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BEIRUT -- Syrian troops shelled rebel-held neighborhoods in Homs on Monday, the latest barrage in a bombardment that has lasted several days and appeared to be the groundwork for an assault to push the fighters out of the country's third largest city.
Also Monday, Turkey closed its embassy in Damascus and recalled its ambassador as relations between the former allies continue to deteriorate.
The outlawed Muslim Brotherhood meanwhile announced that if President Bashar Assad were overthrown it would work for a "modern" democratic state. The Brotherhood statement was an overture by one of the largest organizations representing the country's Sunni Arab majority, which also dominates the Syrian opposition, toward placating Syrian minorities who have until now gravitated towards the regime.
The Turkish embassy closure comes amid rising diplomatic pressure on Assad. Ankara, once close to Damascus, is now one of Syria's most vocal critics.
Activities at the embassy in the Syrian capital are being "temporarily suspended," but Turkey's consulate in Aleppo will remain operational, a brief statement posted on the embassy's website said Sunday night.
The embassy is being closed because of the poor security situation in Syria, a ministry official said on condition of anonymity in line with ministry regulations. The Turkish ambassador and other diplomats will be returning to Turkey, he said.
Other countries including the U.S., France, Saudi Arabia and Qatar, have also closed embassies. This and other forms of diplomatic pressure have left Damascus isolated, but have so far failed to stop the year-old Syria crisis, in which more than 8,000 people have been killed, according to the U.N.
The U.S., Europe, Turkey and many Arab states have called on President Bashar Assad to stand down, but Russia and China have protected Syria from condemnation by the United Nations Security Council. Syria is Moscow's last remaining ally in the Middle East and is a major customer for Russia's arms industry, but Russia has recently shown impatience with Assad.
Turkey continues to be a host to Syrian exiles, including rebel groups.
In Damascus, the state-run news agency, SANA, said Syrian troops foiled an attempt by an "armed terrorist group" to infiltrate the country from Turkey. The troops killed and wounded some of them and seized their weapons, SANA said.
BEIRUT Syria has accepted a peace plan by U.N. envoy Kofi Annan that includes a cease-fire by the Syrian government, but the bloodshed persisted as intense clashes between government troops and rebel fighters spilled across the border into Lebanon, officials said.
Syrian troops did not physically cross the border, according to two Lebanese security officials, but bullets whizzed across the frontier into a rural, sparsely populated area.
"There is no Syrian military presence on the Lebanese side of the border," the military official said.
The U.N. says more than 8,000 people have been killed in Syria's uprising, which began last March with mostly peaceful protests against the regime. But the government swiftly unleashed its military tanks, snipers and machine-guns to break up protests, which many opposition members say drove them to take up arms.
Now, as the conflict spirals toward civil war, there are concerns that the bloodshed could cause a regional conflagration by pulling in neighboring countries.
A diplomatic push to end the crisis has largely failed, but Ahmad Fawzi, a spokesman for Annan, said Tuesday that the Syrian government has accepted the envoy's six-point plan to end the bloodshed. The plan includes a cease-fire and inclusive talks about a political solution.
Syrian opposition member reacted with skepticism, however.
Rami Jarah, who was attending an opposition meeting Tuesday in Turkey, said President Bashar Assad is trying to stall for time.
Syria Accepts Peace Plan Offered By U.N. Envoy Kofi Annan
BEIRUT Syria has accepted a peace plan by U.N. envoy Kofi Annan that includes a cease-fire by the Syrian government, but the bloodshed persisted as intense clashes between government troops and rebel fighters spilled across the border into Lebanon, officials said.
Syrian troops did not physically cross the border, according to two Lebanese security officials, but bullets whizzed across the frontier into a rural, sparsely populated area.
"There is no Syrian military presence on the Lebanese side of the border," the military official said.
The U.N. says more than 8,000 people have been killed in Syria's uprising, which began last March with mostly peaceful protests against the regime. But the government swiftly unleashed its military tanks, snipers and machine-guns to break up protests, which many opposition members say drove them to take up arms.
Now, as the conflict spirals toward civil war, there are concerns that the bloodshed could cause a regional conflagration by pulling in neighboring countries.
A diplomatic push to end the crisis has largely failed, but Ahmad Fawzi, a spokesman for Annan, said Tuesday that the Syrian government has accepted the envoy's six-point plan to end the bloodshed. The plan includes a cease-fire and inclusive talks about a political solution.
Syrian opposition member reacted with skepticism, however.
Rami Jarah, who was attending an opposition meeting Tuesday in Turkey, said President Bashar Assad is trying to stall for time.
Syria Accepts Peace Plan Offered By U.N. Envoy Kofi Annan
BEIRUT, March 28 (Reuters) - Syrian government forces kept up heavy weapons fire and siege tactics against opposition strongholds on Wednesday despite President Bashar al-Assad's acceptance of a peace plan calling for the army to withdraw to its barracks, activists said.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported military action against towns and villages from the southern province of Deraa to the Hama region 320 kms (200 miles) to the north.
Shelling was also reported in parts of Homs, Syria's third largest city, where Assad on Tuesday toured the devastated streets of a rebel bastion overrun by his troops earlier this month after weeks of bombardment.
"Military forces accompanied by dozens of armoured vehicles stormed the town of Qalaat al-Madiq and nearby villages (in Hama)," the activist website reported. "This comes after weeks of heavy gun and mortar fire and several failed attempts to invade the town."
"The regime has been shelling our town for 18 days, they are destroying our ancient fort," said one activist calling himself Abu Dhafer. "Thousands of people have fled and nearby villagers have gone to homes in safe areas. They are cramming people into their homes, a dozen to a room, men women and children."
"The rebels have left the town, it is surrounded and being shelled and we don't have enough weapons to fight back."
Syria has accepted a U.N.-sponsored peace plan calling for the withdrawal of troops and heavy weapons from cities ahead of peace talks between Assad and his opponents, special envoy Kofi Annan said on Tuesday.
BAGHDAD, March 29 (Reuters) - Fighting between Syrian security forces and rebels killed at least 13 people on Thursday as Arab leaders gathered at a summit in Baghdad to press Damascus for rapid implementation of a peace plan that President Bashar al-Assad has said he can accept.
Arab leaders, who appear to have backed away from their call on Assad to step aside and hand over to a deputy, remain split over how to deal with the continuing violence.
Pre-empting the summit, Syria said on Wednesday it would reject any initiatives from the Arab League, w hich suspended Syria in November, and said it would deal only with individual Arab states.
In Istanbul, Syrian opposition representatives met to try to settle deep internal disputes before the arrival of Western foreign ministers for a "Friends of Syria" conference on Sunday to map out where the year-old uprising is heading.
The opposition Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, which monitors the violence, reported that eight members of the security forces were wounded in a clash with armed defectors in Dael, in the southern province of Deraa.
In the town of Kherbet Ghazaleh, surrounded by the army and security forces, loud explosions were heard. In northern Hama province, an army convoy was ambushed and two soldiers killed. In Idlib province three people died when the army launched a raid in a rural area east of the town of Maarat al-Nuaman.
The Observatory reported clashes between army and defectors near the town of Zabadani, near the Lebanese border. In rural Damascus province explosions were heard and smoke was seen rising from building in the town of Harasta.
Syria's state news agency SANA said that two colonels were assassinated in the northern city of Aleppo on Thursday.
"Four terrorists shot Abdul Karim al-Rai and Fuad Shaaban ... while they were on their way to work," SANA said.
U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, also attending the meeting in Baghdad, has said Assad's acceptance of the Annan deal, which has met with strong scepticism in the West, "is an important initial step that could bring an end to the violence."
He urged Assad to "put those commitments into immediate effect."
U.S. State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said on Wednesday that Assad "has not taken the necessary steps to implement" the peace plan of former U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan, now special Syria envoy for the U.N. and Arab League.
Syria's major-power backers Russia and China have inched up the pressure on Assad by endorsing the Annan plan, with the unspoken implication that if he fails to act on it, they may be prepared to back action by the U.N. Security Council.
But Russia is also pressing the opposition Syrian National Council to formally accept the Annan proposals, which do not meet their demand that Assad step down immediately.
Syria Clashes: Arab League Summit Presses For Peace Plan
BAGHDAD, March 29 (Reuters) - Fighting between Syrian security forces and rebels killed at least 13 people on Thursday as Arab leaders gathered at a summit in Baghdad to press Damascus for rapid implementation of a peace plan that President Bashar al-Assad has said he can accept.
Arab leaders, who appear to have backed away from their call on Assad to step aside and hand over to a deputy, remain split over how to deal with the continuing violence.
Pre-empting the summit, Syria said on Wednesday it would reject any initiatives from the Arab League, w hich suspended Syria in November, and said it would deal only with individual Arab states.
In Istanbul, Syrian opposition representatives met to try to settle deep internal disputes before the arrival of Western foreign ministers for a "Friends of Syria" conference on Sunday to map out where the year-old uprising is heading.
The opposition Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, which monitors the violence, reported that eight members of the security forces were wounded in a clash with armed defectors in Dael, in the southern province of Deraa.
In the town of Kherbet Ghazaleh, surrounded by the army and security forces, loud explosions were heard. In northern Hama province, an army convoy was ambushed and two soldiers killed. In Idlib province three people died when the army launched a raid in a rural area east of the town of Maarat al-Nuaman.
The Observatory reported clashes between army and defectors near the town of Zabadani, near the Lebanese border. In rural Damascus province explosions were heard and smoke was seen rising from building in the town of Harasta.
Syria's state news agency SANA said that two colonels were assassinated in the northern city of Aleppo on Thursday.
"Four terrorists shot Abdul Karim al-Rai and Fuad Shaaban ... while they were on their way to work," SANA said.
U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, also attending the meeting in Baghdad, has said Assad's acceptance of the Annan deal, which has met with strong scepticism in the West, "is an important initial step that could bring an end to the violence."
He urged Assad to "put those commitments into immediate effect."
U.S. State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said on Wednesday that Assad "has not taken the necessary steps to implement" the peace plan of former U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan, now special Syria envoy for the U.N. and Arab League.
Syria's major-power backers Russia and China have inched up the pressure on Assad by endorsing the Annan plan, with the unspoken implication that if he fails to act on it, they may be prepared to back action by the U.N. Security Council.
But Russia is also pressing the opposition Syrian National Council to formally accept the Annan proposals, which do not meet their demand that Assad step down immediately.
Syria Clashes: Arab League Summit Presses For Peace Plan
The People Want The Downfall Of The Regime. The People Want The Downfall Of The Regime.
Syrian-American hip-hop artist Omar Offendums new song "#Syria" opens with one of the most powerful political slogans of the year. The chant has reverberated from the streets of Tunis to Libyas Benghazi to Egypts Tahrir Square, echoing the demands of millions for their countries rulers to step down.
Offendums new song -- which has lyrics both in English and Arabic -- is a testament to the deep crisis in the artists native Syria.
Stand in solidarity with all your fellow citizens/ Peacefully protesting for an end to all the militance/ Torture & imprisonment/ Murdering of innocence/ Proving that this lying/ lion leaders rule is illegitimate.
The songs video compiles footage of shattered houses, massive protests and injured civilians in Syria. Over the past year, more than 9,000 Syrians have been killed in a merciless crackdown on protesters by the regime of President Bashar Assad, according to UN estimates.
I held back for a long time [commenting on Syria], Offendum explains, but I felt that after a year, with all the talk on Russia, China, proxy wars, sanctions, people are losing sight of the human suffering.
Offendum was born in Saudi Arabia and raised in Washington, D.C. His mother is originally from the Syrian capital Damascus and his father was born in Hama, the town where troops loyal to then-president Hafez Assad massacred thousands of residents. Offendum works from the U.S. and shares his music through Facebook and Twitter.
When it gets politically complicated we sometimes forget that there are people there, and we just cant afford to do that, Offendum says.
In Syria, songs have played an important role in keeping up the spirit of the protests. An anonymous and undercover journalist for Al Jazeera followed demonstrators throughout the country and found that people have taken old national songs and made their own revolutionary versions. The journalist explains how these songs are passed on from town to town.
You hear a core of the same songs all over the country, wherever you go, he says in the Al Jazeera documentary "Songs Of Defiance." It created this unique subculture, where every night you go out and sing the same songs. They are in your head all the time during the day, little kids know them as well.
Hip-Hop And The Arab Revolts: From '#JAN25' To '#Syria'
The People Want The Downfall Of The Regime. The People Want The Downfall Of The Regime.
Syrian-American hip-hop artist Omar Offendums new song "#Syria" opens with one of the most powerful political slogans of the year. The chant has reverberated from the streets of Tunis to Libyas Benghazi to Egypts Tahrir Square, echoing the demands of millions for their countries rulers to step down.
Offendums new song -- which has lyrics both in English and Arabic -- is a testament to the deep crisis in the artists native Syria.
Stand in solidarity with all your fellow citizens/ Peacefully protesting for an end to all the militance/ Torture & imprisonment/ Murdering of innocence/ Proving that this lying/ lion leaders rule is illegitimate.
The songs video compiles footage of shattered houses, massive protests and injured civilians in Syria. Over the past year, more than 9,000 Syrians have been killed in a merciless crackdown on protesters by the regime of President Bashar Assad, according to UN estimates.
I held back for a long time [commenting on Syria], Offendum explains, but I felt that after a year, with all the talk on Russia, China, proxy wars, sanctions, people are losing sight of the human suffering.
Offendum was born in Saudi Arabia and raised in Washington, D.C. His mother is originally from the Syrian capital Damascus and his father was born in Hama, the town where troops loyal to then-president Hafez Assad massacred thousands of residents. Offendum works from the U.S. and shares his music through Facebook and Twitter.
When it gets politically complicated we sometimes forget that there are people there, and we just cant afford to do that, Offendum says.
In Syria, songs have played an important role in keeping up the spirit of the protests. An anonymous and undercover journalist for Al Jazeera followed demonstrators throughout the country and found that people have taken old national songs and made their own revolutionary versions. The journalist explains how these songs are passed on from town to town.
You hear a core of the same songs all over the country, wherever you go, he says in the Al Jazeera documentary "Songs Of Defiance." It created this unique subculture, where every night you go out and sing the same songs. They are in your head all the time during the day, little kids know them as well.
Hip-Hop And The Arab Revolts: From '#JAN25' To '#Syria'
Hip-Hop And The Arab Revolts: From '#JAN25' To '#Syria'
The People Want The Downfall Of The Regime. The People Want The Downfall Of The Regime.
Syrian-American hip-hop artist Omar Offendums new song "#Syria" opens with one of the most powerful political slogans of the year. The chant has reverberated from the streets of Tunis to Libyas Benghazi to Egypts Tahrir Square, echoing the demands of millions for their countries rulers to step down.
Offendums new song -- which has lyrics both in English and Arabic -- is a testament to the deep crisis in the artists native Syria.
Stand in solidarity with all your fellow citizens/ Peacefully protesting for an end to all the militance/ Torture & imprisonment/ Murdering of innocence/ Proving that this lying/ lion leaders rule is illegitimate.
The songs video compiles footage of shattered houses, massive protests and injured civilians in Syria. Over the past year, more than 9,000 Syrians have been killed in a merciless crackdown on protesters by the regime of President Bashar Assad, according to UN estimates.
I held back for a long time [commenting on Syria], Offendum explains, but I felt that after a year, with all the talk on Russia, China, proxy wars, sanctions, people are losing sight of the human suffering.
Offendum was born in Saudi Arabia and raised in Washington, D.C. His mother is originally from the Syrian capital Damascus and his father was born in Hama, the town where troops loyal to then-president Hafez Assad massacred thousands of residents. Offendum works from the U.S. and shares his music through Facebook and Twitter.
When it gets politically complicated we sometimes forget that there are people there, and we just cant afford to do that, Offendum says.
In Syria, songs have played an important role in keeping up the spirit of the protests. An anonymous and undercover journalist for Al Jazeera followed demonstrators throughout the country and found that people have taken old national songs and made their own revolutionary versions. The journalist explains how these songs are passed on from town to town.
You hear a core of the same songs all over the country, wherever you go, he says in the Al Jazeera documentary "Songs Of Defiance." It created this unique subculture, where every night you go out and sing the same songs. They are in your head all the time during the day, little kids know them as well.
Hip-Hop And The Arab Revolts: From '#JAN25' To '#Syria'
The Syrians should move to Brooklyn, NY, where half of Syria already lives.
Hip-Hop And The Arab Revolts: From '#JAN25' To '#Syria'
Hip-Hop And The Arab Revolts: From '#JAN25' To '#Syria'
The Syrians should move to Brooklyn, NY, where half of Syria already lives.
Damn I didn't know Brooklyn had that many Syrians.
The Syrians should move to Brooklyn, NY, where half of Syria already lives.
Damn I didn't know Brooklyn had that many Syrians.
Large Syrian community. Very successful, too. Heavy into electronics.
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/14/magazine/14syrians-t.html?pagewanted=all
Damn I didn't know Brooklyn had that many Syrians.
Large Syrian community. Very successful, too. Heavy into electronics.
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/14/magazine/14syrians-t.html?pagewanted=all
Hmm very interesting, thanks for the link.
Large Syrian community. Very successful, too. Heavy into electronics.
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/14/magazine/14syrians-t.html?pagewanted=all
Hmm very interesting, thanks for the link.
A few miles away in Great Neck, NY is a large Persian Jewish community, also, very successful. They own half of Great Neck.
After The Revolution: A Look At Great Neck’s Iran Town | Long Island Press
ISTANBUL A coalition of more than 70 partners, including the United States, pledged Sunday to send millions of dollars and communications equipment to Syria's opposition groups, signaling deeper involvement in the conflict amid a growing belief that diplomacy and sanctions alone cannot end the Damascus regime's repression.
The shift by the U.S. and its Western and Arab allies toward seeking to sway the military balance in Syria carries regional risks because the crisis there increasingly resembles a proxy conflict that could exacerbate sectarian tensions. The Syrian rebels are overmatched by heavily armed regime forces.
The summit meeting of the "Friends of the Syrian People" follows a year of failed diplomacy that seems close to running its course with a troubled peace plan led by U.N.-Arab League envoy Kofi Annan.
Indeed, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton and other participants at the conference in Istanbul uniformly expressed concern that Annan's plan might backfire, speculating that Syrian President Bashar Assad would try to manipulate it to prolong his hold on power.
Clinton said she was waiting for Annan's report to the U.N. Security Council on Monday on the status of his peace plan.
"There cannot be process for the sake of process. There has to be a timeline. If Assad continues as he has, to fail to end the violence, to institute a cease-fire, to withdraw his troops from the areas he has been battering ... then it's unlikely he is going to ever agree," she said. "Because it is a clear signal that he wants to wait to see if he has totally suppressed the opposition. I think he would be mistaken to believe that. My reading is that the opposition is gaining in intensity, not losing."
Clinton said the United States is providing communications equipment to help anti-government activists in Syria organize, remain in contact with the outside world and evade regime attacks.
The Syrian regime agreed last week to Annan's plan, which calls for an immediate cease-fire, humanitarian access to besieged civilians and a political negotiation process led by Syrians. Since then, there have been daily reports of violence, including shelling Sunday in the central city of Homs that activists said killed more than two dozen people.
BEIRUT -- The International Committee of the Red Cross pressed Syria Tuesday to give aid workers access to civilians endangered by shelling and armed clashes while fresh violence raised doubts that President Bashar Assad's regime will adhere to a U.N. peace plan.
Syria has accepted an April 10 deadline to comply with the conditions laid out by international envoy Kofi Annan, which include withdrawing government forces from populated areas and observing a cease-fire first by the regime, then by the rebels and talks by all sides on a political solution.
The plan also calls for an immediate daily two-hour halt to fighting so humanitarian aid can reach suffering civilians, as well as unhindered access for aid groups and journalists.
Opposition activists have blasted the plan as too little, too late and for not stipulating that Assad must leave power. They also accuse him of stalling so he can continue his crackdown on dissent.
On Tuesday, ICRC president Jakob Kellenberger held talks with Syria's foreign minister and the head of the Red Cross' local branch, and was to meet later with the health and interior ministers.
He said before his visit he would appeal for greater access to the sick, wounded and displaced, as well as for the two-hour daily halt to the fighting to allow aid access.
Western leaders have cautiously accepted the April 10 deadline, saying Assad's regime must be judged by its actions.
The regime has verbally accepted other peace plans in recent months only to ignore them on the ground. An Arab League effort that included sending in monitors to promote a cease-fire collapsed in violence in November.
Syria Crisis: Red Cross Pressing For Aid Access
BEIRUT -- The International Committee of the Red Cross pressed Syria Tuesday to give aid workers access to civilians endangered by shelling and armed clashes while fresh violence raised doubts that President Bashar Assad's regime will adhere to a U.N. peace plan.
Syria has accepted an April 10 deadline to comply with the conditions laid out by international envoy Kofi Annan, which include withdrawing government forces from populated areas and observing a cease-fire first by the regime, then by the rebels and talks by all sides on a political solution.
The plan also calls for an immediate daily two-hour halt to fighting so humanitarian aid can reach suffering civilians, as well as unhindered access for aid groups and journalists.
Opposition activists have blasted the plan as too little, too late and for not stipulating that Assad must leave power. They also accuse him of stalling so he can continue his crackdown on dissent.
On Tuesday, ICRC president Jakob Kellenberger held talks with Syria's foreign minister and the head of the Red Cross' local branch, and was to meet later with the health and interior ministers.
He said before his visit he would appeal for greater access to the sick, wounded and displaced, as well as for the two-hour daily halt to the fighting to allow aid access.
Western leaders have cautiously accepted the April 10 deadline, saying Assad's regime must be judged by its actions.
The regime has verbally accepted other peace plans in recent months only to ignore them on the ground. An Arab League effort that included sending in monitors to promote a cease-fire collapsed in violence in November.
Syria Crisis: Red Cross Pressing For Aid Access
BEIRUT Syrian troops clashed with army defectors and shelled rebellious districts in the central city of Homs Wednesday, killing at least 11 civilians a day after the government claimed it had begun a troop withdrawal ahead of the deadline to implement an international truce plan.
Activists said the latest deaths included a man and his son who died in gunfire during fighting in the Qusour district of Homs. They said the renewed violence proved President Bashar Assad's regime was not serious about implementing the cease-fire brokered by former U.N. chief Kofi Annan.
Russia, a key ally of Assad, warned other nations not to arm the Syrian opposition, saying it would only escalate hostilities. Saudi Arabia and Qatar, two Sunni-ruled nations, have backed the idea of arming the rebels fighting government forces, but the West remains opposed. Western nations however did create a multimillion dollar fund for the opposition at a meeting in Istanbul.
"Even if they arm the Syrian opposition to the teeth, it won't be able to defeat the Syrian army," Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said. "The carnage will go on for many years."
Assad agreed earlier this week to an April 10 deadline to implement the plan put forward by international envoy Kofi Annan. It requires regime forces to withdraw from towns and cities and observe a cease-fire. Rebel fighters are to immediately follow by ceasing violence.
BEIRUT Syrian troops launched a fierce assault on a Damascus suburb Thursday, days ahead of a deadline for a U.N.-brokered cease-fire, with activists describing it as one of the most violent attacks around the capital since the year-old uprising began.
The operation in Douma, along with other offensives around the country, bolstered the opposition's claim that President Bashar Assad is only intensifying violence ahead of the April 10 deadline to implement the truce. Activists say Assad wants to make gains on the ground before the cease-fire is supposed to take effect.
There are other signs as well that the government has no intention of abiding by the truce deal brokered by former U.N. chief Kofi Annan.
The pro-government daily Al Watan quoted an unnamed official saying the government is not bound by Tuesday's deadline for a cease-fire because that day marks "the beginning of army units' withdrawal and not the end. It is not a deadline by itself."
