http://live.aljazeera.com/Event/Syria_Live_Blog
The UN says more than 100,000 people have died since the Syrian uprising began in March 2011. More than two million people have left the country, fleeing fighting between government forces and opposition fighters. Follow the latest news from the ground and diplomatic developments here.
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- Supporters of the Syrian opposition have started two days of talks in Spain, in efforts to bridge their differences ahead of a planned peace conference.The Spanish government announced the start of talks on Thursday in the southern city of Cordoba, bringing together "relevant voices of the opposition" to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.The Spanish foreign ministry said it expected "between 120 and 150 members of political parties and civil society groups, as well as religious and social leaders" to attend.A UN-chaired peace conference known as "Geneva 2" is set for January 22 in the Swiss town of Montreux.There is strong resistance within the anti-Assad opposition movement to attending, however.The Spanish government called the meeting in Cordoba "a new opportunity to facilitate dialogue and reduce the fragmentation of the Syrian opposition in the Geneva 2 process". [AFP]by Jillian Kestler-D'Amours 11:36 AM
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"People have learned to adapt to the shortages. Maybe they will try to save some flour, or they use different materials to make bread," Jazeera's Rula Amin reported from Beirut, on how people across Syria are coping with shortages of food and other supplies.Rula Amin reports on supply shortages across Syriaby Al Jazeera English via YouTubeby Jillian Kestler-D'Amours 9:08 AM
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People in the Northern Syrian city of al Raqqa have gathered in desperation outside a bakery, but no flour is getting into the besieged city. In some areas, people have not eaten bread for three days as violence continues.Al Jazeera's Bernard Smith reports.Syrians desperate for supplies in al Raqqaby Al Jazeera English via YouTubeby Jillian Kestler-D'Amours 9:04 AM
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Another photo, distributed by Syrian state news agency SANA, of the deadly car bombing that killed 18 people in Al-Kaffat village today.[Reuters/SANA]by Jillian Kestler-D'Amours 8:17 AM
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Syrian citizens and security forces gather at site where a massive car bomb killed 18 people in the village of Al-Kaffat in Syria's central Hama province on Thursday. [AP Photo/Syrian official news agency, SANA][AP/SANA]by Jillian Kestler-D'Amours 8:11 AM
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Germany has accepted a UN request to destroy some of Syria's chemical weapons on its own soil as part of a bid to eliminate the arsenal by June 30.The country's foreign and defence ministries said in a joint statement on Thursday that the move was intended to speed up the scrapping of all of Syria's chemical weapons stocks and advance the peace process."The government decided, following a request by the UN-Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW), that Germany is prepared to make a substantial contribution to the elimination of Syrian chemical weapons," the statement read."The government is willing and able to destroy in Germany remnants created in the course of irreversibly neutralising chemical weapons from Syria and which resemble industrial waste."GEKA, a state-owned company based in the northern German town of Munster, will handle the mission "in full compliance with environmental regulations", the ministries added.Syria's most dangerous chemicals were meant to have been removed from the country by December 31. Under a UN-backed plan, all of Syria's declared 1,290-tonne arsenal should be destroyed by June 30.But the country's worsening conflict has caused delays.Sigrid Kaag, the head of the OPCW, which is monitoring the operation, said on Wednesday that the June deadline could still be met despite the delays."Everything is ready, investment is made and the authorities have shown that first movements have started to happen," she added, describing the loading of the first chemicals onto a ship in the Syrian port of Latakia on Tuesday as "an important first step".Frank-Walter Steinmeier, Germany's foreign minister, said: "The destruction of the chemical weapons could be the first, decisive step in defusing the Syria conflict.""The international community has a duty to ensure their disposal. No one who takes his international responsibilities seriously should refuse." [AFP]by Jillian Kestler-D'Amours 7:26 AM
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A massive car bomb killed 18 people in the village of Kafat in Syria's central Hama province on Thursday, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights NGO said.
The monitoring group said women and children were among the dead in the blast, which also killed members of a pro-regime armed men.
The huge explosion, which was heard in the nearby city of Hama, took place near a village school, the Observatory added.
Syrian state television also reported the attack in Kafat, which is under government control.
It said 16 people had been killed in a "terrorist explosion" in the village, adding that there were tens of injuries.
The Observatory said the death toll could rise because many of those wounded in the blast were in critical condition.
[AFP]by Basma Atassi 6:55 AM -
Syrian opposition groups, including several Islamist rebel representatives, met for the first time in the Spanish city of Cordoba to seek common ground ahead of peace talks with President Bashar al-Assad's government later this month.
After nearly three years of conflict the opposition has fractured into competing groups with different regional backers and the West is pushing to gather a unified body of opposition members to attend negotiations on Jan. 22, dubbed "Geneva 2".
Prospects for progress at the talks in Switzerland appear dim. Assad, buttressed by recent military gains and a wave of rebel infighting, has flatly ruled out demands from the weakened opposition that he stand aside.
The two-day meeting in Spain brings together members of the Western-backed National Coalition but also delegates from opposition groups inside Syria that are tolerated by Assad as they do not call for his removal - and are therefore distrusted by many exiled opposition members.
"Most colours from Syria are represented here. There is even one person from Syrian security who supports Assad," said veteran dissident Kamal Labwani.
At least three members of the Islamic Front had also come, he said. The front is made up of several Islamist brigades which represent a large portion of fighters on the ground and reject the authority of the National Coalition.
"We want them to be here. We will listen to them," Labwani said. Differences between the delegates were too deep to bridge at the meeting, he added, but it would aim to create a dialogue among them.
Diplomats say the gathering is recognition that the divided National Coalition - which has yet to formally accept an invitation to attend Geneva 2 - is losing influence on the ground and a more comprehensive grouping is needed ahead of the talks.
[Reuters]by Basma Atassi 6:50 AM -
Belgian waste management group Indaver is considering bidding in a tender to destroy Syria's chemical weapons arsenal and has formally expressed interest with the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons.
Syria has declared 1,300 tonnes of chemical weapons to the OPCW, which won the Nobel Peace Prize last year and is arranging for them to be destroyed abroad.
"There is a tender and we are one of the companies that is looking at what is required," a spokesman for Mechelen-based Indaver said.
"A bid can be made this month but we will only do that after approval of regional and federal authorities."
The Flemish regional government was not immediately available for comment while the defence ministry declined to comment.
Privately held Indaver, which has operations in Belgium and several other European countries, has 1,600 employees and has annual revenues of about 400 million euros ($544 million).
[Reuters]by Basma Atassi 4:49 AM -
Russia blocks UN condemnation of Syria raidsRussia has blocked a new UN resolution denouncing the Syrian government's air strikes on rebels in the city of Aleppo with missiles and barrel bombs that have killed more than 700 people.The AP news agency on Thursday quoted an unnamed diplomat as saying that Russia introduced amendments that watered down the resolution, rendering it meaningless to the situation in Aleppo.The UK-sponsored draft press statement would not have been enforceable but it could have been a building block toward a later resolution.The UK could no longer support the draft language, which would have also condemned violence by all parties in the Syrian conflict.by Ted.Regencia 10:16 PM yesterday
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