Syrian crisis not real revolution: Assad

Source : Xinhua

DAMASCUS, July 4 (Xinhua) -- Syrian President Bashar al-Assad said that what is happening in his country is not a "revolution," adding the real revolution would be purely domestic and unrelated with foreign agendas.

Assad's remarks were made during an interview with the state- run al-Thawra newspaper to mark its 50th anniversary.

"Take many examples on that; the French revolution, the Russian revolution and even the Iranian one. Real revolutions are popular ones that have purely internal factors, have a spontaneous aspect and led by ideological and intellectual elites," he said.

"Whereas what has been happening in Syria, since the beginning, has the foreign factor in it, and that was what they have tried to conceal but today become absolutely clear," he added.

The embattled leader, whose country has been gripped by more than two years of deadly conflict, said that the "conspirator countries on Syria have used all they have of material, morale and psychological means against Syria and have nothing left but direct intervention."

While hailing the Syrian people, Assad said that "tolerance is essential in resolving national crises but it must be popular, not official."

He, meanwhile, likened terrorism to cancer, saying that if terrorism wasn't removed, it could spread quickly "so we must root it out, not only hit it."

He charged that what is currently happening is "turning Syria into a land of terrorism," adding that terrorism "grows and multiplies in the fertile soil called chaos, where you see the chaos you see terrorism grows automatically."

He noted that what have drawn in terrorism in Syria wasn't only the chaos, but also the foreign countries backing terrorism in Syria.

Regarding the deteriorating economic situation in Syria, the president said that with a troubled security situation, there can be no good economy "and thus the security problem is affecting us directly, whether we like it or not."

Kerry, Lavrov Tackle Syria, Adoptions in ‘Constructive’ Talks

Source : RIA Novosti

BERLIN, February 26 (RIA Novosti) – The United States and Russia will do “everything possible” to facilitate a dialogue between the Syrian government and the armed opposition, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Tuesday in Berlin following his first bilateral meeting with US Secretary of State John Kerry.

“No one will solve the Syrians’ problems for them, but in order for this solution to be discussed, it’s necessary to sit down at the negotiating table,” Lavrov said following the nearly two-hour meeting with Kerry in the German capital.

US State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland speaking in Berlin, said Kerry and Lavrov spent more than half of their meeting discussing Syria in what she called a "really serious and hardworking session,” The Associated Press reported.

The two top diplomats discussed how to implement the so-called “Geneva Agreement” aimed at getting the Syrian government and the opposition to plan a transitional government for the time after Syrian President Bashar al-Assad steps down, the AP reported.

“Regarding Syria, the most important thing is that we confirmed our mutual understanding that the continuation of violence is unacceptable,” Lavrov said.

Lavrov called Tuesday’s bilateral talks “constructive” and said he felt Kerry is open to a partnership between the two countries despite disagreements.

“There is a sense that Barack Obama’s second administration, with regards to foreign policy led by John Kerry, will strive to play a more constructive role” in issues such as the adoption of Russia children by Americans and the so-called “Magnitsky Act” that Washington enacted to punish Russian officials it deems guilty of rights abuses, Lavrov said.

Lavrov said Kerry vowed to personally take measures to ensure transparency with regards to Russian children adopted by US parents.

“We discussed in detail the problems with adopted Russian children,” Lavrov said following the meeting. “John Kerry admitted that these problems are not trumped-up … and gave assurance that he will personally undertake all necessary measures to ensure complete transparency and accountability for us in this sphere.”

The issue of safety of Russian adoptees in the United States has helped bring bilateral ties between the two countries to one of their lowest points since the end of the Cold War.

Citing numerous abuse cases and fatalities involving adopted Russian children in the United States, Moscow last month banned US citizens from adopting Russian children in what some see as a response the Magnitsky Act, which became law in December.

Syrian Army Purging Terrorists From Northwestern Aleppo

Source : Fars News Agency

TEHRAN (FNA)- The Syrian army continued its cleanup and chase operations against terrorists in different districts of Reef (outskirts of) Aleppo on Monday.

The army continued purging the terrorists from Bani Zayd town in Northwestern Aleppo today.

Bani Zayd is the last hideout and bastion of the armed rebels in Northwestern Syria. The Syrian army began its cleanup operations in Bani Zayd two days ago, and has made considerable advances in the area since then.

The Syrian army destroyed numerous terrorist troops and command centers and arms depot in Bani Zayd.

The terrorists have used Bani Zayd as a base for attacking Aleppo's Western districts such as Teshreen, al-Nil, al-Mokambo, al-Shahba, al-Khalediya and al-Sabil. Bani Zayd also provided the armed rebels with the ability to also target Southeastern Aleppo's residential areas such as al- Ashrafiya and al-Sorian. They kidnapped 30 Syrian civilians, including women and children, from these areas last week and used them as human shield.

Terrorists have tried hard in the last few months to make Syrian cities unsafe, specially for citizens, but the army has purged them from most neighborhoods and districts, killed hundreds of them and arrested many more.

Syria has been experiencing unrest since March 2011 with organized attacks by well-armed gangs against Syrian police forces and border guards being reported across the country.

Hundreds of people, including members of the security forces, have been killed, when some protest rallies turned into armed clashes.

The government blames outlaws, saboteurs, and armed terrorist groups for the deaths, stressing that the unrest is being orchestrated from abroad.

In October 2011, calm was eventually restored in the Arab state after President Assad started a reform initiative in the country, but Israel, the US and its Arab allies are seeking hard to bring the country into chaos through any possible means. Tel Aviv, Washington and some Arab capitals have been staging various plots in the hope of increasing unrests in Syria.

The US daily, Washington Post, reported in May that the Syrian rebels and terrorist groups battling the President Bashar al-Assad's government have received significantly more and better weapons in recent weeks, a crime paid for by the Persian Gulf Arab states and coordinated by the United States.

The newspaper, quoting opposition activists and US and foreign officials, reported that Obama administration officials emphasized the administration has expanded contacts with opposition military forces to provide the Persian Gulf nations with assessments of rebel credibility and command-and-control infrastructure.

According to the report, material is being stockpiled in Damascus, in Idlib near the Turkish border and in Zabadani on the Lebanese border.

Opposition activists who several months ago said the rebels were running out of ammunition said in May that the flow of weapons - most bought on the black market in neighboring countries or from elements of the Syrian military in the past - has significantly increased after a decision by Saudi Arabia, Qatar and other Persian Gulf states to provide millions of dollars in funding each month.

Syrian army regains control over areas in Aleppo, defends airbase

Source : Xinhua

DAMASCUS, Jan.12 (Xinhua) -- Syrian army on Saturday wrested back control over several areas in the northern province of Aleppo and repulsed rebels' attack on a military airport at the outskirts of Aleppo, a day after the radical militants took full control over the military airport of Taftanas in Idlib province.

The army controlled the Ummayad Mosque area, Khan al-Wazir, the surrounding of the old citadel and the city's courthouse, the pro- government Sham FM radio said, quoting a military source as saying that government troops at dawn Saturday repelled armed groups' attack against the Kshaish airport in the outskirts of Aleppo, leaving many of the assailants killed or injured and destroying their anti-aircraft artillery.

The radio report also said that clashes between the army and the rebels took place at several districts in the central province of Homs, adding that many rebels were killed in addition to one soldier.

In the capital Damascus, local reports said the army is still haunting down armed rebels in the Muadamieh suburb west of Damascus, adding that the al-Nusra Front, an offshoot of al-Qaida, is still positioning in the Yarmouk camp for Palestinian refugees and keeping the displaced people from returning home.

The reports said that eight people were killed in Yarmouk over the past hours by snipers' fire.

Meanwhile, local media said the helicopters, which the rebels claimed to have captured in the Taftanas airbase in the northern province of Idlib, are "inoperable" and "out of service" since long time ago.

After weeks of intense fighting, radical militants from al- Nusra Front took full control of the sprawling airbase on Friday morning, making it most significant gain they have gained since the eruption of the crisis a year and a half ago.

The Sham FM report said all the functioning war jets were evicted from the air field before the armed groups' attack, adding that three officers were killed during the fight.

It said the army on Friday rained down the airport with all kinds of shelling, inflicting hefty toll among the militia at the airport.

On the opposition side, the Local Coordination Committees (LCC) said the Syrian troops' shelling renewed on the southern suburbs of Damascus, mainly on Sbaineh, Hajar al-Aswad and Mathnieh.

The LCC reported violence and clashes elsewhere in the unrest- torn country, placing the initial death toll of Saturday's violence at 55.

According to the UN estimates, more than 60,000 people have been killed in Syria since the unrest erupted in 2011. Also, the World Food Program (WFP) said that around 2.5 million people in Syria are in need of food assistance but only 1.5 million can receive supplies from the agency.

Russia rejects Assad exit as precondition for Syria deal

Source : www.hurriyetdailynews.com

Russia voiced support on Saturday for international peace envoy Lakhdar Brahimi but insisted Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's exit cannot be a precondition for a deal to end the country's conflict.

A Foreign Ministry statement following talks on Friday with the United States and Brahimi, whom the Syrian government has labelled "flagrantly biased", reiterated calls for an end to violence in Syria, where more than 60,000 people have been killed since March 2011.

At the meeting in Geneva with Brahimi and U.S. Deputy Secretary of State William Burns, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Bogdanov "expressed unfailing support for Brahimi's mission as the U.N.-Arab League special envoy on Syria," it said.

The issue of Assad, whom the United States, European powers and Gulf-led Arab states insist must step down to end what has escalated into a civil war, appeared to be a sticking point at the meeting. Russia's Foreign Ministry said: "As before, we firmly uphold the thesis that questions about Syria's future must be decided by the Syrians themselves, without interference from outside or the imposition of prepared recipes for development."

Russia has been Assad's most powerful international backer during the nearly 22-month-old conflict, joining with China to block three Western- and Arab-backed U.N. Security Council resolutions aimed to pressure him or push him from power.

In Geneva, Russia called for "a political transition process" based on an agreement by foreign powers last June.

Brahimi, who is trying to build on the agreement reached in Geneva on June 30, has met three times with senior Russian and U.S. diplomats since early December and met Assad in Damascus.

Russia and the United States disagreed over what the June agreement meant for Assad, with Washington saying it sent a clear signal he must go and Russia contending it did not.

In Washington, U.S. State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said there had been some progress toward a common view at Friday's meeting but did not provide details.

Moscow says it is not propping up Assad and, as rebels gain ground in the war, has given indications it is preparing for his possible exit. But it continues to insist he must not be forced out by foreign powers. Analysts say President Vladimir Putin wants to prevent the United States from using military force or support from the U.N. Security Council to bring down governments it opposes.

Bogdanov met Syrian Christian opposition campaigner Michel Kilo in Geneva in efforts to pursue close contacts with both Assad's government and opponents, the Foreign Ministry said.

Nearly 400 Reported Killed in Deadly Day in Syria

Source : RIA Novosti

MOSCOW, December 30 (RIA Novosti) – At least 397 people were killed in Syria on Saturday in what could be the country’s bloodiest day since the start of the uprising 21 months ago, the opposition Local Coordination Committees (LCC) claimed on Sunday.

“By the end of Saturday the LCC managed to document 397 martyrs (including more than 20 children and 20 women),” the activist group reported on its website.

The LLC makes a daily death toll count in the Syrian conflict on its website.

The figure includes 220 people who were “field executed in Deir Balbah” outside the city of Homs after the Syrian forces regained the area, the LCC said.

According to CNN, the activist group has learned about the Deir Balbah massacre from captured soldiers of the Syrian government troops.

The Syrian government has not commented on the alleged mass executions at Deir Balbah while the Syrian state TV showed images of dead bodies and seized weapons in the city’s tunnels it claimed were being used by "terrorists.”

Between 20,000 and 37,000 Syrians, by various estimates, have been killed in the 21-month-long conflict between government forces and the opposition, which comprises groups of all stripes, from Communists and secular liberals to Islamist groups, including Al-Qaeda.

Western powers have insisted on President Bashar al-Assad’s departure before the formation of a new government of national unity while Russia insisted that the decision be left to the “Syrian people.”

U.N. envoy Brahimi meets Assad and urges unilateral ceasefires

Source : Alarabiya.net Mobile

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad received on Sunday peace envoy Lakhdar Brahimi, who is pressing both sides in Syria\'s conflict for a truce during a Muslim holiday this week. (Reuters)

International mediator Lakhdar Brahim met Syrian President Bashar al- Assad in Damascus on Sunday as he sought to press both sides in Syria's conflict for a truce during a Muslim holiday this week.

During the meeting, Brahimi urged two sides in Syria conflict to declare unilateral ceasefires.

“I appeal to everyone to take a unilateral decision to cease hostilities on the occasion of Eid al-Adha (starting Friday) and that this truce be respected from today or tomorrow,” Brahimi told reporters.

The U.N.-Arab League envoy held talks with Assad in Damascus.

Brahimi, the joint U.N.-Arab League special envoy for the Syria crisis, has been criss-crossing the region with the aim of convincing Assad's main backers and his foes to support the idea of a truce during the holiday, which starts at dusk on Thursday.

He held talks on Saturday with Syria's Foreign Minister Walid al- Moualem, which the ministry described as “constructive and serious.”

Syria has so far given a guarded response to Brahimi's ceasefire proposal, suggesting it wants guarantees that rebels would reciprocate any move by Assad's forces.

Al-Assad Appoints New Syrian Ambassador to Iraq

Source: Almanar

Local Editor

Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad issued a decree Tuesday appointing Sattam Jad'an Al-Dandah as Syria's Ambassador to Iraq.

Syrian news agecy SANA further reported that "Al-Assad later received Al-Dandah and provided him with his directives, wishing him success in his duties."

Syrian Foreign Minister Walid Al- Moallem attended the swearing-in ceremony.

Former Syrian Ambassador to Iraq Nawaf Fares has left the government a couple of months ago as the crisis in Syria was aggravating.