Yahoo: Assad predicts disaster if West meddles in Syria

[visionary]

http://worldnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/05/03/18043900-israeli-launch-airstrikes-into-syria-possibly-targeting-delivery-systems-for-chemical-weapons-us-officials-say?lite

Israeli launch airstrikes into Syria, possibly targeting delivery systems for chemical weapons, US officials say

Israeli warplanes launched airstrikes against targets inside Syria on Friday, U.S. officials told NBC News.

It’s believed the primary target was a shipment of weapons headed for Hezbollah in Lebanon, they said. A senior U.S. official said the airstrikes were believed to be related to delivery systems for chemical weapons.

An Israeli spokesman in Washington said that Israel would not comment specifically on the reports but said that “Israel is determined to prevent the transfer of chemical weapons or other game-changing weaponry by the Syrian regime to terrorists, especially to Hezbollah in Lebanon.”

White House officials referred all questions to the Israelis.

So that's the third airstrike by Israel inside Syria.

I'm still waiting to see those amazing Syrian air defenses that everyone is always warning about.

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/05/04/world/middleeast/syria.html?smid=tw-share&_r=0

Administration Includes Military Strikes in Possible Syrian Options

The Obama administration, as part of its examination of possible responses to obtaining conclusive proof that President Bashar al-Assad of Syria has used chemical weapons, is considering military options with allies that include attacking Syria’s antiaircraft systems, military aircraft and some of its missile fleet, according to senior officials from several countries.

Those officials say that attacking the chemical stockpiles directly has been all but ruled out. “You could cause exactly the disaster you are trying to prevent,” a senior Israeli military official said in an interview last week in Tel Aviv.

But by attacking Mr. Assad’s main delivery systems, the officials say, they would curtail his ability to transport those weapons any significant distance. “This wouldn’t stop him from using it on a village, or just releasing it on the ground, or handing something to Hezbollah,” said one European official who has been involved in the conversations. “But it would limit the damage greatly.”

The topic was alluded to on Thursday, when Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel met with his British counterpart and talked about “the need for new options” if Mr. Assad used his chemical arsenal, the officials said. But while the military has been developing and refining options for the White House for months, the discussion appears to have taken a new turn, officials say, as they struggle to determine whether the suspected use of sarin gas near Aleppo and Damascus last month was a prelude to greater use of such weapons.

Asked about the planning, a senior administration official said Friday that “there are a lot of options on the table, and they’re generally carrying equal weight at the moment.”

http://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/139362/vejas-liulevicius/fact-finding-in-syria?cid=soc-twitter-in-snapshots-fact_finding_in_syria-050313

Fact-Finding in Syria

In late April, U.S. intelligence services concluded that sarin gas -- a chemical weapon estimated to be 500 times more powerful than cyanide -- had been used in Syria’s ongoing civil war. The White House, which had previously hinted that the Assad regime’s use of chemical weapons would be a trigger for intervention, has been quick to emphasize that it is not yet sure whether that trigger has been pulled. “I’ve got to make sure I’ve got the facts,” U.S. President Barack Obama said in a speech at the end of the month, adding that the United States needs clearer evidence of how the chemical weapons were used and who exactly used them.

That is a tall order. Gathering hard evidence in such a closed country is an inherently difficult task; those who think otherwise should remember the faulty intelligence estimates indicating that Saddam Hussein had amassed extensive stores of weapons of mass destruction in Iraq. That misinformation launched a costly, tremendously controversial, and internationally divisive war -- a cautionary tale for those now responsible for compiling intelligence in Syria.

If the Obama administration is serious in its quest to accumulate corroborating facts about Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s use of chemical weapons, it should start from an understanding of what will not happen. There will be no full-fledged, transparent, and open investigation with the cooperation of the Syrian government.

That seems like it would go without saying, yet in a letter to Congress, the White House expressed its preference to have a “comprehensive United Nations investigation” on the matter. Not only has Assad refused to allow UN inspectors into the country, his government’s own messaging has been consistently opaque, even contradictory: On April 25, the Syrian information minister announced that his country does not have such weapons, only to add that the army would not use them, “assuming the existence of such a weapon in the first place.”

http://www.hrw.org/news/2013/05/02/lebanon-tit-tat-border-kidnappings

Lebanon: Tit-for-Tat Border Kidnappings

The Lebanese government has failed to take adequate measures to protect against, deter, and punish retaliatory kidnappings along sectarian lines in border regions. Human Rights Watch interviewed both victims and family members who carried out retaliatory kidnappings, prompted by alleged detentions and kidnappings of their relatives by the Syrian government forces and armed opposition groups.

Lebanese government authorities have helped to facilitate the release of victims kidnapped by families in Lebanon in some cases, but have not taken law enforcement measures either to prevent kidnappings or to prosecute the kidnappers in the cases Human Rights Watch documented in the border regions.

https://now.mmedia.me/lb/en/nowsyrialatestnews/us-reporter-believed-held-by-syrian-intelligence

US reporter believed held by Syrian intelligence

A US journalist missing in war-torn Syria is believed to be held by government intelligence agents at a detention center near Damascus, a spokesman for his family said Friday.

James Foley, a 39-year-old freelancer who has filed reports for GlobalPost, Agence France-Presse and other outlets, has been missing in Syria for nearly six months.

Foley's family and employers insist that he was working as an objective, professional reporter within Syria, and have called for his release. Syrian officials have never acknowledged having any news of his whereabouts.

On Friday, GlobalPost held an event in Boston on World Press Freedom Day to press Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's government for news.

The co-founder and CEO of the international online news network, Phil Balboni, said it had hired the international security firm Kroll, which had found evidence that Foley is being held by the Syrian regime.

"With a high degree of confidence, we now believe that Jim was most likely abducted by a pro-regime militia group, commonly referred to as the Shabiha, and subsequently turned over to Syrian government forces," said Balboni, who has also been serving as a spokesman for the Foley family.

https://now.mmedia.me/lb/en/nowsyrialatestnews/syria-army-bombards-sunni-areas-of-banias

New massacre fears as Syria army batters Banias

The Syrian army bombarded Sunni areas of Banias on Friday as heavy gunfire rocked the northwestern city, a watchdog said, raising fears of a new massacre.

"Some neighborhoods in southern Banias are being bombarded by regular troops and soldiers manning checkpoints in the area have opened up with fire," said the Britain-based watchdog.

Observatory director Rami Abdel Rahman said troops were raiding homes and making arrests "triggering panic" among residents.

"I fear that there could be a massacre like the one that happened yesterday in Bayda," a Sunni village south of Alawite-majority Banias, Abdel Rahman told AFP.

http://en.rian.ru/russia/20130503/180966263.html

Moscow Ready to Talk to Free Syrian Army – Minister

Moscow is ready to hold talks with all representatives of the Syrian opposition, including Salim Idriss, leader of the Free Syrian Army, Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Friday.

Lavrov made his comment after Idriss said he would be ready to meet the Russian authorities to discuss paths to a resolution of the Syrian civil war.

“We are ready for talks with all of the Syrian opposition,” Lavrov said, adding he had not heard any statement from Idriss.

Armed “non-state players are against international laws,” Lavrov added, and said it was not time to pour oil on the fire, but do everything which was agreed at the Geneva meeting of June 30 last year.

https://twitter.com/javierespinosa2

Marie Colvin & Mika Yamamoto, both killed in Syria, were named "World Press Freedom Hero" said the International Press Institute IPI

1:20 AM

Russia apparently said its fine for UNSC to go to Jordan, as long as it also goes to Palestine, dips say. US said no to that

11:41 AM

If UNSC does agree to a Jordan visit, how do you think the Russian ambassador would be received at a Syrian refugee camp there?

11:44 AM

https://twitter.com/NMSyria

Families are being slaughtered in their homes because they dared to stand up to tyranny.

5:38 PM

Another massacre reported in Ras Al-Nabe’ in Banyas. At least 200 killed according to the LCC.

5:41 PM

Just yesterday, nearly 500 killed in Al-Bayda. At least 200 killed so far in Ras Al-Nabe’

5:43 PM

To all you *******s using FSA presence as an excuse to commit mass murder: There were no FSA in Al-Bayda.

So go **** yourself.

6:37 PM

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=651757681518038&l=bb40e2e2d9

Banyas: A new massacre was committed by regime forces against more than 200 martyrs in Raas Nabea neighborhood executed by knives and burned

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=651774994849640&l=496832a2de

The Local Coordination Committees (LCC)

By the end of Friday The Local Coordination Committees (LCC) were able to document 139 martyrs including several women and children as well as 2 martyrs under torture. 37 martyrs were reported in Damascus and its Suburb; 35 martyrs in Banyas due to field- execution s; 22 in Aleppo; 15 in Homs; 13 in Hama; 7 in Daraa; 3 in Deir Ezzor; 4 in Idlib; 2 in Lattackia and 1 martyr in Hasaka.

However, in Banyas, regime forces committe a massacre during which 200 martyrs were reported so far. The victims were slaughtered and burnt.

So that's about (415+200) 600+ people killed in Banyas in two days going by the reports.

http://www.extremeskins.com/showthread.php?357480-Yahoo-Assad-predicts-disaster-if-West-meddles-in-Syria&p=9046975&viewfull=1#post9046975

At least 62,231 people killed so far in Syria

[visionary]

http://blogs.aljazeera.com/topic/syria/hundreds-families-flee-districts-baniyas-fearing-new-attacks-according-british-based

Hundreds of families flee districts of Baniyas fearing new attacks, according to British-based watchdog

Hundreds of families were fleeing Sunni districts of the Syrian city of Banias on Saturday, fearing new attacks after a "massacre" in a nearby Sunni village, a watchdog said.

"Hundreds of families are fleeing Sunni neighbourhoods in Banias in fear of a new massacre," Syrian Observatory for Human Rights director Rami Abdel Rahman told AFP.

- Agence France Presse

http://www.aljazeera.com/news/middleeast/2013/05/20135434057975559.html?utm_content=automate&utm_campaign=Trial6&utm_source=NewSocialFlow&utm_term=plustweets&utm_medium=MasterAccount

Obama 'does not foresee' US troops in Syria

US president Barack Obama said on Friday he does not foresee a scenario in which he would send US ground troops to Syria and outlined a deliberate approach to determining whether the Syrian government had used chemical weapons in a 2-year civil war.

Obama insisted that the United States has not ruled out any options in dealing with Syria as the United States investigates whether the government of Syrian president Bashar al-Assad used chemical weapons.

But Obama, who has spent much of his presidency winding down wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, made clear he was not inclined to send troops to Syria, saying "I do not foresee" such a scenario.

Leaders in the region that he has consulted on this issue agree with him, Obama said.

If Syria is found to have used chemical weapons, however, Obama will be under pressure to take some action beyond what the United States is already doing. The Obama administration is considering sending lethal aid to Syrian rebels.

https://now.mmedia.me/lb/en/nowsyrialatestnews/syria-rebels-training-for-long-drawn-out-conflict

Syria rebels training for long, drawn-out conflict

Crouching, belly-crawling into sniper nests in their rugged mountain redoubt, Syrian rebels have started training for a prolonged guerilla war against stubbornly resilient regime forces.

With Western reluctance to intervene militarily in Syria's civil war, the rebel Free Syrian Army (FSA) hopes to topple President Bashar al-Assad by creating a skilled fighting force from mostly civilian recruits, some as young as 16.

The FSA granted AFP access to one of its training camps, where a motley group of fighters -- former shopkeepers, farmers, regime defectors -- were training to fight Assad's forces in the mountains and woods of northern Latakia province.

Sprinting up a wooded knoll, crisscrossing between trees, and diving into firing positions, rebels weighed down with guns and bandoliers of ammunition put on a swaggering show of defiance within range of regime troops at a nearby garrison.

But the rebels of the Al-Ezz bin Abdul Salam Brigade acknowledged they face a tough fight against a better-armed foe that enjoys total air superiority -- even above rebel-controlled areas -- as the civil war drags into its third year.

https://twitter.com/rozalinachomsky

a report says the resistance fighters have liberated the 2nd military detachment in menneg military airport (Aleppo)

12:31 AM

assad's forces have besieged the town of al-marqab (between al-bayda & baniyas)

1:09 AM

resistance fighters have forced assad's troops to leave the town of al-shabraq (west of tasil) in daraa

2:23 AM

[visionary]

Just got home from a day-long trip to Richmond and find out Israel may have made some sort of major attack on the capital.

Some FSA leaders claim to have made follow up attacks...not sure about that.

http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/05/05/us-syria-crisis-blasts-idUSBRE94400020130505

Explosions shake Damascus, Syria blames Israel

Explosions shook Damascus early on Sunday and Syrian state television said Israeli rockets had struck a military research center on the outskirts of the capital.

The blasts occurred a day after an Israeli official said his country had carried out an air strike targeting a consignment of missiles in Syria. The research center hit on Sunday was also targeted by Israel in January.

"The new Israeli attack is an attempt to raise the morale of the terrorist groups which have been reeling from strikes by our noble army," Syrian television said, referring to recent offensives by President Bashar al-Assad's forces against rebels.

The British-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights quoted eyewitnesses in the area as saying they saw planes in the sky at the time of the explosions. It said the blasts hit the Jamraya military center and a nearby ammunition depot.

NBC.com headline

BREAKING NEWS: Israeli jets bomb Syrian military research facility, senior US official says

I'm seeing a lot of reports from Syrian activists claiming that the Assad's forces including the 4th division (headed by Bashar's brother Maher and responsible for the siege on Bab Amr) was hit.

http://blog.foreignpolicy.com/posts/2013/05/04/that_awkward_moment_when_israel_launches_airstrikes_in_syria

That awkward moment when ... Israel launches airstrikes in Syria

Given the size of the blasts, and the news that Israeli jets earlier this week struck a shipment of Iranian missles thought to be headed for Hezbollah, everyone is assuming that Israel is behind these strikes as well. Syrian state TV is claiming that Israel hit a "research center," while opposition Facebook pages are saying that several elite units on Mt. Qassioun, overlooking Damascus, were the targets. (Hezbollah's al-Manar TV station is claiming an Israeli jet was shot down, but that seems unlikely.)

Israeli officials are keeping characteristically mum, but it seems plausible that they would have followed up their previous, successful strike with another one aimed at further degrading the Syrian regime's capabilities. Because it's so difficult, not to mention risky, to destroy chemical-weapons stocks from the air, the next-best thing is to take out Assad's means of delivering them. And Mt. Qassioun is reportedly where many of the Syrian regime's best missiles are kept.

If it was indeed Israel, wow, this is awkward for the Syrian opposition. The regime will seek to exploit the raids to tie the rebels to the Zionist entity (after spending two years painting them as an undifferentiated mass of "terrorist gangs"). But the propaganda can cut both ways. The rebels can point to the Israeli attacks as yet more evidence that Assad's army is for attacking Syrians, not defending the country. It's not clear to me which argument will carry the day.

The strikes also promise to hypercharge the debate over Syria in the United States. Advocates of intervention will ask: If Syrian air defenses are so tough, as U.S. officials have been saying, why was Israel able to breach them so easily? Of course, a no-fly zone is a much more difficult and risky endeavor than a one-off raid, but you can expect that important distinction to get blurred.

There's been what, four or five of these 'one off raid's by Israel so far....

One claim of what was hit...no idea if it's accurate or not, but most of these targets are being mentioned a lot.

https://twitter.com/Nikopol5

Lots of things. SCUD missile base, weapon warehouse, military research facility, 4th div base. Half of Qassiom.

9:49 PM

partially [confirmed]. All viable targets for Israel since they want to destroy missiles which could carry CWs.

9:52 PM

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=652321688128304&l=80ce7fa649

Damascus: Massive destruction and fires are reported at the headquarters of the 4th Division in the suburb of Qudsaya

9:29 PM

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=652247408135732&l=763ef4640a

Local Coordination Committees in Syria

By the end of Saturday the Local Committees documented 271 martyrs including more than 30 women; and 20 children, and 1 martyr under torture: 142 martyrs were reported in Banyas in Raas Nabea Massacre yesterday; 33 martyrs in Homs; 29 in Aleppo; 21 in Damascus and its suburbs; 14 in Daraa; 11 in Raqqa; 11 in Hama; 7 in Idlib; 2 in Deir Ezzor; and 1 in Hasakeh

I guess that covers most if not all of the massacre victims from Friday...there may have been some others included in the Friday count after they were documented. Not sure if there's an official or documented count from the massacre on Thursday in Baidya.

http://www.extremeskins.com/showthread.php?357480-Yahoo-Assad-predicts-disaster-if-West-meddles-in-Syria&p=9046975&viewfull=1#post9046975

At least 62,502 people killed so far in Syria

[PeterMP]

Hi,

I was wondering visionary, if you could give us your impressions on what this means. You seem to spend a lot of time reading on these topics.

Does this ensure that Assad is done (is done either way and this will speed it up)?

Does this increase or decrease the chances that we do something (or neither)?

Will this have longer term implications (a post-Assad government that'll look at Isreal in a somewhat positive manner)?

(If your still keeping up with the other countries that were part of the Arab spring, I'd love your take on how/where they are progressing from a US and citizen of that country perspective.)

Thanks!

[visionary]

Hi,

I was wondering visionary, if you could give us your impressions on what this means. You seem to spend a lot of time reading on these topics.

Does this ensure that Assad is done (is done either way and this will speed it up)?

Does this increase or decrease the chances that we do something (or neither)?

Will this have longer term implications (a post-Assad government that'll look at Isreal in a somewhat positive manner)?

(If your still keeping up with the other countries that were part of the Arab spring, I'd love your take on how/where they are progressing from a US and citizen of that country perspective.)

Thanks!

I'm not sure yet. It's unclear to what exactly was hit so far.

I'm seeing a lot of wild reports that regime officials are escaping the country to Lebanon.

I guess we'll have to wait and see.

There is a lot of conflicting feelings and comments about the strikes and Israel right now on twitter.

Even most of those who are happy with the airstrikes, really don't like Israel. Few in Syria or the middle east do. Not sure if this will change that or not. It could depend on what Israel does next or if other countries get involved. I have no clue there yet either. We'll probably know more by tomorrow or in the next few hours if things are really moving.

I haven't heard much on Tunsia and Egypt other than that Islamists are less popular these days in both.

(In Tunisia they lost some power in the shared government with the liberals)

In Libya the government is having trouble getting things done, because militias keep barging in and causing problems.

Nothing too violent, but annoying and it shows the lack of control the central government still has.

[visionary]

Doesn't seem like there's been much fallout from the Israeli attack yesterday.

I guess that means it wasn't as significant as people thought.

I'm still unclear on what was hit.

Media says Iranian rockets headed to hezbollah, but it seems it was at least some sort of military base.

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/canada-open-to-air-support-for-syrian-rebels-john-baird-says/article11720785/

John Baird clarifies Canada's position against military campaign in Syria

After comments that left some with the impression that Canada was open to discussing a military campaign against the Syrian regime, Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird clarified the government's position.

"Canada is not contemplating a military mission in Syria," Mr. Baird's press secretary, Rick Roth, said a few hours after CTV's Question Period aired an interview with the minister.

Mr. Baird was asked on the program: "Does Canada support discussions that are under way right now among our allies about a wider air campaign against Syrian targets?"

He responded by saying: "Listen, I mean obviously we're talking with our allies."

He went on to discuss whether chemical weapons had been used in Syria. He said evidence from the United States and Israel suggested chemical weapons have been used in Syria. While he said Canada “can’t validate specifically” who has used them, “we strongly suspect it’s the regime.

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/05/06/world/middleeast/attacks-on-syria-fuel-debate-over-us-led-airstrikes.html

Attacks Fuel Debate Over U.S.-Led Effort

The apparent ease with which Israel struck missile sites and, by Syrian accounts, a major military research center near Damascus in recent days has stoked debate in Washington about whether American-led airstrikes are the logical next step to cripple President Bashar al-Assad’s ability to counter the rebel forces or use chemical weapons.

That option was already being debated in secret by the United States, Britain and France in the days leading to the Israeli strikes, according to American and foreign officials involved in the discussions. On Sunday, Senator John McCain, who has long advocated a much deeper American role in the Syrian civil war, argued that the Israeli attacks, at least one of which appears to have been launched from outside Syrian airspace, weakens the argument that Syria’s air defense system would be a major challenge.

“The Israelis seem to be able to penetrate it fairly easily,” Mr. McCain said on “Fox News Sunday.” He went on to say that the United States would be capable of disabling the Syrian air defenses on the ground “with cruise missiles, cratering their runways, where all of these supplies, by the way, from Iran and Russia are coming in by air.” Patriot missile batteries already installed in Turkey, he argued, could defend a safe zone to protect rebels and refugees.

https://now.mmedia.me/lb/en/nowsyrialatestnews/syrian-rebel-coalition-condemns-israel-strikes

Syrian rebel Coalition condemns Israel strikes

The Syrian National Coalition opposition group on Sunday condemned Israeli strikes inside Syria, saying the Jewish state had "taken advantage" of the ongoing conflict.

"The Syrian Coalition condemns the Israeli attacks," it said in a statement.

It accused the regime of President Bashar al-Assad of complicity, saying it was responsible "for weakening the Syrian army by exhausting its forces in a losing battle against the Syrian people."

The umbrella opposition group said the timing of the strikes was "suspicious" because it could draw attention away from at least two reported incidents of mass killings by regime troops in Syria this week.

"It is not unlikely that as a result of these attacks, and world distraction, more crimes will be committed," it said.

"The Syrian Coalition deeply regrets the deafening silence and powerlessness of the international community in the face of such grievous violations of international laws, continued by the Assad regime and taken advantage of by Israel in order to fulfil clear objectives."

http://www.bnowire.com/inbox/?id=1892&utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=twitter

UN's Ban expresses 'grave concern' over reported Israeli airstrikes in Syria

Statement attributable to the Spokesperson for the Secretary-General on reports of Israeli strike in Syria

The Secretary-General expresses grave concern over reports of air strikes in Syria by the Israeli Air Force. At this time, the United Nations does not have details of the reported incidents. Nor is the United Nations in a position to independently verify what has occurred.

The Secretary-General calls on all sides to exercise maximum calm and restraint, and to act with a sense of responsibility to prevent an escalation of what is already a devastating and highly dangerous conflict.

The Secretary-General urges respect for national sovereignty and territorial integrity of all countries in the region, and adherence to all relevant Security Council resolutions.

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/05/05/world/middleeast/obamas-vow-on-chemical-weapons-puts-him-in-tough-spot.html?smid=tw-nytimesglobal&seid=auto&_r=1&

Off-the-Cuff Obama Line Put U.S. in Bind on Syria

Confronted with evidence that chemical weapons have been used in Syria, President Obama now finds himself in a geopolitical box, his credibility at stake with frustratingly few good options.

The origins of this dilemma can be traced in large part to a weekend last August, when alarming intelligence reports suggested the besieged Syrian government might be preparing to use chemical weapons. After months of keeping a distance from the conflict, Mr. Obama felt he had to become more directly engaged.

In a frenetic series of meetings, the White House devised a 48-hour plan to deter President Bashar al-Assad of Syria by using intermediaries like Russia and Iran to send a message that one official summarized as, “Are you crazy?” But when Mr. Obama emerged to issue the public version of the warning, he went further than many aides realized he would.

Moving or using large quantities of chemical weapons would cross a “red line” and “change my calculus,” the president declared in response to a question at a news conference, to the surprise of some of the advisers who had attended the weekend meetings and wondered where the “red line” came from. With such an evocative phrase, the president had defined his policy in a way some advisers wish they could take back.

“The idea was to put a chill into the Assad regime without actually trapping the president into any predetermined action,” said one senior official, who, like others, discussed the internal debate on the condition of anonymity. But “what the president said in August was unscripted,” another official said. Mr. Obama was thinking of a chemical attack that would cause mass fatalities, not relatively small-scale episodes like those now being investigated, except the “nuance got completely dropped.”

Well, he's certainly repeated it a lot for something that was 'off the cuff'

Also there's been plenty of attacks causing mass fatalities, so far non-chemical ones though.

http://www.foreignpolicy.com/articles/2013/05/03/slouching_toward_damascus_kerry

Slouching Toward Damascus

Last week, I suggested that Secretary of State John Kerry might turn out to be a diplomat on the order of James Baker or George Schultz. I meant that as a compliment.

But Baker was also the statesman who airily dismissed any effort to stop the Serbian slaughter in Bosnia by saying, "We don't have a dog in that fight." Baker understood his job as promoting America's national interests -- tout court. Now, as the Obama administration steers its dainty way around the butchery in Syria, which looks more and more like the Balkan war, we need to ask whether Kerry is that Baker brand of realist -- and if so, whether we should be grateful that he is.

http://www.thenational.ae/news/world/middle-east/muslim-brotherhood-opens-direct-link-to-rebels-in-damascus

Muslim Brotherhood opens direct link to rebels in Damascus

The Muslim Brotherhood recently opened direct contacts with opposition groups in Damascus, providing them with cash for the first time and promising political influence in an effort to gain their support, according to Syrians organising clandestine relief efforts in rebel-held areas of the capital.

The infusion of cash and offer of political collaboration last week came just days after the Muslim Brotherhood's secretary general, Raid Al Shaqfa, announced the organisation would reopen offices inside Syria, after years of exile.

The Brotherhood's largesse followed a cutback of relief assistance to some groups in the capital by the Syrian National Coalition (SNC), the officially recognised opposition alliance.

Although a member of the SNC, the Muslim Brotherhood is not solely channelling its aid through the formal opposition framework. Instead, it is independently dispensing cash and supplies in it own name, the Syrian aid organisers in Damascus said.

https://now.mmedia.me/lb/en/nowsyrialatestnews/obama-urged-to-train-provide-intelligence-to-syria-rebels

Obama urged to train, provide intelligence to Syria rebels

US lawmakers called Sunday on President Barack Obama to provide intelligence and training to Syrian rebels through Arab states to speed the fall of the regime of President Bashar al-Assad.

Representative Mike Rogers, chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, said such a combination should also aim to leave a stabilizing force in place in Syria after Assad's fall -- without committing US ground forces.

"US leadership through intelligence and training" -- in coordination with Arab League partners -- "could be hugely helpful to bringing the regime down quicker, number one, and try to at least have a stabilizing force exist after this happens," he said on CBS's "Face the Nation."

The intensifying debate in the United States over what to do about Syria comes as Israel struck Syrian targets for the second time this week and follows US and other intelligence assessments that the Syrian regime has used chemical weapons.

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/sns-rt-us-syria-crisis-unbre94409z-20130505,0,2453519.story

U.N. has testimony that Syrian rebels used sarin gas: investigator

U.N. human rights investigators have gathered testimony from casualties of Syria's civil war and medical staff indicating that rebel forces have used the nerve agent sarin, one of the lead investigators said on Sunday.

The United Nations independent commission of inquiry on Syria has not yet seen evidence of government forces having used chemical weapons, which are banned under international law, said commission member Carla Del Ponte.

"Our investigators have been in neighboring countries interviewing victims, doctors and field hospitals and, according to their report of last week which I have seen, there are strong, concrete suspicions but not yet incontrovertible proof of the use of sarin gas, from the way the victims were treated," Del Ponte said in an interview with Swiss-Italian television.

"This was use on the part of the opposition, the rebels, not by the government authorities," she added, speaking in Italian.

Del Ponte, a former Swiss attorney-general who also served as prosecutor of the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia, gave no details as to when or where sarin may have been used.

Hmmm. I suppose this is involving the one CW claim (Khan Al-Assal Aleppo) that the UN has been allowed by the regime to investigate.

I'm curious how the victims would know rebels were the ones who used CW.

Of course with rebels overunning bases and using weapons found there against the regime, I could definitely see someone using some CW by accident.

Then again, I'm not sure they have the means to use it or the knowledge, and you would think there would have been more intel and warnings about cw lost by the regime prior to it.

And if some group did use it on purpose somehow, I'd sure like to who and why.

http://www.politico.com/story/2013/05/white-house-horrified-by-syria-reports-90929.html

White House: 'Horrified’ by Syria reports

The White House says it is “horrified” by reports that more than 100 people were executed Thursday in a western Syrian town.

White House spokesman Josh Earnest said Sunday those responsible for serious human rights and international law violations must be held accountable.

The State Department has cited reports Syrian President Bashar Assad’s regime and pro-government forces destroyed Bayda, Syria, with mortar fire, then stormed the town, executing entire families.

Earnest wouldn’t comment on an overnight airstrike Israeli warplanes carried out around the Syrian capital. The strike was the second attack by Israelis in three days. Officials say it targeted a shipment of advanced, Iranian-made missiles believed to be bound for Lebanon’s Hezbollah militants.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/reported-israeli-airstrikes-in-syria-could-accelerate-us-decision-making/2013/05/05/72c6eafc-b5c2-11e2-92f3-f291801936b8_story.html

Reported Israeli airstrikes in Syria could accelerate U.S. decision process

rael’s reported airstrikes in Syria — and the threat of a retaliatory strike by the Syrian government — are likely to accelerate the decision-making of the Obama administration, which was already moving toward a sharp escalation of U.S. involvement in the two-year-old crisis.

Senior officials said the deployment of U.S. troops to Syria remains unlikely, but they have indicated that a decision will come within weeks on options ranging from the supply of weapons to the Syrian rebels to the use of U.S. aircraft and missiles to ground President Bashar al-Assad’s air power by destroying planes, runways and missile sites inside Syria.

https://twitter.com/MahirZeynalov

Turkey's Erdogan: Ya Bashar Assad, vallahi you will pay a price for this [banias massacre].

10:02 AM

Erdogan: Godwilling, we will see this murderer, criminal [Assad] to be brought into account in this world and we will praise God for this.

10:05 AM

Turkish PM Erdogan: You will pay a very very heavy price for not showing courage against others [israel] but to a baby in a cradle.

10:03 AM

Turkish PM Erdogan: More than 700 civilians were executed in Banias.

10:08 AM

https://twitter.com/RichardEngel

Diplomatic sources and U.S. officials tell NBC NEWS the administration is fully supportive of Israel's airstrikes @mitchellreports

11:28 AM

The successful strikes also indicated to U.S. officials that Syria's Russian-supplied air defenses are not as strong as some had imagined

11:43 AM

https://twitter.com/stevebruskCNN

WH on Syria: As Assad "continues to cling to power, we will not lose sight of the men, women and children who are being killed by his regime"

12:13 PM

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=652811961412610&l=fbd1ee5ce3

Local Coordination Committees in Syria

By the end of Sunday the Local Committees documented 116 thus far, including 16 women and 21 children: 29 martyrs were reported in Damascus and its suburbs; 21 in Banyas; 19 in Homs; 10 in Idlib; 10 in Aleppo; 9 in Deir Ezzor; 7 in Daraa; 7 in Hama; 3 in Lattakia; and 1 in Raqqa

http://www.extremeskins.com/showthread.php?357480-Yahoo-Assad-predicts-disaster-if-West-meddles-in-Syria&p=9046975&viewfull=1#post9046975

At least 62,618 people killed so far in Syria

[visionary]

https://now.mmedia.me/lb/en/nowsyrialatestnews/turkey-testing-for-chemical-weapons-use-in-syria

Turkey "testing for chemical weapons use in Syria"

The Turkish authorities are carrying out blood tests on Syrians who have fled the fighting at home to determine if they have been victims of chemical weapons, a medical source said Monday.

"Samples have been taken from people wounded in Syria who have been transported to Turkey," the source said on condition of anonymity, adding that the results were not yet known.

http://beta.syriadeeply.org/op-eds/2013/05/friend-austin-tice/#.UYdbUCusgUs

My Friend Austin Tice

There is no way to sum up my friend Austin. When I try, I think of passion, tenacity, humor and, oddly enough, Taylor Swift. Austin is a hard-driving conflict correspondent, a former Marine, a student at Georgetown law school. But Taylor’s country pop is his favorite.

As I look at the calendar it’s been eight months and 23 days since I heard from Austin Tice. His last communication with me was the day he disappeared in Syria: August 13, 2012. (True to form, he tweeted this missive just two days earlier: “Spent the day at an FSA pool party with music by @taylorswift13. They even brought me whiskey. Hands down, best birthday ever.”)

It’s uncanny not to hear from him, because Austin always checks in with the friends and family he loves.

Austin is low-key, fixated more on the story than his appearance. I gave him a plain green collared shirt from Macy’s for Christmas in 2011. He smirked and said, “Do people wear shirts with pockets?"

I told him he could return it. He ended up wearing it almost daily for four months while reporting in Syria.

Later, while he was doing television interviews, he asked if I thought he needed to buy another shirt.

“I’m pretty sure people will understand you don’t have time to shop in a war zone,” I said.

http://jordantimes.com/iranian-fm-expected-in-amman-monday

Iranian FM expected in Amman Monday

Iranian Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi is expected to arrive in Amman on Monday for talks with top officials, a government source said.

The source confirmed news of the Iranian top diplomat’s visit, during which he will open the new building of the Iranian embassy in Amman and meet with officials, including Foreign Minister Nasser Judeh.

The visit comes as Jordan is drumming up support from the international community amid a huge influx of Syrian refugees, whose number has exceeded half-a-million since the Syrian conflict started in 2011. The UNHCR has said the number of refugees in Jordan could reach 1.2 million by the end of the year –– equivalent to one-fifth of the population.

The UN Security Council has held a meeting to discuss the issue upon a request from Jordan, which wants the international community to consider a safe zone in south Syria where refugees can be hosted.

https://now.mmedia.me/lb/en/nowsyrialatestnews/turkey-choosing-between-bad-and-worse-in-syria-crisis

Turkey choosing between "bad and worse" in Syria crisis

Turkey's support for the Syrian rebels in the neighboring country's civil war has led to a policy of choosing between "bad and worse", say analysts urging Ankara to come up with an impartial approach to the crisis.

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/05/06/opinion/keller-syria-is-not-iraq.html?smid=tw-share&_r=0

Syria Is Not Iraq

IN the search for an American response to the civil war in Syria, the favorite guidebook seems to be our ill-fated adventure in Iraq. We have another brutal Middle East autocrat holding power on behalf of a sectarian minority. We have another dubious cast of opposition factions competing for foreign patronage. We hear some of the same hawks — John McCain, Paul Wolfowitz — exhorting us to intervene, countered by familiar warnings of “quagmire.” We even have murky intelligence claims that the regime has used weapons of mass destruction.

This time, though, we have a president who, having opposed the costly blunder of Iraq and been vindicated, is holding back. The theme song at the National Security Council is “Won’t Get Fooled Again.”

As a rule, I admire President Obama’s cool calculation in foreign policy; it is certainly an improvement over the activist hubris of his predecessor. And frankly I’ve shared his hesitation about Syria, in part because, during an earlier column-writing interlude at the outset of the Iraq invasion, I found myself a reluctant hawk. That turned out to be a humbling error of judgment, and it left me gun-shy.

Of course, there are important lessons to be drawn from our sad experience in Iraq: Be clear about America’s national interest. Be skeptical of the intelligence. Be careful whom you trust. Consider the limits of military power. Never go into a crisis, especially one in the Middle East, expecting a cakewalk.

But in Syria, I fear prudence has become fatalism, and our caution has been the father of missed opportunities, diminished credibility and enlarged tragedy.

http://world.time.com/2013/05/05/israeli-strikes-on-syria-file/

Strikes on Syria Signal an Emboldened Israel

After two air strikes inside Syria in the space of four days, Israel remains intent on targeting advanced weapons there before they can be transferred to Hizballah in Lebanon, Israeli military officials tell TIME. “It’s not over,” says one senior officer, who spoke on condition of anonymity because Israel has not officially acknowledged either of the strikes. “This is not the last incident.”

http://blogs.aljazeera.com/topic/syria/oil-price-hits-one-month-high-above-105-supply-disruption-fears-israel-strikes-syria

Oil price hits one month high above $105 on supply disruption fears as Israel strikes Syria

http://blog.foreignpolicy.com/posts/2013/05/05/would_the_us_still_arm_an_opposition_that_used_chemical_weapons#.UYchwgLESFc.twitter

Would the U.S. still arm a Syrian opposition that used chemical weapons?

After a concerted effort to walk back -- or at least soften -- its "red line" on the use of chemical weapons by the Syrian regime, it looks as if the Obama administration may have just gotten off the hook. According to Reuters, U.N. human rights investigators now have evidence that rebel forces used sarin gas -- a revelation that, if confirmed, would vindicate the president's studied approach to the Syrian conflict and reduce the political pressure on him to act immediately.

In an interview Sunday with a Swiss-Italian television station, Carla Del Ponte, a former prosecutor for the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia and a current member of the U.N. Independent International Commission of Inquiry on Syria, said that testimony gathered by U.N. human rights researchers reveals "strong, concrete suspicions but not yet incontrovertible proof of the use of sarin gas." She added: "This was use on the part of the opposition, the rebels, not by the government authorities."

https://now.mmedia.me/lb/en/nowsyrialatestnews/fabius-calls-for-political-solution-to-syria-conflict

Fabius calls for political solution to Syria conflict

French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius called Monday for "a political solution" to the conflict in Syria, after its regime was suspected of using chemical weapons and after two Israeli raids on the country.

Israeli raids on Sunday hit three military sites outside Damascus, the second such reported attack in 48 hours, reportedly targeting weapons bound for Lebanese group Hezbollah which is an ally of President Bashar al-Assad's regime.

The Syrian government warned that the regional situation was "more dangerous" following the raid as fears grew of a spillover of the conflict.

"The situation in Syria is a real tragedy," Fabius told a press conference, adding that if it continued, it could be a "human and political disaster."

"We must try and achieve a political solution, that is the aim," Fabius said, urging the opposition Syrian National Coalition to "insist" on a political solution to the conflict and to form "a transitional government."

http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/05/06/us-syria-crisis-israel-idUSBRE94505I20130506

Israel to Assad: air strikes did not aim to help Syria rebels

Israel sought to persuade Syrian President Bashar al-Assad on Monday that its recent air strikes around Damascus did not aim to weaken him in the face of a more than two-year-old rebellion.

Officials say Israel is reluctant to take sides in Syria's civil war for fear its actions would boost Islamists who are even more hostile to Israel than the Assad family, which has maintained a stable stand off with the Jewish state for decades.

But Israel has repeatedly warned it will not let Assad's ally Hezbollah receive hi-tech weaponry. Intelligence sources said Israel attacked Iranian-supplied missiles stored near the Syrian capital on Friday and Sunday that were awaiting transfer to Hezbollah guerrilla group in neighboring Lebanon.

https://twitter.com/And_Harper

In Apr another 53,482 syrians x'd to safety of jordan. Last night's total was 1,540. Massive crowds outside UNHCR. pic.twitter.com/7Jfz38sYSI

1:58 AM

https://twitter.com/pdanahar

The war next door in syria has left real tension bubbling here beneath Beirut's apparently bustling normality.

2:26 AM

The flood of refugees from Syria & the fighting on its borders threatens to destabilize the fragile balance of Lebanese society.

2:26 AM

What people here fear most from Syrian war is that the violent sectarianism will seep across the border & poison Lebanese society too

2:26 AM

https://twitter.com/NMSyria

FYI, same person accusing Syrian rebels of using Sarin gas was investigated in 2010 over illegal evidence.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/law/2010/aug/18/carla-del-ponte-prosecution

3:21 AM

Carla Del Ponte was accused of allowing bullying and bribing of witnesses in trial of alleged Serbian warlord Vojislav Seselj.

3:21 AM

Also worth mentioning that UN investigators weren't granted entry into Syria to conduct an independent study.

3:24 AM

https://twitter.com/NOW_Syria

Syrian rebels took over several checkpoints along border with Lebanon, activists say

4:02 AM

https://twitter.com/petersbeaumont

As with anon spooks and pols who suggested Assad regime used cw, del ponte needs to give details to back suspicion it was rebels used sarin

4:03 AM

Serious allegations need evidence otherwise = gossip. a former Un prosecutor should know this. Need to hold all sarin claims to same proof

4:05 AM

https://twitter.com/MahirZeynalov

Following weeks of Syrian regime advance, opposition fighters captured an airbase near Turkey but air raids continue in Qaboun, Deir Ezzor.

4:24 AM

[visionary]

http://www.aljazeera.com/news/middleeast/2013/05/201356135529534687.html

UN: No clear proof of Syria chemical arms use

A UN team of investigators into rights abuses in Syria has stressed there is no conclusive proof of either side in the conflict using chemical weapons, despite a team member's claims to the contrary.

"The Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Syrian Arab Republic wishes to clarify that it has not reached conclusive findings as to the use of chemical weapons in Syria by any parties to the conflict," the commission said in a statement on Monday.

https://now.mmedia.me/lb/en/nowsyrialatestnews/us-no-information-syria-rebels-used-chemical-arms

US: 'No information' Syria rebels used chemical arms

The United States said Monday it was "highly skeptical" of an assertion that Syrian rebels had used chemical weapons, after a UN human rights investigator suggested the opposition had deployed sarin gas.

Washington also reiterated that Israel had every right to protect itself and to prevent sophisticated weaponry from getting into the hands of Hezbollah, following several Israeli raids on sites in Damascus.

"We are highly skeptical of suggestions that the opposition could have or did use chemical weapons," said White House spokesman Jay Carney.

"We find it highly likely that any chemical weapon use that has taken place in Syria was done by the Assad regime. And that remains our position," Carney said.

A senior US official separately said that Washington had no information to suggest Syrian rebels had "capability or the intent to deploy or use such weapons."

http://www.wired.com/dangerroom/2013/05/pentagon-assad-chemicals/

Pentagon Still Believes Assad Has Control of Syria’s Chemical Arsenal

There’s still no hard evidence about who caused the recent, deadly sarin gas attack in Syria. But the Pentagon’s “strong view at this point” is that dictator Bashar Assad maintains control of his chemical arsenal.

Pentagon spokesman George Little wouldn’t go into any specifics about the basis for that viewpoint, citing classified information. But Little said today that his “very strong belief” is that “if chemical weapons were used, it likely would have been used at the behest of the Syrian regime.” President Obama has said that use of chemical weapons would cross a “red line” in terms of U.S. intervention in the conflict, though an actual U.S. response has yet to be determined.

Little was echoing comments made Thursday by his boss, Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel, and the British defense chief that Assad still has control of the hundreds of metric tons of chemical weapons and their precursors in Syria. All that was occasioned by the White House’s acknowledgement on April 25 that as-yet-unknown parties used sarin gas in the bloody, two-year old conflict.

https://now.mmedia.me/lb/en/nowsyrialatestnews/syria-mortar-strikes-golan

Mortars fired from Syria fall in Israel-occupied Golan

Two mortar rounds fired from Syrian territory exploded inside the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights on Monday, without causing casualties or damage, AFP cited an Israeli army spokesperson as saying.

The mortars exploded in a field near the ceasefire line in the southern Golan, she added.

The rocket fire was "apparently connected to the situation inside Syria," she added, suggesting Israel was not targeted but that it was a spillover of fighting between the Syrian regime and rebels.

"The Israeli army combed the sector the rockets fell in and informed the UN forces deployed in the Golan," the spokesperson said.

Meanwhile, a resident told YNet that fierce battles were raging on the Syrian side of the Golan.

“They are shooting at each other from village to village. The booms are loud. We are located right on the fence and can see everything,” he said

https://now.mmedia.me/lb/en/nownews/pro-regime-militant-speaks-of-cleansing-banias

Pro-regime militant speaks of “cleansing” Banias

Alawite Syrian Resistance chief Mihraç Ural spoke in a video about the necessity to “cleanse” the Alawite-majority coastal region of Banias, which witnessed mass violence against Sunni residents last week.

“Banias must be soon besieged, liberated and cleansed,” Ural said in a video posted on YouTube on Sunday.

The Syrian-Turkish militant also stressed that “if required we will participate in the battles in Banias and fulfill our national duty.”

The pro-regime militant leader explained that “Banias is the only pathway for those traitors to the sea,” in reference to rebel Free Syrian Army fighters.

“Our job is to cleanse and liberate towns… for [regime] troops,” Ural added.

http://turtlebay.foreignpolicy.com/posts/2013/05/06/time_is_running_out_syria_chemical_weapons#.UYfmf8xfk0k.twitter

U.N. chemical weapons chief: time is running out to get to the scene of the crime in Syria

The Swedish scientist tapped by the United Nations to lead the hunt for evidence of alleged chemical weapons use in Syria, has informed top diplomats that he is in a race against time, and that the key signatures of a chemical attack -- traces of chemical agents captured in soil and human blood, hair, and tissues -- will be increasingly difficult to obtain as each day passes.

The passage of time is only one the many challenges confronting Ake Sellstrom, a former U.N. weapons inspector in Iraq. Sellstrom has not been allowed into Syria to collect first-hand evidence to test conflicting claims by Syria's main combatants and outside governments that chemical weapons have been used - both by the Syrian government and rebels. The inspectors -- who are operating out of offices in the Hague and staging in Cyprus -- are confronting a dizzying area of claims and counterclaims blaming both government forces and insurgents with introducing chemical agents into a civil war that has already resulted in the death of well over 70,000 people.

http://www.aljazeera.com/news/middleeast/2013/05/201356163057929353.html?utm_content=automate&utm_campaign=Trial6&utm_source=NewSocialFlow&utm_term=plustweets&utm_medium=MasterAccount

Syrian Kurds find safe haven in Iraq

The number of people fleeing the conflict in Syria continues to rise.

Iraq's central government has closed its borders to most refugees but the Kurdish region has welcomed 90 percent of those seeking shelter in the country - almost all of them Syrian Kurds.

Al Jazeera's Jane Arraf reports that living in Iraq has rekindled the refugees' nationalist spirit.

http://www.csmonitor.com/Commentary/Opinion/2013/0506/US-intervention-in-Syria-must-be-legitimate-in-eyes-of-international-law-video?cmpid=addthis_twitter#.UYgDUTzI-8c.twitter

US intervention in Syria must be legitimate in eyes of international law (+video)

Everyone seems to agree that the situation in Syria is unimaginably horrific and heartrending. But the consensus seems to break down when the subject of solutions is broached. Now, the reported use of chemical weapons (sarin gas) raises the stakes of the crisis – and outside intervention – considerably.

President Obama, who warned that the use of chemical weapons would be a “game changer,” is likely considering some kind of response beyond the nonlethal aid already given to Syria’s rebels. Alleged Israeli strikes on Damascus over the weekend may complicate matters. And many questions remain. One of the most important deals with whether US intervention in Syria would be “legal” under the UN Charter without Security Council backing.

And that legality matters. It can determine the costs of and allies involved in an intervention, set precedents for future military campaigns, and can increase or decrease the likelihood of future wars in general.

http://blogs.aljazeera.com/blog/middle-east/obamas-syria-problem

Obama's Syria problem

US President Barack Obama has a problem: he likely has more than a few, but when it comes to Syria - that is a big one. And if you want to know how big, just read between the newspaper headlines this week.

I’ll explain, but first for those who haven't been paying attention - and it turns out that is the case for a lot of Americans - the back story.

For months, Obama has been consistent in his message to the Syrian government. In Israel on March 21st, he said: "I've made it clear to Bashar al-Assad and all who follow his orders: We will not tolerate the use of chemical weapons against the Syrian people, or the transfer of those weapons to terrorists. The world is watching; we will hold you accountable."

He was a bit more blunt in January, saying: "I want to make it absolutely clear to Assad and those under his command: The world is watching. The use of chemical weapons is and would be totally unacceptable. And if you make the tragic mistake of using these weapons, there where be consequences, and you will be held accountable."

http://amanpour.blogs.cnn.com/2013/05/06/israel-we-do-not-hide-our-red-lines/

Israel: We do not hide our red lines

Syria may call Israel’s airstrikes near Damascus this weekend a "declaration of war," but if you ask Israeli officials, it's all overblown.

"There are no winds of war," Israeli commander Yair Golan told reporters while out on a jog.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu isn't even in Israel – he’s in Beijing – adding to the impression that all is in hand.

Indeed, Israel is bending over backward to convince Syria that it was simply going after Hezbollah-bound arms from Iran, and that its airstrikes were not to support the rebels.

Still, dozens of Syrian soldiers were killed, according to the opposition Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, citing medical sources.

http://security.blogs.cnn.com/2013/05/06/foreign-relations-chair-moves-bill-to-arm-syrian-rebels/

Foreign Relations chair moves bill to arm Syrian rebels

The Democratic chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee offered legislation Monday that would allow the United States to provide lethal weapons to the Syrian opposition, a step President Barack Obama has yet to publically endorse.

Sen. Robert Menendez's bill would allow U.S.-provided arms, military training and supplies to go to groups that have been vetted and cleared, and establish a $250 million fund to help support a political transition in Syria, where a civil war has been waged for over 2 years.

http://www.economist.com/news/united-states/21577066-horrors-syria-expose-wishful-thinking-heart-presidents-foreign?fsrc=scn/tw_ec/dithering_over_syria

Dithering over Syria

RECENT history shows that the 21st century is an age of interdependence. That was what Barack Obama told students in Cairo soon after taking office in 2009, in a speech intended to heal rifts with the Muslim world and start restoring America’s image after the mistakes of the Bush years.

America has learned that problems must be tackled with the help of others, Mr Obama humbly reported. He offered examples of global ties that bind. When one nation pursues a nuclear weapon the risks rise for all nations, he said in a nod at Iran. When violent extremists operate in one stretch of mountains, people can be endangered across an ocean. When innocents in Bosnia and Darfur are slaughtered, that is “a stain on our collective conscience”. Interdependence, the president suggested after a pause for applause, is what it means to share the modern world.

http://www.theonion.com/articles/syrian-electronic-army-has-a-little-fun-before-ine,32324/

Syrian Electronic Army Has A Little Fun Before Inevitable Upcoming Deaths At Hands Of Rebels

After hacking into The Onion’s Twitter account earlier today, members of the Syrian Electronic Army confirmed that the organization simply wanted to have a little fun before soon dying at the hands of rebel forces.

“We figured that before they bust in here and execute every single one of us, we might as well have a good time and post some silly tweets about Israel from a major media outlet’s feed,” said a spokesperson from the pro-Assad group, adding that he and his cohorts “had a few good laughs” and are now fully prepared for their painful and undoubtedly horrific deaths in the coming days.

http://www.latimes.com/news/world/worldnow/la-fg-wn-israel-syria-us-20130505,0,7802333.story

Israeli airstrikes may have exposed Syrian flaw, U.S. officials say

Recent Israeli strikes inside Syria may have exposed weaknesses in the regime’s air defenses and could embolden the U.S. and its allies to take more steps to aid rebels fighting the regime there, said lawmakers on Sunday.

“The Russian-supplied air defense systems are not as good as said,” Sen. Patrick J. Leahy (D-Vt.) said on NBC’s "Meet the Press." Leahy, who heads the appropriations subcommittee on foreign operations, said the Israeli defense forces were using American-made F-16 Fighting Falcon jets to launch the missiles against Syrian targets.

“Keep in mind the Israelis are using weapons supplied by us,” Leahy said. “They have enormous prowess with those weapons.”

https://twitter.com/emmasuleiman

Jordanian soldier warming up the hands of Syrian refugee baby after making it to the border Syria Jordan pic.twitter.com/FE6HqJJQCU

10:48 AM

https://twitter.com/steveholland1

WH's Carney, pushing back against NYT story, says Obama's use of "red line" on Syria was deliberate and agreed to by advisers.

1:18 PM

https://twitter.com/AP_Ken_Thomas

WASHINGTON (AP) _ White House says it's highly likely Assad regime, not rebels, behind any chemical weapons use.

1:20 PM

https://twitter.com/Brown_Moses

If the US did arm the Syrian opposition the best method would be what they've done with the Croatian arms, stuff that's hard to get ammo for

3:31 PM

https://twitter.com/PJCrowley

If the U.S. intervenes militarily in Syria, the end game is deposing Assad, just as the end game in Libya was deposing Qaddafi.

4:45 PM

http://edition.cnn.com/video/#/video/world/2013/05/06/exp-hitto-syria-amanpour.cnn

Negotiated end to Syria's civil war?

Christiane Amanpour asks Syrian opposition Prime Minister Ghassan Hitto about about the possibility for negotiations.

[visionary]

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=653300324697107&l=46778d8aa1

Local Coordination Committees in Syria

By the end of Monday the Local Committees documented 90 martyrs, including 5 woman, 7 children, and 3 martyrs under torture: 30 martyrs were reported in Damascus and its suburbs; 18 in Aleppo; 13 in Daraa; 9 in Homs; 6 in Hama; 5 in Idlib; 4 in Banyas; 4 in Lattakia; 3 in Raqqa; and 2 in Dier Ezzor

http://www.extremeskins.com/showthread.php?357480-Yahoo-Assad-predicts-disaster-if-West-meddles-in-Syria&p=9046975&viewfull=1#post9046975

At least 62,708 people killed so far in Syria

https://csis.org/publication/syrias-uncertain-air-defense-capabilities

Syria's Uncertain Air Defense Capabilities

Over the weekend of May 3-5, Israel carried out airstrikes against targets in Syria, specifically against a shipment of missiles believed to be headed towards Lebanon. This is the third set of Israeli strikes that has hit Syrian targets without reports of effective Syrian resistance or Israeli losses since the start of 2013. It also follows on the successful Israeli air strikes that destroyed a nuclear reactor under construction in the Deir ez-Zor region on Syria on September 6, 2007.

Israel’s success does indicate that the purely military risks in enforcing some form of no fly or no move zone are now more limited that when the fighting in Syria began. At the same time, this does not mean that Syria could not put up a defense or that the US could simply rely on a few strikes or threats to either destroy Syria’s air defense or intimidate it into complying with US demands.

The practical problem is that we do not know how many stand-off weapons were used, how far the Israeli Air Force (IAF) aircraft had to penetrate, or the real-world readiness of Syrian air defenses.

We do not know if Syria has seriously tried to halt IAF attacks. Syria has not been able to use these systems effectively against Israel since the early 1980s. Syria may be willing to wait out limited IAF strikes rather than reveal the electronic order of battle and send signals that would help Israel develop improved methods of suppression during a limited attack.

We know most of the Syrian longer-range surface-based air defenses are still largely active and provide overlapping coverage of much of the country. But they also have aging surface-to-air missiles (SAM) that have been only partially upgraded and are vulnerable to jamming and other electronic countermeasures, as well as antiradiation missiles.

https://now.mmedia.me/lb/en/nowsyrialatestnews/experts-regional-players-openly-engaging-in-syria-war

Experts: Regional players openly engaging in Syria war

Regional players are intervening more and more openly in Syria, some emboldened by the chaos created by the conflict, others desperate to prevent the fall of the regime, experts say.

The conflict between President Bashar al-Assad's government and rebel forces has divided the Middle East, with his allies -- Iran and Lebanon's Hezbollah -- lined up against Gulf states which back the uprising.

Israel has publicly refrained from backing one side or the other, but warned that the turmoil must not result in the transfer of advanced weapons to arch-foe Hezbollah.

Over the past week, the Jewish state has reportedly twice carried out air strikes against Syrian military sites, with senior Israeli sources saying they targeted Iranian weapons bound for the Shiite group.

The strikes followed an admission by Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah that the group's members are fighting in Syria.

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/05/07/world/middleeast/white-house-sticks-to-cautious-path-on-syria.html?hp&_r=1&

White House Holds Firm on Cautious Path in Syria Crisis

The White House insisted Monday that it would not be thrown off its cautious approach to Syria, despite Israeli military strikes near Damascus and new questions about the use of chemical weapons in the civil war there

The administration cast doubt on an assertion by a United Nations official that the Syrian rebels, not the government of President Bashar al-Assad, had used the nerve agent sarin. And it backed Israel’s right to strike Syrian targets to disrupt shipments of weapons from Iran to the Islamic militant group Hezbollah.

For President Obama, both developments muddied a crisis that is already rife with complexity. But there was little evidence that they did anything to affect what his aides say is a deep reluctance to be drawn further into a conflict that has killed more than 70,000 people.

http://e-ring.foreignpolicy.com/posts/2013/05/07/odierno_syria_rebels_will_prevail_but_sequester_makes_us_intervention_risky#.UYkiosmVUvh.twitter

Odierno: Syria rebels will prevail, but sequester makes U.S. intervention risky

The U.S. Army's top officer said that force readiness is "degrading significantly" enough that if President Barack Obama decides to put boots on the ground in Syria, soldiers may not be fully prepared for the job if they don't move out by the end of this summer.

Gen. Ray Odierno, Army chief of staff, said he believes the Free Syrian Army will prevail because the rebels have been able to win and hold territory.

"I kind of believe its not a matter of if, it's a matter of when," Odierno said of the FSA's chances to topple Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.

From a military perspective, Odierno did not offer advice to the rebels, which the U.S. support officially and with non-lethal aid, but said he was encouraged by what they've been able to accomplish against Syria's forces.

"I think from what I've seen is they have made some significant gains. I think they are controlling the territory. It makes you think that, you know, it's going to be difficult for the regime over time to survive," Odierno said, at a Defense Writers Group briefing with reporters in Washington, on Tuesday.

http://www.aljazeera.com/news/middleeast/2013/05/20135714319338927.html

UN peacekeepers seized near Syria border

Four UN peackeepers are being held in the so-called Area of Limitation between Syria and Israel, where neither Israeli nor Syrian forces can operate.

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on Tuesday strongly condemned the detention of UN peacekeepers monitoring the ceasefire line between Syria and the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights and called for their immediate release, his spokesman said.

"The Secretary-General calls on all parties to respect the United Nations Disengagement Observer Force (UNDOF) freedom of movement and safety and security," Martin Nesirky, Ban's spokesman told reporters.

While a UN spokeswoman said that the organisation did not know who had detained the peacekeepers, Reuters news agency reported that a Syrian rebel group had claimed responsibility.

The Yarmouk Martyrs Brigade said earlier on Tuesday they were holding the four Filipino peacekeepers after clashes in the area had put them in danger, Reuters reported.

Al Jazeera's Rula Amin, reporting from Beirut, said that she had heard from rebel brigades in the area.

"They said that they [the peacekeepers] are not hostages. They did not kidnap them. They simply took them because they want to save their lives," she said.

This stupid dumbass brigade, why do they keep doing this ****?

Don't they realize how this looks?

On the other hand, I don't think they'll hurt them.

It is interesting though how public these groups tend to be when they take someone, compared to if Assad or a pro-regime militia takes someone and you generally never hear from them again...if they aren't killed right away.

http://www.vice.com/en_uk/read/talking-disneyworld-with-terrorists-in-syria?utm_source=vicetwitter

Chatting About 'Game of Thrones' with Syria's Most Feared Islamic Militants

“Ameriki?” the jihadi asked, pointing at me with a bemused look on his face. I'd just approached him at a house that serves as the local base for Jabhat al-Nusra (JAN), the most feared Islamic militant group operating in Syria. A month ago, his colleagues took over a street right next to my fixer's house, blocking it off and hoisting up the black flag that serves as their symbol. They spend their time milling about outside, sometimes riding off in pickup trucks, the beds overflowing with black-clad young men holding RPGs and AK-47s.

Accompanied by a few Free Syrian Army rebels, I was still quite apprehensive about approaching al-Nusra. More experienced journalists had warned me to be wary of them and the Obama administration had recently designated them as a terrorist group. While the al-Qaeda link hadn't yet been made official, it was confirmed a couple of days later. Additionally, I had awoken that morning to the news that the FBI had just arrested Eric Harroun, an American who allegedly fought with al-Nusra in Syria.

Al-Nusra and other Islamic groups showed up in the Syrian border town of Ras Al Ayn in November, and – along with the Free Syrian Army – forced out the remnants of the Assad regime in fierce, block-to-block fighting. Afterwards, this coalition fought against Syria's most powerful Kurdish militia, the Popular Protection Units (YPG). The fighting lasted months before a ceasefire was arranged, and the city was essentially divided in two, with the YPG operating on one side and the FSA and al-Nusra on the other. More recently, al-Nusra had even clashed with an FSA brigade in the nearby town of Tal Abyad, but peace was restored shortly after.

Al-Nusra's presence in Syria is a matter of some controversy to locals. Fayez Durbas wasn’t a religious man before the war here started. Clad in a short-sleeve Adidas shirt, sweats and sporting a closely cropped beard, Fayez told me he's a member of the Fatah brigade in the Free Syrian Army, but thought that he'd soon join Jabhat al-Nusra. “They are working for God, not for money,” he said. “They give food to the people.”

Durbas is originally from the countryside of Aleppo, but now works a border checkpoint in Ras Al Ayn. He credited al-Nusra with the truce in the city and said that he’s very happy with the way they’ve stepped in – a happiness shared by many of his friends, who weren't religious previously either, but are now also turning to al-Nusra. “When they see the West and all the world not giving help, they go to Jabhat,” Durbas told me.

https://twitter.com/pdanahar

Lebanese official told me West underestimating political impact of refugee influx here 'they are treating it like a food & beverage issue!'

5:47 AM MAy 6

Real gloom among rebels I've met in Beirut that lack of western support for FSA has given Assad new momentum in battle for Damascus

8:18 AM May 6

Arms supply to FSA was frozen by West for first 3 months of 2013 to try a political solution but allowed Assad regime to get off back foot

8:20 AM May 6

https://twitter.com/Charles_Lister

Liwa al-Haq, Katiba al-Ansar & Katiba Shuhada Baba Amr seize 2 checkpoints in Homs, on the Syria-Lebanon border:

2:19 AM

https://twitter.com/rozalinachomsky

resistance fighters have liberated brigades 23 & 29 in al-qunaytirah

4:29 AM

https://twitter.com/tweets4peace

Loose Alqusair you loose Homs...northern Homs suburbs and north Syria will pay for leaving parts of Homs to fall 1 by 1. It's too late.

12:39 PM

Let rebels of north Syria carry on holding arms back from Homs & watching our main suburb fall to Hezbollah ... carry on watching silently.

12:37 PM

Alqusair main field hospital was not hit however medical clinics surrounding were,this led to loss of huge amounts of medicines. The shelling hit after the clinics closed so luckily there was no loss of life but 1 injury. Urgent need for replacement medicines.

Main need in Alqusair after loss is "Orthopedic plates and intramedullary wires and screws" any help is appreciated.

1:19PM

[visionary]

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/sns-rt-us-syria-crisis-russia-usabre9460kn-20130507,0,2167204.story

Seeking Syria accord, Kerry tells Putin of common ground

The U.S. secretary of state sought Russian help in ending Syria's civil war on Tuesday, telling President Vladimir Putin in Moscow that common interest in a stable Middle East could bridge divisions among the big powers.

Putin, however, kept John Kerry waiting three hours before their meeting at the Kremlin, fiddled with a pen while his guest spoke and made no mention in his own public remarks of the conflict in Syria, which has generated some of the frostiest exchanges between Washington and Moscow since the Cold War.

Yet with the killing now in a third year and no end in sight as U.N. intervention remains stymied by international arguments, Kerry struck a positive tone as he set about trying to narrow differences sufficiently to agree a plan for a settlement that proved out of reach at talks in Geneva almost a year ago:

"The United States believes that we share some very significant common interests with respect to Syria - stability in the region, not having extremists creating problems throughout the region and elsewhere," Kerry told Putin.

http://en.rian.ru/politics/20130507/181015154.html

Washington Shares Moscow’s Stance on Syria - Kerry

US Secretary of State John Kerry assured Russian President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday that Washington shares Moscow’s approach to the resolution of the Syria conflict.

"The United States believes that we share some very significant common interests with respect to Syria – stability in the region, not having extremists creating problems throughout the region and elsewhere," Kerry said in the Kremlin.

"It is my hope that today we’ll be able to dig into that a little bit and see if we can find some common ground."

http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/europe/kerry-appeals-to-russia-for-help-on-syria-but-little-sign-putin-will-agree/2013/05/07/8163298a-b73a-11e2-92f3-f291801936b8_story.html

U.S., Russia pledge to work together for a Syrian transitional government

Russia and the United States pledged Tuesday to work together to bring the embattled Assad regime together with Syrian rebels and opposition groups seeking his ouster, in hopes of brokering a peaceful end to a conflict that has killed more than 70,000.

The two nations, which have backed opposing sides in the deepening civil war, said they will jointly push for a new transitional government in Syria. Announcing the new partnership, the top U.S. and Russian diplomats left the fate of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad vague. But Russian support for Assad appeared softer amid new evidence that the regime may have used chemical weapons.

“We are not interested in the fate of certain persons,” Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said at a midnight press conference with visiting Secretary of State John F. Kerry. “We are interested in the fate of Syria itself.”

Kerry did not repeat the stock U.S. demand that “Assad must go,” although he said it is impossible for him to imagine how Assad could remain after accusations of atrocities.

“I’m not going to decide that tonight, and I’m not going to decide that in the end,” Kerry said.

https://now.mmedia.me/lb/en/nowsyrialatestnews/iranian-fm-heading-to-damascus-source-says

Iranian FM meets Assad, diplomatic source says

Iran's Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi, whose country is one of Syria's closest allies, held talks with President Bashar al-Assad on a previously unannounced visit to Damascus on Tuesday, an Iranian diplomatic source said.

"Salehi arrived in Damascus from Amman and was received by President Bashar al-Assad," the source said.

In the Jordanian capital, Iran's top diplomat called for dialogue between the Syrian regime and "peaceful" opposition groups, warning that the impact of the conflict would affect the entire region.

Salehi's visit comes after Israel reportedly carried out two separate attacks against Syrian sites last week.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2013/may/07/russia-us-syria-conference?CMP=twt_gu

Russia and US call for Syria conference with both sides

The United States and Russia have pledged to set aside more than two years of differences over Syria's civil war, saying they'd convene an international conference later this month to try to corral President Bashar al-Assad's regime and the rebels into talks on a political transition.

Yet even as leaders from both countries hailed their joint strategy as proof of enhanced US-Russian cooperation, it was unclear how their plan might now prove effective in ending a war that has become even more dangerous in recent months, with accusations the Assad regime has used chemical weapons, Israeli air strikes on weapons convoys and American threats to begin arming the rebels.

The outcome of more than five hours of meetings in Moscow involving US secretary of state John Kerry and President Vladimir Putin and foreign minister Sergey Lavrov of Russia essentially brings diplomatic efforts to halt Syria's violence to a point they were about a year ago. The former Cold War foes, who have split bitterly over how to halt the conflict, said they would work to revive a transition plan they laid out in June 2012, yet never gained momentum with Syria's government or the opposition. They said this time they were committed to bringing the Syrian government and rebels to the negotiating table.

Speaking about the US strategy, Kerry suggested the Obama administration would consider holding off on any possible plan to provide weapons to vetted units of the Syrian opposition if a peace strategy takes hold in the coming weeks.

http://thenextweb.com/insider/2013/05/07/the-nation-of-syria-is-disconnected-from-the-internet-again/?utm_campaign=social%20media&awesm=tnw.to_f0eU1&utm_source=Twitter&utm_medium=share%20button&utm_content=The%20nation%20of%20Syria%20is%20disconnected%20from%20the%20Internet%20again

The nation of Syria has been disconnected from the Internet again

On Tuesday at around 18:45 UTC, all Internet connections between Syria and the outside world were severed. It’s currently unclear if the outage is an accident, part of a short test (as the country has performed in the past), or a longer attempt to censor citizens.

Umbrella Security Labs first reported that OpenDNS resolvers saw a significant drop in traffic from Syria. On closer inspection, the security firm discovered that the Middle Eastern country had largely disappeared from the Internet.

Here is a chart of DNS traffic from and to Syria (the small amount of outbound traffic depicted indicates Umbrella’s DNS servers trying to reach DNS servers in the country):

https://twitter.com/shaunwalker7

Kerry: "I'm not going to stand here and decide that tonight [that it's impossible for Assad to stay on]" Wow, interesting...

3:43 PM

https://twitter.com/JMiller_EA

Snap Analysis: Kerry willing to split Syria up, stop arming the rebels, and negotiate with Assad http://bit.ly/10gOWew

4:14 PM

https://twitter.com/RanaKabbani54

Would Kerry + Lavrov shamelessly talk of conferences if their children had suffered a fate like those slaughtered in massacreofbaniyas?

4:22 PM

Those babies who were stabbed, burnt and thrown on rubbish heaps by Assad regime should haunt history forever. banyasmassacre

4:15 PM

https://twitter.com/ian_black

Note immediately sceptical reactions to Kerry call for talks between Syria opposition and Assad. And that's an understatement.

4:28 PM

https://twitter.com/BSyria

I think God should intervene by now.

3:47 PM

Problem now is the America will put further pressure on arms suppliers to slow the flow of arms even more.

3:50 PM

May the children of Banyas have mercy on our souls.

4:05 PM

Assad is preparing for the conference by turning off the internet across Syria.

4:32 PM

Here is Khatib's response: "Syrians: Be careful of squandering your revolution in international conference halls"

4:36 PM

https://twitter.com/pdanahar

Centre of Damascus looks quiet because the fighting is in the suburbs & the rebels, in the capital anyway, are at present on the back foot.

9:45 AM

It's clear from this trip that none of the groups working on a resolution of the Syrian crisis has any idea how to do it. None of them.

12:55 PM

Am listening to the sporadic sound of mortar rounds landing in the Damascus suburbs on the city limits

5:04 PM

https://twitter.com/Basma_

Only activists who can afford to install SAT internet are online. Family, friends and most of the hardworking activists are offline

5:26 PM

https://twitter.com/LeShaque

This is not a localized internet blackout, this is Syria withdrawing itself from the internet map

5:33 PM

Border Gateway Protocols serve as any country's connection to the internet. Syria disconnected its BGPs, removing itself from the internet.

5:36 PM

Only happened once before in November 2012

5:37 PM

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=653760201317786&l=842942a9db

Local Coordination Committees in Syria

By the end of Tuesday the Local Committees documented 128 martyrs, including 5 women, 4 children and 1 martyr under torture: 46 martyrs were reported in Daraa including 12 martyrs were found in a mass grave in Sheikh Mesken; 35 in Damascus and its suburbs; 9 in Hama; 9 in Qunaitra; 9 in Aleppo; 8 in Homs; 7 in Idlib; and 4 in Deir Ezzor

http://www.extremeskins.com/showthread.php?357480-Yahoo-Assad-predicts-disaster-if-West-meddles-in-Syria&p=9046975&viewfull=1#post9046975

At least 62,836 people killed so far in Syria

[visionary]

http://www.npr.org/2013/05/06/181530768/syrians-bused-to-jordanian-refugee-camps

Thousands Of Syrians Ride Buses To Refugee Camps

This is MORNING EDITION from NPR News. Good morning. I'm David Greene.

Syria has accused Israel of flagrantly violating international law after a series of airstrikes on targets near the Syrian capital over the weekend. Now, Israel has not officially accepted responsibility, but Israeli sources say the targets included Iranian-made missiles bound for Hezbollah fighters in neighboring Lebanon.

As the civil war rages on inside Syria, the rebels trying to overthrow President Bashar al-Assad have made significant gains in the southern part of the country. Rebels now control most of the border crossings into Jordan - which is one of the main exit points for thousands of refugees fleeing the civil war.

NPR's Deborah Amos drove up to the Syrian border and she sent this report.

http://beta.syriadeeply.org/op-eds/2013/05/female-fighter-mans/#.UYk49cqsrIW

A Female Fighter, Under a Man’s Name

It was my third trip to the Turkey-Syria border, the same trip on which I would enter Syria for the first time since leaving Aleppo in 2011. Next to me, Abu-Sayeed lit another cigarette and gave me an inquisitive look. What was her story, a female fighter going by a man’s name?

The first thing to know is that she is not a delicate flower. Before the revolution, Abu-Sayeed had a government job and taught karate on the side. Like many Syrians, she trained to use an AK-47 at school. Now she’s stationed in the Damascus suburb of Harasta, where most civilians have fled. Abu-Sayeed estimates that over the past nine months, 80 percent of her suburb has been destroyed from the unrelenting pounding of artillery.

We met in in a friend’s apartment in Gaziantep, Turkey, where I found myself in the midst of a small gathering of activists smoking cigarettes and drinking tea late into the night. On meeting Abu-Sayeed, our discussion started light, with little personal information being given away. Her cousin was also present, and together they are part of a battalion of the Free Syrian Army (FSA) located in the increasingly hard-hit suburbs of Damascus.

Abu-Sayeed is not just a fighter. Like her male counterparts in the FSA, she wears many hats. In the past two years, she says, she has slept very little. She is motivated by the adrenaline of the revolution’s early days and by a certainty that the opposition can rebuild a new, free Syria.

http://blogs.state.gov/2013/05/article/saving-syrian-university-student-s-life

Saving a Syrian University Student’s Life

http://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/ar/contents/articles/opinion/2013/05/pyd-pkk-syria-kurdistan.html

Kurdish Group Gaining Autonomy In Northern Syria

QAMISHLI, Syria — Bilingual signs, “Western Kurdistan” (Rojava in Kurdish) on car license plates, Kurdish security forces (Asayish), Kurdish courts, municipalities, flags, unions and schools teaching Kurdish. This is the new look of the Kurdish-majority Syrian northern regions, the outcome of the withdrawal of regime security forces in July 2012 and the result of a delicate coexistence between Baathist and Kurdish institutions.

Syrian Kurds now have the chance to reap the benefits from the stalemate between the regime and the Arab opposition. But all this would not have been possible without a certain degree of connivance with the regime by the main Kurdish militia on the ground — the Democratic Union Party (PYD), which is affiliated with the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK). Regardless of the de facto autonomy achieved and the growing popularity of the PYD, some fear the authoritarian features of the party’s agenda.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887323687604578469262122785442.html?mod=wsj_share_tweet

Pentagon Plans for the Worst in Syria

http://e-ring.foreignpolicy.com/posts/2013/05/07/how_much_would_a_no_fly_zone_over_a_syria_cost#.UYmr4BdRDFA.twitter

How much would a no-fly zone over Syria cost?

Tomahawk cruise missiles, fighter jets, aerial refueling tankers, flying hours -- the taxpayer cost for creating and holding a no-fly zone over Syria seems like an expensive operation, right?

Not so fast. According to defense budget analysts, creating a no-fly zone over Syria may be far easier -- and cheaper, as military operations go -- than top brass are letting on.

There are several factors that contribute to the cost of a no-fly zone, but in short it all depends on just how far the United States and its allies are willing to take it. The size and duration of the operation are top factors. But there's more than one way to keep Syria's Air Force out of the skies.

"I get why people get so amped up about no-fly zones" said Christopher Harmer, senior naval analyst at the Institute for the Study of War. People often tend to think of Iraq, he told the E-Ring, and the 12 year-long complex, high-demand Operation Southern Watch and Operation Northern Watch. Those missions cost an estimated $1 billion per year, combined.

But that was a "full" no-fly zone controlling a large adversarial territory. It would take far less to protect the smaller skies over Syria, which maintains far less air power, defense analysts believe.

https://now.mmedia.me/lb/en/nowsyrialatestnews/obama-us-has-moral-obligation-in-syria

Obama: US has 'moral' obligation in Syria

US President Barack Obama said Tuesday he had both a moral and a national security obligation to stop the slaughter in Syria, but warned he could not just act on a "hope and a prayer."

"I think that understandably, there's a desire for easy answers," Obama said, referring to domestic critics who are demanding a more proactive US role, including an operation to arm rebel groups and a no-fly zone.

"My job is to constantly measure our very real and legitimate humanitarian and national security interests in Syria, but measuring those against my bottom line, which is, what's in the best interests of America's security."

Obama said that he could not make decisions "based on a hope and a prayer, but on hard-headed analysis in terms of what will actually make us safer and stabilize the region."

"I think that we have both a moral obligation and a national security interest in, A, ending the slaughter in Syria but, B, also ensuring that we've got a stable Syria that is representative of all the Syrian people and is not creating chaos for its neighbors," he said.

http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/05/08/us-syria-crisis-town-idUSBRE94703H20130508

Assad's forces capture strategic town in southern Syria

The Syrian army captured a strategic southern town from rebel fighters on Wednesday after a ferocious two-month bombardment, in an advance likely to result in President Bashar al-Assad's forces regaining control of an international transit route, opposition sources said.

The fall of Khirbet Ghazaleh, situated in the Hauran Plain on the highway to Jordan, came after a Jordanian-backed Syrian opposition military council failed to supply weapons to the town's defenders.

"Assad's forces started advancing from the north and west and I can still go back to Khirbet Ghazaleh but I cannot do anything," Abu Yacoub, commander of the Martyrs of Khirbet Ghazaleh brigade, told Reuters by telephone from Hauran.

"I can get a thousand fighters back but it is useless because I don't have ammunition in my hands."

Abu Yacoub said he had contacted Ahmad Nemaah, head of the Jordanian backed military council, before ordering the rebel fighters to withdraw, but Nemaah told him he could not do anything.

"Tomorrow, the big tragedy will happen, the regime's supply route to Deraa will reopen and the officers will go back and ammunition will be resupplied and the bombardment will resume," said Abu Yacoub. "For 61 days we had choked them by controlling Khirbet Ghazaleh."

Abu Bakr an activist in the nearby Ghweireh village said most civilians had fled Khirbet Ghazaleh but fear was growing that the remaining residents would face summary executions, similar to massacres in other towns overrun by Assad's forces.

"The people of the area are now fleeing because they fear the army will sweep across the region," he said. "The Free Syrian Army will continue to withdraw and won't face the army along the highway because they no longer have ammunition."

https://twitter.com/RulaAmin

Mayyadeen TV qouting Salehi telling Assad: we are with you and won't allow that syria falls in the hands of the US & zionists

1:49 PM

Syrian FM in a joint presser with Iranian FM says we are ready to confront the agression

1:50 PM

Salehi met w/ Assad after meeting Jordanian king in Amman earlier today, tension was clear in his meetings w/ Jordanian officials

1:52 PM

Very defiant comments from Assad & Salehi, is it to cover for lack of response to Israeli strikes or laying ground for an escalation

2:03 PM

https://twitter.com/RevolutionSyria

You don’t negotiate with killers; you bring them to justice. Assad & gangs must be and will be brought to justice.

6:05 PM

Breaking: A scud missile has been fired from the Kerto in Tartous countryside and passed over TalKallouch

6:45 PM

Breaking: A Scud missile has hit the village of Minnegh in Aleppo countryside.

7:05 PM

https://twitter.com/AlCazanova

Pro-Assad apologists romanticize Syria as a perfect utopia while turning a blind eye to the deep poverty on the streets of Damascus & Aleppo

12:03 AM

https://twitter.com/BSyria

Assad was extremely emboldened by yesterday's conference plan. The massacres we will witness from now on r going to be worst of the worst.

12:15 AM

Yes they r terrorists & I personally dislike them, but in practical terms, JN has shown more compassion than far more powerful Friends of Syria.

12:26 AM

Today was a triumph for Assad and possibly Nusra.

US and Russia agreed to waste time with more conferences.

The FSA ran out of ammo in an important town in Daraa and is forced to retreat and leave the town to Assad.

The regime cut the internet in Syria, so only those with sattelite connections can get online.

Oh and Assad launched scuds at some villages in Aleppo for fun.

https://twitter.com/MouriKawji

These children are celebrating their father's...birthday...by his grave. So heartbreaking pic.twitter.com/VH9Wjxedqd

1:04 AM

[visionary]

http://www.hhassan.com/2013/05/saudi-arabia-takes-over-from-qatar-to.html

Saudi Arabia takes over from Qatar to solve Syria's crisis

There seem to be some important developments with regard to the Syrian opposition and regional patronage over the past few days. Saudi Arabia appears to have taken over from Qatar in dealing with the Syrian opposition, as great powers begin to agree on general principles for a solution in Syria.

According to my sources, 12 members of Syria’s National Coalition met yesterday in Riyadh with Saudi authorities to discuss the coalition and ways to coordinate with the kingdom. The members, including Mohammed Farouk Tayfour, the deputy leader of Syria's Brotherhood, agreed to let go of Ghassan Hitto, who was chosen as the head of the opposition’s interim government in March. His appointment was widely seen as orchestrated by the Brotherhood, leading several prominent members to suspend their membership at the coalition.

The opposition met with Saudi authorities for two days and discussed ways to improve communications between them. Riyadh, contrary to popular belief, has not been working closely with the Syrian opposition, especially the political bodies, as the kingdom believed they were dominated by the Muslim Brotherhood.

The members also agreed to expand the coalition’s representativeness to include minorities, particularly the Kurdish forces. Riyadh also promised to step up political and material support for the opposition.

Hmmm, I wonder if the rest of the coalition agrees with this.

It seems like Hitto has still been doing a lot.

I don't really get the problem with him, and he seems pretty decent so far.

And he has been working pretty hard to help people in Syria and Syrian refugees.

Maybe they'll move him to some other position.

http://www.businessinsider.com/a-few-iraqis-think-syria-is-the-apocalypse-2013-5

Assad's Latest Recruits Are Literally Trying To Bring On The Apocalypse

There's a small group of Shia "Twelvers" who think that if they fight on the side of Bashar Al Assad in Syria, their messiah will appear and Armageddon will begin.

Hassan Hassan, a Middle East scholar and columnist blogged about these peculiar fellows recently and, in particular, a video they posted online:

[They posted a YouTube video] showing a crowd of Iraqi Shia beating their chests and chanting.

The chants suggest that there are signs that Shia's hidden imam is due to appear. The signs include the Syrian uprising and the rise of the Syrian rebels. The chants seem to call on Shia worshipers to go to Syria to fight alongside the Assad regime.

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/05/09/world/middleeast/syria-diplomacy-kerry-aid.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0

As Syria Diplomacy Gains, Kerry to Announce More Aid

As new reports of violence flowed from Syria, Secretary of State John Kerry telephoned leaders in Europe and the Middle East on Wednesday to lay the ground for a conference between rebels and the Syrian government, sponsored by the United States and Russia, that he hoped would begin within a month.

Mr. Kerry and his Russian counterpart, Foreign Minister Sergey V. Lavrov, announced a new diplomatic effort to end the two-year-old Syrian conflict after intense discussions on Tuesday in Moscow. Mr. Kerry then flew to Rome, where aides said he would announce on Thursday a 25 percent increase in American humanitarian aid to Syrian civilians whose lives have been upended by the crisis. The additional aid, according to a State Department statement, would bring the American total to about $510 million.

The American ambassador to Syria, Robert S. Ford, who accompanied Mr. Kerry during his talks in Moscow, flew to Istanbul to press representatives of the Syrian opposition to agree to talks with an envoy of President Bashar al-Assad of Syria. There were initial indications, at least, that both sides were not opposed to the idea.

http://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/comment/2013/05/why-did-syria-shut-down-the-internet.html?mbid=social_retweet

Why Did Syria Shut Down the Internet?

The World Wide Web became a little less worldwide on Tuesday afternoon. Suddenly, Syria disappeared, at least from the perspectives of Google and Akamai. Nineteen hours later, it appears to have come back on. How was it turned off? Four fibre-optic lines carry Internet traffic in and out of the country. Perhaps, as the government says, the rebels cut them all. Or perhaps four scavengers simultaneously digging for copper wrenched their spades in at the same time. But most likely, President Bashar al-Assad did the deed. The government also flipped the kill switch last fall, and security firms report that the shutdown comes from sophisticated engineering, not coördinated slicing or accidental shovelling.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2013/may/08/free-syrian-army-rebels-defect-islamist-group

Free Syrian Army rebels defect to Islamist group Jabhat al-Nusra

Syria's main armed opposition group, the Free Syrian Army (FSA), is losing fighters and capabilities to Jabhat al-Nusra, an Islamist organisation with links to al-Qaida that is emerging as the best-equipped, financed and motivated force fighting Bashar al-Assad's regime.

Evidence of the growing strength of al-Nusra, gathered from Guardian interviews with FSA commanders across Syria, underlines the dilemma for the US, Britain and other governments as they ponder the question of arming anti-Assad rebels.

John Kerry, the US secretary of state, said that if negotiations went ahead between the Syrian government and the opposition – as the US and Russia proposed on Tuesday – "then hopefully [arming the Syrian rebels] would not be necessary".

The agreement between Washington and Moscow creates a problem for the UK and France, which have proposed lifting or amending the EU arms embargo on Syria to help anti-Assad forces. The Foreign Office welcomed the agreement as a "potential step forward" but insisted: "Assad and his close associates have lost all legitimacy. They have no place in the future of Syria." Opposition leaders were sceptical about prospects for talks if Assad remained in power.

Illustrating their plight, FSA commanders say that entire units have gone over to al-Nusra while others have lost a quarter or more of their strength to them recently.

"Fighters feel proud to join al-Nusra because that means power and influence," said Abu Ahmed, a former teacher from Deir Hafer who now commands an FSA brigade in the countryside near Aleppo. "Al-Nusra fighters rarely withdraw for shortage of ammunition or fighters and they leave their target only after liberating it," he added. "They compete to carry out martyrdom [suicide] operations."

http://t.co/EGn7bGMR54

Syria opposition welcomes talks but says Assad regime must go

- FT.com

Syria’s main opposition group says it welcomes international efforts to end the country’s civil war but insists the transition to democracy must begin with “the removal of the Assad regime”.

https://twitter.com/rozalinachomsky

resistance fighters have liberated a few areas in al-kutaybah in daraa

12:03 PM

resistance fighters have liberated military checkpoints & detachments in daraa & in the eastern areas of al-qunaytirah

12:07 PM

resistance fighters destroyed a tank in al-qaysa (al-ghoutah al-sharqiyah)

12:11 PM

resistance fighters destroyed a tank in the countryside of al-qusayr (homs)

12:16 PM

https://twitter.com/farGar

No to sitting down with Russia or Iran, the financiers and murderers of Syrian kids

4:47 PM

Kerry and Lavrov are so out of touch, they really think yet ANOTHER meeting will save Syria or make progress

4:47 PM

[visionary]

More from the article about Saudi Arabia and Qatar's new roles on sending arms to Syria:

http://www.hhassan.com/2013/05/saudi-arabia-takes-over-from-qatar-to.html

The news site quotes a source close to the Syrian opposition as saying that Qatar told Al Sabbagh “there was immense pressure from the United States and its allies to pull out of the Syrian dossier”.

American media reported recently that there was a US-led regional and international effort to close the tap on financial support to extremist groups within the Syrian rebels, with Qatar being the focus of that effort. The Washington Post’s Karen DeYoung reported on April 22 that President Barack Obama would press on Qatar “to ensure that none of the weapons Qatar is sending to Syrian rebels end up with Jabhat al-Nusra ... and other Islamic extremist groups”.

That does not mean that Qatar will step aside but the leading role will be taken by the Saudis. There is a consensus that Qatar’s role is essential but Doha needs to either refrain from supporting extremist forces or ensure that no financial support by private donors reach extremists.

Notwithstanding the details, this is the focus of almost all the key countries that have a say in the Syrian conflict – something the Syrian opposition needs to understand, without engaging in conspiratorial rhetoric. A consensus has been reached that extremist forces must be weakened and support must be channelled through General Idris, whose public image is being bolstered in media and diplomatic circles.

http://www.thenational.ae/news/world/middle-east/americas-hidden-agenda-in-syrias-war

America's hidden agenda in Syria's war

It was some six months ago that Syrian rebel commanders met US intelligence officers in Jordan to discuss the status of the war and, the rebels hoped, to secure supplies of the sophisticated weapons they need to overthrow President Bashar Al Assad.

But according to one of the commanders present at the meeting, the Americans were more interested in talking about Jabhat Al Nusra, the Al Qaeda-affiliated group waging war on the Syrian regime than they were in helping the rebels advance on Damascus.

The commander - a moderate Sunni and an influential rebel leader from Damascus who said he has met intelligence operatives from Western and Arab states - said the US officials were especially keen to obtain information about the identities of Al Nusra insurgents and the locations of their bases.

Then, by to the rebel commander's account, the discussion took an unexpected turn.

The Americans began discussing the possibility of drone strikes on Al Nusra camps inside Syria and tried to enlist the rebels to fight their fellow insurgents.

"The US intelligence officer said, 'We can train 30 of your fighters a month, and we want you to fight Al Nusra'," the rebel commander recalled.

Opposition forces should be uniting against Mr Al Assad's more powerful and better-equipped army, not waging war among themselves, the rebel commander replied. The response from a senior US intelligence officer was blunt.

"I'm not going to lie to you. We'd prefer you fight Al Nusra now, and then fight Assad's army. You should kill these Nusra people. We'll do it if you don't," the rebel leader quoted the officer as saying.

https://now.mmedia.me/lb/en/mena/obama-netanyahu-speak-after-israels-syria-raids

Obama, Netanyahu speak after Israel's Syria raids

US President Barack Obama spoke to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu Wednesday, days after the latest Israeli air raids on Syrian targets and as Washington steps up its Middle East peace efforts.

The White House said in a short statement that Obama and Netanyahu, who is visiting China, spoke by telephone, and discussed "regional security issues and Middle East peace."

US officials have declined to comment in detail on air strikes by Israel on targets near Damascus on Friday and Sunday which Israeli sources said destroyed Iranian missiles apparently destined for the Hezbollah militia.

But Obama said on Saturday after the first set of Israeli raids that the Jewish state was justified in seeking to "guard against the transfer of advanced weaponry to terrorist organizations like Hezbollah."

http://www.todayszaman.com/newsDetail_getNewsById.action?newsId=314836

Davutoğlu says Banias massacre a step by Assad to create Alawite region

Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu has stated that a large-scale massacre committed by Syrian regime forces in Banias, a predominantly Sunni city on the Mediterranean coast of Syria, is a step by the regime to create an Alawite region in the war-torn country.

Speaking to the Hürriyet daily on the sidelines of a meeting on Somalia in London on Tuesday, Davutoğlu stated that Syria's embattled President Bashar al-Assad has kicked off his “fifth stage,” which is to carve out a safe haven for Alawites in western Syria through the cleansing of Sunnis in the coastal towns of Banias and Beyda.

Banias is a Sunni settlement amidst a region populated by Alawites in Syria. The Sunni village of al-Beyda, where regime brutalities were concentrated last week, is known as one of the first areas where the Shabiha, armed militias in civilian clothing notorious for their assaults on opposition forces and blamed for many of the worst massacres of the Syrian conflict, attacked civilians when the insurgency first started in Syria.

“The Syrian regime is trying to clear a corridor between Homs and Lebanon,” said Davutoğlu.

Davutoğlu also noted that he had expressed his views to US Secretary of State John Kerry before Kerry's talks in Moscow on Tuesday in a phone conversation.

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/05/09/world/middleeast/us-fears-russia-may-sell-air-defenses-to-syria.html?_r=0

U.S. Fears Russia May Sell Air-Defense System to Syria

The United States, which is trying to bring Syrian rebels and the Syrian government to the negotiating table, is now increasingly worried that Russia plans to sell a sophisticated air defense system to Syria, American officials said Wednesday.

Russia has a long history of selling arms to the Syrians and has a naval base in the country. But the delivery of the Russian S-300 missile batteries would represent a major qualitative advancement in Syria’s air defenses. The system is regarded as highly effective and would limit the ability of the United States and other nations to operate over Syrian airspace or impose a no-fly zone.

It is also able to track and fire missiles at multiple targets, including aircraft and some missiles.

“There are concerns that this might happen,” said a senior United States official who spoke on the condition of anonymity, referring to the possible delivery of the S-300. A Western intelligence service has also warned that the Russians may soon send S-300 air defense batteries to Syria, said another American official who asked not to be identified because he was discussing intelligence reports.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/what-if-the-us-doesnt-intervene-in-syria/2013/05/08/18e8cb80-b73a-11e2-b94c-b684dda07add_story.html

What if the U.S. doesn’t intervene in Syria?

OPPONENTS OF U.S. intervention in Syria are adept at citing the risks of a more aggressive U.S. effort to bring down the regime of Bashar al-Assad. Weapons given to rebel fighters might end up in the hands of extremists, the skeptics say. U.S. air attacks or the creation of a no-fly zone would be challenged by formidable air defenses. U.S. intervention might increase the risk that the regime would resort to chemical weapons.

Above all, say the anti-interventionists, direct or even indirect U.S. engagement in the fighting would make Syria an American problem, saddling a war-weary country with another difficult, expensive and possibly unworkable nation-building mission.

These are serious objections, though we believe that some of the risks, such as the spread of weapons to jihadists, can be mitigated, while others, such as the strength of Syrian air defenses, have been exaggerated. Our greater concern is about the side of the discussion critics of intervention usually leave out — which is the risks that are incurred by failing to intervene.

What will unfold in Syria if the Obama administration persists with its policy of providing humanitarian and other non-lethal aid while standing back from the fighting? The most likely scenario is that Syria fractures along sectarian lines. An al-Qaeda affiliate, Jabhat al-Nusra, is already consolidating control over a swath of northeastern Syria; remnants of the regime, backed by Shiite fighters from Lebanon’s Hezbollah movement, could take over a strip of the western coastline.

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/opinion/ct-oped-0508-syria-20130508,0,2191343.story

While U.S. hesitates, Syria's catastrophe grows

President Barack Obama said the use of chemical weapons in Syria would cross a "red line," be a "game changer" and possibly change his opinion about intervening to halt President Bashar Assad's slaughter of civilians in Syria. Reports from NATO, other allies and internal sources from Syria indicate that medical symptoms from civilians, soil samples and the discovery of fields of poisoned animals support allegations that sarin gas has been used in Syria's civil war.

Despite this breach of using a banned nerve agent, the Obama administration remains hesitant to pursue a specific course of action to stop the violence there.

The administration's reluctance will only embolden the Assad regime, as well as other rogue governments that might possess chemical and biological weapons. U.S. inaction is giving the Assad regime, after two years of wanton bloodshed, a green light to take even more outrageous steps to kill innocents. This undermines America's moral leadership.

The time has come for assertive U.S. action to lead international efforts to end the bloodshed and promote the mainstream National Coalition of Syrian Revolution and Opposition Forces — which consists of dozens of opposition groups and representatives from local administrative councils — and an interim government, which are diligently implementing seeds of democracy while marginalizing the extremists.

https://twitter.com/Charles_Lister

Liwa al-Haq announces start of unified rebel response to Baniyas massacre involving 11 grps active in northern Syria

2:32 AM

PT: Operation involves Liwa al-Haq, Jabhat al-Nusra, Harakat Ahrar al-Sham al-Islamiya (Liwa Badr, Liwa al-Iman) Kataib Ahrar al-Shamal, Suqor al-Sham (Liwa Dawoud, Liwa Ahfad al-Sahaba), Liwa Deraa al-Thawra, Liwa Deraa al-Jebel, & Liwa al-Huriyya. Idlib

2:32 AM

PTs: Principal aim of the joint operation is to seize Idlib city, by way of capturing several checkpoints surrounding its outskirts.

2:48 AM

Idlib looks set to be a major strategic point of battle in next few days; attacks also launched on bases nr Ariha & Saraqeb this AM.

2:55 AM

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=654254914601648&l=4315ef4200

Local Coordination Committees in Syria

By the end of Wednesday the LCC managed to docement 112 martyrs, includes 10 women, 8 children, and 1 martyr under torture: 42 martyrs were reported in Homs most of them in Qusair massacre; 34 in Damascus and its suburbs; 14 in Daraa; 9 in Idlib; 6 in Aleppo; 5 in Hama; and 2 in Raqqa

http://www.extremeskins.com/showthread.php?357480-Yahoo-Assad-predicts-disaster-if-West-meddles-in-Syria&p=9046975&viewfull=1#post9046975

At least 62,948 people killed so far in Syria

[visionary]

http://blogs.aljazeera.com/topic/syria/syrian-president-quoted-saying-syria-will-give-hezbollah-everything-lebanese-newspaper

Syrian President quoted as saying that Syria will 'give Hezbollah everything', Lebanese newspaper reports

Syria will "give Hezbollah everything" in recognition of its support and will follow the militant group's model of "resistance" against Israel, a Lebanese newspaper on Thursday quoted President Bashar al-Assad as saying.

His comments, published by Al-Akhbar, reportedly came during meetings with Lebanese visitors in Damascus and appeared intended to refute any suggestion that Israeli raids on Syrian targets would halt assistance to the Shia group Hezbollah in Lebanon.

The newspaper said visitors quoted Assad as expressing "confidence, satisfaction and great gratitude towards Hezbollah."

The organisation is a long-time ally of the Syrian regime and has sent fighters to battle alongside Assad's troops, particularly in the Qusayr district of the central province of Homs.

Damascus has long served as a supply conduit for Iran-backed Hezbollah, and Assad said they would reward the group for their loyalty.

"We have decided to give them everything," the newspaper quoted him as saying, without elaborating.

https://now.mmedia.me/lb/en/nowsyrialatestnews/syria-to-respond-immediately-to-any-new-israeli-strike

Syria to “respond immediately” to any new Israeli strike

Syria will "respond immediately" to any new Israeli attack against its territory, its deputy foreign minister told AFP on Thursday, after two reported Israeli strikes on military targets last week.

"The instruction has been made to respond immediately to any new Israeli attack without [additional] instruction from any higher leadership, and our retaliation will be strong and will be painful against Israel," Faisal Muqdad said.

He spoke in an interview with AFP in the Syrian capital.

Senior Israeli sources said the strikes targeted weapons bound for the powerful Lebanese Shiite group Hezbollah, a close ally of Damascus.

Muqdad denied that.

"They absolutely did not achieve their objective and they lied when they said they are targeting Hezbollah," he said.

There is "no way Syria will allow this to happen again," he added.

http://blogs.aljazeera.com/liveblog/topic/syria-153

19 minutes ago

US Secretary of State John Kerry says the transfer of advanced missile defense systems from Russia to Syria would be a destabilising factor for Israel's security.

Kerry said on Thursday that the US had expressed concerns about what the S-300 batteries in Syria would mean for Israel's security.

He would not address what the missiles might mean for Syria's civil war.

He spoke to reporters in Rome after the Wall Street Journal reported that Russia was preparing to sell the weapons to President Bashar Assad's regime. - AP

https://now.mmedia.me/lb/en/nowsyrialatestnews/ankara-confirms-testing-for-chemical-weapon-use-in-syria

Ankara confirms testing for chemical weapon use in Syria

Turkey's foreign minister said on Thursday that Turkish authorities were conducting blood tests on wounded Syrian refugees to assess whether their injuries had been caused by chemical weapons.

"We will keep on carrying out tests on each and every injured Syrian," who has fled to Turkey, Ahmet Davutoglu told reporters in Ankara.

The minister said more than a dozen test results "required further study and should be taken seriously" but did not elaborate further.

"The studies continue. We will publish the results once they are concluded," he said.

Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan will take several blood samples from Syrian refugees when he visits Washington on May 16, reported Turkish news channel NTV.

https://now.mmedia.me/lb/en/latestnews/hezbollah-leader-sayyed-hassan-nasrallah-speaks-live

Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah speaks live

https://twitter.com/rozalinachomsky

resistance fighters have liberated a military checkpoint & seized 2 bmp vehicles & 3 tanks in manin. +30 assad troops were killed

4:07 AM

resistance fighters liberated a military checkpoint in al-qalamoun

4:13 AM

al-islam brigade says resistance fighters have seized 5 tanks in al-qalamoun

7:28 AM

resistance fighters say they destroyed 8 tanks & bmp vehicles in al-ghoutah al-sharqiyah

9:03 AM

resistance fighters have destroyed a bmp-1 & 2 tanks in the eastern countryside of hama

9:11 AM

https://twitter.com/HalaGorani

UNHCR: total number of Syrian refugees climbs to 1,446,857.

11:08 AM

https://twitter.com/LeShaque

Syrian lady family friend who's non-aligned, very much pro "political solution" just called Geneva conference "a distasteful joke."

11:12 AM

The Assad regime is very very stupid if it thinks it can resume weapons transfers to Hezbollah. Very very very stupid.

11:37 AM

https://twitter.com/RulaAmin

Nasrallah tells Israel if your goal is to stop syria from providing the resistance w/weapons....... Syria will now provide better weapons

12:14 PM

Nasrallah says the 2nd response if the declaration to make the Golan heights available to the popular resistence lebanon

12:15 PM

Nasrallah: We the resistence in lebanon ready to receive any weapons that will break the balance w/ Israel

12:17 PM

Hassan Nasrallah says a political solution to the syrian crisis is in the interest of the Palestinian cause

12:23 PM

Nasrallah and the Syrian regime seem pretty happy with the new political solution dialogue by US and Russia. That's a bad sign.

[visionary]

http://www.npr.org/blogs/thetwo-way/2013/05/09/182665171/top-u-s-official-meets-with-rebels-inside-syria?sc=tw&cc=share

Top U.S. Official Meets With Rebels Inside Syria

Ambassador Robert Ford, the State Department's point man on Syrian policy, crossed into northern Syria on Wednesday. The secret visit was confirmed by Syrian activists at the media office at the Bab Al Salama crossing on the Turkish frontier.

Ford met with the head of the Aleppo military council, Abdul Jabbar Okeidi, who thanked him for the shipment of non-lethal aid. Seven trucks transported some 65,000 MREs, or meals ready to eat, the U.S. military's battlefield rations. Syrian activists posted a video of the aid delivery.

Ford's visit appears to be a signal of support for Idriss, tapped by the U.S. to be the conduit for aid to the rebels, but the general continues to press for more direct military support. Earlier this week, the Syrian military recaptured the strategic southern town of Khirbet Ghazalah, on the highway to Jordan.

The military council under Idriss' command failed to supply weapons to the rebel defenders. Arms shipments have stopped for more than 30 days, Idriss told NPR in an interview in Amman, Jordan. Idriss was bitter about the defeat. Without weapons, we can't fight, he said. He thanked the U.S. government for the MREs. "That is very good," he said. "But weapons and ammunition are the tools that we need on the battlefield."

http://www.nbcnews.com/video/nightly-news/51823252/#51823252

NBC tests urine samples of alleged chemical weapons victims in Syria. Result? No evidence of chemical warfare agent:

http://worldnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/05/09/18148044-exclusive-turkish-pm-erdogan-syria-has-crossed-red-line-used-chemical-weapons?lite

Exclusive: Turkish PM Erdogan: Syria has crossed red line, used chemical weapons

Turkey's prime minister is charging that the Syrian government has used chemical weapons against its people and has called on the U.S. to take stronger action, he told NBC News' Ann Curry in an exclusive interview Thursday.

"It is clear the regime has used chemical weapons and missiles," Turkish premier Recep Tayyip Erdogan said.

Erdogan gave no specifics about when and where the weapons were allegedly used, but he said he believes President Obama's "red line" for the U.S. in deciding whether to take action has been crossed.

"It has been passed long time ago," said Erdogan, who is meeting with Obama on May 16.

"We want the United States to assume more responsibilities and take further steps. And what sort of steps they will take, we are going to talk about this."

Erdogan cited as evidence the "remainders of missiles" — at least 200 by his count — that he believes were used in chemical attacks, along with the injuries of Syrians brought over the Turkish border for medical treatment.

Asked whether Turkey would support a U.S.-enforced no-fly zone in Syria, Erdogan said, "Right from the beginning...we would say 'yes.'"

http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/05/09/us-syria-crisis-idUSBRE9480SD20130509

Syria "likely" to have used chemical weapons, says UK

Britain said on Thursday it was "very likely" the Syrian government had used chemical weapons, and Turkey announced it was stepping up testing of people fleeing the Syrian civil war for traces.

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry expressed gratitude to Russia for its willingness to try to arrange a "Geneva two" conference to negotiate an end to the conflict, in a sign of a thawing of the long diplomatic chill between Washington and Moscow, Syria's strongest ally.

Damascus and the head of the Arab League welcomed the apparent rapprochement between the United States and Russia this week. Syrian opposition leaders are skeptical of an initiative they fear might let President Bashar al-Assad hang on to power.

Kerry, in Rome, said however a transition government would have to have the "mutual consent of both sides, which clearly means that in our judgment President Assad will not be a component of that transitional government".

http://www.acus.org/viewpoint/syria-geneva-resurrected

Syria: Geneva Resurrected?

US Secretary of State John Kerry's visit to Moscow produced a surprising result: a US-Russian agreement to convene an international conference as soon as this month, one that would "bring representatives of the [syrian] government and the opposition together" to determine how to implement the Syrian political transition agreement reached at Geneva on June 30, 2012 by the five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council.

What was particularly surprising—and pleasantly so if true—was Kerry's observation that Washington and Moscow have a "very similar" understanding of what was actually agreed nearly a year ago in Geneva. Yet this initiative will go nowhere unless the regime of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad stops killing and terrorizing civilians residing beyond its jurisdiction. It can and should stop these atrocities immediately if it has any interest at all in a negotiated political transition.

As noted in a previous Viewpoint article, last year's Geneva agreement aimed for one specific result: a transitional governing mechanism formed by mutual consent in negotiations between the Syrian government and the Syrian opposition; a new government that would exercise full executive powers. Thanks to the mutual consent clause the only way Assad or members of his regime (meaning the family and its enforcers) could participate in Syria's new government would be if the opposition agreed to their participation. The chances of such agreement? Zero.

Still, last year's Geneva Final Communiqué did not demand that Assad step down as president of Syria as a precondition for negotiations. Neither did it single out the identity of anyone whose participation in the future governance of Syria was deemed inadmissible. The composition of a transitional unity government would be exclusively the province of Syrian negotiators. In the months following the Geneva agreement this point was sometimes garbled by White House spokespeople, who perhaps saw the virtual certainty of regime change at the end of the negotiating process as a mandate for Assad to step aside in advance of the proceedings.

https://twitter.com/baysontheroad

syria national coalition UN and US rep says "majority" of assad's cabinet acceptable for transitional govt, but not security ministers.

2:14 PM

https://twitter.com/rozalinachomsky

resistance fighters destroyed a military convoy, including 2 tanks & a bmp-1, near the town of junaynah in hama.

3:02 PM

resistance fighters destroyed 4 tanks today near ma`arrat al-nu`man city in idlib

3:15 PM

resistance fighters are attacking assad's forces in a military base in Palmyra

3:29 PM

https://twitter.com/And_Harper

1,762 x'd to safety of jordan last nite. We also had 673 returns. No let up in numbers x'ing from Daara syria. Shooting & border tonight.

4:26 PM

https://twitter.com/AmalHanano

The aftermath of the Banyas massacres, piles of bodies of children & babies, have left us speechless. GenocideInSyria

5:16 PM

There is nothing more to say. Nothing more to look at. Nothing more to understand. GenocideInSyria

5:17 PM

If you can't understand what’s happening in Syria, you should understand these 2 words: sectarian cleansing. Look it up. GenocideInSyria

5:18 PM

This is what’s going on in Syria. Right now. GenocideInSyria. Not hypothetical massacres in the future. Real massacres. Right now.

5:20 PM

https://twitter.com/StateDept

SecKerry: Solution isn't more humanitarian assistance, it's political solution to reduce humanitarian crisis. http://go.usa.gov/TH2k Syria

5:37 PM

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=654744347886038&l=f987c8ae0e

Local coordination Committees in Syria:

By the ending of thursday, LCC documented 67 martyrs, including 7 childs, 4 women. 1 martyr under torture. 23 martyrs in Damascus and it's suburbs. 20 in Aleppo. 7 in Deir Ezzor, 6 in Idlib, 5 in Daraa and 5 in Hama. 1 martyr in Homs

http://www.extremeskins.com/showthread.php?357480-Yahoo-Assad-predicts-disaster-if-West-meddles-in-Syria&p=9046975&viewfull=1#post9046975

At least 63,015 people killed so far in Syria

[visionary]

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/kristin-wright/witness-to-tragedy-what-i_b_3247401.html?utm_hp_ref=tw

Witness to Tragedy: What I Saw on the Syrian Border

https://now.mmedia.me/lb/en/nowsyrialatestnews/russia-completing-supplies-of-missiles-to-syria-lavrov-says

Russia “completing supplies” of missiles to Syria, Lavrov says

Russia is completing its delivery of surface-to-air missiles to Syria, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Friday, a move the United States has called destabilizing.

"Russia is not planning to sell -- Russia has sold and signed contracts a long time ago, and is completing supplies of the equipment -- which is anti-aircraft systems, according to the already signed contracts," Lavrov told reporters in Warsaw.

http://www.foreignpolicy.com/articles/2013/05/09/how_kerry_got_played_by_putin_syria#.UY0ktKkV3Xo.twitter

Oh, You Silly Man

How John Kerry got rolled by Vladimir Putin on a plan to save Syria

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/sns-rt-us-syria-crisis-conference-iranbre9490o7-20130510,0,4754056.story

Iran backs Syria meeting plan, expects to be part of process

Iran welcomes a U.S.-Russian proposal for an international conference on ending the conflict in Syria and hopes it will be held in Geneva, Vice President Mohammad-Javad Mohammadizadeh said in Geneva on Friday.

"We hope that the coming meeting would also be in Geneva and the Islamic Republic of Iran would be more than happy and pleased to assist in whatever way that it can, and we expect to be part of the process to restore peace and a better livelihood to the people of Syria," he told Reuters through an interpreter.

http://www.karlremarks.com/2013/05/the-angry-arab-interviews-himself-about.html

The Angry Arab Interviews Himself About Syria

http://blogs.aljazeera.com/liveblog/topic/syria-153

about 3 hours ago

Russia and Britain agreed on Friday to work towards a transitional government in Syria, despite acknowledging differences in their approach to the Middle Eastern country's civil war.

British Prime Minister David Cameron said after talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin in the Black Sea resort of Sochi that they had agreed "that as permanent members of the

UN we must help drive this process".

He said international efforts envisaged "not just bringing the regime and opposition together at one negotiating table, but Britain, Russia, America and other countries helping shape a

transitional government that all Syrians can trust to protect them."

about an hour ago

Twenty-five people have been killed in army shelling in the central Syrian town of Halfayeh after a months-old local truce between the army and rebels fighters broke down, opposition activists have said.

Halfayeh has been in rebel hands for more than five months and a truce was agreed there between the warring parties in an attempt to protect thousands of citizens, an activist from the region who called himself Safi al-Hamawi told Reuters on Friday.

But President Bashar al-Assad's forces issued an ultimatum to the town's elders saying the rebels must leave by Thursday evening and started shelling it heavily as the deadline passed,

Hamawi said.

Amateur video footage posted on the Internet by opposition activists shows dozens of people wading through a river to escape the bombardment. A voice off camera says Halfayeh is

under siege and this was the only route out to "escape a massacre" by government forces.

5 minutes ago

UN diplomats say Syria and Britain are separately seeking to impose United Nations sanctions against the radical rebel group Jabhat al-Nusra, one of the dominant forces in the Syrian civil war.

Syria asked the UN Security Council committee monitoring sanctions against al-Qaeda to add al-Nusra as a separate group subject to an arms embargo, asset freeze and travel ban, the diplomats said.

They spoke on condition of anonymity because committee actions are private.

Britain blocked Syria's action, saying al-Nusra had pledged allegiance to al-Qaeda and therefore should be listed as an alias of al-Qaeda, subject to the same sanctions, the diplomats said.

Additions to the sanctions blacklist must be approved by all 15 Security Council members. Diplomats said members have until Tuesday to object to the British proposal. - AP

https://twitter.com/rozalinachomsky

resistance fighters destroyed a tank near the town of nahlah in idlib

4:59 AM

resistance fighters have liberated the 'feed factory' in the town of al-nayrab in idlib. this factory is attached to a military base

5:41 AM

resistance fighters have liberated the town of al-hardanah (east of salamiyah, hama)

6:26 AM

https://twitter.com/LeShaque

.@BarackObama Congrats on turning America into a joke.

10:09 AM

https://twitter.com/BarakRavid

Breaking: PM Netanyahu will travel to Moscow in the next 2 weeks. Will ask Putin not to go forward with the S-300 missile deal with Syria

1:56 PM

https://twitter.com/OnlySyrian

Syrians said today "if our kids were bleeding OIL instead of blood, the #world will intervene immediately"

2:14 PM

https://twitter.com/iRevolt93

Liwa Jabhat Al-AKrad, a new emerging power fighting against Assad in Aleppo.. Controls on several points in Eshrefiye and keeps advancing

2:07 PM

I will tweet some important info i got about this battalion as many know nothing about them.

2:13 PM

It could be a strange thing but Liwa Jabhat Al-Akrad is actually PYD's affiliated.

2:16 PM

Liwa Jabhat Al-Akrad includes Kurds, Arabs & Turkmens and even some Islamists. The group is PYD affiliated.

2:17 PM

Liwa Jabhat Al-Akrad consider themselves a FSA battalion, it has a Kurd "close to PYD" and an Arab in leadership of the battalion.

2:21 PM

[visionary]

http://www.todayszaman.com/blogNewsDetail_getNewsById.action?newsId=315123

Assad is winning war in Syria

Twenty-six months into the bloody uprising and there is no clear victor in the war in Syria that has left tens of thousands of people dead. To the delight of Assad and his cronies, the Syrian army has made significant progress through military gains in the past month.

Assad started to smile when his brutal army made some gains in Idlib. Following weeks of intense offensives in Aleppo, Idlib and Damascus suburbs, government forces outflanked the opposition forces and broke through the opposition line that ringed the Wadi al-Deif and Hamidiya military bases in Idlib province on April 14. This enabled the Syrian army to bolster its groups fighting in northern Syria. The successful assault in Idlib also opened up a strategic highway to Aleppo -- a business hub deadlocked over battles between rival forces.

The army, which controls much of Homs city and province, intensified its air and ground campaign against the opposition fighters and recaptured the central districts there. Homs is the only connection between Damascus and government stronghold Alawite heartlands on the Mediterranean coast.

https://now.mmedia.me/lb/en/nowsyrialatestnews/experts-doubt-us-russia-common-ground-on-syria

Experts doubt US-Russia common ground on Syria

Washington has cozied up to Moscow in search of a political solution in war-torn Syria, but experts aren't sold that there's much common ground between the two.

Amid pressure from a hefty casualty toll and the likely use of chemical weapons by Damascus, the US administration has relaunched its diplomatic efforts with Russia, the powerful protector of President Bashar Al-Assad.

The bloody conflict, now in its third year, has claimed between 70,000 and 100,000 lives, according to US Secretary of State John Kerry, and threatens to spill over into the entire region.

With that as a backdrop, the top US diplomat met Tuesday in Moscow with President Vladimir Putin and Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov.

https://now.mmedia.me/lb/en/nowsyrialatestnews/us-strong-evidence-syria-used-chem-weapons

US: 'Strong evidence' Syria used chem weapons

US Secretary of State John Kerry said Friday there was "strong evidence" the regime of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad had used chemical weapons against rebel forces.

"This fight is about the terrible choices that the Assad regime has made with its willingness to kill anywhere... to use gas, which we believe there is strong evidence of use of," Kerry said during a Google+ hangout.

The US government cited for the first time two weeks ago the Syrian regime's possible use of chemical weapons against its own people, but President Barack Obama stressed there was insufficient proof to determine whether a "red line" had been crossed.

In an interview published Thursday, Vice President Joe Biden stressed that once the use of the chemical weapons has been verified, Obama would likely make a "proportional response in terms of meaningful action," without providing further details.

http://blogs.aljazeera.com/topic/syria/un-rights-chief-fears-there-could-be-further-atrocities-syrian-town-qusayr-if-overrun

UN rights chief fears there could be further atrocities in Syrian town of Qusayr if overrun by regime forces

The Syrian army has said it dropped leaflets in the town of Qusayr, warning citizens to evacuate ahead of an attack, that's according to a military source.

Activists say Qusayr is surrounded by government forces on three sides. About 25,000 residents are believed to be in the town.

Navi Pillay, UN human rights chief, says she is concerned about the military build-up and fears there could be further atrocities if the area is overrun.

https://twitter.com/lrozen

AFP: UN Security Council will add Al-Nusra Front to sanctions blacklist next week, diplomats said Friday

4:19 PM

https://twitter.com/tweets4peace

Just when Assad thought he was close, FSA liberate Aabel again alhamdulilah. Suburb of Alqusair. Prayers work. Homs

2:01 AM

Several FSA groups joined together to respond to attack on southern Homs suburbs in turn freeing Aabel. Bismillah. pic.twitter.com/5uJxH5jY2g

2:04 AM

http://www.lccsyria.org/11359

Local coordination Committees in Syria:

By the ending of Friday , LCC documented 110 martyrs, including 13 childs, 9 women . 2 martyr under torture. 31 martyrs in Hama most of them in Helfaya, 24 martyrs in Damascus and it’s suburbs, 24 in Homs, 20 in Aleppo, 7 in Daraa, 2 in Idlib, 2 in Deir Ezzor

http://www.extremeskins.com/showthread.php?357480-Yahoo-Assad-predicts-disaster-if-West-meddles-in-Syria&p=9046975&viewfull=1#post9046975

At least 63,125 people killed so far in Syria

[visionary]

https://now.mmedia.me/lb/en/nowsyrialatestnews/syria-peace-conference-unlikely-in-may-russian-source-says

Syria peace conference unlikely in May, Russian source says

A high-ranking Russian diplomatic source said on Saturday it is was highly unlikely that a proposed international peace conference on Syria could be held this month because of differences over who should take part.

"It is unlikely before the end of May," said the source who participated in talks between Russian President Vladimir Putin and visiting British Prime Minister David Cameron on Friday.

"This is a very complicated matter," he was quoted as saying by Russian news agencies. "It's unrealistic to set some kind of a tight timeframe."

Translation: We need to stall for time, to allow Assad to make more gains while the US starves the moderate rebel forces of weapons and tries to stop the more successful islamist rebel groups from making any more gains againt Assad.

http://www.aljazeera.com/programmes/talktojazeera/2013/05/2013510141112681380.html

Moaz al-Khatib: The priority is to save Syria

Moaz al-Khatib, the outgoing president of the Syrian National Coalition (SNC) burst onto the scene in November 2012. The Imam from Damascus’ famous Umayyad Mosque was a man with a reputation for fair-mindedness and courageous opposition to the Bashar al-Assad regime.

Popular and conciliatory, he seemed a ‘fresh face’ to unite and calm the fractious SNC. But he lasted barely five months.

A few weeks after his appointment as President of the SNC, he created a firestorm of controversy, bypassing the coalition by offering to negotiate directly with the Syrian government.

It was an initiative that the UN Envoy Lakhdar Brahimi called a "breakthrough". But al-Khatib’s appeal for talks with the regime ultimately went nowhere.

He continued his own campaign, going inside Syria to speak with people in the north, and videotaped singing with opposition fighters. No one could say he was “out of touch”.

But many in the SNC accused him of not being a team-player.

He spoke passionately at international conferences, critical of the world’s major powers for standing by while the Syrian people suffered.

But behind the scenes, he tells us, he was growing increasingly frustrated by the internal politics of the Syrian opposition.

https://now.mmedia.me/lb/en/international/us-strongly-condemns-turkey-car-bombings-near-syria

US "strongly condemns" Turkey car bombings near Syria

The US ambassador to Turkey strongly condemned the "vicious attack" in a small Turkish town near the Syrian border Saturday that killed at least 40 people and wounded 100 more.

"On behalf of the United States, I offer our deepest condolences to the families and friends of the dozens of victims of today's murderous attack in Reyhanli," Francis Ricciardone said in a statement.

"The United States strongly condemns today's vicious attack, and stands with the people and government of Turkey to identify the perpetrators and bring them to justice," he continued.

Two explosive-laden cars blew up in the town of Reyhanli, just a few kilometers from the main border crossing into Syria.

Turkey's deputy prime minister has pointed the finger at the government of President Bashar al-Assad's as possibly being behind the attack, the deadliest in Turkey since the beginning of the conflict in neighboring Syria.

https://now.mmedia.me/lb/en/nowsyrialatestnews/800-tunisian-islamists-fighting-in-syria-minister-says

800 Tunisian Islamists fighting in Syria, minister says

Tunisian Foreign Minister Othmane Jarandi told AFP on Saturday that some 800 Tunisians are fighting in Islamist rebel ranks in Syria and said the country would work to repatriate its citizens taken prisoner there.

"We don't have exact numbers, since several people left the country illegally, but the most accurate estimate is a maximum of 800," fighting in Syria, he said.

Tunis has been criticized by non-government organizations and the opposition since diplomatic relations with Damascus were severed in February 2011, and has been accused of abandoning Tunisians in Syria to their fate.

"The repatriation of Tunisians can be facilitated by the embassy in Lebanon after the government makes contact with the Syrian authorities about imprisoned Tunisian citizens," Jarandi said.

http://www.trust.org/item/20130511211018-xt83e/?source=shtw

Turkey has right to respond after car bombs -foreign minister

Turkey reserves the right to take "every kind of measure" after car bomb attacks which killed more than 40 people in the southern town of Reyhanli near the border with Syria on Saturday, Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said.

Speaking to reporters in Berlin, Davutoglu said he would discuss the matter with Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan but said he saw no need for an emergency meeting of the NATO military alliance following the attacks.

https://twitter.com/THE_47th

Just got briefed by my source on what Robert Ford did when he snuck into Syria briefly a few days ago. More to follow. Robert Ford was in Syria for about 3 hours, of which he spent an hour & a half meeting General Abduljabbar Al Ogaidi.

3:46 PM

As expected, Ambassador Ford bombarded Ogaidi with questions about JAN, and other Islamist forces, and asked for assurances.

3:49 PM

Amb. Ford's handed Gen Ogaidi abt 1000 packages full of 'non lethal aid, and went on to assure Ogaidi that the US policy remains the same. Ford was adamant: nothing has changed, Assad won't be a part of any transitional Gov, and will be out of the picture. Ambassador Ford then spent half an hour convincing Ogaidi to nominate ppl from his side to participate in the negotiations with Assad Gov

3:52 PM

One big mistake Ogaidi did: he told Ford that Jabhat Al Nusra are not a problem, that they have been cooperating.

3:56 PM

1 thing my source said about Ford's take on things: Russia is letting go of Assad, but not the rest of the regime.

4:01 PM

https://twitter.com/leeh786

The air strikes have been intense today. I think the regime is softening targets before moving forward. Daraa

4:30 PM

It links in with why weapon deliveries have stopped here. They're trying to forcefully push a "political solution" through

4:45 PM

https://twitter.com/MahirZeynalov

In Syria, rebels captured two army posts near Aleppo and cut a newly built desert road linking Aleppo with Damascus.

3:26 PM

Davutoglu: Those who portray Turkey's refugee policy as wrong by blaming refugees for Hatay attacks are committing crimes against humanity.

4:52 PM

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=655657607794712&l=778c13db46

Local coordination Committees in Syria

By the end of saturday, LCC documented 76 martyrs, including 7 children and two women: 18 in Idlib, 14 in Homs, 13 in Damascus and it's suburbs, 12 in Daraa, 8 in Hama, 7 in Aleppo, 2 in Deir Ezzor, 1 in each of Lattakia and Quneitra

[visionary]

http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/assad-forces-gaining-ground-in-syria/2013/05/11/79147c34-b99c-11e2-b568-6917f6ac6d9d_story.html

Assad forces gaining ground in Syria

Forces loyal to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad are beginning to turn the tide of the country’s war, bolstered by a new strategy, the support of Iran and Russia and the assistance of fighters with Lebanon’s Hezbollah movement.

A series of modest, scattered gains by government forces in recent weeks has produced no decisive breakthrough. But the advances have been made in strategically important locations and point to a new level of direction and energy previously unseen in the army’s performance, military analysts, rebels and Syrians close to the government say.

A war that has seesawed wildly over the past year and is now threatening to draw in other regional players is likely to pivot unpredictably many more times before it is over. Events such as the bombings that killed at least 40 people in a Turkish border town Saturday, Israel’s airstrikes against Damascus last weekend and decisions by outside powers to arm the rebels are among the many variables that could tilt the balance again.

But analysts say there is little doubt that the pendulum is now swinging in favor of Assad, potentially putting him in a strong position to set terms if the negotiations with the opposition that the Obama administration and Russia last week agreed to sponsor eventually take place.

“If things continue as they are, the government will certainly be the party that has the major advantage” in any talks, said Charles Lister of the London-based IHS Jane’s Terrorism and Insurgency Center. “If we press pause on where we are today, it is clear the insurgency does not pose an existential threat to the regime.”

https://now.mmedia.me/lb/en/nowsyrialatestnews/gates-us-military-involvement-in-syria-a-mistake

Gates: US military involvement in Syria a 'mistake'

Former US defense secretary Robert Gates warned Sunday that deepening US military involvement in Syria's civil war would be a "mistake," warning the outcome would be unpredictable and messy.

Gates' comments on Syria come amid debate in Washington over whether to step up military support for rebels fighting the regime of President Bashar al-Assad, even as the administration attempts a new peace initiative with Russia.

"I thought it was a mistake in Libya, and I think it is a mistake in Syria, even if we had intervened more significantly in Syria a year ago or six months ago. We overestimate our ability to determine outcomes."

"Caution, particularly in terms of arming these groups and in terms of US military involvement, is in order," he said.

"Anybody who says, 'It's going to be clean. It's going to be neat. You can establish safe zones, and it'll be just swell,' well, most wars aren't that way," he said.

Yeah, I don't think anyone who knows what they're talking about said that....

Anyway, he was wrong on Libya and he's wrong on Syria.

I think he may be right about Iran, though that's another issue.

https://now.mmedia.me/lb/en/nowsyrialatestnews/eu-warns-syria-crisis-at-breaking-point-increases-aid

EU warns Syria crisis at “breaking point”, increases aid

The European Commission announced on Sunday an additional $84 million in aid for Syrian refugees and internally displaced, warning the crisis is "already at breaking point."

The announcement was made in a statement released to coincide with a visit to Syrian refugees in Jordan by humanitarian aid commissioner Kristalina Georgieva.

"The more atrocities and fighting go on in Syria, the more people run. There are no indications whatsoever that this ... is going to go down," Georgieva told AFP after visiting the Zaatari refugee camp in Jordan's north.

As temporary home to more than 160,000 Syrians, Zaatari is equivalent to the kingdom's fifth largest city, according to the United Nations.

"We have to dig deep into our pockets [to help the Syrians] because the worst is yet to come. The crisis is beyond humanitarian response. We need to do more and we need do more in a better way," Georgieva said.

https://now.mmedia.me/lb/en/mena/iraq-pm-condemns-turkey-bombings

Iraq PM condemns Turkey bombings

Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki on Sunday condemned bombings in Turkey that killed dozens of people, saying they provide an additional incentive for international cooperation in fighting terrorism.

"The Iraqi government expresses its... strong condemnation of the criminal bombings in the Turkish town of Reyhanli and expresses its solidarity with the... Turkish people and the families of the innocent victims," Maliki said in a statement on his website.

"These crimes and the expanding circle of terrorism constitute an additional incentive... to increase cooperation between all countries, especially countries in the region, and coordination between them, to cut the circle of terrorism," he said.

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/05/13/world/middleeast/9-detained-in-bombings-on-turkey-border-with-syria.html?_r=0

Turkey Says Evidence Links Syria to Car Bombings

Turkish authorities said Sunday that 9 people had been detained in twin car bombings a day earlier in southern Turkey that killed 46 people, as funerals were held for at least 20 of the victims in this town near the Syrian border.

Speaking at a news conference, senior government officials said that the investigation had linked the detainees, who were all Turkish citizens, to the government of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, and asserted that the attack was aimed at disrupting Turkey’s unity. The officials did not detail any ties between the suspects and Mr. Assad’s government, but said the evidence included incriminating statements made by the attackers themselves.

“The incident was carried out by those who have been closely linked with pro-regime groups in Syria,” Turkey’s interior minister, Muammer Guler, said. “There is no merit in spelling out the names, we know them all.”

https://now.mmedia.me/lb/en/nowsyrialatestnews/turkey-blames-worlds-silence-on-syria-for-attacks

Turkey blames world's "silence" on Syria for attacks

Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu on Sunday blamed the world's inaction on the Syrian conflict for the "barbarian act of terrorism" that claimed dozens of lives near the border.

"The latest attack shows how a spark transforms into a fire when the international community remains silent and the UN Security Council fails to act," he said during a Berlin visit.

"It's unacceptable for the Syrian and Turkish people to pay the price for this."

Saturday's twin bomb attack, which left at least 46 people dead and 100 wounded near the Syrian border, was the deadliest in Turkey in recent years.

The minister called it a breach of Turkey's "red line" and said that "it's time for the international community to display a common stance against the regime ... immediately and without delay".

He called for an "urgent, result-oriented diplomatic initiative" to find a solution to the Syrian crisis and added that "Turkey has the right to take any kind of measure" in response to the killings.

That's their response? What does that even mean?

https://now.mmedia.me/lb/en/nowsyrialatestnews/more-than-80000-killed-in-syria-conflict-ngo-says

More than 80,000 killed in Syria conflict, NGO says

More than 80,000 people have been killed in Syria's conflict since it erupted more than two years ago, a monitoring group said on Sunday.

Nearly half of those who died were civilians, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.

The Britain-based watchdog said it has documented the killing of around 82,257 people, including 34,473 civilians -- among them 4,788 children and 3,049 women.

It has also recorded the deaths of 16,687 rebel fighters, including defected military personnel.

The watchdog said 16,729 soldiers and more than 12,000 shabiha (pro-regime militia) and regime informants have also died.

The bodies of another 2,368 people were found across Syria, the Observatory added.

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/middleeast/la-fg-syria-congress-20130512,0,6676623.story

Congress speaks with a loud, muddled voice on Syria

Sen. Dianne Feinstein made headlines recently by demanding a forceful U.S. response to Syria's use of chemical weapons against its population.

Less noticed was that the California Democrat wasn't urging deeper military involvement or other dramatic steps, but only a new push for action by the United Nations Security Council, which has already rejected Western-backed resolutions on Syria three times.

In this cautious approach, Feinstein, who is chairwoman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, is not alone. Several senior lawmakers have been clamoring for stronger U.S. leadership, yet not taking the political risk of calling for any fundamental change in the current course.

Distressed by the suffering in Syria, but wary of another Mideast war, some lawmakers are speaking loudly and carrying a small stick.

http://blogs.aljazeera.com/topic/syria/free-syrian-army-fighters-being-trained-according-international-humanitarian-law-turkey

Free Syrian Army fighters being trained according to international humanitarian law in Turkey

Free Syrian Army fighters were being trained according to international humanitarian law in Turkey on Saturday in the south-eastern city of Gaziantep. Geneva Call, an NGO raising awareness of humanitarian law in conflict zones organised the workshop for the Free Syrian Army fighters in Turkey.

An associate of CIMERA, a Geneva-based, private, non-profit organization, Vicken Cetherian was in charge of the workshop.

Cetherian said, as the Free Syrian Army fighters are copying the practices from Assad army, they are not aware of the crimes that they are committing.

"And from our experience, we came to a conclusion that in most of the cases, they are certain practices that they copy from the way that the regime is behaving on the ground.

And they are not conscious that those practices are forbidden. And once we engage with them, we feel that they are ready to listen, and cooperate," Cetherian said.

http://blogs.aljazeera.com/liveblog/topic/syria-153

8 minutes ago

The Syrian opposition coalition will meet in Istanbul later this month to decide whether to participate in a US and Russian-sponsored peace conference.

It's also expected to elect a new head to replace the outgoing president Moaz Al-Khatib, and interim prime minister Ghassan Hitto.

On Tuesday, the US and Russia agreed to work together to find a political solution on Syria

https://twitter.com/NOW_Syria

Al-Jazeera: Yarmouk Martyrs Brigade hands over four UN personnel who were being held in Syria’s Golan

2:04 AM

Al-Jazeera: Free Syrian Army rebels surround Allepo's prison and Al-Kanadi military airport

2:07 AM

https://twitter.com/MahirZeynalov

Turkish court bans all kind of news report related to the "content" of the Reyhanli bombing that could damage the investigation process.

3:40 AM

Three more Turks were recovered from the rubble this morning, death toll in Hatay blasts rise to 46. 51 people are in hospitals.

4:02 AM

https://twitter.com/MahirZeynalov

Turkish FM Davutoglu: Whoever committed Baniyas massacre, they organized the Hatay bombings.

4:13 AM

Turkish FM Davutoglu: The Hatay bombings are not related to the Syrian opposition or refugees. It is directly linked to the Syrian regime.

4:14 AM

Davutoglu is speaking live. He is very angry at how Turkish opposition reacted to bombings. Well, that was Assad's goal primarily.

4:21 AM

Davutoglu is now explaining in length the moral case for accepting Syrian refugees, says "we had no choice but open doors" for them.

4:24 AM

Davutoglu: When Assad saw he cannot control entire Syria, he wanted to create a coastal Alawite corridor by killing and deporting Sunnis.

4:31 AM

https://twitter.com/dalalmawad

Syria info minister:I ask Erdogan to resign he is a criminal and butcher, he can't build his glory on the blood of turkish and syrian people

4:49 AM

Syria info minister: Erdogan said turkey will defend itself? but against whom? Turkey should defend itself against terrorists

4:50 AM

Syria info minister : the Turkish government should take full responsibility for what happened

4:51 AM

https://twitter.com/AlCazanova

3 car explosions in the Aziziya district of Hasakah has resulted in 10 martyrs so far with many more injured.

8:01 AM

https://twitter.com/JonasRenz

"Dear Turkish brothers it is our inevitable fate to be together hunted by Assad curse do forgive us" pic.twitter.com/zfANiQRMqD

8:29 AM

https://twitter.com/RafifJ

"Please, with a bullet not a knife" How you die DOES matter. pic.twitter.com/Jr1lCV5BEw

9:08 AM

https://twitter.com/shadihamid

People don't usually say it, b/c its frightening, but Assad might not actually fall. Real possibility that he survives this.

9:27 AM

[visionary]

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/sns-rt-us-syria-crisis-oppositionbre94b08m-20130512,0,4602419.story

Syrian opposition to meet to decide whether to join peace talks

Syria's opposition coalition will meet in Istanbul on May 23 to decide whether to participate in a U.S. and Russian-sponsored conference to try to end the Syrian civil war, coalition officials said on Sunday.

A session of the 60-member general assembly of the Islamist-dominated coalition will also elect a new head and discuss the fate of provisional prime minister Ghassan Hitto, who has come under heavy criticism for being too influenced by opposition figures with close links to Qatar, coalition insiders said.

In an effort to widen the appeal of the coalition, backed by Saudi Arabia, Hitto is likely to be replaced by Ahmad Tomaa Kheder, an independent Islamist from the eastern Syrian province of Deir al-Zor. He worked closely with liberals in peaceful opposition to President Bashar al-Assad before the war, the sources told Reuters.

"Everything will be decided in the general assembly meeting," said one of the coalition officials.

"The meeting will decide on accepting the nomination of Kheder, although Hitto is trying to hang on," another coalition source said.

http://www.todayszaman.com/blogNewsDetail_getNewsById.action?newsId=315197

Why Turkey never responds to Syrian attacks

The bombings in Hatay that killed at least 46 people on Saturday are not the first such incident.

Syria has sent several mortar shells across the Turkish border in the past year, killed five innocent people in one of these attacks in Akçakale, downed a Turkish warplane and bombed the Cilvegözü border crossing, killing 14 people in February. Retaliation against these attacks was slight, if there was any. Syrian warplanes continue bombing as close as three miles from Turkey's border towns, facing almost no Turkish deterrence.

Beneath hesitation on the Turkish side to retaliate against Syria's deadly actions against Turkey lies a prevailing sense of fear among officials that Ankara could be drawn into a dangerous war it cannot win. But will Syria's attacks against Turkey go unpunished?

Turkey fears that it could miscalculate the time and proportion of retaliation against Syria. Ankara believes small-scale armed confrontation with Syria could be turned into a full-fledged war -- something it does not want to enter alone. But one wonders why Syria would open a new and deadly front with Turkey in its war of survival if Ankara ever retaliates.

While forces loyal to embattled Syrian President Bashar al-Assad have continued to make strategic military gains on the ground in the past month, the US and its allies are seriously considering steps to prevent this troubling trend from progressing. The measures include a series of steps ranging from arming opposition fighters to military intervention of any sort.

Turkey stands at the forefront of nations promoting bold action in Syria. Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan will discuss details of a new Syria policy with US President Barack Obama at the White House this week. As part of this diplomacy, Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu traveled to Amman last week to discuss ways that Jordan could help tilt the military balance against the Assad regime.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2013/may/13/david-cameron-arrives-us-syria

David Cameron arrives in US buoyed by Russian signals on Syria

David Cameron will tell Barack Obama in the White House on Monday that he believes Vladimir Putin may be prepared to adopt a more flexible approach on Syria.

The prime minister will tell the president, in talks being convened ahead of the G8 summit in Northern Ireland for June, that he was greatly encouraged by his meeting with Putin at the Black Sea resort of Sochi on Friday.

A bilateral meeting between Cameron and Putin, attended only by their respective national security advisers, overran after being dominated by Syria. Cameron was struck when the Russian president made a point of moving his briefing notes to one side and asking to hear the prime minister's thoughts on the Syrian crisis.

Britain has been insistent for months that the Syrian crisis, which has claimed at least 70,000 lives, can only be solved if the Syrian president, Bashar al-Assad, is removed from power. Russia has been supportive of the regime and has vetoed a series of UN security council resolutions critical of Assad.

Speaking during his flight to Washington, Cameron described his talks with Putin as "extremely positive and good". He said: "I was very heartened that while it is no secret that Britain and Russia have taken a different approach to Syria I was very struck in my conversations with President Putin that there is a recognition that it would be in all our interests to secure a safe and secure Syria with a democratic and pluralistic future and end the regional instability.

http://www.cnn.com/2013/05/12/world/meast/turkey-syria-violence/index.html?sr=sharebar_twitter

Turkey detains 9, alleges Syrian link to car bombings

Funeral prayers echoed across a small Turkish town Sunday after a pair of car bombings that killed dozens of people, an attack that government officials are blaming on Syria.

The families of the dead huddled under umbrellas in the town cemetery to lay their loved ones to rest, while others cried in the middle of streets still strewn with broken glass and twisted metal.

Nine Turkish citizens were being held in Saturday's bombings in Reyhanli, along the Syrian border. But Deputy Prime Minister Besir Atalay said the people behind the bombings "were in contact with pro-Syrian regime Al Muhabarat (Syrian Intelligence Services) organization in Syria."

"The organization is identified and for the most part the persons involved are identified," Atalay said.

The bombings killed at least 46 people and wounded about 100, Turkish officials said. Of the 50 who remained hospitalized late Saturday, 29 were in critical condition, Interior Minister Muammer Guler said.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-22504652

Cameron and Obama's endless Syria conundrum

But Syria is the hard case. Both Europe and the US are slowly inching towards arming the rebels. But that commonplace phrase disguises the fact that the "arms" will be well short of anything the rebels actually want to finish this protracted business.

For months now the noises from Western capitals have vacillated between the cry "Something must be done!" and the forlorn reply "But what?"

One rather lame answer is the idea of a peace conference dangled by Russia.

But there's not much diplomatic chatter about the proposal, which seems more like a passing thought than a hard plan. I get the impression that the US and Europe will go along with what they privately regard as a bit of a charade only because they have no better ideas.

Which brings us back to "arming the rebels" and allied concepts like a no-fly zone.

Enthusiasts insist it isn't that difficult - find the right sort of rebels and give them the weapons they need. But as one insider put it to me: "What if we give the minority we trust the good stuff and five miles down the road they run into a road block and Islamist nutters take it off them? How does that help?"

No-one has any particularly good answers to this conundrum. We'll see today if the two leaders can come up with anything that squares the circle.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/in-syrias-war-the-lines-that-matter-arent-red/2013/05/09/b29ac688-b808-11e2-92f3-f291801936b8_story.html

In Syria’s war, the lines that matter aren’t red

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=656205411073265&l=4121f63a87

Local Coordination Committees in Syria

By the end of Sunday the LCC managed to document 91 and includes 2 woman, 6 children, and 8 martyrs under torture: 33 martyrs were reported in Damascus and its suburbs, 13 in Hama, 10 in Aleppo, 9 in Idlib, 9 in Homs, 7 in Daraa. 3 in Lattakia, 3 in Deir Ezzor, 1 in Qunietra, and 1 in Raqqa

[visionary]

http://www.understandingwar.org/backgrounder/syria-update-assad-targets-sunni

Syria Update: Assad Targets Sunni along Syria’s Coast

Recent violence against Sunni communities in Syria’s coastal region raises new concern over sectarianism in Syria. It also suggests to some that Assad will move to form an Alawi state. In fact, these events are perpetrated to demonstrate force and to drive a sectarian narrative that strengthens Assad’s base. Assad’s support in Qardaha has weakened, an influx of internally displaced persons has transfigured the coastal region, and there are opportunities to exploit these fluctuations in Assad’s position there.

Since May 6, the predominantly Sunni villages of Bayda and Baniyas have witnessed a sharp escalation in Sunni massacres. The pictures and videos emerging from Bayda are appalling. Entire families have been slaughtered, including countless children. According to testimonies from Bayda, some 400 people were killed and 300 disappeared; of those, roughly 200 were buried in a mass grave in the presence of the pro-regime militias on Saturday.

Of those buried, 150 were identified by name, while 50 bodies were difficult to identify because they were too disfigured or were of displaced persons from other areas. Similar numbers of people have reportedly been killed in the nearby city of Baniyas, and hundreds of residents have fled the area as the pro-regime militias continued to march from one Sunni village to another.

http://www.hrw.org/news/2013/05/13/syria-brigade-fighting-homs-implicated-atrocities

Syria: Brigade Fighting in Homs Implicated in Atrocities

Human Rights Watch has reviewed graphic evidence that appears to show a commander of the Syrian opposition “Independent Omar al-Farouq” brigade mutilating the corpse of a pro-government fighter. The figure in the video cuts the heart and liver out of the body and uses sectarian language to insult Alawites. The same brigade was implicated in April 2013 in the cross-border indiscriminate shelling of the Lebanese Shi’a villages of al-Qasr and Hawsh al-Sayyed.

It is not known whether the Independent Omar al-Farouq Brigade operates within the command structure of the Free Syrian Army. But the opposition Syrian National Coalition and the Free Syrian Army leadership should take all possible steps to hold those responsible for war crimes accountable and prevent such abuses by anyone under their command. Any party with the power to do so should do all it can to keep weapons from reaching the brigade. Human Rights Watch repeated its call to the United Nations Security Council to refer the Syria situation to the International Criminal Court (ICC) to ensure accountability for all war crimes and crimes against humanity.

“One important way to stop Syria’s daily horrors, from beheadings to mutilations to executions, is to strip all sides from their sense of impunity,” said Nadim Houry, Middle East deputy director at Human Rights Watch. “These atrocities are shocking but so is the obstruction of some Security Council members that still do not support an ICC referral for all sides.”

https://now.mmedia.me/lb/en/nowsyrialatestnews/report-german-journalist-held-in-syria

Report: German journalist held in Syria

A German journalist is being held by Syrian forces in the northern battlefield city of Aleppo, a Berlin newspaper reported online Monday, citing his call for help via a mobile phone text message.

Armin Wertz, an Indonesia-based veteran reporter writing for German and Asian media, had entered the conflict-torn country from neighboring Turkey in early May, said the Tagesspiegel daily, for which he works on a freelance basis.

In a first SMS sent on May 5, Wertz had told a friend and colleague in Germany that he was being held by Syrian police in Aleppo, but asked that his detention not be made public.

The journalist had however followed up with a second text message Sunday, explicitly appealing for help.

The report said Wertz was expected to be transferred to the Syrian coastal city of Latakia, which is under the control of regime forces.

The Tagesspiegel said Wertz had not said what he was being accused of but that he had entered the country without a press visa.

http://www.frontlineclub.com/under-the-wire-marie-colvins-final-assignment/

In conversation with Paul Conroy - Under the Wire: Marie Colvin's Final Assignment

Paul Conroy first met Marie Colvin in March 2003 in Syria. He was attempting to smuggle himself across the Tigris on a raft made of tubes stolen from lorries, with the aim to get into Iraq to cover the final assault on Baghdad. A firm friendship was forged over their many shared interests: sailing, whiskey, and their extraordinary dedication to covering the atrocities of war.

Having worked together in Libya in 2011, they were a natural pairing for an assignment to Homs. They were determined to cover the Syrian regime’s brutal crackdown and the devastating impact this was having on civilians.

http://blogs.aljazeera.com/topic/syria/british-pm-talks-tough-action-syria-press-conference-president-obama

British PM talks tough action on Syria at press conference with President Obama

British Prime Minister David Cameron said he is not ruling out tougher action on Syria at a press conference with President Barack Obama.

Cameron, who is meeting with Obama in the White House at Washington DC, said there are plans to double non-lethal aid to Syrian opposition.

He discussed the EU arms embargo and appeared keen on arming the Syrian rebels by pushing for more flexibility. Cameron said that Britain is supporting Lebanon and Jordan deal with the influx of refugees.

Obama said the US is continuing its efforts to increase pressure on President Bashar al-Assad's government.

Al Jazeera's Patty Culhane, reporting from Washington DC, said that the White House administration is trying to build up the idea that they are considering arming rebel groups. She said the concern has been they do not trust the rebel groups there.

https://now.mmedia.me/lb/en/nowsyrialatestnews/iran-foreign-minister-warns-of-syria-breakup

Iran foreign minister warns of Syria breakup

Iran's Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi warned on Monday of the possibility of Syria breaking up and its conflict spilling across the Middle East unless a political solution can end the bloodshed.

"God forbid, if there was a void, or disintegration, in Syria, this crisis would spill over into all countries in the region," said Salehi, whose country is a close ally of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.

Instead, the Assad regime and its opponents should seek a political solution by setting up a transitional government until elections, he told reporters in Jeddah.

He also rejected foreign intervention in Syria, which is in its third year of conflict after protests against the regime in 2011 morphed into an armed rebellion.

"The Syrian people should have self-determination... It is not permitted that decisions made abroad get to be imposed on an ancient country and people like Syria," he said.

http://www.dailystar.com.lb/News/Middle-East/2013/May-13/216892-syrian-troops-take-full-control-of-strategic-town.ashx#axzz2T92rcPck

Syrian army takes villages near Qusayr: officer

WESTERN DUMAYNA, Syria: Syrian troops captured three villages in the strategic Qusayr area of Homs province on Monday, allowing them to cut supply lines to rebels inside Qusayr town, a military officer told AFP.

"The attack on the villages of Western Dumayna, Haidariyeh and Esh al-Warwar began this morning," the lieutenant colonel said on condition of anonymity.

"The fighting lasted for three hours until we established control over these villages, which are considered strategic because they lie on the road between the cities of Homs and Qusayr and will allow us to block supplies to the militants in Qusayr," he said.

Western Dumayna is some eight kilometres (five miles) north of the rebel-held town of Qusayr, which has been at the centre of fierce battles between opposition forces and the Syrian military, backed by pro-Damascus group Hezbollah.

http://www.cnn.com/2013/05/13/world/meast/turkey-syria-violence/?hpt=wo_c2

Turkish government blames Marxists with Syrian connections for bombings

Rage grew in a Turkish town on Syria's border Monday in the aftermath of weekend bombings, as the government blamed Marxists with Syrian connections for the deadly attacks.

Gathered before the ruins left when two explosive-laden cars went off Saturday, residents of Reyhanli called on Turkey's government to step down, alleging that it has gotten their country too involved Syria's troubles.

Hours later, rescuers pulled out another corpse from the rubble and placed it in a black body back for transit, said CNN Senior International Correspondent Ben Wedeman. It brought the death toll to at least 47. Another 100 or so have been injured, authorities have said.

https://twitter.com/BBCiPannell

Expectations about Syria's future and prospects for talks barely hover above rock bottom as Obama & Cameron talk.

12:14 PM

https://twitter.com/pdanahar

The word among US's European allies is that Kerry is well ahead of the state department on his Syria peace conference worked up with Russia

2:08 PM

https://twitter.com/HannahAllam

State Dept: Kerry in contact w/stakeholders in region, Brahimi, Cameron in hopes of pulling off the Syria summit he and Lavrov announced. Kerry has said that this meeting is based on original Geneva mtg, same pool involved, but no final list of participants yet

1:47 PM

State Dept: Kerry, Ford focused on locking in participation of the opposition. Syrian opp has said they're encouraged by steps, will vote

1:48 PM

State Dept: Amb Ford was on a preplanned trip to deliver aid, has had sev conversations w/Syria opp to get them on board for talks w/regime

1:49 PM

https://twitter.com/HannahAllam

State Dept: We've seen reports of Assad success, do see progress by regime in some cases, why it's so important for us to aid the opposition

1:53 PM

State Dept: Assad has lost his legitimacy, steadfast in our belief that he has to go and working w/opposition and allies to do that. What happened to changing Assad's calculus, now calling for talks w/regime? State Dept: We've always thought political solution was best

1:56 PM

Q from AP: Only change in calculus is that Assad is gaining ground, no? State Dept: We're not ready to throw in our hat here.

1:56 PM

State Dept: It's likely this summit will happen past end of May now bec of all the players involved, determine right grp of participants

1:58 PM

Q from Reuters: Are you committing that a conference will happen? State: We are not naive about difficulties of pulling all sides together

2:02 PM

https://twitter.com/SyrianSmurf

Amazing video of a helicopter being shot down over Abu Dhoor airport in Idlib http://youtu.be/1hrCIjoelqg

2:16 PM

Fires erupt at the Shabibeh base after shelling it with mortars Idlib

…

2:20 PM

[China]

Video Of Syrian Rebel Eating Soldier’s Heart Goes Viral, Condemned By Human Rights Watch

Human Rights Watch has said that the extremely graphic video is further proof that Syria is descending into sectarian violence. WARNING: Graphic content.

In the video, Abu Sakkar, a founder of the rebel Farouq Brigade, begins cutting apart the body of a dead Syrian soldier.

Then, according to Reuters, he addresses the camera, saying: “I swear to God we will eat your hearts and your livers, you soldiers of Bashar the dog.”

He eats the heart of the dead soldier, while the crowd behind the camera cheers “Allahu akbar” (“God is great”).

Click on the link for more

[visionary]

http://uk.reuters.com/article/2013/05/13/uk-usa-obama-syria-cameron-idUKBRE94C0US20130513

Obama pushes for Syria talks but warns of huge challenges

President Barack Obama vowed on Monday to work to bring the Syrian government and rebels to the negotiating table in coming weeks but warned that a "combustible mix" of regional meddling and Islamist militancy would make it hard to halt the country's civil war.

Even as Obama backed a new joint U.S.-Russian effort to seek a diplomatic solution in Syria, he cited an array of obstacles to a credible peace process, including the involvement of Iran, the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah and the al Qaeda-linked Nusra Front in the two-year-old conflict.

http://www.cnn.com/2013/05/13/politics/obama-syria/

Obama cautious on Syria, Britain ups urgency for peace

President Barack Obama was cautious on Monday about whether the international community could broker peace in Syria, while British Prime Minister David Cameron applied new urgency for diplomacy, saying the war-wracked country's history is being "written in the blood of her people."

Obama and Cameron appeared at a joint news conference at the White House where questions about Syria touched on accelerating peace efforts and whether Russia, a close ally of Damascus, would reverse course and put pressure on the regime of Bashar al-Assad to abandon power.

Obama said the political situation is complex and identifying any solution satisfactory to the groups comprising Syria's opposition and finding common ground on the scope and timing of transition away from al-Assad would be challenging.

http://www.globalpost.com/dispatch/news/afp/130513/syria-troops-hezbollah-advancing-qusayr

Syria troops, Hezbollah advancing on Qusayr

Fierce clashes between rebels and fighters loyal to President Bashar al-Assad's regime raged on Thursday around insurgent-held Qusayr in central Syria, a monitoring group said.

An army officer told AFP the military seized control of Shumariyeh village near the town of Qusayr.

"The Syrian army seized back control of Shumariyeh in the Qusayr countryside, and troops are currently on their way to the village of Ghassaniyeh" which has been under rebel control for more than a year, the officer said.

http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/turkish-fighter-jet-crashes-near-syrian-border-pilot-dead.aspx?pageID=238&nID=46783&NewsCatID=341#.UZFDPIwyir8.twitter

Turkish fighter jet crashes near Syrian border, pilot dead

The pilot of a Turkish F-16 jet fighter, which was lost while flying over the Amanos Mountains in the southern province of Osmaniye near the Syrian border at around 2.15 p.m. today, has been found dead, according to Osmaniye Governor Celalettin Cerrah.

Hours ago, body parts of the plane and some pieces of glass were found at the Çarsık Plateau in the same area.

"The pilot of the crashed plane has been martyred," Anatolia news agency quoted the governor as saying.

The pilot was identified as Captain Hamza Gümüşsoy.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/worldviews/wp/2013/05/13/six-ways-assad-has-turned-the-tide-in-syria/

Six ways Assad has turned the tide in Syria

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and his forces “are beginning to turn the tide of the country’s war,” The Washington Post’s Liz Sly reported on Saturday from Beirut, explaining that Assad is “bolstered by a new strategy, the support of Iran and Russia and the assistance of fighters with Lebanon’s Hezbollah movement.” Sly finds that “the pendulum is now swinging in favor of Assad.”

How are Assad’s forces doing it? Here are a few of the trends Sly found, plus one from another source:

http://www.miamiherald.com/2013/05/13/3395714/weapons-ammunition-shipments-slowing.html

Weapons, ammunition shipments slowing to Syria’s moderate rebel factions

ABU DUHOR, Syria -- Disagreements among the countries backing the rebels in Syria have led to a drop in weapons shipments, leaving rebels vulnerable to a government military offensive.

The precise nature of the dispute is unclear, but one of the effects is that Saudi Arabia has stopped sending weapons via Turkey and has shifted its supply channels to northern Jordan. The result has been fewer guns and bullets for the rebels in northern and central portions of the country.

The lack of military supplies has shown in the rebels’ lackluster performance against a government offensive that now threatens the city of Qusayr, which has been in rebel hands for the past year. Several villages near Qusayr have fallen to government forces in recent weeks along a smuggling route that rebels had long used to move supplies and people into Syria from Lebanon.

Yazed al Hasan, a spokesman for the Farouq Battalions, a rebel group that began in the central Syrian province of Homs but whose influence now extends to the Turkish border, where it controls two crossing points, said the consequences of the drop in shipments from Turkey was clear.

“The shortage of ammunition means losing the Qusayr front,” he said. He said Farouq had more than 1,000 fighters in Qusayr, which is now largely surrounded by Syrian soldiers and pro-government militia. Last week, the U.S. State Department issued a statement expressing concern that the Syrian government had dropped leaflets telling “all civilians to evacuate or be treated as combatants.”

http://www.foreignpolicy.com/articles/2013/05/13/how_do_you_say_quagmire_in_farsi_syria_iran_hezbollah

How Do You Say 'Quagmire' in Farsi?

For more than a year, leaders in Lebanon have anxiously eyed the murderous civil war in Syria, wondering whether it would leap across the border and engulf the small, fractious country. And yet, it is Lebanon that now has jumped decisively into the fray, with Hezbollah's help apparently crucial to the Syrian regime's strategy and survival.

Uniformed Hezbollah fighters openly patrol the northern reaches of Lebanon's Beqaa Valley, fighting on either side of the increasingly porous border with Syria. Rocket and mortar teams target Free Syrian Army (FSA) fighters a few miles away, and Lebanese Hezbollah infantry fighters crisscross the "Shiite villages" surrounding the city of Qusayr just across the border in Syria, which now forms one of the pivot points of the conflict.

https://twitter.com/markito0171

Daraa Assad-forces looting & burning Khirbit Ghazaleh after rebels retreat from town & lost highway control- desaster

4:49 AM

https://twitter.com/NuffSilence

HUGE FSA convoy going after the corrupt Ghuraba Sham brigade. Finally, a house cleaning is in order: http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=0IhwpPIlbOM

4:45 PM

https://twitter.com/cjchivers

Another school in Syria destroyed by government ordnance. (This one in Sarjah.) http://instagram.com/p/ZQ4cynIONE/

3:42 PM

Opposition boot prints on Syrian Air Force logo on fuselage of Mi-24 gunship. Taftanaz. http://instagram.com/p/ZQ9UEvIODx/

4:17 PM

Small girl living in cave to avoid government shelling. Syria. http://instagram.com/p/ZRAszKoOIY/

4:45 PM

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=656683381025468&l=ca46814456

Local Coordination committees in Syria

By the end of Monday, local coordination coomitttes documented 81 martyrs including 3 women, 4 children and 2 marturs under torture: 35 martyrs were reported in Damascus and its suburbs; 14 in Hama; 10 in Aleppo; 10 in Homs; 6 in Idlib; 4 in Daraa; and 2 in Deir Ezzor

[visionary]

http://beta.syriadeeply.org/2013/05/catholics-join-islamist-fighters/

Catholics Join Islamist Fighters

Visitors crossing from Turkey to Ras al-Ayn, a sleepy border town in eastern Syria, are now welcomed by the unlikeliest of characters: a Catholic member of what is considered an extremist Islamist rebel group.

Noam Moses Malkeh is an administrator at the gate that is controlled by the Islamist group Ghuraba al-Sham. A Ras al-Ayn native, Malkeh said he was one of seven people to first protest against Bashar al-Assad’s regime on April 8, 2011. When the battle came to his town, Malkeh, along with his brother Ziad, decided they had to play a role.

“Christians and Muslims share the same God and the same prophets, and we will all be judged by God in the end. Syrians are facing a common enemy today, and though we have different religions, we should all face the same dangers together,” he said.

Malkeh is definitely an outlier among Syrian Christians, who have largely remained neutral and shunned the opposition movement against the Assad regime.

“I’ve had my differences with the church and haven’t attended mass for over a decade,” he said. “The clergy neglected the needs of their flock before the revolution, and as we can see from their position today of either being silent or siding with the regime, it’s clear the church’s leadership doesn’t protect the interest of Christians nor promote the message of Jesus.”

http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2013/05/09/world/middleeast/zaatari.html?ref=middleeast

A Jungle of Humanity — and Disorder

About 120,000 Syrians are calling the tents and trailers of the Zaatari refugee camp in Jordan home, at least for the foreseeable future.

http://en-maktoob.news.yahoo.com/abandoned-arms-syria-rebels-pull-back-near-qusayr-203122794.html

Abandoned arms as Syria rebels pull back near Qusayr

Abandoned machineguns and tunnels filled with mattresses and food are all that remains of the rebel presence in the Syrian village of Western Dumayna as the army tightens the noose around the adjacent town of Qusayr.

The village is one of three strategic settlements between Qusayr and the flashpoint central city of Homs that army commanders told AFP correspondents on the ground that they had recaptured on Monday.

"At around 9:00 am (0600 GMT) we staged simultaneous attacks on this village, Haidariyeh and Esh al-Warwar, which were under rebel control," a lieutenant colonel who led the assault said.

"After three hours of fighting, the issue was solved."

Western Dumayna lies some eight kilometres (five miles) north of Qusayr, which has been at the centre of fierce fighting between opposition forces and the army.

http://mobile.reuters.com/article/idUSBRE94D0GT20130514?irpc=932

Qatar, allies tighten coordination of arms flows to Syria

Qatar, which has taken a lead in arming the Syrian opposition, is coordinating with the CIA and has tightened control of the arms flow to keep weapons out of the hands of al Qaeda-linked Islamist fighters, according to rebels and officials familiar with the operation.

With Britain and France discussing lifting an EU ban on arming the rebels fighting President Bashar al-Assad, Western countries are concerned about making sure no arms end up in the hands of groups like Jabhat al-Nusra, which has pledged support for al Qaeda and which Washington considers a terrorist group.

Rebel fighters in Syria say that in recent months the system for distributing arms has become more centralized, with arms being delivered through opposition National Coalition's General Command, led by Selim Idriss, a general who defected to the opposition and is a favorite of Washington.

Qatar mostly sends arms to rebels operating in the north of Syria, while Saudi Arabia, another rich Gulf Arab kingdom, sends weapons to fighters operating in the south, several rebel commanders said.

"The Qataris are now going through the Coalition for aid and humanitarian issues and for military issues they are going through the military command," a commander in northern Syria interviewed from Beirut said.

"Before the Coalition was formed they were going through liaison offices and other military and civil formations. That was at the beginning. Now it is different - it is all going through the Coalition and the military command."

http://blogs.aljazeera.com/liveblog/topic/syria-153

24 minutes ago

Turkey's prime minister will push US President Barack Obama for more assertive action on Syria during a visit to Washington this week, days after car bombs tore through a Turkish border town in the deadliest spill-over of violence yet.

The bombings in Reyhanli, which killed 50 people on Saturday, and activists' reports of a massacre of Sunni Muslims in a Syrian coastal town have incensed Tayyip Erdogan, already

critical of the slow international response to the conflict.

The risk of Syria's chaos spreading will top the agenda in Erdogan's talks with Obama on Thursday, but the wide-ranging meeting with one of Washington's Middle Eastern allies is also expected to cover Turkey's nascent reconciliation with Israel and its deepening energy ties with Iraqi Kurdistan.

https://now.mmedia.me/lb/en/lebanonnews/us-official-condemns-hezbollahs-involvement-in-syria

US official condemns Hezbollah’s involvement in Syria

The US White House coordinator for the Middle East, North Africa and Gulf Region on Tuesday condemned Hezbollah for its involvement in Syria.

“Hezbollah’s involvement in Syria, fighting on behalf of the [bashar al-Assad] regime… risks drawing Lebanon into the conflict and is counter to the Lebanese government’s policies,” a statement issued by the US State Department quoted Dr. Philip Gordon as saying during his meetings with Lebanese officials.

“He reiterated the United States’ support for the principles of the Baabda Declaration and Lebanon’s dissociation policy,” it added in reference to the 2012 agreement among Lebanese leaders to avoid involvement in regional conflicts.

http://www.dailystar.com.lb/News/Middle-East/2013/May-14/217069-arab-league-says-syria-seat-not-given-to-opposition.ashx#axzz2THRCRwak

Arab League says Syria seat not given to opposition

The vacant Syrian seat at the Arab League has not been given to the opposition, even though its leader addressed the bloc's last summit, the League's secretary general said on Tuesday.

"The opinion was that if they (opposition) form a government, which they have not done yet, then they can become a representative," Nabil al-Arabi told reporters in Dubai.

He said the opposition chief had been invited to address the March summit in Doha by the meeting's Qatari host, not by the bloc.

"Yes, they were invited to address the summit, but until now, the opposition is not invited to meetings, because it has not formed a government," Arabi said.

http://www.csmonitor.com/World/Middle-East/2013/0514/Excitement-fades-to-despair-in-rebel-held-Syria-as-war-grinds-on?cmpid=addthis_twitter#.UZJW1o7EhBg.twitter

Excitement fades to despair in rebel-held Syria as war grinds on

Before war came to Aleppo, Syria, Abu Anas was a well-to-do landscape architect who paid a considerable sum to send his children to private school. Now an opposition fighter, he spends his time away from the front line preparing his three sons, the oldest of which is 10, for the possibility of military service.

Abu Anas doesn't want any of his sons to join the fight until they are men, but he acknowledges they may not wait.

"I hope the revolution is victorious soon, but I think it could take up to 10 years," he says. "If I die before we obtain victory, my sons will be able to continue fighting," he says.

"I will not be happy if my children leave the school to fight, but what can I do? I hope it will not come to this, but if this does happen I will be proud of my sons. It means that my sons have learned a good lesson: not to let a dishonest person control the country."

http://in.reuters.com/article/2013/05/14/syria-crisis-peace-idINDEE94D0B620130514

Syria peace talks look doomed in advance

If anyone saw last week's U.S.-Russian agreement to convene a peace conference on Syria as a potential breakthrough, Western leaders have been going out of their way to disabuse them.

International envoy Lakhdar Brahimi hailed the plan as the "first hopeful news" on Syria in a long time and deferred his own plans to resign after nine months of futile mediation.

He called the proposal "only a first step". But even its sponsors are dampening expectations that a civil war estimated to have killed 80,000 people can be doused soon, and pitfalls they cite in public are only a few of those lying in wait.

"I'm not promising that it's going to be successful," U.S. President Barack Obama said on Monday. Obstacles include Iran and Lebanon's Hezbollah, both of which support President Bashar al-Assad, as well as the al Qaeda-linked al-Nusra Front on the rebel side, he added.

https://now.mmedia.me/lb/en/nowsyrialatestnews/94000-dead-in-syria-conflict-ngo-revised-toll-assesses

94,000 dead in Syria conflict, revised NGO toll assesses

More than 94,000 people have been killed in more than two years of conflict in Syria, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said in a newly-revised toll on Tuesday.

The watchdog group said it revised the toll -- just two days after it announced a tally of 82,257 dead -- after receiving new information from regime-controlled Alawite areas of the Sunni-majority country.

"Based on this information, the number of martyrs and dead killed since the beginning of the Syrian revolution is more than 94,000," it said in a statement.

The group said it had received new figures from areas including Tartus and Latakia -- strongholds on the Mediterranean coast of the Alawite minority to which President Bashar al-Assad belongs.

http://www.thenational.ae/thenationalconversation/comment/saudis-overtaking-qatar-in-sponsoring-syrian-rebels

Saudis overtaking Qatar in sponsoring Syrian rebels

Last week, a 12-member delegation from the Syrian opposition visited Saudi Arabia, for an unprecedented two-day official meeting.

Saudi authorities had consistently declined to meet the opposition, despite repeated requests. This was partly because the kingdom has opposed Muslim Brotherhood dominance in the Syrian National Council and then the National Coalition, owing to the Brotherhood's alliance with Qatar and Turkey and opposition to inclusivity.

But last week, surprisingly, the Saudi foreign minister, Saud Al Faisal, met Syrian Brotherhood deputy leader Mahmoud Farouq Tayfour, in one-to-one talks.

The Brotherhood had previously been confident in its alliance with Qatar and Turkey, and saw no need to offer concessions to engage other countries, including Saudi Arabia. So this meeting, which came after an "eager appeal" from the Brotherhood, suggests a shift in regional dynamics.

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/05/15/world/middleeast/syria-developments.html?_r=0

Syria Gives Russia List of Envoys to Peace Talks

President Bashar al-Assad’s government has given Russia the names of officials who would attend international talks intended to end the war in Syria, Secretary of State John Kerry said on Tuesday, even as representatives of both sides in Syria publicly expressed skepticism about the prospect of a political settlement.

Mr. Kerry, who arrived in Sweden to attend a meeting of Arctic nations, also spoke on Tuesday morning with the leader of the Free Syrian Army, Gen. Salim Idris, to discuss the proposed peace conference he unveiled last week after meeting in Moscow with President Vladimir V. Putin.

Neither side has publicly committed to attend the talks, nor has a date been set, though Mr. Kerry and Russia’s foreign minister, Sergey V. Lavrov, said they hoped to convene the conference within a month under the auspices of the United Nations.

“I keep hearing some people suggest somehow that the process is moving away, not closer,” Mr. Kerry said during remarks with Sweden’s prime minister, Fredrik Reinfeldt. “I just don’t agree with that. Enormous plans are being laid.”

“If President Assad decides to miscalculate again about that, as he has miscalculated about his own country’s future over the course of the last years, it is clear the opposition will be receiving additional support,” he said, suggesting that the flow of arms to the rebels would increase. “There will be additional efforts made and unfortunately the violence will not end.”

https://twitter.com/ZeinakhodrAljaz

Syria state agency: Syria wants details on US-Russia proposed conference before deciding on participation - Information minister

3:23 AM

Syria information minister: presidency is a decision "only for Syrian people and ballot box"

3:26 AM

https://twitter.com/THE_47th

Basically Assad, through his Minister of Information, has shoved his foot up any Russian/US effort for a political solution

3:28 AM

Info Minister has clearly said: Assad = Syria, we will not participate in any dialogue, nor sit at a table that touches this topic

3:29 AM

https://twitter.com/MahirZeynalov

Death toll in Syria-linked Hatay blasts rises to 51 while 13 suspects, all of them pro-Assad Turks, were taken into custody.

6:04 AM

https://twitter.com/HannahAllam

State Dept: We're appalled by video showing Syrian rebel eating organ of slain soldier. Rebel military command assured us they condemn it

1:41 PM

Q. This is a 'mainstream' not Islamist unit so what does that say about the rebels? State: All sectarian retribution unacceptable

1:42 PM

State Dept: Opposition contacts tell us that the Farouq commander shown in video had previously been 'ejected' from the group.

1:43 PM

Q. Are you confident all Nusra elements have been ejected from oppositin? State: No,but we're working w/ppl who do have that moderate vision

1:46 PM

https://twitter.com/rozalinachomsky

resistance fighters say they have liberated al-bahhariyah in al-ghoutah al-sharqiyah

1:09 PM

15 soldiers have defected from the central jail in Aleppo

2:14 PM

[Boss_Hogg]

More on the heart eating incident:

http://www.cnn.com/2013/05/14/world/meast/syria-eaten-heart/index.html?hpt=hp_t2