News of rocket attack on al-Baath Party Headquarters in Damascus on Nov. 20; seems to be caused by stun grenades
Loud explosion rattles neighborhood in Syrian capital
English.news.cn 2011-11-20
Residents in central Damascus woke up at dawn Sunday after hearing the thunderous sound of an explosion, which some Arab TV stations said were caused by two rocket-propelled grenades allegedly launched by the so-called Free Syrian Army at the headquarters of the ruling al-Baath party in al- Mazraa neighborhood.
. . . eye witnesses and a Xinhua reporter near the scene dismissed the allegations as the headquarters seems to be intact, raising probabilities that the explosion, which people could heard from a distance of 500 meters away from the building, might be caused by a sound bomb.
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english2010/world/2011-11/20/c_131258659.htm
the competent authorities to prosecute and the car were arrested as terrorists under investigation with the statement of intention of throwing the bomb sound.
http://www.syriandays.com/?page=show_det&select_page=43&id=28900
In the evening, the Syrian national TV, quoting reports of al-Jazeerah and al-Arabiyyah, says that the building and traffic are just as normal as everyday without mentioning to the sound of explosions. The Xinhua report (just above) says that the explosion was heard 500m away.
News from 11:44. al-Baath Party building from 13:12.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4yyqXEpSqsQ&src_vid=fhWLGiKGgFY&annotation_id=annotation_306665&feature=iv
Authorities arrest 58 armed men in central region, confiscate tanker loaded with Fuel
http://www.sana.sy/ara/336/2011/11/20/382921.htm
http://www.sana.sy/eng/337/2011/11/20/382924.htm
Nov 20, 2011
HOMS, (SANA-)
Authorities in Homs arrested 58 armed men in the central region, seizing quantities of weapons and ammunitions.
Meanwhile, an official Source in Homs stated that competent authorities confiscated a tanker loaded with 3000 liter of fuel prepared for smuggling in the village of Kfar Aya.
وفد سوري يتعرض لاعتداء وحشي على يد من يسمون (معارضة الخارج) ومأجوريهم أمام مقر الجامعة العربية
Syrian Delegation Brutally Beaten by Opposition Figures in front of AL HQ in Cairo
http://www.sana.sy/ara/3/2011/11/20/382763.htm
http://www.sana.sy/eng/22/2011/11/20/382785.htm
Nov 20, 2011
From 06:33. Scene of violence committed by the SNC members.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4yyqXEpSqsQ&src_vid=fhWLGiKGgFY&annotation_id=annotation_306665&feature=iv
CAIRO, (SANA) - Members of the Syrian delegation, who traveled to Cairo to express the Syrian people's rejection of the Arab League (AL) decision against their homeland and any foreign interference in Syria's internal affairs, were brutally beaten by figures and hirelings of the opposition abroad in front of the AL Headquarters in Cairo.
Some members of the delegation, which included legal, economic, artistic and youth figures, were moderately to severely injured in the attack and taken to hospital.
Syrian Media Attaché at the Syrian Embassy in Cairo, Ammar Arsan, said the delegation arrived in the Egyptian capital on Saturday to stage in a peaceful sit-in in front of the AL protesting its unjust decisions against Syria.
Arsan noted that the delegation, whose majority were women accompanying their families and children, was first harassed upon its arrival at Cairo Airport, yet the members remained composed and calm and preserved the peacefulness of their move.
"Upon their arrival in a place near the AL HQ, groups of the opposition living in Cairo who represent Istanbul Council and other hired Egyptian thugs openly assaulted the delegation members, an assault can't be described less than as a dangerous terrorist act," the Syrian Media Attache added.
He added the injuries ranged from moderate to severe, pointing out that actor Zuhair Abdel-Kareem is suffering serious head injuries.
Arsan expressed the Syrian Embassy's surprise at the negative and neutral reaction of the Egyptian security authorities in terms of their dealing with the situation despite the fact that the Embassy had in advance made its contacts informing that the delegation was coming to participate in a peaceful sit-in and nothing more, and despite their knowledge of previous attacks committed by those people against Syrian citizens who earlier came to express their stance before the AL HQ.
He added that the attackers besieged the Embassy, started cursing and threatened to storm the building and set it on fire ignoring the presence of some Egyptian army personnel who were there to protect the Embassy.
Arsan assured that the situation of the Syrians who were attacked is good, stressing that their security is the Embassy's responsibility. He noted that the Egyptian authorities were given the names of the attackers.
"We came to Cairo to convey a clear message in a purely peaceful way," said Syrian actress Toulai Haroun in a statement to SANA. "No sooner had we reached the AL's door than a group of youth ran after us with sticks and stones, while two youths caught me and almost forced me into a car in an attempt to kidnap me, but some Egyptian youths saved me."
"Some of the attackers were paid money and asked to attack us in front of the our eyes," she added.
"Is the kind of dialogue you want that of sticks and stones?"Haroun asked the opposition whose members attacked the Syrian delegation.
"What happened is unbelievable…We were surprised by a rain of stones from those who claim to be 'freedom advocates'," said Ma'an Abdel Haqq.
Lina Hawarneh, a Syrian actress, said we wanted to tell the AL that we support the dialogue and reforms and reject the AL 's unjust decisions against Syria which pave the way for foreign interference.
Actor Zuhair Abdel-Kareem, who was seriously injured in his head, said that "We are a group of youths, doctors, engineers, lawyers and university professors who came to Cairo to condemn the decisions taken by the AL which encourage shedding the Syrian blood."
"We were told that we would be under protection from the moment we left the hotel till we reached the AL, but nobody was there to protect us when the attack began,"Abdel-Kareem pointed out.
He called upon the Egyptian authorities to shoulder their responsibilities to protect the Syrian diplomats and the delegation members from similar savage attacks.
The Syrian delegation carried a statement to the Arab League which stressed the Syrians' rejection and condemnation of the AL decisions and all forms of foreign interference in Syria's internal affairs.
"We condemn the AL's policy towards Syria and its people which ignores the will of the majority of the Syrian people who have been taking to the street every day to call for national dialogue, rejecting violence and adhering to the comprehensive reform process launched by President Bashar al-Assad," said the statement.
It added that the unjust and unbalanced decisions of the AL against Syria reflect the League's deviation from the goals of the joint Arab action and hidden intentions to eradicate the Arab identity, give up the key issues of the Arab nation and undermine Syria's sovereignty, stability and security in its effort to provide a cover for foreign interference in its affairs and draw it into civil war.
الجيش السوري يقيم منطقة عسكرية بعمق 20 كم على امتداد الحدود مع تركيا
Assesses the Syrian army military zone depth of 20 km along the border with Turkey
http://www.aksalser.com/?page=view_articles&id=9f86b06cacebf4044f259e6dff2e2f37&ar=331277780
Sunday - November 20 - 2011 - 10:59:57
Began the Syrian army, with different formations, large-scale operation along the border with Turkey under the name "break illusions" to counter the aggressive plans of Turkey.
The operation (depending on the location truth) a few hours after the arrival of the joint delegation of senior staff officers in the Iranian army officers and staff of "Revolutionary Guard", and two days after the newspaper revealed the "morning" Turkey for the existence of an agreement between "the Syrian National Council" exhibitions and collections linked to the CIA and French intelligence and the Gulf countries for the adaptation, "a military protectorate" of the Turkish groups within Syrian territory to be a starting point for military operations of sabotage in the rest of Syria.
Which is recognized by the Comptroller General of the Muslim Brotherhood and his deputy, in a press conference at Istanbul, and was supported by the French government openly.
According to military sources, Syrian identical, the operation was based on a set of actions including:
Declaration of a depth of 15 25 km (depending on the nature of the geographic and demographic) along the border with Turkey as a "military zone" prevents the entry and exit without the prior consent of the army, which implement the same procedures applicable on the front line with Israel since 1948. This measure has been implemented as of today.
A crowd of more than two thousand pieces of artillery and field artillery rocket and a missile battery surface short-range, and approximately 1500 tanks and armored vehicles across the region referred to, which extends from east to Qamishli Afrin and the limits of the Brigade occupied Alexandretta and mountain west corner.
Put all the battalions and missile batteries surface long-range, based in the northwest region of Syria, which carry conventional warheads and "non-traditional" (chemical and biological) on high alert, taking into account the possibility of intervention immediately if the evolution of the clash between the army Syrian and militants from the customers, "National Council" supported by the Turkish intelligence and NATO (in fact), and supervised by the military attache Top of the Alliance in the U.S. Embassy in Ankara, General Major-General Stanley Clarke, for a direct confrontation with the Turkish army and units of the U.S. Atlantic stationed on Turkish soil , both in the base "Incirlik" air base or "Gulf of Alexandretta" Navy.
Move a number of swarms of helicopters, anti-tank from bases in the southern region of Syria to support the swarms of helicopters located originally in the rules in the northern, western and eastern part of Syria; and the development of the Air Force and air defense battery in the coastal area and the vicinity of Aleppo on high alert, as well as moving the air defense batteries (moveable) from other parts of Syria to the north to strengthen the air defense batteries already in the north.
Re-planting minefields in the border areas that constitute the "soft security zones" that could be crossing the infiltration of persons or vehicles. Note that this procedure has not been decided by the final.
The sources said the "truth" that the process of "breaking the illusion," which started on Saturday and is expected to complete its procedures within a few days, discussed the details with the delegation of the Iranian military, which is what I want him to convey a message to those involved in Turkey and others that "there is a decision taking on the highest levels in Damascus and Tehran provides a quick and decisive confrontation is not the frequency with any third party, or a local foreign-backed, is trying to tamper with the strategic security of Syria, and Iran would not hesitate to direct intervention if necessary. "
As for the southern region, adjacent to the border of Jordan, said the sources, "that this region does not fear them, given the presence of more than four military divisions nearby can intervene at any moment if necessary, with reference to the leadership of the Jordanian regime sent signals and messages to Damascus as concerned with security and stability of Syria will not allow any military activities from its territory. "
The sources attributed the movement of troops towards the north "to the region where there are no military forces already since 1998, when the Convention was concluded with Turkey, Adana security and the threat to Turkey, with the exception of conventional units already existing in the north to protect strategic areas."
Regarding the border with Iraq, sources said, "Except for intrusion attempts, there is no any serious threats of the sort that is talking about Turkey, given that Damascus received from Baghdad, in both its Arabic and Kurdish, from President Jalal Talabani and Prime Minister of Iraq, it will not allow any military activities from their territories, and will be enhanced this situation after the completion of the withdrawal of the U.S. military from Iraq by end of next month. has played Tehran a major role in obtaining guarantees and Iraqi cooperation, with its strong ties to the government and with President Jalal Talabani, who is already enjoys a relationship historic strong with Damascus. "
كتيبة الهكرز السوري تعلن اختراقها لخمس مواقع تحريضية وحذف الدومين الخاص بها .. وجيش سورية الالكتروني يعلن سيطرته على 31 موقع تحريضي آخر
The Syrian hackers battalion announced penetration into a five inflammatory sites and delete their own domain .. And the Syrian electronic army announces control of another 31 inflammatory sites
http://www.syriandays.com/?page=show_det&select_page=43&id=28909
Sectarian Strife in City Bodes Ill for All of Syria
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/11/20/world/middleeast/in-homs-syria-sectarian-battles-stir-fears-of-civil-war.html?_r=1&pagewanted=all
By ANTHONY SHADID
November 19, 2011
BEIRUT, Lebanon — A harrowing sectarian war has spread across the Syrian city of Homs this month, with supporters and opponents of the government blamed for beheadings, rival gangs carrying out tit-for-tat kidnappings, minorities fleeing for their native villages, and taxi drivers too fearful of drive-by shootings to ply the streets.
As it descends into sectarian hatred, Homs has emerged as a chilling window on what civil war in Syria could look like, just as some of Syria's closest allies say the country appears to be heading in that direction. A spokesman for the Syrian opposition last week called the killings and kidnappings on both sides "a perilous threat to the revolution." An American official called the strife in Homs "reminiscent of the former Yugoslavia," where the very term "ethnic cleansing" originated in the 1990s.
"Over the past couple of weeks, we've seen sectarian attacks on the rise, and really ugly sectarian attacks," the Obama administration official said in Washington. The longer President Bashar al-Assad "stays in power, what you see in Homs, you'll see across Syria."
Since the start of the uprising eight months ago, Homs has emerged as a pivot in the greatest challenge to the 11-year rule of Mr. Assad. Some of the earliest protests erupted there, and defectors soon sought refuge in rebellious neighborhoods. This month, government security forces tried to retake the city, in a bloody crackdown that continues.
Homs, Syria's third-largest city, has a sectarian mix that mirrors the nation. The majority is Sunni Muslim, with sizable minorities of Christians and Alawites, a heterodox Muslim sect from which Mr. Assad draws much of his top leadership. Though some Alawites support the uprising, and some Sunnis still back the government, both communities have overwhelmingly gathered on opposite sides in the revolt.
Here it is not so much a fight between armed defectors and government security forces, or protesters defying a crackdown. Rather, the struggle in Homs has dragged the communities themselves into a battle that residents fear, even as they accuse the government of trying to incite it as a way to divide and rule the diverse country.
Fear has become so pronounced that, residents say, Alawites wear Christian crosses to avoid being abducted or killed when passing through the most restive Sunni neighborhoods, where garbage has piled up in a sign of the city's dysfunction.
"It is so sad that we reached this point," said a Syrian priest who lives in Lebanon but maintains close relations with people in Homs, in particular the Christian community.
In past weeks, Homs was buckling under a relentless crackdown as the government tried to reimpose control over the city. Dozens were killed, but the American official said the Obama administration believed the government withdrew some forces in accordance with an Arab League plan to end the violence. Residents offered a different version. Several said the government had repainted tanks and armored vehicles blue and redeployed them as a police force carrying out the same operations.
"The regime wants to say to the Arab observers that the police are confronting protesters, not the army or security men," said Abu Hassan, a 40-year-old activist there.
On Friday, Syria tentatively agreed to an Arab League proposal to send more than 500 monitors to oversee the faltering plan, but had asked for changes to the plan, a request that Arab foreign ministers rejected on Sunday.
"They are trying to change what they already agreed," said Nabil el-Araby, the league's secretary-general, saying that was unacceptable to the Arab states. Damascus had tried to alter various conditions, such as defining who could come as an independent observer.
If there is no sign on Sunday of Syria enacting the agreement, which includes stopping the violence and withdrawing security forces from civilian areas, then Arab foreign ministers will meet Tuesday evening to decide the next step, the league's secretary-general said. That is effectively the second extension of the original deadline of last Wednesday. The league had said previously that it would weigh other political and economic sanctions if there was no change in Syria.
Even as the death toll has dropped in Homs in recent days, the sectarian strife seems to have gathered a relentless momentum that has defied the attempts of both Sunni and Alawite residents to stanch it. One prominent Sunni activist, who spoke only on the condition of anonymity, used the term shabeeha — an Arabic word that refers to government paramilitaries — to describe the situation evolving inside Homs.
"There are shabeeha on both sides now," he said.
He blamed the government for fomenting the sectarian tension, but added, "I feel disgusted at what's happening in Syria, and I am afraid of what might happen next."
Muhammad Saleh is a 54-year-old Alawite in Homs. A communist, he was a political prisoner for 12 years and was released in 2000. In an interview, he said that insurgents stopped a minivan carrying factory employees last Sunday, asked the Christians and Sunnis to leave and then kidnapped 17 Alawites. Enraged, the families of the Alawites went into the streets, randomly kidnapping Sunnis after demanding their identification.
"They know your sect by your family name," he said.
Families on both sides asked him to mediate, Mr. Saleh said, and after days of negotiations, sometimes through calls to Syrian expatriates, he secured the release of all 36 people kidnapped in the episode at 4 a.m. Friday. He said many were still missing in other kidnappings.
"I'm against the regime," he said. But, he added: "Now I am being critical of some of the revolutionaries. We are against the regime and we want it to fall, but the revolutionaries need to present a better and more beautiful alternative. And if the opposition is going to be similar to the regime, it's going to be dangerous."
Mr. Saleh is not alone in trying to stop the tide. Others, Sunni and Alawite, have joined him in a group in Homs called the Popular Solidarity Committee, which has sought to defuse tension. Fadwa Suleiman, an Alawite actress from Aleppo, visited Homs on Nov. 11 in a gesture of solidarity with protesters in the besieged city.
The violence itself still pales before the government's crackdown, which the United Nations says has killed more than 3,500 people. But in a dozen interviews with residents in Homs, people spoke of the city's fabric being torn apart. Paramilitaries on both sides have burned houses and shops, they say. Alawite residents have been forced to flee to their native villages. Kidnappings, many of them random, have accelerated. Numbers are impossible to gauge, but scores have been abducted. Residents say some captives are used as bargaining chips, but not always.
"My cousin was kidnapped, and he was a civilian Alawite," said a dissident activist from the Alawite neighborhood of Al Zahra in Homs, where locales are often largely segregated by sect. "He was found killed and his head was chopped off."
The activist, who gave a pseudonym, Abu Ali, said his relatives text message each other with the license plate of the taxis they take. They call each other when they arrive. He said his brother, a taxi driver, no longer dares to take to the streets.
Another Sunni activist in Homs played down the strife, saying Alawites were kidnapped only in retaliation and denying that insurgents had beheaded anyone. Like others, he insisted that the violence was minimal compared with the ferocity of the government's crackdown.
Christians in Homs seem to have tried to stay neutral, an admittedly difficult task.
"We'd rather emigrate than hold weapons and be part of a civil war," said a Christian in a telephone interview who gave his name as Hisham and whose mother-in-law had already fled Homs.
He blamed the government for the greatest share of violence. But he accused Sunni insurgents of killing Alawites to drive them from the city's three predominantly Alawite neighborhoods, where support for Mr. Assad runs strongest.
"There is no room for us, or for the educated Sunnis, in a civil war," said his wife, who gave her name as Hiyam, also speaking by telephone. "A civil war means emigrating."
Hwaida Saad and an employee of The New York Times contributed reporting.
No comments:
Post a Comment