March 2012
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#Syria rebels 'have a right to weapons from...
Thomas Seibert 01/04/12
ISTANBUL // Rebels fighting the forces of Bashar Al Assad have the right to weapons supplies from other countries if the world fails to stop the bloodshed, Turkey’s foreign minister told The National on the eve of a second international conference on Syria.
“The international community should take very concrete steps to prevent a massacre,” Ahmet...
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#Syria says revolt over, but army still shooting
By Douglas Hamilton and Erika Solomon
BEIRUT | Sat Mar 31, 2012 12:00pm EDT
(Reuters) - Syria says the year-old revolt to topple President Bashar al-Assad is over, but the army again shelled opposition areas on Saturday and rebels said they would not cease fire until tanks, artillery and heavy weapons are withdrawn.
Washington and Gulf Arab states urged peace envoy...
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Syrian Kurds: Are They The Key To Ending The...
Posted on March 30, 2012 by Julie Ann McKellogg in Conflict, Culture, Democracy, Facebook, Human Rights, Issues, Places, Syria,Turkey
A tent city among the ruins of a former tobacco factory along the Turkish-Syrian border is home to Syrian refugee Ciwan and his four-year-old son. The Yayladagi camp is swarming with Syrians fleeing the bloodshed of their homeland. But for Ciwan, a Syrian Kurd,...
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Free elections in #Syria can end violence, says PM...
Ayatollah Khamenei talks to Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan in the city of Mashhad on Thursday. (Photo: EPA)
31 March 2012 / EKREM DUMANLI, MASHHAD/İSTANBUL
The solution to the current conflict in Syria between government forces and the opposition is holding free elections, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said on Friday, on his return flight from Iran, where he has been...
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#Syrian Activists Targeted With Facebook Phishing...
Facebook has been a popular place for Syrian Internet activists to share their opposition to the Assad regime ever since the site was unblocked by the Syrian government in early 2011. While some interpreted the Assad regime’s decision to allow access to Facebook as a positive sign, others feared that the government had made Facebook available for the purpose of entrapping Syrian...
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Possible use of Chemical & Bacterial Weapons in...
Documentation of injuries possibly caused by the use of chemical weapons on civilians during the attack and siege of Baba Amr, Homs.
During the last 2 weeks, the hospitals in northern Lebanon have received and analyzed several injuries, injuries on those who fled the neighborhood of “Baba Amr” in the city of Homs. The injuries were caused during the brutal crackdown and siege led by the...
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#Syria: shells filmed raining down on Homs Syrian...
VIDEO!
Video uploaded to the internet showed clouds of smoke rising from buildings in and near the Al-Khalidiya neighbourhood of Homs, which had reportedly come under mortar attack from Syrian soldiers on Monday.
Although it is not possible to independently verify the content of the video, Homs residents have accused the army of indiscriminate shelling.
Homs, Syria’s third largest...
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#Syria: The story that’s not being told
When war is happening, it is easy for important details to get lost in the fray. So, although it’s true the Syrian government is committing massive human rights abuses, the opposition is too, according to Human Rights Watch. Accusations of kidnappings, torture and executions of security personnel by the rebels have so far gained little public attention. Is this the fault of journalists like us,...
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#Syria clashes complicate peace mission
BEIRUT (AP) – Clashes and protests broke out across many parts of Syria Friday, further complicating a peace mission by U.N. envoy Kofi Annan who urged the government to lay down its weapons first to immediately end the country’s yearlong crisis.
As angry protesters lamented inaction by Arab countries, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton tried to work out how to help the opposition in...
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FM: Turkey no option but to intervene in #Syria!
Posted on March 30, 2012 by M-BZ12
By: A.Taghiyeva
Turkey’s intervention in the situation in Syria is not Ankara’s choice, but a direct obligation, Anadolu agency quotes Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu, as saying.
“Turkey cannot silently watch over the situation in Syria. Our intervention in the Syrian crisis is inevitable,” Davutoglu said.
He said that President Assad’s regime made...
How might Kofi Annan's plan for #Syria work?
By Michael Weiss World Last updated: March 30th, 2012
Kofi Annan, the former secretary-general of the United Nations
While much of the media’s attention is fixated on the Friends of Syria conference in Istanbul – a conference that even by the standards of Middle East opposition confabs is off to a messy start – a strange thing is happening to the ground. Far from being defeated, the armed...
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Exclusive: Iran helps #Syria ship oil to China!
(Reuters) - Iran is helping its ally Syria defy Western sanctions by providing a vessel to ship Syrian oil to a state-run company in China, potentially giving the government of President Bashar al-Assad a financial boost worth an estimated $80 million.
By Jessica Donati
LONDON | Fri Mar 30, 2012 8:17am EDT
Iran, itself a target of Western sanctions, is among Syria’s closest allies...
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Amidst a war, a Budding Cross Border Brotherhood...
Syrian refugees in El Qaa, Lebanon, 30 meters from the border with Syria
Over 8000 displaced Syrians have streamed into north Lebanon since the beginning of Syrian President Bashar Assad’s brutal crackdown of Sunni rebels. While the violence in Syria continues unabated, Syrian refugees who managed to escape Assad’s forces paint a gruesome picture of abuses and killing of civilians and...
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U.S. targets #Syrian officials' assets, 3-30-12
(Reuters) - The United States on Friday sought to freeze assets of three senior Syrian government officials for helping foster violence against the country’s citizens.
The U.S. Treasury Department targeted Defense Minister Dawood Rajiha, Deputy Chief of Staff of the Army Munir Adanov and the head of presidential security, Zuhayr Shalish.
The U.S. Treasury ordered that any assets the three...
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No sign that Turkey persuaded Iran to reject...
Turkey’s prime minister seemingly had little success in persuading Iran to stop supporting the regime in Syria as he ended a two-day visit to the Islamic Republic last night.
Recep Tayyip Erdogan met his Iranian counterpart, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, for 90 minutes yesterday but there was no press conference. The Iranian president usually relishes any opportunity to perform before television...
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EU’s foreign policy chief Ashton signals that she...
3/30/12
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad (L) greets visiting Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan on the second day of his two-day official visit to Iran. Erdoğan voices Turkey’s support for Tehran’s controversial nuclear ambitions after the meeting. AA photo
EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton is mulling whether to boycott the Friends of Syria meeting on April 1 in Istanbul...
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#Syrian Rebels are resilient in Damascus suburb!
3/30/2012
DAMASCUS // Two months after tanks retook Saqba from rebels, the district in eastern Damascus continues to protest against regime control and the Free Syrian Army (FSA) is making a gradual comeback.
A powerful force involving thousands of troops assaulted Saqba at the end of January. The operation to reassert authority coincided with the Arab League’s decision to freeze its...
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UK doubles aid to #Syria opposition groups
By James Robbins Diplomatic correspondent
The UK is to double its non-military aid to opponents of President Bashar al-Assad’s regime in Syria, Foreign Secretary William Hague has said.
William Hague said the aid would help to provide training for activists and citizen journalists
He said the extra £500,000 will help groups both inside and outside Syria.
Mr Hague used his annual...
