's war zones

https://twitter.com/#!/oh_bergine

my family just escaped Homs and they r telling me of the horros they lived/saw I can't sleep since
6:26 PM

My family tried to escape several times, Assad soldiers told them: whoever tries to escape will be SHOT at. They tried 2 negociate w/ them

6:30 PM

Family saw neighbors house collapse on them (2 story house building). Everyday families try 2 escape Inshaat, they killed 2 family friends

6:32 PM

They left everything behind them.They know the house will be looted the moment they leave.Many houses R occypied by shabbi7a now

6:34 PM

https://twitter.com/#!/ahmed

CNN in the US leads the 7pm news with Syria, playing a YouTube video of the shelling on Homs: "Imagine if this was your home..."
7:02 PM

https://twitter.com/#!/ArabSpringFF

Saudis have been holding charity auctions for Syria. A painting of Khaled BinWalid mosque was sold for 1 million rials:
7:12 PM

The FSA is going to be very pleased at the $700,000 raised for them in Kuwait. Millions raised for Syrian civilians by the Gulf too.

7:35 PM

https://twitter.com/#!/AzizAlmazroua

@ArabSpringFF they collected around 23 million riyal that day,,,
7:38 PM

Larry · February 12, 2012

I have to confess that I feel terribly guilty about what I'm labeling as "revolution fatigue". But I have to say that I've got it.

I wish I didn't. But I do.

I wonder how much it's going around.

visionary · February 12, 2012

Bab Amr is being shelled again, although I haven't heard much about a ground assault tonight.

Hopefully it hasn't really materialized yet, despite everyone's fears that it was starting up.

live feed from Bab Amr.

Not a lot going on at the moment, but there is some shelling in the background every now and then.

Sometimes it will be just birds chirping for a while and then suddenly a huge explosion.

http://bambuser.com/v/2361847

I have to confess that I feel terribly guilty about what I'm labeling as "revolution fatigue". But I have to say that I've got it.
I wish I didn't. But I do.

I wonder how much it's going around.

I'm not exactly sure what you're refering to, but its probably not something you should feel too guilty about.

Most likely it's natural to feel that way with all the news coming out these days.

We all get tired of these situations after a while.

Especially when there's a lot of news coming out constantly and it doesn't seem as if things are changing much.

And of course there's the constant footage of carnage and dead bodies and other horrific things out there.

I don't know how some people can stand to look a one or two videos of those, let alone dozens every day.

It's even worse if you have friends or family or are personally involved and have no choice but to keep pushing forward every day hoping for the best but fearing the worst.

For those of us who aren't really connected to the events though it can be difficult to keep up with things and to stay emotionally attached to them after a long period of time.

There are times when I've had to get away from it and come back when things have moved along a bit more.

Generally though I don't have as much of a problem of that as I do with getting depressed when things just drag on and seem really hopeless.

It got to be too much for me with the Iranian Green Revolution and I pretty much just gave up on it after a few months of discussing it every day and things only getting worse.

There were times that I almost gave up on Libya as well, but somehow the people always came through even when things seemed like they would end in disaster.

Libyans themselves have talked about having fatigue over how long everything was taking.

Syria has gone on for even longer now and it's amazing that the people there have refused to give up after all this time.

Honestly I don't know what's going to happen in Syria.

All I know is that what's going on right now in Homs and other places is terrifying.

There's not a lot I can do to help them, but I can do my best to get the word out of what's happening.

Because you never know who might stumble upon the news for the first time and have their life changed by it.

-----------------------------------------------------------------

The shelling appears to have increased over the past few minutes.

It's happening much more frequently now.

Wow...there's some really intense firing of rockets going on right now. (pretty sure that's what I'm hearing)

Probably from yesterday's shelling:

u-aXrmRRfPg

https://twitter.com/#!/IntelTweet

One of MANY videos of shelling on BabAmr
12:08 AM

>> Homs Syria “@OmarShakir91: We are under rockets shelling Please retweet”

12:47 AM

Syria'n state tv announced that regime forces captured medical supllies in Homs BabAmr. A crime?

1:13 AM

Al-Qaida's "As-Sahab Media" has released a new recording of top commander Dr. Ayman al-Zawahiri titled, "Onward, O' Lions of Greater Syria."
12:53 AM

Oh...great.

I'm still not sure about the whole Al Qaeda being involved in the Syrian bombings theory.

I only saw it mentioned in that one article, and I would have expected much more coverage if it were true. But Al Qaeda does seem to acting as if they are responsible now.

visionary · February 12, 2012

http://www.thearabdigest.com/2012/02/hala-jadid-assads-rule-catastrophe.html

ArabLeague meets in Cairo to discuss forming joint UN -Arab monitoring mission to work in Syria
1:50 AM

ArabLeague may also discuss appointing UN - ArabLeague envoy to deal with Syria

1:56 AM

Reports that some Arab states may propose recognizing SNC during ArabLeague meeting in Cairo

1:58 AM

Ashram al Moqdad, Syria opposition figure says balance of power in favor of Assad ; the only option 4 opposition is intl intervention

2:06 AM

Ashraf al Moqdad, syria opposition figures urges ArabLeague and intl community to help the FSA

2:08 AM

An Allawite's critiscim of the regime.

https://twitter.com/#!/RawyaRageh

3 mtngs taking place in Cairo on Syria: GCC, 5-country committee, then all inclusive Arab FMs meet minus Syria
4:18 AM

All eyes on GCC mtng w anticipation Gulf Arab states will push rest of Arab countries to recognize SNC

4:20 AM

Syrian oppstn tell us SNC request for recognition being refused on grounds it has to come from individual states not AL as a body

4:33 AM

I don't see Sudan, Iraq, Lebanon, and probably Algeria going along with this.

visionary · February 12, 2012

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/feb/11/syria-homs-frontline-baba-amr?CMP=twt_gu

Homs from the frontline: never-ending shelling and a child buried in the night
Such long lists of the dead were common in the Baba Amr quarter of Homs. Abu Sufyan had lost a brother, a nephew, an uncle, and, most recently, his mother. A warm and generous man – we had stayed in his house last November – he had become prone to explosions of rage.

He shouted at a hysterical woman in the makeshift hospital. Her son's foot had been neatly severed by a mortar. Someone was holding it, wrapped in a bloody keffiyeh. She was ululating, clutching her face. "Give us guns so we can defend ourselves," she wailed, piercingly. Abu Sufyan had no patience with this. "We've had a hundred martyrs already today," he bellowed. "Get out so the doctors can work."

We went back and forth for an agonisingly long minute before Jedi U-turned, parked, and we got into a doorway. Then, another mortar hit, covering the junction in a billowing cloud of black smoke.
He had seemed strangely disconnected from the danger, but they were used to being attacked: Baba Amr had been under siege for months. Jedi snapped on the third day after hundreds of shells, mortars and rockets had fallen. He walked back and forth shouting: "The army is about to use chemical weapons. They're already sending in ground troops." Neither was true. Under the constant shelling, people were becoming hysterical.

State television denied there was a bombardment. It told the inventive lie that residents were setting fire to rubbish on their roofs to give the impression of an attack. The official media also said that most of the violence was caused by the rebel fighters of the Free Syrian Army – "terrorists", "criminal gangs" or "agents of Israel" in the language of official spokesmen.

http://www.cnn.com/2012/02/12/world/meast/syria-unrest/index.html

Syrian government forces are using detained civilians as human shields, placing them on tanks in the besieged city of Homs to prevent the opposition Free Syrian Army from fighting back, an opposition activist said.
Three civilians were killed in Sunday's shelling on Baba Amr, according the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, an opposition activist group. A fourth civilian was killed by gunfire near the town of Bab Houweid, the group said.[/size]

Nabil el-Araby, the league's secretary general, suggested that the United Nations deploy a joint force of U.N. and Arab League military experts on the ground as an observatory mission, a league official said, speaking on condition of anonymity because the official is not authorized to speak to the media.
Russia has accepted the Arab League proposal, according to a foreign minister of one of the Arab States taking part in the league meeting.

The Arab League will impose unprecedented sanctions on Syria, according to the foreign minister, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was directly involved in ongoing discussions.
"The Syrian Leadership has chosen chaos," Saudi Arabia's Foreign Minister Saud al-Faisal said Sunday. "It is killing its people and destroying the nation only to maintain its authority. What is happening in Syria leaves no doubt that it is not ethnic or sectarian war or urban warfare. It is a campaign of mass cleansing to punish the Syrian people and enforce the regime's authority without any humanitarian or ethical regards."

At least 687 people, including 59 children, died in the past week, the Local Coordination Committees of Syria reported late Saturday. About two-thirds of those deaths occurred in Homs, said the LCC, an opposition activist group.

U.N. officials estimate 6,000 people have died since protests seeking al-Assad's ouster began nearly a year ago. The LCC says the toll has far exceeded 7,000.

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

Arab League calls for joint UN-Arab peacekeeping mission in Syria; scraps Arab monitoring mission in final resolution obtained by @Reuters
11:27 AM

'>https://twitter.com/#!/acarvin

Reuters: Arab League will end their Syria mission and propose UN peacekeepers in Syria http://yhoo.it/Adtz1s
11:15 AM

Interesting that the draft being mentioned by everyone now seems much stronger than some of the things that were supposed to be talked about. according to early media reports this morning.

I wonder what changed things.

Although I am a bit nervous that it could be a fake leak or something.

https://twitter.com/#!/BintAlRifai/status/168742404009099264/photo/1

BREAKING: The Arab League has agreed to support the Syria'n opposition w/ political, finanial support.
11:26 AM

“@Ugaritian: Arab League will escalate to UNSC if Syria'n authorities block humanitarian help.”11:28 AM

BREAKING: The Arab League has decided to stop all diplomatic ties with the Syria'n regime.

11:30 AM

[this I have seen, but keep in mind that I don't think anything has been officially agreed to yet

I find it hard to believe that Lebanon and Iraq will agree to some of these proposals]

If the "Blue Hats" get into Syria we'll witness record breaking protests all over the country. Because people will know they're safe.

11:40 AM

Until now, total number of Martyes all over Syria is 27. Note that this is the lowest number since days. They could be resting or smth!

11:48 AM

Video reportedly taken in Idlib showing a defection of soldiers from the Syrian regime army

12:14 PM

A portrait of Assad today. Syria http://pic.twitter.com/xGjXZhgn

http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2012/02/12/lieberman-its-time-to-take-action-in-syria/

Lieberman: It's time to take action in Syria

He also suggested that U.S. assistance first come through medical help, then later through training, communications equipment, and ultimately, weapons.

Fairly similiar to what I suggested. :paranoid:

https://twitter.com/#!/ArabSpringFF

Today's defections. Largest to Smallest 1.
2. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=63Ov74yB5os 3.
4. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5fiESGU7xuY

https://twitter.com/#!/CrisisMapper

has some maps of Syrian army positons on his page.

Here we go.

This article seems to confirm that the Arab league is proposing cutting ties with Syria and supporting the opposition.

http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/02/12/us-syria-arabs-resolution-idUSTRE81B0L020120212

Arabs seek joint U.N.-Arab force for Syria: resolution

visionary · February 12, 2012

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/02/13/world/middleeast/arab-league-requests-un-peacekeepers-for-syria.html?_r=2&partner=rss&emc=rss

At a meeting of the Arab League’s foreign ministers in Cairo, after the League’s own observer mission to Syria failed to end the bloodshed last month, the organization adopted a resolution asking the Security Council to authorize a joint Arab-United Nations force to “supervise the execution of a cease-fire.”
The resolution also called on Arab League members to “halt all forms of diplomatic cooperation” with representatives of the Syrian government. As it has before, the League also called for Syrian military forces to withdraw from the cities, and an immediate end to the killing of Syrian civilians.

The League also sought continued diplomatic efforts. The league’s secretary general, Nabil ElAraby, said a joint peacekeeping force “should go hand-in-hand with a political track.”

“The violence cannot stop without a common view on a political compromise,” he added.

The resolution said the League supported “opening channels of communication with the Syrian opposition and providing all forms of political and financial support to it,” although it did not specify what that support would be.The resolution also fell short of recognizing the Syrian National Council, an umbrella opposition group, as the legitimate representative of the Syrian people, instead calling on the opposition to “unify its ranks.”

Syria immediately dismissed the proposal, saying it “completely rejected the decision issued by the League,” the state news agency, Sana, reported Sunday night.

The ministers were considering a force of 3,000 members, according to Arab satellite television reports, far larger than the group of some 200 officers sent earlier mission that was suspended in January.
Given the Syrian government’s initial response on Sunday, it was unlikely that it would accept such a force.

https://twitter.com/#!/RawyaRageh

Lebanon voiced reservations over all the decisions of the ArabLeague on Syria & rejected any recognition of SNC
1:28 PM

Jordan Muslim Brotherhood called for "jihad" against Assad govt and support for the rebel army, saying it is "an Islamic duty."

2:02 PM

Lebanon expressed rsrvtns on all of Arab FMs resolution on Syria, Algeria objected on 2 clauses inc peacekeeping
1:36 PM

http://staff.blogs.aljazeera.com/liveblog/Syria

1 hour 40 min ago
A Syrian Arab Red Crescent aid convoy reached Homs on Saturday to deliver food, medical supplies, blankets and "hygiene consumables" to thousands of people, the International Committee of the Red Cross announced on Sunday.

"We are greatly concerned about the consequences of the unrest from a humanitarian viewpoint and about the current deterioration of the situation", said Marianne Gasser, head of the ICRC's delegation in Syria, who led the convoy that entered Homs. "The population, particularly the wounded and sick, are bearing the brunt of the violence."

Another convoy reached the town of Bludan, 50km northwest of Zabadani, a town that had been the scene of brief fighting between the government and the armed opposition. Many civilians have fled Zabadani.

visionary · February 13, 2012

http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-18563_162-57376257/syrias-rebels-disillusioned-with-america/

Syria's rebels "disillusioned" with America
I think they have high hopes, but certainly they are very disillusioned and disappointed by the reaction of the international community. We attended a protest where we saw people burning photos of Chinese President Hu Jintao and Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin. There's a lot of anger with China and Russia for failing to back the UN resolution on the Syria situation.

There is also frustration with America. Many in Syria are saying: "Why is America not stepping in? America is about defending democracy and this is what we are striving for as a people now, is to have freedom and democracy in our country."

http://blogs.aljazeera.com/liveblog/syria-feb-13-2012-0548

Hani Al Malathi is a former news presenter for Syrian state television, who quit the channel in protest over its coverage of the protests last August.
He joined Al Jazeera from Dubai to share his experiences inside Bashar Al-Assad.s media machine.

https://twitter.com/#!/edwardedark

authorities in Aleppo have told private businesses to take down large pictures of Bashar after many were attacked & vandalized
3:11 PM

driving home tonight I was stopped at a checkpoint in front of a security hq. nervous young men pointed a rifle at my head & searched my car.

10:28 PM

I felt no hate towards the frightened young men who stopped me with their rifles at a checkpoint. I only felt pity & deep sadness for them

10:32 PM

the look on their faces was of sheer panicked terror, later I learned they had been attacked earlier in the evening by gunmen

10:35 PM

they couldn't have been more than 20 years old. conscripts thrust in the line of fire by an evil regime. who were they fighting & dying for?

10:36 PM

Aleppo. supposedly the oldest still inhabited city in the world. but it's only inhabited by fear & uncertainty now.

10:39 PM

https://twitter.com/#!/k_jaser

the friend of Syria coalition's first task is to work to unite the opposition and put the FSA under civilian control
11:01 PM

Syrian bravely withstood 11 months of brutal repression which shows their determination coherence & capacity to coexist

11:06 PM

my concern is that alQaeda Iran would stir sectarianism the way they did in Iraq if the current vacuum is not filled

11:11 PM

https://twitter.com/#!/blakehounshell

@OmarShakir91 is tweeting pics from inside Baba Amr, Homs
11:11 PM

https://twitter.com/#!/OmarShakir91/status/168905444969025538/photo/1

https://twitter.com/#!/OmarShakir91/status/168904761444278272/photo/1

https://twitter.com/#!/OmarShakir91/status/168909143053303810/photo/1

https://twitter.com/#!/OmarShakir91/status/168909558411046912/photo/1

BREAKING: URGENT: Shelling has renewed on BabAmr Homs right now. Will be tweeting the live feed once it's up.
10:48 PM

http://bambuser.com/v/2364449

Urgent: Homs | Baba Amr: renews bombing Baba Amr God Be with us in Baba Amr, and confirm our feet
10:47 PM

we are under shelling agin

12:00 AM

live feed from Bab Amr:

visionary · February 13, 2012

https://twitter.com/#!/iyad_elbaghdadi

Someone guide me to what I should do to get this massacre to stop..? I've tried everything possible. No one listens. No one cares.
2:29 AM

We lost our 3 family homes in Insha'at. This is what the tanks did to the cars too. http://yfrog.com/kgjrmefj

2:33 AM

@Arabsest I still have part of mamas family inside Baba Amr trapped they can't get out. God only is their protector.

2:41 AM

@Arabsest basically Jobar next door and Sultaneyeh are like refugee camps, full of thousands from baba amr, with no aid. Terrible situation

2:58 AM

Really heavy shelling on Rastan both mortar shells and missile launchers being used - some positioned in nearby Talbiseh.

3:14 AM

Called Danny [english speaking guy who does videos showing the damage in Bab Amr and talks to the media sometimes] he is okay for all those worrying and he will be back online v soon. Just pray for him. Pray for @OmarShakir91.

3:19 AM

I've been saying for months that if the world doesn't do anything about the Assads, Syria will become a jihadist magnet.
2:25 AM

Egypt & Tunisia almost killed the idea of Alqaeda. Libya was a comeback chance that they missed. Syria is a golden opportunity to them.

2:26 AM

If the world cannot stop the bloodbath in Syria, don't blame them if they accept anyone, just anyone, who can defend them. Alqaeda

2:29 AM

Either defend the civilians in Syria or don't be surprised if they cheer as Alqaeda defends them. It's been almost a year of massacres.

2:33 AM

BTW Al-Zawahiri's "message to the Syrian people" is dated Rajab 1432 AH, which is June/July 2011. Retweet.

3:12 AM

Al-Zawahiri's message was recorded in July and appeared online in August. Real question is why it's being publicized only now.

3:23 AM

http://blogs.aljazeera.com/liveblog/britain-feb-13-2012-1155

Britain will have urgent discussions with the Arab League over the group's proposal for a joint peacekeeping force with the United Nations in Syria, Foreign Secretary William Hague said Monday.
Hague also welcomed the Arab League's decision at a meeting in Cairo on Sunday to endorse a "Friends of Syria" group, including Britain, which will meet in Tunisia on February 24.

"Such a mission could have an important role to play in saving lives, providing the Assad regime ends the violence against civilians, withdraws its forces from towns and cities and establishes a credible ceasefire."

https://twitter.com/#!/Alaabayoumi

54 min 15 sec ago
Homs bombardment resumes: Two neighbourhoods on Sunday near the countryside where the Free Syrian Army has been active.

"It is the third day of such incursions. They fire heavy machineguns and anti-aircraft guns at random the, then they go in and raid houses and arrest dozens of people. The objective is to separate Hama from the countryside," activist Fady al-Jaber said from Hama. [Reuters]

The Justice and Freedom Party, leading party in Egypt, urges recognition of Syrian National Council as a representative of Syrian people
3:01 AM

Interesting....

visionary · February 13, 2012

http://www.cnn.com/2012/02/13/world/meast/syria-unrest/index.html?hpt=hp_t3

Fresh attacks in Syria ahead of U.N. vote
After a pause in fighting in the southern city of Zabadani broke down Sunday night, Syrian troops made door-to-door raids and took people away and shelling began, according to an activist with detailed knowledge of the situation.

There had been dialogue between the Syrian troops and the rebel Free Syrian Army in the city, but the pause lasted not much more than a day.

Damn it!

I knew this was going to happen.

I hope the FSA got who or whatever out of there that they needed to first.

A military convoy of 45 tanks, armored personnel carriers, and military trucks rolled through another town in the northwest province of Idlib, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human rights, an opposition activist group. Four people in the city of Idlib were wounded by gunfire from Syrian security forces, the group said.
And in the city of Homs -- which has endured nine days of heavy attacks by Syrian forces, according to residents -- two civilians were killed by shelling in the hard-hit neighborhood of Baba Amr, the group said.

Three soldiers were killed elsewhere in Homs province after a failed attempt by the army to storm a town, the Observatory said.

Members of the U.N. General Assembly were expected to consider a three-page draft resolution Monday brought forth by Saudi Arabia that would "strongly condemn" Syrian human rights violations.
It cites "the use of force against civilians, arbitrary executions, killing and persecution of protesters, human rights defenders and journalists, arbitrary detention, enforced disappearances, interference with access to medical treatment, torture, sexual violence and ill-treatment, including against children."

https://twitter.com/#!/iyad_elbaghdadi

This morning I had tweeted that Al-Zawahiri's message was dated from back in July. I've since been corrected. http://bit.ly/vZfKqF
10:30 AM

Yes, there was a message from Al-Zawahiri to Syria's people dated July, but there's this more recent one as well. http://bit.ly/vZfKqF

10:31 AM

If there's an "Alqaeda in Syria", why didn't Al-Zawahiri cite their leader or operations? Coz they don't exist - yet. http://bit.ly/vZfKqF

10:38 AM

Syria represents for Alqaeda a last and final opportunity to be relevant in the ArabSpring. http://bit.ly/vZfKqF

10:39 AM

I'm saying it again: Either stop Assad & help Syria's people, or watch by as the Jihadists step in. http://bit.ly/vZfKqF

10:43 AM

The first priority of the revolution should be to unify the FSA and forge them into a real army. http://bit.ly/vZfKqF

10:44 AM

Alqaeda may try to send a "commander" to try to radicalize & unite some disparate defected troops into a unit. http://bit.ly/vZfKqF

10:45 AM

Syria's people must beat them to it with a centralized, unified, independent, on-the-ground FSA leadership. http://bit.ly/vZfKqF

10:47 AM

I stress "on-the-ground" because you can't lead the army from an office or a hotel across the border. http://bit.ly/vZfKqF

10:47 AM

The one big problem that I see with that is that it leaves the leaders open to arrest or being killed in clashes and thus devastating the revolution if they are taken out of the picture.

In Libya the fighters were not all that organized either but they still succeeded.

The fact that the central leadersship was mainly safe in the East though kept any serious blows from happening early on. The biggest was when Younis died, but by then the different regions had already formed their own fighting forces and there were other commanders in Benghazi to take Younis' place.

https://twitter.com/#!/SyriaParliament

Ayman Zawahri & Alqaeda go to hell. Syria is for Syrians. Funny how they beg to put their disgusting terrorist hands in2 everything.
12:52 PM

We reject al-Qaida leader support for Syria & we condemn his statements.Our non-violent revolution has nothing to do with such organization
1:20 PM

https://twitter.com/#!/denisfitz

Syria envoy Jaafari tells his "brother" the pres of the UN Gen Assembly that special session on Syria is "illegal" and should be cancelled
10:45 AM

https://twitter.com/#!/BarinM

General Assembly meeting on Syria happening now. Syrian ambo calls for the meeting to be cancelled. Says it violates 'rules of procedure'
10:46 AM

---------- Post added February-13th-2012 at 11:09 AM ----------

LMAO! The Syrian ambassador says the report and discussion should be rescheduled for September and he keeps talking and interrupting the UN meeting to keep the UN human rights head from speaking.

*******.

visionary · February 13, 2012

Iran supports Syria's call for a UN legal decision on whether to hold a meeting on Syria's rights record
11:00 AM

And Now, North Korea comes out to back Syria in the UNGA. I expect Ven., Nicaragua, Cuba next. We'll see

11:01 AM

Syria and its allies move to delay today's meeting on Syria's human rights at UNGA, citing procedural technicalities.

11:03 AM

UNGA President just hit the gavel, setting stage for Syria human rights meeting to go forward.

11:08 AM

Syria effort to delay UNGA meeting on procedural technicality fails

11:10 AM

The Syrian Ambassador is ranting now (after the UN Human Rights head tore his regime apart in her report) and blaming everthing on Al Qaeda, even claiming that Libyans who died in Syria were members of Al Qaeda and that peple are blowing up buildings themselves in Homs and other places and blaming the security forces.

BREAKING: Shelling has renewed on BabAmr Homs, while at UN the Syria'n representative is blaming the world.
11:53 AM

https://twitter.com/#!/KareemLailah

Go to hell Jaafari. And say hi to Hafez when you arrive. Merci.
11:55 AM

Jaafari waited until the end to whip out the real crazy.

Syria ambassador accuses Google of changing streets names in Syria, in Google Maps. LOL
12:06 PM

The Libyan ambassador to the UN is blasting Assad's regime right now for massacres and torture and aiding Gaddafi in the past and committing atrocities in the 80's.

Libya's UN envoy. Syrian despots will meet same destiny as Gaddafi regime. 12:13 PM

You know, it really kind of hits home with me just how much the world has changed of late, that we are seeing the Libyan Ambassador slamming Syria in the UN.

https://twitter.com/#!/ChangeInLibya

Libya's UN envoy: We must consider "safe havens" where Syrians can be free from shelling of government.
12:16 PM

God bless Shalgham and Dabbashi... the latter just spoke at the UN session about Syria.
12:17 PM

https://twitter.com/#!/LibyanGirlyGirl

Powerful speech by Libyan Ambassador to UN, Ibrahim Dabashi, on Syria now.
12:16 PM

https://twitter.com/#!/AmalHanano

A 16-year-old girl was brought to a makeshift hospital in BabaAmr. She was severely wounded by a missile that exploded in her house.
12:16 PM

Her face was completely disfigured. She needed to be treated by a specialist immediately.

12:17 PM

She's engaged to a young man who loves her. He couldn't do anything but weep. The doctor told her parents she must leave BabaAmr.

12:19 PM

Her fiance said: I have to get her out of BabaAmr & save her life. But he doesn't know how to drive. And no one would come with him.

12:20 PM

Leaving BabaAmr by car is equal to suicide. He tried to drive but couldn't. He kneeled on the ground sobbing & praying for mercy.

12:22 PM

I asked him: What happened to her? He said: She is waiting for her martyrdom.

12:25 PM

---------- Post added February-13th-2012 at 12:54 PM ----------

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/blogpost/post/syrian-activist-danny-abdul-dayem-flees-to-lebanon-amid-violence/2012/02/13/gIQAO0Z2AR_blog.html

7 hours 23 min ago
Russia said on Monday it would study an Arab League proposal for the deployment of a joint Arab-UN peacekeeping mission in Syria but added a ceasefire was necessary before any such force was deployed.

7 hours 8 min ago
Italy supports the deployment of a joint Arab-UN peacekeeping mission to put an end to the violence in Syria, Giulio Terzi, Italy's Foreign Minister said Monday.

"Italy shares the urgency to stop every type of violence in Syria and, to that end, supports the proposal to send a joint United Nations and Arab League peacekeeping mission to check that the cease-fire is carried out," he said.

6 hours 55 min ago
Syrian rebels have repelled a push by government tanks into a key central town held by forces fighting against President Bashar Assad's government, activists said.

The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, says Monday's attempt to storm Rastan left at least three soldiers dead.

Rastan has been held by the rebels since late January.

6 hours 51 min ago
SRGC reports that four people have been killed by sniper fire. Two people outside Damascus (Zabadani, and Madaya), one person in Aleppo and one person in Hama

6 hours 42 min ago
British foreign secretary, William Hague, says Syria peacekeeping troops must come from non-western countries.

6 hours 28 min ago
The European Union backed on Monday an Arab League call for a UN peacekeeping mission in Syria and urged the UN Security Council to act in order to stop the violence there.

Aaargh...I'm getting pissed off at pundits on news shows claiming that the majority support Assad and that there haven't been very many defections from the military.

What crap!

There have been lots of defections and many of those who haven't defected are wanting to but know they will be killed if they do.

Also many soldiers are kept to their barracks out of fear that they will not follow orders.

And if Assad had so much support there wouldn't be protests all over Damascus and Aleppo.

---------- Post added February-13th-2012 at 01:23 PM ----------

Syrian activist Danny Abdul Dayem flees to Lebanon amid violence
As violence continues to escalate in Syria, the “voice of Homs” has fled to Lebanon.

Danny Abdul Dayem, an activist known as the “voice of Homs.” (YouTube) Danny Abdul Dayem, 23, a Syrian activist, has spent much of the last month posting YouTube videos to try to alert the international community to the violence in Homs.

On Monday, as tanks closed in on Dayem’s neighborhood, the young activist fled to Lebanon, CNN reported. Dayem had already been shot once in Homs, in September, the Guardian reported. His parents waited anxiously in Cairo Monday to hear if their son arrived safely

Watch the video after this portion.

Wow.

https://twitter.com/#!/USUN

AVAAZ heavy security in neighbrohoods of Marjou, Fardous and Sakhour in Aleppo where FSA clashed with Syria govt forces
1:15 PM

AVVAZ Syria govt troops are now stationed in Zabadani but half of the city is still under the control of FSA &clashes are continuing

1:09 PM

AVVAZ Several residents in Zabadani said that they fear a massacre could take place if the violence escalates

1:10 PM

AVAAZ Electricity & water completely cut off from Zabadani & citizen journalists reported severe shortage of food due to siege

1:11 PM

AVAAZ According to residents in the neighbourhood of Insha'at, the army said it would give citizens 2 hours to flee

1:13 PM

Holy ****...it sounds like Hama in the 80's all over again.

(hopefully a lot of people left already...)

visionary · February 13, 2012

U.S. Amb. DiCarlo: "We know enough. We know that over 6000 civilians have been killed. We know that scores of children have died."
1:06 PM

U.S. Amb. DiCarlo on Syria: "When final responsibility is determined, we, too, will be judged as members of the United Nations."

1:08 PM

https://twitter.com/#!/shadihamid

At this point, only thing likely to alter Syria regime's calculations is a credible military threat from int'l community.
2:07 PM

https://twitter.com/#!/BSyria

Yes RT @shadihamid: At this point,only thing likely to alter Syria regime's calculations is a credible military threat from int'l community
2:13 PM

https://twitter.com/#!/Saladinsam

@shadihamid agree 100%! Plus a clear sign of strength that intl. Comm. will act. I.e. Deployment of humanitarian Aid on turkish leb border
2:15 PM

Baba Amro: Tanks surrounded and bombed the neighborhood 13-02-2012

1:40 PM

Baba Amro: Smoke covers the sky of the neighbourhood due to shelling 13-02-2012... http://fb.me/1nJwp8JjS

1:38 PM

Baba Amro: civilian houses on fire due to heavy shelling for the 9th day in row 13-02-2012... http://fb.me/1FbzuAxUi

1:41 PM

Baba Amro: fire on a house due to rocket shelling 13-02-2012

1:44 PM

Baba Amro: A rocket targeted a Suzuki car and killed all people inside 13-02-2012

[not posting this one...I stopped watching it after I saw a burnt foot sticking out of the car]

2:28 PM

Dear Ismael Haniyeh, as u shook hands with Ahmadinejad & Khamena'i in Iran, women of Homs shook at home after rape, like Gaza was.
2:26 PM

Dear Ismael Haniyeh, as you shook hands with Ahmadinejad and Khamena'i in Iran, The homes in Homs are demolished, like Gaza was.

2:27 PM

But Ismael Haniyeh you & many of your supporters ignored the suffering of your neighbors in Syria .. your brothers and sisters. Traitors.

2:28 PM

RT - Homs Syria A car hit in Baba Amr with a missile - the car was rushing injured out of the neighborhood

https://twitter.com/#!/ArabSpringFF

BREAKING: Damascus Suburbs (Arbeen): 3 Soldiers defected and Syria'n regime troops are going from home to home searching for them.
2:59 PM

BREAKING: In the city of Idlib, a martys named KAYSAR was killed near Abn Sena hoespital by a sniper who's positioned on a roof top.

2:55 PM

BREAKING: Deraa: Sound of a big explosions heared at the downtown area of the city w/ sounds of gunfire.

3:05 PM

A vehicle [a pick-up truck] containing families fleeing Baba Amr has been hit by a shell. The initial death count is 16 dead.
3:11 PM

https://twitter.com/#!/SeekerSK

General Commission: 43 Killed by gunfire of Syrian army today
2:56 PM

By the way, the UN has yet to vote on the UNGA resolution, Cuba is speaking now.

visionary · February 14, 2012

https://twitter.com/#!/AlexanderPageSY

Arab League plan for U.N./AL peacekeepers looking pretty problematic today. Russia, US say needs to first be a peace to keep. Syria says no.
5:31 PM

What exactly is our position?

I'm not really even sure right now.

BREAKING: a number of areas in the Eastern Ghouta of Damascus are now witnessing an attack by regime forces
5:56 PM

https://twitter.com/#!/lizsly

CNN reporting that US military assigning extra drones 2 monitor Syrian positions in case it's asked 2 intervene. Quite a signal to send
6:11 PM

Um...hmmm...kind of odd...with what we've been saying.

http://globalpublicsquare.blogs.cnn.com/2012/02/13/slaughter-turkey-must-act-on-syria/

Slaughter: Turkey must act on Syria

=======================================================

The shelling is really bad tonight in Bab Amr.

There's been a lot more explosions than usual and it only just started

http://www.cnn.com/video/?hpt=hp_t1#/video/bestoftv/2012/02/14/ac-syria-damon-undisclosed-location.cnn

Alright everyone, the shelling on BabAmr Homs has started. Tune in to the live streaming http://bit.ly/xKJ2FS
11:13 PM

OH MY GOD! Heavy shelling now!

11:18 PM

Since 6AM Homs time. Number of explosions is 60!

11:36 PM

(there were some articles I started posting bits of earlier...but I accidently x'd the page and had to start over. Maybe I'll add them again later)

Wow it just got really intense over the past few minutes.

What the hell are Assad's forces up to?

Wow! The last almost blew my ears out.

Must have been pretty close to the camera.

---------- Post added February-14th-2012 at 12:17 AM ----------

And it still goes on. This is probably the most intense I've ever heard it.

Assad must be intent on demolishing Bab Amr soon.

---------- Post added February-14th-2012 at 12:19 AM ----------

CNN reporter hiding in Syrian safe house
Anderson Cooper 360| Added on February 13, 2012

Anderson Cooper talks to Arwa Damon about the activist organization in Syria and the use of weapons in the conflict

---------- Post added February-14th-2012 at 12:26 AM ----------

Some of these explosions sound extremely close.

One made the camera shake.

I'm really getting worried for the people there.

http://blogs.aljazeera.com/liveblog/syria-feb-14-2012-0549

another feed for the live stream with chat
http://www.livestream.com/syrianfreedom

12:20 AM

---------- Post added February-14th-2012 at 12:39 AM ----------

It's hard to see much now, because it seems as if there's smoke or fog everywhere.

visionary · February 14, 2012

Tue, 14 Feb 2012, 05:49 GMT+3
An activist in Homs reports this morning from Baba Amr neighbourhood as the military assault on the city continues for a tenth day.

In the video, uploaded by activists, he says:

This is the tenth day of the bombardment on Baba Amr. This is how the residents of Bab Amr welcome their day at 6 am. Look at the shelling. Look at the smoke

Un9KO973Z2A

9JM83pjTURg

https://twitter.com/#!/MagdyBasha123

Video taken less then an hour ago of the heavy shelling on Homs http://bit.ly/xeMWSj
12:55 AM

Everytime you think the shelling calmed down it resumes just when you finish of the thought. They're probably loading rockets!

1:02 AM

Imagine your city going up in flames! Empty streets w/ rubble all over, houses & building destroyed! Just put yourself in that position!

1:03 AM

After 11 months of massacres and genocide, the world just started speaking about ways to stop the killing
1:17 AM

By the time they stop talking and start DOING, it will be a few more months of massacres and genocide...

1:18 AM

https://twitter.com/#!/SeekerSK

Urgent: The missile strikes on homes have already begun in Baba Amr

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I'm having some issue with videos on here right now.

In any case this person has been tweeting a bunch of videos.

Check them out. Keep in mind that some may be ones I already posted.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KqRf3-5ec8I&feature=youtu.be

Explosions, Smoke over buildings

Tanks rolling by, explosions in the background

https://twitter.com/#!/SeekerSK

Daraa: Lajat: Military helicopters heavily deployed in sky of town searching for defected military officers
1:49 AM

Daraa: Tayba: Storming of town w/ armored military vehicles amid heavy gunfire

1:50 AM

Prayers with @OmarShakir91 the shelling is very severe in Baba Amr right now and has a strange sound. Please pray for all.
2:58 AM

just to know am not alone there's more than 10 guys is working in the media side in Babaamr All of them putting themselves at risk
3:01 AM

http://www.aljazeera.com/news/middleeast/2012/02/2012214104643918941.html

Lebanon PM says he won't let the country be used as a base for Syria FSA to launch attacks against govt forces across the border
2:59 AM

Lebanon PM miqati refused to confirm or deny reports FSA present in north even though journalists including myself have met them there

3:03 AM

I wonder if that means there will be a big crackdown in Lebanon coming soon.

And not just in the border villages and after gun battles.

visionary · February 14, 2012

Syrian troops have shelled the central city of Homs for a 10th day, opposition activists say, amid suggestions by the UN's human rights chief that the UN Security Council's failure to pass a resolution condemning Syria has encouraged the government to intensify its attacks on civilians.
At least seven people were killed and more than 20 injured on Tuesday in the city's Bab Amr neighbourhood, which endured relentless barrage of heavy machinegun fire, tank shells, mortars and rocket-propelled granades, according to the activists.

Speaking to Al Jazeera from Homs, activist Hadi al-Abdallah told Al Jazeera that the shelling, which started at 5:30am local time, was the heaviest in days.

"Bab Amr and adjacent Inshaat neighbourhoods are being shelled every 15 minutes," he said.

"We do not know what to know with the injured. Since the assault started 10 days ago, there has been more than 1,000 people injured."

http://www.cnn.com/2012/02/14/world/meast/syria-unrest/index.html?hpt=hp_t1

Fear and horror paralyzed residents in the Syrian city of Homs Tuesday, with snipers preventing anyone from moving and heavy shelling blasting through the air, opposition activists said.
"The snipers are even targeting those who intend to get bread from the bakeries," said one activist, who uses the pseudonym Abu Omar.

"They are shelling randomly -- why, I don't know," said another activist, identified only as Omar for security reasons. "There is no place here in this city that is a safe house or shelter or a basement. You have to be lucky to stay safe."

At least six civilians were killed by shelling in the Baba Amr neighborhood of Homs, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, an opposition activist group.

At least 10 deaths were reported in Homs, including three farmers who were killed after being tortured, according to the opposition Local Coordination Committees of Syria (LLC).

Another two people were killed in Daraa, one in Damascus, one in Damascus suburbs, two in Hama, and several in Deir Ezzor, the largest city in northeastern Syria, according to the LLC. That brought Tuesday's death toll to more than 16.

3 hours 20 min ago
The Free Syrian Army has denied that it has foreign fighters within its ranks, amid reports that people from Iraq and Lebanon are joining the group. Iraq's interior minister said in an interview with AFP on Saturday that 'jihadists' are moving from Iraq to Syria and arms are also being smuggled across the border to opponents of Bashar al-Assad's government.

Deputy commander of the Free Syrian Army Colonel Arif Nour Al Hammoud told Al Jazeera this is not true but warned for the consequences if the international community does not act now.

Al-Qaeda is not accepted by Syrian society and it will never live in Syria. According to our information, no al-Qaeda element is hidden in our territory. Because the Syrians hate al-Qaeda. We urge the international community to act as quickly as possible to solve the Syrian crisis so as not to have a future where these organisations will have a part.
Syria now as a country is losing control and it is an open country and this might lead to others seizing opportunities to enter a country that is out of control. So the international community, the Arabs and the Muslims have to solve the Syrian crisis as soon as possible.

---------- Post added February-14th-2012 at 12:52 PM ----------

https://twitter.com/#!/luv2live2

Can anyone confirm shelling on Hama right now?
11:59 AM

BREAKING: Heavy shelling right now on Hamedeya area of Hama.

12:21 PM

“@KareemLailah: Medicine students are running secret hospitals, with too less facilities, to help the injured in Hama. God bless them”

12:27 PM

Hama: The regime's army raided the Masha'a and Arbaeen neighborhoods amid extensive security deployment
12:03 PM

https://twitter.com/#!/thisisKhaledM

No doubt that NATO & US foreign policy are hypocrites..denouncing oppression in one place while supporting in another
8:11 PM

We have every right to question motives...but doesnt mean we blindly denounce even when they happen to do right thing

8:12 PM

Criticize hypocrisy. Dont criticize prevention of mass slaughter

8:15 PM

People of Libya & Syria never specified who needs to come help, was welcome from anywhere. Countries consciously made decision to not help

8:16 PM

Imagine living in a country where EVERYONE knows rape/murder/torture victims. You WOULD NOT TOLERATE this for YOUR people

8:17 PM

https://twitter.com/#!/julianbarnes

@Martin_Dempsey says US does not have a clear understanding of opposition in Syria.
12:09 PM

@Martin_Dempsey Syria is a very different challenge than in Libya because of chemical and biological weapon threat.

12:10 PM

@Martin_Dempsey the free syrian army is mostly domestic, but there are other fighters. Offers no confirmation of AQ involvement

12:11 PM

Libya had scuds and chemical stock piles. They used the scuds, thankfully NATO was there to stop them.

They didn't use the chemical weapons, maybe because they woukldn't work anymore?

It is disturbing to think what might happen if Assad's regime uses wmds on their people or if some foreign jihadists get their hands on them amidst the chaos if this drags on.

visionary · February 14, 2012

25 min 4 sec ago - Syria
France said on Tuesday it had created an emergency fund for aid agencies looking to help the Syrian people and would propose a similar one at an international level next week when countries meet in Tunisia to discuss the escalating crisis.

Paris had previously proposed "humanitarian corridors" with Syrian approval or with an international mandate for shipping food and medicine to alleviate civilian suffering while Damascus cracks down on an uprising against President Bashar al-Assad.

Foreign Minister Alain Juppe met humanitarian organisations on Tuesday and pledged 1 million euros to finance groups trying to offer humanitarian help to Syria.

"(The minister) insisted that France is working at all international levels to ensure the right to access the population," said a foreign ministry statement.

International powers are due to meet in Tunis on February 24 as part of a newly-created "Friends of Syria Group" aimed at trying to find a way of peacefully ending the conflict in Syria.

-Reuters

AVAAZ reported violent clashes between opposition and army in the rural town of Rankous, Damascus suburb
1:00 PM

https://twitter.com/#!/ahmed

The Syria'n regime troops invade Hamedeya area of Hama and shoot randomly leaving behind dead and injured http://bit.ly/xmU16l
1:49 PM

The regime seems to be making a major push on Hama now.

They're already inside the Insha district in Homs and moving in on Bab Amr.

If they are able to get into Bab Amr and take it over (what's left of it), they will likely try to crush Hama next, unless they get started early.

Latest death toll in Syria today: at least 40 people killed, according to numbers by LCC.
1:42 PM

https://twitter.com/#!/javierespinosa2

Syrian NC to choose leader Wednesday in Qatar, some people like Kamal Labwani want to replace Ghalioun http://bit.ly/AAJ3q7
2:06 PM

---------- Post added February-14th-2012 at 03:29 PM ----------

There seem to be a bunch of protests going on in Aleppo and Damascus again today.

Here's an older video that was posted on Youtube recently.

It shows Syrian forces using human shields around one of their tanks.

Damascus || Saqba suburb || 01/02/2012 || Assad gangs use people as human shields against the free Syrian army Strikes during the storming of the city in the last campaign on the Eastern Ghouta ...

RHstPlwBgEA

---------- Post added February-14th-2012 at 03:37 PM ----------

Angelina Jolie on her new film.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/europe/in-bosnia-angelina-jolie-says-she-hopes-film-draws-notice-to-atrocities-including-in-syria/2012/02/14/gIQAvZUfDR_story.html

She said she hoped the film could serve as a “wake-up call” for the international community to pay more attention to atrocities and act to prevent them — including in Syria.
“I am satisfied with what we made, I feel very strongly about it and I believe that its core issue — which is the need for intervention and need for the world to care about atrocities when they are happening — is very, very timely and especially with things that are happening in Syria today,” she said.

visionary · February 14, 2012

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

BREAKING AJA / activists: Major clashes between FSA and regime forces in AlBukamal on the border with Iraq.
3:40 PM

PreviousTweet = Latest in Assad's long line of stupid moves. AlBukamal borders Anbar in Iraq...

3:41 PM

https://twitter.com/#!/British_Syrian

Really nice to see evening protests tonight in Khaldiyeh after 11 days. God bless them.
3:28 PM

Such a bloody day in Hama, just terrible. Will post some videos now.

4:38 PM

A security branch in Homs announces its defection to join the Syrian revolution. They destroyed the agency's... http://fb.me/1fc75lYJO
2:55 PM

All forms of communications in Hama have been cut off by the regime assad thugs storm the city from many... http://fb.me/1tCFEI3MK

4:43 PM