Syrian TV says security forces, protesters clash

[mlurp]

Here is a bit of the history Syria has in the last 30+ years. There is more news at the M,E, link as well as at all of the links.

.Syria has long, tumultuous history in Lebanon

By BARBARA SURK | Associated Press – 2 hrs 34 mins ago. 20 Oct. 2012 ......

BEIRUT (AP) — Syria has a long and tumultuous history of meddling into Lebanese affairs. For much of the past 30 years, the seven-times-smaller Lebanon has lived under Syrian military and political domination. Damascus has often stirred tensions within Lebanon's explosive sectarian mix of Christians and Muslims to advance its regional interests, including during the country's 15-year civil war that ended in 1990. Syria's powerful allies in Lebanon include the Iran-backed militant group Hezbollah. Important milestones affecting the Syria-Lebanon relationship:

SYRIA'S CIVIL WAR: Since the uprising against President Bashar Assad began in February 2011, Lebanon has been steadily drawn into the unrest — a troubling sign for the country with political parties rooted in various Christian and Muslim sects, many of which are armed. While Syria's revolt has intensified between predominantly Sunni rebels and Assad's regime — dominated by Alawites, an offshoot Shiite group — Lebanon has seen a steady flow of refugees from Syria, with frequent street clashes along its northern border. Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati, who heads a government dominated by Hezbollah and other pro-Syrian groups, has led a policy of "disassociation" from its influential neighbor. Damascus has accused Sunni groups in Lebanon of supporting rebels by trying to establish a supply line to anti-regime fighters across Lebanon's northern border.

Tensions between Beirut and Damascus deepened in August, after an arrest of former Lebanese Information Minister Michel Samaha, one of Syria's most loyal allies in Lebanon. Some media reports indicated that Samaha confessed to transporting explosives in his car from Syria to kill Lebanese public personalities at Syria's behest. A military court indicted Samaha; Syrian Brig. Gen. Ali Mamlouk, a close aide of Assad, was indicted in absentia on charges of furnishing the explosives.

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POLITICAL ASSASSINATIONS: Political assassinations in Lebanon have occurred with impunity for decades. While Syria has been blamed for many of the killings, no one has been held accountable. In 2005, Syria was widely accused of involvement in the killing of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri, a wealthy businessman and an influential Sunni politician. Hariri was hailed in Lebanon for rebuilding Beirut after the 15-year civil war. Following his death in a car bomb explosion, Damascus was forced to withdraw its troops and Syria's grip in Lebanon began to slip.

Many Lebanese residents accused Assad's regime of being behind Friday's assassination of Brig. Gen. Wissam al-Hassan, a Sunni, who headed the intelligence division of Lebanon's domestic security forces that has been probing the assassination plot against Hariri. Al-Hassan and his agents have been credited with identifying Samaha, the former information minister, as Syria's link to Lebanon.

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HEZBOLLAH:
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Syria has long, tumultuous history in Lebanon - Yahoo! News

[mlurp]

These are the major links for Asia and the Middle East.. As well as other regions.


Middle East News Headlines - Yahoo! News

Asia News Headlines - Yahoo! News

Africa News Headlines - Yahoo! News

These are links to other regions worth watching...

Latin America News Headlines - Yahoo! News

Europe News Headlines - Yahoo! News

Australia / Antarctica News Headlines - Yahoo! News

My to each reader and anyone who adds to this thread.

[mlurp]

Syria still has the heavy weapons, and use them to their advantage.

.Syrian warplanes strike rebel-held town in north

By KARIN LAUB | Associated Press – 7 mins ago. 23 Oct. 2012 .......

BEIRUT (AP) — Syrian warplanes on Tuesday struck a strategic rebel-held town in the country's north in an attempt to reopen a key supply route, activists said, as a U.N.-proposed cease-fire meant to start this week appeared increasingly unlikely to take hold.

The U.N.-Arab League envoy to Syria has suggested that both sides in Syria's 19-month-old conflict lay down their arms during Eid al-Adha, a four-day Muslim holiday that begins Friday. However, neither Syrian President Bashar Assad nor rebels fighting to topple him have committed to a truce, and international envoy Lakhdar Brahimi has not said how such a truce would be monitored.

Syria's stalemated civil war, which has frequently spilled over Syria's borders and threatens to destabilize an already volatile region, featured prominently in the final pre-election debate Monday in the U.S. between President Barack Obama and his Republican challenger, Mitt Romney,

Both men said they would not send American troops to Syria, but Romney pledged to help arm rebels after vetting the intended recipients, earning him praise from Syrian opposition leaders. Obama warned of the risk of giving the rebels heavy weapons that could fall into the wrong hands and later be used against the U.S. or its allies.

"By not arming the (rebel) Free Syrian Army with heavy weapons, he (Obama) is giving Assad the upper hand," said Muhieddine Lathkani, a member of the Syrian National Council, an umbrella of opposition groups.

The rebels have said they need heavier weapons to counter Assad's military superiority, particular from the air. Since the summer, the regime has increasingly pounded rebel positions with warplanes and helicopter gunships

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Syrian warplanes strike rebel-held town in north - Yahoo! News

Middle East News Headlines: Middle East News Headlines - Yahoo! News

[mlurp]

If you had gone to the M.E. site for more on Syria youwould have seen news about a cease fire. With the people not trusting anything Assad says, well read on. But remember these newer Islamic fighter are not even form Syria for the most part.

.Islamic militant group in Syria rejects truce

By BARBARA SURK | Associated Press – 2 hrs 31 mins ago. 24 Oct. 2012 ......

BEIRUT (AP) — The current international peace plan seeking to stop Syria's civil war suffered a major setback Wednesday when an al-Qaida-inspired militant group rejected a cease-fire proposed by the international envoy.

Lakhdar Brahimi, the U.N.-Arab League envoy for Syria, said the government in Damascus and some rebel leaders had agreed to a four-day truce during the Muslim Eid al-Adha holiday, which starts Friday.

The modest scope of the proposal reflected how short the international community is on ideas — and even that appeared doomed. Both sides have agreed to previous, more ambitious cease-fires in the past only to break them, and neither side shows much interest in stopping the fight now.

The Syrian government denied it has made a decision, saying it is studying the proposal, and rebel leaders have expressed doubts.

An extremist group, Jabhat al-Nusra, which has joined the fight against President Bashar Assad, also rejected the truce.

"There will be no truce between us and the prideful regime and shedder of the blood of Muslims," the group said in a written statement posted Wednesday on militant websites. "We are not among those who allow the wily to trick us, nor are we ones who will accept to play these filthy games."

While the group is on the extreme edge of the rebel groups fighting in Syria, it also expressed a sentiment most of them share: that after 19 months of deadly violence, there is little faith that Assad's regime will abide by any agreement.

Brahimi told reporters in Cairo Wednesday that Assad's government had agreed to the truce and would issue a statement on the matter later "today or tomorrow." He did not say how it would be monitored.

Brahimi met with Assad in Damascus on Sunday after talks last week with opposition groups inside and outside Syria. He has said he received promises but not a commitment from them to honor the cease-fire.

Speaking by videoconference from Cairo on Wednesday, he told the U.N. Security Council that he hopes a temporary cease-fire in Syria can break the cycle of violence and allow a political transition to start, a U.N. diplomat in the closed meeting said.

He also said another failure would let the conflict worsen and spill over to other countries, the diplomat said, speaking on condition of anonymity because the meeting was private.

In Damascus, Foreign Ministry spokesman Jihad Makdessi said Wednesday that proposal was still "being studied" by Syrian army leaders and that Syria's decision would be announced Thursday.

Another opposition leader said he had little hope the truce would hold. Abdelbaset Sieda, head of the exile Syrian National Council, said opposition fighters have told him they are willing to adhere to it but will respond if attacked by regime forces.

"This regime, we don't trust it, because it is saying something and doing something else on the ground," Sieda said by phone from Sweden.

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Islamic militant group in Syria rejects truce - Yahoo! News

[mlurp]

Much more at the M.E. site.

.Car bombs, violence mar Syria's shaky truce

By KARIN LAUB and ZEINA KARAM | AP – 57 mins ago. 26 Oct. 2012 ......

Associated Press/ Sana - In this image released by the Syrian official news agency SANA , a crowd gather beneath the shattered facade of a building damaged by a car bomb in Damasus, Syria Friday Oct 26 2012. …more

BEIRUT (AP) — Two deadly car bombs and sporadic fighting marred a shaky holiday truce Friday in Syria, although thousands of protesters used the brief respite in the civil war to pour into the streets and demand President Bashar Assad's ouster.

Chants of "Syria wants freedom!" rang out in the streets in the largest demonstrations in months, suggesting that a 19-month-old crackdown and sustained violence has not broken the spirit of those trying to rid the country of Assad's rule.

But even if a cease-fire holds for the intended four-day Muslim holiday of Eid al-Adha, it's unlikely to be a springboard for ending the conflict that has already claimed more than 35,000 lives.

Syria mediator Lakhdar Brahimi, the U.N.-Arab League envoy, has not charted a way forward or said how he would bridge the deep divide between Assad and his opponents. The Syrian president won't resign and the opposition says it won't negotiate a transition deal until he does.

Brahimi's plan marks the first attempt by the international community in six months to scale back the violence that has displaced hundreds of thousands of people and devastated entire neighborhoods. A more comprehensive U.N. cease-fire plan in April quickly collapsed.

Brahimi did not set clear terms for the truce, perhaps to reduce the possibility of failure. He only said it should be in effect during the four-day holiday, but made no arrangements for monitoring compliance.

A few hours after the truce took effect, a car bomb in a residential area of Damascus, near a housing complex for police, killed 10 people and wounded more than 30, Syrian state media said.

Amateur video posted online showed debris scattered across a large area. Flames shot out of the car's gutted wreckage, as frantic residents tried to evacuate casualties. One rescuer carried a man with blood streaming down his face.

Another rigged car went off near an army checkpoint in the southern city of Deraa, killing three soldiers, said the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, which compiles reports from a network of activists.

Still, there appeared to be a drop in fighting and casualties Friday.

In recent weeks, the daily death toll usually topped 150. From dawn to dusk Friday, 62 people were killed, including 24 regime soldiers, according to the Observatory.

Khaled al-Shami, an activist in Damascus, said he expected the lull to end quickly. "The regime cannot afford to give a truce a chance," he said. "The leadership worries it will breathe new life into the revolution and they will not let that happen."
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http://news.yahoo.com/car-bombs-viol...192146680.html

Middle East News Headlines: http://news.yahoo.com/middle-east/

[mlurp]

Assad is a nut job and those who back him are killers like he is. I guess he will try to kill everyone who isn't behind him. And that is not over all a lot of the population.

.Syrian regime launches nationwide airstrikes

By BEN HUBBARD | Associated Press – 26 mins ago. 29 Oct. 2012 ......

BEIRUT (AP) — Syrian fighter jets pounded rebel areas across the country on Monday with scores of airstrikes that anti-regime activists called the most widespread bombing in a single day since Syria's troubles started 19 months ago.

The death toll for what was supposed to be a four-day cease-fire between the regime of President Bashar Assad and rebels seeking his overthrow exceeded 500, and activists guessed the government's heavy reliance on air power reflected its inability to roll back rebel gains.

"The army is no longer able to make any progress on the ground so it is resorting to this style," said activist Hisham Nijim via Skype from the northern town of Khan Sheikhoun.

Activists said more than 80 people were killed nationwide Monday while videos posted online showed fighter jets screaming over Syrian towns, mushroom clouds rising from neighborhoods and residents searching the remains of damaged and collapsed buildings for bodies. One video from Maaret al-Numan in the north showed residents trying to save a boy who was buried up to his shoulders in rubble. Another showed the dead bodies of a young boy and girl laid out on a tile floor.

The airstrikes focused on rebel areas in the northern provinces of Aleppo and Idlib, as well as on restive areas in and around the capital Damascus. The regime has been bombing rebel areas in the north for months, but had sparingly used its air force near the capital, presumably to avoid isolating its supporters there.
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Syrian regime launches nationwide airstrikes - Yahoo! News

[mlurp]

This civil war is gaining traction, now in time Assard's soldiers should start to defect, taking their equipment with them. If they can get their families out of danger.

..Intense fighting erupts in Syrian capital

By BASSEM MROUE | Associated Press – 53 mins ago.

5 Nov. 2012 .....

BEIRUT (AP) — Palestinian supporters and opponents of Syria's regime got swept up in intense fighting in Damascus on Monday while rival rebel groups clashed over control of a border crossing with Turkey, activists said.

The rare infighting among the two groups added a new dimension of chaos to the civil war and heightened fears that if President Bashar Assad falls, the disparate factions battling the regime will turn against each other.

In the capital, a car bomb ripped through the main square of a residential neighborhood known as Mazzeh al-Jabal, killing 11 people and wounding dozens, the SANA state news agency said. The powerful blast caused widespread panic and massive destruction in residential buildings. Television footage showed bloodied people in the street as firefighters worked to put out the blaze.

"The explosion was very strong and broke all the windows in my apartment. I just ran with my son and daughter," said a woman in tears fleeing the blast site. "I don't know what happened to those who stayed behind, we couldn't see anything because of the smoke and flames."

The neighborhood is inhabited mostly by members of President Bashar Assad's Alawite minority, and residents said members of his security forces and military officers are known to live there, but it was not clear what the exact target was.

The car bomb, along with fierce fighting Monday in two other districts of the capital, was some of the worst violence in Damascus since July, when rebels took over several neighborhoods in the capital in a stunning attack. Within days, a regime counterattack pushed the rebels out of Damascus and recaptured the areas. Shortly after those battles, rebels moved on Syria's largest city, Aleppo, and it has become a major front in the civil war since then.

The attacks on Syria's two main cities since summer have demonstrated new organization and capabilities of rebel forces as well as a determination to press their uprising despite the deaths of more than 36,000 people in fighting over the last 19 months.

Rami Abdul-Rahman, who heads the Britain-based activist group Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, said the fighting in Damascus was concentrated in the southern neighborhood of Tadamon and the outskirts of the Palestinian refugee camp of Yarmouk.

Damascus-based activist Abu Qais al-Shami told The Associated Press via Skype that the fighting began Sunday night and went on continuously into Monday.

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Intense fighting erupts in Syrian capital - Yahoo! News

45 comments.

[mlurp]

I am not sure I follow this completly, unless Obama spoke to the Brits before the election. Yet this is a great start to a well deserved end of this beast of a ruler.

.Obama re-election signals new phase in Syria war

By DALE GAVLAK and DAVID STRINGER | AP – 4 hrs ago. 7 Nov. 2012

ZAATARI, Jordan (AP) — Western efforts to oust Syrian President Bashar Assad shifted dramatically Wednesday, with Britain announcing it will deal directly with rebel military leaders and Turkey saying NATO members have discussed using Patriot missiles to protect a safe zone inside Syria.

The developments came within hours of Barack Obama's re-election, with U.S. allies anticipating a new, bolder approach from the American president to end the deadlocked civil war that has killed more than 36,000 people since an uprising against Assad began in March 2011.

British Prime Minister David Cameron, visiting a camp Wednesday for Syrian refugees in Jordan, said the U.S., Britain and other allies should do more to "shape the opposition" into a coherent force and open channels of communication directly with rebel military commanders.

Previously, Britain and the U.S. have acknowledged contacts only with exile groups and political opposition figures — some connected to rebel forces — inside Syria.

"There is an opportunity for Britain, for America, for Saudi Arabia, Jordan and like-minded allies to come together and try to help shape the opposition, outside Syria and inside Syria," Cameron said. "And try to help them achieve their goal, which is our goal of a Syria without Assad."

The Turkish official who reported Patriot missile discussions between his nation and its allies, including the United States, said planning for the safe zone inside Syria had been put on hold pending the U.S. election.

The foreign ministry official spoke on condition of anonymity because of ministry prohibitions on contact with the media.

He also said any missile deployment might happen under a "NATO umbrella," though NATO has insisted it will not intervene without a clear United Nations mandate.

"With the re-election of Obama, what you have is a strong confidence on the British side that the U.S. administration will be engaged more on Syria from the get-go," said Shashank Joshi, an analyst at London's Royal United Services Institute, a military and security think tank.

On the ground in Syria, rebels were making a new push into the capital Wednesday, clashing heavily with troops in the suburbs of Damascus, including Ghouta and Harasta. The regime's capital stronghold has seen a surge in violence this week with some of the fiercest clashes in months.

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Obama re-election signals new phase in Syria war - Yahoo! News

760 comments.

[mlurp]

Assad's forces take a hit. Yet I fear if the rebel forces do win they won't have a political system in play so we do know the recent foreign forces that joined in are part of Al-Qiada and do have the politics ready to take control once this ends in their\the Rebels favor.

.Suicide blasts in Syria kill at least 20 troops

By ZEINA KARAM | Associated Press – 3 hrs ago. 10 Nov. 2012 ......

BEIRUT (AP) — Suicide car bombings ripped through a Syrian government base in a southern city on Saturday, killing at least 20 soldiers, an opposition group said, the latest in a series of explosions targeting regime forces and symbols of state security across the country.

The explosions in Daraa were followed by clashes between regime forces and rebels fighting to topple President Bashar Assad, activists said.

Daraa was the birthplace of the uprising against Assad, which erupted in March 2011. The conflict began largely with peaceful protests against Assad's rule but morphed into a civil war after rebels took up arms in response to the regime's crackdown.

The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, which relies on a network of activists on the ground, said two suicide bombers drove their explosives-laden cars into a military encampment behind the officer's club in quick succession. It said at least 20 soldiers were killed, most in the second explosion.

Other activists described explosions that targeted the high security area but didn't say they were suicide attacks. State-run news agency SANA reported triple car bombings in Daraa that killed seven civilians and wounded several others.

The Syrian government rarely provides death tolls for security forces, and the discrepancy could not be reconciled or independently verified.

"I heard two very loud explosions and a third smaller one followed by bursts of gunfire," said Mohammad Abu Houran, an activist in Daraa. He said the first two were likely car bombs and the third a mortar shell or rocket-propelled grenade.

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Suicide blasts in Syria kill at least 20 troops - Yahoo! News

256 comments.

[mlurp]

I hope this puts my fears to rest about whom might gain political control once Assad is out and his regime is on the run.

There are more news at the M.E. site on Syria.

.Gulf states recognize new Syrian opposition group

Associated Press – 2 hrs 16 mins ago. 12 Nov. 2012 .......

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — The six-nation Gulf Cooperation Council recognized the new broad-based Syrian opposition group Monday as the legitimate representatives of the Syrian people, the first formal endorsement of the opposition group that seeks to topple President Bashar Assad.

Syrian anti-government groups struck a deal Sunday after more than a week of meetings in Qatar. They were under intense international pressure to form a new opposition leadership that will include representatives from the country's disparate factions fighting to topple Assad's regime. The deal is backed by the U.S. and other Western countries.

The opposition has been deeply divided for months despite the relentless bloodshed in Syria that has left more than 36,000 people killed and repeated calls from their Western and Arab supporters to create a cohesive and representative leadership that could serve as a conduit for foreign aid.

In its statement, the GCC said it will offer "support and endorsement to this entity to realize the aspirations and hopes of the Syrian people." The council said it hoped the new body will be a step toward quick political transfer of power and put an end to the bloodshed. It called for Arab and international recognition of the Syrian National Coalition for Opposition and Revolutionary Forces, the new body.

GCC Secretary-General Abdullatif al-Zayani said the Gulf states hope the opposition has taken "a step toward quick political transfer of power" in Syria.

The GCC is made up of Kuwait, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Oman and the United Arab Emirates.

Meanwhile, the president of the new coalition, Maath al-Khatib, and top opposition figure George Sabra flew to Cairo on the Qatari foreign minister's plane for meetings with Arab League Secretary-General Nabil Elaraby to push for recognition.

In the meeting with Elaraby, an official who attended the meeting said Qatar's foreign minister discussed replacing the Syrian regime's suspended membership status with the newly formed opposition coalition body. Al-Khatib and Sabra also addressed a meeting of Arab foreign ministers.

The Arab League official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to release the information, said their participation in the meetings is not a formal Arab League recognition of the opposition group yet. The official said the issue is divisive among the 22 member states.

Gulf states recognize new Syrian opposition group - Yahoo! News

21 comments.