NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen speaks at a media
conference during a meeting of NATO foreign ministers at NATO
headquarters in Brussels on Tuesday, Dec. 4, 2012. (AP Photo/Yves
Logghe)
BEIRUT — Syria's most powerful ally, Russia, said Thursday
that President Bashar Assad is losing control of his country and the
rebels might win the civil war, the first time Moscow has acknowledged
the regime is cracking under the force of a powerful rebellion.
NATO also predicted Assad's fall, with Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen saying the regime's collapse is "only a matter of time."
"An opposition victory can't be excluded, unfortunately, but it's necessary to look at the facts: There is a trend for the government to progressively lose control over an increasing part of the territory," Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Bogdanov said during hearings at a Kremlin advisory body.
Bogdanov also said Moscow is preparing to evacuate thousands of its citizens from Syria, where nearly two years of violent conflict have killed more than 40,000 people and turned Assad into a global pariah. His statement marks a clear attempt by the Kremlin to begin positioning itself for Assad's eventual defeat at a time when rebels are making significant gains.
Opposition fighters have seized large swaths of territory in northern Syria along the border with Turkey and appear to be expanding their control outside of Damascus, pushing the fight closer to Assad's seat of power in the capital. In a Damascus suburb, a bomb blast Thursday near a school killed 16 people, at least half of them women and children, the state news agency SANA reported.
A day earlier, the U.S., Europe and their allies recognized the newly reorganized opposition leadership, giving it a stamp of credibility and possibly paving the way for greater international aid to those fighting Assad's forces.
At the same time, international condemnation of the regime has grown more intense as Western officials raise concerns that Assad might unleash his chemical weapons stockpiles against rebels in an act of desperation. On Wednesday, the U.S. and NATO said Assad's forces had fired Scud missiles at rebel areas.
Syria denied the Scud allegations, calling them nothing more than a conspiracy.
But the NATO secretary-general said the military alliance detected the launch of a number of the unguided short-range missiles inside Syria earlier this week.
"We
can't confirm details of the missiles, but some of the information
indicates they were Scud-type missiles," he said at NATO headquarters in
Brussels.
"In general, I think the regime in Damascus is approaching collapse. I think now it's only a question of time."
Fyodor Lukyanov, the editor of the magazine Russia in Global Affairs, said Bogdanov's statement may reflect new information about the situation on the ground.
"A public statement like that appears to indicate that the balance is shifting," he said.
Abu Bilal al-Homsi, an activist based in a rebel-held neighborhood of Homs in central Syria, said he is encouraged by Bogdanov's comments because Russia is in a position to know about the strength of Assad's forces.
"The Russians know his capabilities and his military force. Russia knows what warplanes and what weapons he has," Abu Bilal said via Skype. "The Free Syrian Army is on the verge of strangling Damascus and this indicates that the regime is reaching an end," he added, referring to the main rebel fighting force.
Despite Russia's acknowledgement that Assad could lose, Bogdanov gave no immediate signal that Russia would change its pro-Syria stance at the U.N. Security Council, where Moscow has shielded Damascus from world sanctions.
Bogdanov also reaffirmed Russia's call for a compromise, saying it would take the opposition a long time to defeat the regime and Syria would suffer heavy casualties.
"The fighting will become even more intense, and you will lose tens of thousands and, perhaps, hundreds of thousands of people," he said. "If such a price for the ouster of the president seems acceptable to you, what can we do? We, of course, consider it absolutely unacceptable."
Russia's ties to Syria date back to Assad's father, Hafez, who ruled Syria with an iron fist from 1971 until his death in June 2000. In the last four decades, Russia has sold Syria billions of dollars' worth of weapons. A change in power in Damascus could not only cost Russia lucrative trade deals, but also reduce Russian political influence in Arab world.
The Russians also strongly oppose a world order dominated by the United States and they are keen to avoid a repeat of last year's NATO air campaign that led to the ouster of Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi, a former Moscow ally.
Bogdanov's remarks will likely be seen in Damascus as a betrayal of these longstanding ties. There was no immediate reaction from the Syrian regime on the comments.
Bogdanov said the Foreign Ministry is preparing evacuation plans for thousands of Russian citizens, most of whom are Russian women married to Syrian men and their children.
"We are dealing with issues related to the preparation for evacuation," Bogdanov said. "We have mobilization plans. We are finding out where our citizens are."
The Interfax news agency said that if the government decides to evacuate Russians from Syria, it could be done by ships escorted by the Russian navy and by government planes.
At the same time, violence was escalating in and around the capital.
The government says the bombing on Thursday in the Damascus suburb of Qatana was the latest in a string of similar bombings in and around Damascus that killed at least 25 people in the last two days.
The government blames the bombings on terrorists, the term it uses to refer to rebel fighters. While no one has claimed responsibility for the bombings, some have targeted government buildings and killed officials, suggesting that rebels who don't have the firepower to engage Assad's elite forces in the capital could be resorting to guerrilla measures.
Similar attacks hit four places in and around Damascus on Wednesday. Three bombs collapsed walls of the Interior Ministry building, killing at least five people. One of the dead was Syrian parliament member Abdullah Qairouz, SANA reported.
Assigning responsibility for the blasts remains difficult because rebels tend to blame attacks that kill civilians on the regime without providing evidence while competing groups often claim successful operations.
___
Isachenkov reported from Moscow. AP writers Ben Hubbard and Bassem Mroue in Beirut and Slobodan Lekic in Brussels contributed to this report.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/12/13/syria-regime-collapse_n_2292440.html?utm_hp_ref=daily-brief?utm_source=DailyBrief&utm_campaign=121312&utm_medium=email&utm_content=NewsEntry&utm_term=Daily%20Brief
http://blogs.aljazeera.com/liveblog/topic/syria-153
NATO also predicted Assad's fall, with Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen saying the regime's collapse is "only a matter of time."
"An opposition victory can't be excluded, unfortunately, but it's necessary to look at the facts: There is a trend for the government to progressively lose control over an increasing part of the territory," Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Bogdanov said during hearings at a Kremlin advisory body.
Bogdanov also said Moscow is preparing to evacuate thousands of its citizens from Syria, where nearly two years of violent conflict have killed more than 40,000 people and turned Assad into a global pariah. His statement marks a clear attempt by the Kremlin to begin positioning itself for Assad's eventual defeat at a time when rebels are making significant gains.
Opposition fighters have seized large swaths of territory in northern Syria along the border with Turkey and appear to be expanding their control outside of Damascus, pushing the fight closer to Assad's seat of power in the capital. In a Damascus suburb, a bomb blast Thursday near a school killed 16 people, at least half of them women and children, the state news agency SANA reported.
A day earlier, the U.S., Europe and their allies recognized the newly reorganized opposition leadership, giving it a stamp of credibility and possibly paving the way for greater international aid to those fighting Assad's forces.
At the same time, international condemnation of the regime has grown more intense as Western officials raise concerns that Assad might unleash his chemical weapons stockpiles against rebels in an act of desperation. On Wednesday, the U.S. and NATO said Assad's forces had fired Scud missiles at rebel areas.
Syria denied the Scud allegations, calling them nothing more than a conspiracy.
But the NATO secretary-general said the military alliance detected the launch of a number of the unguided short-range missiles inside Syria earlier this week.
"In general, I think the regime in Damascus is approaching collapse. I think now it's only a question of time."
Fyodor Lukyanov, the editor of the magazine Russia in Global Affairs, said Bogdanov's statement may reflect new information about the situation on the ground.
"A public statement like that appears to indicate that the balance is shifting," he said.
Abu Bilal al-Homsi, an activist based in a rebel-held neighborhood of Homs in central Syria, said he is encouraged by Bogdanov's comments because Russia is in a position to know about the strength of Assad's forces.
"The Russians know his capabilities and his military force. Russia knows what warplanes and what weapons he has," Abu Bilal said via Skype. "The Free Syrian Army is on the verge of strangling Damascus and this indicates that the regime is reaching an end," he added, referring to the main rebel fighting force.
Despite Russia's acknowledgement that Assad could lose, Bogdanov gave no immediate signal that Russia would change its pro-Syria stance at the U.N. Security Council, where Moscow has shielded Damascus from world sanctions.
Bogdanov also reaffirmed Russia's call for a compromise, saying it would take the opposition a long time to defeat the regime and Syria would suffer heavy casualties.
"The fighting will become even more intense, and you will lose tens of thousands and, perhaps, hundreds of thousands of people," he said. "If such a price for the ouster of the president seems acceptable to you, what can we do? We, of course, consider it absolutely unacceptable."
Russia's ties to Syria date back to Assad's father, Hafez, who ruled Syria with an iron fist from 1971 until his death in June 2000. In the last four decades, Russia has sold Syria billions of dollars' worth of weapons. A change in power in Damascus could not only cost Russia lucrative trade deals, but also reduce Russian political influence in Arab world.
The Russians also strongly oppose a world order dominated by the United States and they are keen to avoid a repeat of last year's NATO air campaign that led to the ouster of Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi, a former Moscow ally.
Bogdanov's remarks will likely be seen in Damascus as a betrayal of these longstanding ties. There was no immediate reaction from the Syrian regime on the comments.
Bogdanov said the Foreign Ministry is preparing evacuation plans for thousands of Russian citizens, most of whom are Russian women married to Syrian men and their children.
"We are dealing with issues related to the preparation for evacuation," Bogdanov said. "We have mobilization plans. We are finding out where our citizens are."
The Interfax news agency said that if the government decides to evacuate Russians from Syria, it could be done by ships escorted by the Russian navy and by government planes.
At the same time, violence was escalating in and around the capital.
The government says the bombing on Thursday in the Damascus suburb of Qatana was the latest in a string of similar bombings in and around Damascus that killed at least 25 people in the last two days.
The government blames the bombings on terrorists, the term it uses to refer to rebel fighters. While no one has claimed responsibility for the bombings, some have targeted government buildings and killed officials, suggesting that rebels who don't have the firepower to engage Assad's elite forces in the capital could be resorting to guerrilla measures.
Similar attacks hit four places in and around Damascus on Wednesday. Three bombs collapsed walls of the Interior Ministry building, killing at least five people. One of the dead was Syrian parliament member Abdullah Qairouz, SANA reported.
Assigning responsibility for the blasts remains difficult because rebels tend to blame attacks that kill civilians on the regime without providing evidence while competing groups often claim successful operations.
___
Isachenkov reported from Moscow. AP writers Ben Hubbard and Bassem Mroue in Beirut and Slobodan Lekic in Brussels contributed to this report.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/12/13/syria-regime-collapse_n_2292440.html?utm_hp_ref=daily-brief?utm_source=DailyBrief&utm_campaign=121312&utm_medium=email&utm_content=NewsEntry&utm_term=Daily%20Brief
Syria Live Blog
Violence in Syria has
escalated into what the Red Cross calls a civil war. Activists say more
than 37,000 people have died since the uprising began in March last
year. The government of Bashar al-Assad, which is increasingly losing
territory to rebel fighters, blames "terrorists" and "armed gangs" for
the unrest, while the opposition and other nations have accused Assad's
forces of crimes against humanity.
Syria
The jihadist Al-Nusra Front claimed on Thursday that two of
its men were responsible for a deadly suicide attack on the Syrian
Interior Ministry the day before, via its official Twitter account,
according to AFP news agency.
"Thank God, we targeted the interior ministry building in Kfar Sousa district in Damascus at 5:30 pm on Wednesday, December 12," the group Tweeted, adding that fighting had erupted inside the ministry.
"Thank God, we targeted the interior ministry building in Kfar Sousa district in Damascus at 5:30 pm on Wednesday, December 12," the group Tweeted, adding that fighting had erupted inside the ministry.
Syria
The mother of a Ukrainian journalist kidnapped by rebels in
Syria has issued a plea for her release, a day before the expiry of a
ransom deadline that appeared to hold her life on the line, AFP news
agency reported.
Ankhar Kotchneva's abductors, who claim to belong to the rebel Free Syrian Army, have said they will execute the young woman on Thursday unless they receive a ransom of $50 million, according to local media.
Addressing the captors in a video posted online, a tearful Lioudmila Kotchneva said: "You also have mothers and children. Please, why commit a sin? I beg you, set her free.
"Ukraine, Russia, please, save her before it is too late," the mother added in the video posted by the 1+1 television channel.
Ankhar Kotchneva's abductors, who claim to belong to the rebel Free Syrian Army, have said they will execute the young woman on Thursday unless they receive a ransom of $50 million, according to local media.
Addressing the captors in a video posted online, a tearful Lioudmila Kotchneva said: "You also have mothers and children. Please, why commit a sin? I beg you, set her free.
"Ukraine, Russia, please, save her before it is too late," the mother added in the video posted by the 1+1 television channel.
Syria
Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's regime appears likely to
fall within weeks, a senior minister in Iraq, whose country has avoided
publicly taking sides in Syria's conflict, told AFP news agency on
Thursday.
"There is a real acceleration regarding the international community focusing on Syria ... real concern about the using of chemical weapons," Finance Minister Rafa al-Essawi said on the sidelines of a meeting with the International Monetary Fund in Amman.
"So I personally feel that the Syrian file and Syrian changes will take place shortly."
"I think, personally, it is weeks."
Essawi, a Sunni Muslim like the majority of Syria's rebels, said international efforts against Assad's regime appeared to be accelerating and noted that battles in the Damascus area indicated that change may be near.
"Now the battle is surrounding the Damascus airport. So being so close on Syria's position like the airport, it gives you the impression of an acceleration."
"There is a real acceleration regarding the international community focusing on Syria ... real concern about the using of chemical weapons," Finance Minister Rafa al-Essawi said on the sidelines of a meeting with the International Monetary Fund in Amman.
"So I personally feel that the Syrian file and Syrian changes will take place shortly."
"I think, personally, it is weeks."
Essawi, a Sunni Muslim like the majority of Syria's rebels, said international efforts against Assad's regime appeared to be accelerating and noted that battles in the Damascus area indicated that change may be near.
"Now the battle is surrounding the Damascus airport. So being so close on Syria's position like the airport, it gives you the impression of an acceleration."
Syria
NATO's top official says he thinks Syria President Bashar Assad's regime is on the brink of collapse.
Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen said the regime's collapse is "only a matter of time", AP news agency reported.
He confirmed earlier reports that NATO had detected Syrian forces launching short-range missiles at opposition forces within Syria, saying this illustrated the "utter disregard" for the lives of the Syrian people.
Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen said the regime's collapse is "only a matter of time", AP news agency reported.
He confirmed earlier reports that NATO had detected Syrian forces launching short-range missiles at opposition forces within Syria, saying this illustrated the "utter disregard" for the lives of the Syrian people.
Syria
A senior Russian diplomat says that the opposition victory in
Syria "cannot be ruled out", Assad's government increasingly losing
ground, reports Reuters news agency.
"One must look the facts in the face," Russia's state-run RIA quoted Mikhail Bogdanov as saying. "Unfortunately, the victory of the Syrian opposition cannot be ruled out."
Bogdanov, who is Kremlin's special envoy for Middle East affairs, said the Syrian government was "losing control of more and more territory" and that Moscow was preparing plans to
evacuate Russian citizens if necessary.
[Reuters]
"One must look the facts in the face," Russia's state-run RIA quoted Mikhail Bogdanov as saying. "Unfortunately, the victory of the Syrian opposition cannot be ruled out."
Bogdanov, who is Kremlin's special envoy for Middle East affairs, said the Syrian government was "losing control of more and more territory" and that Moscow was preparing plans to
evacuate Russian citizens if necessary.
[Reuters]
Russia, syria, beirut
Syria
Fighting raged between Syrian government troops and opposition
fighters near the Syrian capital Damascus, opposition activists said.
An upsurge in attacks by opposition fighters on state institutions in Damascus prompted authorities to tighten security around vital facilities.
The measure comes a day after three blasts targeted the Interior Ministry, killing at least nine people, activists said.
[DPA]
An upsurge in attacks by opposition fighters on state institutions in Damascus prompted authorities to tighten security around vital facilities.
The measure comes a day after three blasts targeted the Interior Ministry, killing at least nine people, activists said.
[DPA]
syria, damascus, opposition
Syria
Sixteen people were killed and more were 25 wounded, including
women and children, in a car bomb in Qatana, a town 25km southwest
of Damascus, Lebanon's al-Manar television channel said.
Qatana is part of a string of outlying suburbs and towns where President Bashar al-Assad's forces have been trying to push back opposition fighters. The attack follows three bombs which exploded at the Interior Ministry on Wednesday evening, killing five people.
[Reuters]
Qatana is part of a string of outlying suburbs and towns where President Bashar al-Assad's forces have been trying to push back opposition fighters. The attack follows three bombs which exploded at the Interior Ministry on Wednesday evening, killing five people.
[Reuters]
syria, beirut, bomb, damascus
Syria
Ecuadorean President Rafael Correa denied that Syrian leader Bashar Assad had requested asylum in the South American country.
Speaking at a news conference on Wednesday in Quito, Correa said speculation had mounted following an interview with a journalist.
"There was a rumour going around that (Syrian) President Assad, who I don't even know, had requested asylum in Ecuador. This was denied," he said.
[APTN]
Speaking at a news conference on Wednesday in Quito, Correa said speculation had mounted following an interview with a journalist.
"There was a rumour going around that (Syrian) President Assad, who I don't even know, had requested asylum in Ecuador. This was denied," he said.
[APTN]
Equador, syria, Assad
Syria
Human Rights Watch has reported that the Syrian government has
been using incendiary scud missiles against the opposition in the north
of the country.
The missiles contain highly flammable materials designed to cause severe burns.
Speaking to Al Jazeera from Washington, Mark Perry, military and foreign affairs analyst, says the reports are "credible", but the use of the unmanned missiles is a "very desperate measure" by the forces of Bashar al-Assad, the Syrian president.
Perry, author of "Talking to Terrorists: Why America Must Engage with its Enemies", tells Al Jazeera's Tony Harris that the use of the missiles may be a sign that the Assad forces "are up against a wall" and running out of pilots or helicopters with which to fire back at the armed opposition.
The missiles contain highly flammable materials designed to cause severe burns.
Speaking to Al Jazeera from Washington, Mark Perry, military and foreign affairs analyst, says the reports are "credible", but the use of the unmanned missiles is a "very desperate measure" by the forces of Bashar al-Assad, the Syrian president.
Perry, author of "Talking to Terrorists: Why America Must Engage with its Enemies", tells Al Jazeera's Tony Harris that the use of the missiles may be a sign that the Assad forces "are up against a wall" and running out of pilots or helicopters with which to fire back at the armed opposition.
If we want Assad overthrown, and we do, we're going to have to make the difficult choice of just saying 'let's do it'.
Mark Perry, Tony Harris, Scud missiles
Syria
The Syrian regime has begun using missiles and barrel bombs
against opposition rebels in the past week or so, a top US have said,
denouncing the increasing use of "vicious weapons," AFP news agency
reported.
Amid reports on Wednesday that Scud missiles have been fired, State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said she "was not in a position to confirm types of missiles, simply to say that we're seeing missiles employed now."
"I would also say that we're seeing use of another egregious weapon. It's kind of a barrel bomb, which is an incendiary bomb that contains flammable materials," she told journalists.
Citing US administration officials, the New York Times reported Wednesday that the regime of President Bashar al-Assad had fired Scud missiles from the Damascus area against rebels in northern Syria recent days.
"The total number is probably north of six now," another US official told the Times.
Amid reports on Wednesday that Scud missiles have been fired, State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said she "was not in a position to confirm types of missiles, simply to say that we're seeing missiles employed now."
"I would also say that we're seeing use of another egregious weapon. It's kind of a barrel bomb, which is an incendiary bomb that contains flammable materials," she told journalists.
Citing US administration officials, the New York Times reported Wednesday that the regime of President Bashar al-Assad had fired Scud missiles from the Damascus area against rebels in northern Syria recent days.
"The total number is probably north of six now," another US official told the Times.
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