US cool on military options against #Syria

26/10/12

ANKARA - Hürriyet Daily News

Washington will not roll up its sleeves and get involved in a military action against the al-Assad regime, a US general reportedly tells a Turkish audience


The United States is eager hear from Turkish figures about the Syrian conflict, yet the same willingness does not apply to Washington’s prospects for a military option in Syria, a top U.S. general has implicitly indicated to Turkish academics.

Although there is a widely held assumption by Turkish decision makers and opinion leaders that the U.S. administration will show its cards on Syria following the upcoming presidential election and will follow a harder line including military intervention, U.S. officials, including the vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Adm. James Winnefeld, imply that Washington will continue not to get involved in the creation of a safe haven in Syria.

Winnefeld held a roundtable meeting with Turkish academics on Oct. 23 as part of his talks in Ankara. The U.S. commander listened to the opinions of Turkish academics on the issue of the Syrian crisis and its implications for Turkey.

The participants, who asked to remain anonymous as it was a rule set for the meeting, told the Hürriyet Daily News that Washington was aiming to set up a roadmap on its Syrian policies for the post-election era.

Difficulties for safe haven inside Syria

When participants raised the issue of establishing a safe haven in Syria, the admiral indicated the unwillingness of Washington as he listed difficulties preventing such a move, saying it would require military intervention, which could also lead to clashes with Syrian security forces.

The outcomes of a safe haven could also trigger serious problems for Turkey, according to Winnefeld. The U.S. official drew attention to previous remarks by Syrian officials that chemical weapons would only be used if anyone attempted military intervention.

He signaled that NATO could intervene in Syria if the regime used chemical weapons. Washington had previously stated that use of chemical weapons by the Syrian regime would be a “red line” in its policy on Syria.

Meanwhile, the U.S. believes a U.N. Security Council decision is necessary for a safe haven in Syria, which is unlikely at the moment, according to the U.S. admiral. NATO would stand by its ally in case of an attack by Syria against Turkey, the admiral also said.

Turkish and U.S. cooperation in the fight against the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) was also a topic at the meeting, where the participants raised concerns that Washington was reluctant to transfer arms to Turkey. The admiral said the U.S. administration supported arms transfers to its ally, but cited problems in American bureaucracy.

Source: hurriyetdailynews.com

25/10/12

#Syria,

Lakhdar Brahimi, the UN-Arab League envoy to Syria, announced a temporary truce on Wednesday, saying Bashar al-Assad’s government will sign up.
The UN Security Council has now unanimously endorsed the ceasefire.
Brahimi also said many rebel groups had agreed, but one of the greatest obstacles of the ceasefire is the division within opposition groups.
The Free Syrian Army - an umbrella term for opposition fighters there - has been described as unco-ordinated, untrained and hampered by infighting.
General Rahal, a senior defector from one of the Syrian government’s military academies, talked to Al Jazeera’s Anita McNaught in the northern Idlib province about the mistakes that have been made.
“There is no revolution in the whole world without mistakes,” he said.

Source: youtu.be

Turkish PM calls for UN reform to tackle #Syria crisis

13/10/12

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan called Saturday for reform to the UN Security Council to allow progress to resolve the Syria crisis which has been held up by veto powers Russia and China.

“If we must wait for one or two permanent members, then Syria’s fate is really in great danger,” Erdogan told a conference in Istanbul.

Moscow and Beijing, as two of the five permanent members of the Security Council, have so far blocked three draft resolutions backed by Western and Arab countries, accusing them of interference in Syrian affairs.

“It’s time to change the structure of international institutions, starting with the UN Security Council,” Erdogan said, calling for “wider, fairer and more effective representation.”

“By failing to implement an effective policy towards events in Syria, the Security Council is rapidly losing its legitimacy in the eyes of the oppressed elsewhere in the world,” he charged.

He said reform of the council should take into account the growing strength of countries including Turkey, Brazil, India and Indonesia, adding: “The West is no longer the only center of the world.”

Erdogan spoke as international peace envoy Lakhdar Brahimi and German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle were in Istanbul for talks with Turkish leaders on the Syrian conflict.

Tensions soared between Damascus and Ankara after Turkish authorities forced a Syrian passenger plane flying from Moscow to land in Turkey and confiscated what Erdogan said was an illegal consignment of munitions.

With rebel fighters in control of large swathes of Syria’s border area, there have been a series of incidents of cross-border fire this month that have sparked retaliatory shelling by NATO member Turkey and heightened UN concern about the potential for escalation.

-AFP

Source: nowlebanon.com

‘Iran withdraws elite Qods Force brigade from #Syria’

07/10/12

The Sunday Times’ reports Iran has withdrawn 275 

members of elite brigade from Syria in face of

domestic economic crisis.


Photo: Raheb Homavandi/Reuters

Iran has withdrawn 275 members of its elite Qods Force from Syria in the face of its domestic economic crisis, The Sunday Times reported on Sunday.

The members belong to a brigade known as Unit 400, which fought alongside Syrian President Bashar Assad against Sunni rebels, the report quoted a western intelligence officer as saying. According to The Times, the unit flew out of Syria last week. The report added that the information was confirmed by a relative of a Unit 400 officer.

The withdrawal of Iranian troops from Syria was seen by some as an indicator of waning confidence among Iran’s Shi’ite leaders in Assad’s ability to survive the uprising.

According to The Times, there have been loud complaints about an estimated $5 billion of Iranian money spent to prop up the Assad regime in Damascus.

There are signs that Iran’s oil wealth, which pays for its nuclear program and support for Assad, is eroding. Iran faces new sanctions for failing to cooperate with Western concerns about its nuclear program, and the sanctions are taking its toll, evident in the fall in the value of the rial and soaring food prices.

Last week, Finance Minister Yuval Steinitz predicted that Iran’s economy is edging towards collapse due to international sanctions over its controversial nuclear program.

“The sanctions on Iran in the past year jumped a level,” Steinitz said. “The Iranians are in great economic difficulties as a result of the sanctions,” he added.

A Foreign Ministry document leaked last week also said sanctions had caused more damage to Iran’s economy than at first thought and ordinary Iranians were suffering under soaring inflation.

On Saturday, US Defense Secretary Leon Panetta warned Iran that the international community is ready to impose more sanctions if the country does not begin to address concerns about its nuclear program.

The first official acknowledgement from a senior military commander that Iran has a military presence on the ground in Syria came last month. Commander-in-chief of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) Mohammad Ali Jafari admitted: “A number of members of the Qods Force are present in Syria.”

However, he denied the existence of on the ground assistance, stating, “the IRGC is giving intellectual help and even financial assistance but there is no military presence.”

“We all have a responsibility to support Syria and not allow the line of resistance to be broken,” Fars news agency, which claims to be independent but which is widely known to have close ties to Iran’s Revolutionary Guards, quoted Hossein Taeb, the intelligence unit head, as saying.

Following the admission, Western members of the UN Security Council blasted Iran for providing Assad with weapons to help him crush an 18-month-long uprising by rebels determined to topple his government.

“Iran’s arms exports to the murderous Assad regime in Syria are of particular concern,” US Ambassador to the United Nations Susan Rice told the 15-nation council during a meeting on the world body’s Iran sanctions regime.

A UN Security Council panel of independent experts that monitors sanctions against Iran has uncovered several examples of Iran transferring arms to Syria’s government. Damascus has accused Qatar and Saudi Arabia of arming rebels determined to topple Assad’s government.


Source: jpost.com

Nations seeking Assad’s exit struggle to produce a plan

28/09/12
By John Irish and Amena Bakr

(Reuters) - Western and Arab states demanding Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s exit are under pressure to produce a plan to make that happen, but their unwillingness to act outside a deadlocked U.N. Security Council leaves them looking fractured and powerless.

Foreign ministers and senior diplomats from the “Friends of Syria” - a group that includes the United States, France, Saudi Arabia and Turkey - are due to meet in New York on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly on Friday.

“I just expect ideas to be presented. There will be no concrete plans,” Arab League Secretary General Nabil El-Erabi told Reuters. “Governments are not ready to put plans into action and the Security Council is not agreeing on anything.”

The 18-month uprising against Assad’s rule has killed around 30,000 people, according to activists. The protests have further escalated into an armed insurgency fighting with sectarian overtones that could drag in regional powers.

The General Assembly this week highlighted the global stalemate, with most of the 193-states condemning events in Syria but showing no substance behind their rhetoric.

Russia, which has three times vetoed a Security Council resolution on Syria, stuck to its position: Assad’s departure should not be a precondition for a political transition and under no circumstances will it support a U.N. resolution that could lead to military intervention.

Painting a bleak picture of mediation efforts, U.N.-Arab League representative Lakhdar Brahimi told the Security Council that the situation in Syria is worsening and Assad’s government is clinging to the hope of returning to the past. Five weeks into the job, he admitted he had no plan but “a few ideas.”

Opponents of the Syrian president look less united in their approach. Qatar, one of Assad’s strongest critics, called for an alternative plan and once again urged Arab states to create a regional force to stop the bloodshed.

But Saudi Arabian and Egyptian diplomats, representing the two countries most likely to compose such a force, told Reuters Qatar’s plans are unrealistic.

Egypt, under new Islamist President Mohamed Mursi, tried to bring together Turkey, Saudi Arabia and Iran - Assad’s main ally in the region - for talks on finding a solution, but failed to get them around the table for the second time.

President Barack Obama, preoccupied with his re-election bid on November 6, barely mentioned Syria in his address to delegates. Former colonial power France urged the U.N. to protect areas “liberated” in Syria, but officials acknowledged behind the scenes the calls were essentially symbolic.

FAILED MEDIATION

Most nations, including Russia and China, agree on the principles of a previously proposed six-point peace plan and framework of an accord struck in Geneva between the permanent members of the Security Council.

Both those plans are stillborn unless an agreement with Russia can be struck on how to ensure they are implemented.

“Unfortunately, all these mediations have failed,” Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu told Reuters. “We all support Lakhdar Brahimi, but we have learned that there must be a stronger mandate given to the special representative.”

He said the Friends of Syria was created to defend the rights of the Syrian people and not to undermine the United Nations. The group now seems as hamstrung as the Security Council.

Western and Arab diplomats describe Friday’s meeting as an opportunity to “exchange ideas.” The session will assess efforts to create an all-inclusive transitional government and increase humanitarian and non-lethal aid to the opposition.

France and Turkey have also called for no-fly zones patrolled by foreign aircraft to protect rebel-held areas. With the United States lukewarm, the proposal remains just an idea.

“We have obviously never at any point taken anything off the table,” a U.S. official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said ahead of Friday’s meeting. “We believe that there is still room for a negotiated transition that leads to an interim government and ultimately to a new Syria. This is not about drawing red lines.”

‘LEGITIMATE CHANNELS’

One senior Gulf Arab diplomat echoed the U.S. position, warning against any direct military intervention. He said Arab states see the United States as key to breaking the deadlock.

“Going through legitimate channels to resolve the issue is the best path to take; any action taken by individual countries will only lead to more violence,” he said.

“The U.S. is the only country that could force Russia to change its position,” the diplomat said, adding that he sees no real move on the crisis until after the U.S. election.‬‪

With the main political opposition bodies fragmented, the Friends of Syria’s main push could centre on developing contacts with the Free Syrian Army (FSA), particularly as its fighters oust Assad’s forces from significant portions of the country.

Western European powers have ruled out supplying weapons to lightly armed Syrian rebels, but France is increasing its links with insurgents. “The more the opposition advances the easier it will become,” the Arab League’s El-Arabi said.

Turkey, Saudi Arabia and Qatar have been overseeing cross-border movements from a secret liaison centre in Turkey. Turkey denies any direct involvement in sending arms across the frontier. U.N. diplomats say Saudi Arabia and Qatar have transferred weapons to rebels.

“The Friends of Syria can’t do much,” said a Paris-based Arab diplomat. “It’s sit, wait and hope the rebels gain ground.”

(Additional reporting by Andrew Quinn; Editing by Will Dunham)

Source: uk.reuters.com

Turkey: War risk worth taking for #Syria safe zones

28/09/12


Ahmet Davutoglu told the BBC’s Jeremy Bowen: “If we do not take certain decisions today…. we will be facing more risks in the future”

The UN’s failure to agree a way to deal with the worsening civil war in Syria has dominated the diplomatic week at the General Assembly in New York.

The UN is only as strong as the collective will of the Security Council - and, on Syria, the five permanent members of the council are deeply divided.

The split is along Cold War lines - France, Britain and the United States want tough sanctions against the regime of Syria’s Bashar al-Assad, which they say should go. But their resolutions have been blocked by Russia and China.

The Russians argue that a sudden power vacuum at the top in Syria could make matters even worse for the population.

They also believe that they made a mistake allowing a UN resolution last year against the Gaddafi regime in Libya which the western powers interpreted as a charter for regime change.

Syria’s neighbour, Turkey, is as exposed to the fallout from the war as any country.

It has absorbed 120,000 Syrian refugees, 90,000 of whom are in camps.

At his country’s mission opposite the UN headquarters in New York, Turkey’s Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu called again for the establishment of safe zones for refugees in northern Syria - which would take a considerable military operation.

Mr Davutoglu would not be drawn on the fact that inserting a military force into Syria to establish a safe zone would be an act of war.

The risk, he said, was worth taking to get humanitarian access to the huge numbers of displaced people inside Syria.

Establishing the zone would, he said, also send a signal to Assad’s regime to stop attacks that kill or wound civilians.

“If you don’t taken certain measures or certain steps on time in the future you will be facing more risks. Unfortunately, since there was no clear message and decisive position of the international community at the early stages of the crisis, Syrian regime felt confident to do more and more attacks,” he said.

“And if you do not take certain decisions today for the women, children escaping from these attacks, then we will be facing more risks in the future.”

Failure ‘like Bosnia’

The new envoy of the UN and the Arab League, Lakhdar Brahimi, is about to set out for a diplomatic swing through the region.

He gave the UN Security Council a gloomy assessment this week. Afterwards, he told reporters that there was “no disagreement anywhere that the situation in Syria is extremely bad and getting worse, that it is a threat to the region and a threat to peace and security in the world”.

Mr Brahimi said he hoped for a diplomatic opening soon, and his staff say he is working on a peace plan.

One document he likes, which could be part of the ideas he is said to be sharpening, is one of the rare moments of diplomatic agreement between the five permanent members of the Security Council, after a meeting in Geneva in June.

Without naming names, it condemns violence, calls for Syrian sovereignty to be upheld, and most importantly for a ‘transitional governing authority” that could include members of the current government.

The document is a framework that is coherent and makes sense. The only problem then is for Mr Brahimi to get the regime and its enemies to stop trying to kill each other and then sit down to talk.

If he can, he will have scored a remarkable and unexpected diplomatic triumph.

The UN cannot afford another failure. But, without united political action from the Security Council, it is hard to see how Mr Brahimi will be able to do better than the man he replaced as envoy, the former UN Secretary General Kofi Annan.

Turkey’s foreign minister believes that the failure so far to get to grips with the war in Syria is already a “serious failure”. He compared what is happening in Syria to the war in Bosnia 20 years ago.

“For three years such an inactivity in the 1990s in Bosnia resulted in 300,000 casualties, 100,000 rape cases against women, and a huge humanitarian tragedy. And the UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon went to Bosnia this year and apologised because of that inactivity,” Mr Davutoglu said.

“I’m afraid maybe after some years another UN secretary general may have to go to Syria to apologise because of this inactivity. The UN Security Council should provide the solution. It should agree on basic principles.”

The UN has never had a magic formula for ending wars. The time for diplomacy often does not come until the sides in a war have exhausted themselves.

It could be that not enough blood has been spilt yet to force the regime and its enemies to talk.

Source: BBC

Cameron’s call for action on #Syria

27/09/12

The Prime Minister didn’t just feature on the David Letterman show during his visit to New York. More important was his speech to the UN General Assembly, an impressive performance. Much of his address amounted to an impassioned call for greater intervention in Syria. While not condemning China and Russia by name for blocking efforts to impose sanctions on the Assad regime, he declared that those who aided and abetted Assad had assisted a “reign of terror” that had resulted in the deaths of up to 20,000 civilians, many of them children.

Mr Cameron has put his finger on a genuine problem at the very heart of the world order: how is the international community, an inherently disparate body, to take a stand against a regime that stops at nothing to stay in power, if the UN General Assembly has no clout and the Security Council is stymied by China and Russia? That is the chief problem in mustering an organised UN response to the crisis in Syria: two of the biggest powers on the Security Council are, effectively, on the regime’s side.

In the case of Libya, the British and French stretched a UN mandate to defend civilians to the point of military intervention against President Gaddafi. Partly as a result of this, the Russians and Chinese are more obdurate and wary in the case of Syria.

But there is also the reality that the civil war in Syria has reached a point where sanctions would be more token than effective. The war rages everywhere, even in the heart of the capital. And it is not only between religious and political factions but a proxy war for Syria’s neighbours — including Iran on one side, Saudi Arabia on the other. Mr Cameron is right to condemn the regime’s tactics but it is by no means clear that the rebels, who include jihadist elements, would be a moderate and unifying alternative. We should be thinking harder about containing the war and especially its toxic effects on neighbouring Lebanon.

The Prime Minister has made a good showing on the world stage. He has not made the mistake of claiming an ethical foreign policy — but that’s effectively what it is.

Source: standard.co.uk

Clinton calls for new bid to end UN deadlock on #Syria

26/09/12

UNITED NATIONS — US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on Wednesday appealed for the “paralyzed” UN Security Council to make a new attempt to reach an accord to end the Syria conflict.

“The atrocities mount while the Security Council remains paralyzed and I would urge that we try once again to find a path forward” so that the council can try to end the violence in Syria and stop it spreading to other countries, Clinton said.

Her appeal came amid mounting attempts by Western nations to press Russia and China to ease their opposition to UN action against Syria’s President Bashar al-Assad.

Russia, Syria’s key ally, and China have used their powers as permanent members of the 15-member council to block three resolutions that could have led to economic sanctions against Assad.

At the same Security Council meeting on the Middle East, France’s Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius said it was “shocking” that the council had been unable to act in the 18 months since the uprising against Assad started.

“As the international community, we must be united to stop the violence and help initiate a process of political transition. We must find a common response. We owe it to the people,” said Germany’s Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle.

Source: google.com

‘Friends of #Syria’ seek to sharpen sanctions

20/09/12


The Syrian flag flutters above Damascus on September 20. Diplomats from over 60 nations and the Arab League met in The Hague on Thursday to toughen and improve coordination of sanctions against the regime of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.

AFP - Diplomats from over 60 nations and the Arab League met in The Hague on Thursday to toughen and improve coordination of sanctions against the regime of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.

“We need vigorous implementation,” Netherlands Foreign Minister Uri Rosenthal told the opening of the “Friends of Syria” sanctions working group.

“Sanctions will only have an impact if they are carried out effectively. That is how we can make a difference.”

The meeting comes after the European Union agreed earlier this month on the need to beef up sanctions against Assad’s inner circle as the world struggles to resolve the bloody 18-month conflict.

The European Union and the Arab League have slapped sanctions on the Syrian regime, with embargoes on oil and weapons as well as travel bans on members of Assad’s family and his top brass.

“The regime and its trading partners try to get around sanctions,” Rosenthal said. “So we need to work together with public and private partners, by sharing information and best practices.”

Experts from the financial sector were also meeting in The Hague to discuss ways of bolstering economic sanctions, including through asset freezes.

“It’s not a question of whether he will leave but when he will leave,” Rosenthal said of Assad.

He added that besides embargoes and financial sanctions it was important to prevent Damascus from monitoring the Internet and using it to detain opponents and journalists.

“To you and me ICT (information and communications technologies) are innocent tools we use every day,” the Dutch foreign minister said.

“But we need to ensure it can’t be used to commit violence or oppress the Syrian people,” he said.

According to the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), the Assad regime’s control of the Internet is “remarkably extensive” and allows the regime to keep tabs on mobile phones, emails, texting and other traffic.

A French firm is under investigation for allegedly providing computer surveillance equipment to Syria used to track and arrest regime opponents.

The Syria sanctions working group runs in parallel with a second working group on economic reconstruction in the war-ravaged country.

The “Friends of Syria” group has already held three meetings at ministerial level in Tunis, Istanbul and Paris. Another such meeting is planned in Morocco in October and another at a later date in Italy.

More than 27,000 people have been killed in violence across Syria since March last year, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. The United Nations puts the figure at more than 20,000.

The international community has struggled to find common ground on ways to halt the bloodshed, with Russia and China vetoing three UN Security Council resolutions providing for sanctions against the Assad regime.

Source: france24.com

EU invites Russia’s Lavrov for #Syria talks

18/09/12

European Union foreign ministers have invited Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov for “substantial” talks next month on the situation in Syria, EU diplomats said Tuesday.

Lavrov is to dine with the bloc’s 27 foreign ministers on October 14, the eve of ministerial talks in Luxembourg expected to focus largely on Syria.

“The idea is to have a general political dialogue,” one source said.

“We will invite Mr. Lavrov for a substantial discussion,” said another. “There is a healthy dialogue these days with Russia.”

At their October 15 meeting, the EU ministers are expected to tighten sanctions against President Bashar al-Assad.

Moscow has repeatedly refused to back international calls for Assad to step down and together with China jointly vetoed three rounds of UN Security Council sanctions against the Syrian leader.

Ahead of the Luxembourg talks, the EU ministers will meet on the sidelines of the UN general assembly.

-AFP

Source: nowlebanon.com

EU invites Russia’s Lavrov for #Syria talks

18/09/12

EU invites Russia’s Lavrov for Syria talks

(BRUSSELS) - European Union foreign ministers have invited Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov for “substantial” talks next month on the situation in Syria, EU diplomats said Tuesday.

Lavrov is to dine with the bloc’s 27 foreign ministers on October 14, the eve of ministerial talks in Luxembourg expected to focus largely on Syria.

“The idea is to have a general political dialogue,” one source said.

“We will invite Mr Lavrov for a substantial discussion,” said another. “There is a healthy dialogue these days with Russia.”

At their October 15 meeting, the EU ministers are expected to tighten sanctions against President Bashar al-Assad.

Moscow has repeatedly refused to back international calls for Assad to step down and together with China jointly vetoed three rounds of UN Security Council sanctions against the Syrian leader.

Ahead of the Luxembourg talks, the EU ministers will meet on the sidelines of the UN general assembly.

Source: eubusiness.com

02/09/12

Will a buffer zone calm or stoke tensions?

We discuss the feasibility and risks of enforcing a buffer zone and a no-fly zone in Syria.

Turkey has appealed to the UN Security Council to create a safe zone inside Syria, but they hold out little hope for an endorsement from the council that has failed so far to take action to stop the violence.

Ankara believes that 100,000 refugees would be a tipping point and with that threshold fast approaching, the government is proposing a solution: Ankara wants UN approval for a buffer zone for displaced Syrians that stretches about 20km into Syrian territory.

Britain and France say they have not ruled out any options - including a no-fly zone - to help civilians fleeing the war.

Laurent Fabius, the French foreign minister, says so-called liberated zones have been identified and with proper funding and administration they could serve as a refuge for civilians caught in the violence.

But to be effective, a buffer zone would also need a no-fly zone to protect the area, and that cannot be established without a UN Security Council resolution.

Turkey has been pressing for the establishment of safe havens inside Syria to stem the mounting exodus of refugees, and reacted with frustration when its calls fell on deaf ears at the UN Security Council on Thursday.

But on Friday, Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, acknowledged that any such move would require UN backing and would be far too risky without the prior establishment of a no-fly zone. Enforcing such a zone without consent from the Damascus regime would risk military confrontation.

However, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad has called the proposal for a buffer zone unrealistic. 

“I believe that talk about a buffer zone is not practical, even for those countries which are playing a hostile role (against Syria),” al-Assad said in a recorded interview broadcast on Syria’s Addounia television.

But Ahmet Davutoglu, the Turkish foreign minister, has warned that the problem goes beyond being an internal issue. He says that “no one has the right to expect Turkey to take on this international responsibility on its own.”

“According to OCHA (UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs), there are more than two million internally displaced people in Syria. In the face of such a humanitarian disaster, the UN should initiate the establishment of IDP camps within Syria without delay. Needless to say, these camps should have full protection. Let us also be clear, there is only one side which is responsible for this tragedy, it is the regime in Syria.”

It is something that Erdogan seems to agree with: “We cannot take such a measure unless the United Nations Security Council decides in favour of it …. First a decision for the no-fly zone must be taken; then we would be able to take a step towards a buffer zone”

To discuss the issue, Inside Syria, with Teymoor Nabili, speaks to Halla Diyab, a Syrian writer and spokeswoman for the Organisation for Democracy and Freedom in Syria; Daniel Serwer, a professor at the John Hopkins school of Advanced International Studies, and a scholar at the Middle East Institute, who also blogs at peacefair.net; and Birol Baskan, a professor of government at Georgetown University’s School of Foreign Service.

“We are excluding no option for the future. We do not know how this crisis will develop, how it will develop over the coming months - it’s steadily getting worse, we’re ruling nothing out and we have contingency planning for a wide range of scenarios. We don’t generally go into what all that contingency planning is, but we also have to be clear that anything like a safe zone requires military intervention and that of course is something that has to be weighed very carefully.”

William Hague, British foreign secretary

FACTS ABOUT THE BUFFER ZONE:

  • Turkey wants international support for creating safe zone inside Syria
  • UN Security Council met on Thursday to discuss supplying aid to Syria
  • French FM: France and Turkey have identified liberated zones in Syria
  • France says parts of Syria are out of government’s control
  • Syrian opposition member says al-Assad’s enemies need safe zone
  • Turkey originally said it could host no more than 100, 000 refugees
  • UN officials: Turkey has about 80, 000 refugees while Jordan has 150, 000
  • Over last two weeks up to 5, 000 refugees a day entered turkey
  • UN: Nearly 20, 000 people killed in Syria since the uprising began in 2011
  • Humanitarian agencies estimate up to 300, 000 people have fled Syria





Source: aljazeera.com

Graphic videos stir outrage as #Syria fighting rages

14/08/2012

DAMASCUS (AFP) - Grisly footage of apparent atrocities in Syria triggered outrage Monday, as regime forces bombarded rebel strongholds around Damascus and launched a mass raid in the historic heart of the capital.

The graphic videos posted on YouTube showed what appeared to be rebels callously throwing bodies off a post office building in a city near the northern metropolis of Aleppo, while another showed a man, blindfolded and bound, as his throat was savagely cut.

Fighting was also raging in the northern metropolis of Aleppo, where security forces were advancing on an opposition-held district but where all communications have reportedly been cut.

With the international community deadlocked over how to end 17 months of bloodshed, the opposition umbrella group the Syrian National Council appealed for the establishment of no-fly zones.

And in a new blow for embattled President Bashar al-Assad, Syria’s top representative at the UN Human Rights Council said he has defected, the latest in a line of senior officials to flee the regime.

International concern is mounting over how to end a conflict that has triggered a major humanitarian crisis and sent hundreds of thousands of Syrians fleeing, with at least 100 people being killed daily.

Foreign ministers of Muslim states hold talks in Saudi Arabia Monday while the UN Security Council — which has so far failed to reach a consensus on how to stop the bloodshed — meets on Thursday to debate the future of its mission.

In one shocking amateur video posted Monday, several bodies were seen crumpled on the ground outside a post office building in Al-Bab city before another three are hurled from the rooftop as the crowd cries “This is a shabiha,” referring to the pro-government militia.

In another, a group of men forced a blindfolded man, with his hands tied behind his back, down to the ground in Aleppo while an assailant forced what appeared to be a small knife repeatedly across his throat as his blood spurted.

“If these videos are confirmed, such atrocities harm the revolution. They only benefit the regime and the enemies of the revolution,” Syrian Observatory for Human Rights director Rami Abdel Rahman told AFP.

Both sides in the increasingly vicious conflict have been accused of human rights violations as reports of cold-blooded killings mount, although the authenticity of the latest videos could not be verified.

Also Monday, security forces arrested residents in a major operation in the heart of Damascus, including the historic Old City, while shells slammed into rebel strongholds around the capital from before dawn, according to the Britain-based Observatory.

It was biggest operation of its kind in the city since the launch of the uprising against Assad, the Observatory said.

It said 21 people had been arrested and that security forces also swept into a graveyard “under the pretext of searching for weapons”, while other activists said the troops had broken down the doors of shops closed in a show of defiance against the regime.

The Observatory said 50 people had been killed on Monday, including 28 civilians in violence across the country.

In Aleppo Monday, government troops were advancing on the southwestern rebel stronghold of Sukari, security sources in Damascus said. The Observatory meanwhile said opposition fighters attacked a key air force intelligence branch in the western Zahraa district.

Fighting also broke out in the southwestern district of Salaheddin, which rebels fled last week but has seen continued clashes since, it said.

The fate of Aleppo — Syria’s largest city — is seen as potential turning point in the conflict whose outcome will have major repercussions for Syria’s neighbours and the military and geopolitical balance of power in the region

More than 21,000 people have been killed across Syria since Assad’s regime launched its brutal crackdown on dissent, with fighting escalating after the failure of former envoy Kofi Annan’s peace plan.

Abdel Basset Sayda, who heads the opposition Syrian National Council, told AFP that the rebels wanted “two no-fly zones, one in the north, close to the Turkish border, and another in the south, close to the border with Jordan,” in addition to “safe places for refugees and humanitarian corridors.”

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton held talks in Turkey at the weekend, after Washington imposed a new round of sanctions on Syria, saying their “number one goal” was to hasten the end of Assad’s regime.

Foreign ministers of Muslim states were meeting Monday in Jeddah ahead of an Islamic summit Tuesday hosted by regional powerhouse Saudi Arabia on the Syria crisis.

UN humanitarian chief Valerie Amos said she will visit Syria and Lebanon from Tuesday.

Source: Yahoo!

#Syria accuses U.S., Israel, Saudi Arabia and Qatar of overseeing rebel battles

In a letter to the U.N. Security Council, the Syrian U.N. Ambassador Bashar Jaafari, accused Israel, the United States, Saudi Arabia and Qatar of running military operation centers in Turkey to support the rebels. (Al Arabiya)

In a letter to the U.N. Security Council, the Syrian U.N. Ambassador Bashar Jaafari, accused Israel, the United States, Saudi Arabia and Qatar of running military operation centers in Turkey to support the rebels. (Al Arabiya)

11/08/2012

Syria has accused Israel, the United States, Saudi Arabia and Qatar of running military operation centers in Turkey to support the rebels by overseeing battles in Syria’s 17-month conflict.

In a letter to the U.N. Security Council released on Friday, Syrian U.N. Ambassador Bashar Jaafari also again blamed Qatar, Turkey and Saudi Arabia of “harboring, funding and arming the armed terrorist groups.”

“Turkey has established within its territory military operations centers that are run by the intelligence services of Israel, the United States, Saudi Arabia and Qatar,” Jaafari wrote in the letter dated Aug. 2.

“Those centers are being used to oversee battles that are being waged by the terrorists against Syrian citizens in Aleppo and other Syrian cities and the massacres the terrorists are perpetrating after entering Syria in large numbers,” he said.

U.S. President Barack Obama has signed a secret order authorizing measures to help the rebels and U.S. officials say Washington is collaborating with a secret command center operated by Turkey, Saudi Arabia and Qatar to help direct vital military and communications support to rebels.

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s forces have killed more than 15,000 people since a crackdown on pro-democracy protesters began in March 2011, some Western leaders say. Damascus says rebels have killed several thousand of its security forces.

Aleppo, which is Syria’s largest city and economic hub, has been battered for days by government artillery, but rebels promised on Friday they will hit back after losing ground as residents fled during a lull in fighting.

“Those shedding tears over what is occurring in Aleppo and demanding that the Security Council should be convened are the very same parties that caused the tragedy through their support of terrorism and arming of terrorist groups,” Jaafari said.

He said the United States, France, Britain and Turkey were leading a campaign “to alter the balance in the region and force its countries to comply with the hegemonic policies and bend to the will of those Western states.”

Jaafari called on the U.N. Security Council to pressure those countries to stop supporting, arming and funding the rebels and facilitating their operations.

Source: english.alarabiya.net

French president under attack over leadership on #Syria

Thibault Camus/AP - French President Francois Hollande delivers a speech at the beginning of a social conference with unions and employers in Paris, France on July 9, 2012. Hollande is under attack from political opponents over his perceived lack of leadership on Syria.

10/08/2012

PARIS — President Francois Hollande has come under a withering political attack from his conservative opponents over what they charge is lack of French leadership in dealing with the Syrian civil war.

The political offensive is roughly similar to the accusations of inaction leveled against President Obama by Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney in the United States. But in France the election campaign has long been over: Hollande, a Socialist, defeated former president Nicolas Sarkozy and assumed the presidency more than three months ago.

Nevertheless, Sarkozy and his followers have drawn comparisons between Hollande, who has said France would intervene only under a U.N. Security Council mandate, and Sarkozy, who waged an energetic diplomatic campaign last year to persuade the United States, Britain and other French allies to intervene militarily in Libya.

The charges have gained particular resonance because Hollande is on vacation in a luxurious government mansion on the Riviera, providing an opening for charges that he is sun-tanning while Syria burns. Many other French families are on vacation as well, creating a dearth of news in which the opposition campaign looms large.

Sarkozy himself started the campaign on Tuesday. Breaking a post-election silence, he issued a communiqué saying he had talked on the telephone with Abdel Basset Sayda, head of the main Syrian opposition group, and that they had together found “great similarities” between the Syrian insurrection and the Libyan revolt that led to the killing of Moammar Gaddafi in October 2011 and the installation of a new government.

The clear implication was that Hollande should be taking the lead in organizing a Western response to the Syrian conflict just as Sarkozy took the lead in pulling together the successful NATO military intervention in Libya. Sarkozy’s prominent leadership during the Libya crisis was widely applauded in France, which is traditionally eager to show its influence on the international stage.

Widely interpreted in that light, Sarkozy’s declaration was the signal for a hail of accusations from Sarkozy’s followers.

“Francois Hollande must immediately interrupt his vacation so France can take charge of the swift international reaction called for by Nicolas Sarkozy and Abdel Basset Sayda,” former education minister Frederic Lefebvre said in a statement.

Nadine Morano, an unwavering Sarkozy supporter, added: “Hollande is on vacation and Sarkozy as well, but as always he is active in showing interest in the Syrian issue, as in 2008 for Georgia.”

In August 2008, Sarkozy broke off his holiday to wage a personal diplomatic offensive designed to halt the war between Russia and neighboring Georgia. After traveling to the area, he won a cease-fire and withdrawal agreement, which was only partly respected but which ended the fighting.

Jean-Francois Cope, secretary general of Sarkozy’s Union for a Popular Movement coalition, joined the chorus Friday in an interview with Le Figaro newspaper. “I am very concerned by the inertia of French diplomacy,” he declared. “Its leader, Francois Hollande, is present everywhere at his vacation spot, but is totally absent on the international scene.”

Hollande has not responded to his critics. But his foreign minister, Laurent Fabius, expressed surprise that the former president would violate protocol and criticize his successor on a delicate foreign policy problem.

“One would expect something else from a former president,” he said, accusing Sarkozy of seeking to stir up an argument for political ends.

In fact, Sarkozy’s policy on Syria while he was still in office was nearly the same as Hollande’s. Both leaders have sought unsuccessfully to persuade Russia and China to endorse a Security Council mandate for greater international intervention to halt the bloodshed. But both have expressed unwillingness to act militarily without such a mandate.

Source: Washington Post