Yahoo: Assad predicts disaster if West meddles in Syria

[visionary]

http://blogs.aljazeera.com/liveblog/syria-jan-16-2012-0729

Mon, 16 Jan 2012, 07:29 GMT+3 - Syria

A member of Syria's parliament says he has left the country to join the opposition against President Bashar Assad's government.

Imad Ghalioun, who represents the central city of Homs, told Al-Arabiya TV the restive city is "disaster stricken" and has been subjected to sweeping human rights violations.

Homs has been one of the most volatile regions in Syria since the uprising against Assad began in March.

[visionary]

http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/01/16/us-syria-idUSTRE8041A820120116

Eleven people were killed in Syria on Monday in a 10-month-old struggle between President Bashar al-Assad and his foes that a peace plan monitored by Arab observers has failed to quench.

Arab foreign ministers will meet on Sunday to discuss the future of the mission sent last month to check if Syria is abiding by the agreement it accepted on November 2.

[visionary]

http://www.cnn.com/2012/01/13/world/meast/un-security-council-syria/index.html?hpt=wo_t3

Why won't the U.N. Security Council intervene in Syria?

Last year, the U.N. Security Council authorized "all necessary measures" to stop the violence when the nation in question was Libya. It has come nowhere close to that on Syria, where the United Nations estimates more than 5,000 people have been killed since March. Why?

Diplomats say the answer is simple: Russia. Tensions between Russia and the other permanent members of the Security Council have always been a factor. But diplomats say that Russia's conduct in its refusal to condemn Syria, or even negotiate on resolutions in good faith, have reached new lows.

At this point, the only way Western diplomats believe the Security Council will be able to pass a resolution on Syria is with a request for intervention from the Arab League. Russia and China abstained from the vote on Libya after the Arab League and the African Union requested UN involvement in that country.

http://www.cnn.com/2012/01/16/world/meast/syria-unrest/index.html?hpt=wo_c2

Government forces killed at least 13 people in Syria on Monday, including five soldiers who died trying to defect during a firefight and five people who were shot to death waiting in line at a bakery, opposition groups said.

At least 20 people were wounded when the Syrian army bombarded homes in the Damascus suburb of Zabadani, according to the Local Coordination Committee, an opposition group that organizes and reports on protests.

In Homs, opposition groups reported eight deaths among civilians, including five people fatally shot by security forces who fired indiscriminately on people in line at a Homs bakery, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said. Nine others were wounded.

In addition, security forces raided a university housing facility in Aleppo and arrested nine students Monday, the group said.

Five soldiers also died Monday while trying to defect from the army during a firefight between government and opposition forces in Idlib, according to the human rights group. Fifteen other soldiers successfully defected, the group said.

---------- Post added January-16th-2012 at 12:34 PM ----------

Another Syrian parliamentarian defects.

(I haven't seen too many political defections since the begining of the revolution when a bunch of Baath party members from Daraa defected)

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

15 min 47 sec ago - Syria

Syrian member of parliament Nawaf al-Bashir has become the second politician to openly defect to the opposition and flee the country, according to the AFP news agency.

Bashir told Al-Arabiya TV on Monday that he had "come to Turkey to activate the opposition". He said he had previously been forced to appear on state television in Sirya praising President Bashar al-Assad's reforms and that he had been interrogated by security services more than 75 times.

Bashir said he was a member of the Syrian National Council, the most prominent opposition bloc.

Imad Ghalioun, another MP, announced on Sunday (also on Al-Arabiya) that he defected had fled to Cairo.

[visionary]

http://www.ottawacitizen.com/opinion/editorials/world+must+intervene+Syria/6004903/story.html

The world must intervene in Syria

Members of the Free Syrian Army (FSA), mostly Sunnis, have witnessed their brethren being slaughtered by a regime that is mostly controlled by Alawites. While still small in number and lacking the necessary heavy weaponry to take on the regime face-to-face, there are signs that this is changing. The FSA is gaining strength and has recently carried out retaliatory attacks that targeted the Shabiha (a pro-Assad criminal gang that is responsible for murdering protesters) and soldiers who were mandated by Assad’s regime to crush the uprising.

The FSA has stated that its mandate is only to protect peaceful protesters, and that their operations are only carried out in self-defence. Thousands of Syrians across the country have descended to the streets to voice their support for the FSA, as it is becoming increasingly clear that their hope in the international community to put a stop to the killings has faded.

Since the arrival of the Arab League monitoring team in Syria, the level of violence against civilians has actually increased, as confirmed by many observers. This gave the regime the necessary cover to continue to implement its campaign of terror and violence against its own citizens.

The Arab League mission has clearly been a complete failure, and it is equally clear that the only way to stop the escalating violence in Syria is for the United Nations to intervene, not eventually, but immediately. The UN mandate to do so is clear, under its Responsibility to Protect resolution. Every day that passes results in an escalation of violence and more innocent lives lost. Waiting is not an option.

[CowboysSaintsFan]

This is coming to pass b/c Jesus Christ said it would 2000 years ago.

Isa 17:1 The burden of Damascus. Behold, Damascus is taken away from being a city, and it shall be a ruinous heap.

Isa 17:2 The cities of Aroer are forsaken: they shall be for flocks, which shall lie down, and none shall make them afraid.

Isa 17:3 The fortress also shall cease from Ephraim, and the kingdom from Damascus, and the remnant of Syria: they shall be as the glory of the children of Israel, saith the LORD of hosts.

Mat 24:4 And Jesus answered and said unto them, Take heed that no man deceive you.

Mat 24:5 For many shall come in my name, saying, I am Christ; and shall deceive many.

Mat 24:6 And ye shall hear of wars and rumours of wars: see that ye be not troubled: for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet.

Mat 24:7 For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers places.

Mat 24:8 All these are the beginning of sorrows.

[visionary]

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/jan/17/syria-oasis-fragile-freedom?INTCMP=SRCH

Syria: 20 miles from Damascus, an oasis of fragile freedom

Zabadani has effectively been liberated for a month, thanks to the Free Syrian Army. But it's a liberty under constant siege

"We don't want Bashar or [his brother] Maher or their gang," they shouted in unison on a cold and starry night last week, clapping their hands above their heads – partly, some laughed, just to keep warm. "The people want the fall of the regime."

Parents and children gathered on the square to pose for the cameras they see as a lifeline to the outside world. Women stood to one side at first but joined the march from the rear. "The Free Army is protecting us against Assad's gangs," read a poster one little boy was holding up. "YouTube is the most important weapon of our revolution," said Amjad al-Khousi, a student. "People believe that being photographed will protect them."

Zabadani is just 20 miles north-west of Damascus, but it could be on another planet. For nearly a month the mainly Sunni town of 40,000 has effectively been liberated territory, though it is a fragile liberty that is under constant siege. Last Friday government troops launched a large-scale assault backed up by artillery and up to 50 tanks. It is unlikely to be the last. Shelling was reported again on Tuesday. Nearby Madaya was also under attack, a thick pall of smoke hanging over it. Water and electricity have been cut off. Many residents have fled.

"Zabadani is 90% free and the other 10% is held by the strongest army in the Middle East," quipped teacher Ali Abdelrahman, taking part in a mourning ceremony for a man who had been killed two days earlier – the town's 14th fatality since the uprising began. "The more martyrs there are, the stronger we become and the more volunteers we get," he grinned.

Ali Mustafa Burqan was hit by a sniper as he returned home from shopping with his wife on 8 January. Bloodstains still mark the spot where he lay dying, at a roundabout on a road out of town. Video clips of the corpse show the right side of his head shot away. Muhammad, his teenage son, is red-eyed and silent as mourners comfort him. "Sometimes," said an older man, "they have orders to shoot at anything that moves."

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

Another bloody day in Syria: at least 30 people killed today, according to LCC.

17 minutes ago

Protest in Homs

IwbYbiGhXkc

Syrian military tank in Homs opening fire in the street

AppIAlXgo0E

[visionary]

http://www.cnn.com/2012/01/17/world/meast/syria-unrest/index.html?hpt=wo_c2

At least 30 people were killed across Syria on Tuesday, including four soldiers who defected and two children, according to the opposition Local Coordination Committees.

The majority of the deaths were in the restive city of Homs, where 18 were killed, according to the group. Seven others were killed in Idlib. In addition, two people died near Damascus, and one person each in Khan Sheikhon, Daraa and Sahl Al-Ghab, the group said.

On Tuesday, CNN went with a group of Arab League monitors to the restive town of Kisweh, where security was tight. Protesters besieged the group with complaints of government brutality.

One demonstrator sprayed the letters S.O.S. on the wall with paint.

Although a number of journalists have been allowed into the country in recent days to travel with Arab League monitors on a fact-finding mission, CNN cannot verify many accounts of what is happening in Syria because the government restricts the activities of journalists.

But Ghalioun, the highest-ranking Syrian official to defect, said the reports of bloodshed by pro-government forces are true. He said Homs is a "ghost town full of horror."

"The humanitarian situation is dangerous ... no basic services, food supplies, or equipped hospitals. Residents cannot move from (one) neighborhood to the other because of snipers that kill people."

Ghalioun said opposition forces need weapons and the enforcement of a no-fly zone by Western powers to take down al-Assad's regime.

"I tell them to go back to your humanitarian values," Ghalioun said. "Build on democracy. And I ask them to help us stop the killing and reach our own true democracy."

[visionary]

http://blogs.aljazeera.net/liveblog/syria-jan-18-2012-1121

Zabadani opposition figure Kamal Labwani who fled to Jordan two weeks ago tells Al Jazeera that there is indeed a ceasefire between opposition fighters and the army in the mountain town of Zabadani, outside Damascus.

He says the agreement was made between town leaders and the deputy minister of defence, Assef Shawkat. The town leaders returned to Zabadani and consulted with the opposition Free Syrian Army and local co-ordinating committees, who in turn agreed to the ceasefire. No agreement was signed on paper.

The agreement stipulates that as of today, troops and tanks withdraw from Zabadani. In return residents would hide their arms and insurgents would withdraw from the streets. Also, no troops, security forces or Assad loyalists would be allowed to enter Zabadani or carry out any arrests inside the town - only policemen would be allowed to do so.

---------- Post added January-18th-2012 at 03:35 AM ----------

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

2 hours 35 min ago

UN Security Council diplomats held prolonged talks on Tuesday on a proposed Russian resolution on Syria without getting closer to UN action on the bloodshed, diplomats said.

Experts from the 15 nations met for more than four hours to discuss Russia's latest proposition.

Western nations reject Russia's demand that blame for the violence be attributed equally to the Syrian government and opposition. The US, France and Germany said before the talks that the current Russian text was unacceptable.

24 min 21 sec ago - Russia

Russia's foreign minister has warned the West against military interference in Syria and called for cutting weapons supplies to the Syrian opposition.

Sergey Lavrov said on Wednesday that Russia doesn't consider it necessary to offer an explanation or excuses over suspicions that a Russian ship had delivered munitions to Syria despite an EU arms embargo.

Lavrov told a news conference that Russia was acting in full respect of the international law and wouldn't be guided by unilateral sanctions imposed by other nations.

The Chariot ship initially made its way to the Cypriot port of Limassol last week after running low on fuel, and later reached the Syrian port of Tartous. Cypriot officials, who inspected it, said it was carrying munitions. [AP]

Some more info on the ceasefire and additional calls for international intervention (specifically by the UN), from the Free Syrian Army.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-16607615

[visionary]

http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5gxt41tOZxtj5EF12rDI1edYjiMgQ?docId=CNG.4580757baf91bd9343cc5b7e43af0aeb.31

China says Arab League 'effective' in Syria

"Since the Arab League observer mission began, the violence in Syria has not completely ended, but the security situation of major areas has improved, which shows the mission is effective," said Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Liu Weimin.

"The Chinese side calls on all parties in Syria to fully cooperate with the Arab league in its mediation efforts. The Chinese side supports the settlement of the Syrian issue within the framework of the Arab league."

China made the comments as fellow Security Council member Russia said it would reject any use of sanctions or deployment of troops over the unrest in Syria.

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

5 hours 45 min ago

European Union foreign ministers are set to slap fresh sanctions on Syria next week, adding 22 individuals and eight companies to an existing blacklist, EU diplomats said on Wednesday.

"As long as the repression continues we will step up our restrictive measures," said an EU source speaking on condition of anonymity. [AFP]

4 hours 25 min ago - Syria

The Muslim Brotherhood has rejected an Iranian proposal to play a leading role in Syria's government in exchange for President Bashar al-Assad staying in power, one of its leaders told Al-Hayat newspaper.

Iranian intermediaries proposed that the Brotherhood "lead a government (in Syria) on condition we give up our demand to replace Bashar al-Assad," the group's deputy secretary, Mohammed Faruk Tayfur, told the London-based daily.

"It is the responsibility of the international community to protect civilians and establish security corridors," as French Foreign Minister Alain Juppe stated, said Tayfur.

"We must ask the Arab League to publish a report and transfer it to the (UN) Security Council," added the Islamist leader, who was speaking from his office in Istanbul.

3 hours 4 min ago

A group of 140 Arab rights groups has demanded the withdrawal of the "flawed" Arab League observer mission from Syria and called for UN intervention to halt the violence.

The coalition sent a letter to the pan-Arab bloc urging it to withdraw the mission given the "flaws that have severely undermined" its efficiency and the Syrian government's failure to implement the Arab League peace plan.

The letter also urged the UN Security Council "to take action to address the violence".

[visionary]

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

8 hours 36 min ago - Syria

The Syrian Revolution General Commission, an opposition group that monitors the uprising, said at least 21 people were killed on Wednesday, five of whom were said to be defectors from the army.

The commision said 11 of the victims fell in Homs, five in Idlib including a woman and a defector, two in Saqba outside Damascus and one in Hama, Daraa and in Aleppo.

The opposition Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said security forces killed a civilian in a village in the northwestern province of Idlib and the body of a youth detained nearly two weeks ago turned up in Homs.

[visionary]

http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/middle_east/in-syria-world-inaction-fuels-armed-revolt/2012/01/18/gIQA8JaM9P_print.html

In Syria, world inaction fuels armed revolt

This kind of goes along with the general complaint that I've been seeing from Syrians for months now.

The lack of foreign assistance in stopping the regime is causing the opposition to become more violent and extreme to counter Assad's forces, also partially out of desperation and out of a resentment towards those who they hoped would help them in their time of need but so far have pretty much let them down.

They see it as the world abandoning them to die and it hardens them towards more extremist actions and ideology.

That's what Syrians have been warning about for a while now anyway.

It's hard for me to say if this is actually becoming reality or not.

It is clear that the Syrian Free Army has much more of a role than they did before.

But they're still very small and disorganized.

I also don't know that their increased role is a bad thing.

It's pretty clear by now that there will have to be at least some military/defensive compenant to this uprising, at the very least to keep Assad's forces from commiting wholesale massacres.

I can't comment on the religious radicalization, because I haven't really heard much about that before now.

This is an interesting quote though from the article:

People are getting more angry now as they realize there won’t be any help,” he said. “It’s building up hatred to the West, and it’s becoming extremism. It’s very dangerous now.”

Protesters have clamored for a NATO no-fly zone similar to the one that helped bring about the fall of Moammar Gaddafi’s regime in Libya, but as they come to realize that Western intervention in Syria is unlikely, Islamist groups are winning support, said Wissam Tarif, a human rights campaigner with the activist group Avaaz.

“The only people who are organized and credible are the Muslim Brotherhood and the Salafis,” he said. “The dangerous thing is almost no one believes in peaceful struggle anymore. They want weapons.”

Activists in Syria say they have no agenda or ideology other than Assad’s ouster, but they acknowledge that Sunni Islamists have been gaining ground in the battle to dislodge a regime dominated by Assad’s minority Alawite sect, an offshoot of Shiite Islam, raising the prospect of heightened sectarianism.

“Until a month ago, no one supported the Brotherhood, but today we would support Israel if they helped us take Bashar out,” said Shakir, the activist in Homs. “Today we support anyone without questions if they help us.”

I should point out the the Free Syrian Army is generally not made up of radicals.

I'm pretty sure that these are just defected soldiers and in at least some cases of the leadership, are pretty secular.

I know they've mentioned more than once of the need to make sure that weapons do not fall into hands of the extremists.

Ok so here's my thoughts on our own possible role in things:

I was fairly supportive of our current strategy on Syria a few months ago.

It seemed like Obama was doing a good job of working alongside the Europeans (especially France) in putting pressure on Assad and his regime.

But it seems like we've kind of dropped the ball here.

I haven't seen or heard much from us on Syria in a while and nothing is being accomplished in the UN.

The Arab League has proven useless so far and Syrians have no confidence in them or the other Arab states to help them out right now.

It's time for some sort of action.

We need to either make a serious push to get Russia and China on board at the UN for something substantial, through whatever means we can think of, or we and our allies have to persuade Turkey and the Arab League to put in place some kind of peacekeepers/bufferzone/no-flyzone/whatever, in Syria.

We should probably also send humanitarian aid to the Turkish/Syrian border and do what we can to help the refugees there. And we need to seriously consider arming the Syrian Free Army (at least with body armor and other clothing and medicine, and after that, maybe guns as well) (and find out as much about them as we can in the meantime, while considering what the pros and cons of doing this would be).

I know there's been plenty of protests and calls in Syria for NATO or "the West" to directly intervene via no-fly zone. But I don't think there's any kind of appetite for that in the US or other western countries right now and I would rather it not be handled that way in any case.

That doesn't mean we should sit back and do nothing though.

I do admit that the sanctions seem to be causing the Syrian currency to fall badly, but I'm not sure that's really helping things a whole lot right now.

Anyway, that's just my view of the current situation.

It's very possible that I'm unknowingly downplaying what our administration is doing right now on the issue.

I hope that's the case, but we'll have to wait and see.

I'm sure we're trying something, but whatever it is, it doesn't seem to be accomplishing very much so far.

---------- Post added January-19th-2012 at 02:43 AM ----------

A bit more info on the ceasefire situation in Zabadani:

http://edition.cnn.com/2012/01/18/world/meast/syria-zabadani/

"There was massive protests in Zabadani, so the Syrian Army tried to disperse them. But our troops were very organized and aggressive with a counter attack that left them fleeing and they withdrew completely out of the city," said Lt. Col. Mohamed Hamdo of the Free Syrian Army (FSA), a group made up of former government soldiers. "Our forces raised the flag of independence in Zabadani."

Hamdo said, though, that the opposition fighters "expect another confrontation" as the government forces regroup outside the town.

The FSA destroyed at least three armored vehicles during the fighting, a Zabadani-based member of the Local Coordination Committees of Syria, an opposition umbrella group, told CNN. Cold weather and snow hindered troop movements into the town, located at the head of a mountain valley, said the activist, who identified himself only as Faris.

Faris said Zabadani residents aided the rebel force by providing them with clothing and shelter. No civilians were killed there on Wednesday, he added.

[visionary]

http://www.aljazeera.com/news/middleeast/2012/01/201211916739170780.html

Arab League mulls extension of Syria mission

Syrian forces have pulled back from a rebel-held town under a local ceasefire, residents say, but there was no sign of an overall easing of violence as a month-long mandate for Arab peace monitors in Syria expired.

At least 19 people were reported killed elsewhere, adding to a death toll of more than 600 since the monitors arrived in Syria, where an uprising is hardening against President Bashar al-Assad's authoritarian rule.

The one-month mission expired on Thursday, but Adnan al-Khudeir, head of the Cairo operations room that handles reports by the monitors, told The Associated Press news agency that the League had extended it until after Sunday's meeting in Cairo.

Another Arab League official said the mission could be extended for another month.

Rejecting charges that the observers had been ineffective in reducing violence, he said extending the mission would help the oppostion more than the regime.

"The killings are less, the protests increase," he said, speaking on condition of anonymity because no decision had been made.

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

5 hours 35 min ago

At least 18 people are said to have been killed in different parts of the country, the Syrian Revolution General Commission reported on Thursday.

Three of the victims are said to be army defectors.

Opposition activists of the Local Co-ordinating Committees report that clashes are taking place at Aleppo University, where security forces are said to be cracking down on students at the Faculty of Sciences after another demonstration started there.

In Hama, a military security brigadier, Adel Moustapha, is said to have been killed at the hands of soldiers who refused his orders to shoot at civilians in the Bab Qilbi area.

The brigadier had previously overseen many killing and arrest operations, the committees say. The regime's forces cordoned off the Bab Qibli area at the Madina district side on Thursday.

30 min 42 sec ago

The agenda for the next Arab League meeting on Syria, scheduled to be held in Cairo on Sunday, will involve a single topic, namely, reviewing the Arab observers report to be submitted by head of mission Mohamed al-Dabi.

Each member country is entitled to add items of choice, including globalising the Syrian issue, or sending in Arab troops.

"All possibilities and decisions are expected" ambassador Adnan al-Khudhairi, head of the Arab League operations told the Al Jazeera.

The final decisions would be taken by the Arab League Ministerial Committee and the Arab League Council, irrespective of the Arab observers mission report.

Another issue is seeking UN technical assistance and experience to bolstering the observers mission in its next phase.

[visionary]

http://www.enduringamerica.com/home/2012/1/19/syria-bahrain-and-beyond-live-coverage-the-free-syrian-army.html#2020

2020 GMT: Another critical victory for the Free Syrian Army.

According to the Syrian Uprising 2011 Information Centre, the Syrian army has agreed to a cease-fire with the Free Syrian Army in Kafer Takharum, near the border with Turkey. "After 2 days of fighting a 24 hour ceasefire has been agreed, Assad's forces have withdrawn for now leaving the town in the hands of the Free Syrian Army."

This confirms what we inferred from the videos we posted at 1831 GMT.

This is massive news. The Free Syrian Army has had at least limited success in Daraa and Hama in the last 36 hours, has scored what seems to be a significant victory in Rankous, north of Damascus, though the outcome of that battle is still unknown, and has fought the Assad regime to a standoff in two cities, this one in Idlib province, and Zabadani northwest of Damascus.

It's also news that is slightly bewildering. The Assad military is significant, and these small victories are only picking at the margins of Assad;s full force. The strategy that Assad's military commanders have used over the last two days is confusing, to say the least, as these victories have more symbolic importance than strategic importance.

[visionary]

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

1 hour 48 min ago

The Australian foreign minister has urged Assad to step down and said he should be tried before the International Criminal Court for "atrocities" against his people.

"Our view in Australia is that Assad must go," Kevin Rudd told reporters in France, at a joint appearance with his counterpart Alain Juppe.

"Our view in Australia is in fact his case is worthy of referral to the International Criminal Court, given the level of atrocities we have seen. As we speak, further atrocities are being committed," Rudd said.

Juppe said the Arab League observer mission to Syria was "in difficulty" and not being allowed to work.

"Syria is not respecting the undertaking it gave to the Arab League to withdraw its troops to barracks," he said, adding that a report from the observers should be submitted to the UN Security Council for further action.[AFP]

1 hour 28 min ago - Belgium

NATO is not planning or even "thinking" of intervening in Syria, the alliance's most senior officer said on Thursday.

"There is no planning and we are not thinking about an intervention," General Knud Bartels, head of NATO's Military Committee, told a news conference in Brussels.[AFP]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-16642887

Inside Deraa: Town at centre of Syria uprising

Here's a short video tour of the city where the Syrian Revolution started.

[visionary]

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

6 hours 54 min ago

Protesters denounce Syria's international allies - Iran, Russia and Hezbollah - in this video said to be filmed in Kafr Nabel, Idlib province, today.

They chant "Russia leave us alone ... We need to build our country"

CwsXx8BV50A

7 hours 3 min ago

President Nicolas Sarkozy has said France cannot stand silently by and allow Assad to put down the revolt in his country.

"We cannot accept the ferocious repression by the Syrian leadership of its people, a repression that has led the entire country into chaos, and a chaos that will help extremists of all kinds," Sarkozy said on Friday.[AFP]

5 hours 56 min ago

French Foreign Minister Alain Juppe has said the Qatari proposal to deploy Arab peacekeeping troops in Syria was not feasible.

"In the present regional context we are not working towards such a scenario," he said in an interview published on Friday by the daily Ouest-France.

Odd. He should be happy with such an idea.

I doubt it will go through anyway though.

I do recall him advising against violence in fighting back before though.

Which I still am a bit uncomfortable on.

I don't think it's fair to tell them not to protect themselves and each other or to ask for help if they need it.

I guess France wants to try to stick to UN sanctions or something like that, although that path seems even less likely to work with Russia still in the way.

---------- Post added January-20th-2012 at 01:05 PM ----------

http://www.universalsubtitles.org/en/videos/Q3ajYpLqcOmj/

Video from Zabadani earlier in the week, before Free Syrian Army forces defeated Assad's security forces.

[visionary]

http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/01/20/us-syria-idUSTRE8041A820120120

At least six people were killed in Syria on Friday and the bodies of six others were turned over to their families, activists said, two days before the Arab League decides whether to keep monitors there despite their failure to halt bloodshed.

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

At Zabadani with @jfjbowen[.] spent day with protesters[.] no security presence[.] saw members of free Syrian army[.] people say z r liberated 3 hours ago

end of visit 2 Zabadani men women & children gather @ square chanting freedom slogans[.] a woman says I'll die happily I lived freedom 1 hour ago

Only armed appearance we saw in Zabadani was four men of free Syrian army[.] everywhere we went was peaceful including the protest 21 minutes ago

[visionary]

http://www.aljazeera.com/news/middleeast/2012/01/2012120142243339195.html

Protesters have rallied against the government in huge numbers across many Syrian cities, in a day dubbed the "Friday for revolutionary detainees".

Security forces prevented worshippers attending the Omari mosque in the southern town of Deraa, cradle of a 10-month-old revolt against President Bashar al-Assad, activists said.

The forces were out in full force as protests began in Aleppo, Latakia and Idlib, the British-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) said.

A security officer, who had defected, was assassinated in Deraa, the SOHR said. Activists say at least twelve people were killed on Friday, including seven in Idlib.

Supporters of Assad also took out rallies in the capital Damascus.

Al Jazeera's Zeina Khodr, reporting from neighbouring Lebanon, said: "Today the protests were in solidarity for those who remain in prison."

Meanwhile, Ahmad el-Tayyeb, the grand imam of Cairo's Al-Azhar, the highest seat of Sunni Muslim learning, urged "Arab rulers to take the necessary measures to halt bloodshed in Syria", the state news agency MENA quoted him as saying on Friday.

[visionary]

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

2 hours 44 min ago

A 14-year-old Lebanese boy was shot and fatally wounded after gunmen opened fire on a fishing boat on the maritime border with Syria on Saturday, his father and a local official say.

"My wife crossed the border into Syria and has seen his body in the morgue of Basel Assad hospital" in the coastal city of Tartous, Ahmad Hamad said of his son Maher.

He said the boy's uncle, Khaled Hamad, was receiving treatment in the same hospital for gunshot wounds and another uncle, Fadi, was being held by Syrian intelligence in the city.

Lebanese President Michel Sleiman condemned the incident, calling for the brothers to be returned home and for a probe. The two states must respect each other's sovereignty and work together to prevent such incidents, he said.

Demonstrators burning tyres sealed off a Syrian border post in northern Lebanon in protest at the incident, an AFP correspondent reported.

A local official, Ali Assad Khaled, mayor of the town of al-Arida, said brothers Fadi and Khaled Hamad and Maher were seized from their boat off the coast of northern Lebanon.

"Gunmen on another boat opened fire on the three Lebanese before seizing them and taking them off to Syria," he said, adding that the incident was witnessed by other fishermen who insisted it took place in Lebanese waters. [AFP]

Lebanese officials said that the fishermen were attacked a few miles into Lebanon.

The Syrian government says that they were smugglers who refused to let their boat be searched...in Syrian waters and tried to dump their cargo and flee to Lebanon.

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

Look how huge this is - liberated al-Zabadani yesterday protesting.

2 hours ago

g7BdM7fN06U

---------- Post added January-21st-2012 at 01:30 PM ----------

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

SRGC: 94 killed today in Syria. Number includes 60 bodies found in Idlib's main hospital. 1 minute ago

---------- Post added January-21st-2012 at 01:41 PM ----------

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

Citizens in Idlib found 60 dead bodies with torture marks after FSA seized control of national hospital. 5 minutes ago

[visionary]

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

5 hours 5 min ago

Heavy clashes between the army and opposition fighters are reported from the Damascus suburb of Douma.

4 hours 27 min ago

There are reports that the Free Syrian Army is in control of Douma, a Damascus suburb. However, the Local Co-ordination Committees just said in an email statement thet these "rumours" are false. Al Jazeera is trying to confirm the news.

4 hours 4 min ago - Syria

More from LCC on Douma:

An eyewitness in Douma is claiming that hundreds of regime operatives (security forces, etc) have arrived in the area between Douma and Harasta.

"Apparently there were some clashes between the regime's army & the FSA but the FSA has gone back to its positions."

3 hours 20 min ago

The founder of the UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, using the name Rami Abdelrahman, said opposition fighters retreated to their hideouts once they had pushed state forces outside of Douma.

"It seems they chose not to hold on to the territory, most likely because it could offer the regime an excuse to storm the area," he told Reuters, after the SOHR reported that the Free Syrian Army had taken control of the Damascus suburb.

"No one can get in or out of Douma right now. This is the first time the rebels do anything more than hit-and-run attacks. Tonight they started making barriers in the streets," an activist living in Douma told Reuters.

The news agency reported that the fighting began on Saturday afternoon, after security forces killed four people when they fired on a funeral march for a slain protester. Ensuing clashes left dozens wounded, activists said.

Another resident in Douma told Reuters she had not heard of the temporary takeover of the suburb but had heard a large explosion.

[visionary]

zgpJXcn3LV0

BBC reporting from Zabadani on Friday.
At least one of the quotes from the video was amongst the BBC reporters tweets that I pasted here a couple of days ago.
(probably from when/soon after it was filmed)

[visionary]

http://www.aljazeera.com/news/middleeast/2012/01/201212254625411178.html

Saudi Arabia to pull out from Syria mission

Saudi Arabia has said it was pulling out its observers from the Arab League observer mission to Syria because Damascus had not kept its promises.

Riyadh "is withdrawing from the mission because the Syrian government has not respected any of the clauses" in the Arab plan aimed at ending the crisis there, Prince Saud al-Faisal, the Saudi foreign minister, said at a ministerial meeting of the 22-member body in Cairo on Sunday.

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

22 monitors resigned from the mission. Some monitors treated the mission as a vacation in Syria. 33 minutes ago

AJA BRK: Qatari FM calls for complete review of monitors mission. --Great. More time wasting. 1 hour ago

AJA BREAKING: Arab FMs demand an end to violence in Syria, forming a national unity government, and holding presidential elections.

AJA BREAKING: Arab FMs demand Assad hand over prerogatives and duties over to his deputy who will cooperate with the new cabinet. 3 minutes ago

Sounds a lot like Yemen...except of course Assad's been about ten times worse than Saleh was.

If there's a mention of immunity...I don't think it will go over well with the Syrian people.

Not sure anyway that there is anyone in Assad's bunch that would take the country in a fair and unbiased direction, without allowing him or his family to still be in charge.

Plus, I don't know that he or his diehards are willing to give up even the image of him ruling.

More from Saudi Arabia:

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

1 hour 52 min ago -

"We are calling on the international community to bear its responsibility, and that includes our brothers in Islamic states and our friends in Russia, China, Europe and the United States," Prince Saud said, calling for "all possible pressure" to push Syria to adhere to the Arab peace plan.

2 hours 17 min ago - Syria

The LCCs have just revised their death toll for today's violence, now saying that 12 people have been killed. The additional three deaths are split between two in Damascus's suburbs and one in Idlib, the group says.

---------- Post added January-22nd-2012 at 02:32 PM ----------

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

Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu announced that Turkey will support any ArabLeague decision over the Syria crisis 12 minutes ago

ArabLeague monitoring mission report demands increasing administrative and logistic resources. 2 minutes ago

ArabLeague report : need to accelerate political process & launch national dialogue in order to build confidence between 2 sides of crisis 1 minute ago

ArabLeague report said armed party undoubtedly came into existence due to the excessive use of force by the government force 2 minutes ago

ArabLeague: Syrian civilians felt reassured for seeing the monitors until the ministerial committee issued a statement on January 8" 2 minutes ago

ArabLeague: The government side responded positively to the needs of the monitors and did not restrict their movement 2 minutes ago

ArabLeague: The monitors noticed a high degree of tension, repression and injustice in some Syrian cities 2 minutes ago

ArabLeague: Syrian are convinced to solve crisis peacefully within Arab framework and away from any internationalization" 2 minutes ago

Saying that the government did not restrict the movement of the monitors is just a blatent ****ing lie. :ols::ols:

More from the Arab League

ArabLeague: Monitors verified that blasts targeted some govt buildings, police stations, oil pipelines & railways were perpetrated by FSA 3 minutes ago

ArabLeague: The mass media sometimes exaggerate the nature of the incidents and the numbers of casualties 2 minutes ago

ArabLeague report: The mission has been targeted by a fierce media campaign through dissemination of groundless statements 1 minute ago

ArabLeague: The basic needs of the mission if its mandate is extended include 100 additional youth monitors

3 minutes ago

The financial resources of the mission have to be increased to USD five million or five times the originally-set figure

3 minutes ago

[visionary]

Here's the Arab League's proposal that was mentioned earlier:

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

28 min 51 sec ago

Arab League foreign ministers are voting on a draft of recommendations to end violence in Syria and form a unity government within two months.

The draft, obtained by Reuters, includes a call for SyrianPresident Bashar al-Assad to give his top deputy the power to deal with a unity government during the transitional period.

The unity government would be responsible for setting up an independent commission of inquiry into violations committed against Syrian citizens during the 10 month uprising against Assad's rule and restoring security and stability in Syria.

The draft pledges Arab support for the unity government as well as helping fund and support a complete overhaul of the internal security forces in Syria.

The unity government would also prepare for elections within three months to a constituent body that will draft a new constitution to be put to referendum. It calls on Arab League chief Nabil Elaraby to send an envoy to Damascus to follow up on the political process.

It was not clear how the League might enforce any of these measures.

The Syrian National Council has made their own proposals today:

-The Arab League's Syrian file should be transfered to the UN

-An air embargo must be put in place, and humanitarian zones/corriders should be created to allow humanitarian aid to reach affected Syrian towns

-More sanctions must be put on all Syrian officials implicated in crimes against humanity, starting with Assad.

Turkey says that they are ready to work with the UN if there is a humanitarian crisis in Syria.

They say that they will go along with what the Arab League decides and hope that Assad will stop his war against his people. But should the iniative fail and a humanitarian tragedy unfold in Syria they will be ready to internationalize the solution. The Turkish FM also adds that he is headed to Russia for consultations on Syria (no idea what that means)

For more info and updates check this reporter's twitter feed:

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

Here's what someone in Zabadani was saying about the situation in that town:

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

Activist in Zabadani tells me of rising fears Assad troops soon returning.

23 minutes ago

Somewhat untrue to say FSA in control of Zabadani, local activist tells me. FSA lack muscle, regime choosing to stay away. 22 minutes ago

Assad chooses to stay out of Zabadani, local activist believes. Tells me regime won't risk giving intnl commnity reason to intrvene 17 minutes ago

[visionary]

http://www.cnn.com/2012/01/22/world/meast/syria-unrest/index.html

The Syrian government roundly rejected the plan, which it views as "blatant intervention in its internal affairs," Syria's official SANA news agency reported soon after the announcement.

Well, that didn't last long.

I was expecting Syria to at least Pretend to accept the proposal and then find some way to not go along with it or at least keep stalling for time.

I wonder what the Arab League will do now.

Maybe they'll try to pressure the Syrian government to accept the proposal via the UN.

The Arab League will take its initiative, which does not back military intervention in Syria, to the United Nations in a bid to build international support. The organization also said it would extend its monitoring mission in Syria and increase the number of observers there

(and then Assad can pull out all his tricks)

By the way, the SNC somewhat surprisingly agreed to the proposal before the government rejected it.

They did however state that Assad would have to step down first, not two months down the road.

Not that it matters anymore unless the government changes their mind.

[visionary]

Reportedly the head of the Arab League monitors will be having an unscheduled press conference or something like that in the next few hours.

In other news, some Lebanese seem to be growing tired of Syrian interference.

http://www.dailystar.com.lb/News/Politics/2012/Jan-23/160760-lebanese-demand-army-on-border-after-teen-killed.ashx#axzz1kGOX1X1T

ARIDA, Lebanon: A funeral for a Lebanese teenager killed by Syrian naval forces gave way to anger Sunday in the Lebanese border town of Arida, with residents chanting anti-Syria slogans and calling for the deployment of the Lebanese Army on the tense Lebanese-Syrian frontier to protect Lebanese citizens.

Meanwhile, Akkar Future MP Mouin Mereibi criticized the Lebanese Army for failing to protect Lebanese citizens on the Lebanese-Syrian border. He lamented that the Army has turned into “traffic police.”

“The Army has abandoned its role in protecting the Lebanese border,” Mereibi told LBCI TV, calling for the deployment of Lebanese authority on the border.

“The Army’s work is to protect the people. If it doesn’t want to protect us, there’s no problem. Let them give us the arms they have and we are ready to protect ourselves,” Mereibi said. He added that if the government cannot protect the border with Syria, it should invite U.N. troops to do so.

[visionary]

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

5 hours 9 min ago

Lebanon criticised on Monday the Arab League's call for President Bashar al-Assad to step down, saying Arab ministers had taken an "unbalanced" approach to the crisis in Syria.

Foreign Minister Adnan Mansour, who refused to endorse the League plan at Sunday's meeting in Cairo, said it had come out of the blue and ignored violence perpetrated by Assad's foes.

"We came to discuss the report of the Arab monitors... and all of a sudden this decision was put on the table," Mansour told reporters at Beirut airport after returning from Egypt.

4 hours 6 min ago - Syria

The AFP news agency reports that at least 10 civilians and five Syrian soldiers were killed in fresh violence across the country on Monday, activists said, also reporting a string of clashes between deserters and the army.

The UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said security forces opened fire with machineguns, killing three civilians in Al-Sahen village of Idlib province in northwest Syria.

Three others were gunned down in the flashpoint central town of Homs, said the Britain-based watchdog in statements received in Nicosia, and two civilians were killed in Hama, also central Syria, and Aleppo in the north.

The Observatory said two people died in crossfire between security agents and deserters in the southern province of Daraa.

In Homs province, "five soldiers of Syria's regular army were killed and 13 others wounded in fighting with a group of deserters at a checkpoint in the village of Al-Ziraa," it said.

The group said the two sides also clashed in Idlib on the Damascus-Aleppo highway, near Maaret al-Numan, where eight soldiers were reported killed or injured, and three armoured cars destroyed. [AFP]

4 hours 4 min ago

Russia has signed a deal to sell Syria nearly 40 fighter jet trainers for over half a billion dollars, a Russian newspaper reported on Monday, despite growing international criticism over its military trade with the violence-ridden country.

The daily Kommersant cited a source close to Russia's state arms export monopoly, Rosoboronexport, as saying that the sides had signed a contract after holding talks in December, and that Damascus was to pay $550m for 36 Yak-130 aircraft.

3 hours 7 min ago

Germany and other European countries will ask the UN Security Council to endorse a new Arab League plan aimed at stopping the violence in Syria, the German ambassador to the UN said Monday.

The Europeans want the Arab League's secretary general to discuss Syria "as soon as possible," and the Europeans will seek Security Council "endorsement" of the new Arab League plan, UN Ambassador Peter Wittig said. [AFP]

I don't really like the plan, but if it lets the international community put pressure on Assad, I guess it's a good thing. Especially since Syria already rejected it.

I don't really get why they're pushing it so hard though if Syria is already saying no.

There has to be some sort of fall back plan or consequences if Syria does not comply.

(of course Assad could be only saying 'no' as postering to make it look like a really good thing if he eventually says yes.

Then he might drag it out forever or blame "terrorists" for making him change his mind again.