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430 families make distress call to lift the siege
Homs residents trapped in the old city sent out a distress call on behalf of about 430 besieged families who have been suffering for 17 months. According to statistics published by an activist within the neighborhoods of Homs, children under the age of 12 constitute 47% of the civilians trapped in the old city, including more than 32 infants, while women represent 22%, the elderly 16% and men 15% distributed throughout 14 neighborhoods. According to the report, families live in these neighborhoods amidst a horrendous humanitarian situation, and besieged people depend on the food they find in the rubble of destroyed homes, especially bulgur wheat and rice. Because the Assad regime cut off water to those neighborhoods, besieged people resort to getting water from wells in the old houses, which are often contaminated, causing the spread of many diseases in some areas of Syria due to the regime preventing any food and medical aid to reach the region. (Source: Syrian Coalition + Al Shark al Awsat)
In Darya, “The Story of Hope” told on cardboard signs
The local council of the city of Darya launched a campaign entitled “The Story of Hope” which aims to highlight the humanitarian situation of the people trapped inside the city. The campaign reflects the defiance shown by dozens of trapped women and children who live with constant bombardment of their city. During a demonstration in one of the streets of Darya a long human chain and was formed and cardboard signs held up that reflected the relentless suffering they continue to experience. According to a member of the local council in Darya, this campaign is an attempt on the part of civilians “to bring their voices to the world which has failed to help them and open humanitarian corridors for the introduction of the necessary requirements for their lives.” (Source: Syrian Coalition)
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Death Toll: 11 martyrs in Syria today, 75 yesterday
Local Coordination Committees in Syria documented 75 martyrs yesterday, citing 11 people until six in the evening, including a child, five in Damascus, two in each of Idlib and Aleppo, and one martyr in each of Deir Ezzor and Dara’a. (Source: Local Coordination Committees)
FSA overruns 3 regime checkpoints in Damascus
The Free Syrian Army today captured three regime’s checkpoints on al Salam highway, which connects the town of Khan Asheeh and Moadamiya in Damascus’s western countryside. It also liberated Tal al Qabousiya, and most of the town of Darousha near Moadamiya. Moreover, the Free Syrian Army advanced on the gates of the “68” Brigade and the “68” checkpoint. This progress comes within the major battle dubbed “al Saffat”, which was launched by the Free Syrian Army to lift the siege imposed on Moadamiya and neighborhoods south of Damascus. Meanwhile, regime rocket launchers and heavy artillery shelled al Muleiha in rural Damascus, with reports of causalities, some of them in serious condition. Regime forces also targeted al Yarmouk refugee camp with mortar rounds and Doshka guns in conjunction with clashes between the Free Syrian Army and Assad’s troops on the outskirts of al Hajer al Aswad neighborhood. (Source: Local Coordination Committees + Smart News Agency)
FSA destroys a tank, Clashes in Dara’a
The Free Syrian Army destroyed a tank belonging to the regime’s forces while it was shelling the town of Atman in the countryside of Dara’a. Meanwhile, the neighborhoods of al Juheer, al Hirak and the eastern side of Busra al Sham came under heavy artillery bombardment with reports of some wounded and the destruction of a number of houses. The shelling coincided with violent clashes taking place between the two parties, with various kinds of weapons being used by the regime. (Source: Local Coordination Committees + Smart News Agency)
Barrel Bombs on Rural Hama
Regime warplanes dropped barrel bombs on the towns of Atshan, Kafr Zeita and Allatamina in Hama, which caused civilian casualties and destroyed a number of houses. The regime forces stationed in Tal Osman also shelled the villages of Um Neer in Jabal Shah-Shaboou in Hama’s countryside with artillery shells, while Assad’s forces stationed in Jabal al Buhouth shelled the town of Dumeina to the south. Regime forces also arrested a young man from the city of Taybet al Imam after raiding his home. Meanwhile, the Free Syrian Army destroyed a Gvozdika vehicle, besides killing a regime soldier stationed in the Ismant checkpoint in eastern rural Hama. (Source: Local Coordination Committees + Smart News Agency)
FSA attacks Assad forces in al Rashideen neighborhood of Aleppo
The Free Syrian Army targeted a center for the regime’s forces in the scientific research building in al Rashideen neighborhood in Aleppo today. This coincided with shelling by regime forces on the town of Benan al Huss in Aleppo countryside which led to the destruction of some homes. Meanwhile, al Zaidi neighborhood came under heavy artillery bombardment, injuring a number of residents and destroying many civilan homes. (Source: Local Coordination Committees + Smart News Agency)
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Kerry: No place for Assad in the transitional government.
U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry ruled out that idea Bashar Assad could be part of the transitional government. “We all share the same goal, that is a transitional government put in place that can give the people of Syria the opportunity to choose their future,” Kerry said during a joint press conference with his Egyptian counterpart, Nabil Fahmy in Cairo. “We also believe that Assad, by virtue of his loss of moral authority, cannot be part of that,” he stressed. Kerry was speaking at the start of an 11-day tour aimed at shoring up ties with Arab nations. After a short stopover in Cairo, the top US diplomat will travel on Sunday to Saudi Arabia, which expressed reservations in regard to Geneva II which the United States and Russia are seeking to be held. Kerry said Sunday that Washington and its allies may differ over “tactics” on the Syrian conflict but they shared the goal of a handover of power. An official source at the regime’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs described Kerry’s statement as “blatant interference” in Syrian affairs “that would thwart the Geneva II conference before it takes place.” In the same context, Spokesman for the Syrian Coalition, Louay Safi, said that Russian Prime Minister, Dmitry Medvedev, is obviously letting go of the idea of Assad’s survival in light of the international changes experienced by the region. This comes after statements by Medvedev in which he suggested guarantees for the safe departure of Assad and added that “The departure of Bashar al Assad from power without assurances as to his personal fate is non- realistic.” Safi added that this retreat from the principle of the survival of Assad is “realistic and that it has become an urgent need for the international community to acknowledge that it is impossible to leave Syria in the chaos created by Bashar and his regime which affects the development of the whole region.” Safi considered it is “Assad’s fate can’t possibly be discussed until there is agreement on his departure” and said: “The important thing at this stage is to agree on the principle of Assad’s departure.” Medvedev questioned whether his ally Assad would agree to step down when considering the fate of the ousted Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak and Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi. (Source: Syrian Coalition)
Ministerial meeting of the Arab League to discuss developments in Syria
The Arab League will host a meeting of foreign ministers in Cairo today to discuss the latest developments in Syria in light of the efforts made by UN envoy, Lakhdar Brahimi, whose extensive tour intended to create an atmosphere of regional and international support for Geneva 2 ended on Saturday. Arab League Secretary General, Nabil Elaraby, said that it is not possible to talk about a specific date for the Geneva Conference prior to Brahimi’s meeting with officials from the United States, Russia and other permanent member countries of the Security Council next Tuesday in Geneva. Burhan Ghalioun, a member of the Syrian Coalition, said that the final position regarding the Coalition’s participation in Geneva 2 will be determined at the meeting of the General Commission of the National Coalition in Istanbul on November 9 and 10. It is noteworthy that the head of the Syrian Coalition, Ahmad Jarba, considers that the decision regarding Geneva 2 is in the hands of the Syrian people as the “Coalition is nothing more than an executor for the will of the people.” In a speech at a Friends of Syria meeting Jarba said “If we say yes to Geneva 2, we will hear loud echoes from the streets saying “Down with the Coalition and Geneva together.” Jarba criticized the international community’s lack of balance in its political speech and its inability to stop the massacres committed by Bashar al-Assad against the Syrian people and said: “We asked for a no-fly zone or strikes that would deter the regime which has shed a lot of blood, but you didn’t answer our call… and today you want us to sell the blood that you were unable to stop from bleeding.” The head of the Coalition said that if Geneva 2 is not consistent with the principles put forward by the Coalition then it will be nothing but “a humiliating settlement” that does not meet the aspirations of the Syrian people. He also considered Geneva II as a move by some states to attempt to whitewash their humanitarian faces in front of their own people after they were tarnished by their shameful positions “towards Bashar Assad’s massacres and atrocities.” Jarba pointed out that in the event the international community insists on maintaining its position of refusing to hold Assad accountable, and standing against the will of the Syrian people, then participation in Geneva 2 will be impossible. Jarba threatened a refusal to participate in the game of international politics saying “rather than three nos there will be five nos: 1. No negotiations 2. No peace 3. No recognition 4. No retreat and 5. No to the impotent international community. Jarba cited the requirements of the Syrian Coalition for approval to enter Geneva 2, the first of which was “to secure humanitarian corridors to areas under siege and the release of detainees, foremost being all women and children.” He continued by pointing out that “we cannot sit at the negotiating table when children and women die in prisons and starvation is being systematically practiced by the regime as a weapon against the Syrian people.” Jarba said the Coalition refuses to negotiate with Bashar al-Assad unless “it’s based on the transition of power with all its components and its organs and institutions, along with the departure of the criminal dictator” and demands that there should be a specific timetable for all stages of negotiation” saying that the element of time is an integral part of the negotiation terms and principles of the National Coalition. Jarba also called for “the inclusion of items binding on both parties to implement the agreement under Chapter VII of the Charter of the United Nations” and stressed that “no other group represents the Syrian people better than the National Coalition for it represents all the components of the revolution.” He ruled out acceptance of “Iran as a mediator at the negotiating table, in addition to mercenaries of the militant Hezbollah Abu al-Fadl Abbas Brigade and Iran’s Revolutionary Guard” who are considered to be the most important pillars of military and political forces supporting Bashar al-Assad during the committing of massacres in Syrian cities which revolted against the injustice practiced by the regime. Jarba pointed out that supplying “military support, especially qualitative arms against aircraft, would create the condition for providing a real balance on the ground that would help revolutionary forces to force the regime to negotiate and not continue to kill unarmed civilians so brazenly.” At the end of his speech, Jarba called for the immediate withdrawal of all heavy weapons deployed by the regime in the villages and cities of Syria, and the mercenaries of the Hezbollah terrorist militia, Abu al-Fadl Abbas.” He said, “the spread of terrorism in some areas of Syria has been masterminded and supported by the regime, while other causes are due to the failure of the international community to help” people being annihilated by a power hungry insane dictator.” (Source: Syrian Coalition)
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