Daily Newsletter – 24/10/2013

Safi: Assad and Russia Won’t Negotiate with Opposition

The official spokesman of the Syrian National Council, Louay Safi, stated that Bashar Assad and the Russian Foreign Minister want to negotiate with an “opposition which they create with members such as the regime’s Deputy Prime Minister Qadri Jamil. Safi described the “group as a structure that is not separate from the that of the regime.” This came in response to the Russian Foreign Ministry’s rejection of the Syrian Coalition being the only legitimate representative of the Syrian people, according to a statement released by the Friends of Syria group in London.

The Russian Foreign Ministry described this as a “conspiracy and breach against the essence of the framework of the Russian-American initiative.” The Russian Foreign Ministry argued that the Friends of Syria group “is trying to rewrite the Geneva 1 statement for their own political purposes.” The Ministry added, “The statement reflects the group’s attempts to change their views on key elements of the Geneva 1 statement in order to determine the outcomes of Geneva 2 in advance.” The Friends of Syria statement reaffirmed the impossibility of “Assad and his partners who have blood on their hands remaining in power.” He added that Geneva 2 “should result in the creation of a transitional government with full executive powers, and full control over all government institutions, including the armed forces, security branches, and the intelligence apparatus.” There should also “be an identified time frame for the political transition in Syria.” The British Foreign Minister William Hague said on the sidelines of the meeting which included many of the revolutionary leaders in Syria: “We have made completely clear that Bashar al Assad will not have any role in returning stability and establishing democracy in Syria.” Along the same lines, the American Secretary of State John Kerry renewed his confirmation that “Bashar al Assad has lost his legitimacy and ability to rule.” A spokesman for the Russian Foreign Ministry said that the call for changing Bashar al Assad’s regime in Damascus is an “implicit threat to return to the scenario to use military force”, considering this, “completely unacceptable.”

(Source: Syrian Coalition)

Death Toll: 14 Dead in Syria Today and 82 Died Yesterday

Local Coordination Committee in Syria documented 82 people dead in Syria yesterday, among them four women, four children, and three who died under torture. Also, four people died in each of Damascus proper and rural Damascus, Dara’a and Homs, and two people died in Aleppo.

(Source: Local Coordination Committees)

Gas Line Explosion Shuts Down Southern Syria

Various parts of Damascuswere suddenly cut off from electricity as a huge fire blazed on the eastern front near the outer wall of the Damascus International Airport. It was discovered the fire was caused by the explosion of the gas line which feeds the Tishreen Station near the Damascus International Airport. Activists reported that the flames reached the fuel storage tanks in the airport. The flames could be seen clearly from any part of Damascus, and the smell of burning fuel even reached some parts of the city. At the same time fierce clashes occurred near al Marj causing security forces to flee the area. Also, according to eye witnesses many airplanes took off from the airport in fear of the fire reaching the airport in the case that it was taken over by the Free Syrian Army. The fire continued to blaze for four hours as the regime shelled Zamalka and Douma with mortar shells killing a mother and her daughter, as well as injuring others. The eastern Ghouta witnessed shelling with rocket launchers from Mezzah Military Airport injuring many people, some of whom are in critical condition. A huge explosion also occurred near the natural gas plan in Adra al Sinaiya in rural Damascus. There are no details about that explosion thus far.

(Source: Syrian Coalition + Local Coordination Commitees)

Detainees Die Under Torture in Regime Jails

The Free Syrian Army clashed with regime forces on al Tibleen Checkpoint and Masaken al Muhasareen in rural Dara’a. Other clashes occurred in al Manshiya in Dara’a al Balad on many fronts amidst regime shelling with rocket launchers and artillery on the area. The FSA destroyed a regime heavy machine gun vehicle in Tal al Hish east of Nawa. Also, three people died under torture in the regime security branches, they are from the city of al Dmeen, after having been detained for more than a year and a half.

(Source: Syrian Coalition + Local Coordination Committees)

FSA Downs MiG Fighter Jet

The Free Syrian Army targeted many regime strongholds during the “Pouring of Fire” campaign in the regime supporting areas in Homs killing a number of regime forces and injuring others. A regime MiG fighter jet was brought down in Sadad in rural Homs as it was shelling the surrounding villages. Four children died in Muheen due to a number of mortar shells that feel on their home as regime forces shelled the area. Regime forces renewed their shelling of the town of al Dara al Bayda with Fozdikha mortars injuring a large number of people. At the same time clashes between the FSA and regime forces occurred on the al Hajana front.

(Source: Syrian Coalition + Local Coordination Committees)

FSA Destroys Tanks as the Regime Shells Villages

The Free Syrian Army destroyed a T72 tank in Rasm al Aali village in eastern rural Hama as regime forces attempted to advance towards the village. Regime forces renewed their shelling of Souran and al Salamiyah with heavy artillery injuring many civilians and destroying many buildings. Mountain 40 and Khan al Subul in rural Idlib were fired upon by heavy machine guns from regime fighter jets injuring many civilians, some of whom are in dire condition according to eye witnesses.

(Source: Syrian Coalition + Local Coordination Committees)

Regime Forces Attempt to Raid Civilians

The Free Syrian Army clashed with regime forces near the Biological Building in al Sfeira in Aleppo during a regime attempt to raid and take control of the area. Regime forces shelled Qadi Askar in Old Aleppo with mortar shells severely injuring two children and causing severe damage to the infrastructure of the area. Three mortar shells fell on al Sakan al Shababi in al Ashrafiye in Aleppo without causing any damage to anyone in the area. Regime fighter jets targeted al Sheikh Khudr, Tareeq al Bab, and al Sakhoor injuring many civilians who are in critical condition due to the lack of medical supplies in the area.

(Source: Syrian Coalition + Local Coordination Commitees)

Former Iranian Foreign Minister: Iran Should Convince Assad to Resign

The previous Iranian Foreign Minister, Ibrahim Yazidi, called on his country to convince Bashar al Assad to leave his post to save the Syrian people. Yazidi added that Assad’s departure is the only political solution that will solve the Syrian issue. Yazidi said, “It is on Iran to convince Russian and work with it to convince Bashar al Assad to voluntarily resign.” It is noteable that Yazidi was the first Iranian Foreign Minister after the 1979 revolution.

(Source: Syrian Coalition + Local Coordination Committees)

Assad To Announce Plan to Destroy the Chemical Weapons Arsenal within 24 Hours

OPCW announced that Bashar al Assad’s regime is prepared to present a detailed plan to destroy the Syrian chemical weapons arsenal in the next 24 hours. The United States has earmarked $6,000,000 to rid the chemical weapons. The head of the joint mission of the OPCW and the UN, Sigrid Kaag, considers the time limit set for the mission poses the greatest challenge to the efforts to destroy the chemical weapons arsenal in Syria by the first half of 2014. Analysts consider that the Friends of Syria statement gives Bashar al Assad a push to take rapid steps in an effort to try to please Western countries, who have confirmed Assad’s inability to remain in power and the necessity of his turning over of all power. The British Foreign Minister William Hague said on the sidelines of the meeting which included many of the revolutionary leaders in Syria: “We have made completely clear that Bashar al Assad will not have any role in returning stability and establishing democracy in Syria.” Along the same lines, the American Secretary of State John Kerry renewed his confirmation that “Bashar al Assad has lost his legitimacy and ability to rule.”

(Source: Syrian Coalition + al Jazeera)

Trilateral Meetings in Switzerland in Preparation for Geneva 2

A US official stressed that the UN envoy to Syria, Lakhdar Brahimi, will meet with US  and Russian officials in Switzerland next month in order to pave the way for a comprehensive peace conference on Syria in Geneva. He explained, “that the trilateral meeting will be held in Geneva this coming November, and it is expected that the delegation will include the U.S. Undersecretary of State for Political Affairs Wendy Sherman and the U.S. Ambassador to Syria Robert Ford. The official added: “We look forward to continuing this tripartite dialogue and review progress towards convening the Geneva conference on Syria.” It is noteworthy that the United Nations announced yesterday that they will hold a preparatory meeting for the Geneva 2 conference early next month in New York. Participants in the meeting will be the permanent members of the Security Council and the international Arab envoy to Syria, Lakhdar Brahimi.

(Source: al Arabiya)

Israel: No Chemical Weapons Transferred to Hezbollah

Israeli Defense Minister, Moshe Yaalon, confirmed that Israel will not allow the transfer of specialized weaponry from the Assad Regime to the terrorist Hezbollah militia. He stressed that this is a red line that will not be crossed. Hezbollah has not yet received any of the transferred chemical weapons.The Israeli occupation carried out an air raid, on May 5th, striking Mount Qassioun, targeting three military sites and stores of weapons believed to be missiles. Analysts said: “This operation was in response to the Israeli occupation’s fear of Bashar al Assad’s fall and chemical weapons ending up in the hands of the Free Syrian Army.”

(Source: Syrian Coalition)

Turks Demand Life Sentence for Rehaniya Explosion

A Turkish judiciary charged 33 people, including two Syrians, with blowing up two cars inside Rehaniya, near the Syrian border, killing 52 civilians. The “public prosecutor in Adana was in charge of the investigation and requested that those charged be given life imprisonment sentences after they are found guilty for murder.” Informed sources said that the mastermind of the attack is an activist in a radical leftist group, “Muhraj Ural”, and is pro-regime. According to Turkish media “Ural resided in Syria years ago” and is closely linked to the Assad regime.

(Source: al Hayat + AFP)