Battle for Qusayr: Terrorists’ Supply Routes Totally Cut

Local Editor

Syrian Army continued Thursday its military operation in the northern city of Qusayr and the rest of its countryside chasing the terrorist groups deployed in the area. The second stage of the Qusayr battle was launched Wednesday, inflicting the opposition militant groups heavy losses and arresting many of their members. Al-Manar TV correspondent reported that fierce clashes took place Thursday between the terrorists and the Syrian army in the northern quarter and western part of Basateen village. “Qazmaniya in the eastern Ghotta was reclaimed,” he said. “The second round will represent a great step towards resolving the battle,” he noted citing high rank Syrian source. “The new round includes cutting off all the main routes which terrorists might use to escape the army blows; cutting off most of the terrorists’ supply routes; and dismantling mines and roadside improvised explosive devices (IED) planted by terrorists,” the correspondent added without elaborating further for security reasons. However, the so-called ‘Qusayr Coordinator’, an opposition media outlet on Facebook, admitted the killing of Bakr al-Mostafa, one of the takfiri leaders in the city, whose nickname was "Qasyoun". The coordinator also reported "violent attack” the terrorists are suffering from the eastern part of the city. On the other hand, Syrian army defeated an infiltration attempt of militants from Lebanon across the mountains of Bureij near Qusayr city. Many of them were claimed by machine guns of the Arab Syrian Army. “A military unit has responded to an armed group that was trying to infiltrate into Qusayr through the Hasbaa area to aid the terrorists,” Syrian official source told SANA news agency. “Among the dead were three of the armed groups’ leaders," he said. Also reported by Al-Manar TV correspondent, the Syrian army confronted militants attempting to infiltrate from the Qaa’ projects in Lebanon through Baa’youn Valley to the Josya area. “They suffered heavy losses as well,” he added, pointing out that they still have the ability to respond to Syrian fire, which is a strong evident of their huge supply of arms. Qusayr city lies on the northern Syrian border with Lebanon, where terrorists and armed opposition gunmen are located and smuggle weapons to the militant groups across Syria. The Syrian Army launched on Sunday a large-scale operation to clear the area of terrorist gangs and liberate the citizens stuck there.

Source: Al-Manar Website 23-05-2013 - 21:26 Last updated 23-05-2013 - 21:36

Battle for Qusayr: First Stage Ended Successfully, Second Stage Launched

Local Editor

Syrian Army continued Wednesday its military operation in the northern city of Qusayr and the rest of its countryside. “Army units were able to restore security and stabilization to the Akkari Farm and Tal Sarr, along with chasing militants in Hamidiya town of Qusayr countryside,” state-run  news agency SANA reported. Also in the border town, SANA said that tunnels have been detected in the western quarter used by terrorists to move and store weapons and ammunition, in addition to dismantling dozens of improvised explosive devices planted by militia militants inside citizens’ homes and on public highways in the city to prevent the progress of the Syrian courageous army. Citing high rank military sources, Al-Manar TV correspondent reported that first stage of Qusayr operation has been ended successfully on Wednesday and the second stage has just been launched. Qusayr city lies on the northern Syrian border with Lebanon, where terrorist groups and armed opposition gunmen are located. Militants from Lebanon were detected Tuesday entering the Syrian territories to fight by the side of terrorist takfiris against the regular army. However, many of them were killed. The Syrian Army launched on Sunday a large-scale operation to clear the area of terrorist gangs and liberate the citizens stuck there.

Source: Al-Manar Website 22-05-2013 - 18:15 Last updated 22-05-2013 - 18:15

• سوريا.. تدخّل وتدخّل مضاد مرجّح
• معركة القصير: لماذا كل ردود الفعل الحربية هذه؟

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Lebanon’s Palestinians are Being Pulled into Syria’s War

Franklin Lamb

Homs Palestinian Refugee Camp, Syria Al-Manar Historically, Palestinian refugees, wherever they have sought temporary sanctuary following the ethnic cleansing of their country by the 19th century Zionist colonial enterprise, and pending their return to Palestine, have insisted on avoiding local and international conflicts while seeking a modicum of interim rights from the host countries. This was true in Jordan during the run up to Black September in 1970, at the beginning of the Lebanese Civil war in 1975, the 1991 Kuwait crisis, the 2003 US invasion of Iraq and obtains especially today in the current crisis in Syria. For a number of reasons including poor tactical decisions by their leadership they have not always succeeded, and consequently they have paid steep price in lives, jobs, housing and expulsions from host countries. In Syria, both the largest Palestinian refugee camp, Yarmouk, with its 125,000 residents, and Khan al-Sheeh, the second largest of the 14 camps with 45,000 before the crisis but currently swelled by another 26,000 mainly from Yarmouk camp, have become virtual war zones with large sections of the camps being overrun by gunmen fighting in support of the “Free Syrian Army.” All but two of the camps in Syria have been infiltrated by opposition forces and consequently have been targeted by government forces seeking to destroy the rebels. At times the camp residents have resisted both sides by demanding that the camps' normally strict neutrality be respected. Engaging initially in peaceful protects when outsiders invaded, some protests turned violent when their demands for camp neutrality were rejected. Khan al-Sheeh, whose residents are from tribes and clans in northern Palestine, and who lost 22 camp residents to Zionist occupier gunfire during the May 2011 Nakba Day events on the Golan Heights, will be a formidable foe if they take up arms which they have not done for the past 33 years. In January 2013, the Syria conflict entered into the camp when opposition forces -- a combination of Free Syrian Army (FSA) and al-Nusra Front fighters -- arrived and insisted on recruits, offering $200 per month cash, free cigarettes, a uniform, boots and of course an AK-47. For the past five months, again like Yarmouk, Khan al-Sheeh and the other camps in Syria have been caught in the crossfire as opposition fighters try to advance toward the capital, while regime forces used cannons and rocket fire to block their advance, resulting in hundreds of civilian deaths and injuries. This week, so far in vain, the camp popular committees yet again appealed to both sides to observe a ceasefire within any Palestinian camp in Syria and also in Lebanon, the latter currently experiencing increased challenges for its 12 camps to stay out of the conflict. Pressuring Lebanon’s camps to join Syria’s war Lebanon’s widely respected independent leftist daily, As-Safir, has reported that veteran security and intelligence officers of the Lebanese security services are claiming to have information, but not precise details regarding number and location of “organized Takfiri (Sunni) networks” in Lebanon. The head of one security service told As-Safir, “the monitoring of the terrorist networks cannot be very detailed since they are solely located in the Palestinian camps, mainly in Ain el Helweh.” This statement, like others these days in the Lebanese sectarian media, appears intended to incite the public against the refugees, inducing them to join the fighting. Another officer, closely working on the Lebanese government “terrorism" file, claims, again without offering any probative or material evidence, that “the only serious faction in Lebanon right now consists of the Ziad al-Jarrah Units that are affiliated with the Abdullah Azzam battalions." Both have some Palestinian gunmen. Abdullah Azzam is the most experienced group and it is present in Ain el Helweh. The officer indicated that he agrees with the general theory that as long as the military situation in Syria remains unsettled, the Lebanese Palestinian camps are open to all possibilities, including Palestinian armed involvement. Other calls are being heard from Beirut, Saida and Tyre in the south, and also up north in Tripoli for Palestinians to comply with the fatwas being issued for all Sunni to fight the Bashar Assad regime and to build a “Sunni army” patterned after the Lebanese civil war-era PLO forces. How significant is the sentiment favoring this dangerous call is unknown. However, in all of the above noted areas, some Palestinians, mainly unemployed youngsters have been lured by offers of cash to take part in training, much like occurred before the 26 month old Syria conflict. Some Salafist-jihadist types in Lebanon, especially near Tripoli’s Bedawi, and Nahr al Bared camps, as well as Ain el Helwe down south in Saida, are pushing among Palestinian youth the argument that if they join the war in Syria they will gain the internationally-guaranteed civil rights that all the other refugees receive except Palestinians in Lebanon. Part of the argument being pitched is that they are not going to get even elementary civil rights in Lebanon from Israelis, the UN or the international community, and certainly not from the EU or the Americans. Palestinians in Lebanon’s camps are being lectured that they will get civil rights here only when they take them by force, which is their right and their jihadist religious duty. These arguments will fail, with few exceptions, among the quarter million Palestinian refugees actually still in Lebanon, as they have in the past. But the Palestinians' decent into deepening sectarian and religious divisions here in Lebanon is worrisome. Scholars, political analysts and even elements of the National Lebanese Resistance are counseling that an effective, moral, religious, and political measure that could bring Sunni and Shia together in Lebanon, while thwarting the schemes being hatched to get the Palestinians involved in the Syrian crisis, would be for the Lebanese Parliament to use 90 minutes of its ample free time -- in as much as the Parliamentary elections will not take place next month as scheduled -- to address the issue of Palestinian civil rights in that country. By using 20 minutes of the proposed 90, recommended by the Palestine Civil Rights Campaign here, Lebanon’s Parliament can, in one fell swoop, reach out to the Sunni community and the Christian community (about 90% of Palestinians in Lebanon are Sunni and approximately 10% Christian) by employing a quick and tidy yea-nay vote to repeal the 2001 racist law that forbids home ownership for Palestinian refugees here. This law outlawing the home ownership civil right for Palestinians only, as expressed by the two initial sponsors still in Parliament, was only originally meant as a 2001 election year gimmick to garner anti-Palestinian votes and not ever intended to be implemented. History teaches us that the 2001 law was in fact part of the anti-Palestinian “pay-back” for the PLO’s involvement in the fifteen-year Lebanese civil war (1975-1990). In what many Palestinians in the camps here objected to then and continue to view as a cataclysmic error, its leadership ignominiously withdrew from Lebanon in the late summer of 1982, under Zionist and Reagan administration pressure and false promises of an immediate Palestinian homeland. With the remaining 70 minutes, the Resistance-dominated Parliament could reach out to the Sunni and Christian communities as noted above and grant Palestinian refugees in Lebanon the same right to work that every refugee everywhere has, including those in the apartheid state of occupied Palestine. The same right as everyone is immediately granted when their passport is stamped at any Lebanese border post. This single act by Lebanon’s Parliament, would help repair Shia-Sunni relations globally and would dampen down -- and expose for what they are, the extremist Salafist-jihadist-Wahhabist incitements to religious hatred, both intra-Muslim and Muslim-Christian. It would also, according to several Palestinian NGO’s working in Lebanon, keep Palestinians out of the Syrian conflict. Allowing Palestinians in Lebanon the internationally guaranteed right to work, would also, according to studies by the UN International Labor Organization and other academic studies, substantially build up Lebanon’s fragile economy by creating more than twice the number of jobs that they would be employed at, including  those in the 32 professions  currently outlawed for Palestinian  refugees. Franklin Lamb is doing research in Syria and Lebanon and  can be reached c/o fplamb@gmail.com

Source: Al-Manar Website 23-05-2013 - 09:27 Last updated 23-05-2013 - 13:40

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Preparing For Geneva 2

The Syrian army has stopped an attempt at entering al Qusayr to rescue the opposition that has been trapped inside al Qusayr in the northern part of the city and the fifteen intruders were all killed and their equipment destroyed . The Coalition of the Opposition head , George Sabra, had issued orders for the thugs to rescue the trapped fighters in al Qusayr .
Meanwhile, the battles have resumed today in the northern part of al Qusayr . It is worthwhile saying that the events the Syria -that started as what they called revolution – has now become a security issue , what the so called revolution is doing is just threatening the security of Syria and the Syrians and hopes to use this in future negotiations. This situation will last probably till after Geneva 2 and maybe until the presidential elections scheduled for 2014 where Assad is expected to be the major candidate gathering the approval of more than 60% of the population who will vote for him in democratic elections out of their free will .
The situation in Tripoli has been escalating and the Lebanese Army has evacuated its positions in the troubled area after it has been targeted by the thugs who abide by the orders of Hariri . The orders have not been issued by the government to the army to act and protect the troubled area and while some are accusing the minister of defense , the truth is that the order should be issued by the whole cabinet to the army and the cabinet- that is resigned but still administering the country is divided upon this issue.
The Coalition of the Opposition will meet now for three days in Istanbul to decide for its stand in the Geneva 2 Conference- which Syria has agreed basically on attending- and to elect its new leadership. There is a tendency to replace George Sabra by Michel Kilo of the local opposition to give the Coalition the secular color it needs after its extremism and fanatic and criminal behavior have been largely exposed and to limit the power that Qatar and Turkey have over it , but this will not solve the problems the opposition is facing that is division and absence of unity and – above all- corruption .
At the same time the Arab foreign ministers are meeting in Cairo – today- under the auspices of the Arab League and with the presence of Russian and Turkish ambassador as observers . all this to come up with a decision regarding Syria and prepare for the Geneva Conference in June .
Israel has now gathered more than 30 thousand soldiers in the Golan heights and will start soon extensive maneuvers that will mimic the shelling of Israeli settlements by hundreds of missiles.
What has not been disclosed by the media is the number of Arabs who are coming now to Syria to join the Syrian Army and to volunteer in the Syrian People committees, among them martyrs have fallen in battles like Egyptian martyr Shehade Mohammad Metwalli.
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Major study sheds new light on CIA secret torture gulags

http://www.reprieve.org.uk/press/2013_05_22_Renditions_Database/

Major study sheds new light on CIA secret prisons
 
Today sees the launch of the “Global Rendition System” database and interactive map – the most comprehensive resource so far created illustrating the CIA’s programme of renditions and secret prisons as part of the ‘war on terror’.
 
On the eve of President Obama’s major speech on counter-terrorism policy, the database illuminates the transportation network used to implement the US Government’s programme of “rendition, detention and interrogation”, which traversed Asia and Europe in a string of secret prison sites, ultimately sending over 800 men to Guantanamo Bay – where 166 remain.
 
The database – a collaboration between Reprieve and the Rendition Project based at Kingston and Kent Universities – uses data from freedom of information requests, legal cases, published first-hand accounts, investigations by NGOs and authoritative news reporting to detail dozens of prisoner transfers between secret “black sites”. Through analysis of more than 11,000 flights by over 120 aircraft, linked to more than 50 private companies, the site reveals the roles of different countries and shows how companies tried to cover their routes by filing false flight plans or by switching aircraft halfway.
 
Reprieve and the Rendition Project compiled documents from Reprieve’s Renditions Inc. investigation with previous work by the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, the European Parliament, the Helsinki Foundation for Human Rights in Warsaw, the Human Rights Monitoring Institute in Vilnius, Access Info Europe and other NGOs and investigators worldwide. All of the site’s source material is made publicly available and search results can be downloaded for further research and analysis. The data is plotted on an interactive map – users can zoom in on countries, flight routes and known or possible prisoner transfers, and move through the network via studies of individual cases and summaries of corporate complicity.
 
A recent report by The Constitution Project’s Task Force on Detainee Treatment – chaired by former Bush-era officials – heavily criticised the US’ programme of rendition and torture, pointing out the key role of European countries noting that the “CIA created its own…‘black sites’ in…Poland, Romania and Lithuania.”
 
Sam Raphael from the Rendition Project said: "The sheer scope of the CIA's rendition and torture system is brought to light as never before by our work, which shows in painstaking detail how terror suspects were kidnapped and transported to secret prisons across the globe for 'enhanced interrogation'.” 

Crofton Black from Reprieve said: “This unprecedented database shows how false route filings, tarmac transfers, shell companies and the plausible deniability of executive jets masked a systematic programme of secret detention and torture run by the US with the active complicity of the UK and other European countries.”
 
ENDS
 
Notes to editors

1. For further information, please contact Clemency Wells in Reprieve's press office: +44 (0) 207 553 8161 / clemency.wells@reprieve.org.uk

2. The Global Rendition System database is available here: http://www.therenditionproject.org.uk/global-rendition/index.html. It is the product of a collaborative research project between Dr Ruth Blakeley at the University of Kent and Dr Sam Raphael at Kingston University, funded by the UK’s Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC), and accredited under the Global Uncertainties programme. Working closely with Reprieve, a legal action charity which has led the way in investigating secret prisons and representing victims of rendition and torture, the Rendition Project aims to bring together and analyse the huge amount of data on rendition and secret detention in the US-led ‘War on Terror’.
 
The Rendition Project aims to analyse the emergence, development and operation of the global system of rendition and secret detention in the years since 9/11. In doing so, it aims to bring together as much of the publicly-available information as possible on the detainees who have been held in secret, the detention sites in which they have been held, and the methods and timings of their transfers.
 
For further information on the project, please contact Sam Raphael (s.raphael@kingston.ac.uk) or Ruth Blakeley (R.J.Blakeley@kent.ac.uk).

3. Reprieve, a legal action charity, uses the law to enforce the human rights of prisoners, from death row to Guantánamo Bay. Reprieve investigates, litigates and educates, working on the frontline, to provide legal support to prisoners unable to pay for it themselves. Reprieve promotes the rule of law around the world, securing each person’s right to a fair trial and saving lives. Clive Stafford Smith is the founder of Reprieve and has spent 25 years working on behalf of people facing the death penalty in the USA.

Follow Reprieve on twitter: @ReprieveUK; if you were forwarded this release, sign up to join our press mailing list.

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More than half of Hezbullah fighters in Homs countryside are sunnis

مفاجأة تستند إلى معلومات موثقة : أكثر من نصف عناصر حزب الله الذين يقاتلون في ريف حمص هم من "المسلمين السنة" واليوم سقط أحدهم من آل الصباغ

22 أيار 2013 23:05 عدد القراءات 1081

 

بيروت، صيدا ـ الحقيقة (خاص من : إيلي نعمة):

 

كشفت مصادر مطلعة لـ"الحقيقة" في بيروت أن أكثر من نصف عناصر حزب الله  الذين يقاتلون في ريف حمص هم من "المسلمين السنة"، وهذه هي إحدى المفاجآت التي لم يتوقعها أحد، باستثناء الذي يعرفون الوحدات القتالية للحزب  في منطقة صيدا وريفها وتركيبها " الطائفي والمذهبي"، حيث يوجد مئات المقاتلين في صفوفه من "المسلمين السنة" الناصريين وذوي الميول السياسية الأخرى، بما في ذلك الملتزمون دينيا منهم. وكان أعلن اليوم عن استشهاد واحد من هؤلاء في مواجهات ضد "جبهة النصرة" و"الفاروق" في مدينة القصير السورية يدعى صالح الصباغ ، الذي شيع مساء اليوم إلى مقبرة آل عسيران في صيدا بعد أن منعهم مسلحو الأخوت الكركوزاتي أحمد الأسير من دفنه في مقبرة "صيدا الجديدة" باعتباره "سنيا يقاتل تحت راية حزب شيعي"! وكان على رأس مشيعي الصباغ المهندس أسامة سعد، رئيس التنظيم الشعبي الناصري وعدد من مسؤولي حزب الله في الجنوب.

 

وقال موقع "صيدا الآن" ، المقرب من آل الحريري، إن أحمد الأسير ، وفور ورود أنباء تشييع الصباغ إلى مقبرة صيدا، عقد اجتماعا لمسلحيه عمدوا بعده إلى اعتراض الجنازة بالسلاح ، وعندها تدخلت "الجماعة الإسلامية" ( الأخوان المسلمون في لبنان) للوساطة بين الأسير وآل الصباغ "درءا للفتنة وانفجار مواجهة بين الطرفين"، لكنها فشلت في إقناع الأسير بالسماح لذويه والتنظيم الشعبي الناصري دفن فقيدهم، الأمر الذي دفعهم إلى دفنه في مقبرة "آل عسيران" الشيعة!

 

يشار إلى أن عددا معتبرا من الشهداء المسلمين"السنة"ومن"المسيحيين"، والشيوعيين اللادينيين أيضا، سقطوا تحت راية الحزب في مناسبات مختلفة، لاسيما في حرب تموز 2006 وخلال حرب تحرير الجنوب من الاحتلال الإسرائيلي. وهو ما يجعل منه الحزب الإسلامي الوحيد في العالم الذي يقبل"مجاهدين" من طوائف أخرى ومن غير المؤمنين الانضمام إلى وحداته العسكرية"الجهادية"!

• أنصار أحمد الأسير يطلقون النار على منزل شهيد حزب الله في صيدا

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Battle for Qusayr: First Stage Ended Successfully, Second Stage Launched, Kerry Admits Syria Gains , Urges Assad to Commit to Peace

Local Editor   Syrian Army continued Wednesday its military operation in the northern city of Qusayr and the rest of its countryside. “Army units were able to restore security and stabilization to the Akkari Farm and Tal Sarr, along with chasing militants in Hamidiya town of Qusayr countryside,” state-run  news agency SANA reported. Also in the border town, SANA said that tunnels have been detected in the western quarter used by terrorists to move and store weapons and ammunition, in addition to dismantling dozens of improvised explosive devices planted by militia militants inside citizens’ homes and on public highways in the city to prevent the progress of the Syrian courageous army. Citing high rank military sources, Al-Manar TV correspondent reported that first stage of Qusayr operation has been ended successfully on Wednesday and the second stage has just been launched. Qusayr city lies on the northern Syrian border with Lebanon, where terrorist groups and armed opposition gunmen are located. Militants from Lebanon were detected Tuesday entering the Syrian territories to fight by the side of terrorist takfiris against the regular army. However, many of them were killed. The Syrian Army launched on Sunday a large-scale operation to clear the area of terrorist gangs and liberate the citizens stuck there.   Source: Al-Manar Website 22-05-2013 - 18:15 Last updated 22-05-2013 - 18:15 Kerry Admits Syria Gains in Qusayr, Urges Assad to Commit to Peace

Local Editor

US Secretary of State John Kerry admitted on Wednesday the Syrian Army has achieved great gains in the northern border city of Qusayr, but saying they are not permanent. Ahead of a meeting of the so-called ‘Friends of Syria’ group in Amman, Kerry called on Syrian President Bashar al-Assad to make "a commitment to find peace in his country." In the same context, Kerry threatened if President Assad is unwilling to negotiate on peace terms, U.S. and other countries will discuss increasing support to Syrian opposition, without elaborating what kind of support they will offer. US Congress committee voted on Wednesday on a bill to arm Syrian terrorists in their fight against the Arab country. Speaking at a press conference with his Jordanian counterpart, Nasser Judeh, Kerry said a US-Russian proposed conference in Geneva seeks "to end the bloodshed what has cost tens of thousands of lives." "We are committed to try to work this evening to find the unity in specific approaches, to find the unity to implement Geneva 1...that will allow the people of Syria to choose the future of Syria," he said. That was a reference to an international conference last June in which several steps were laid down for ending the war, which were never implemented. The foreign ministers of Britain, Egypt, France, Germany, Italy, Jordan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, the United Arab Emirates and the United States are attending the Amman gathering. The meeting seeks to discuss US-Russian proposal to hold a peace conference dubbed "Geneva 2" to bring together the opposition and representatives of the Syrian government.

Source: Agencies 22-05-2013 - 19:46 Last updated 22-05-2013 - 19:46

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"Assad talks, Russia walks!"



Russia Arms Syria against Threats

"Assad talks, Russia walks!"

Via FLC

"... While Bashar al-Assad was talking, Russia was walking. President Vladimir Putin - well aware that the Geneva talks are being derailed by various actors even before they happen - moved Russian naval vessels to the Eastern Mediterranean; and offered Syria a batch of ultra-modern ground-to-sea Yakhont missiles plus a batch of S-300 anti-aircraft missiles - the Russian equivalent to the American Patriot. Not to mention that Syria already has Russian SA-17 anti-aircraft missiles. 

Now try, any one of you NATO-GCC gang, even bypassing the UN, to unleash a mini-Shock and Awe on Damascus. Or to install a no-fly zone. Qatar and the House of Saud, militarily, are a joke. The Brits and France are seriously tempted, but they don't have the means - or the stomach. Washington has the means - but no stomach. Putin was dead sure the Pentagon would read his message accordingly..."

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People’s Participation And The Strength Of The Nation

Daniel Mabsout,

President Obama called Lebanese president -two days ago-telling him that US would like to see the parliamentary elections taking place in time and a government formed soon . But this does not seem to be realizable in Lebanon ,and while US is looking so keen on democracy to have elections happen in due time , what it is doing in fact is hindering the democratic process by forcing on Lebanon a voting system that is not representative of the people and not adequate to the country . A voting system that will give- unjustly- the allies of US the majority, but where people will not be fairly represented… US of course doesn’t care . A fair voting system will cause the resistance to win the majority and this US cannot afford, better keep the old voting system that had actually expired and that has caused among others – the Lebanese civil war .But what suits US should pass at the expense of what suits Lebanese. US is really afraid of fair elections and of real participation of people in the elections.

As for the coming Iranian presidential elections, the authorities have excluded from the competition the two controversial candidates : Rafsanjani supported by the reformists and by what remains from the Green so called Revolution, and Masha’i the candidate of the actual president Amadinejad., the reason is that the authorities think that there is need not to act on the will of the Iranians by offering them the same scenario as in the previous elections, and repeat the same pattern and the same polarizations among the two opposites that are reformist Rafsanjani and the candidate promoted by Ahmadinejad . In order to give more freedom to the Iranians and avoid ready made patterns and promote the freedom of choice, there is need to reshuffle the cards and start a fresh so that the voting remains a real expression of what the Iranians really want.

What the Iranians are going to get is an exceptional extraordinary democratic elections in the proper sense of the word where the people primarily and above all vote for a strong and sound Iran.


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US Senate Committee Votes to Arm Syrian Militants

Local Editor

A US Senate committee had passed a bill that, if signed for the Obama administration, would allow to supply arms to Syrian opposition — a move that could threaten the entire region if these weapons end up in terrorist cells and al-Nusra Front insurgents operating on the ground. The Senate Committee on Foreign Relations 15-3 vote showed bipartisan support among US politicians for arming the gunmen. It remains uncertain if the full Senate will vote on the legislation that calls to “provide defense articles, defense services, and military training” directly to the opposition on the ground who “have been properly and fully vetted and share common values and interests with the United States.” The language of the proposed legislature is vague but suggests the sale of small arms specifying that “no anti-aircraft defensive systems” would be provided. Senator Rand Paul from Kentucky has voted against the bill, warning “You will be funding today the allies of al Qaeda,” Paul said adding “It is an irony you cannot overcome,” quotes the Washington Times. New Jersey democrat and co-author of the bill, Senator Robert Menenedez addressed such concerns and stressed that the proposed bill has in place a “tough vetting mechanism” to prevent terrorist from obtaining US arms. "Vital national interests are at stake and we cannot watch from the sidelines," Menenedez concluded. Syria was hit by a violent unrest since mid-March 2011, where the Syrian government accuses foreign actors of orchestrating the conflict, by supporting the militant opposition groups with arms and money.

Source: Websites 22-05-2013 - 16:32 Last updated 22-05-2013 - 16:32

وول ستريت جورنال: مجلس الشيوخ الأميركي يتقدم بدعوة لتسليح بعض ثوار سوريا

‏الخميس‏، 23‏ أيار‏، 2013

أوقات الشام

ذكرت صحيفة "وول ستريت جورنال" الأميركية أن "إحدى لجان مجلس الشيوخ الأميركية المهمة صدقت بشكل كاسح على تشريع يدعو الولايات المتحدة إلى توفير أسلحة صغيرة لجماعات المعارضة السورية المعتدلة، في تأكيد على استياء متنامٍ بين المشرعين من أجل إحداث تغيير في النهج الأميركي تجاه النزاع"، لافتة إلى ان "تصويتا، بأغلبية 15 مقابل 3 أجرته لجنة العلاقات الخارجية بمجلس الشيوخ، أظهر تأييدا واسعا من كل من الديمقراطيين والجمهوريين لصالح تسليح الثوار، رغم أنه من الضروري مرور التشريع بأصوات أكثر من ذلك بكثير حتى يتم تبنيه، وحتى عندها لن يجبر الإدارة على التزويد بالأسلحة".
ولفتت الصحيفة إلى أن "بعض المشرعين من كلا الحزبين أعربوا عن القلق بشأن صعوبة ضمان عدم إساءة استخدام الأسلحة، وعدم وقوعها في أيدي الإسلاميين المتطرفين المتحالفين مع القاعدة،"، مشيرة إلى ان "التصويت جاء في الوقت الذي تخوض فيه حكومة الرئيس السوري بشار الأسد قتالا، إلى جانب المتشددين من جماعة "حزب الله" المدعومة من إيران، وتمر فيه بثالث أيام هجوم على مدينة القصير التي يسيطر عليها الثوار- وهي معركة إذا فازت بها القوات الحكومية، فربما تمنح دعما استراتيجيا مهما للنظام".

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Rafsanjani to Stay with S. Leader, Ahmadinejad Rejects Mashaei Dismissal

Local Editor

Iran’s presidential candidate former president Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani wouldn’t challenge his disqualification from a list of candidates for the June 14 election, head of Rafsanjani’s campaign office said on Wednesday without elaborating further. “Rafsanjani considered that his electoral experience abides by the rule of law,” Eshagh Jahangari added. Jahangari reiterated that Rafsanjani is one of the pillars of the Islamic regime. Meanwhile, the Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad contested the disqualification of his close aide Esfandiar Rahim Mashaie from next month's presidential elections. Asking his supporters to be patient, Ahmadinejad said he would take up the disqualification with Supreme Leader Grand Ayatollah Sayyed Ali Khamenei. “I will follow up the issue with the Supreme Leader till it gets hopefully solved soon.” “With the Supreme Leader present, no problem would rise,” he said. Sayyed Khamenei has the authority to ask the council to review such cases. Ahmadinejad also considered that Mashaei is strong believer and skillful and has all the needed qualifications to be a candidate, but he was unjustly treated. “I believe that in a country where the Grand Faqih rules, never would the right of the aggrieved be trodden down,” Ahmadinejad added. In turn, Mashaei commented on his disqualification, saying “It’s a case of injustice, and I will pursue it with the Supreme Leader.” The Guardians Council on Tuesday approved eight candidates are qualified to run Iran’s presidential elections set for June 14, where as two other candidates, Rafsanjani and Mashaei, were dismissed.

Source: Websites 22-05-2013 - 19:05 Last updated 22-05-2013 - 19:05

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UK Sees no Syria Peace Deal with President Assad in Office

Local Editor

British Foreign Secretary William Hague said on Wednesday ahead of an international conference to discuss peace efforts in Syria that only Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad's departure could clear the way for a settlement. “It is the longstanding view of the UK that Assad needs to go, and we have never been able to see any solution which involves him staying," Hague told a press conference in Amman ahead of a meeting of the so-called “Friends of Syria”. The meeting in Amman aimed at discussing a US-Russian proposal for a peace conference. Judeh: Solution to Syria Crisis should be Political For his part, Jordanian Foreign Minister, Nasser Judeh reassured that the solution for the Syrian crisis should be political, stressing that the solution must maintain Syria’s unity and sovereignty. Judeh said that talks with Hague focused on the Syrian file and the “Friends of Syria” conference, which will be held Wednesday night. He further pointed out that “Jordan’s stance from the Syrian crisis was clear since the beginning, and it urged finding a political solution which ensured Syria’s security, unity, and participation of all the Syrian people.”

Source: AFP 22-05-2013 - 17:27 Last updated 22-05-2013 - 19:08

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Last Syrian Update

Daniel Mabsout,

The Syrian army is still trying to chase the thugs out of al Qusayr in the vicinity of Homs the battles now are taking place in the triangle of al Dab’a , ‘Arjoun , al Qusayr in the north of al Qusayr and there are 8 deaths among the thugs and 20 prisoners 7 among them are non Syrians . The battle is extremely difficult because the snipers are hiding everywhere in the fields which makes the progress of the Syrian army slow.. The thugs of the opposition have sent a call to all fighters to head to al Qusayr and men and ammunition are still reaching the thugs through the northern part of al Qusayr . Lebanese thugs are rushing from Wadi Khaled Lebanon towards al Qusayr while the road of supplies and ammunitions is completely cut from the Lebanese side . Some 25 thousand civilians are still living in the area which makes the battle more difficult.

On the other hand the battle, of al Rastan outside al Qusayr in the vicinity of Homs-between Homs and Hama- has started as scheduled before and three of the major leaders of the opposition have found their death there .

The repercussions in Tripoli ,north of Lebanon, cannot be overlooked the battles between the Sunni and the Alawite quarters have caused the death of thirteen people until now. This has for goal to relieve a little bit the Al Qusayr front where the major battle is taking place. The repercussions in Iraq are not less important.

The fifth conference of the so called Friends of Syria taking place in Amman, Jordan today is almost a fiasco with only 11 ministers of foreign affairs present among them Uglu , Hamad and Kerry . We are far from the previous conferences who used to gather 150 ministers from all over the world . This conference has one goal which is to have the opposition accept unconditional negotiations with the Syrian government that do NOT require the stepping down of Assad and to prepare for Geneva 2 Peace Conference scheduled in June and sponsored by US and Russia..

The Syrian opposition has taken different stands and the US administration wants a unified opposition . The opposition inside Syria is preparing itself, as for the outside opposition it will have to get its act together and become one and start negotiating with the Syrian authorities .There are many impediments to this mainly the factions fighting on the ground and the opposition defector officer Saleem Idriss -of the FSA -wants the US to provide the factions of opposition with 700 tons of ammunition weekly as a prerequisite to attend the June peace conference taking place in Geneva, .The ammunition should include anti tank missiles as expressed by the defector.
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Tripoli’s Cautious Calm Violated, Death Toll Rises

Local Editor

Cautious calm was violated on Wednesday as sporadic gunfire erupted in the northern city of Tripoli, a day after fierce clashes claimed the lives of 12 people, including two army soldiers. National News Agency reported that 12 people were killed, including two soldiers, and around 130 others wounded in the clashes that erupted over the weekend. Earlier on Wednesday, sniper activity and sporadic gunfire could still be heard in the northern city. The army has been deployed in the area since the outbreak but has failed to halt the fighting in the town, where clashes have frequently broken out since the March 2011 beginning of the conflict in neighboring Syria. The Arab Democratic Party pledged later in the day to remain committed to a cease fire, ordering its supporters to exercise restraint and not to respond to the fire sources.

Source: Websites 22-05-2013 - 15:48 Last updated 22-05-2013 - 15:48

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Qusayr: Insurgents & Israel share a setback

FLC

 

"...This told the rebels that the supportive Turkish channel was closing down.It is obvious to them that the conference can only succeed if Washington comes over to the Russian-Iranian-Hizballah side and agrees to the perpetuation of the Assad party’s role in any future government.
As yet, neither of the contestants has agreed to attend the conference for which no date has been set. However, Turkish backing and arms supplies through its territory are expected to shrink progressively to squeeze the rebels into accepting a formula which would be tantamount to bowing to the defeat of their uprising.
4. For Israel, the fall of al Qusayr means that while rebel supply routes are shut down, supply routes open up for the free movement of Iranian weapons from Syria straight to HIzballah strongholds in Lebanon. This would be Hizballah’s reward for its military aid to Assad’s army.
If Prime Minister Netanyahu was serious about his promise Sunday to cut off Hizballah’s weapon routes from Syria, he has three primary options to choose from – none of them easy, to say the least.

a)  Military intervention in al Qusayr before the Syrian army and Hizballah clinch their takeover of this strategic byway town. This would catapult Israel into full-blown war with Syria and Hizballah and is therefore a non-starter.b)  Bombardment of the convoys carrying arms from Syria to Lebanon.This won’t do much good. Having learned its lesson from the three Israeli air strikes against arms convoys and depots this year, Syria has now transferred the hardware disassembled into component parts and passed them out among smuggling rings ato move them under cover of dark into Lebanon.c)  Attacks on the destination of those weapons – Hizballah depots in the Hermel – after their delivery. This would almost certainly trigger Hizballah war action against Israel. ..."

Posted by G, M, Z, or B at 5:29 AM

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The Battle for Qusayr: Decisive Victory or War of Attrition?

A Syrian soldier sits inside a tank as troops take control of the village of Western Dumayna, some seven kilometers north of the rebel-held city of Qusayr, on 13 May 2013. (Photo: AFP -Joseph Eid)

By: Radwan Mortada

Published Tuesday, May 21, 2013

The battle for Qusayr has not been settled. There are conflicting estimates about the outcome, with loyalists speaking of “hours separating us from victory,” and opposition fighters promising a “protracted war of attrition.”

Syrian opposition fighters say they have managed to absorb the first strike. They maintain that their collapsing morale has turned into a shared sense of optimism, which helped them regroup and prepare to “confront Hezbollah, which will suffer grave losses at our hands.”

Many armed opposition factions operate in Qusayr, but they don’t seem to be homogenous. Like most unorganized militias, they are not adept at cooperating with one another, and in the absence of a unified leadership, their operations are not coordinated.

These militias share control of Qusayr in accordance with their respective financial and military capabilities. The most organized of the factions include the Farouq Brigades, Omar al-Farouq Brigades, al-Wadi Brigades, and the Salafi-leaning Ahfad al-Sahaba Battalion.

The latter is comprised of a small number of extremists who are ideologically aligned with al-Qaeda, as well as Arab and foreign fighters known as al-Muhajirun, which literally means immigrants, but is also a reference to the early converts to Islam who left Mecca with the Prophet Mohammad. These include an Australian national who, holding a degree in chemistry, came to Qusayr via Lebanon to help “develop explosive devices used by the mujahideen.”

Keeping this blueprint of Qusayr opposition factions in mind, the Syrian army resolved to settle matters militarily in the town after negotiations with the opposition failed.

Leaflets dropped in Qusayr calling on civilians to evacuate the area, but most did not comply. Later on, many began to flee, while others refused to leave voluntarily. But the opposition fighters soon realized that the civilians could serve their cause, and forced some who sought to leave belatedly to stay in the town.

The Syrian army deployed a few hundred elite troops to carry out surgical attacks in Qusayr, according to military sources. Consequently, these sources are certain “the losses will be massive in the battle, especially since the Syrian army is facing groups that are deeply entrenched in civilian neighborhoods.”

In light of this, the same sources were in agreement that what happened in the past two days was a “military achievement.”

Fighting Continues Among Conflicting Reports

Sources in the armed opposition said that fighting has continued in northwestern Qusayr since Sunday, and denied that the Syrian army and Hezbollah fighters made any progress, with the exception of sustained aerial bombardment against rebel positions.

The same opposition sources also claimed that groups of fighters had retreated into al-Basateen in the northeast, “to safeguard civilians trapped in their homes and avoid raids by Syrian warplanes, which have been using vacuum bombs.”

As the fighting raged in Qusayr, both sides claimed to have made achievements on the ground. Syrian army sources have touted making “qualitative progress” in several sectors of the strategic town, to which opposition coordination committees have responded by posting videos allegedly showing fighters repelling regime attacks.

Opposition sources denied all reports of the regime providing “safe corridors” for civilians and militants alike to withdraw.

Al-Akhbar learned that the opposition fighters have booby-trapped cars and homes. The fighters also dug tunnels throughout Qusayr to facilitate their movements, but according to informed sources, the Syrian army was able to target most of the tunnels and destroy them.

In contrast to the opposition’s claims, military sources dismissed claims about the rebels having absorbed the first strike. The Syrian army carried out “a sweeping attack,” they said, and “the militants have yet to awaken from their shock.”

Well-informed Syrian sources said that the Syrian army was hesitant about evacuating several positions in the east, which were going to be left for the militants to withdraw, but that the army decided against that in the end fearing reinforcements for the opposition.

This article is an edited translation from the Arabic Edition.

• Syria: Turning Point in the Battle of Qusayr
• Clashes escalate in Lebanon's Tripoli, killing 11
• من بابا عمرو إلى القصير .. بطولات لأحزاب إلهية سورية ..بقلم : نمير سعد

 

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