Hotmail  |  Gmail  |  Yahoo  |  Justice Mail
powered by Google
WWW http://www.JusticeForNorthCaucasus.com

Add JFNC Google Bar Button to your Browser Google Bar Group  
 
 
Welcome To Justice For North Caucasus Group

Log in to your account at Justice For North Caucasus eMail system.

Request your eMail address

eMaill a Friend About This Site.

Google Translation

 

 

AUGUST 2012


Where’s Assad? Mystery Deepens About Syrian Leader

posted by eagle on August, 2012 as ANALYSIS / OPINION


Chechen ghosts in Syria
This Chechen ghost story is now a regular feature in news stories from Syria. Why would this diplomat quoted below speaking
on condition of anonymity?  It says it all about these fake stories. Stories have started in headlines about handful of purported Jihadis dying in Syria but no mention of thousands of Iranian revolutionary guards and the Russian advisors yet. Media had reported this before.
Militants from Chechnya, Yemen, Libya, Iraq, Afghanistan and Pakistan have been joining the rebels in significant number, he said. They are entering by way of Iraq and Lebanon and bringing along skills gleaned from battling the Americans and Russians, according to the diplomat, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to discuss such matters.
____________________________________________________________________
August 1, 2012

Where’s Assad? Mystery Deepens About Syrian Leader

By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

BEIRUT (AP) — Syrian President Bashar Assad urged his military Wednesday to boost its fight against rebels, but his written call to arms only deepened a mystery over his whereabouts two weeks after a bomb penetrated his inner circle.

Assad has not spoken publicly since the July 18 bombing killed four of his top security officials — including his brother-in-law — during a rebel assault on the capital, Damascus. The president’s low profile has raised questions about whether he fears for his personal safety as the civil war escalates dramatically.

The United States called the Syrian president a coward for marshaling his forces from the pages of the army’s official magazine.

"We think it’s cowardly, quite frankly, to have a man hiding out of sight, exhorting his armed forces to continue to slaughter the civilians of his own country,” said U.S. State Department spokesman Patrick Ventrell.

Sausan Ghosheh, the spokeswoman for the U.N. mission in Syria, said Wednesday that international observers witnessed warplanes firing in Aleppo, Syria’s largest city, where intense fighting has been raging for 12 days.

Speaking to reporters in Damascus, Ghosheh said the situation in Aleppo was dire.

"Yesterday, for the first time, our observers saw firing from a fighter aircraft. We also now have confirmation that the opposition is in a position of having heavy weapons, including tanks,” she said, adding that for civilians, there "is a shortage of food, fuel, water and gas.”

The U.N.’s World Food Program said it was sending enough emergency food aid for 28,000 people in the city of 3 million. The U.N. has estimated that some 200,000 residents have fled Aleppo.

On Wednesday, a Ukrainian military plane evacuated from Aleppo dozens of Ukrainians and Polish women with their children and in some cases Syrian husbands.

As the country delves further into chaos, there are mounting concerns about Syrian rebels carrying out atrocities against regime supporters.

A video posted online, which was impossible to verify independently, appeared to show rebels executing a man they identified as a member of the "shabiha,” or a pro-regime militiaman, in a hail of gunfire. Such developments pose a serious problem for the opposition, which has tried to claim the moral high ground against an authoritarian regime that has been accused of war crimes.

The conflict in Syria, which activists say has killed more than 19,000 people since March 2011, has drawn deep international condemnation. But world powers have few options to help beyond diplomacy — in part because of fears that any military intervention could make matters worse. Syria’s close ties to Iran and the Islamic militant group Hezbollah in Lebanon mean that the conflict has the potential to draw in the country’s neighbors.

Arab countries are pushing ahead with a symbolic U.N. General Assembly resolution that tells Assad to resign and turn over power to a transitional government. It also demands that the Syrian army stop its shelling and helicopter attacks and withdraw to its barracks.

A vote is set for Thursday morning.

The draft resolution takes a swipe at Russia and China by "deploring the Security Council failure” to act. Moscow and Beijing have used their veto in the Council three times to kill resolutions that might have opened the door to sanctions on Syria.

While the 193-member General Assembly has no legal mechanism for enforcing such a resolution, it can carry moral and symbolic power if a vote is overwhelming.

But the fighting has defied previous attempts at diplomacy. Residents of Aleppo have told The Associated Press over the past week that jet fighters have been strafing rebel positions. Activists have posted numerous videos on the Internet showing rebels commandeering regime tanks after seizing their bases.

Aleppo has been plagued with violence since mid-July, when rebels first attempted to take it over. The rebels have succeeded in holding several neighborhoods despite daily assaults by regime tanks, helicopters and warplanes.

Syria’s state news agency on Wednesday claimed several victories by government forces in Aleppo, especially in the hotly contested rebel bastion of Salaheddine. It said dozens of "terrorists” were killed, including some with African nationalities.

Rebels gave a different account, saying they had extended their control over the strategic city by taking two police stations.

Assad’s appeal to his armed forces, on the 67th anniversary of the Syrian army’s founding, appeared in the army’s magazine and was carried on the state news agency.

"Today you are invited to increase your readiness and willingness for the armed forces to be the shield, wall and fortress of our nation,” Assad said.

The regime has characterized the rebellion as the work of foreign terrorists, and Assad said that "internal agents” are collaborating with them.

"Our battle is against a multifaceted enemy with clear goals. This battle will determine the destiny of our people and the nation’s past, present and future,” he said.

The newly appointed defense minister, Gen. Fahd al-Freij, whose predecessor was killed in the July 18 bombing, echoed Assad’s words during a televised speech.

"The armed forces will pursue the remnants of these groups wherever they are and eliminate them, preserving the homeland from their evils and restoring peace and security to the country,” he said.

Assad’s only appearance since the July 18 bombing came in a brief taped segment on state TV as he swore in the new defense minister. But the clip had no audio, and it was unclear where it was shot.

Syria’s powerful military, which is vital to keeping Assad in power, has largely held together over the course of the uprising. The pace of defections has risen recently, however. Neighboring Turkey has reported that 28 generals have already crossed the border.

In recent weeks the military has unleashed heavy weapons against the increasingly bold rebels, who have brought the fight to the country’s two largest cities. The military managed to drive the rebels out of Damascus after they made stunning — but short-lived — advances there. Rebels claimed responsibility for the bomb that killed four top Assad aides.

Minor clashes around Damascus continue, however, and residents of the Christian neighborhood of Bab Touma in the old city of Damascus reported a half-hour gun battle early Wednesday.

There was also ongoing fighting in several other cities, including Homs in central Syria. Homs was bombarded by mortars, artillery and rockets, according to the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, which cites a network of sources on the ground.

Also Wednesday, Turkey launched a military drill just across the border from a Syrian town it claims is controlled by Kurdish rebels — a show of muscle aimed at Kurdish separatists pushing for autonomy within Turkey’s borders.

The Turkish government last week said Turkish Kurdish rebels have seized control of five towns along the border in collaboration with their Syrian counterparts. Turkey alleges that the Kurdish guerrillas they are fighting have taken advantage of the strife in Syria to take refuge there.

As the chaos deepens, there are mounting concerns that foreign jihadists and extremists are joining the fray. In a message that appeared in online jihadist forums, Syrian militant Abu Hussam al-Shami called on Muslims to come fight a jihad, or holy war, against the regime because it had committed atrocities against its own people.

Addressing the regime in the nearly 10-minute video, al-Shami said: "We will not be satisfied until we turn you into ashes like those under a cooking pot.”

____

Associated Press writers Albert Aji in Damascus, Syria, Selcan Hajaoglu in Ankara, Turkey, Victor Simpson in Rome and Bradley Klapper in Washington contributed to this report.



comments (0)


1 - 1 of 1



 RSS FEED


New Posts



Search Analysis Opinion



ANALYSIS / OPINION



Archive


 december 2013

 november 2013

 october 2013

 september 2013

 august 2013

 july 2013

 june 2013

 may 2013

 april 2013

 march 2013

 february 2013

 december 2012

 august 2012

 july 2012

 april 2012

 march 2012

 february 2012

 july 2011

 june 2011

 may 2011

 april 2011

 march 2011

 february 2011

 january 2011

 december 2010

 november 2010

 october 2010

 september 2010

 august 2010

 july 2010

 june 2010

 may 2010

 april 2010

 march 2010

 february 2010

 january 2010

 december 2009

 november 2009

 october 2009

 september 2009

 august 2009

 july 2009

 june 2009

 may 2009

 april 2009

 march 2009

 february 2009

 january 2009

 december 2008

 november 2008

 october 2008

 august 2008

 july 2008

 may 2008

 february 2008

 december 2007

 november 2007

 october 2007

 september 2007

 august 2007

 july 2007

 june 2007

 may 2007

 april 2007

 march 2007

 february 2007

 january 2007

 december 2006

 november 2006

 october 2006

 september 2006

 august 2006

 july 2006

 june 2006

 may 2006

 april 2006

 march 2006

 february 2006

 january 2006

 december 2005

 november 2005

 october 2005

 september 2005

 august 2005

 july 2005

 june 2005

 may 2005

 april 2005

 april 2000

 february 2000



Acknowledgement: All available information and documents in "Justice For North Caucasus Group" is provided for the "fair use". There should be no intention for ill-usage of any sort of any published item for commercial purposes and in any way or form. JFNC is a nonprofit group and has no intentions for the distribution of information for commercial or advantageous gain. At the same time consideration is ascertained that all different visions, beliefs, presentations and opinions will be presented to visitors and readers of all message boards of this site. Providing, furnishing, posting and publishing the information of all sources is considered a right to freedom of opinion, speech, expression, and information while at the same time does not necessarily reflect, represent, constitute, or comprise the stand or the opinion of this group. If you have any concerns contact us directly at: eagle@JusticeForNorthCaucasus.com


Page Last Updated: {Site best Viewed in MS-IE 1024x768 or Greater}Copyright © 2005-2009 by Justice For North Caucasus ®