Syrian rebel splits deepen after failed 'merger' with al Qaeda arm- Reuters

The leader of al Qaeda's Syrian wing tried unsuccessfully at a recent meeting to convince rival Islamist factions to merge into one unit, several insurgency sources have told Reuters.

Abu Mohamad al-Golani, head of the Nusra Front, even suggested he was willing to change the name of his group if the others, including the powerful Ahrar al-Sham organization, agreed to the deal, the sources said.

But he made clear that Nusra would not cut its ties with al Qaeda, and its allegiance would remain to Ayman al-Zawahri, who took over as leader after U.S. Navy SEALS killed Osama bin Laden in 2011.

Much was riding on the outcome of the meeting, which the sources said took place about 10 days ago.

Nusra and Ahrar al-Sham are the most powerful groups in northern Syria: when they briefly teamed up with other Islamists last year in an alliance called the Fatah Army, the rebels scored one of their biggest victories by seizing the city of Idlib.

Some rebels believed a merger would create a stronger rival to Islamic State and might attract much-needed military support and recognition from regional and international powers.

http://www.reuters.com/article/us-mideast-crisis-syria-nusra-insight-idUSKCN0V729B

Full Throttle: From Aleppo to Daraa, Syrian Army Advances on Militants- Sputnik News

The Syrian Army and the National Defense Forces (NDF) have staged a spate of major military operations all across Syria over the past twenty-four hours, in which dozens of Daesh and Al-Nusra Front militants were killed and many more wounded, according to media reports.

In particular, militants' strongholds were destroyed in the key provinces of Aleppo, Damascus, Daraa, Deir ez-Zor, Hama, Homs and Idlib.

In the city of Daraa, the Syrian troops obliterated the militants' fortifications, hideouts and vehicles in the neighborhoods of al-Mahatta and al-Balad, also striking the towns of Rakham and al-Karak in Daraa Province's northeast.

Read more: http://sputniknews.com/middleeast/20160128/1033822424/syria-army-daesh.html

ABD'den muhaliflere: Cenevre tarihi fırsat, ön koşulsuz gelin- Al-Jazeera Turk

ABD Dışişleri Bakanlığ Sözcü Yardımcısı Toner, Suriye ile ilgili Cenevre görüşmelerinin barış için tarihi bir fırsat olduğunu belirtti ve muhaliflere, masaya ön koşulsuz gelmeleri çağrısında bulundu. Toner “Anladığımız kadarıyla PYD bu hafta yapılacak toplantıda olmayacak" açıklamasında da bulundu.

ABD Dışişleri Bakanlığı Sözcü Yardımcısı Mark Toner, günlük basın toplantısında, Cenevre'de 29 Ocak'ta başlayacak Suriye toplantılarına ilişkin konuştu. Bu toplantıların tarihi bir fırsat olduğunu söyleyen Sözcü şu ifadeleri kullandı:

"Muhalif grupların önünde Cenevre'ye giderek ateşkes, insani yardımların erişimi ve diğer güven arttırıcı önlemleri önermek için tarihi bir fırsat var. Toplantıya ön koşulsuz olarak katılmalılar."

"PYD'nin olmaması BM'nin tercihi"

Toner, PYD'nin davet edilmemesine ilişkin soruya şu yanıtı verdi:

“Kimin katılıp kimin katılmayacağı yönünde görüş ayrılıkları olduğunu biliyoruz. Ayrıca kimlerin katılacağı BM Suriye Özel Temsilcisi Staffan de Mistura'nın tercihi. Biz de Suriyeli muhaliflerin nasıl seçileceği yönündeki işlemleri destekliyoruz. Cenevre'deki toplantılara katılacak muhalif grupların listesi henüz açıklamadı. Ancak bizim anladığımız kadarıyla PYD bu hafta yapılacak toplantıda olmayacak."

http://www.aljazeera.com.tr/haber/abdden-muhaliflere-cenevre-tarihi-firsat-kosulsuz-gelin

U.N. Says 'No Postponement' of Syria Talks, Main Opposition Group to Miss Start- Naharnet

The U.N.'s Syria envoy warned peace talks due to be held in Geneva must not fail, but members of the fractious opposition said they would miss the start on Friday.

Delegates from the Saudi-backed High Negotiations Committee said late Thursday that discussions in Riyadh over whether to attend the U.N.-brokered talks would continue the next day.

But organizers of the Geneva negotiations said no postponement was expected.

U.N. envoy Staffan de Mistura, in a video message to the Syrian people, said the talks could be their country's last chance for peace.

"Now we need to hear your voice to everyone who is coming to this conference, and saying this conference must be an opportunity not to be missed," the envoy said.

He said that after several stalled peace processes, the Geneva talks "cannot fail."

A spokeswoman for the U.N. talks, Khawla Mattar, told AFP there is "no postponement from our side."

http://www.naharnet.com/stories/en/200640

Opinion: NATO's AWACS in Syria? Time to say 'yes'- DW

The United States wants NATO to provide aerial surveillance and coordination in Syria with its AWACS planes. DW's Max Hofmann presents five reasons why NATO should approve the US request.

http://www.dw.com/en/opinion-natos-awacs-in-syria-time-to-say-yes/a-19009476

Moscow calls to take into account interests of various Syrian political forces- TASS

MOSCOW, January 28. /TASS/. In the run-up to the Syrian settlement negotiations in Geneva, Switzerland, Moscow calls for taking into account the interests of various Syrian political forces, the Russian Foreign Ministry said on Thursday after a meeting of Russian presidential special envoy for the Middle East and Africa, Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Bogdanov with a delegation of representatives of Syria’s social and political forces.

"The parties had an interested exchange of views on the situation in Syria and around it with the emphasis on finding as soon as possible a political solution to the Syrian crisis based on the development of the maximally broad inter-Syrian dialogue," the Russian Foreign Ministry said.

"In the run-up to the negotiations in Geneva between representatives of the Syrian government and the opposition the need to take into account the interests of various Syrian political forces in a long-term settlement in Syria was specially emphasized", the ministry said.

http://tass.ru/en/politics/852933

US ambassador admits political solution is only way to resolve Syria crisis- TASS

MOSCOW, January 28. /TASS/. The Syrian crisis settlement is possible only through a political solution, US Ambassador to Russia John Tefft said on Thursday.

Commenting on the inter-Syrian talks that will bring together the Syrian government representatives and opposition on January 29 in Geneva, Tefft said "we know this is going to be difficult but we think that a political solution is the way forward, that there is no fundamental military solution possible in Syria."

"We are working together [with Russia] on Syria with regard to the International Syria Support Group," Tefft said.

http://tass.ru/en/world/852899

Syria peace talks derailed as opposition stays away- Reuters

The Syrian opposition said it will not attend peace talks due to begin in Geneva on Friday, derailing the first attempt in two years to hold negotiations aimed at ending the five-year-long war.

An opposition council convening in Riyadh said its delegation would "certainly" not be in Geneva on Friday, saying it had not received convincing answers to its demands for goodwill steps including an end to air strikes and blockades.

The failure to get talks off the ground on time reflects the challenges facing peace-making as the conflict rages unabated on the ground.

The Syrian government is clawing back territory from rebels with military help from Iran and Russia. It has said it is ready to attend the negotiations, which U.N. envoy Staffan de Mistura plans to hold in an indirect format.

http://www.reuters.com/article/us-mideast-crisis-syria-idUSKCN0V61M4

Syrian Army Liberates 18 Towns, Villages in Northeast Latakia Province- Sputnik News

More than 18 towns and villages located in the northern countryside of Latakia province have been liberated by the Syrian Army and the country's National Defense Forces (NDF), media reports said.

The Syrian Army's General Command released a statement saying that  militants had been squeezed out of a number of strategic towns and villages, including al-Ghnaimiye, al-Qalai’e, Beit Sukkar, al-Ouainat, Khan al-Joz, Beit Riha, Bradon, al-Souda, al-Khadra, Reef Mekhtaro, al-Jamousiye, al-Saraya, al-Rayyana and al-Shakria.

Read more: http://sputniknews.com/middleeast/20160127/1033766811/syria-army-militants.html

Syrian opposition's Manna says no peace talks without Kurds- Reuters

The co-leader of the Syrian Democratic Council, Haytham Manna,

on Wednesday he would not take part in peace talks in Geneva unless two Kurdish leaders, Saleh Muslim and Ilham Ahmed, were also invited to participate.

"I'll go with my friends or not (at all). There is no compromise in this question," Manna told Reuters a day after the U.N. envoy to Syria, Staffan De Mistura, sent invitations to join the talks, without including the Kurdish leaders.

"We have one day and tomorrow perhaps also to negotiate all of these things with the Russians, the Americans and De Mistura's staff. We’ll see if they accept our opinion, our view to have really a strong and representative delegation, we are ready to go.”

Deciding who among Syria's fractured opposition should attend the talks has become the main stumbling block to the first attempt at a peace negotiation in two years. There is no sign of an end to the war pitting a range of rebel groups against President Bashar al-Assad's government after almost five years and more than 250,000 deaths.

http://www.reuters.com/article/us-mideast-crisis-syria-manna-idUSKCN0V513I

Dialogue Session Does Not Tackle Presidency as Next Round Set for Feb. 17- Naharnet

A national dialogue session was held at Speaker Nabih Berri's Ain el-Tineh residence on Wednesday to address the latest developments in the country.

Marada Movement leader MP Suleiman Franjieh revealed after the talks that the gatherers did not address the presidential deadlock.

Asked why by reporters, he replied: “Speaker Berri was the one steering discussions.”

He added that he is still running for the presidency, revealing that “his house is still open” to rival candidate Change and Reform bloc chief MP Michel Aoun.

Aoun was not present at the talks, but Foreign Minister Jebran Bassil represented him at the dialogue.

He left without making a statement.

http://www.naharnet.com/stories/en/200556

ABD Dışişleri: PYD Cenevre'de olmayacak- Sputnik News

ABD Dışişleri Bakanlığı Sözcüsü Toner, Suriye'yle ilgili Cenevre görüşmelerine katılacak grupların listesinin henüz açıklanmadığını belirterek, "Kimlerin katılacağı De Mistura'nun tercihi. Bizim anladığımız kadarıyla PYD toplantıda olmayacak" dedi.

Tamamını oku: http://tr.sputniknews.com/abd/20160127/1020486156/abd-cenevre-suriye-pyd.html

Russia special forces aiding Hezbollah in Latakia: report- NOW

BEIRUT – Russian special forces have backed Hezbollah and Syrian regime forces in their recent advances in the mountains north of Latakia, according to a Kuwaiti daily with close access to Moscow’s aerial campaign in the war-torn country.

“Special forces from the Russian army equipped with Howitzer artillery, supported by warplanes and backed by elite units from Lebanon’s Hezbollah… have been entering the fiercest of battles in the heights and towns of Latakia,” sources in the Damascus joint operations room of the “4+1” military coalition of Russia, Iran, Iraq, Syria and Hezbollah told Al-Rai newspaper’s chief international correspondent, Elijah J. Magnier.

The sources said it was likely that “through intensive use of howitzer batteries and artillery, the Russian formations are inflicting much greater losses to personnel and infantry than the losses the Russian Air Force is inflicting.”

“This is allowing the attacking forces from the Syrian army and Hezbollah to advance from town to town and village to village without any notable confrontation.”

https://now.mmedia.me/lb/en/NewsReports/566538-russia-special-forces-aiding-hezbollah-in-latakia-report

Syrian Army captures strategic city of Sheikh Miskeen in northern Daraa- Al-Masdar News

As of 10:30 P.M. (Damascus Time) on Monday night, the Islamist rebels of the Free Syrian Army (FSA) and Jabhat Al-Nusra (Syrian Al-Qaeda group) have suffered their biggest defeat in southern Syria after the Syrian Arab Army’s 15th Brigade of the 5th Armored Division and their allies imposed full control over the strategic city of Sheikh Miskeen in the Dara’a Governorate’s northern countryside. 

The final battle for Sheikh Miskeen began at 8:30 A.M. (Damascus Time) when the Syrian Arab Army’s 15th Brigade – in close coordination with the National Defense Forces (NDF) and the 7th Mechanized Division – captured the Al-‘Umari Mosque in the city’s west district. 

This successful military operation was followed by the Syrian Armed Forces seizing the remaining neighborhoods in the Al-Diri District, where the Islamist rebels of Jabhat Al-Nusra and the Free Syrian Army had resisted for several weeks after the pro-government forces captured the Battalion 82 headquarters and housing facility.

http://www.almasdarnews.com/article/syrian-army-captures-strategic-city-of-sheikh-miskeen-in-northern-daraa/

Bombings kill 20 in Syria as peace talks invitations go out- AP

Multiple bombings struck a government-run checkpoint in the central Syrian city of Homs on Tuesday, killing at least 20 people and wounding over a hundred amid intense political jockeying ahead of U.N.-backed peace talks scheduled to begin in Geneva on Friday.

The office of the U.N. envoy for Syria said it sent out invitations for the talks, but with just three days to go, the opposition is still undecided about whether it will attend. One opposition official suggested the Saudi-backed opposition delegation may boycott the talks.

Khawla Mattar, a spokeswoman for Staffan de Mistura, told The Associated Press in Geneva that the envoy would not make public the numbers and identities of the invitees until his office gets "feedback from the invited parties" — a sign of the delicacy of his task.

The talks are meant to start a political process to end the conflict that began in 2011 as a largely peaceful uprising against Assad's rule but escalated into an all-out war after a harsh state crackdown. The plan calls for cease-fires in parallel to the talks, a new constitution and elections in a year and a half.

http://bigstory.ap.org/article/ad320fcc0d6941d4b7aa6cc144ab336d/syrian-agency-says-least-14-killed-attack-homs-city

Tide turns in Syrian war with capture of key town- Al-Jazeera

The Syrian army has captured a key southern town from rebel forces after weeks of fierce fighting, state media and activists say.

The fall of Sheikh Maskin on Monday means that government forces will strengthen their hold on Deraa province, while cutting off rebel factions from key supply lines.

Deraa, the scene of the earliest protests against the Syrian government in 2011, contains routes crucial to both the Syrian army and rebel fighters.

"The town is very important for both sides. They have both fought fiercely. Now, by taking it, the regime has cut off the rebels links between eastern and western Deraa," said Rami Abdulrahman, head of the UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, which tracks violence in the country through a wide network of local sources.

"The destruction in the town is huge."

http://www.aljazeera.com/news/2016/01/syrian-army-captures-key-southern-town-rebels-160126040829177.html

Report: Syria's al-Nusra 'more dangerous' than ISIS- CNN

Al Qaeda's Syrian affiliate, Jabhat al-Nusra, is a greater threat to the United States in the long term than is ISIS, making the United States' current single-minded focus on the latter group misguided, a new report is charging.

Al-Nusra is "much more dangerous to the U.S. than the ISIS model in the long run," according to the authors of a report labeling both groups "existential" threats. The report was released last week by the Institute for the Study of War and American Enterprise Institute.

http://edition.cnn.com/2016/01/25/politics/al-qaeda-al-nusra-isis-threat-experts/index.html

Lavrov: Assad never asked Russia for political asylum- TASS

MOSCOW, January 26. /TASS/. Syrian President Bashar Assad has not asked Russia for political asylum, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov told a news conference in Moscow on Tuesday. 

"Nobody has asked us for political asylum. 

No offers of the sort have been made," Lavrov said. He also dismissed media rumors the former chief of the General Staff’s intelligence directorate GRU, Igor Sergun, had allegedly asked Assad to step down.

More: http://tass.ru/en/politics/852183

Syrian Opposition Puts Off Decision on Peace Talks- Naharnet

A major Syrian opposition group Wednesday postponed a decision on joining peace talks in Switzerland, as wrangling over who will go threatens to derail the biggest push yet to resolve the war.

The Saudi-backed High Negotiations Committee -- formed last month in an effort to unite Syria's fractious political and armed opposition -- met in Riyadh for a second day on whether to accept a U.N. invitation to the Geneva talks.

Salem al-Meslet, a Committee spokesman, said the group cannot make a decision until it has received a response from U.N. Syria envoy Staffan de Mistura.

The Committee insists it must be the sole opposition delegation at the talks and wants "clarifications" after the United Nations issued invitations to other regime opponents.

"Whether we say 'yes' or 'no' depends on the reply of De Mistura," which could come overnight, Meslet told AFP and Al-Arabiya television.

http://www.naharnet.com/stories/en/200520

Jumblat Applauds 'Iran's Democracy,' Wonders if it Will Allow Lebanese Elections to Be Held- Naharnet

Progressive Socialist Party leader MP Walid Jumblat expressed on Wednesday “admiration with the democracy in Iran,” citing the recent exclusion of the grandson of Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, founder of the Islamic Republic of Iran, from contesting elections next month.

The MP said via Twitter: “Given its 'democratic' record, perhaps Iran does not want the election of any MPs Henri Helou, Suleiman Franjieh, or Michel Aoun as president.”

“It is strange that Khomeini's son is unwanted, but this is democracy in its highest form in the Islamic Republic,” he added sarcastically.

“At this rate, what is the authority that chooses – pardon, I mean elects - the president in Lebanon?” wondered the MP.

Perhaps it does not want to elect any of the Lebanese candidates, he noted, “but this is also a democratic choice based on the Iranian way.”

Hassan Khomeini, a 43-year-old cleric with close ties to reformists, was not verified as having sufficient religious competence by the Guardian Council, his son Ahmad said on his Instagram account, despite "testimony from dozens of religious authorities".

http://www.naharnet.com/stories/en/200541