الزراعة والفاو.. اتفاقية لتعزيز إمكانيات الحجر البيطري
Agriculture and FAO .. Agreement to enhance the potential quarantine
http://www.sana.sy/ara/4/2011/12/05/386261.htm
05 December 0.2011
Damascus, (SANA) -
The Ministry of Agriculture and Agrarian Reform with the Food and Agriculture Organization FAO on a project document to strengthen the possibilities of quarantine in the countries of the Near East with a budget estimated at 307 thousand dollars come into effect from today.
Dr. Riad veil of the Minister of Agriculture to the importance of continued cooperation between the Ministry and FAO, which was strengthened through a series of agreements signed between them in order to develop the agricultural sector in Syria, adding that today's agreement is designed to protect public health and animal health through the promotion of trade procedures safe for animals and animal products across the territory of the Near East, Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon and Yemen in addition to Syria.
The veil that the project contributes to the establishment of a stone veterinarian more efficient in the countries involved in the project by working on the application procedures for international trade in animals and animal products and address the difficulties in accordance with the recommendations of the Secretariat General of the OIE and adopt a regional approach to promote regional trade and the sharing of resources and agree on procedures joint health apply to trade within the region.
The Minister of Agriculture said the agreement aims to build the capacity of workers in the veterinary services and procedures for border security and farmers through the protection of their herds of livestock diseases and population through ensuring the safety of foods of animal origin in addition to trade in livestock and animal products through a series of measures regulating the issue.
For his part, Dr. Abdullah bin Yahya of the WHO Representative in Syria, said the project comes in the framework of cooperation between WHO and the Ministry of Agriculture and within the regional projects implemented in the five countries mentioned above as having the animal wealth is increasing, pointing out that the programs carried out between the two sides are in the development and expansion of a continuous .
The Ben Yahia said the project helps to protect the national livestock and consumers together as a maintain the quality of imports and exports livestock to and from those countries also contributes to capacity building and assistance to States to review the laws and regulations governing the import and export operations in this sector so as to achieve better results for the protection of the breeder and the consumer together and assess the current situation with regard to veterinary quarantine and the laws and policies of the veterinary quarantine and develop and propose amendments if the need arises to develop methods of trading systems of animals and their products.
And Ben Yahia to the basics of the official veterinary services to protect the national territory of the entry of animal diseases requires the existence of facilities for the control along the borders and in seaports and airports, including the quarantine stations, and border inspections that are compatible with the protocols and procedures.
The project helps with experts to assess and develop plans for the development of policies Stone and guidance staff necessary according to the standards of the Office of Epidemiology and provide veterinary services in accordance with the legislation and clear decision-making art based on international standards and scientific evidence, and to provide a cadre of veterinary services and a staff veterinary examination at the border expertise and training in addition to that the project addresses the difficulties all in accordance with the general recommendations of the OIE and adopt a regional approach to promote regional trade and the sharing of resources and agree on common health measures applied to trade within the region.
روسيا تقرر تخفيض مستوى تمثيلها الدبلوماسي مع قطر
Russia decided to reduce the level of diplomatic representation with Qatar
http://www.sana.sy/ara/3/2011/12/05/386172.htm
05 December 0.2011
Moscow - SANA
Russia decided to reduce the level of its diplomatic relations with Qatar on the back was the Russian ambassador in Doha for an attack by the staff of the security and customs at the airport in Doha and the attempted kidnapping of the diplomatic bag.
The Russian Foreign Ministry said in a statement released today that Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov told the Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs of Qatar, Hamad bin Jassim decision to reduce the level of relations with this country in addition to reducing the level of communication with the Embassy of Qatar in Moscow.
He pointed out that the Russian Foreign Ministry confirmed in a note of protest addressed in the November 30 last to the Qatar Embassy in Moscow that this incident to a surge of unprecedented and constitutes a gross violation of rules of international law in force and will leave negative consequences for Russian relations / country demanding the country side to provide a formal apology immediately and take all necessary measures to find out the culprits and punish them and prevent the recurrence of such incident in the future.
The statement pointed out that the Russian Ambassador to Qatar Neto Rnko is undergoing treatment and will leave Qatar in the next few days and that after being assaulted with two Russian diplomats in Doha International Airport on 29 last month when he returned from an official mission in Jordan, where he tried to security personnel and customs Qataris abduction of the diplomatic bag was closed by the possession of the Russian ambassador.
Russia Today TV: Qatar is Arming, Funding Armed Groups in Syria
http://www.sana.sy/eng/22/2011/12/05/386154.htm
Dec 05, 2011
DAMASCUS, (SANA) – Russia Today TV on Monday said that Qatar is providing weapons to the armed groups in Syria and providing financial funding for them, according to intelligence and media reports.
The channel added that Qatar is reportedly transferring weapons from Libya to Syria through Turkey. Doha is also funding the Syrian opposition with the help of the Libyan Transitional Council (LTC).
روسيا اليوم : قطر تسلح مجموعات سورية معارضة
Russia Today: Qatar arms Syrian opposition groups
http://www.aksalser.com/index.php?page=view_news&id=562a969fcd76c64de6a66e4d9b372ee4&ar=579132849
Monday - December 5 - 2011 - 16:12:31
Deployment site "channel Russia" today a report addressing the country moves through the last period, where the report accused Syria Qatar financing armed groups, and the report reads as follows:
Qatar's name appeared on charges that Yemen attacked Qatar for supporting the armed groups in Yemen with money and weapons, as well as its role in the Syrian file, which is going on in full swing to become one of the leading countries in providing the illegal armed groups as "the Free Syrian Army" with weapons and gear .
It also made no secret of Qatar at the time their role in Libya despite the violation of UN resolutions, and do not hide now, but seem to be in the Syrian issue more determined as the work on the transfer of weapons from Libya to the country via Turkey and is working to finance the Syrian opposition through the National Council Libi.
This is in parallel to Arab pressure on Syria practiced by the Arab League. There is no coincidence that the chairs in Qatar suddenly the Arab League, this time in the place of Palestine.
And requests of a sovereign State to sign the protocol allowed observers to see when Damascus is a violation of its sovereignty.
And this Qatari moves are strange, and some seemed unacceptable internationally, particular the incident in which the Russian ambassador in Qatar's attack at the airport in Doha during the delivery of the diplomatic pouch, which is a precedent in international relations, is a flagrant violation of all diplomatic norms.
And all this sparked a lot of controversy and questions of the experts and observers. Qatar has become today one of the leading countries in support of wars of "Arab spring".
السفير الروسي في بيروت: على الأطراف الخارجية اتخاذ مواقف موضوعية بشأن سورية
Russian ambassador in Beirut on external parties to take substantive positions on Syria
http://www.sana.sy/ara/3/2011/12/05/386287.htm
05 December 0.2011
Beirut, (SANA) -
Russia's ambassador in Lebanon Alexander Sasbekean need to be the parties' positions on foreign Syria objective and impartial and not provocative, pointing out that the sanctions and unilateral decisions are not good.
He Sasbekean in a press statement in Beirut today that Russia is seeking to complete the agreement on a plan of the Arab League and its application in as soon as the dispatch of observers, stressing that the goals in the first place is to remove all the phenomena of violence in Syria from all sides.
The Russian ambassador to the need for comprehensive national dialogue without preconditions, and called on everyone to make balanced and responsible attitudes.
The ambassador said Sasbekean We outset agree to the Arab League initiative and continue to this essence of the Russian position, pointing out that Russia hopes that the positions balanced calling for agreement on all provisions of the initiative and problem solving thorny all, including the dispatch of observers, stressing that it is related to the Arab League and Syria.
He Sasbekean: Usually we call that there is no rush Valmuad can be postponed, and it is important that there be an agreement and expressed the hope that will be soon, pointing out that Russia is now very dependent on the Arab initiative.
Commenting on the decision of the Commission on Human Rights on the last ambassador to Syria was considered that the decision Sasbekean politicized and one-sided and said that the pressure is on one side and they did not seem to notice the actions taken by the Syrian leadership.
خبيرة روسية: لا اتوقع انهيار الاقتصاد السوري في الامد القريب
Russian expert: I do not expect the collapse of the Syrian economy in the near term
http://www.aksalser.com/index.php?page=view_news&id=f0bd23917ef42add41ae6104f5245928&ar=807610386
Monday - December 5 - 2011 - 15:55:13
Regarded professor of the University of Economic Sciences Russian People's Friendship Dr. Irina Oidroos that partnership, which combines with the neighboring countries Syria, as well as Russia and China, will reduce the impact of economic sanctions on Damascus.
The Aidroos in an interview with the channel "Russia Today" on Monday, 5 that "the economic problems for Syria began before the imposition of sanctions, and without doubt, the sanctions will lead in the distant future to serious consequences on the Syrian economy, but cannot be expected in the near term collapse."
She Aidroos to the presence of partners in Syria does not intend to impose sanctions, such as Iraq, China and Russia, said that Iraq "is a key partner of the Syrian exports go where about 30% of them to Iraq." She also noted that Iraq will depend a lot in consumer articles on Syria.
With regard to Lebanon, he would "play its traditional role as an essential partner for Syria, it would be very difficult to have abandoned, and the same thing with regard to Jordan."
The Russian expert said that "the partnership with these countries will help to reduce the impact of economic sanctions on Syria."
روسيا مستعدة لارسال مراقبين بطلب من دمشق أو المعارضة أو الجامعة العربية
Russia ready to send observers to the request of the opposition or Damascus or the Arab League
http://www.aksalser.com/index.php?page=view_news&id=541a0cd3f04198e2eae555fe19f3d815&ar=141748906
Monday - December 5 - 2011 - 20:49:20
Deputy Russian Foreign Minister Mikhail Bogdanov said on Monday that "his country was ready to send observers to the face with Syria if such a request from the Syrian authorities or the opposition or the Arab League."
Bogdanov said in an interview with the agency "Tass," Russian "If we receive such a request from the Syrian authorities or the opposition or especially from the Arab League, we are ready to join."
He considered that the presence of observers from the Arab League in Syria, "may increase the chances of settlement of the Syrian."
He noted that his country called on all parties to the crisis from the beginning and the Syrian authorities in Damascus, especially the interaction with the Arab League and the full support of its initiative to resolve the crisis, "adding that Damascus has supported the plan, but there were questions she needs to consult further.
Bogdanov and saw that the question on the application of a logical mechanism, noting that "the mechanism involving the existence of objective observers of the Arab League, to monitor the implementation of the Roadmap."
He said that the Syrian authorities declared their willingness to sign a protocol on the work of observers who will monitor the application of the Arab initiative to resolve the crisis without outside intervention or military intervention, but through dialogue between all political forces in Syria.
He said that if things go in this direction will be consistent with an understanding of Moscow to resolve the problems and "this would mean that the Russian leadership had taken a rational and balanced".
And hope that it creates "an additional opportunity for a peaceful political settlement through dialogue between the Syrians for the benefit of the people."
Syria, today announced its agreement to sign the draft Protocol Arab, provided take into account the amendments proposed by and be signed in Damascus and lift the sanctions imposed by the Arab League immediately after the signing.
Russia's Newspaper: Talking about Peaceful Protests in Syria Lost all Meaning
http://www.sana.sy/eng/22/2011/12/05/386105.htm
Dec 05, 2011
MOSCOW, (SANA)- Russian Mir Novosti newspaper stressed that talking about the peaceful protests in Syria lost all meanings.
The paper said that the Qatari and Saudi regimes instead of working to stop the bloodshed in Syria they, backed by the West, work on fueling the crisis.
The newspaper pointed out that some Western observers see that administration of US President Barak Obama is involved in the plot targeting Syria.
Nuclear war on the horizon
http://english.pravda.ru/opinion/columnists/05-12-2011/119846-Nuclear_war_on_the_horizon-0/
05.12.2011
Lisa Karpova
Nuclear war on the horizon. might be the lazy way, to just sit and accept the utter bilge and lies coming from the mainstream western media when they report on events in Syria and Iran. But is it worth it? Would those who accept these lies still think it's worth it, not to look for the truth, if they realize that we are heading straight for a third world war?
There comes a point in time, a point from which there is no return. Someone is going to get fed up and take that step, ignite that spark, that will lead to the beginning of another world war. This world is as close to world war as it was during the Cuban Missle Crisis.
Thirteen days in October 1962, the world looked on as Nikita Khrushchev and John Kennedy both, thankfully, tried to avoid a collision course that would set off a nuclear war between the two superpowers.
While conducting a spying mission on the Island of Cuba, the U2 aircraft discovered that missiles had been installed on the island to prevent the threat of any future invasion.
Kennedy decided to impose a naval blockade, or a ring of ships, around Cuba. The aim of this "quarantine," as he called it, was to prevent the Soviet Union from bringing in more military supplies. He demanded the removal of the missiles already there and the destruction of the sites.
On October 22, President Kennedy spoke to his countrymen about the crisis in a televised address. Eye to eye, furious communications later, finally an agreement was made and both sides were able to stand down.
The missiles in Cuba would be removed, as would those in Turkey, and a promise to leave Cuba alone...demanded by Khrushchev. Later, movement towards peace and cooperation included the establishment of a teletype "Hotline" between the Kremlin and the White House and the signing of the Limited Nuclear Test Ban Treaty on July 25, 1963.
Iran's military said on Sunday it had shot down a U.S. reconnaissance drone aircraft in eastern Iran, a military source told state television. What was this drone doing over Iranian territory?
A potential conflagration between the two superpowers is reaching frightening levels in the Mediterranean with vessels of both the US and Russia maneuvering into confrontational positions.
The United States and its European allies have run roughshod over international law, rendering it null and void. The bloody aggression and genocidal campaign against Libya were just a beginning of the end.
The Yugoslavia campaign of lies and false accusations was repeated once again, while rubber stamp robots incorporated, known as the UN, gave the coalition of barbaric savages their cover of legitimacy with UN Resolutions 1970 and 1973, which were also repeatedly run over, violated and trashed as they crept toward total war and invasion rather than the established no-fly zone and no boots on the ground.
Infamous were the lies about weapons of mass destruction in Iraq and no less ridiculous were the claims that the Gaddafi government was "killing its own people." Now they say the same about Syria and accuse Iran of trying to use nuclear energy to make nuclear weapons.
In a court of law, if the judge catches you lying even once, he will totally disregard your case because you were caught in a lie. All it takes is just one lie. You have destroyed your credibility totally and forever in his eyes.
If I find out you've lied to me once, from that time forward you will have to prove you're not lying again when you make claims, otherwise I have no reason to not think you are not just lying again.
So, too, any thinking person cannot take what the U.S. and Europeans say or claim as remotely even credible, along with their Israeli friends. In all cases, they have to prove they are not lying because all they ever do is lie.
It's more a case of these entities projecting their own evil intentions onto their marked, targeted victims.
So people out there, don't accept what they say at face value, not from PROVEN LIARS.
Iran, one of their next targets of choice, does not constitute a threat to global security, or a threat to the security of Israel. Iran hasn't done anything aggressive in over 250 years...and they have repeatedly allowed inspections beyond the call of reason and assured others that they have no intention of making nuclear weapons.
In Syria, so many lies already coming fast and furiously...inventing incidents that never happened. The people at the locations where several incidents were alleged to occur say no such thing ever happened.
Why is the west, as in the case of Libya, sending terrorists and weapons into Syria? Why are snipers shooting at unarmed civilians and at police/military?
They have declared they want Assad gone, just as they declared they wanted Gaddafi gone.
Who gives them the right? Let the people decide, and not a gang of terrorists and garbage faced airplanes dropping bombs on innocent civilians. Leave people alone.
The world community is getting fed up with this. China and Russia cannot be hoodwinked now into approving sanctions or approving military action.
The forces of demonic evil now have come nose to nose with the forces of reason. Ships from the U.S. and ships from Russia are now on the coast of Syria. Anything could happen.
Something will happen.
These two counties, China and Russia, also know they are on the list of targets.
You cannot on one hand have a fully armed, nuclear weapons possessing Israel and then tell Iran they cannot even use nuclear energy for peace...their right as signatories of the NPT, a treaty that Israel refuses to sign while also refusing any inspections.
Any one of a number of confrontations is going to start the next world war. These powerbroker elitists think they can escape the effects of a nuclear exchange...just shows how insane they are. They must be stopped and this warning must be taken seriously.
Either the citizens of the world demand these war pigs stand down, or face total global nuclear war. Demand that they stop the lies. Demand that they stop sending terrorists to disrupt the peaceful lives of your brothers and sisters.
المؤسسة العامة للصناعات النسيجية تتوجه إلى أسواق الصين وروسيا ودول أميركا اللاتينية
General Organization for Textile Industries, go to the markets of China, Russia and the countries of Latin America
http://www.aksalser.com/index.php?page=view_news&id=ffa888d08c65a2ee866f4b65ea5c4796&ar=663020591
Monday - December 5 - 2011 - 15:10:51
Saeed Suhail said assistant general manager of the General Organization for Textile Industries, the market in general is facing challenges to the implementation of sales plans, internal and external.
The "Saeed" that these challenges control most of the sectors and activities, including the activity of spinning and weaving, especially that this sector employs a large number of events, both public and private sectors in addition to the presence of foreign products compete with the domestic product and thus naturally be affected by this sector more quickly compared to some sectors other economic but the future vision of the reality of production and marketing calls for optimism, relying on the quality and the quality of textile products and the Syrian with cotton yarns which have proven to attend and compete in global markets, Arabic is that it takes some time until a clear final image to the size of the global market in the light of cotton production and industry spinning and weaving associated with the global crop
Can also say that the orientations of the enterprise to communicate with customers in friendly countries, will help increase the effectiveness of external marketing, after the completion of some of the arrangements for the financial transfers and the opening credits from China, Russia, Iran and the countries of Latin America.
And Suhail said that the institution has produced up to last month, about 21 billion pounds by the implementation of 88% while the value of total sales by about 16.3 billion pounds, an implementation rate of 68% from 11.6 billion pounds sales of domestic and 4.5 billion pounds foreign sales equal to $ 100 million.
He pointed out that the value of Almkhazen reached about 12.9 billion Syrian pounds, indicating that the cause of the high Almkhazen due to the relocation of production to the store of remains as a result of exceptional circumstances in which the country and its impacts on the internal and external sales.
He said "Suhail": the Syrian people have the qualifications and competence that enables him to turn challenges into a comparative advantage to ensure the development and diversification of industries Syrian and especially the textile industry with a pedigree in terms of history and diversity, which was characterized by the industry for thousands of years and this in our opinion requires coordinating the efforts of all concerned in this activity, whether in public or private sector and work on the integration of efforts to ensure the security requirements of the industry starting from yarn by type of industry the required specifications to ensure that the production of fabrics that can be used in the industries of textile competition of fabrics imported, particularly the current stage is to impose on all those involved in homeland security needs necessary for the citizen the lowest cost and best specifications and to ensure the maintenance of inventory state of the foreign currency to meet the exceptional circumstances and insurance needs necessary for the citizen the lowest cost and best specifications and to ensure the maintenance of inventory state of the foreign currency to meet the exceptional circumstances and to ensure national needs is produced in the local market for pointing out that it does not miss in mind the need to integrate the work of those marketing and sales and distribution with the public and private entities to secure the goods produced and made available in all parts of the country.
Many of the industry called on the Central Bank and public banks to establish a mechanism provides flexibility in the transfer of funds and the opening credits with friendly countries and all currencies required by the nature of trade between Syria and friendly countries and remittances in foreign currencies, especially the Russian ruble and the hall of China.
دول تجمع الألبا تؤكد رفضها للتدخل الخارجي في سورية وتستنكر التحريض الإعلامي ضدها
ALBA Countries Reject any Foreign Intervention in Syria's Domestic Affairs
http://www.sana.sy/ara/3/2011/12/05/386038.htm
http://www.sana.sy/eng/22/2011/12/05/386045.htm
Dec 05, 2011
HAVANA, (SANA)-ALBA countries condemned the political and media campaign against Syria, saying that this campaign aims at justifying the US and western countries' endeavors to interfere in Syria's domestic affairs which is totally rejected by ALBA.
At a session held in Geneva by the Human Rights Council to discuss Syria file, Head of the Ecuadorian delegation and Representative of ALBA to the meeting said " the policy of pressures and sanctions complicates the crisis, it would not help resolve it."
He underlined the ALBA full rejection of any form of foreign intervention in Syria's internal affairs.
During a visit to Syria last October, Members of ALBA delegation stressed that their countries will ever remain standing by Syria at all international circles, saying that they saw a big difference between what being broadcast by a number of misleading channels and the real situation in the country.
ALBA Alliance comprises Venezuela, Cuba, Bolivia, Ecuador, Nicaragua, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Dominica and Antigua and Barbuda.
Total shuts down in Syria
French giant Total has told the Syrian government that it has stopped operations in the country in line with EU sanctions, a spokeswoman confirmed.
http://www.upstreamonline.com/live/article292713.ece
Luke Johnson 05 December 2011 20:45 GMT
"We have informed the Syrian authorities of our decision to stop operations with General Petroleum Corporation to comply with EU sanctions," the spokeswoman told Upstream.
She said the shutdown will affect production in Deir al-Zor and at the Tabiyeh Gas contract.
"Of course, our top priority is the safety of our employees," she added
Late last week, the EU slapped sanctions on three oil companies, including state-owned GPC, due to ongoing political unrest and a bloody government crackdown on protesters in the Middle Eastern country.
Syria Trading Oil Company (Sytrol) and Al Furat Petroleum were the other companies subject to the latest EU sanctions.
Anglo-Dutch supermajor Shell said on Friday it would comply with EU sanctions and shut down its operations in Syria.
Earlier Monday, London-listed Gulfsands Petroleum said it was “reviewing” its operations in Syria in the light of the latest EU sanctions.
Published: 05 December 2011 20:45 GMT | Last updated: 05 December 2011 20:49 GMT
Gulfsands reviews Syrian operations
http://www.upi.com/Business_News/Energy-Resources/2011/12/05/Gulfsands-reviews-Syrian-operations/UPI-59941323097863/
Published: Dec. 5, 2011 at 10:11 AM
LONDON, Dec. 5 (UPI) -- Gulfsands Petroleum announced it was reviewing its relationship with Syria in light of new sanctions imposed on the country's oil and gas sector.
Last week, the European Union hit Syria's General Petroleum Corporation with new sanctions as punishment for the brutal crackdown on opponents to Syrian President Bashar Assad.
Gulfsands Petroleum said the sanctions limit access to equipment and technology needed for the Syrian oil and gas industry.
"As a result of GPC being added to the list of proscribed organizations, Gulfsands, along with other EU related operators in Syria, is reviewing the manner in which it interacts with GPC and the implications of these new sanctions for the company's present and planned production activities and its contractual obligations to GPC and the Syrian government," the company said in a statement.
Executives at Royal Dutch Shell last week told the Financial Times they were putting a halt to Syrian operations because of the sanctions.
Shell was among the largest investors in the Syrian energy sector. The country had its $3.5 billion-a-year oil export revenue curtailed by an embargo from European consumers early this year.
Gulfsands announced in October it was instructed by Syrian authorities to keep oil production low in the country.
U.S. Watching Syrian Chemical Arms Amid Fear of Attack, Diversion
http://www.globalsecuritynewswire.org/gsn/nw_20111205_3595.php
Monday, Dec. 5, 2011
By Rachel Oswald
Global Security Newswire
WASHINGTON -- The United States is quietly but closely monitoring the status of Syria's large chemical weapons stockpile amid fears the regime of autocratic ruler Bashar Assad could use the warfare agents to quell continued political protests or divert the materials to extremist groups that operate in the region (see GSN, Sept. 6).
Government officials in Washington declined to discuss specifics of the monitoring operation or what intelligence resources were involved, citing the need to maintain secrecy about operational tactics. They acknowledged, though, that there is a great deal of concern in Washington over Syria's chemical arsenal.
"It is extremely important that we maintain visibility on Syria's chemical weapons and it is something that we as an intelligence community" are actively involved in doing, a U.S. intelligence official told Global Security Newswire.
A joint U.S.-Israeli surveillance campaign in Syria was first reported by the Wall Street Journal in late August. Since that time "it hasn't diminished in importance at all," according to another U.S. official.
Both officials spoke on condition of anonymity due to the sensitivities surrounding the intelligence operation.
The United States is believed to have prepared contingency plans for dealing with Syria's toxic arsenal should it appear the regime is about to use the weapons or pass them to affiliated extremist organizations such as Hezbollah.
Syria is not a member of the Chemical Weapons Convention. It has also never publicly declared to the international community its chemical arsenal, which is understood to comprise hundreds of tons of nerve and blister agents, its doctrine for using such weapons or their exact capabilities. Still, Damascus' status as a chemical weapons possessor is widely accepted as fact.
The Middle Eastern state is not known to have ever used those materials, which date back to the 1970s, according to information compiled by the James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies. Until now Damascus is believed by most analysts to have developed them as a deterrent to outside attack, namely from Israel, and not for use against its own people.
The Assad regime, though, has earned a reputation for brutality toward its own people. More than 4,000 Syrians have been killed in the political uprising that began this past spring, according to the United Nations. The rising body count has U.S. officials and analysts concerned that if the Syrian leadership feels besieged and without other options, it could revise its calculus on the use of chemical weapons against Syrian army defectors and protesters.
In the event that violence in the country escalates into a full-blown civil war, there would likely be an effort by opposition forces to gain control of the regime's chemical weapon sites. A civil war would also likely increase the prospects of Assad ordering the use of his chemical armaments, according to Leonard Spector, deputy director of the James Martin Center.
"We are aware of the situation in Syria and continue to follow the events as they unfold," Pentagon spokeswoman Lt. Col. April Cunningham, said in a prepared statement. "The potential use of chemical weapons by any state poses a security threat to international security."
The chemical weapons surveillance campaign in Syria is not the only such effort the United States has been involved with this year. When Libyan civilians rose up in February against dictator Muammar Qadhafi's decades-long rule, U.S. intelligence and defense officials used a variety of assets to keep tabs on the nation's small stockpile of declared mustard blister agent.
The United States worked with NATO and Libyan opposition forces to establish a team of specialists that watched over Libya's known chemical weapon facilities to deter government forces from seeking to use or divert chemical warfare materials, according to an Agence France-Presse report (see GSN, Nov. 2). Undeclared sites have also been identified as the Qadhafi regime was ousted.
The State Department also said it used "national technical means" to monitor Libya's chemical sites. National technical means are typically understood to encompass reconnaissance aircraft and satellites (see GSN, Aug. 25).
Obama administration officials would not disclose whether such technology is also being used to monitor Syria's chemical-weapon sites on the grounds that revealing such details could jeopardize the integrity of the operation. Unlike in Libya, NATO and the United States have no internationally sanctioned mandate for military operations in Syria, nor do they have the relationships with Syrian opposition groups similar to those established with the Libyan rebels.
Syria's chemical weapons program is considerably larger than Libya's, which would presumably make monitoring it more of a challenge.
"This is a full-blown chemical weapons program not the remnants" of one as in Libya, Spector said. "You have large inventories ... there are a lot of people milling around the sites," presumably guarding them and managing day-to-day operations.
Syria's chemical weapons program is understood to be comprised of four production facilities at al-Safira, Hama, Homs and Latakia, along with two munitions storage sites at Khan Abu Shamat and Furqlus. Additionally, there is a chemical weapons research laboratory near Damascus, according to Michelle Dover of the James Martin Center.
"You're also looking at a program that is almost completely self-sufficient from the research and production through the storage and weaponization," said Dover, citing open source information dating back to the 1980s.
The Assad regime is thought to possess between 100 and 200 Scud missiles carrying warheads loaded with sarin nerve agent. The government is also believed to have several hundred tons of sarin agent and mustard gas stockpiled that could be used in air-dropped bombs and artillery shells, according to information compiled by the James Martin Center.
"We do not have any information that suggests there have been changes to the security of Syria's chemical weapons stockpile," a State Department official said in an e-mail to GSN. "Syria is a country of significant proliferation concern, so we monitor its chemical weapons activities very closely. We will continue to work closely with like-minded countries to limit proliferation to Syria's chemical weapons program. We believe Syria's chemical weapons stockpile, composed of nerve agents and mustard gas, remains under Syrian government control."
Damascus is a well-known backer of Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad, which both base their headquarters in the Syrian capital. Syria is also a supporter of Hezbollah and last year was accused by Israel of providing Scud ballistic missiles to the Lebanese militant group (see GSN, April 29, 2010).
Noting reporting on contingency plans prepared by the Pentagon for military operations to prevent militants from obtaining Pakistani nuclear weapons, Spector said it was reasonable to extrapolate that preparations have also been made to respond to crisis situations involving Syria's chemical arms.
Such events might include the Assad regime preparing its chemical arsenal for an air attack on protesters and army defectors or the weakening of security around the chemical sites. The details of presumed action plans are a closely held secret.
"It would seem illogical to think that Pentagon has not brainstormed contingency plans," Spector said.
Spector said he believes the United States has "definitely" issued backdoor diplomatic threats to Damascus of serious consequences should Assad order chemical weapon attacks on opposition activists. "I'm sure that message has been conveyed."
Though Washington is concerned about the potential chemical weapons threat, it is not the Obama administration's primary focus in dealing with Syria, according to the issue expert. "I think they have still more urgent items that are constantly on top of the agenda" such as persuading the Arab League to pass sanctions against the regime and pushing for Assad to step down, he said.
A key factor in U.S. contingency thinking is thought to be what actions Israel could unilaterally take if it feels a chemical weapons attack or proliferation is imminent, Spector said.
Israel in June 2007 mounted a sneak aerial attack on a Syrian site at Dair Alzour that it suspected housed an unfinished atomic reactor with military applications (see GSN, March 31, 2008).
A crucial element of any potential Israeli calculus on striking against Syria's chemical assets would be identifying the exact location of the weapons, Spector said.
"You have a lot of sites [in Syria] and not all of them may be known and you really have to do a lot of work, you really have to get everything," Spector said.
Also likely weighing on Israeli and U.S. thinking is whether an attack on Syria's chemical arsenal could backfire by pushing opposition forces to rally around Damascus in response to a foreign attack, Spector said. "You don't want to create an environment where the country rallies around the government because they face an external attack."
The Israeli Embassy in Washington did not respond to requests for comment by press time.
U.S. wants peaceful means to end crisis in Syria: official
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english2010/world/2011-12/05/c_122374226.htm
English.news.cn 2011-12-05 05:31:39
AMMAN, Dec. 4 (Xinhua) -- A top U.S. official said Sunday that there is a need for peaceful means to end the unrest in Syria, labeling the developments in the country as "appalling," the state-run Petra news agency reported.
Syrian President Bashar al-Assad is leading his country to violence and sectarian strife through using security groups to suppress the peaceful protests, Jeffrey Feltman, U.S. Assistant Secretary General for the Near Eastern Affairs, was quoted as telling a meeting at the U.S. embassy headquarters in Amman.
"One of the peaceful methods that the international community asked the Syrian regime to accept is allowing monitors and media personnel to enter Syria to report what is happening on the ground, " Feltman said.
On Sunday, a Syrian official said that there is "mutual exchange of messages" between Syria and the Arab League (AL) pertaining the observers mission to Syria, one day after the AL gave Damascus a new deadline to allow in observers amid warnings of internationalizing the Syrian issue if Damascus refused the mission.
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