Thread: Syria News and Editorials

Originally Posted by harrybarracuda

The armed Syrian opposition was born when Assad started executing unarmed Syrian civilian protestors.

that was the story at the time, but there has been little evidence to support it

the story from the Syrian army says they shot people who had weapons

who knows the truth?

ENT,

In your latter posts you seem to understand the complex demographics of Syria, but how did you come to the conclusion that:

The fighting, led by the Shia is not in this case directed at the majority Sunni, but at the minority Druze in Homs.

He is shelling many areas of many towns, and clearing entire villages.

While he may have started making enemies in Deraa back last year, he's now got them all over the country, including right on his doorstep in Damascus. And they're virtually all Sunni.

Originally Posted by DrAndy

Originally Posted by harrybarracuda

The armed Syrian opposition was born when Assad started executing unarmed Syrian civilian protestors.

that was the story at the time, but there has been little evidence to support it

the story from the Syrian army says they shot people who had weapons

who knows the truth?

What was the story from the Syrian Army when they were shelling Babar Amr and killing men, women and children indiscriminately?

They were "only attacking armed gangs".

We now we know from eye witnesses and some very brave reporters that it's a pile of horse shit.

What more evidence do you want?

Thousands of phone videos showing military equipment massing round villages, and rag tag groups of rebels with AK47s and the odd RPG.

Videos of entire neighbourhoods being blasted to smithereens with families cowering in the dark waiting to die.

A horse's mouth report from a reporter trapped in Baba Amr while they were shelling it.

Seriously. What more evidence do you want?

Harry,
The Druze have been persecuted and reduced in numbers gradually over time.
In Lebanon they are almost non existent as a cohesive force now.

They have a totally different attitude and interpretation of Islam and they are descended from Ismaeli Arabs, so have a closer tie to Hebrews whom they respect as part of the brotherhood of humanity.

They are potentially a great binding force in Syria, but equally a challenge to main stream Islam as are the Sufi.
The Alawites, although more closely related to Druse via the Ismaeli connection still are Shia, who are vying with Sunni for power.
Whose side the Druse fall on is favoured, for their religious philosophy can bind together divisive factions within the greater islamic movement

They, along with Sufi were the mystics of Islam.
The Druze were also renowned fighters and are seen as extremely loyal to their friends and neighbours.

If Assad does not have the druze supporting him then he may feel that he must eliminate them for if they were to become his enemy, their philosophy could unite all Islam against Assad in Syria.

This is my opinion.

Originally Posted by ENT

Harry,
The Druze have been persecuted and reduced in numbers gradually over time.
In Lebanon they are almost non existent as a cohesive force now.

They have a totally different attitude and interpretation of Islam and they are descended from Ismaeli Arabs, so have a closer tie to Hebrews whom they respect as part of the brotherhood of humanity.

They are potentially a great binding force in Syria, but equally a challenge to main stream Islam as are the Sufi.
The Alawites, although more closely related to Druse via the Ismaeli connection still are Shia, who are vying with Sunni for power.
Whose side the Druse fall on is favoured, for their religious philosophy can bind together divisive factions within the greater islamic movement

They, along with Sufi were the mystics of Islam.
The Druze were also renowned fighters and are seen as extremely loyal to their friends and neighbours.

If Assad does not have the druze supporting him then he may feel that he must eliminate them for if they were to become his enemy, their philosophy could unite all Islam against Assad in Syria.

This is my opinion.

I think he'll be eliminating them anyway, since he doesn't seem to care who he shells.

But seriously, the Druze, the Kurds and the Christians (conscripts excepted) are keeping their heads down. If they oppose him they know what will come their way. If they appear too supportive, they run the risk of alienating what may well be a hostile new government.

This is a pretty well straight sectarian battle divided on Sunni and Shi'ite lines now.

Originally Posted by harrybarracuda

What was the story from the Syrian Army when they were shelling Babar Amr and killing men, women and children indiscriminately? They were "only attacking armed gangs".

Originally Posted by harrybarracuda

Thousands of phone videos showing military equipment massing round villages, and rag tag groups of rebels with AK47s and the odd RPG. Videos of entire neighbourhoods being blasted to smithereens with families cowering in the dark waiting to die.

war is a nasty business, innocent people die

you can interpret the evidence either way; nobody has claimed civilians don't get hurt

Originally Posted by harrybarracuda

We now we know from [alleged]eye witnesses and some very brave [alleged]reporters that it's a pile of horse shit.

Originally Posted by harrybarracuda

Thousands of phone videos

Originally Posted by harrybarracuda

Videos of entire neighbourhoods

I felt that you didn't trust these "videos" uploaded to the internet?

Originally Posted by harrybarracuda

I didn't mention Youtube videos.

Originally Posted by harrybarracuda

Seriously. What more evidence do you want?

named sources, original language transcripts ( fully witnessed and tested in a court of law before 12 good men or women), access to original video, free money for life and an Irish passport.

Originally Posted by DrAndy

Originally Posted by harrybarracuda

What was the story from the Syrian Army when they were shelling Babar Amr and killing men, women and children indiscriminately? They were "only attacking armed gangs".

Originally Posted by harrybarracuda

Thousands of phone videos showing military equipment massing round villages, and rag tag groups of rebels with AK47s and the odd RPG. Videos of entire neighbourhoods being blasted to smithereens with families cowering in the dark waiting to die.

war is a nasty business, innocent people die

you can interpret the evidence either way; nobody has claimed civilians don't get hurt

That's true for almost anything.

If you wish to keep your head up your arse you can. Meanwhile, the rest of the world accepts that Assad is a dictator surrounded by cronies who is using weapons of war and snipers to murder those who dare to oppose him, to ensure that he maintains a vice-like, dictatorial grip on power.

Originally Posted by OhOh

Originally Posted by harrybarracuda

Where's the Brazilian version?

Secretário-Geral do Ministério das Relações Exteriores do Brasil Ruy Nunes Pinto Nogueira na quinta-feira enfatizou a rejeição de seu país de ingerência estrangeira nos assuntos internos da Síria.

<snip>

That appears to be the Syrian version translated.

I'll ask again: Do you have ANY link that corroborates what the Syrians claim was said?

Originally Posted by harrybarracuda

If you wish to keep your head up your arse you can.

I was looking for you...there you are

Originally Posted by harrybarracuda

Meanwhile, the rest of the world accepts that Assad is a dictator surrounded by cronies who is using weapons of war and snipers to murder those who dare to oppose him, to ensure that he maintains a vice-like, dictatorial grip on power.

weapons of war eh? to oppose another set of murderous thugs using weapons of war? seems fair enough except the latters' backers have not given them enough powerful weapons of war, wonder why?

Originally Posted by harrybarracuda

Do you have ANY link that corroborates what the Syrians claim was said?

in this situation, links are meaningless

both sides make claims that cannot be easily verified

you believe what you want, obviously

I have been in similar situations before and know exactly how people react to propaganda, from either side

Originally Posted by OhOh

Originally Posted by harrybarracuda

We now we know from [alleged]eye witnesses and some very brave [alleged]reporters that it's a pile of horse shit.

Originally Posted by harrybarracuda

Thousands of phone videos

Originally Posted by harrybarracuda

Videos of entire neighbourhoods

I felt that you didn't trust these "videos" uploaded to the internet?

Originally Posted by harrybarracuda

I didn't mention Youtube videos.

Originally Posted by harrybarracuda

Seriously. What more evidence do you want?

named sources, original language transcripts ( fully witnessed and tested in a court of law before 12 good men or women), access to original video, free money for life and an Irish passport.

So you are saying that Paul Conroy was not in Babar Amr with Marie Colvin, and that she is not dead but in fact sharing a house with Elvis?

Assad has forbidden foreign journalists from reporting his atrocities (quite understandably), but those are only two who have reported from ground zero.

There is plenty of evidence from other journalists who have risked their lives getting into the danger areas (and there are now plenty of them).

Not on journalist, freelance or other, has seen any "Armed Gangs" attacking Syrian civilians and being attacked by Syrian troops.

And after a year of this, you still believe what Syria, Russia, Iran and your looney web sites tell you.

No further comment required, really.

If Assad wants to show the world he speaks the truth, then open the country to the world's reporters. That will include Cubans, Venezuelans, etc.. Let them all go to Homs, Aleppo, Damascus and Idlib and be filmed by each other. That's how a free press works.

You know he will never do it. He doesn't want the truth to come out.

Neither do you, but with today's technology you cannot stem the flow.

People can judge for themselves, and it's fairly obvious that most people are fully aware of what is happening in Syria, even if they mostly don't give a toss.

China's getting twitchier about the situation in Syria now.

China is bringing workers home from Syria, its Commerce Minister said on Wednesday, in an apparent attempt to avoid a repeat of last year's eleventh-hour rescue of Chinese nationals from Libya when violence engulfed the country.

China was caught off guard last year when a civil war erupted in Libya. Nearly 36,000 of its nationals exited the country, some by hastily chartered ships, while others fled by foot or by bus into Egypt.

China joined Russia to veto previous UN resolutions on Syria in October and February, moves which drew fierce international condemnation.

Beijing sent an envoy to Damascus this week, even as closed-door meetings were held at the United Nations to discuss a US-drafted resolution urging an end to the Syrian government's increasingly lethal crackdown on a year-long revolt.


Further reading about the Chinese position in ME as she attempts to recoup from a series of setbacks there.

China Pulls Workers from Syria, seeks Libya compensation... | Stuff.co.nz

Quote OhOh

Originally Posted by harrybarracuda

Seriously. What more evidence do you want?

named sources, original language transcripts ( fully witnessed and tested in a court of law before 12 good men or women), access to original video, free money for life and an Irish passport.[/QUOTE]


What a stupid set of preconditions.
Do you think we'd ever learn anything of the situation if that were the case?

You have a myopic Eurocentric view of reality, OhOh.

If Assad survives long enough, I am sure he will be indicted and convicted for war crimes. Assuming he is captured this year, that will probably be about 2047.

Originally Posted by harrybarracuda

Not one journalist, freelance or other, has seen any "Armed Gangs" attacking Syrian civilians and being attacked by Syrian troops.

well, there is only one journalist who was there; who knows where he was hiding or if he saw anything

Originally Posted by harrybarracuda

That's how a free press works.

what, the "controlled by their government" free press, that type?

Originally Posted by DrAndy

Originally Posted by harrybarracuda

Do you have ANY link that corroborates what the Syrians claim was said?

in this situation, links are meaningless

both sides make claims that cannot be easily verified

you believe what you want, obviously

I have been in similar situations before and know exactly how people react to propaganda, from either side

If you have "been in similar situations before", you would realise that no Foreign ministry knowingly misquotes its own spokespeople.

Which is why I'd like to hear what the Brazilians say were their politicians' and diplomats' remarks.

Do you understand why?

Originally Posted by DrAndy

Originally Posted by harrybarracuda

Not one journalist, freelance or other, has seen any "Armed Gangs" attacking Syrian civilians and being attacked by Syrian troops.

well, there is only one journalist who was there; who knows where he was hiding or if he saw anything

Originally Posted by harrybarracuda

That's how a free press works.

what, the "controlled by their government" free press, that type?

There were ar least four journalists trapped in Babar Amr, two killed, two evacuated. Probably more got out before Assad blockaded it. There are lots of others in the area trying to do their best to report and avoid being executed by Assad's troops. There are probably more hiding in Idlib and Aleppo, trying to get out to get news without the shackles of their Syrian "guides".

As for your last comment, yes, there are countries with a free press. Although in some cases it seems to be somewhat more free than others.

An easy way to find which is which is to identify which ones censor or block the Internet.

An unexpected development; be interested to hear the Arab perspective.

• 10/3/2012 18:30

Russia, Arab League Agree Plan on Syria




Russia, Arab League Agree Plan on Syria
© REUTERS/ Asmaa Waguih


17:43 10/03/2012
CAIRO, March 10 (RIA Novosti)

Russia and the Arab League have negotiated a plan to settle the bloody political conflict in Syria, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Saturday. The plan proposes an end to violence by all sides, monitoring of the situation in Syria, provision of humanitarian aid to all Syrians, support for the UN special envoy Kofi Annan's mission in the country and abstention from external interference in Syrian domestic affairs, Lavrov said after a meeting with his colleagues from the Arab League in Cairo.
“We think these five steps will be crucial. They are addressed to all parties in Syria,” Lavrov said.
Russia is supporting dialogue between the Syrian government and the opposition, he said, and criticized Western countries for supporting the opponents of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.
Lavrov also praised the United Nations plans to monitor the situation in Syria, where some 7,500 have been killed in a year-long conflict between Assad and his opponents according to UN estimates.
Kofi Annan, a former UN Secretary-General, was appointed last month as special envoy to Syria for both the UN and the Arab League.
Annan met with Assad in Damascus on Saturday, saying he wanted to negotiate a ceasefire between the opposition and the government forces and organize humanitarian help for regions affected by the fighting.
Assad blamed “armed terrorist groups” for the continuing bloodshed during the talks, reiterating the stance taken by his government since the fighting began in the country.
“Syria is ready to support any honest effort to solve the situation,” Assad said.

Meanwhile, demonstrating Assad's commitment to the peace process:

Syrian forces pound protest city of Idlib despite Kofi Annan’s visit to Damascus

Saturday, 10 March 2012
U.N. Arab League envoy Kofi Annan (R) enters a car on his way to meet Syria’s President Bashar al-Assad in Damascus. Annan arrived in Damascus on Saturday to press President al-Assad for a political solution to Syria’s year-long uprising and bloody crackdown in which thousands of people were killed. (Reuters)





By Al Arabiya with agencies


U.N. envoy Kofi Annan met with Syrian President Bashar Assad on Saturday in Damascus during a high-profile international mission to mediate an end to the country's yearlong conflict.

The state-run news agency reported that Assad received Annan on Saturday. There were no further details on the meeting, which is aimed at a ending violence that began with crackdowns on mostly peaceful protests against the authoritarian regime but appears to be transforming into a civil war.

Soon after their meeting in Damascus, the Qatari foreign minister at an Arab ministerial meeting urged Syria’s opposition to unite and called for recognition of Syrian National Council (SNC) as the country’s representative.

Hours before the scheduled arrival of international peace envoy, Annan, Syrian troops heavily shelled the northwestern protest city of Idlib early Saturday, in an apparent prelude to a ground assault just, a watchdog said.

“It’s the heaviest bombardment since troop reinforcements were sent to Idlib earlier this week,” the head of the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, Rami Abdel Rahman, told AFP.

“It’s the prelude to the launch of a ground offensive.”

Annan, former U.N. chief, was headed for crux talks in Damascus on Saturday with the hopes of the world pinned on his bid to prevent a nearly year-old uprising spiraling into all-out civil war.

After another 70 civilians were killed on Friday in a conflict that human rights watchdogs say has cost more than 8,500 lives since March last year, Annan was due to holds talks with President Bashar al-Assad on his first visit since his appointment as international envoy on the conflict.

Emissary of the United Nations and the Arab League, Annan has the support of Damascus allies Beijing and Moscow and his mission has been welcomed by the both the Syrian government and opposition.

Current U.N. chief Ban Ki-moon said that Annan would demand an immediate end to the violence and aid agency access to besieged protest cities to evacuate casualties and provide desperately needed relief supplies to civilians trapped by the fighting.

“I very strongly urged Kofi Annan to ensure there must be an immediate ceasefire,” Ban said.

“I also asked him to urge Assad to facilitate humanitarian assistance and access.”

Ban said that Annan would seek to encourage dialogue between Assad’s government and the opposition but that he would not meet opposition figures inside Syria and would not travel outside Damascus on his two-day visit.

His predecessor would meet Assad, other government officials, “civil society” representatives and aid workers in the Syrian capital, Ban told reporters at U.N. headquarters.

“He will be engaging with opposition leaders outside of Syria,” Ban added. “There should be an inclusive political solution.”

When he leaves Damascus on Sunday, Annan will travel on to neighboring countries to press his mission to end the bloodshed, the U.N. chief said.

Diplomatic sources said his first port of call would be Turkey, which has taken a very tough line against Assad's regime over its deadly crackdown.

Meanwhile, U.N. humanitarian chief Valerie Amos, who visited Homs this week, said Assad’s government had agreed to join U.N. agencies in a “limited assessment” of civilian needs in Syria, but had not met her request for unhindered access for aid groups.

Syrian officials had asked for more time, she told a news conference in Ankara after visiting Syrian refugees arriving in growing numbers in border camps in Turkey.

Amos said she was “devastated” at the destruction she saw in Homs and that she wanted to know the fate of civilians who had lived in the city's Baba Amr district, which rebel fighters left on March 1 after a 26-day siege.

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov
will meet in New York on Monday on the sidelines of a special U.N. Security Council ministerial meeting on Arab revolts, with Syria likely to be a central topic.

Others taking part in the council session are French foreign Minister Alain Juppe and British Foreign Secretary William Hague. China will be represented at the ambassadorial level.

Syrian troops launch new assault

3/10/2012 - 12:42:29 PM



Syrian troops pushed ahead with a new assault on the northern region of Idlib today, shelling one of the centres of the uprising against President Bashar Assad’s rule.

Families fled to safety as armed rebels tried to fend off the attack.

The military operation has raised fears that the regime is planning a new all-out offensive in Idlib like the bloody siege last month that captured a restive part of the city of Homs, further south.

While the fighting raged, UN envoy Kofi Annan met with Mr Assad in Damascus during a high-profile international mission to mediate an end to the country’s yearlong conflict.

The state-run news agency SANA reported that talks between the two were “positive” but there were no further details on the meeting.

In the town of Idlib, a number of families fled, clutching their belongings.

Armed opposition fighters dashed through the streets, taking cover behind the corners of buildings in clashes with the troops. Wounded fighters were pulled into trucks to be sped to clinics for treatment. A group of men used shovels to destroy speed bumps along one street to allow ambulances and other rescue vehicles to drive faster.

Military reinforcements have been pouring into Idlib this week, including dozens of tanks and armoured personnel carriers, activists said, reporting that dozens have been killed in the area in recent days. Their casualty reports could not be independently confirmed. The moves suggested the regime was now turning its focus on Idlib after recapturing the rebel-held district of Baba Amr in the central city of Homs, in a month-long assault that reportedly killed hundreds and devastated the district.

The Homs bloodshed further feulled calls among Arab countries and the West for action to stop the crisis, which many fear is moving closer to civil war as the opposition turns more to armed resistance. The UN estimates that more than 7,500 people have been killed since Syria launched its crackdown on the uprising, which began a year ago as peaceful protests against Mr Assad.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov sought to defend his country’s stance on the crisis before Arab leaders, angered by Moscow’s blocking of international pressure on Syria’s president to step down. Last month, just as the Homs offensive was heating up, Russia and China vetoed a draft UN Security Council resolution that would have supported an Arab League peace plan calling on Assad to hand over his powers.

That brought accusations that Russia, a long-time ally, was giving Mr Assad diplomatic cover to intensify his crackdown.

“We are not protecting any regimes,” Mr Lavrov insisted at a heated session of the Arab League in Cairo today. “We are protecting international law ... We are not looking for a special prize or geopolitical interest here.”

He said Russia was trying to prevent “interference in domestic affairs of states, not to mention military interference” – something he hinted other Arab countries should be concerned about, given the upheaval of the Arab Spring the past year.

“We certainly believe that all outside actors must be extremely careful in addressing problems which your countries are facing,” he said.

He said Russia was trying to “promote a peaceful resolution” to Syria’s crisis and that the immediate mission now is to halt violence and enable humanitarian assistance to reach those in need in Syria.

“If we agree to this, then we shall not really engage in discussing who is to blame” for the bloodshed, he said. “This could be done later by authority or international structure empowered to do this.”

Speaking after him, Qatar’s prime minister sharply criticised Mr Lavrov’s remarks. “There is systematic genocide by the Syrian government,” Sheik Hamad bin Jassem Al Thani said, adding that Arabs are not looking for a ceasefire anymore after “genocide” and “systematic killings” of Syrians.

Annan’s visit to Damascus marks a new international push for peace nearly a year after protesters took to the streets to demand the removal of Mr Assad, inspired by Arab Spring uprisings in Tunisia and Egypt. Since then, the regime has despatched snipers, tanks and civilian gunmen to crush dissent. As the death toll mounted, protests have spread, and some have taken up arms to defend themselves and attack government forces.

Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said yesterday that Mr Annan’s priority is to immediately halt all fighting by government forces and opposition fighters – if not simultaneously, then first by government troops, followed by the opposition.

Mr Ban said a ceasefire should be quickly followed by inclusive political talks to resolve the year-long conflict.

But the mission has already hit a stumbling block, as the opposition rejected Mr Annan’s calls for dialogue with Mr Assad’s regime as pointless and out of touch after a year of bloodshed.

The dispute exposes the widening gap between opposition leaders who say only military aid can stop Mr Assad’s regime, and Western powers who fear more weapons will exacerbate the conflict.

So far, Western powers have declined to intervene. Unlike Libya, where a UN-sanctioned bombing campaign helped rebels topple Muammar Gaddafi last year, Syria has key allies in Iran and the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah, and shares a border with the region’s closest American ally, Israel. Outright war in Syria could spark a regional conflagration.

Sorry Kofi, you're as much a waste of time now as you were back in the day.

Syria: 47 women and children dead in massacre, opposition claim

Syria's opposition has accused security forces of killing 47 women and children in Homs and urged the UN Security Council to hold an emergency meeting to discuss the killings.

A man moves the body of a youth at a make-shift morgue in Bab al-Sebaa, a neighborhood of Homs, Syria Photo: AFP/Getty Images









9:26AM GMT 12 Mar 2012


Hadi Abdallah, a Syrian activist in the besieged central city, said the bodies of 26 children and 21 women, some with their throats slit and others bearing stab wounds, were found in the Karm el-Zaytoun and Al-Adawiyeh neighbourhoods.

"Some of the children had been hit with blunt objects on their head, one little girl was mutilated and some women were raped before being killed," he said.

The main opposition group, the Syrian National Council (SNC), called for an emergency UN Security Council meeting to discuss the "massacre", which it said took place on Sunday.



"The Syrian National Council is making the necessary contacts with all organisations and countries that are friends with the Syrian people for the UN Security Council to hold an emergency meeting," the SNC said in a statement.

And in a clear reference to Russia and China, the SNC said that allies of Syria's President Bashar al-Assad shared responsibility for the "crimes" committed by his regime.


State television blamed "armed terrorist gangs" for the killings, saying they had kidnapped residents of Homs, killed them and then made video footage of the bodies in an attempt to discredit Syrian forces.

News of the killings came after UN-Arab League peace envoy Kofi Annan left Damascus on Sunday without managing to secure an accord to end bloodletting monitors say has claimed more than 8,500 lives since March last year.


Annan departed at the end of a two-day mission during which he said he presented Assad with "concrete proposals" to halt the unrest that has rocked Syria since pro-democracy protesters rose up against his regime on March 15, 2011.


On the ground, more than 150 people – 61 of them civilians caught in the crossfire – were killed weekend clashes between armed rebels and regular soldiers in various flashpoint areas, according to figures of rights monitors.


Most of the deaths occurred in an ferocious assault by regime forces against rebel bastions in the northwestern Idlib province, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said, adding that fighting also occurred Sunday in the central city of Hama, the nearby province of Homs, and in the Damascus countryside.


Annan on his first mission to Syria to attempt to secure a halt to the violence, had emerged positive from talks on Sunday with Assad, a follow-up to their first meeting the previous day.


"It's going to be tough, it's going to be difficult, but we have to have hope. I am optimistic," Annan told reporters, while stressing the urgency of finding a solution.


"The situation is so bad and so dangerous that all of us cannot afford to fail," the former UN chief warned, in response to a suggestion that dialogue with the government was futile.


Assad had insisted during their first meeting on Saturday there would be no dialogue until the "terrorist groups" he claims are fomenting the violence are disbanded.


Opposition figures in their meeting with Annan however were adamant that the regime troops pressing the crackdown on dissent must first return to barracks before talks can begin.


Diplomats at the United Nations in New York had expressed pessimism about the prospects for Annan's mission after troops poured into Idlib city, which lies in the province by the same name, late on Saturday just hours after his first meeting with Assad.


Annan told the media conference that he had on Sunday discussed with Assad ways to halt the unrest rocking Syria.


"I presented a set of concrete proposals which would have a real impact on the situation on the ground and which will help launch a process aimed at putting an end to this crisis," the former UN chief said.


"The realistic response is to embrace change and reforms," he added.
After seizing Idlib city on Saturday, troops fanned out into rural areas of the province on Sunday, notably the Jisr al-Shughur district, said Rami Abdel Rahman, head of the Britain-based Observatory.


"The army is also preparing to launch an offensive against the rebel district of Jabal al-Zawiya," a range of hills close to the Turkish border, where fighters of the Free Syrian Army have been particularly active, he added.


The military crackdown in Idlib came after the Homs neighbourhood of Baba Amr was stormed on March 1 after a month-long blitz in which hundreds of people died.
Source: AFP

Druze support for Assad's family regime is now divided. Once in full agreement with Damascus authorities, Drruze attitudes to the bloodshed in Syria is one of growing disgust.
Druze youths spray anti-Assad graffitti and the Druze leaders now openly question Assad's authority to rule, calling on both Druze and Christians enlisted in Assad's armies to desert and join the uprising against Assad.

A Druze leader is reported to have become an envoy between the Russians and Assad's regime, attempting to defuse the explosive situation in Syria.

The Druze population, the majority of whom now live in Syria, The Golan of Israel and in Lebanon are apparently withdrawing their support for Assad.

QUNEITRA CROSSING, Occupied Golan Heights: Syria's embattled leader, Bashar Assad, appears to be losing one of his last bastions of reliable support: the Druze Arab community in the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights.

Read more: THE DAILY STAR :: News :: Middle East :: Golan Druze support for Syria regime cracking
(The Daily Star :: Lebanon News :: THE DAILY STAR :: Breaking News, Lebanon News, Middle East News & World News)




Progressive Socialist Party leader MP Walid Jumblat urged on Monday Syria’s Druze population to abandon the ruling regime, warning them against “getting their hands covered with the blood of the Syrian people.”

He told France 24 television: “I caution the Druze against getting embroiled in any sectarian strife with the Sunnis because that will spell their end.”

The Arab world is dominated by the Sunni sect and “therefore beware of getting involved in strife,” the Druze chief added.


Read more:

Jumblat Warns Syria