Who is the US arming in Syria? President Assad rubs his hands at news of rebel split (Robert Fisk- The Independent)

The President would be the FSA’s best ally in war against Islamists, says Robert Fisk.

 

Bashar is a happy man today. Long did America and the EU rub their hands with delight each time a minister or general left Assad to collaborate with the regime’s enemies.

Every split within the Assad government was paraded as the “tipping point”. And now, suddenly, what Assad’s lads had been telling us for months – that it is their enemies who are divided – turns out to be true. The bodies of Kamal Hamami and his brother are the proof. The rebels are split. The Islamists and the Free Syrian Army are at war.

 

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-east/who-is-the-us-arming-in-syria-president-assad-rubs-his-hands-at-news-of-rebel-split-8706540.html

Syria's al-Nusra Front – ruthless, organised and taking control- The Guardian

Special report: The main jihadi group is marshalling its resources shrewdly, and the 'emir of gas' is impressed.

 

The al-Qaida-affiliated commander in charge of the oil company in Shadadi, eastern Syria – a lean, broad-shouldered man who is followed everywhere by a machete-wielding bodyguard – was explaining the appeal of jihadi rule to the people of the newly captured town.

 

"Go and ask the people in the streets whether there a liberated town or city anywhere in Syria that is ruled as efficiently as this one," he boasted. "There is electricity, water and bread and security. Inshallah, this will be the nucleus of a new Syrian Islamic caliphate!"

 

The al-Nusra Front, the principle jihadi rebel group in Syria, defies the cliche of Islamist fighters around the Middle East plotting to establish Islamic caliphates from impoverished mountain hideaways. In north-eastern Syria, al-Nusra finds itself in command of massive silos of wheat, factories, oil and gas fields, fleets of looted government cars and a huge weapons Arsenal.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2013/jul/10/syria-al-nusra-front-jihadi

Army units eliminate terrorists, mostly non-Syrians, seize missiles, communication sets- SANA

Provinces, (SANA)_Army units carried out a series of qualitative operations against terrorists' gatherings and dens in eastern Ghouta and the southern and southwestern countryside of Damascus, killing and injuring many terrorists, among them non-Syrians.

 

An official source told SANA that an engineering unit neutralized two explosive devices weighing between 30-60 kg that terrorists planted near Toyota Company on Damascus-Homs road, in addition to confiscating several surveillance cameras, as a number of terrorists were killed near the water tank in Harasta, among them Abdul-Rahman Eyoun.

 

The source added that another army operation in al-Eb farms in Douma left a number of terrorists killed and others injured, among them Zakarayya Masarwa, as a den with the terrorists and ammunition inside was destroyed in Erbin. Mohammad al-Kadi and Abdul-Rahman al-Kalesh identified among the dead terrorists.

 

In Damascus southern countryside, army units carried out a series of operation in Hijjera and al-Ziabieh towns as a mortar cannon and heavy machinegun were destroyed in Hijjera.

 

Several terrorists were killed, among them Samir al-Jarmousi, Ghasan Salem, a terrorist nicknamed Abu Salem, who is leader of a terrorist group. A den with the weapons and ammunition inside was destroyed and several terrorists were killed in al-Ziabiah, among them the Jordanian Nader Abdul-Latif, Mohammad Saad Shabaaniah and Mohammad al-Fahsi.

 

An army unit killed four terrorists, among them one called ''Khaled'' in al-Alali area in Daraya city.

 

The source added that an army unit pursued a terrorist group in the farms surrounding Qatana city in Damascus southwestern countryside, killing several terrorists, among them Imad Zaino and Mohammad al-Masri.

http://sana.sy/eng/337/2013/07/11/491832.htm

Al Qaeda militants kill Syrian rebel commander - FSA spokesman- RT

As Syria’s civil war shows no signs of abating, a source within the Free Syrian Army says that Al Qaeda-linked militants have killed one of the FSA’s senior figures.

 

Supreme Military Council member Kamal Hamami, also known as Abu Bassel al-Ladkani, was meeting with members of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant in the Syrian port city of Latakia when he was killed, FSA spokesman Qassem Saadeddine told Reuters.

"The Islamic State phoned me saying that they killed Abu Bassel and that they will kill all of the Supreme Military Council," Saadeddine said. "He met them to discuss battle plans."

Though Syria’s opposition forces have incorporated groups affiliated with Al Qaeda, news of the killing of a senior FSA member could signal a serious conflict emerging between radical Islamists and more moderate members of the opposition.

http://rt.com/news/qaeda-militants-kill-fsa-commander-979/

Libya-Türkiye üzerinden Suriye’ye silah trafiği- YDH

Batı basını, Libya’dan Suriye’deki isyancılara nasıl silah gönderildiğinin ayrıntılarına yer verdi.

YDH- Foreign Policy dergisinde yer alan haberde şu ifadelere yer verildi.

 

ABD Suriye’deki muhalifleri silah göndermeye hazırlanırken Libya’daki eski isyancılar, sessizliklerini bozdular ve kendilerinin bu işi bir yıldır yapmakta olduklarını söylediler.

 

43 yaşındaki Libyalı eski bir isyancı komutan, şu an Suriye’deki isyancılara silah göndermekten sorumlu. O Suriye’deki muhaliflere silah göndermelerinin sebebiyle ilgili olarak şunları söylüyor.

 

“Uluslar arası toplum bizim devrimimize büyük destek verdi; ama dünya Suriye devrimini kendi haline bıraktı. Bu yüzden biz de bir yıl öncesinden bu ülkeye yardım etmeye ve silah göndermeye karar verdik.”

 

O bazı Libyalı isyancıların, Muammer Kaddafi’nin devrilmesinden sonra, Suriye Cumhurbaşkanı Beşşar Esed’i devirmede Suriyeli muhaliflere yardım etmek için Suriye’ye gittiklerini söylüyor ve “Belki de sadece Kaddafi’ye karşı kullanılan silahların gönderilmesi bile Suriye rejimine karşı savaşta çok etkili oldu” diye ekliyor.

 

New York Times gazetesinde 21 Haziran’da yani yaklaşık 20 gün gönce yayımlanan bir yazıda Libya’daki isyancıların silahlarının Katar’ın mali desteği ile bu ülkeden Suriye’ye gönderildiği yazıldı.

http://www.ydh.com.tr/HD12030_libya-turkiye-uzerinden-suriyeye-silah-trafigi.html

Al-Qaida in Syria is most serious terrorist threat to UK, says report- The Guardian

Al-Qaida elements fighting with rebels in Syria constitute the most serious terrorist threat to Britain, and if they were to get their hands on Syria's chemical weapons the consequences could be catastrophic, according to British spymasters.

 

The warnings, in the latest annual report of the parliamentary intelligence and security committee (ISC) published on Wednesday, come amid growing reports that Syrian rebels are trying to acquire chemical weapons.

 

Russia said on Wednesday it had proof Syrian rebels used the nerve agent sarin in a missile attack on a government-controlled suburb of Aleppo in March. The British prime minister, David Cameron, said last month that al-Qaida-linked elements in the rebel movement had tried to capture chemical weapons for probable use in Syria.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2013/jul/10/al-qaida-syria-terrorist-threat?INTCMP=ILCNETTXT3487

The CIA: Al-Qaeda Dispatched 16 Tons of Explosives to Lebanon- Al-Akhbar

Nearly a week before the July 9 bombing in Beirut’s southern suburb of Bir al-Abed, the Lebanese security services received tip-offs from their US counterparts indicating that al-Qaeda had prepared two large explosive devices for detonation in Dahiyeh, in parallel with plans by the terrorist group to target officials in Hezbollah and the Lebanese army, as well as diplomats from the Gulf, Russia, and China.

 

Investigations into the explosion that rocked Beirut on Tuesday continue in great secrecy, with a tight lid being kept on their findings so far. However, officials confirmed that serious leads are being pursued in the attempt to identify the perpetrators.

 

Meanwhile, reports circulating in security and political circles hold that the US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) had informed the Lebanese authorities of large quantities of explosives brought into Lebanon by an al-Qaeda-linked group.

http://english.al-akhbar.com/content/cia-al-qaeda-dispatched-16-tons-explosives-lebanon

Syria chemical weapons 'most worrying terror threat to UK'- BBC News

Al-Qaeda could gain access to Syria's stockpiles of chemical weapons with "catastrophic" consequences, a parliamentary committee has warned.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-23258792

Lavrov: Suriye’deki muhalifler kimyasal silah kullandı- YDH

YDH-Fars haber ajansının bildirdiğine göre Rusya Dışişleri Bakanı Sergey Lavrov, Suriye’de kimyasal silah kullanımıyla ilgili elde ettikleri tüm bulguları Birleşmiş Milletlere teslim edeceklerini açıkladı.

http://www.ydh.com.tr/HD12025_lavrov--suriyedeki-muhalifler-kimyasal-silah-kullandi.html

Comrades in Arms- Foreign Policy

As the United States prepares to send weapons to the Syrian opposition, former Libyan rebels are now going public with the news that they have been doing exactly that for the last year.

 

"Our Libyan revolution was very much supported by the international community," says a 43-year-old former rebel commander in Benghazi who is in charge of smuggling weapons from Libya to opposition forces in Syria. "But the revolution in Syria seems to have been abandoned by the world. So over a year ago we decided to help and send weapons."

 

Libyan rebels have long seen their Syrian counterparts as comrades in arms, fighting a similar struggle to rid themselves of a bloody dictator. It helps, of course, that President Bashar al-Assad maintained a close alliance with Muammar al-Qaddafi -- the deposed Libyan leader even broadcast his final messages from a Syrian-based station after he was ousted from Tripoli, the capital.

 

Following Qaddafi's demise, some Libyan fighters traveled to Syria to support the armed uprising, but it may be through supplying weapons once used to topple their own dictator that Libyans make their greatest impact on the struggle against the Syrian regime.

 

A recent New York Times article confirmed the flow of weapons from Libya to Syria and noted that the effort was largely financed by Qatar. But while the article focused on shipments through the air, the supplies delivered by boat across the Mediterranean arguably constitute the more significant flow of weapons and goods.

 

The former rebel commander personally organized two shipments of weapons by sea from Benghazi to the Turkish port of Iskenderun this year. The weapons were then transported over land, with the knowledge of Turkish authorities, to rebel forces controlling northern Syria.

http://www.foreignpolicy.com/articles/2013/07/10/how_libya_is_sending_weapons_arms_syrian_rebels

Targeting Hezbollah: Who is Behind the Dahiyeh Bombing?- Al-Akhbar

 

Sooner or later, the party behind the Dahiyeh car bomb on Tuesday, July 9, will be discovered – whether it chooses to declare its responsibility openly or is discovered by the authorities investigating the incident.

 

Hezbollah has always been fully aware that it would be made to pay a heavy price for its position on the Syrian crisis, not to mention its central role in the resistance front that stretches well beyond Lebanon’s borders to Palestine and Iran.

 

The party knew well that there are plenty of Western and Arab forces prepared to lend assistance to like-minded local parties to carry out attacks on the Resistance. And when the auction is open, there will be many takers, with Israel first in line to offer all it can to anyone ready to strike a blow against its most formidable foe.

http://english.al-akhbar.com/content/targeting-hezbollah-who-behind-dahiyeh-bombing

Syrian civil war spills onto Lebanon's streets- DW

The vicious Syrian civil war has spilled over to Lebanon, where clashes between pro- and anti-rebel groups regularly break out, appropriately enough, on Tripoli's Syria Street.

 

Syria Street in this northern Lebanese city has become the dividing line between Sunni supporters of Syrian rebels and Alawite supporters of President Bashar al- Assad.

 

The narrow alleys off Syria Street have heavy tarpaulins strung across to shield the view of snipers and allow civilians to pass. The Sunni militants shoot at both opposition gunmen and Alawite civilians in a hillside neighborhood above them. 

 

News photographer Ibrahim Chaloub drove carefully through a roundabout not far from Syria Street He's doesn't care about traffic. He's more worried about snipers.

 

"Normally nobody dares go here," he said. "At any time someone may start sniping."

 

http://www.dw.de/syrian-civil-war-spills-onto-lebanons-streets/a-16938306

UN Security Council Fears for Lebanon's Stability- VOA

UNITED NATIONS — The U.N. Security Council expressed deepening concern Wednesday that Lebanon’s stability could be weakened by the growing impact of the Syrian crisis on its smaller neighbor.

The 15-nation Security Council issued a statement urging Lebanon to recommit to its policy of dissociation regarding the Syrian conflict, as it copes with a mounting refugee crisis, cross-border fire, domestic sectarian tensions, and the direct participation of at least one Lebanese group in the Syria fighting.

http://www.voanews.com/content/un-security-council-fears-for-lebanon-stability/1699201.html

Aleppo residents call for lifting of Syrian rebel siege- BBC News

Dozens of Syrians in Aleppo have staged protests against a rebel siege of government-held areas in the city, residents have said.

Rebels stopped supplies from entering western parts of the city in a bid to weaken the supply routes for President Bashar al-Assad's forces, they add.

They say the blockade has led to severe food and medicine shortages.

The World Health Organization has urged Syrians to protect a convoy carrying medical supplies to the city.

One protester was reportedly shot dead at a demonstration on Tuesday, according to the UK-based activist group the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.

The group says it was not clear whether the man was shot by rebels trying to disperse the protest or killed by army sniper fire, as some civilians claimed.

Amateur footage uploaded onto YouTube shows dozens of men in civilian dress purportedly protesting at a checkpoint in the rebel-held district of Bustan al-Qasr, chanting: "The people want an end to the blockade."

The protest is disrupted by several men in black, one carrying a gun, followed by the sound of gunfire.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-23261026

Lebanon car bomb renews fears of spillover violence from Syria- Los Angeles Times

BEIRUT — A car bomb that injured dozens Tuesday in the urban heartland of the Hezbollah movement renewed fears that the sectarian-fueled strife in Syria was migrating into neighboring Lebanon.

 

Officials from various political movements and religious groups denounced the attack — which occurred as residents were preparing for the start of Ramadan, a Muslim month of fasting — as an effort to sow discord in Lebanon. A fragile peace has held for almost a quarter of a century, since the end of the Lebanese civil war in 1990. Authorities vowed what they termed a provocation would not succeed in inflaming communal conflict.

http://articles.latimes.com/2013/jul/09/world/la-fg-lebanon-bombing-20130710

Round-up: News from the North, Changes to Opposition, Egypt, and a lot of Miscellany- Syria Comment

http://www.joshualandis.com/blog/some-kind-of-round-up/

Profile: Ahmad Jarba, Syrian opposition leader- BBC News

Ahmad Jarba, the new head of the National Coalition for Syrian Revolutionary and Opposition Forces, is an influential tribal figure who has close links to Saudi Arabia.

 

Mr Jarba, a Sunni Muslim, was born in 1969 in the north-eastern Syrian city of Qamishli, in Hassakeh province. The province is home to Arabs and Kurds.

He is a member of the Shammar tribe, one of the most prominent tribes in eastern Syria. The Shammar also has a presence in Iraq, Saudi Arabia and Jordan.

Saudi ties

Mr Jarba was politically active in the 1990s and was imprisoned between 1996 and 1998 for opposing President Hafez al-Assad.

He was jailed again in March 2011, at the start of the current uprising, for supporting pro-democracy protests. Mr Jarba left for neighbouring Lebanon that August, after his release.

He has subsequently spent time in Saudi Arabia and is believed to maintain close ties with the Gulf kingdom's leadership. Saudi Arabia is a leading source of support for the Syrian opposition.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-23229258

Face-to-face with Abu Sakkar, Syria's 'heart-eating cannibal'- BBC News

It sounded like the most far-fetched propaganda claim - a Syrian rebel commander who cut out the heart of a fallen enemy soldier, and ate it before a cheering crowd of his men.

The story turned out to be true in its most important aspect - a ritual demonstration of cannibalism - though when I met the commander, Abu Sakkar, in Syria last week, he seemed hazy on the details.

"I really don't remember," he says, when I ask if it was the man's heart, as reported at the time, or liver, or a piece of lung, as a doctor who saw the video said. He goes on: "I didn't bite into it. I just held it for show."

The video says otherwise. It is one of the most gruesome to emerge from Syria's civil war. In it, Abu Sakkar stands over an enemy corpse, slicing into the flesh.

"It looks like you're carving him a Valentine's heart," says one of his men, raucously. Abu Sakkar picks up a bloody handful of something and declares: "We will eat your hearts and your livers you soldiers of Bashar the dog."

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-23190533

Fatwa for make-up: Islamists target women in rebel-controlled Syrian territories- RT

Syrian rebels have issued a ban on women using make up or wearing “immodest dress” in a neighborhood in the city of Aleppo. Critics have blasted the move as another attempt by Islamists to impose Sharia in rebel-controlled territory.

 

The fatwa (an order based on Sharia law) was issued by the Islamic law council in Aleppo's Fardous neighborhood.

"Muslim women are banned from leaving the house in immodest dress, in tight clothing that shows off their bodies or wearing makeup on their face. It is incumbent on all our sisters to obey God and commit to Islamic etiquette," the statement on the Fardous council's Facebook page says as cited by Reuters, which reports that Aleppo residents have confirmed the news.  

Some of the comments showed support for the ruling, arguing there was nothing wrong in requiring that people follow “certain etiquette in public". Critics lashed out at the Islamist-led rebels for abusing their power.  

 
http://rt.com/news/syria-rebels-fatwa-women-523/

The Shadow War Against Syria’s Christians- National Review

On June 23, Catholic Syrian priest Fr. François Murad was murdered in Idlib by rebel militias.  How he was killed is not yet known and his superiors “vigorously deny” that he was a victim of beheading, as some news sources are claiming.  It is apparent,  however, that he was a victim of the shadow war against Christians that is being fought by jihadists alongside the larger Syrian conflict.  This is a religious cleansing that has been all but ignored by our policymakers, as they strengthen support for the rebellion.

 

Affiliated with the Franciscan order that was given custody of the Holy Land sites by Pope Clement VI in 1342, the 49-year-old priest was killed in Gassanieh, in northern Syria, in the convent of the Rosary where he had taken refuge after his monastery was bombed at the outset of the conflict, and where he had been giving support to the few remaining nuns, according to Pierbattista Pizzaballa, the Custos of the Holy Land. The Vatican news agency Fides reports that “The circumstances of the death are not fully understood,” but, according to local sources, Fr. Murad’s building was attacked by the jihadi group Jabhat al-Nusra.

http://www.nationalreview.com/corner/352494/shadow-war-against-syrias-christians-nina-shea