Conflict in Syria
Continuous updates of events in Syria
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U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said the Syrian government and allied states will have “even more blood on their hands” if aid is not allowed into the country, and said Syria’s president Bashar al-Assad will pay a “heavy price” for violating the rights of the Syrian people.
(Reporting by Arshad Mohammed; Writing by Christian Lowe; Editing by Louise Ireland)
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A rally in Idlib province in support of Baba Amr has warned that the lack of support from the outside word risks pushing the opposition toward extremists. This video from Kafr Nabl shows a banner reading: “WORLD! YOUR SHAMEFUL INACTIVITY WILL PRODUCE THOUSANDS OF BEN (sic) LADENS”.
Protests in Kafr Nabl have repeatedly displayed banners in near-flawless English. -
Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Saud al-Faisal walked out of a "Friends of Syria" meeting in Tunis over what was considered the gathering's "inactivity" on Friday. Al Arabiya television reported al-Faisal left the meeting after saying that focusing on humanitarian aid to Syria was "not enough."
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Foreign powers are turning a blind eye to weapons purchases by Syrian exiles who are already smuggling light arms, communications equipment and night vision goggles to rebels inside Syria, a Syrian opposition source said on Friday.
Syrian opposition supporters were also trying to bring anti-aircraft and anti-tank weapons to the Free Syrian Army rebels, and to get retired Syrian officers into the country to help coordinate military opposition to President Bashar al-Assad.
(By Lin Noueihed and John Irish, additional reporting by Dominic Evans in Beirut, Khaled Oweis in Amman, Lou Charbonneau at the United Nations, Arshad Mohammed and Myra MacDonald in London)
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David Rohde in a recent op-ed for Reuters:
Despite widespread rumors, no organized effort is under way to arm rebel fighters. The opposition “Free Syrian Army” remains a poorly equipped and loosely organized militia unable to stop a Syrian army still loyal to Assad. At the same time, a sectarian conflict between Assad’s ruling Allawite minority and Syria’s Sunni majority is intensifying.
In northern Syria, Sunni and Allawite villages have divided into pro- and anti-government enclaves, according to fleeing refugees. At checkpoints, government security forces order people to pray to the country’s Allawite leader. If they refuse, they are deemed Sunni subversives. And Sunni army defectors say Allawite officers threatened them with execution if they refused to fire on demonstrators.
“I had to do it,” a remorseful 24-year-old Sunni soldier who defected this week told me. “If I don’t fire, someone will kill me.”
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Reuters' Alastair Macdonald writes:
"World, please help us!" has been a refrain of Syrians under siege by their own government in Homs, Deraa and other cities.
So far, though, it is probably President Bashar al-Assad who has had more outside assistance, highlighting how a complex web of regional and global interests is stalemated over Syria, where a complex social mix is shaping up for a long confrontation.
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Photo posted by @Al_Sununu: "Only in #Homs. A Hand written sign 'Caution.. Sniper..Run in this (arrow) direction'"
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Here's a Reuters graphic detailing the conflict in Syria. We will continue to update as events unfold. -
Watching the wounded die in Syria's besieged Homs
Struggling to survive after weeks of withering bombardment by Syrian forces, people in the Baba Amro district of Homs are packed four or five families to a house, relying on collected rain water and watching their wounded friends and relatives die for lack of medicines, residents say.
Some say starvation is a real threat and accuse the world of abandoning them to army shelling which they say has killed dozens of people and wounded 2,000 in the rebel stronghold of an 11-month uprising against President Bashar al-Assad.
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Here is a timeline of events since protests started in Syria.
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During that same meeting, hundreds of supporters of President Bashar al-Assad forced their way into the grounds of the hotel in Tunisia, where the "Friends of Syria" conference was about to start.
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Protesters shout slogans and wave flags during a demonstration against Syrian President Bashar al-Assad outside the "Friends of Syria" conference in Tunis, February 24, 2012. Arab League chief Nabil Elaraby called on the U.N. Security Council on Friday to issue an urgent resolution calling for a ceasefire in Syria, during an opening session of the meeting. [REUTERS/Zoubeir Souissi]
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This video, posted today on YouTube and reposted on Facebook by the Coalition of Free Damascenes for Peaceful Change, claims to show shots fired on protesters in the Tadamon area of Damascus today.
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Secretary of State Hillary Clinton says the Syrian opposition will become increasing capable and find means to launch attacks.
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Activist Alexander Page claims international journalists are being given preferential treatment for medical aid in Baba Amr.
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This compelling report - The Horror in Hams - from Channel 4 News was posted February 22, 2012. Contains graphic images. -
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Foreign powers are turning a blind eye to weapons purchases by Syrian exiles who are already smuggling light arms, communications equipment and night vision goggles to rebels inside Syria, a Syrian opposition source said on Friday.
More on this story... -
Hamas ditches Assad, backs Syrian revolt
Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas turned publicly against their long-time ally President Bashar al-Assad of Syria on Friday, endorsing the revolt aimed at overthrowing his dynastic rule.
The policy shift deprives Assad of one of his few remaining Sunni Muslim supporters in the Arab world and deepens his international isolation. It was announced in Hamas speeches at Friday prayers in Cairo and a rally in the Gaza Strip.
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Reza Aslan (@rezaaslan) of Aslan Media on Twitter
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Randa Slim (@rmslim) a Lebanese-American political analyst
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To what degree does Assad control the Republican Guard? I think that things will remain pretty much the same even if Assad is replaced. For lasting change the Republican Guard needs to be disbanded and their assets distributed to the people (same for Iran). Any thoughts on this? -
David Rohde reports from the border between Turkey and Syria: "On the ground here, the Syrian opposition is impressive. Former businessmen, construction workers and teachers have established a network that smuggles satellite phones, foreign journalists and video cameras into northern Syria. They upload videos to YouTube from their refugee camps and wait for the world to respond." Read the full article here.
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@matthew.keys You're either blind or so stupid. The demonstration in Tunisia is in support of president Assad!!!
Clearly they're holding photo's of Assad on which it's written "We're all with you". The other photo shown is for the great late Egyptian leader Jamal abd Alnasser.
You wanna know how much support Assad has, go cover some mas demonstrations that are taking palce almost every week in different cities in Syria. At least be a little bit objective -
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Red Cross just told CNN their staff is in Baba Amr, Homs, and just began evacuating some of the wounded with help of Syrian Red Crescentby RobertMackey via twitter 2/24/2012 6:12:16 PM -
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From The New York Times: How to Halt the Butchery in Syria
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From the U.S. State Department Twitter feed. twitter.com
Kerry defends diplomacy as Russian-backed forces pound Aleppo
CARTAGENA, Colombia/BEIRUT U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry defended his efforts to negotiate with Moscow over the war in Syria on Monday, despite the collapse of a ceasefire that has led to a massive Russian-backed assault on the besieged rebel-held sector of Aleppo.