The truth about Syria

Johannes · February 11, 2013

Shnorhakal em. Depi lav ... Husam

Yervant1 · February 12, 2013

THE SILENT EXODUS OF SYRIA'S CHRISTIANS

By Nina Shea

February 8, 2013 5:31 P.M.

In Syria's rebellion, no religious or ethnic group has been spared

horrific levels of loss and suffering, but its 2,000-year-old Christian

minority is now facing a distinct persecution.

Under the cover of war and chaos, this group, which alone lacks

militias of its own, is easy prey for Islamists and criminals, alike.

These assaults are driving out the Christians en masse. This

2,000-year-old community, numbering around 2 million is the largest

church in the Middle East after Egypt's Copts, and it now faces

extinction.

Archdeacon Emanuel Youkhana of the Assyrian Church of the East, despite

recent heart surgery, is now constantly on the road in Lebanon and

Iraq trying to cope with the refugee crisis. He wrote to me today:

"We are witnessing another Arab country losing its Christian Assyrian

minority. When it happened in Iraq nobody believed Syria's turn

would come. Christian Assyrians are fleeing massively from threats,

kidnappings, rapes and murders. Behind the daily reporting about

bombs there is an ethno-religious cleansing taking place, and soon

Syria can be emptied of its Christians."

Official information and media reports about the Christians' fate has

been sparse. A new report yesterday, by Nuri Kino, a Swedish journalist

of Assyrian background, sheds valuable light on the atrocities visited

upon the Christians inside Syria, and their ordeals in attempting

to escape, relying as they must on exploitative human-trafficking

networks that have sprung up. Entitled "Between the Barbed Wire," the

report resulted from a trip sponsored by a Swedish charity, the Syriac

Orthodox Youth Organization, to assess the needs of refugees. It is

based on over a hundred interviews this past Christmas with Christian

refugees in Turkey and Lebanon.

The refugees and the Lebanese bishops whom Kino and his team

interview relate that Christians are leaving in a torrent. Once they

cross into Lebanon, guided by Middle Eastern versions of "coyotes"

through a harrowing series of checkpoints guarded by various sides in

the conflict, they mostly seek out the local Christian communities

for help. A clearly overwhelmed Archbishop George Saliba, on Mount

Lebanon, says about the refugees: "I want to help as many as I can,

but it is not sustainable. We have hundreds of Syrian refugees who

arrive every week. I don't know what to do."

Elsewhere in Lebanon, St. Gabriel's monastery has opened its 75

unheated rooms to over a hundred refugees. In another Lebanese

Christian town, the Syrian Catholic patriarch Ignatius Ephrem Josef

III has converted a school building into a shelter for the hundreds of

refugees there now and the others constantly arriving. The patriarch

describes it as the "great exodus taking place in silence." He also

says he houses Christians who fled several years ago from Iraq. All

of the Christian towns visited for the report are scrambling to keep

up with the influx of Syrian Christians. Church leaders were grateful

for the beds, washing machines, heaters, and medicine brought by the

Swedish visitors.

Some of the Syrians say they plan to stay in Lebanon until Syria "calms

down" and they can return to their homes. Many others say going back is

"unthinkable" and are making plans to try to get to Europe either on

valid visas or by paying smugglers the going rate of $20,000. They are

largely small-business owners and skilled professionals - an engineer

and his family, a jeweler and his, a hairdresser, a medical student,

etc. Many hope to be smuggled to Sweden and Germany, where they

can receive some state subsidies until they find work. The town of

Sodertalje seems to be a popular destination, with 35 new Christian

families arriving from Syria each week. Kino, himself a citizen of

Sodertalje, relates that there are already many Syrian Christians

living there, and Arabic is more common than Swedish.

The refugees were panic-stricken, pointing to some horrifying

triggering event that forced them out - a kidnapping of a relative,

a murder, or a robbery. They feel they are targeted for being

Christian, which means that militants and criminals can assault them

with impunity. Some point to a government that fails to protect them;

others to Islamists rebels who want to drive them out. A refugee tells

Kino: "Two men from a strong Arabic tribe decided one day to occupy

our farmland, just like that. When I went to the police to report,

I was told there was nothing they could do. The police chief was very

clear that they would not act, as they didn't want the tribe to turn

against the regime."

A woman from Hassake recounts how her husband and son were shot in

the head by Islamists. "Our only crime is being Christians," she

answers when asked if there had been a dispute.

A father says: "We're not poor, we didn't run from poverty. We ran from

fear. I have to think about my twelve-year-old daughter. She's easy

prey for kidnappers. Three children of our friends were kidnapped. In

two cases they paid enormous ransoms to get the children back, and

in one case they paid but got the child back dead."

Another man attests: "In Syria, you don't know who is your friend and

who is your enemy. The wealthy have it the worst. Criminals wait in

line to kidnap them."

The refugees all fear the Islamists. When the jihadi rebel units

show up and take over a town, like Rasel-Eyn, it loses its Christian

population over night. One man from there tells Kino: "The so-called

Free Syrian Army, or rebels, or whatever you choose to call them in

the West, emptied the city of its Christians, and soon there won't

be a single Christian in the whole country."

There is no complete data on the number of refugees. How many

Christians have fled is not known and escapees continue to come across

the border each day. We are only beginning to understand the peril

they face.

Archdeacon Youkhana pleads: "The world must open their eyes to the

plight."

- Nina Shea is director of Hudson Institute's Center for Religious

Freedom and co-author of Persecuted: The Global Assault on Christians

(Thomas Nelson Publishers, March 2013).

http://www.nationalreview.com/corner/340216/silent-exodus-syria-s-christians-nina-shea

Yervant1 · February 12, 2013

ARMENIAN POPULATED ALEPPO IN DARKNESS FOR A FEW DAYS

12:20, 12 February, 2013

YEREVAN, FEBRUARY 12, ARMENPRESS: For three days incessant most

Armenian populated second largest city Aleppo is sank into darkness.

Berio National Primacy press secretary Jirayr Resyan told Armenpress,

the electricity is completely switched off; the internet and

telephone also do not operate regularly. Parallelly the water supply

is irregular, as water pomp is working with difficulty due to lack of

electricity. There are no news refer to the lack of energy supply. The

only gratifying fact in the words of press secretary is the bread

issue ceased to be urgent.

The army is launching large-scale operations seeking to clear out the

city from the rebels, Reisyan states. Although the morning was quiet,

the voices of shootings could be heard throughout the night. Military

helicopters constantly monitor the city's different districts. The

army is also trying to clear the airport territory from the rebels,

to restore the security in order it will be possible to launch flight

to Aleppo. According to press secretary the situation is more tense

in the suburbs.

Over 60 thousand people were killed during 23 months ongoing clashes

in Aleppo, including four dozen Armenians.

Arpa · February 12, 2013

THE SILENT EXODUS OF SYRIA'S CHRISTIANS

By Nina Shea
February 8, 2013 5:31 P.M.

In Syria's rebellion, no religious or ethnic group has been spared
horrific levels of loss and suffering, but its 2,000-year-old Christian
minority is now facing a di

=====

The refugees all fear the Islamists. When the jihadi rebel units
show up and take over a town, like Rasel-Eyn, it loses its Christian
population over night. One man from there tells Kino: "The so-called
Free Syrian Army, or rebels, or whatever you choose to call them in
the West, emptied the city of its Christians, and soon there won't
be a single Christian in the whole country."

http://www.nationalr...tians-nina-shea

And all this with the tacit and explicit approval of the so called biggest and mightiest, read hypocritical nation, the Us, in collusion with their partners in murderous crime furkey, saudia , qatar et al. SHAME! SHAME! SHAME!!!

And what the the poop :oops: Pope and over a billion Catholics have to say about it? Where are the Crusaders? Do you remember when the pope ate his vomit about islam?**

Soon Syria will be like saudia with NO CHRISTIAN CURCH or a trace ot it.

** http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-21417767

Edited February 12, 2013 by Arpa

Johannes · February 12, 2013

Don't worry dear Arpa

Syria will back better.

Johannes · February 14, 2013

Syrian Truth l Russian Military Source: Syria Received Panzer-C1 Air Defense Systems

Feb 14, 2013

MOSCOW, (SANA) – A Russian military source said Syria received a batch of anti-aircraft missiles and Panzer-C1 air defense systems at the beginning of the current year.

The source said that the air defense systems were delivered in accordance with signed contracts between the two countries, pointing out that these systems were shipped to Syria by sea.

Anatoly Isaykin, Director of the Russian Rosoboronexport Firm, stressed that technical military cooperation with Syria is progressing under international law, indicating that his country exported air defense systems to Syria according to signed contracts.

Panzer-C1 air defense systems are highly accurate that could target all current and future air attack means available at an altitudeof 20 kilo meters high.

The speed of each missile is 1300 meters per second, as the system allows striking four targets at once. It also could hit land and marine targets, and is to direct its fire from mobile and fixed sites.

Johannes · February 14, 2013

Syrian Truth l Another American Appears in Syria Fighting Alongside the FSA

In this footage, an American with a Salafi (or Amish) beard is seen sitting in a Jeep next to an Arab fighter rejoicing for having shot down a Syrian military helicopter.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QWOspljRbfI

Johannes · February 15, 2013

Syrian Truth l Tunisian Radio: Tens of Tunisian Terrorists Killed in Syria

Feb 14, 2013

TUNIS, (SANA)- Tunisian Express FM radio stressed that 132 terrorists were killed in Aleppo, most of them are Tunisians, in a new evidence on the presence of mercenaries from various countries among the terrorist groups ranks fighting in Syria.

The radio quoted a source as saying that most of the Tunisian terrorists killed in Syria are from Sidi Bouzid city.

The source noted that photos of four of the killed Tunisians were sent by Jabhat al-Nusra terrorist group. Among those are Tareq al-Ajlani and Kamel al-Omahani from al-Ruqab are in the city of Sidi Bouzid, while the two others are from al-Tadamun neighborhood in Tunis.

Jabhat al-Nusra is going to send the rest of photos of the killed terrorists to leaders in Sidi Bouzin, the source added.

Arpa · February 15, 2013

As yet the most detailed picrure of the Syrian Saga. It is a long but worth read.

======

http://www.voanews.com/content/syrias-civil-war-could-drag-on-much-longer/1603754.html

February 14, 2013
Syria’s Civil War Could Drag On Much Longer
by David Arnold
For more than a year, Syria experts have been predicting the imminent fall of the 42-year-old Assad regime, but President Bashar al-Assad continues to hold power and shows no sign of giving it up.

Even as rebel forces have moved into the suburbs of Damascus and are trying to close in on the capital’s center, some experts on the civil war say it could drag on for another four years.

“I don’t look at this conflict in terms of ending in 2013,” said Aram Nerguizian, a Syria expert at the Center for Strategic International Studies, a Washington D.C. research organization. “I look at it in terms of 2015, 2016, 2017.

“It’s not because the regime is so strong or the opposition is so weak. It’s because this has become a much bigger conflict than just Syria,” Nerguizian says. “This is a conflict where a lot of scores are being settled. You have an influx of forces that are increasingly radical ….”

He says President Bashar al-Assad’s regime is now getting help from Iran, Russia and factions in Lebanon, and is learning how to fight an effective counter-insurgency war. The fighting, he adds, is settling into a drawn-out war of attrition.

According to the United Nations, the fighting so far has killed an estimated 70,000 and displaced more than five million.

“Frankly, I can imagine a much higher death toll,” said Nerguizian. He compared the fighting to the 15-year civil war in neighboring Lebanon that took an estimated 120,000 lives between 1975 and 1990.

The truth is not on Twitter

Predictions of Assad’s downfall aside, many experts are now saying it’s impossible to predict how the civil war will turn out.

Joshua Landis, director of the Middle East Studies Center at the University of Oklahoma, even describes the outcome of the 22-month revolution as “a crap shoot.”

Both sides – the Assad regime and its opponents – are involved in a liars’ contest
Aram Nerguizian, Center for Strategic International StudiesNerguizian also is cautious when it comes to predicting how the civil war will turn out.

“We don’t really know a great deal about where the truth lies in terms of what the regime is capable of and the same for the opposition," he says. “We’re living in this Twitter, Facebook and instant media universe that makes us feel like we are active participants …… when in reality we have no direct link.”

Both Assad’s regime and the opposition engage in extensive propaganda. The regime’s theme is its eventual victory. The opposition makes similar claims and talks about points and tipping points.

“Both sides – the Assad regime and its opponents – are involved in a liars’ contest,” Nerguizian said. “And frankly that’s actually worked into the battle strategies of both sides.”

As an example, he says Assad has used predictions of his weakness and eventual defeat to lure the opposition into overly aggressive and ill-considered military tactics. Then Assad’s forces launch fierce counter-attacks. The ploy, Nerguizian says, is similar to Russian strategies in Chechnya.

Who controls Syria right now?

On a map of Syria, the rebels control most of the landscape. But the government continues to hold Damascus and the cities of Homs and Hama to the north of the capital, two Mediterranean coastal regions including the port cities of Tartus and Latakia, and part of Aleppo, the largest city in the country.

“They own Damascus,” said Landis. “They own the downtown parts of almost every city.”

Opposition brigades now control many low-income suburbs and half of the nation’s large commercial city of Aleppo, “but the Christian quarters, the upper-class quarters are still in government hands and it’s difficult for the opposition to make those sorts of inroads because they will lose a lot of people…,” Landis said.

Assad forces have withdrawn from a large eastern Kurdish region and are under pressure in the Jazeera region’s major city, Deir al-Azzour.

Nerguizian believes, however, that the battles are far from over.

“For all the talk of Aleppo falling to the opposition, you have basically had a divided city for going on seven months now,” he said. “You’re going to see a much stronger resistance in the centers like Damascus.”

Experts now describe Assad waging a war of attrition. The strategy is to wear down the opposition, retreat when necessary and deny the other side victory. And instead of sending ground troops into hostile areas of the big cities, the army uses artillery to bombard rebel-held neighborhoods from a safe distance.

Iran and Russia remain reliable donors to Assad’s war effort, according to Syrian dissident and expatriate blogger Ammar Abdulhamid.

“Without continuing arms supplies from both countries, and funds from Iran and Iraq, the regime would have collapsed by now,” he says.
Lots of the upper class cling to him because they don’t want to get bombed by Syrian jet airplanes
Joshua Landis, Center for Middle Eastern StudiesAssad’s forces also are getting help from Iran’s Quds Force fighters and Hezbollah, the militants based in Lebanon. Nerguizian said Hezbollah is protecting the Shi’a shrine at Zeinab, Shi’a villages in the Bekaa Valley and a crucial highway link between Beirut and Damascus.

The Washington Post also reports that Hezbollah and Quds advisors in the Zabadani area are training newly recruited Alawites for Assad’s pro-government shabiha militia.

"Sitting on the fence" to avoid the bombs

Syria experts say foreign governments that support the anti-Assad revolution often fail to appreciate that the Syrian leader still has widespread support, not only among the Alawite minority, but among many Sunni Muslims who have been able to take advantage of the economic opportunities of the Ba’athist Party state.

“The side of this that we don’t like to talk about is that the fact that you have still far too much support for this regime,” said Nerguizian, adding that there are “way too many Syrians in a population of 22 million people who frankly are sitting on the fence or are quietly rooting for whoever brings stability.”

Landis said fear is a major factor in this apparent loyalty to Assad.

“Lots of the upper class cling to him because they don’t want to get bombed by Syrian jet airplanes,” he said.

Assad draws most of his strength from his fellow-Alawites who share leadership of the nation.

“Syria is led by cousins and in-laws,” Landis said. “Traditional family values and a different kind of glue, a sectarian family of glue.”
http://www.voanews.com/content/syrias-civil-war-could-drag-on-much-longer/1603754.html

Did you know Aram Nerguizian?;

http://csis.org/expert/aram-nerguizian

Yervant1 · February 15, 2013

AFTER MUSLIM REBELS SEIZE TWO PRIESTS IN ALEPPO, THERE ARE FEARS FOR THEIR LIFE

http://www.asianews.it/news-en/After-Muslim-rebels-seize-two-priests-in-Aleppo,-there-are-fears-for-their-life-27116.html

02/12/2013 13:05

SYRIA

An Armenian Catholic priest, Fr Michael, and an Orthodox clergyman

were abducted last Sunday in Aleppo's Christian neighbourhood. Sources

speak to AsiaNews about barbarous murders carried out my Islamic

extremists. A car bomb explodes at the Turkish-Syrian border crossing

of Cilvegozu.

Aleppo (AsiaNews) - A group of rebels close to Muslim extremists on

Sunday abducted an Armenian Catholic priest, Fr Michael, as well as a

yet unknown Orthodox clergyman. Both were working in Aleppo. Sources,

anonymous for security reasons, told AsiaNews that the city's Christian

community is very concerned about the attack. "Extremist violence is

getting worse day by day. Muslim militias are killing anyone suspected

of ties with the regime, including women and children. People in the

neighbourhoods are comparing these days to the Ottoman conquest five

centuries ago."

For several weeks, residents had complained about the presence of

al-Nusra Front forces, Islamic extremists who want to turn Syria into

an Islamic state, feared even by the rebel Free Syrian Army.

On 6 February, Front troops stormed the Christian neighbourhood

of Jdeideh where extremists had already destroyed the city's main

Evangelical church in November.

Al-Nusra forces include many foreigners, including Muslims from

Indonesia and the Philippines, as evinced by a statement posted online

by the leader of Abu Sayyaf, an extremist Muslim group with ties to

al-Qaeda operating in the Philippines. In it, Muslims are urged to

go to Syria and sacrifice their lives for Islam.

"These fighters live for killing and violence. They act without pity

and make distinctions among people," sources said. "When they kill,

they turn to God as if they were making a sacrifice."

Meanwhile, clashes between the military and rebel groups continue

across Syria with more than 60,000 people killed so far.

Yesterday, a car bomb killed 13 people near the Turkish border,

at a road block in Cilvegozu, a border crossing some 100 kilometres

northwest of Aleppo, the main route of escape for Syrian refugees

fleeing the war. It has been in rebel hands for several months. (S.C.)

Johannes · February 16, 2013

Syrian Truth l Press TV l Four Turkish officers killed in Aleppo clashes: Report

At least four Turkish officers have been killed in clashes between Syrian government troops and foreign-backed militants in Syria's northern city of Aleppo.

The Syrian website Syria Now reports that the corpses of the Turkish officers were identified among the militants killed in the Friday fighting in the al-Bab district of the flashpoint city.

Reports say the Syrian government troops killed dozens of militants and inflicted heavy losses on them in two days of fighting for the control of the international airport and the nearby Nairab airfield in Aleppo.

The airport and the military airfield both remain under government control.

Damascus has repeatedly accused Ankara of supporting the insurgents who are fighting against the government of President Bashar al-Assad.

On Friday, the Syrian government sent a letter to the UN, blasting Turkey's "destructive" role in the conflict that has ravaged the country for the past 23 months.

In the letter, the Syrian Foreign Ministry accused Ankara of publicly supporting and financing terrorists fighting against the Syrian government and allowing its soil to be used for training and housing anti-Damascus terrorist groups.

Analysts believe the move by Turkey is part of an anti-Syria plot hatched by the US, Qatar and Saudi Arabia to fuel the unrest in the country by increasing the number of militants fighting against the government.

http://www.presstv.ir/detail/2013/02/16/289221/four-turkish-officers-killed-in-aleppo/

Johannes · February 16, 2013

Syrian Truth l Syria News 16.2.2013, Mass Marches in Aleppo Salute Army, Terrorist Confesses to Perpetrating Crimes

* Foreign Ministry: Turkish Government Flagrantly Breaches International Law, Good Neighborliness

* Lebanese Army Arrests 11 People, including 4 Syrians, Seizes Their Weapons in Arsal

* Terrorist Confesses to Perpetrating Crimes in Homs to Accuse the Army

* PM Meets Patriarch Laham, Stresses Religious Tolerance in Syria

* Grand Mufti: Syria is Paying the Price of Its Support for Arab Causes

* Mass Marches in Aleppo Salute Army, Blast Terrorism

* Lavrov Stresses Need that No Preconditions are Set for Solving Crisis in Syria

Yervant1 · February 19, 2013

Times. am

“The next Karabakh cannot be permitted in Syria”: Davutoglu tries to mislead the meaning of Nagorno-Karabakh issue

18.Feb.2013 - 14:08

Turkish Ministry of Foreign Affairs continues anti-Armenian policy and tries to present NK issue for the international community just according to the Azerbaijani and Turkish imagination.

As Armweeklynews.am writes, yesterday Iranian state TV station has informed that Iranian, Turkish and Egyptian Ministers of Foreign Affairs had a phone conversation.

As Turkish Hurriyet magazine writes on the same day Turkish Minister of Foreign Affairs Ahmed Davutoglu has made some clarifications about the conversation at Turkish Great Mejlis during the Turkey-European Union support council session.

Turkish MFA announced that they did not manage to agree with Iran on Syrian negotiation format between the opposition and the Government. He underlined that it was just right time for the political negotiations.

“But the negotiations with bloody hands must be excepted. The next Karabakh cannot be permitted in Syria”, Davutoglu announced. This announcement by Turkish MFA must not remain without answer as he tries to present Nagorno-Karabakh issue as religious-ethnic conflict which violates the history of the conflict completely. Nagorno-Karabakh nation struggled for the self-determination.

Johannes · February 19, 2013

http://realsyriaupdates.wordpress.com/2013/02/17/shocking-facts-exposed-a-syrian-infiltrator-behind-enemys-lines/

Arpa · February 19, 2013

http://realsyriaupdates.wordpress.com/2013/02/17/shocking-facts-exposed-a-syrian-infiltrator-behind-enemys-lines/

Dear Hovan good to see you. As always, an excellent post. Please allow me to post the entire article as in time these sites may be taken down or otherwise expire.

Whoever that young man is, he deserves a hug, a kiss and a Medal. Seems like he may have infiltrated into Klikia- Adana, Aintab and Marash.

See # 459 above (Nerguizian) about the “Liars’ Contest”

Real Syria Updates

Real Syria News

There are so many passages that some of us may deem quotable, and the one that concerns us;

=====

I won’t go into detail about the rest of the Syrian religious and ethnic groups, but I’ll just write what they have prepared for them. Armenians have to go back to their country in Armenia, why live in our country when they have their own!! Alawites are of different groups; those in the army MUST be killed, the others either go and live in the mountains tops or work as servants in the houses of Imams, and the revolution is too kind because it always offers them the exile option.

=========

Shocking Facts Exposed… A Syrian Infiltrator Behind Enemy’s Lines

Posted on February 17, 2013 by ArabiSouri

Shocking Facts Exposed… A Syrian Infiltrator Behind Enemy’s Lines

The following is a rough report by a Syrian young man who made the dangerous visit to Turkey for a month and came back to his city Idleb vowing to defend it against the coming Islamist (not Islamic) Wahhabi Jihadists after discovering the below very disturbing facts which we present un-edited except for a touch up and the indicative images.

A- Turkish Economy and the financial state of Syrians.

The Turkish economy is moving more and more into a Capitalism and Corporations-based economy. All the Turkish industries are monopolized by certain companies; for example there is only one gas company and two mineral water companies. As a price for the well organized streets, the beautiful parks, the easy transportation the nice police cars, and the magnificent governmental buildings, the Turkish people has to pay huge taxes all day.

Whatever medicine you need, even Panadol (pain killer tablets) I think, you have to get a prescription from a hospital who will charge you with 150 T.L that’s about 100$!!! Heating in Turkey is based on coal; no one can offer to get a diesel heater. 1 liter of diesel is 4.5 T.L that is 200 S.P!!! (we used to buy diesel for 20 S.P before the unrest.)

Erdoğan Proved Thieve

It would be a logical question to ask how the Syrians afford to live there!! Actually, those I met are mostly rich people with a 4000 T.L monthly spending “some Turkish people live on 1500 T.L in a month!” the Syrians I met are managing to live there without being in need for the Turks whatsoever. The only problem with these Syrians is that they are all traitors or traitors’ supporters.

B- Turkish Demography.

I’ll only talk about two parts that I lived in. I lived in Adana in a Kurdish area. This area is located in the old part of the city, neglected by the government, village-like streets, old houses, poor people, undrinkable tap water, and all the humiliating methods are adopted in that area. The Kurds are on their ongoing revolution; everyday they would go on their marches and be attacked by the brutal Turkish police, although they are completely peaceful!!

Coming to the second section which is the Alawite one, these people are now being under huge pressure and growing oppression thanks for the Syrian Revolution and the sectarian Turkish media. Turkish people are starting to hate the Turkish Alawites just because of their sects, sometimes they are deprived of job opportunities just because of their background!! The Syrians there are telling lies about the Alawite beliefs in Syria and some blind Turks are taking these stories as granted and start questioning the Alawites there about this and that… I, personally, think that this is not done by coincidence, but rather this is fueled by the sectarian government of Turkey. The Turkish people are not sectarian; they are fanatic to their own Turkish nationality, just as we the Arabs are, but now the Turkish government is doing its best to implant this hatred towards Alawites.

C- NATO

When I was in Adana I went to its university which is 5km away from Engerlik NATO base. I could see it from a very far distance: there was a lake separating the base from the city and you have to cross a guarded bridge to get to the other side… snipers are located all around the base with the permission to shoot anyone who get closer than 500m to the base!!!

The Turkish people’s stance of NATO presence in Turkey differs according to their political stance. Some are unaware of the danger and the meaning of the existence of that base in Turkey, these people are mostly those who don’t care about politics and who care only about their everyday problems.

Others are against its presence and are aware that this base is an authorized occupation of Turkey, these people are totally against Erdoğan and all of his policies (political, social, economical…) The third section, which is the largest, represents those who support Erdoğan and justify the base and all of Turkey’s relations with Israel and FUKUS as a result of the secular army. They always say that it’s not Erdoğan who agreed to install this base, but rather that he was forced to accept it after military pressure; they also say that a lot of Turkish military officers are Zionists and Masons!!! To cut it short, they believe that false play of military-government struggle.

D- Turkey and Syria.

Of course I cannot say that I could analyze everything is one month, but I’m just writing about what I’ve seen and about what I’ve heard.

Turkish people love Syria and the Syrians. I know it’s hard to believe this, and I personally did not believe this before I went there, but they do. The difference is in the vision of the future Syria! Of course the difference is totally based upon the political stance and therefore you’ll sense a clear cut in the Turks’ view of the Syrian crisis.

- Lots and lots of Turks are brainwashed by the mainstream media and believe that our army is killing us, support FSA not with money or fighters – and you’ll come to understand how- but they believe that the FSA is a real good patriotic army!! This is also believed by of different groups… some of them took this stance because of what their media and government tell them, others because of humanitarian causes, and the largest group is made of those who are part of the conspiracy against Syria and who are sectarian people called ‘Nurjian’ (I’ll talk about this group in detail in the coming parts).

- Some Turks are in favor of the Syrian Arab Army and Bashar Alassad. These people are not a small section but they are not allowed to say what they have to say, they are oppressed. This section is mostly made from those who are totally against Erdoğan and believe that Erdoğan (and I quote the exact words of a Turkish man) “had turned Turkey into USA’s bitch” they are against the Islamist orientation of the Turkish government. This pro-Syria section believes that Syria is the last frontier against Israel and the NWO

(New World Order)

- Many and many more of Turks just don’t care about who wins the war, but they say that we love Syria and wish Syria and Syrians the best and that Turkey must not middle meddle in Syria and the Syrians. This group contains some supporters of Erdoğan, some of those against him, and those who don’t care about politics.

Where Syria is going?!

- Part of a new Ottoman Empire!

In Turkey there is an Islamist movement called the “Nurjia” it follows the teachings and writings if Badei’alzaman Saeed AlNursi. I have to go a little bit in the details of this group and its history so that you understand their perspectives.

This Saeed AlNursi lived in the 1920s, during the times of moving from the Ottoman Islamic Empire to the Turkish Secular Republic. He opposed Mustafa Kamal Ataturk’s secular view and was exiled to Anatolia where he wrote his books which, allegedly, are about religion. Actually, I’ve read some of his writings and it is clear that he is calling for the restoration of the Empire… the Nurjians today teach his books as religious ones but actually it’s nothing more than a cover to brainwash the students with the Ottomanist views. In every city they have many schools which are boarding schools, i.e. with no T.Vs, or internet. Students are being brainwashed all the time in a very sickening manner. These people are in complete power of everything in Turkey; even Erdoğan consults their head consulter. I spent few days with the head of a district (which I cannot name it for my own safety and to keep my identity concealed) and what I’ll write what this man told me (who once refused to meet Erdoğan because he was busy!!)

“Once you get rid of this ‘kafer’ sacrilegious regime there will be no need for the borders separating Syria from Turkey, we would become one united state. Lebanon will feel insecure and threatened if they don’t join this state. After that the now ongoing deliberation with Egypt will have reached its resolutions so that Egypt would join this new state and it’ll be called “the United Islamist States”. As you know Syria after the war like Egypt will be weak and it needs a strong country like Turkey to be allied with; and because countries after dictatorships and wars are usually politically infertile, the leader of this new state would be Erdoğan and a ‘Walli’ (governor) would be appointed in each part of this state. Maybe, after this state moves into its perfect state, elections would be held to appoint a new leader.” And the capital of this state would be Cairo, Damascus, or Istanbul?? I asked. “Of course it must be Istanbul, you remember that the last capital of Islamic caliphate was Istanbul, and Istanbul is already the center of the Middle East.” I told him that this is a real pleasure for me to hear this –I couldn’t express my pro-Syria attitude there for fear of being killed, and I liked the information I was getting because of this fake personality I took, I felt like a real spy- but I don’t think that the Syrians would accept this great Islamist spring. “Who said that? Most of the Syrian Imams and educated elites are in favor of this state and of course Imams are the leaders of any community. You’ll meet these honorable men”

In a few days I was fortuned to meet these “Honorable men.” Doctors, architects, teachers, merchants, industrialists and most importantly Imams were present there. These men are from Aleppo, Aleppo rural, Idleb, Kifrenbel, Haas, Homs, Rastan, Kurds Mountains – Latakia rural and all the shitty sectarian places you may think about. With the fake anti-Assad identity, I was a real spy in this wasp nest. After lunch, a sermon was delivered by a Turkish Imam and translated into Arabic by a Syrian. After this, the Syrian Imams started to give their speeches… I could understand that the war in Syria is between Kafers and Muslims, that in Syria you cannot pray in a mosque more than the five prayers, the two stars in the Syrian flag are a symbol of the ruling “family” and the oppressed people, and that Syrians in the “freed” areas totally agree about this “great Islamic flowery state that would remove Kafers in the Arab world and Iran along with Israel once it’s established!!” after that they started to make Duaa’ to win this Jihad, asked Allah to give faith and support for the Mujahideen in Bilad Alsham, and to help them establish this new Islamic cornerstone to conquer the world!!

- A new Afghanistan with sectarian beliefs and plans.

I got a contact with some guys from Aleppo and Idleb rurals. They gave me a full account of where Syria is going once they take control; of course they believed that I’m with them, otherwise I’d be killed by now. When FSA invaded Aleppo rural they started to steal and vandalize the farms owned by Aleppo’s wealthy families. These guys used to travel into Syria when FSA gets in a new area, steal whatever they want and sell it in Turkey. When I asked them is this Halal (religiously approved) they screamed yes sure, our Imams in Jabhat AlNusra said that it’s OK to take whatever we want from these Shabiha’s houses because their money is ours and they stole it from our pockets!! I told them but this money should be divided among all the Syrians not only those who lay hands on these houses! They said that after the revolution victory rights would be given to its rightful owners.

In one of our conversation I intentionally mentioned Nubol and Alzahra’ (two villages in Aleppo rural with Shiaa in them, FSA couldn’t invade them but they are besieging these two villages) they told me that no food, water or any supplies are allowed into these two villages “we are strangling them” I told them that I’m happy about depriving the Syrian Arab Army (Assad gangs I said of course) of supplies, but that I’m sad for the civilians there… These guys told me: “are you crazy! Or you city city guys are so naive!! These two villages are Shia’ like Foua’ in your Idleb and they deserve it more than the Army, we are not aiming against the army by this siege, but also against these pigs sons living there. Our imams are now confused what to do with these people when we get into their villages; some say –and I’m in favor of this opinion- kill them all, kill the children before the men because the children will grow up with this Kafer seed in their hearts, so better get rid of them now than being a trouble in the future. Other imams are too kind they say that we kill only those who help the army and we send the rest into exile.” And where this exile should be? I asked. “in hell, why asking me!! They can go to hell or drown themselves in the sea, they can go to their head pig in Iran, but new Syria doesn’t need such people in it. Do you want them to stay?” I couldn’t hold myself from saying “yes of course, they are Syrians after all” and he gave me that disgusted look.

I won’t go into detail about the rest of the Syrian religious and ethnic groups, but I’ll just write what they have prepared for them. Armenians have to go back to their country in Armenia, why live in our country when they have their own!! Alawites are of different groups; those in the army MUST be killed, the others either go and live in the mountains tops or work as servants in the houses of Imams, and the revolution is too kind because it always offers them the exile option. Druze and Ismailies must convert into Islam (as If they are not) or go out of Syria. Christians: “you see our religion doesn’t tell us to force them into Islam, but they have to live in accordance to our conventions and traditions” what do you mean by this? I asked. “You see our Islam forbids us of seeing a woman’s hair, so they have to put the scarf. And they must pay the Jizyah (Islamic based taxing system.) The last thing they have to adapt with is that they cannot drink alcohol, neither publicly nor privately; not only because it’s Haram but also because it’s harmful; we are doing this for their sake too!!”

Intelligence Failure.

- In this age of hypertechnolgization, I feel that there is something I am missing in the performance of the the Syrian Intelligence. I am no spy, nor I have ever had any formal training, yet I was able, with my modest personal skills, to infiltrate some rebel militia leaders. I can say with confidence that I reached some important info. Syrian intelligence can do much better in its hunt for intel. I even know of cases where intel came to the security forces as easy as an unpaid snitch passing info, but it was not taken seriously. Something needs to be done regarding the intel war, and it needs to be done urgently.

- I came all the way from Turkey, passed by many military checkpoints, and NO ONE examined my luggage!!! I could smuggle 20 Kalashnikovs within my two bags without anyone to ask to check my ID. This is a deadly security failure on the side of our Syrian Army…

What I’ve seen on my way from and back to Syria

- I passed by infantry academy… they are in complete control of it!!! 3000 fighters from Altawheed brigade taking it as their base!! Why don’t the jets burn the hell out of it?? They are only shelling the residential areas… WHY??

- speaking about the rebels unity; FSA is by no way united…I asked this to the car driver on my way back whose cousin is one of the rats, why is only Altawheed brigade is in that base and he told me that he got the control of it after many clashes with the other brigades. And he told me too that once FSA was besieging a military base in Aleppo rural and they needed tanks to get into that base, they asked Altawheed brigades to help them with his tanks -he is the only tanks owner in Aleppo- and he refused to join unless third of the booties but the other groups refused to give more than a quarter and because of this the Syrian Army was able to push them back….They are nothing more than armed gangs….

- With 3 Allah Akbar you can steal any car you want and go to Jabhat AlNusra who will give you papers for this car and you can drive it in the “Freed” areas!!! There is a huge automobile market in Tal Rifat for ‘Allah Akbar’ cars…

- I passed through the industrial area of Aleppo (Shekh Najar); it’s under Jabhat AlNusra control… No one can steal anything from it, otherwise they’ll kill any thief!! BUT, if you pay 500,000 SP you can choose any factory and take EVERYTHINNG in it “Halal-ly”

- When I first got into Syria, I was shocked to find no one of FSA terrorists to check who I am!!! All Mossad and CIA agents could enter Syria within 1 day!!! What shocked me even more was to find 7 trucks of 20 tons loading capacity -140 tons combined- stolen and being sent to Turkey!!! P.S we used to buy 1 K.G bread for 9 SP that is 20 cents!!! Now we are buying it for 100 SP that is 2$!!!

Johannes · February 21, 2013

‎#Syria #News #freedom #Revolution

Syrian Truth l

Jabhat al-Nusra's Damascus Suicide Bombings Kill 50+ Civilians & Injure 230+ Others (18+)

Today (Feb 21, 2013), the favorite group of the Western-backed Syrian opposition, al-Qaeda's Jabhat al-Nusra (Nusra Front), has conducted multiple suicide bombings in residential areas, the most violent of which was in the residential area of al-Thawra Street near al-Mazraa neighborhood. There was also a second failed attempt to detonate a 1,500 Kg bomb by a suicide bomber at the same site of al-Thawra Street explosion, but he got stopped by the Security Services before he was able to kill the people who tried to rescue the injured there. Another bomb detonated in another area of Damascus that led to subsequent fighting.

The toll of the first bombing in al-Thawra Street was 53 civilians killed and 235 injured. CNN reported that the bomb detonated at a checkpoint manned by government soldiers in front of the Baath Socialist Party's main office based on "the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights," a group known to accuse the Syrian Army of committing massacres that were really committed by the "Free Syrian Army" (FSA). The neighborhood is also home to Iraqi refugees as well as Druze and Christian groups.

Those terrorist acts coincided with the targeting of a number of residential buildings with mortar shells, causing material damage, while the FSA targeted on Wednesday the Syrian sports institutions as they attacked Tishreen Sports City with two mortar shells, causing the death of football player Youssef Suleiman and the injury of several other athletes.

Warning: Some footage may be graphic. (not for shock, 18+, viewer discretion advised, aimed only at documenting crimes by FSA terrorists in Syria)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sCQDFYyPWvw

Johannes · February 22, 2013

http://rt.com/news/syria-terrorism-un-row-264/

Johannes · March 4, 2013

Syrian Truth l President Al-Assad’s Interview with The Sunday Times

Sunday Times: Mr. President your recent offer of political dialogue was qualified with a firm rejection of the very groups you would have to pacify to stop the violence: the armed rebels and the Syrian National Coalition, the main opposition alliance. So in effect you are only extending an olive branch to the loyal opposition, mostly internal, that renounce the armed struggle, and who effectively recognizes the legitimacy of your leadership, who are you willing to talk to, really?

President Assad: First of all, let me correct some of the misconceptions that have been circulating and that are found in your question in order to make my answer accurate.

Sunday Times: Okay. President Assad: Firstly, when I announced the plan, I said that it was for those who interested in dialogue, because you cannot make a plan that is based on dialogue with somebody who does not believe in dialogue. So, I was very clear regarding this. Secondly, this open dialogue should not be between exclusive groups but between all Syrians of every level. The dialogue is about the future of Syria. We are twenty three million Syrians and all of us have the right to participate in shaping the country’s future. Some may look at it as a dialogue between the government and certain groups in the opposition – whether inside or outside, external or internal -actually this is a very shallow way of looking at the dialogue. It is much more comprehensive. It is about every Syrian and about every aspect of Syrian life. Syria’s future cannot be determined simply by who leads it but by the ambitions and aspirations of all its people. The other aspect of the dialogue is that it opens the door for militants to surrender their weapons and we have granted many amnesties to facilitate this. This is the only way to make a dialogue with those groups. This has already started, even before the plan, and some have surrendered their weapons and they live now their normal life. But this plan makes the whole process more methodical, announced and clear. If you want to talk about the opposition, there is another misconception in the West. They put all the entities even if they are not homogeneous in one basket – as if everything against the government is opposition. We have to be clear about this. We have opposition that are political entities and we have armed terrorists. We can engage in dialogue with the opposition but we cannot engage in dialogue with terrorists; we fight terrorism. Another phrase that is often mentioned is the ‘internal opposition inside Syria’ or ‘internal opposition as loyal to the government.’ Opposition groups should be loyal and patriotic to Syria – internal and external opposition is not about the geographic position; it is about their roots, resources and representation. Have these roots been planted in Syria and represent Syrian people and Syrian interests or the interests of foreign government? So, this is how we look at the dialogue, this is how we started and how we are going to continue.

Sunday Times: Most have rejected it, at least if we talk about the opposition externally who are now the body that is being hailed as the opposition and where the entire world is basically behind them. So, most of them have rejected it with the opposition describing your offer as a “waste of time,” and some have said that it is “empty rhetoric” based on lack of trust and which British Secretary William Hague described it as “beyond hypocritical” and the Americans said you were “detached from reality.”

President Assad: I will not comment on what so-called Syrian bodies outside Syria have said. These bodies are not independent. As Syrians, we are independent and we need to respond to independent bodies and this is not the case. So let’s look at the other claims. Firstly, detached from reality: Syria has been fighting adversaries and foes for two years; you cannot do that if you do not have public support. People will not support you if you are detached from their reality. A recent survey in the UK shows that a good proportion British people want “to keep out of Syria” and they do not believe that the British government should send military supplies to the rebels in Syria. In spite of this, the British government continues to push the EU to lift its arms embargo on Syria to start arming militants with heavy weapons. That is what I call detached from reality–when you are detached from your own public opinion! And they go further in saying that they want to send “military aid” that they describe as “non-lethal.” The intelligence, communication and financial assistance being provided is very lethal. The events of 11th of September were not committed by lethal aids. It was the application of non-lethal technology and training which caused the atrocities. The British government wants to send military aid to moderate groups in Syria, knowing all too well that such moderate groups do not exist in Syria; we all know that we are now fighting Al-Qaeda or Jabhat al-Nusra which is an offshoot of Al-Qaeda, and other groups of people indoctrinated with extreme ideologies. This is beyond hypocritical! What is beyond hypocrisy is when you talk about freedom of expression and ban Syrian TV channels from the European broadcasting satellites; when you shed tears for somebody killed in Syria by terrorist acts while preventing the Security Council from issuing a statement denouncing the suicide bombing that happened last week in Damascus, and you were here, where three hundred Syrians were either killed or injured, including women and children – all of them were civilians. Beyond hypocrisy when you preach about human rights and you go into Iraq, Afghanistan and Libya and kill hundreds of thousands in illegal wars. Beyond hypocrisy is when you talk about democracy and your closest allies are the worst autocratic regimes in the world that belong to the medieval centuries. This is hypocrisy!

Sunday Times: But you always refer to the people fighting here as terrorists, do you accept that while some are from the Jabhat al-Nusra and those affiliated to Al-Qaeda but there are others such as the FSA or under the umbrella of the FSA? That some of them are the defectors and some of them are just ordinary people who started some of the uprising. These are not terrorists; these are people fighting for what they believe to be the right way at the moment.

President Assad: When we say that we are fighting Al-Qaeda, we mean that the main terrorist group and the most dangerous is Al-Qaeda. I have stated in many interviews and speeches that this is not the only group in Syria. The spectrum ranges from petty criminals, drugs dealers, groups that are killing and kidnapping just for money to mercenaries and militants; these clearly do not have any political agenda or any ideological motivations. The so-called “Free Army” is not an entity as the West would like your readers to believe. It is hundreds of small groups – as defined by international bodies working with Annan and Al-Ibrahimi – there is no entity, there is no leadership, there is no hierarchy; it is a group of different gangs working for different reasons. The Free Syrian Army is just the headline, the umbrella that is used to legitimize these groups. This does not mean that at the beginning of the conflict there was no spontaneous movement; there were people who wanted to make change in Syria and I have acknowledged that publically many times. That’s why I have said the dialogue is not for the conflict itself; the dialogue is for the future of Syria because many of the groups still wanting change are now against the terrorists. They still oppose the government but they do not carry weapons. Having legitimate needs does not make your weapons legitimate.

Sunday Times: Your 3-staged plan: the first one you speak of is the cessation of violence. Obviously there is the army and the fighters on the other side. Now, within the army you have a hierarchy, so if you want to say cease-fire, there is a commander that can control that, but when you offer cessation of violence or fire how can you assume the same for the rebels when you talk about them being so many groups, fragmented and not under one leadership. So, that’s one of the points of your plan. So, this suggests that this basically an impossible request. You speak of referendum but with so many displaced externally and internally, many of whom are the backbone of the opposition; those displaced at least. So, a referendum without them would not be fair, and the third part is that parliamentary elections and all this hopefully before 2014; it is a very tall list to be achieved before 2014. So, what are really the conditions that you are attaching to the dialogue and to make it happen, and aren’t some of the conditions that you are really suggesting or offering impossible to achieve?

President Assad: That depends on how we look at the situation. First of all, let’s say that the main article in the whole plan is the dialogue; this dialogue will put a timetable for everything and the procedures or details of this plan. The first article in my plan was the cessation of violence. If we cannot stop this violence, how can we achieve the other articles like the referendum and elections and so on? But saying that you cannot stop the violence is not a reason to do nothing. Yes there are many groups as I have said with no leadership, but we know that their real leadership are those countries that are funding and supplying their weapons and armaments – mainly Turkey, Qatar and Saudi Arabia. If outside parties genuinely want to help the process they should be pressuring those countries to stop supplying the terrorists. As with any other sovereign state, we will not negotiate with terrorists.

Sunday Times: Critics say real and genuine negotiations may be the cause of your downfall and that of your government or regime, and that you know this, hence you offer practically impossible scenarios for dialogue and negotiations?

President Assad: Actually, I don’t know this, I know the opposite. To be logical and realistic, if this is the case, then these foes, adversaries or opponents should push for the dialogue because in their view it will bring my downfall. But actually they are doing the opposite. They are preventing the so-called ‘opposition bodies outside Syria’ to participate in the dialogue because I think they believe in the opposite; they know that this dialogue will not bring my downfall, but will actually make Syria stronger. This is the first aspect. The second aspect is that the whole dialogue is about Syria, about terrorism, and about the future of Syria. This is not about positions and personalities. So, they shouldn’t distract people by talking about the dialogue and what it will or will not bring to the President. I did not do it for myself. At the end, this is contradictory; what they say is contradicting what they do.

Sunday Times: You said that if they push for dialogue, it could bring your downfall?

President Assad: No, I said according to what they say if it brings my downfall, why don’t they come to the dialogue? They say that the dialogue will bring the downfall of the President and I am inviting them to the dialogue. Why don’t they then come to the dialogue to bring my downfall? This is self-evident. That’s why I said they are contradicting themselves. ON CAMERA

Sunday Times: Mr. President, John Kerry, a man you know well, has started a tour that will take him this week end to Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Turkey, where he will be talking to them about ways to ‘ease you out.’ In London and Berlin earlier this week, he said that President Assad must go and he also said that one of his first moves is to draft diplomatic proposals to persuade you to give up power. Would you invite him to Damascus for talks? What would you say to him? What is your message to him now given what he said this week and what he plans to say to his allies when he visits them over the weekend? And if possible from your knowledge of him how would you describe Kerry from your knowledge of him in the past?

President Assad: I would rather describe policies rather than describing people. So, it is still early to judge him. It is only a few weeks since he became Secretary of State. First of all, the point that you have mentioned is related to internal Syrian matters or Syrian issue. Any Syrian subject would not be raised with any foreigners. We only discuss it with Syrians within Syria. So, I am not going to discuss it with anyone who is coming from abroad. We have friends and we discuss our issues with friends, we listen to their advice but at the end it is our decision as Syrians to think or to make what’s good for our country. If anyone wants to ‘genuinely’ – I stress the word genuinely – help Syria and help the cessation of violence in our country, he can do only one thing; he can go to Turkey and sit with Erdogan and tell to him stop smuggling terrorists into Syria, stop sending armaments, stop providing logistical support to those terrorists. He can go to Saudi Arabia and Qatar and tell them stop financing the terrorists in Syria. This is the only thing anyone can do dealing with the external part of our problem, but no one from outside Syria can deal with the internal part of this problem.

Sunday Times: So, what is your message to Kerry?

President Assad: It is very clear: to understand what I said now. I mean, not a message to Kerry but to anyone who is talking about the Syrian issue: only Syrian people can tell the President: stay or leave, come or go. I am just saying this clearly in order not to waste the time of others to know where to focus.

Sunday Times: What role if any do you see for Britain in any peace process for Syria? Have there been any informal contacts with the British? What is your reaction to Cameron’s support for the opposition? What would you say if you were sitting with him now, especially that Britain is calling for the arming of the rebels?

President Assad: There is no contact between Syria and Britain for a long time. If we want to talk about the role, you cannot separate the role from the credibility. And we cannot separate the credibility from the history of that country. To be frank, now I am talking to a British journalist and a British audience, to be frank, Britain has played a famously (in our region) an unconstructive role in different issues for decades, some say for centuries. I am telling you now the perception in our region. The problem with this government is that their shallow and immature rhetoric only highlight this tradition of bullying and hegemony. I am being frank. How can we expect to ask Britain to play a role while it is determined to militarize the problem? How can you ask them to play a role in making the situation better and more stable, how can we expect them to make the violence less while they want to send military supplies to the terrorists and don’t try to ease the dialogue between the Syrians. This is not logical. I think that they are working against us and working against the interest of the UK itself. This government is acting in a naïve, confused and unrealistic manner. If they want to play a role, they have to change this; they have to act in a more reasonable and responsible way, till then we do not expect from an arsonist to be a firefighter!

Sunday Times: Thank you Mr. President. OFF CAMERA

Sunday Times: In 2011 you said you wouldn’t waste your time talking about the body leading opposition, now we are talking about the external body, in fact you hardly recognized there was such a thing, what changed your mind or views recently? What talks, if any are already going on with the rebels who are a major component and factor in this crisis? Especially given that your Foreign Minister Muallem said earlier this week when he was in Russia that the government is open to talks with the armed opposition can you clarify?

President Assad: Actually, I did not change my mind. Again, this plan is not for them; it is for every Syrian who accepts the dialogue. So, making this initiative is not a change of mind. Secondly, since day one in this crisis nearly two years ago, we have said we are ready for dialogue; nothing has changed. We have a very consistent position towards the dialogue. Some may understand that I changed my mind because I did not recognize the first entity, but then I recognized the second. I recognized neither, more importantly the Syrian people do not recognize them or take them seriously. When you have a product that fails in the market, they withdraw the product, change the name, change the packing and they rerelease it again – but it is still faulty. The first and second bodies are the same products with different packaging. Regarding what our minister said, it is very clear. Part of the initiative is that we are ready to negotiate with anyone including militants who surrender their arms. We are not going to deal with terrorists who are determined to carry weapons, to terrorize people, to kill civilians, to attack public places or private enterprises and destroy the country.

Sunday Times: Mr. President, the world looks at Syria and sees a country being destroyed, with at least 70, 000 killed, more than 3 million displaced and sectarian divisions being deepened. Many people around the world blame you. What do you say to them? Are you to blame for what’s happened in the country you are leading?

President Assad: You have noted those figures as though they were numbers from a spreadsheet. To some players they are being used to push forward their political agenda; unfortunately that is a reality. Regardless of their accuracy, for us Syrians, each one of those numbers represents a Syrian man, woman or child. When you talk about thousands of victims, we see thousands of families who have lost loved ones and who unfortunately will grieve for many years to come. Nobody can feel this pain more than us. Looking at the issue of political agendas, we have to ask better questions. How were these numbers verified? How many represent foreign fighters? How many were combatants aged between 20 and 30? How many were civilians – innocent women and children? The situation on the ground makes it almost impossible to get accurate answers to these important questions. We all know how death tolls and human casualties have been manipulated in the past to pave the way for humanitarian intervention. The Libyan government recently announced that the death toll before the invasion of Libya was exaggerated; they said five thousand victims from each side while the number was talking at that time of tens of thousands. The British and the Americans who were physically inside Iraq during the war were unable to provide precise numbers about the victims that have been killed from their invasion. Suddenly, the same sources have very precise numbers about what is happening in Syria! This is ironic; I will tell you very simply that these numbers do not exist in reality; it is part of their virtual reality that they want to create to push forward their agenda for military intervention under the title of humanitarian intervention.

Sunday Times: If I may just on this note a little bit. Even if the number is exaggerated and not definitely precise, these are numbers corroborated by Syrian groups, however they are still thousands that were killed. Some are militants but some are civilians. Some are being killed through the military offensive, for example artillery or plane attacks in certain areas. So even if we do not argue the actual number, the same applies, they still blame yourself for those civilians, if you want, that are being killed through the military offensive, do you accept that?

President Assad: Firstly, we cannot talk about the numbers without their names. People who are killed have names. Secondly, why did they die? Where and how were they killed? Who killed them? Armed gangs, terrorist groups, criminals, kidnappers, the army, who?

Sunday Times: It is a mix.

President Assad: It is a mix, but it seems that you are implying that one person is responsible for the current situation and all the human casualties. From day one the situation in Syria has been influenced by military and political dynamics, which are both very fast moving. In such situations you have catalysts and barriers. To assume any one party is responsible for all barriers and another party responsible for all the catalysts is absurd. Too many innocent civilians have died, too many Syrians are suffering. As I have already said nobody is more pained by this than us Syrians, which is why we are pushing for a national dialogue. I’m not in the blame business, but if you are talking of responsibility, then clearly I have a constitutional responsibility to keep Syria and her people safe from terrorists and radical groups

Sunday Times: What is the role of Al-Qaeda and other jihadists and what threats do they pose to the region and Europe? Are you worried Syria turning into something similar to Chechnya in the past? Are you concerned about the fate of minorities if you were loose this war or of a sectarian war akin to that of Iraq?

President Assad: The role of Al-Qaeda in Syria is like the role of Al-Qaeda anywhere else in this world; killing, beheading, torturing and preventing children from going to school because as you know Al-Qaeda’s ideologies flourish where there is ignorance. Ideologically, they try to infiltrate the society with their dark, extremist ideologies and they are succeeding. If you want to worry about anything in Syria, it is not the ‘minorities.’ This is a very shallow description because Syria is a melting pot of religions, sects, ethnicities and ideologies that collectively make up a homogeneous mixture, irrelevant of the portions or percentages. We should be worrying about the majority of moderate Syrians who, if we do not fight this extremism, could become the minority – at which point Syria will cease to exist. If you worry about Syria in that sense, you have to worry about the Middle East because we are the last bastion of secularism in the region. If you worry about the Middle East, the whole world should be worried about its stability. This is the reality as we see it.

Sunday Times: How threatening is Al-Qaeda now?

President Assad: Threatening by ideology more than the killing. The killing is dangerous, of course, but what is irreversible is the ideology; that is dangerous and we have been warning of this for many years even before the conflict; we have been dealing with these ideologies since the late seventies. We were the first in the region to deal with such terrorists who have been assuming the mantle of Islam. We have consistently been warning of this, especially in the last decade during the invasion and occupation of Afghanistan and Iraq. The West is only reacting to the situation not acting. We need to act by dealing with the ideology first. A war on terror without dealing with the ideology will lead you nowhere and will only make things worse. So, it is threatening and it is dangerous, not just to Syria but to the whole region.

Sunday Times: US officials recently, in particular yesterday, are quoted as saying that US decision not to arm rebels could be revised. If this was to happen what in your view will the consequences in Syria and in the region? What is your warning against this? Now, they are talking about directly equipping the rebels with armament vehicles, training and body armaments.

President Assad: You know the crime is not only about the victim and the criminal, but also the accomplice providing support, whether it is moral or logistical support. I have said many times that Syria lies at the fault line geographically, politically, socially and ideologically. So, playing with this fault line will have serious repercussions all over the Middle East. Is the situation better in Libya today? In Mali? In Tunisia? In Egypt? Any intervention will not make things better; it will only make them worse. Europe and the United States and others are going to pay the price sooner or later with the instability in this region; they do not foresee it.

Sunday Times: What is your message to Israel following its air strikes on Syria? Will you retaliate? How will you respond to any future attacks by Israel especially that Israel has said that we will do it again if it has to?

President Assad: Every time Syria did retaliate, but in its own way, not tit for tat. We retaliated in our own way and only the Israelis know what we mean.

Sunday Times: Can you expand?

President Assad: Yes. Retaliation does not mean missile for missile or bullet for bullet. Our own way does not have to be announced; only the Israelis will know what I mean.

Sunday Times: Can you tell us how?

President Assad: We do not announce that.

Sunday Times: I met a seven year old boy in Jordan. President Assad: A Syrian boy?

Sunday Times: A Syrian boy who had lost an arm and a leg to a missile strike in Herak. Five children in his family had been killed in that explosion. As a father, what can you say to that little boy? Why have so many innocent civilians died in air strikes, army shelling and sometimes, I quote, ‘Shabiha shootings?’

President Assad: What is his name?

Sunday Times: I have his name…I will bring it to you later.

President Assad: As I said every victim in this crisis has a name, every casualty has a family. Like 5 year-old Saber who whilst having breakfast with his family at home lost his leg, his mother and other members of his family. Like 4 year-old Rayan who watched his two brothers slaughtered for taking him to a rally. None of these families have any political affiliations. Children are the most fragile link in any society and unfortunately they often pay the heaviest price in any conflict. As a father of young children, I know the meaning of having a child harmed by something very simple; so what if they are harmed badly or if we lose a child, it is the worst thing any family can face. Whenever you have conflicts, you have these painful stories that affect any society. This is the most important and the strongest incentive for us to fight terrorism. Genuine humanitarians who feel the pain that we feel about our children and our losses should encourage their governments to prevent smuggling armaments and terrorists and to prevent the terrorists from acquiring any military supplies from any country.

Sunday Times: Mr. President, when you lie in bed at night, do you hear the explosions in Damascus? Do you, in common with many other Syrians, worry about the safety of your family? Do you worry that there may come a point where your own safety is in jeopardy?

President Assad: I see it completely differently. Can anybody be safe, or their family be safe, if the country is in danger? In reality NO! If your country is not safe, you cannot be safe. So instead of worrying about yourself and your family, you should be worried about every citizen and every family in your country. So it’s a mutual relationship.

Sunday Times: You’ll know of the international concerns about Syria’s chemical weapons. Would your army ever use them as a last resort against your opponents? Reports suggest they have been moved several times, if so why? Do you share the international concern that they may fall into the hands of Islamist rebels? What is the worst that could happen?

President Assad: Everything that has been referred to in the media or by official rhetoric regarding Syrian chemical weapons is speculation. We have never, and will never, discuss our armaments with anyone. What the world should worry about is chemical materials reaching the hands of terrorists. Video material has already been broadcast showing toxic material being tried on animals with threats to the Syrian people that they will die in the same way. We have shared this material with other countries. This is what the world should be focusing on rather than wasting efforts to create elusive headlines on Syrian chemical weapons to justify any intervention in Syria.

Sunday Times: I know you are not saying whether they are safe or not. There is concern if they are safe or no one can get to them.

President Assad: This is constructive ambiguity. No country will talk about their capabilities.

Sunday Times: A lot has been talked about this as well: what are the roles of Hezbollah, Iran and Russia in the war on the ground? Are you aware of Hezbollah fighters in Syria and what are they doing? What weapons are your allies Iran and Russia supplying? What other support are they providing?

President Assad: The Russian position is very clear regarding armaments – they supply Syria with defensive armaments in line with international law. Hezbollah, Iran and Russia support Syria in her fight against terrorism. Russia has been very constructive, Iran has been very supportive and Hezbollah’s role is to defend Lebanon not Syria. We are a country of 23 million people with a strong National Army and Police Force. We are in no need of foreign fighters to defend our country. What we should be asking is, what about the role of other countries, – Qatar, Turkey, Saudi Arabia, France, the UK, the US, – that support terrorism in Syria directly or indirectly, militarily or politically.

Sunday Times: Mr. President, may I ask you about your own position? Russian Foreign Minister Lavrov recently said that Lakhdar Ibrahimi complained of wanting to see more flexibility from your regime and that while you never seem to say ‘no’ you never seem to say ‘yes’. Do you think that there can be a negotiated settlement while you remain President, which is a lot of people are asking?

President Assad: Do not expect a politician to only say yes or no in the absolute meaning; it is not multiple choice questions to check the correct answer. You can expect from any politician a vision and our vision is very clear. We have a plan and whoever wants to deal with us, can deal with us through our plan. This is very clear in order not to waste time. This question reflects what has been circulating in the Western media about personalizing the problem in Syria and suggesting that the entire conflict is about the president and his future. If this argument is correct, then my departure will stop the fighting. Clearly this is absurd and recent precedents in Libya, Yemen and Egypt bear witness to this. Their motive is to try to evade the crux of the issue, which is dialogue, reform and combating terrorism. The legacy of their interventions in our region have been chaos, destruction and disaster. So, how can they justify any future intervention? They cannot. So, they focus on blaming the president and pushing for his departure; questioning his credibility; is he living in a bubble or not? is he detached from reality or not? So, the focus of the conflict becomes about the president.

Sunday Times: Some foreign officials have called for you to stand for war crimes at the International Criminal Court as the person ultimately responsible for the army’s actions? Do you fear prosecution by the ICC? Or the possibility of future prosecution and trial in Syria?

President Assad: Whenever an issue that is related to the UN is raised, you are raising the question of credibility. We all know especially after the collapse of the Soviet Union – for the last twenty years – that the UN and all its organizations are the victims of hegemony instead of being the bastions of justice. They became politicized tools in order to create instability and to attack sovereign countries, which is against the UN’s charter. So, the question that we have to raise now is: are they going to take the American and the British leaders who attacked Iraq in 2003 and claimed more than half a million lives in Iraq, let alone orphans, handicapped and deformed people? Are they going to take the American, British French and others who went to Libya without a UN resolution last year and claimed again hundreds of lives? They are not going to do it. The answer is very clear. You know that sending mercenaries to any country is a war crime according Nuremberg principles and according to the London Charter of 1945. Are they going to put Erdogan in front of this court because he sent mercenaries? Are they going to do the same with the Saudis and the Qataris? If we have answers to these questions, then we can talk about peace organizations and about credibility. My answer is very brief: when people defend their country, they do not take into consideration anything else.

Sunday Times: Hindsight is a wonderful thing Mr. President. If you could wind the clock back two years would you have handled anything differently? Do you believe that there are things that could or should have been done in another way? What mistakes do you believe have been made by your followers that you would change?

President Assad: You can ask this question to a President if he is the only one responsible for all the context of the event. In our case in Syria, we know there are many external players. So you have to apply hindsight to every player. You have to ask Erdogan, with hindsight would you send terrorists to kill Syrians, would you afford logistical support to them? You should ask the Qatari and Saudis whether in hindsight, would you send money to terrorists and to Al-Qaeda offshoots or any other terrorist organization to kill Syrians? We should ask the same question to the European and American officials, in hindsight would you offer a political umbrella to those terrorists killing innocent civilians in Syria? In Syria, we took two decisions. The first is to make dialogue; the second is to fight terrorism. If you ask any Syrian, in hindsight would you say no to dialogue and yes to terrorism? I do not think any sane person will agree with you. So I think in hindsight, we started with dialogue and we are going to continue with dialogue. In hindsight, we said we are going to fight terrorism and we are going to continue to fight terrorism.

Sunday Times: Do you ever think about living in exile if it came to that? And would you go abroad if it increases the chances of peace in Syria?

President Assad: Again, it is not about the president. I don’t think any patriotic person or citizen would think of living outside his country.

Sunday Times: You will never leave? President Assad: No patriotic person will think about living outside his country. I am like any other patriotic Syrian.

Sunday Times: How shaken you were you by the bomb that killed some of your most senior generals last summer, including your brother-in-law?

President Assad: You mentioned my brother-in-law but it is not a family affair. When high-ranking officials are being assassinated it is a national affair. Such a crime will make you more determined to fight terrorism. It is not about how you feel, but more about what you do. We are more determined in fighting terrorism.

Sunday Times: Finally, Mr. President, may I ask about my colleague, Marie Colvin, who was killed in the shelling of an opposition media center at Baba Amr on February 22 last year. Was she targeted, as some have suggested, because she condemned the destruction on American and British televisions? Or was she just unlucky? Did you hear about her death at the time and if so what was your reaction?

President Assad: Of course, I heard about the story through the media. When a journalist goes into conflict zones, as you are doing now, to cover a story and convey it to the world, I think this is very courageous work. Every decent person, official or government should support journalists in these efforts because that will help shed light on events on the ground and expose propaganda where it exists. Unfortunately in most conflicts a journalist has paid the ultimate price. It is always sad when a journalist is killed because they are not with either side or even part of the problem, they only want to cover the story. There is a media war on Syria preventing the truth from being told to the outside world. 14 Syrian journalists who have also been killed since the beginning of the crisis and not all of them on the ground. Some have been targeted at home after hours, kidnapped, tortured and then murdered. Others are still missing. More than one Syrian television station has been attacked by terrorists and their bombs. There is currently a ban on the broadcast of Syrian TV channels on European satellite systems. It is also well known how rebels have used journalists for their own interests. There was the case of the British journalist who managed to escape.

Sunday Times: Alex Thompson?

President Assad: Yes. He was lead into a death trap by the terrorists in order to accuse the Syrian Army of his death. That’s why it is important to enter countries legally, to have a visa. This was not the case for Marie Colvin. We don’t know why and it’s not clear. If you enter illegally, you cannot expect the state to be responsible. Contrary to popular belief, since the beginning of the crisis, hundreds of journalists from all over the world, including you, have gained visas to enter Syria and have been reporting freely from inside Syria with no interferences in their work and no barriers to fulfill their missions.

Sunday Times: Thank you.

President Assad: Thank you.

http://www.sana-syria.com/eng/21/2013/03/03/470326.htm

http://sphotos-f.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc7/c0.0.400.400/p403x403/1873_495317950532514_957219516_n.jpg

Yervant1 · March 7, 2013

NORTH CAUCASUS CAUCUS ABOUT FIGHTERS FROM AZERBAIJAN IN SYRIA

19:31 06/03/2013 " SOCIETY

There appears to be a great deal of interest in Caucasian fighters

in Syria. Occasionally Azerbaijani fighters are also mentioned in

random reports, the North Caucasus Caucus says. The author said that

it is a bit more difficult to follow Azeri jihadi activity since

milleti-ibrahim.info was shut down last year.

"In Mid-August 2012 the first report of an Azerbaijani fighter in

Syria I saw was from French journalist, Jean-Marc Mojon, reporting

from Aleppo. He reportedly spoke to a young Azeri fighter in a clinic

in Saif al-Dawla neighborhood. The young man said he had seen images

of the war on television and had decided to come fight in Syria,"

the article says.

The author notes that on 9 September 2012, Shabka al-Mujahideen

(Mujahideen Suppoters Network), an Arabic language jihadi forum posted

a photo of "Abu Hanifa (Warning:graphic)," an Azeri fighter allegedly

killed in Aleppo. Abu Hanifa was later identified as Zaur Islamov.

"Islamov is probably the best known Azeri fighter as his driver's

license was photographed and spread on social media.

Islamov's name was also included on a list of "foreign terrorists"

killed in various battles posted by pro-Assad Facebook groups.

Reportedly Islamov had told hold his family that he was going to

Turkey to work. According to his documents posted online, he was from

the northern district of Qusar, close to the border with Dagestan,"

the author writes.

According to the article on 19 October 2012 SANA, Syrian state media,

reported that a citizen of Azerbaijan by the name of "Hasin Kazli" was

killed in al-Atareb in the Aleppo province in a fighting group led by

Uybaid al-Mansi. Kazli's name also appeared on a list of 142 foreign

fighters released by the Syrian government. The story was published

in some Azeri online media but not picked up by any of the big outlets.

On 22 October 2012, Jihadi social media posted post-mortem photos of

"Ibrahim al-Azeri," a fighter allegedly killed in Idlib in October.

The author says that on 30 November 2012, the Azerbaijan Press Agency

(APA), one of Azerbaijan's leading state media outlets, published

a lengthy article about Araz Kangarli. The article reported that

Kangarli had been killed some time in September 2012. In November,

Kangarli's mother, Larisa, said she had received a phone call informing

her that her son had died.

Larisa Kangarli reported that her son had left for Syria in mid-2012

with a group of other young men. Kangarli was one of the few fighters

that had some background information available. The border guards

arrested Kangarli and several other men at the Azeri-Iranian border

in 2008. The group was allegedly returning from Afghanistan/Pakistan

where they freely admitted they had been fighting ISAF forces since

2005. After being sentenced to several years in prison for illegally

crossing the border, Kangarli was released early in 2009 after

an appeal.

"On 11 January 2013, Yara Bayoumy reported from Aleppo on foreign

fighters for Reuters. During his interviews at the Karm al-Jabal rebel

base, Bayoumy spoke to a "Abu al-Harith, a stocky, fair, 27-year-old

from Azerbaijan. He said "This is my first time to embark on a Jihad

because ... there was no one worse than Bashar. Even Stalin was

merciful compared with him," the article says.

On 12 February 2013 the website, Gunxeber, reported that a group of

Azeri fighters had travelled to Turkey on their way to Syria. The

article did not provide many details.

"And on 25 February 2013, the Turkish language fan page for

Jabhar al-Nusra, Nusrat Cephesi, posted on Facebook two photos of

"Abdurrazzak al-Azeri. He was only identified as being martyred but

no other information was given in the post. Some of the comments to

the post suggest that the young man was from Sumqayit, Azerbaijan's

third largest city. According to a local news website, Sumqayit Xeber,

the city was home to several other Azeri jihadis who fought in the

North Caucasus and Afghanistan/Pakistan. The article even names an

Azeri citizen wanted by INTERPOL for terrorism, Cabir Mustafayev,

who was reportedly killed in Syria," the author says.

Recall that the relationship between international terrorist groups and

Azerbaijan originated in the early 1990s. That time, the Azerbaijani

army, having failed in the aggression against Nagorno-Karabakh

Republic (NKR), retreated with losses. Trying to save the situation,

the Azerbaijani leadership, headed by Heydar Aliyev attracted to the

war against the Armenians of Nagorno-Karabakh international terrorists

and members of radical groups from Afghanistan (groupings of Gulbuddin

Hekmatyar), Turkey ("Grey Wolves", etc.), Chechnya (groupings Basayev

and Raduyev etc.) and some other regions.

Despite the involvement in of thousands of foreign mercenaries and

terrorists in the Azerbaijani army during the war, the Azerbaijani

aggression against Nagorno-Karabakh Republic failed, and the Baku

authorities were forced to sign an armistice with the NKR and Armenia.

However, international terrorists found ties in Azerbaijan, and used

them in the future. Recruitment was conducted among Azerbaijanis,

who then were sent to Afghanistan and the North Caucasus, where

participated in the battles against the forces of the international

coalition and Russian organizations.

In recent years, the citizens of Azerbaijan are actively involved in

terrorist and extremist activities in Russia, Afghanistan and Syria.

In Azerbaijan the citizens are brought to criminal liability for

participating in "illegal armed groups" in Afghanistan, sentenced to

minor terms of imprisonment.

Source: Panorama.am

Yervant1 · March 7, 2013

SYRIAN ARMENIAN: TURKISH ISLAMIC EXTREMIST GROUPS THAT CROSS THE BORDER, ROB AND KILL CHRISTIANS ARE MAJOR THREAT TO ARMENIANS IN SYRIA

http://www.arminfo.info/index.cfm?objectid=98ADA870-81A9-11E2-B444F6327207157C

Thursday, February 28, 16:14

Armenia's humanitarian aid to Syria may be sufficient just to 400

families of Syrian Armenians, while there are nearly 62,000 Armenians

in that country. So, it is necessary to send to them also the aid

collected by various funds of the USA and France, says Armenak

Abrahamyan, Head of the Assembly of Armenians of Western Armenia.

"The heads of those funds have officially announced that they have

collected $21 million in the USA and $10 million in France, however,

they think it more reasonable sending the funds to Syria after

stabilization of the situation. In the meanwhile, Syrian Armenians

need aid at present," he told media in Yerevan, Thursday.

He said that there is no hatred among the citizens of Syria. On the

days of pogroms they help each other irrespective of nationality

and religion. Abrahamyan said that the major threat to the local

Armenians is Turkish Islamic extremist groups that cross the border,

rob and kill Christians.

Yervant1 · March 7, 2013

THE CHRISTIANS OF SYRIA ARE LIVING THE 'IRAQI FEAR'

Al-Sharq Al-Awsat (The Middle East)

March 5 2013

They Had Al-Asad'S Support But Are Worried About The Post-Revolution

Era Although Some Participated In It

[Translated From Arabic]

Former President Hafiz Al-Asad Did Not Rule In The Name Of The Alawite

Minority But In The Name Of The Secular Ba'Th Party. The Majority

Members Of His Security And Political Team Did Not Belong To This

Sect That Is A Minority In Syria. According To The Most Optimistic

Estimates, The Total Population Numbers About 20 Per Cent Alawites And

65 Per Cent Sunnis, Who Constitute A Big Majority. However, Since The

Start Of The Revolutionary Agitation Two Years Ago That Developed Into

a military conflict between the opposition brigades and the regime's

army, the Christians of Syria have been anxious about their existence.

Their fears have been growing amid reports about forcible evacuations

of Christian villages and abductions of Christian clerics.

Furthermore, the Syrian opposition's avowed position that considers the

Syrian people as one bloc has not found an echo among the Christian

masses.

Hafiz al-Asad never publicized his Alawite roots. On the contrary,

he used to worship in Sunni mosques and his Bashar followed in his

footsteps. However, the father and later the son sought to strengthen

the role of this sect in the administration of Syria and in the

Ba'th party in a way that enabled him to ensure the loyalty of the

army and the intelligence services that ruled Syria with an iron

grip. The father (followed later by the son) realized the importance

of a coalition consisting of the minorities in Syria. He began to

consolidate his ties with the Christians that constitute about 7.5

per cent of the population, the Druze that constitute 2.75 per cent

of the population, the Shias (about 3 per cent), and the Isma'ilis (1

per cent). When the crisis erupted in 2011, the regime was determined

to highlight the "Islamic face" of the revolt against it before the

Islamists infiltrated Syria. It was a deliberate attempt to frighten

the Christians, Alawites, and the other minorities from the influence

of the Islamists. The regime was assisted in this by the "Egyptian

model" and the sectarian problems there. It seems that the fears and

anxiety of the minorities is playing a major role in the crisis. These

fears drove Maronite Patriarch Bisharah al-Ra'i to visit Syria. The

Maronite patriarchate had been boycotting Syria since Lebanon gained

its independence. The same fears also drove the Orthodox Church to

re-elect a patriarch of Syrian origin. Meanwhile, the Druze let down

Lebanese Druze leader Walid Jumblatt and fought alongside the regime

despite Junblatt's repeated calls on them to "join the revolution".

Sulayman al-Yusuf, the Christian-Assyrian writer and researcher,

argues that the fears and anxieties of the Christians are justified,

particularly in the Al-Jazeera region east of the country. He points

out that the abductions of Christians and seizures of their lands

and properties by Arab tribes drove a large number of families

to migrate outside Syria. Al-Yusuf tells Al-Sharq al-Awsat: "The

Christians are afraid of the future. They say that the abductions

and looting are taking place in the presence of the regime. So how

is it going to be if this regime falls?" He adds: "The Iraqi lesson

is strongly present in our consciousness. The forcible evictions and

the detonation of churches can happen at any moment after the fall

of the regime, exactly as happened in Iraq. There is also the fear

from the spread of the radical groups, like the Al-Nusrah Front,

that consider Christians as infidels". Al-Yusuf goes on to say:

"The Christians of Iraq paid the price of the sectarian agendas of

the warring sides there and this may happen in Syria. For instance,

in the Al-Jazeera region, an Arab-Kurdish struggle is raging and

the two sides are militarily mobilizing. It is obvious that the side

that will pay the price is the Christians". The American Christian

"Open Doors USA" organization has reached the conclusion that Syria

has become one of the most dangerous countries for the Christians. The

organization published its annual "Special Interest List" of countries

that persecute Christians in the world and Syria ranked 11th on

this list this year; it ranked 36th in the past. However, despite the

regime's insistence to portray itself as the "protector of minorities,"

the Christians have not enjoyed many political privileges. They were

given posts that do not give the Christians a clear and influential

role in the internal and external policy-making process in Syria.

In general, the Christians in Syria are afraid; so are the Druze

and the Shias. This puts them in the position of "defending their

existence" after they were persuaded (rightly or wrongly) that they

will be annihilated if the opposition came to power. This fear makes

them ready to defend the regime until the last breath. According

to an Assyrian researcher, "the lesson of Iraq, the eviction of its

Christians, and the detonation of their churches is still in their

consciousness". This drives the Christians to cling to the current

regime that protects them from instability and chaos. Although some

prominent Christians have joined the ranks of the "Syrian revolution,"

the role of the Christians in this revolt is still weak. The majority

of them remained neutral while others openly proclaimed their support

for the regime. According to some opposition members, a number of

practices against Christians have been documented. The latest was the

abduction of the three Christian clerics Father Michel Kayyal from

the Armenian Catholic denomination, Father Mahir Mahfuz from the

Greek Orthodox denomination, and Father Louis Sakkaf from the town

of Sqailbiyah. According to activists, "the clerics were kidnapped in

February by an unknown group that has not so far announced its identity

or its motives". Some activists believe that "the abductions took place

in the country of the town of Hamah that includes the two Christian

villages of Mahradah and Sqailbiyah". According to Ghazi al-Hamawi,

member of the revolutionary council in Hamah, the regime's forces

are gathering vehicles and military units inside these two towns to

give the impression that they are defending the Christian residents

there. In a telephone call with Al-Sharq al-Awsat, Al-Hamawi adds:

"In conducting its operations in the Hamah countryside, the Free

Syrian Army [FSA] is careful to keep the Christians outside the

conflict and prevent the regime from fomenting sedition among the

different residents in the region. Press reports say that the village

of Qastal al-Burj in the Hamah countryside -a small farm close to the

town of Sqailbiyah also with a Christian majority -was also attacked

by gunmen in May in order to evict its residents and turn their homes

into military centres. Al-Hamawi says: "The eviction of this village is

vague. However, it is certain that the military groups that occupied

it do not belong to the FSA". Al-Hamawi denies that "the Christians

in Syria are allies of the Syrian regime," adding: "large numbers of

Christians participated in the peaceful demonstrations.

They also opened their doors to welcome the refugees from the

devastated areas".

Among the Syrian towns, Hims has witnessed the largest exodus

of Christians due to the military clashes that erupted there a

short period ago. About 200,000 Christians live in Hims that has

16 churches. According to church sources: "The Christians of Hims

left their homes to escape the hell of the daily shelling. They

headed to the area of Wadi al-Nasara [valley of the Christians]

that is a principal stronghold for the Christian Syrians in the Hims

countryside". Opposition sources point out: "Christian villages do not

normally become involved in the current conflict in the country. But

the forces (al-Shabihah) loyal to the Syrian regime seek to embroil

these villages in the battles to make political gains. This took place

in the Christian village of Rablah located halfway on the road between

Al-Qusayr and the Lebanese border. The population of Rablah is about

12,000 residents with a Greek Catholic majority. The Syrian regular

army and the Shabihah loyalists confronted the Syrian revolutionaries

and tried to cut off their supply lines by planting mines and setting

ambushes. This led th e FSA brigades to abduct 200 farmers from the

village and asked the people to expel the agents of the regime. They

replied that are powerless against the regular army and the militias.

Following some give and take, the revolutionaries released the

200 abductees thus demarcating real lines of contact between these

villages and the townships nearby". As for the capital, Damascus,

the state of the Christians is not better. Their neighbourhoods,

particularly Al-Qassas and Bab Tuma, have been the scene of powerful

explosions that led to the death of many. Moreover, the parish priest

of the town of Qatana in Rif Dimashq was killed a few days after he

was abducted by an unidentified band.

[Translated from Arabic]

Johannes · March 10, 2013

Սատկած Դանիացի ահաբեկիչ Սուրոիոյ մէջ

Սխալ բան կայ այս աշխարհի մէջ

Yervant1 · March 12, 2013

Spiegel: "Americans Are Training Syria Rebels In Jordan."

http://lurer.com/?p=83567&l=en

2013-03-11 14:46:30

Americans are training Syrian anti-government fighters in Jordan,

the German weekly Der Spiegel said on Sunday, quoting what it said

were participants and organisers.

Spiegel said it was not clear whether the Americans worked for private

firms or were from the army but said some wore uniforms. The training

focused on use of anti-tank weaponry.

Some 200 men have already received such training over the past three

months and there are plans in the future to provide training for a

total 1,200 members of the "Free Syrian Army" in two camps in the

south and the east of the country.

Britain's Guardian newspaper also reported that U.S. trainers were

assisting Syrian rebels in Jordan. British and French instructors

were also participating in the U.S.-led effort, the Guardian said on

Saturday, citing Jordanian security sources.

The United States has said it would provide medical supplies and food

directly to opposition fighters but has ruled out sending arms for

fear they may find their way to Islamist hardliners who might then

use them against Western targets.

Saudi Arabia and Qatar are widely believed to be providing weapons

to the rebels, and Arab League ministers decided on Wednesday to let

member nations arm them.

Yervant1 · March 16, 2013

Bastard thieves!!!!!!

SYRIAN REBELS WANT TO APPROPRIATE FACTORY BELONGING TO AN ARMENIAN

16:49, 15 March, 2013

YEREVAN, MARCH 15, ARMENRPESS. The opposition powers began to share
between themselves the factories located in the region of Sheykh
Najjar. The armed rebels took control over this region. On March 15 a
document stating that ironworks in the third region of Sheykh Najjar
belonging to Aleppo-Armenian Hakob Azyan was granted to the head of
Lioua al Hijra group. "Armenpress" states about this citing Syrian
Truth facebook page.

The document was introduced to the so-called military court formatted
by the opposition and it was stated that the factory will remain as
it used to be before the court makes a decision. The law suit has
been accepted and signed by Judge Usama. Sheykh Najjar reigon is not
populated. It is an industrial city in northern Syria, administratively
part of the Aleppo Governorate, located 10 kilometers northeast
of Aleppo.

Harut · March 16, 2013

a relative of ours was kidnapped a few months ago, beaten badly, and kept in captivity for a several weeks... he was released only after the family paid a hefty sum of ransom...

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