Tomah Thanks Meetings Focused on Jump Starting Syria’s Economy Ahmad Tomah, Prime Minister of the Syrian Interim government, thanked participants at a meeting in South Korea focused on reviving the Syrian economy supporting development. Tomah said that the cost of rebuilding Syria is beyond the capacity of the Syrian people, and that Syria needs a new marshall plan, referring to the US-funded substantial aid program that helped Western Europe recover after World War II. The meeting was co-hosted by the United Arab Emirates, Germany and South Korea, and led by members of the Group of Friends of Syria, consisting mainly of Western and Gulf countries as well as Turkey. South Korean Foreign Minister Yun Byung-se said that “the five points that will be discussed include agriculture, food, security and energy.” (Source: Syrian Coalition)
Snowstorm Covers Syrian Refugees As Humanitarian Aid Fails Syrian refugees living in tents the Lebanese Bekaa Valley received urgent relief equipment by the High Commissioner of the United Nations for Refugees and with the help of the Lebanese army. The relief aid aims to ward off a humanitarian disaster caused by the Alexa snowstorm that is pummeling Lebanon, Jordan, Syria, Palestine and some parts of Turkey. The Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, with the help of the Lebanese army, delivered urgent relief aid to the displaced Syrians living in tents in Bekaa, eastern Lebanon. The region is the most affected by the storm so far. The High Commissioner announced the delivery of relief aid to around 125,000 displaced people in the Bekaa Valley, while around 55,000 displaced people will receive the aid during the next few day. The humanitarian aid includes plastic screens, wood and other equipment to help them repair their tents. Syrian refugees are suffering from tragic situations in the face of the snowstorm, after some tents collapsed in some areas. Water flooded many of them, let alone the severe shortage of fuel and heating materials. Relief aid is very scarce compared to the size of the disaster. The humanitarian organizations distribute around 250,000 blankets and 6,000 stoves for Syrian refugees in Lebanon over the past months. The relief aid also included financial aid, $150 USD per family, which was distributed to 45,000 families. (Source: Syrian Coalition)
Local Council of Aleppo Allocates 90,000 USD and 500 stoves to the Schools in the Province The Office of Education in the Local Council of Aleppo is working to renovate the city’s schools and to provide heating for students in all the liberated areas in Aleppo province. The Council allocated $90,000 to schools in rural Aleppo and 500 stoves for schools in the city. According to the Statistics Office of the Aleppo Council, 500 schools, which contain 350,000 pupils, would be covered by this support. The move comes in light of the wave of bitter cold caused by the blizzard that struck most of Syrian territory. Azzam Khandji, the director of the Office of Education in Aleppo Council said that there is an urgent need to secure supplies of education in the areas administered by the Council, adding that the Council signed a contract worth $90,000 with the Assistance Coordination Unit (ACU) and Creative Company to renovate schools and provide them with heating equipment. $55,000 were given to schools in rural Aleppo, while the rest of the money will be provided during the next week. Khanji also said that schools in the city were provided with 500 stoves that use olive residues, cheaper than fuel oil. Activists documented cases of sporadic deaths in Syria as a result of the storm in different parts of the country, but there are no accurate estimates yet for the total number of deaths. (Source: Syrian Coalition)
|
Doctors in South Damascus send distress call The General Medical Committee in South Damascus issued a statement in which they persuaded the revolutionary and military forces to help break the siege on the area. The statement also detailed the humanitarian situation in the area, the lack of food and medical supplies, means of heating, and the humanitarian disaster. The statement warned of collective death in the coming days if urgent action is not taken. (Source: Syrian Coalition + Local Coordination Committees)
FSA Capture Baghdad Bridge Checkpoint in Rural Damascus The FSA captured Baghdad Bridge checkpoint in the town of Hafir Tahta in rural Damascus after fierce clashes with regime forces. Aerial shelling on the towns of Adra northeast of Damascus and Dumeir injured many civilians. In addition, artillery shelling by regime forces was reported in the districts of Moadamyeh, Kaboun, Nabek, Yabrood and Zabadani, with reports of civilian casualties and material damage. (Source: Syrian Coalition + Local Coordination Committees)
FSA Destroys Two Tanks in Dara’a The Free Syrian Army destroyed two regime tanks using Konkurs anti-tank missiles at a regime checkpoint in Dara’a. Regime forces shelled the town of Jassem in rural Dara’a with rocket launchers, killing a number of civilians and injuring many others in addition to destroying a number of houses and shops. Regime forces also shelled the towns of Nahteh and Dael in rural Dara’a. (Source: Syrian Coalition + Local Coordination Committees)
Islamist Fighters Storm a Main Regime Stronghold in Deir Ezzor Islamist Brigades stormed the Saiqa stronghold in Deir Ezzor, which contains the third largest ammunition depots in Syria after heavy clashes with regime forces. The clashes began by detonating a BMP vehicle and a car bomb in the camp this morning, which killed a number of regime forces and wounding others. (Source: Syrian Coalition + Smart News Agency)
Violent Clashes In Eastern Hama, Regime Forces Snipe Civilians in Hasraiya Free Syrian Army clashed with regime forces in eastern Hama alongside intense shelling by regime forces on the region. Regime snipers shot more than 15 civilians in Hasraiya in rural Hama, a number of them died immediately. Meanwhile, a number of regime forces were killed by an IED near Souran bridge on the highway north of Hama. (Source: Syrian Coalition + Local Coordination Committees)
13 Detained in Aleppo’s Central Prison Die of Hypothermia 13 detainees in the central prison of Aleppo died of hypothermia. Detainees suffer from lack of heating, food and clothing, which the Red Crescent used to supply. Reports coming from the prison that detainees are burning mattresses they sleep on to warn themselves. The prison has been besieged by Anti-Assad fighters for eight months with the aim of setting the detainees free. Assad’s warplanes bombed the perimeter of the besieged prison. Meanwhile, a number of regime forces were killed during clashes with the FSA on the outskirts of the village of Qlaiah near Khanasser in rural Aleppo. (Source: Syrian Coalition + Local Coordination Committees)
|
Britain Gives £24 Million to Help Syrian Refugees in Lebanon Hugh Robertson, the British Secretary of State for Middle East Affairs, announced that his country would give new humanitarian aid to Lebanon, worth of 24 million pounds, which aims to help the refugees and their host communities.” The British Embassy in Lebanon said in a statement that Robertson visited at the end of his two-day visit to Lebanon the Registration Center of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees in Beirut, where he saw the impact of British humanitarian aid to Syrian refugees and their host communities. (Source: Syrian Coalition)
White House Confirms Suspension of Non-Lethal Aid to the FSA, Idris Meets with Leaders of the Islamic Front The White House confirmed that “the United States has suspended delivery of non-lethal military aid to northern Syria.” White House spokesman Josh Earnest said the Obama administration is concerned about reports that Islamic Front seized bases and warehouses belonging to the Supreme Military Council of the Free Syrian Army. He says the U.S. is consulting with General Salim Idriss to try to inventory the status of U.S. equipment and supplies that have been provided to the Free Syrian Army. Earnest says all further deliveries of nonlethal assistance have been suspended. But he says humanitarian assistance will continue to flow. General Idris traveled to the Syrian-Turkish borders to meet with leaders of the Islamic Front to settle to the dispute. According to Jane Sacchi, the spokeswoman of U.S. State Department, Washington needs clarification about the Islamic Front’s takeover of the FSA’s warehouses in the town of Atmeh, which is the reason behind the United States’ temporary suspension of aid to northern Syria. The FSA’s General Staff is to clarify the situation in order that the United States reconsiders its decision. (Source: Syrian Coalition)
Angelina Jolie Calls To Make Geneva 2 A Turning Point for Syria UNHCR Special Envoy Angelina Jolie urged the international community to make Geneva 2 “a genuine turning point in the conflict.” She pointed out in a statement that the international community “should prevent another 1,000 days of bloodshed and suffering.” Jolie went on: “With so much of the country difficult for aid workers and journalists to access and a quarter of a million people stranded in besieged areas, the full story of those 1,000 days has yet to be told. We will look back with shame on this period, and be haunted by our collective failure to prevent this killing of innocents.” She also said: “This shocking milestone should spur everyone involved in the Geneva peace conference in January to make it a genuine turning point in the conflict: To end the violence and ensure full humanitarian access for Syria’s starving and beleaguered people. With each passing day life gets harder for the millions of Syrian refugees, half of them children.” (Source: Syrian Coalition)
UN: Syrian Chemical Weapons Destruction Plan To Be Announced On Dec. 17 Detailed plan for destruction of chemical weapons outside Syria will be released by the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) on Tuesday, December 17. This was announced on Wednesday by Martin Nesirky, the representative of UN Secretary General. “The plan to destroy Syria’s chemicals outside the country will be announced on December 17,” he stated. Nesirky added that “to talk about the possible content of the document is premature.” He stressed that the plan “will be carried out by the joint mission of the United Nations and the OPCW, with the assistance of a number of players, including members of the Organization.” According to the preliminary schedule, all chemical weapons should be removed from Syria before February 5, 2014. Most dangerous substances will be eliminated outside of Syria not later than 31 March, the rest – no later than 30 June 2014. Dangerous chemicals will be destroyed on board of a specially equipped ship, which the US is ready to provide. According to Nesirky, “practical issues” relating the operation are currently being discussed. (Source: Syrian Coalition)
|