Latest Breaking News

pinto

(106,886 posts) Thu Feb 23, 2012, 10:28 PM Feb 2012

"Friends of Syria" to demand ceasefire (Reuters)

"Friends of Syria" to demand ceasefire

By Lin Noueihed and John Irish
TUNIS | Thu Feb 23, 2012 9:19pm EST

(Reuters) - Western and Arab nations meeting on Friday will demand that Syria implement an immediate ceasefire to allow aid in for desperate civilians in the absence of an international consensus on intervention to end a crackdown on an 11-month-old revolt.

Foreign ministers from more than 50 countries will attend the first meeting of the "Friends of Syria" group in Tunis, amid a surge in government attacks on the city of Homs and mounting world outrage over violence that has claimed thousands of lives during the uprising against President Bashar al-Assad's rule.

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said on Thursday Syria's opposition would ultimately arm itself and go on the offensive if diplomacy failed to resolve the crisis.

But with moves for tough action in the U.N. Security Council stymied by Russian and Chinese vetoes and a lack of appetite for military action to end Assad's crackdown, delegates are expected to focus on finding ways to ferry medicine and food to stranded civilians and to evacuate casualties stuck in the fighting.

http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/02/24/us-syria-idUSL5E8DB0BH20120224

13 replies

= new reply since forum marked as read

Highlight:

"Friends of Syria" to demand ceasefire (Reuters) (Original Post) pinto Feb 2012 OP

Kofi Annan to be envoy riverwalker Feb 2012 #1

+1 pinto Feb 2012 #2

"Syria's opposition would ultimately arm itself" jakeXT Feb 2012 #3

Why "arm itself", when Saudis and Emirates are arming them, gratis, along with al-Qaeda fighters leveymg Feb 2012 #8

Here we go jakeXT Feb 2012 #4

No interference in Syria - no militarization. David__77 Feb 2012 #5

It's magic jakeXT Feb 2012 #6

US preparing for military intervention in Syria? jakeXT Feb 2012 #7

Debka? Ruby the Liberal Feb 2012 #10

If you read the original article jakeXT Feb 2012 #11

Your subject line was "US preparing for military intervention in Syria?" Ruby the Liberal Feb 2012 #12

Syrian president will pay heavy price, Clinton says jakeXT Feb 2012 #9

27 evacuated by Red Crescent but 2 wounded Western journalist have yet to be evacuated maddezmom Feb 2012 #13

riverwalker

(8,694 posts)

1. Kofi Annan to be envoy

Reply to pinto (Original post)

Thu Feb 23, 2012, 10:54 PM

Feb 2012

Kofi Annan Named UN-Arab League Envoy to Syria

Former U.N. secretary-general Kofi Annan on Thursday was appointed the joint United Nations-Arab League envoy on the Syrian crisis with a mandate to bring an end to the violence and promote a peaceful political solution.
http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/chief-annan-syria-envoy-15779250#.T0b7iHnxsyI

pinto

(106,886 posts)

2. +1

Reply to riverwalker (Reply #1)

Fri Feb 24, 2012, 04:46 AM

Feb 2012

Something's got to happen...

jakeXT

(10,575 posts)

3. "Syria's opposition would ultimately arm itself"

Reply to pinto (Original post)

Fri Feb 24, 2012, 04:48 AM

Feb 2012

The itself part I doubt

Responding to a question about arming the rebels, State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said that the search for a political solution was the correct approach at the moment and that “we don’t believe that it makes sense to contribute now to the further militarisation of Syria”.
However, she added that “if we can’t get Assad to yield to the pressure that we are all bringing to bear, we may have to consider additional measures”.
http://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/0/94b77724-5cab-11e1-8f1f-00144feabdc0.html

leveymg

(36,418 posts)

8. Why "arm itself", when Saudis and Emirates are arming them, gratis, along with al-Qaeda fighters

Reply to jakeXT (Reply #3)

Fri Feb 24, 2012, 10:40 AM

Feb 2012

to fight jihad against the Syrian Shi'ia regime declared by radical Sunni clerics.

Diplomatic sources told CNN late Thursday that a number of Arab nations are supplying arms to the rebel Syrian army and militias.
http://edition.cnn.com/2012/02/24/world/meast/syria-unrest/

Al-Qaeda infiltrating Syrian opposition, US officials say. http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/al-qaeda-infiltrating-syrian-opposition-us-officials-say/2012/02/16/gIQA9LDJIR_story.html

Fatwa on Syria. http://www.islam21c.com/editorials/2407-fatwa-on-syria-by-107-scholars

jakeXT

(10,575 posts)

4. Here we go

Reply to pinto (Original post)

Fri Feb 24, 2012, 04:56 AM

Feb 2012

World powers convening Friday in Tunisia are mapping out a plan to deliver humanitarian aid and give political legitimacy to the Syrian opposition, while details emerged that Arab nations have begun supplying arms to Syrian rebels, sources told CNN.

The diplomatic developments follow opposition claims that Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's forces are now emulating elsewhere in the country the shelling attacks against the besieged city of Homs that have left hundreds dead.

More than 100 people were killed Thursday, including 14 children and a soldier who refused to open fire on civilians, according to the Local Coordination Committees of Syria, a loose network of opposition groups that documents government violence.

Diplomatic sources told CNN late Thursday that a number of Arab nations are supplying arms to the rebel Syrian army and militias.
http://edition.cnn.com/2012/02/24/world/meast/syria-unrest/

David__77

(23,638 posts)

5. No interference in Syria - no militarization.

Reply to pinto (Original post)

Fri Feb 24, 2012, 05:11 AM

Feb 2012

Peaceful diplomacy is appropriate. The US should not interfere in this internal conflict.

jakeXT

(10,575 posts)

6. It's magic

Reply to David__77 (Reply #5)

Fri Feb 24, 2012, 05:23 AM

Feb 2012

"There will be increasingly capable opposition forces. They will from somewhere, somehow, find the means to defend themselves as well as begin offensive measures," she added.
http://mobile.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE81M23R20120224?irpc=932

Do they use Milan ?

The Battle of Homs was particularly deadly for the belligerents on both sides, as well as for civilians. During the first three days, the Syrian Arab Army was warded off by the rebels that blocked all entry points to their neighborhood. They destroyed all approaching armored vehicles using Milan missiles. Ultimately, the Syrian Arab Army had to resort to multiple rocket launchers to bombard the Milan firing posts, at the risk of causing heavy civilian casualties.
http://www.voltairenet.org/Free-Syrian-Army-stronghold

jakeXT

(10,575 posts)

7. US preparing for military intervention in Syria?

Reply to pinto (Original post)

Fri Feb 24, 2012, 05:47 AM

Feb 2012

US preparing for military intervention in Syria?

The US and other NATO countries could soon launch a ground assault on Syria. The final decision will be made soon, following this week’s Tunis conference where allied countries will meet to discuss possible scenarios of military intervention.
Sources in Washington tell Israeli news agency Debka that the Pentagon is currently drafting the approach they want America to take in the Syria ordeal, and once it is ready for the president, Obama could approve military action. Debka adds, however, that the decision will also depend on what US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton takes away from this week’s Tunis conference.
Representatives from 80 countries across the glove are expected to descend on Tunis on Friday under the name “Friends of Syria.” Should Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Qatar and the UAR support a western intervention in Syria, Clinton could offer an endorsement to the Pentagon, who will in turn finish their draft for war plans and send them to the White House for approval. According to Debka's sources, UK, France, Italy and Turkey also prepare to send their troops into Syria.
Earlier this month, President Obama seemed to side more with a solution that would save the US from directly dragging itself to war. "I think it is very important for us to try to resolve this without recourse to outside military intervention. I think that's possible," the president told NBC News.
...
http://rt.com/usa/news/us-military-intervention-syria-045/

Ruby the Liberal

(26,219 posts)

10. Debka?

Reply to jakeXT (Reply #7)

Fri Feb 24, 2012, 05:16 PM

Feb 2012

HUGE grain of salt needed on this one. Debka is a trial balloon, not a news source.

jakeXT

(10,575 posts)

11. If you read the original article

Reply to Ruby the Liberal (Reply #10)

Fri Feb 24, 2012, 06:21 PM

Feb 2012

There is not much on the intervention in the Debka article itself. The most interesting part is the press center that was hit and their suggestions that maybe Russia helped them to localize "coded" messages.
We'll never know, although they were correct with Special Forces and Qatar's involvement in Libya.

It is common knowledge national and foreign journalistic circles in Damascus that journalists enter Syria illegally from Lebanon to go to Homs, which has been the main focus of the armed violence in the last months.

They arrive in Beirut and there they coordinate their secret entrance to Syrian territory with individuals who have contacts and even support the government's armed opponents.

The main objective is to arrive in Homs, where the armed bands transformed three neighborhoods into strongholds for their activities.

Especially in Baba Amr, with supporting material and financial help from Qatari news agency Al-Jazeera, a secret press center was established, from where the foreign reporters transmit their reports through telephones and satellite access equipment to the Internet.
http://www.plenglish.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=481141&Itemid=1

Ruby the Liberal

(26,219 posts)

12. Your subject line was "US preparing for military intervention in Syria?"

Reply to jakeXT (Reply #11)

Fri Feb 24, 2012, 09:00 PM

Feb 2012

and the sole source of that rumor was Debka, so I pointed it out. If there was a different point that you wanted to emphasize (or you had another source making that allegation), it would have resulted in a different (if any) response.

jakeXT

(10,575 posts)

9. Syrian president will pay heavy price, Clinton says

Reply to pinto (Original post)

Fri Feb 24, 2012, 04:29 PM

Feb 2012

Dubai: US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton told a conference in Tunisia on Friday that President Bashar Al Assad will "pay a heavy price" for ignoring international will.
Clinton said the Syrian regime will have "more blood on its hands" if it doesn't immediately comply with ceasefire demands being issued by a group of 70 western and Arab nations. She was speaking at the "Friends of Syria" meeting in Tunis.
The Saudi Arabian delegation walked out of the meeting over what it saw as the gathering's "inactivity", Saudi-owned Al Arabiya television said.
It said Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Saud Al Faisal left the meeting after saying in a speech that focusing on humanitarian aid to Syria was "not enough".

http://gulfnews.com/news/region/syria/syrian-president-will-pay-heavy-price-clinton-says-1.985869

maddezmom

(135,060 posts)

13. 27 evacuated by Red Crescent but 2 wounded Western journalist have yet to be evacuated

Reply to pinto (Original post)

Sat Feb 25, 2012, 09:37 AM

Feb 2012

Syrians trapped in Homs say world is failing them
¬snip¬

Husseini said people in Baba Amro were suspicious of the ICRC's local partner, the Syrian Arab Red Crescent, and did not want to work with a group "under the control of the regime."

The ICRC denied this, saying the Syrian Red Crescent was an independent organization. "Their volunteers are risking their lives on a daily basis to help everyone with no exceptions," ICRC spokesman Hicham Hassan said in Geneva.

The ICRC said the Syrian Red Crescent had evacuated a total of 27 people from Baba Amro on Friday.

Four Western journalists, two of whom were wounded in an attack that killed two other foreign journalists on Wednesday have yet to be extracted from the shattered neighborhood.

more: http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/02/25/us-syria-idUSL5E8DB0BH20120225

Reply to this discussion