Yahoo: Assad predicts disaster if West meddles in Syria

[visionary]

https://twitter.com/Shadaomar

Lebanese Media: Turkish Hostage + 4 syrian freed by lebarmy in an operation on Meqdad HQ in Dahieh south Beirut
3:55 PM

Wow...ballsy. I wonder who ordered that.



https://twitter.com/WashingtonPoint

A Syrian friend I personally know well, just told me in Quneitra, near Lebanon border, FSA is getting ready to face Hizbullah attack
4:44 PM

Acc. to the friend, they expect Hizbullah attack this weekend and he calls it "battle." area already sieged by regime for sometime, UN camp
4:46 PM

https://twitter.com/AnonymousSyria

FSA, installing a 14.5 machine gun on a vehicle in Turkman mountains in Latakia http://y2u.be/VVXkQmnEPKg
4:47 PM

https://twitter.com/NMSyria

Breaking: 1 killed and 3 injured after missiles fell from Syria onto Al Qaem city in Iraq.
4:35 PM

https://twitter.com/jfoleyjourno

Back in Aleppo, city of "occasional mortar" according to Fisk, Izaa neighborhood hit shell after shell this afternoon as FSA try push there
5:36 PM

Aftermath of the Shelling of Itha'a Neighborhood in Aleppo

https://twitter.com/freeCritic2000

DRAMATIC footage from street battle between FSA & Assad's forces in Izaa'a district of Aleppo https://www.youtube.com/watch?&v=p7LAP0jRcDw
2:01 PM

FSA brigade from Jarablus capture tank & transport vehicle from Assad's forces during Hanano baracks raid http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jDCvCZxgIWw
5:48 PM

https://twitter.com/DSyrer

FSA statement from inside the liberated Hanano barracks - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nRkZ9...&feature=g-u-u … (v @markito0171) cc @NuffSilence
2:15 PM

Some of the weapons/ammunition FSA captured from the Burj al-Qasab outpost in Eastern Latakia - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bl2D8elLglQ
4:20 PM

Oh, by the way - regime shelled the Iraqi border town of Qa'im today, killing 2 and injuring about 5 civilians.
5:53 PM

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?p...17848338242310

The Local Coordination Committees in Syria

140 martyrs, including 5 women and 15 children were reported in Syria. 44 martyrs were reported in Damascus and its suburbs; 30 in Aleppo; 22 in Deir Ezzor; 19 in Homs; 10 in Idlib; 6 in Lattakia; 5 in Daraa; 2 from Banyas, one of whom was martyred in Aleppo and the other in the Damascus Suburbs; 2 in Hama.
4:56 PM

[visionary]

http://www.kansascity.com/2012/09/07...ed-leader.html

Syria rebels say they killed leader of extremist group that kidnapped 2 journalists

This article seems to paint a somewhat different picture.
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/09/07/wo...tion.html?_r=1

Assassination Highlights Rifts Facing Syria Rebels

http://blogs.aljazeera.com/liveblog/topic/syria-153

about 3 hours ago
The Druze of Idlib province have not yet taken up arms in the war to unseat Syrian President Bashar al-Assad but have declared their support for Sunni Muslims at the heart of the rebellion.

"We are and will forever remain brothers," says Ayham, an elder of the Druze community in the northwestern province where the two communities live side by side.

Among mountains covered with olive groves and criss-crossed by rocky paths that wind among magnificent Byzantine ruins, 14 villages inhabited by the Druze religious minority live in harmony with their Sunni neighbours.

Locals give Jabal al-Aala, near the Turkish border, the name "little Druze mountain," a reference to an eponymous and historic region in southern Syria that is also Druze-dominated.

"For years everyone here, Druze and Sunni, has wanted the end of Bashar al-Assad's regime," says Abu Ahmad, an elder of the Druze village of Qalblozeh, home to a fourth-century Byzantine church.

"When the protests began 18 months ago we wanted to take part and send delegations next door to Kafar Takharim, where the revolution was flourishing," recalls the thick-moustached man in his fifties. -- AFP

about 3 hours ago
Members of the Free Syrian Army pose for the camera with their weapons. According to the Shaam News Network, this image was taken in Damascus.
-- Shaam News Network, via Reuters

13 minutes ago
Russia will push the UN Security Council this month to endorse a Syria peace accord that was brokered in Geneva and has since split world powers, Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov says.

"There is a plan to hold a special meeting of the UN Security Council with the participation of ministers on the Syrian issue," Lavrov said in the Russian city of Vladivostok after meeting US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.

"We stressed in a meeting with the US Secretary of State that Russia will push for the Security Council's approval of the Geneva communique." [AFP]

6 minutes ago
US sanctions on Syria and Iran are harming Russian business interests, Russian Foreign Minister Lavrov says.

"Unilateral US sanctions against Syria and Iran are increasingly becoming extra-territorial in nature and are touching upon the interests of Russian business," Lavrov said after meeting US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. [AFP]

Gosh...how heartbreaking....




https://twitter.com/THE_47th

Shoot Assad in head. Repeat 49 times. #50Ways2HelpSyria
6:16 PM

[twitter account of the photographer who took the famous pictures in Aleppo]
https://twitter.com/tracey_shelton

Anyone hear of a Spanish reporter killed in Aleppo? Some FSA guys showed me a photo but I don't have any more details
8:34 AM 6 Sep

Meet these guys in passing. No english. They just showed me a photo and said he was a reporter from Spain embedded with them
3:30 PM

Photo was of a body, looked foreign, definitely pass for Spanish. He had a small beard. They seemed to be very fond of him
3:31 PM

https://twitter.com/DSyrer

This video shows some of the (Freed) captives [of the 300+ in Hanano barracks prison] - most of them are from the military or security forces - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IOcos...&feature=share
8:34 PM

The first man (with the blue shirt) in the previous video is a soldier who was imprisoned because he refused to fire on protesters.
8:35 PM

The next two guys served in Deir-Ez-Zor & the 4th division respectively, they also refused to fire on protesters & were therefore arrested.
8:37 PM

They all express their gratitude to the FSA for freeing them in the end of the video.
8:38 PM

The FSA guy also explains that they killed the prison's manager in the whole process
8:38 PM

Here's what https://twitter.com/SyrianSmurf has to say about the articles talking about the jihadi leader's killing:

In reference to the NYT article:

Honestly I don't know who did this, it could be regime and it could be FSA...but this type of thing does happen alot, where one brigade has issues with the leaders of other brigades and they do resort to violence often unfortunately...

bas i heard 9a7ibna say himself that they have no room for alqaeda in Syria...7atta innu one time his son made a joke about being alqaeda masa7 fee alard...

and if this WAS FSA's doing, they would never admit to it...

In reference to the Mclatchy/KCS article:

LOOL this just made me laugh!! wow...its funny how a journalist can misquote and reverse any story...

The issue of the FSA killing him...while that very well may be true, Farouq battalion never actually admitted to it.

Also, Farouq battalion is in Homs... This guy was found all the way up in northern Idlib...It just makes no sense.

And the FSA reps from Idlib all denyed having to do with it and blamed the regime...how did the 2nd article get "FSA killed him" from?

http://www.extremeskins.com/showthre...=1#post9046975
28,149 people killed so far in Syria

[visionary]

http://in.reuters.com/article/2012/0...8K80OS20120908

Rockets from Syria hit Iraqi home, killing 5-year-old girl

Three rockets fired from Syria hit an Iraqi border town on Saturday, killing a 5-year-old girl, locals and officials said, in the most serious spillover from the neighbouring country's civil war.

As rebels fought government forces for an airfield and military base near the Syrian border town of Albu Kamal, Katyusha rockets hit a residential area of al Qaim in Iraq, smashing through a wall of one house and killing a girl inside.

"She was sitting on my lap just before we heard the rocket. I knew she was dead immediately after the explosion," said Firas Attallah, the girl's father, showing a bloodstained mattress amid the shattered glass in his home.

Baghdad said a total of four rockets were fired in what it called a "criminal operation".

"Despite the fact that Iraq is committed to adopting a neutral stance towards the crisis in Syria, our brave forces are ready to confront and respond in case of repetition of such aggression," the interior ministry said in a statement.

http://www.aljazeera.com/news/middle...841875136.html

EU agrees to beef up sanctions on Syria

An increase in sanctions against the administration of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad is needed, European Union foreign ministers have agreed.

"There is consensus also on the increase of sanctions in Syria," Erato Kozakou-Markoullis, Cypriot foreign minister, said on Saturday, as violence continued in the Arab Republic.

European nations are intent on working with Moscow, Assad's main diplomatic and military supporter, she added, despite anger over Russia and China vetoing three UN Security Council attempts to exert more pressure on Syria

Syrian troops backed by tanks and helicopters repelled a rebel attack on an army base in the northern city of Aleppo after a 20-hour battle, military officials and witnesses said.

Government forces on Saturday said they had pushed rebels out of the Hanano military base, a fortress-like compound in the east of the city, parts of which rebels claimed to have captured on Friday.

"There are a lot of victims on both sides," a witness told the AFP news agency.

A military official in Aleppo, Syria's second city and commercial hub, said soldiers destroyed six armoured vehicles which rebels were using to transport weapons seized in the Hanano barracks.

"The rebels had thrown themselves full whole-heartedly into this offensive because they desperately need weapons," the army official said.

The Hanano base serves as a weapons storage depot, a conscript recruitment centre and also houses the headquarters of the local branch of the military police and anti-riot police.

No mention of the prisoners that were released.
Also I didn't hear much about captured weapons from the barracks yesterday.
Usually when a lot are captured the FSA/rebels will show them off.
I'm unsure how much of this government account is true.

Hmmm, just saw this:
http://www.petercliffordonline.com/syria

UNCONFIRMED REPORTS FSA HAS CAPTURED THOUSANDS OF WEAPONS AT GOVERNMENT MILITARY BASE NEAR ALEPPO:

In Aleppo fighting continues with unconfirmed reports that the Free Syrian Army (FSA) have partly overrun the Hanano military base capturing thousands of weapons.

http://blogs.aljazeera.com/liveblog/topic/syria-153

about 3 hours ago
Activists say a major pipe that supplies drinking water to parts of the northern Syrian city of Aleppo has been damaged. The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights says the pipe was hit Saturday in the Midan neighborhood during clashes between rebels and troops and as government warplanes bombed the area.

Activists say the damage leaves several parts of the city of 3 million without water. There were conflicting reports on what cause the damage to the pipe.

A Syrian official said it was an act of sabotage by anti-government gunmen. He did not elaborate and spoke on condition of anonymity in line with regulations. Aleppo-based activist Mohammed Saeed said the pipe was hit by a missile fired by a warplane. Aleppo has witnessed almost daily clashes since July.

about 2 hours ago
A Lebanese army unit have arrested several people in raids in southern Beirut following a string of kidnappings by members of a local Shiite clan last month, the military said on Saturday.

"A number of wanted persons have been arrested and others are being pursued in different regions of Lebanon in order to arrest them and work for the release of all the kidnapping victims," said a statement about the Friday night operation.

It added that a number of weapons, as well as ammunition and military equipment, were confiscated during the raids in the Dahiya area, effectively under the control of Hezbollah. Hezbollah has denied any links to the Meqdad clan, which kidnapped around 20 Syrians and a Turkish man in Lebanon last month.

https://twitter.com/THE_47th

LCC confirms: FSA shoot down an Assad helicopter that was bombing the Tadamon neighborhood in Damascus.
6:13 AM

According to Sky News, Hassan Al Meqdad, head of the "military wing" of the Meqdad family in Lebanon, was arrested by Lebanese Army.
7:02 AM

Wow! Good.

https://twitter.com/HamaEcho

Palestinians form an FSA battalion in response to shelling on their camps in Damascus http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TtALTnK5ZPU
8:52 AM

Founding statement of the Free Palestinians battalion in Syria in response to the killing of Palestinians and Syrians: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mzlRZ...ature=youtu.be
9:04 AM

https://twitter.com/Mou2amara

Sitting in a hall full of SyrianRefugees all registering with UNHCR. Fighting back the tears with great difficulty.
5:18 AM

Don't know what can be done. Ppl asking me how they're going to pay rent in a day/week/month, how will they put their kids in schools, etc
10:26 AM

What am I supposed to say? That indeed the world has failed us? That we are entirely alone, even when far from home?
10:28 AM

The amount of ppl and the amount of needs. So entirely overwhelmed. Running on empty in energy & emotion.
10:29 AM

https://twitter.com/THE_47th

Every1 write to Syr FM Spksmn/******* @Makdissi & ask him 2 at lst allow @Austin_Tice's parents a phone call with their son. #FreeAustin
11:37 AM

FREE @Austin_Tice …we demand the criminal Syrian Gov to at least come clean with his whereabouts. write to @Makdissi ..use #FreeAustin
11:38 AM

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?p...17848338242310

Local Coordination Committees in Syria

The number of martyrs in Syria has risen to 103 thus far, among them 10 due to aerial shelling. 44 martyrs were reported in Damascus and its Suburbs, among them 15 field-executed in Douma and 12 in Tadamun; 45 in Aleppo, among them 20 field-executed in Athamiyeh and 10 in Shaar; 5 in Daraa; 3 in Idlib; 3 in Homs; 2 in Lattakia; and 1 in Deir Ezzor9:58 AM

[visionary]

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012...cre-ghost-town

Syria crisis: Daraya massacre leaves a ghost town still counting its dead

The young mechanic had lost the sight in his right eye during the battle of Daraya. Still, he searched for his missing father for three days, combing destroyed buildings and piles of rubble. He finally found the old man dead on the outskirts of town, at a farm with three other bodies, boys aged 16-20. "Why kill an old man?" he asks.

He is not the only one to ask the question. An estimated 500 people were slaughtered in Daraya over two and a half days at the end of last month. Rebels and the government accuse each other. Left behind is a town destroyed beyond recognition.

According to Human Rights Watch (HRW), which has interviewed Daraya residents and analysed satellite images of the battle, evidence points towards government responsibility for the killings, although it is not clear whether uniformed men or the shabiha militia carried out the killings after the town was bombed by helicopters and shelled.

"What we don't know yet is who did the dirty work, the executions – whether it was men in uniform or shabiha," says HRW's Ole Solvang. "We're still investigating."

Witnesses speak of intense shelling from helicopters with mounted machine guns, mortars from a government military airport near the Mezzah neighbourhood, and snipers in buildings in the north of the city. They speak of bodies lying in the street, and groups of civilians hiding underground only to be found and summarily killed.

http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/...8860TF20120908

Syrian troops storm Damascus refugee area, chase rebels

Syrian government troops stormed an area of Damascus populated by Palestinian refugees on Saturday after a four-day artillery assault on the southern suburb where rebels have been sheltering, opposition activists said.

Two Syrian diplomats in Malaysia announced late on Friday that they had joined the opposition, according to a report by pan-Arab television channel Al Arabiya.

Syrian activist Abu Yasser al-Shami said that friends living in Yarmouk, a densely populated Palestinian refugee camp in Damascus where 10 people were killed on Friday in shelling, had fled the area on Saturday after government troops swept in.

"Assad's forces stormed al-Basel hospital in Yarmouk Camp and arrested many of the injured civilians," he said over Skype.

When insurgents thrust into central parts of the capital in July, they were swiftly pushed back to southern districts, like Yarmouk, where there is a thinner state security presence.

https://twitter.com/HamaEcho

Dozens of bodies under the rubble after an air strike on Sha'ar neighbourhood of Aleppo
12:16 PM

Massacre in Halwanieh neighbourhood of Aleppo due to heavy shelling
12:20 PM

https://twitter.com/lmbasha

No words. This is Homs. - pic.twitter.com/NRL4rfTQ
12:35 PM

https://twitter.com/BigAlBrand

On the phone with a Homsi Christian friend. She confirmed that Om Alzinnar church was shelled by Assad's troops & parts of it were destroyed
12:22 PM

Lady of peace church was hit as well. Assad's troops shelling those areas from a far.
12:22 PM

So sick and tired of people accusing me of stuff. I want democracy and freedom and if you're against that you're an *******.
12:39 PM

https://twitter.com/LeShaque

US, friend of the Syrian people, forced the GCC to crack down on private funding efforts and starve the Syrian people.
1:59 PM

https://twitter.com/tracey_shelton

Impressive images by my colleague Niklas Meltio Aleppo http://www.corbisimages.com/ImageGroup/5/1376084 …
3:40 PM

https://twitter.com/SyrianSmurf

Never before seen shells being dropped on Maarat Al-Nouman Idlib from military helicopters. Still waiting on pics...
3:17 PM

I'm not sure. The activists are saying that they've never seen anything like it before...
3:20 PM

Yeah they'vebeen getting hit hard today from Wadi Aldayf military base and from MiGs and helicopters...Allah Yistur.
3:45 PM

https://twitter.com/iyad_elbaghdadi

As the world freaks out about what Alqaeda is doing to Syria, I'm freaking out about what Syria is doing to Alqaeda (hint: CPR).
4:23 PM

https://twitter.com/RafifJ

@iyad_elbaghdadi I wish the world would freak out, even a little, over what Assad is doing to the Syrian people.
4:24 PM

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?p...17848338242310

The Local Coordination Committees in Syria

The number of martyrs has risen to 172 thus far, including well over 40 martyrs killed by aerial shelling; 89 in Aleppo, including 30 martyrs killed by the aerial shelling in Halawnieh and 13 in the Sha’ar district, 55 in Damascus and its suburbs, including 15 summarily executed in Douma and 12 in Tadamoun, 14 in Daraa, 7 were executed in Hirak, 6 in Homs, 4 in Idlib, 2 in Lattakia, and 2 in Deir Ezzor
3:36 PM

[visionary]

http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/...b91_story.html

Turkey facing questions on Syria policy

Turkey, a rising heavyweight in the Muslim world, has led the international campaign to oust the regime in next-door Syria. But as the fighting drags on, Turkey is complaining that the United States and others have left it abandoned on the front line of a conflict that is bleeding across its border.

With its calls for an international haven for refugees in Syria going nowhere, Turkey is rushing to shelter an influx of about 80,000 Syrians. In the east, Kurdish militants who Turkey alleges are aided by Syria are intensifying deadly attacks. And in this Alawite-heavy border region, a rest and resupply hub for the mainly Sunni Syrian rebels, worries are growing that Syria’s sectarian strife might infect Turkey.

Turkish officials stand behind their Syria policy, and the problems have posed little threat to the moderately Islamist government of Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan or to Turkey’s carefully cultivated popularity in the region. But as opinion polls indicate declining domestic support for the government’s stance, Turkey is finding it has limited room to manage fallout that analysts say it did not anticipate when it turned against Syrian President Bashar al-Assad last year.

“Ankara now realizes that it doesn’t have the power to *rearrange — forget it in the region, but also not in Syria,” said Gokhan Bacik, director of the Middle East Strategic Research Center at Turkey’s Zirve University. “So Ankara desperately needs American support. But American support is not coming.”

http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinio...1_story_1.html

Avoiding a sectarian split in the Middle East

As the Assad regime hurtles toward deserved collapse in Syria, I often think back to a warning I received from a friend 18 months ago. I was serving then as the U.S. ambassador in Baghdad and was focused on Iraqi problems. But my confidant, an Iraqi Kurd with a strong commitment to a unified, multi-sectarian Iraq, and who was no friend of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, was worried about the uprising brewing in neighboring Syria. Unless the United States was able to influence events, he cautioned, a revolt might violently split Syria, and then Iraq and finally the region along sectarian lines.

U.S. officials are not blind to this danger. They have been working with Iraqi political leaders to maintain a relative peace between Sunnis and Shiites and to encourage Iraqis to stay out of the Syrian crisis. If these efforts fall short, however, sectarian violence would be extremely difficult to contain.

As formidable as the problems are, additional steps could be taken. One would be to speed the end of the Assad regime and quickly restore order in Syria. After 18 months, the continued chaos merely fuels sectarian hatreds. President Obama’s recent warning to the Assad regime about the use of chemical weapons was important, but we need to consider limited military assistance to the Syrian resistance even without the backing of the U.N. Security Council.

Beyond that, we must maintain our values, even when reaching for the undeniable prize of an Iranian defeat in Syria. As in the Balkans, the United States needs to ensure that we vocally defend the sanctity of borders, the human rights of all groups and the responsibility of all governments to protect all of their citizens. We also need to underscore the international political and legal consequences for those who ignore these responsibilities. (Judicial actions, including against some former U.S. allies, are still underway in the Balkans for just these sorts of transgressions.)

Toward this end, we need to make clearer that, in contrast with the views of some of our friends in the region, Shiites are not America’s enemy and that our problem is with the Iranian regime and Assad. We should start by taking a stronger position on Bahrain’s oppression of its Shiite majority.

https://twitter.com/MuhammadMorsi

Want to dedicate 1st tweet to martyrs of jan25 revolution and brave syrians... Muhammed Morsi
4:01 PM

https://twitter.com/omarsyria

Addounia’s spot on NileSat been taken by a new channel, Sama TV, which is identical to Addounia in all but color theme. pic.twitter.com/TQePjcf8
4:21 PM

The Addounia stand-in Sama TV actually uses the exact same journalists & anchors as they did prev. Same script too- no change in rhetoric.
5:02 PM

https://twitter.com/Turk4Syria

There is something wrong when Russia, Iran & others talk more about Syria than Arab countries, excluding Egypt in recent weeks.
5:36 PM

I don't expect Turkey to start providing weapons to FSA with the lack of solidarity shown by Arabs & West. Grim outlook for Syria...
5:46 PM

https://twitter.com/rmslim

Great majority of Syrian refugees in LB are Sunnis from Homs. Last wave of refugees include Alawites + Christians from Aleppo
5:47 PM

Move by LB army against infamous Al Miqdad clan done after approval secured from Amal & Hezbollah
5:51 PM

3% of registered Syrian refugees in LB live in S Lebanon. This # projected 2increase in near future mainly b/c of cheaper housing costs
5:50 PM

Unlike govts in Turkey & Jordan, LB has yet 2develop a strategic plan on how to deal with Syrian refugee crisis. Is anyone surprised?
5:56 PM

https://twitter.com/jfoleyjourno

Army has FSA pinned down w snipers and mortars Izaa. Fighter trying to run across street firing, shot by sniper, lost lots blood
6:04 PM

https://twitter.com/SeekerSK

mortar shell hit our house
1:07 PM

There were only women and children in the house when the mortar fell
9:07 PM

They were too scared to stay the night alone after the mortar do my elderly grandparents spent the night with them
9:08 PM

https://twitter.com/LeShaque

All diplos I met past week want to talk about post-Assad transitional justice. I told them they are insane.
9:26 PM

Had to act "diplomatic" and not tell them how idiotic they are...
9:27 PM

https://twitter.com/cjchivers

A mother's plea to Syrian govt MT @DebraTice @Makdissi Have compassion on our family & release our son, Austin Tice http://pic.twitter.com/LoD68Cgd
10:38 PM

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?p...17848338242310

The Local Coordination Committees in Syria

The LCC were able to document 178 martyrs thus far, including well over 40 killed by aerial shelling on Saturday. 89 martyrs were documented in Aleppo, including 30 killed due to the aerial shelling of Halwanieh and 13 in Shaar district; 55 in Damascus and its suburbs including 15 martyrs that were summarily executed in Douma and 12 in Tadamun, 5 due to the aerial shelling in Yarmouk Camp; 17 martyrs in Daraa including 9 that were summarily executed in Hirak; 6 in Homs; 4 in Idlib; 4 in Deir Ezzor; 2 in Lattakia; and one martyr from Hama that died in Daraa.
6:20 PM

http://www.extremeskins.com/showthre...=1#post9046975
28,327 people killed so far in Syria

[visionary]

http://uk.reuters.com/article/2012/0...8860TG20120909

Syrian jets bomb Aleppo district after rebels seize base

Syrian warplanes bombed a residential district of Aleppo on Sunday after rebels overran army barracks there, killing and wounding dozens of people and exacerbating a water shortage in Syria's biggest city after a pipeline burst, activists said.

Decisive victory has eluded both sides, with rebels lacking heavy weapons needed to down aircraft and knock out artillery and Assad loath to send conscript troops of questionable loyalty into cities to re-establish dominance on the ground.

Instead, government forces have been bombarding population centres to try to turn residents against rebels dug in there, according to diplomats following the revolt.

Sunday's air raid destroyed a residential complex in the Hananu neighbourhood, one of several in eastern Aleppo under rebel control, opposition activists told Reuters by phone.

The death toll was not immediately clear but dozens of bodies and wounded people were being dug out from the rubble. Video footage from the area showed scores of people searching and digging in the debris of a flattened building.

http://www.thenational.ae/thenationa...s-all-involved

Online trafficking of Syrian women shames all involved

Women and girls continue to be the worst affected by Syria's conflict, but their suffering rarely makes the headlines. Among the men who have died in the conflict, many will be honoured as martyrs. Those who have survived suffering at the hands of the regime will return to their homes as heroes. But women, including victims of sexual assault and refugees, will remain permanently stigmatised in conservative societies that simply do not see their suffering as equal.

In a column in July, I wrote that Syria's war, like every conflict, would have profound and long-lasting effects for women and girls, even for those who have escaped the battlefield. It is very clear that this is already happening. In recent weeks, Arabic media have reported that women in refugee camps, mostly minors, are being sexually exploited under the pretext of marriage.

https://twitter.com/HamaEcho

Entire apartment building collapses in Masaken Hanano area of Aleppo due to an air strike http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0jRjwUDrP4M
4:48 AM

https://twitter.com/lizw3bb

Free @Austin_Tice a fine man, good son,dear brother,determined student,brave journalist; now detained by Syrian gov't. pic.twitter.com/nXurVPpo
7:31 AM

https://twitter.com/StateDept

SecClinton: As I told President Putin and Foreign Minister Lavrov, the U.S. disagrees with their approach on Syria. http://go.usa.gov/rvaR
1:05 PM

https://twitter.com/LeShaque

“@Reuters: U.N. Syria envoy Brahimi to visit Tehran for talks: Iran http://reut.rs/P81vVg ” Does he plan to visit Syria?
1:12 PM

https://twitter.com/NuffSilence

Syrians in Efreen, Aleppo (predominantly Kurds) take over security forces building http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Ym30ZYKcZs
1:23 PM

https://twitter.com/DSyrer

Another video of the FSA's newly-formed "West Aleppo Brigade" - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eDCxM...medium=twitter …
1:34 PM

https://twitter.com/Avend93

Derik a Hemo- PYD detained six more Syrian soldiers.
1:40 PM

[visionary]

http://www.cnn.com/2012/09/07/world/...html?hpt=wo_c2

Heart-rending choices in Syrian warzone hospital

They are so used to seeing blood outside Dar alShifa hospital, the magnet of all suffering in Aleppo, that passersby simply walk over it, oblivious. When they mop out the building's tiny reception area, the blood runs in small, dirty streams into the gutters. This is a hospital trying to get by day-to-day while lacking the most basic in supplies. It has itself been hit by shelling: two separate attacks have left its right side punctured with gaping holes in what was once the maternity ward.

One afternoon, a rush of the most frail and vulnerable come towards the exhausted doctors; children, some suffering from sheer terror. One is malnourished. They have cuts, bruises -- but more often much worse. The government has, the doctors say, closed the main children's hospital owing to a paperwork issue, so this is where they must come.

Mohamed is aged eight and was hit by shrapnel from regime shelling in his right leg. It shattered his femur. In Europe, surgery would mean he's playing football again within months, but here a list of precarious challenges form. He remains quiet, brave, patient almost, as the doctors work out what to do.

The tough natural solution they hit on is a stark reminder of how desperate the task is of getting medical care to the wounded here in rebel-held territory. The government hospital has better equipment, and can probably save Mohamed's leg. So, lifting him on the blankets they use as makeshift stretchers, they take him, bewildered and confused, into a nearby taxi to cross the front lines. His ordeal is far from over. It is perverse to know that only those who hurt him can also heal him.

http://www.cnn.com/2012/09/09/world/...html?hpt=wo_c2

What you need to know about Syria today

The gruesome civil war in Syria has terrorized residents and left world leaders scrambling to stop the carnage that mounts daily.

Here are the latest developments in the spiraling 18-month crisis:

Fighting and shelling persisted all day Sunday and into Monday morning in Aleppo, with both the regime and the opposition blaming each other for dozens of fatalities.

A bomb landed on a kindergarten in Aleppo, leveling a residential block and causing a "great number" of casualties, the opposition Local Coordination Committees of Syria said Sunday.

The opposition activist group described it as a barrel bomb attack, saying regime forces been dropping barrels full of TNT, nails and fuel onto civilian areas.

The Syrian Network for Human Rights reported that warplanes shelled a residential building next to a nursery, causing its collapse and leading to "dozens of martyrs and casualties."

http://www.aljazeera.com/programmes/...=MasterAccount

How serious is the Syrian refugee crisis?

As Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's forces step up their battle with opposition rebels, without much regard for civilian casualties, the number of people fleeing Syria has grown sharply in recent days.

https://twitter.com/SyrianSmurf

According to @AlArabiya_Brk ...19 Palestinians martyred today in Syria due to shelling on Yarmook camp in Damascus.
1:46 PM

Massacre in Maarat Al-Nouman Idlib due to shelling from Wadi Aldayf. At least 4 from 1 family have been martyred.
2:24 PM

Another massacre in Alrami in JabalAlzawiyah Idlib. 7 martyrs as of now there due to shelling by MiGs.
2:26 PM

https://twitter.com/HamaEcho

Massive group of FSA in #Aleppo take an oath for the revolution and the unity of the country http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fi9sM...ature=youtu.be
4:59 PM

FSA battalions in western Aleppo unite to form a massive unit containing tanks. Go to 2:45 for a good view: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IYUQiptaGoU
6:36 PM

There are still delusional people who think protests alone can defeat Assad. Assad successfully suppressed protests in important areas. There are also delusional people who think there is a chance for dialogue. Regime doesn't want dialogue from even people like Louay Hussein.
7:00 PM

To the people who don't like military revolution but want intervention, you do realise the two are synonymous? They think NATO air force has a magic trick to get rid of every single soldier and shabih. Any intervention would be FSA air support
7:39 PM

offline to do some work with free army in Hama to improve logistics and intel. communication is usually cut in the region so wont be online
7:50 PM

https://twitter.com/WashingtonPoint

heard this rumor abt people of alBab wanting to protest FSA when I was in alBab.. people there mocking it
9:16 PM

https://twitter.com/DSyrer

People of Binnish, Idlib pray for martyred Shia FSA soldier Maj. Mazen https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-W4S...layer_embedded
10:22 PM

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?p...17848338242310

Local Coordination Committees in Syria

The number of martyrs in Syria has risen to 160 thus far, including 17 children and 11 women. 40 martyrs were reported in Damascus and its Suburbs; 27 in Aleppo; 25 in Idlib; 22 in Homs, 9 of them in a massacre in Rastan; 22 in Daraa; 16 in Deir Ezzor; 3 in Swaida, 3 in Hama; 1 in Banyas; and 1 in Lattakia
4:32 PM

http://www.extremeskins.com/showthre...=1#post9046975
28,487 people killed so far in Syria

[visionary]

http://www.aljazeera.com/news/middle...=MasterAccount

Bombs hit Syrian army compounds in Aleppo

Two bombs exploded simultaneously next to Syrian army compounds in the northern city of Aleppo, killing and wounding scores of President Bashar al-Assad's forces, residents and opposition activists said.

The bombs targeted makeshift barracks and the military police headquarters, situated in two adjacent sealed off districts in the centre of the city, said several residents and opposition campaigners from Aleppo.

The state news agency said an explosion near a hospital and a school in the Municipal Stadium district on Sunday killed 17 people and wounded at least 40. Residents said the facilities were used to house soldiers fighting an 18-month uprising against Assad.

"The army had taken over the neighbourhood and emptied it from residents. The hospital was turned into army barracks," said activist Ahmad Saeed.

A woman living near the area said the casualty figure "appeared to be over 100", judging from the number of ambulances ferrying the wounded and dead from the area.

The Noble Aleppo brigade of the Free Syrian Army said in a statement it carried out the Muncipal Stadium district attack, killing or wounding 200 troops. It said the bombs were planted inside the buildings in cooperation with a loyalist sympathiser.

https://twitter.com/AJStream

On Monday we talk to @RafifJ, @The_47th, and @FadiSalem about the Free Syrian Army. Tweet us your questions for them!
9:00 PM

[visionary]

http://blogs.aljazeera.com/liveblog/topic/syria-153

about 3 hours ago
AFP: Egypt's foreign ministry on Monday confirmed it was hosting a meeting of a four-way "contact group" aimed at resolving the conflict in Syria, after Iran said it was attending

Delegations from Turkey, Iran and Saudi Arabia "will meet today ... in a bid to confront the deteriorating situation in Syria and put an end to the suffering of the Syrian people and an end to the bloodshed through a political process," the ministry said in a statement..

The meeting is the first of a regional "contact group" on Syria proposed by Egypt's new president, Mohamed Morsi, at an August summit of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation in Saudi Arabia that suspended Syria's membership.

The delegations would "exchange points of view on the tragic developments in Syria and ways to end the bloodbath and achieve the aspirations of the Syrian people," foreign ministry official Nazih al-Naggari was quoted as saying in the statement.

Egypt would "work to reach a consensus over an immediate halt to the killing and violence; the preservation of Syrian unity, sovereignty and territorial integrity; the rejection of foreign military intervention in Syria," the statement said..

It would also seek to "launch a political process with the participation of all segments of the Syrian population... supporting Arab and international efforts aimed at resolving the crisis, including the mission of UN-Arab League envoy Lakhdar Brahimi."

about 2 hours ago
The "Friends of Syria" group is to meet in the Netherlands next week to broaden the scope of sanctions and sharpen specific measures against the Damascus regime, the Dutch foreign ministry said on Monday.

The September 20 meeting comes after the European Union agreed on Saturday on the need to beef up sanctions against President Bashar al-Assad inner circle as the world struggles to resolve the bloody 18-month conflict.

"The meeting aims to adopt sanctions against Bashar al-Assad's regime by a growing number of countries," a ministry statement said.

"The application of such measures in the financial sector will be one of the main topics of discussion."

Dutch Foreign Minister Uri Rosenthal will open the meeting, to be attended by "around 50 to 60 nations, including Syria's neighbours and Arab League representatives," the statement said. [AFP]

about an hour ago
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights has posted a video - taken around September 7 - showing the bodies of more than 20 members of the Syrian security forces who were reportedly executed by rebels.

Captured at a military compound during a rebel attack in the eastern district of Hanano, the soldiers had their hands tied behind their backs before they were lined up and shot, sometime over the weekend, Observatory director Rami Abdel Rahman told the AFP news agency.

about an hour ago
Syria's army on Monday regained full control of a barracks in Aleppo after days of fierce clashes with rebels seeking to overrun the strategic site, a military official said.

"The Syrian army is in total control of the Hanano barracks after fighting which came to a complete halt during the night," the source told AFP from inside the barracks.

I thought they said they had done that on Saturday....

34 minutes ago
And the video below shows chaos during shelling by government troops of the Bustan al-Qasr area of Aleppo.

https://twitter.com/THE_47th

Assad troops proudly showcase how they confiscated food & aid going to residents of the besieged Al Hrak City https://www.youtube.com/watch?featur...v=jvfpSwAtEos# …!
3:24 AM

https://twitter.com/LccSy

The Market in Bokamal City, Deir Ezzor is Completely Destroyed http://fb.me/xEFibF72
7:02 AM

https://twitter.com/markito0171

Idlib Soldiers defect with bmp-tank in MaarratAlNuman http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ulWGV...&feature=g-u-u … http://wikimapia.org/#lat=35.6492584...9&z=14&l=5&m=b …
8:24 AM

https://twitter.com/levinsonc

South Turkey rumor mill: Big uptick in arms shipments en-route to Syria rebels.
9:34 AM

https://twitter.com/Reem_Abdellatif

Nadder Bakkar, spox of Egypt's Salafist Nour Party tells me 'if it wasn't for Iranian regime, Assad would've fallen months ago.'
10:01 AM

https://twitter.com/AnonymousSyria

Destruction in old Aleppo after shelling by a jet on Sep 9th http://youtu.be/LRO-G5Kvc4g
10:21 AM

Destruction in Izaha neighborhood in Aleppo as a result of shelling http://youtu.be/087u2WOlCEo
10:22 AM

https://twitter.com/janearraf

New opinion poll shows majority of Jordanians opposed to taking in more Syrian refugees here. And most believe they should stay in camps.
10:31 AM

https://twitter.com/NMSyria

Mosque in Jobar, Damascus had the top of its minaret blown off by shelling. pic.twitter.com/gMlXfdb9
3:06 AM

Here's a closer picture of the minaret. Jobar, Damascus pic.twitter.com/rJDK8vv1
3:06 AM

Damascus Suburbs: Zamalka: A mass grave of 17 unidentified bodies with tied hands was found today.
10:37 AM

Shelling isn't enough anymore these days. Now, field executions are the method of choice. At least 40 killed today were executed.
10:39 AM

https://twitter.com/DavidKenner

@tracey_shelton talks about her iconic photos of war in Aleppo. http://www.channel4.com/news/images-...lasting-legacy …
11:52 AM

https://twitter.com/WilliamsJon

Syria's highest profile defector Manaf Tlass tells BBC Arabic Assad must relinquish power "for his own safety, that of family & of Syria"
12:05 PM

Interviewed in Paris, Tlass claims French helped him flee Syria. Says future role to be decided by "unified opposition" trying to help form
12:05 PM

https://twitter.com/DavidKenner

There goes my night. RT @wikileaks Released: All emails to & from the Syrian Ministry of Foreign Affairs (32476 emails) http://wikileaks.org/syria-files/rel...ates.html?trss
12:16 PM

[visionary]

http://www.lccsyria.org/10136

Punitive House Demolition in Syrian Cities

http://stream.aljazeera.com/story/fr...lution-0022335

Fractured revolution

Does the Free Syrian Army accurately represent the Syrian people?

The streets of Syria now look remarkably different from those 18 months ago when the country’s first protests began. What started as peaceful marches and chants calling for democracy have turned into violent clashes with a death toll that tops 250 people each day, according to some reports.

Established in the summer of 2011, the fragmented Free Syrian Army has emerged as the main armed resistance group against President Bashar al-Assad’s government. The group’s mission has gradually changed over time, from protecting peaceful protesters to removing Assad from power.

In this episode of The Stream, we examine why some anti-government activists are unsupportive of the rebels and who the FSA has become as more foreigners allegedly join the ranks. We speak to Rafif Jouejati (@RafifJ), Spokeswoman for the Local Coordination Committees in Syria; Fadi Salem (@FadiSalem), Syrian Political Researcher; and “The 47th” (@THE_47th), a pro-opposition activist.

http://www.cbc.ca/news/world/story/2...s.html?cmp=rss

Syria ex-general says rebels need arms, not intervention

Syria's most prominent defector said in an interview that aired Monday that he opposes any foreign military intervention in the country's civil war and that he is confident the opposition can topple President Bashar al-Assad's regime.

But Manaf Tlass, a Syrian general who was the first member of Assad's inner circle to join the opposition, said the rebels need weapons.

Syrian Brig.-Gen. Manaf Tlass, who defected from the country, told a French radio station Monday his role in resolving the civil war is to 'unify' the Syrian opposition. However, those suspicious of his motives believe he's after a power grab. (Burhan Ozbilici/Associated Press)
"The Syrian people must not be robbed of their victory, they must be given support, aid, arms," Tlass said in a recorded interview that aired Monday on French television station BFM.

He called on outside powers to give the opposition "all the aid and support" needed to topple Assad.

Foreign military intervention, however, "could not provide a solution" to the conflict, he said.

http://blogs.aljazeera.com/liveblog/topic/syria-153

about 5 hours ago
The UN refugee agency says its special envoy, actress Angelina Jolie, is in Jordan to visit Syrians who fled the civil war in their country.

UNHCR spokesman Ali Bebe says the Hollywood star arrived Monday and is to visit Jordan's first tent city for Syrian refugees on Tuesday morning.

Jolie will be accompanied by UN refugee chief Antonio Guterres and Jordanian Foreign Minister Nasser Judeh on the visit to the Zatari camp, which hosts about 27,000 Syrians displaced by the 18-month conflict. Jordan has sheltered more than 185,000 Syrian refugees - the largest number in the region.

The UNHCR in April promoted Jolie from serving as its goodwill ambassador to special envoy due to her work for the agency. Jolie has contributed $5m to UN efforts aiding refugees worldwide.

about 4 hours ago
Lebanon's "special relationship" with neighbouring Syria will remain firm regardless of who is in power in Damascus, President Michel Sleiman said on Monday.

It is the first time the president has made a distinction between the Damascus regime and the country itself since a bloody conflict broke out in Syria, which has long influenced Lebanese political life.

"The special relationship with Syria is not dependent on any political side in Lebanon or who is ruling in Damascus," Sleiman said in an interview with Lebanon's National News Agency.

"The relationship between Lebanon and Syria is between two peoples and two states, and is historic," he said. "We must correct the well-known defects, modify our agreements to benefit both countries, ensure their sovereignty and eliminate ambiguities."

http://thelede.blogs.nytimes.com/201...?smid=tw-share

Vivid Portrait of Syrian Rebel Fighters Outside Homs

The French photojournalist who reports from behind rebel lines in Syria using the name Mani has produced another striking video report for Britain’s Channel 4 News, an intimate portrait of the Free Syrian Army’s Farouq Brigade first broadcast on Monday.

https://twitter.com/margbrennan

Russia continues to honor existing arms contracts & is still sending weapons to Syria's Bashar al-Assad - SecClinton tells @CBSNews.
12:53 PM

US sent team to Russia to consult on creating a safe zone in Syria - SecClinton tells @CBSNews
12:59 PM

https://twitter.com/cjchivers

Sounds reasonable. Except the rules of the system make it impossible. "Assad would leave if voted out" http://reut.rs/OlJBmU
1:47 PM

https://twitter.com/harrisj

@cjchivers I think he would perhaps leave if blood rained from the sky and plagues were visited on his family, while we’re talking outcomes
1:48 PM

https://twitter.com/DSyrer

Looks like the article about "FSA divisions in Aleppo" reached Tawhid. They integrated their command structure more now http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Czf08R12Ye0 …
2:40 PM

https://twitter.com/alihashem_tv

Syrian opposition figure Haytham Manaa: we received assurances from Russia that the opposition can hold a meeting in Damascus
4:36 PM

https://twitter.com/LeShaque

Mannaa saw it fit to beg Russia to let him hold an opposition meeting in his own country.
4:37 PM

https://twitter.com/KareemLailah

+1000 RT @BintAlRifai: Thank you @THE_47th and @RafifJ for speaking so well on behalf of our Syrian Revolution. You make us proud.
4:52 PM

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?p...17848338242310

Local Coordination Committees in Syria

The LCC managed to document 136 martyrs on Monday, among them 8 women, 2 children and 8 due to aerial shelling. 73 martyrs were reported in Damascus and its Suburbs, among then 36 field-executed in Tadamon, 3 in Mouadamyeh and 17 found in Zamalka; 28 in Aleppo; 10 in Hama; 7 in Daraa; 6 in Idlib; 5 in Deir Ezzor; 4 in Homs; and 3 in Lattakia
6:17 PM

http://www.extremeskins.com/showthre...=1#post9046975
28,623 people killed so far in Syria

[visionary]

http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/...sm_btn_twitter

In policy shift, Turkey moving Syrian refugees inland or to camps

Turkish authorities have begun knocking on doors of thousands of Syrian refugees here to demand that they either enter camps or move deeper inside Turkey, far away from a border region tense with sectarian strife.

The surprise crackdown began this weekend, creating a panic in the community of about 40,000 Syrians living in rented housing in southern Turkey as bewildered families were told by government security agents and police to pack their belongings and move out.

Turkish officials said the Syrian refugees — many of whom have proper papers and are living legally in sanctuary cities such as Antakya — are not being sent back to the violence and chaos in their homeland, though some Syrian activists see it that way.

The tough measures represent a major shift by the government of Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who supports the armed rebellion against Syrian President Bashar al-Assad but complains that the United States, Europe and the United Nations have abandoned Turkey on the front line of a conflict seeping across its border.

Turkish officials say the new measures are part of an effort to regain control of the country’s turnstile borders, while calming hostilities in a region of Turkey where many residents do not support the Syrian rebels and instead side with Assad.

http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/...88A0T520120911

Lebanese army frees four Syrian hostages

Lebanese security forces freed four Syrian hostages on Tuesday in a raid on a powerful Shi'ite Muslim clan, which kidnapped more than 20 people last month.

The four told a Lebanese television station they had been tortured when they were held by the armed wing of the Meqdad clan and were forced to confess they were rebels fighting President Bashar al-Assad.

They were among more than 20 Syrian men, as well as a Turkish businessman, abducted in the Lebanese capital of Beirut in mid-August.

The clan said its abductions were in response to the capture of one of its kinsmen by Syrian rebels trying to topple Assad.

The clan later released all but the four Syrians and the Turk, who the Meqdad family spokesman Maher Meqdad said was shot and wounded in the raid and is now the only hostage left.

The army said it had freed the four in a midnight raid in a southern suburb of the capital controlled by the powerful Shi'ite guerrilla group Hezbollah, a longtime ally of Assad in Lebanon. Critics had accused the group of tolerating or authorizing the abductions.

"The army leadership is intent on continuing its raids and imposing the rule of law," the army statement said. "It will not back away from these measures until it has caught all those involved and freed all the hostages."

http://www.mcclatchydc.com/2012/09/1...-captured.html

Syria’s rebels counting on captured anti-aircraft guns to defeat air force

ABU AL DAHOUR, Syria — Most of the civilians already have left this city of about 30,000, and many of those who remained could be seen Saturday piling trucks with their belongings.

Abu al Dahour is the closest city to a military airport that bears the same name. Now it’s become the setting for a strategic confrontation that rebels hope will undercut the military’s dominance of the air, an advantage that’s all but halted rebel advances in nearby Aleppo, Syria’s largest city, and allowed the military to move men and materiel where rebels’ roadside bombs have made land travel dangerous.

Ten days ago, the rebels fighting to topple the government of President Bashar Assad launched a two-day offensive against the base, overrunning a complex that housed air force officers. The government responded by bombing parts of the city to rubble. The rebels vowed, however, to continue to lay siege to the base.

They use garages in the city to hide truck-mounted anti-aircraft weapons, which they’ve used to down at least one air force jet. They also have at their command captured armored personnel carriers, at least one tank and ammunition they seized during the brief time they occupied parts of the base.

The rebels, of course, predict victory. On the outskirts of the city, near a barn full of cattle, rebels from one of the groups that operate here, Syrian Martyrs Battalion, proudly displayed the wreckage of what they, and experts in the United States who viewed video of the wreckage, said was a Russian-made MiG jet fighter.

They said they’d downed two more aircraft last week and had destroyed other aircraft and a runway during their brief foray onto the base nearly two weeks ago. The assault was coordinated, they said, with a strike on another air base near Taftanaz, north of here, that also was being used to fly sorties over Aleppo.

Rebels say the anti-aircraft weapons they’ve captured have given them a new edge in their fight and have cut the number of sorties the government is flying.

“Before we got these, they were flying 24 hours a day,” said one young rebel who was guarding a pair of captured anti-aircraft guns in the city. “Now they are not flying as much. They are afraid.”

http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-18563_16...nel/?tag=socsh

Inside a secret Syrian rebel TV channel

With Syria's Bashar al-Assad unwilling to step down, the Syrian opposition is fighting not just on the battleground. It is also fighting from outside Syria -- an information war.

From a secret location in Jordan, a handful of journalists are risking everything to make sure the world doesn't turn its back on Syria.

The opposition channel Syria al-Shaab - meaning Syria of the people - broadcasts powerful and graphic amateur video and live reports from inside the war zone.

Summer Ajlouni left a comfortable life in Virginia and moved thousands of miles away to help launch the channel with her Jordanian father.

"Everyone who has a cell phone or a camera is a journalist now. They want to tell the truth, they want to show people what was going on," Summer said.

Because it's available in Syria, it gives hope to those caught up in the violence that the horrors they're witnessing, the world is seeing too.

http://cjchivers.com/post/3130378310...ast-implying-a

Syrian State TV’s Disturbing Broadcast Implying a Journalist is a Combatant.

See Watching Syria’s War take of the manipulative “report” suggesting that Cuneyt Unal, a Turkish journalist captured by loyalist forces and in Syrian government custody since late last month, was a foreign combatant. Mr. Unal works for al-Hurra. In the video, bruises can be seen under his eyes. There is no word in the broadcast of Mr. Unal’s missing colleague, Bashar Fahmi, of Jordan. Mr. Fahmi has not been heard from since his disappearance. He was reportedly wounded just before being taken.

http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/...88A0MN20120911

Syria war refugees tell tearful Angelina Jolie of burnt bodies

Syrian refugees stuck in a dust-blown camp in Jordan gave gruesome accounts of civilians incinerated in their country's civil war to U.N. special envoy and actress Angelina Jolie on Tuesday, moving her to tears.

The United Nations is in the process of registering more than 250,000 refugees from the 17-month-old conflict in four neighboring countries, with more than 100,000 arriving in August alone - 85,000 of those in Jordan.

On average around 2,000 Syrians arrive each day in Jordan and the country has already declared the influx is beyond what it can deal with and appealed for international help.

"Little children who were asked what they saw described body parts separated and burnt people being pulled apart like chicken. A little 9-year-old girl said that," Jolie told reporters after a two-day visit to Jordan's Zaatari camp.

"It's been a very heavy experience because often at times you come to these camps ... and rarely do you come when meet them as they cross the border and get to know people the moment they become a refugee," she said, stopping to compose herself.

"They will say: 'As the months go on there will be no more of us, our homes are gone are families are gone'."

NBC Video of Angelina Jolie's visit:
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21134540...3662&#48983662


https://twitter.com/SyrianSmurf

Ahrar Alsham in southern Idlib destroyed an entire checkpoint including 2 tanks and 3 army carriers. They also killed 45 regime soldiers.
7:13 PM - 10 Sep

Youngest martyr in Idlib. Little Salim Alzeer was born and martyred on the same day in Ariha. Syria pic.twitter.com/P5LdDQgv
12:51 AM

The regime army that has been trying to enter Salqeen Idlib for days has withdrawn after the FSA stopped it cold!
3:21 AM

https://twitter.com/NMSyria

BREAKING: LCC: Bin Salem Brigade: Explosion targeted #Assad forces stationed at a school in Aleppo
4:49 AM

https://twitter.com/THE_47th

This is the 3rd time Angelina Jolie comes & visits Syrian refugees. In the meantime…bla bla Arab celebrities... **** Arabs.
12:24 PM

https://twitter.com/jfoleyjourno

basically looks like stalemate in SW aleppo. Every few days FSA tries push up hill into Izaa and driven back by heavy shelling
12:54 AM

my video- fight for neighborhood turned into a vicious stalemate #Aleppo w both sides firing and cursing from corners http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=buIOG...Dks_hZ5gRKL49Q …
12:39 PM

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?p...17848338242310

Aleppo: Three people were injured, including two children, due to fierce warplane shelling in Haidarie neighborhood, which targeted Ibrahim Al-Yazjy School for Girls
12:25 PM

[visionary]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-19563225

Anguish of a Syrian family caught in conflict
[Disturbing Video, Scarred kids....]

Hundreds of thousands of civilians have fled the conflict in Syria and for those with injuries it is an especially difficult challenge to try and rebuild their lives.

Many refugees have travelled to Jordan, when the BBC's Caroline Hawley met a family that lost everything when their home in Homs was hit by a shell.

http://www.businessweek.com/ap/2012-...ales-of-horror

Filipinos flee war in Syria with tales of horror

Filipino Ruth Pana remembered the windows of her employer's house in Damascus riddled with bullets. The maid, who escaped first to the Philippine Embassy in the Syrian capital and then to Manila aboard an evacuation flight, also remembered one of the sons of her Syrian employer being killed by government forces.

"His chest was opened like there was large steel that passed through it," she said, sobbing. "Do you know that we buried him at the back of the house because there were no more cemeteries?"

Pana was among nearly 300 Filipino workers — young women who escaped unemployment at home for jobs abroad as maids and babysitters — who fled the worsening civil war in the biggest single repatriation negotiated between the Philippines and Syria. They were flown to Manila on Tuesday by the International Organization of Migration and brought with them the tales of horror and sleepless nights as violence between government forces and rebels fighting to overthrow the regime of President Bashar Assad spiraled out of control.

Pana, 29, said the man she worked for was supportive of the opposition and his son was killed during a recent demonstration. After the family's house where she lived and worked was shattered by bullets, they all fled to a neighbor's basement to escape being caught in the crossfire between government troops and the rebel Free Syrian forces.

She said she liked her employer and had worked for him and his family for three years until 2010, and then returned just months before the fighting erupted in March 2011.

Pana said a military camp behind her employer's residence was occupied by the rebels but the military launched a counter-attack and bombardment last week using helicopters.

"If you could just see the bodies, oh brother, you would be throwing up," she said in an interview.

http://blogs.aljazeera.com/liveblog/topic/syria-153

about 19 hours ago
British Foreign Secretary William Hague is to hold talks on Syria and Egypt during a meeting in Cairo with Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi on Tuesday, his office said.

Hague, on his first visit to Egypt since the Islamist president's election, arrived late Monday in Cairo where he is also scheduled to meet Foreign Minister Mohammed Kamel Amr, the Foreign Office said.

about 19 hours ago
Turkey believes Damascus is now portraying the Syrian crisis as a sectarian conflict to mask President Bashar al-Assad's loss of political authority, according to a senior adviser to Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan.

This "neo-sectarian" approach aims to rally Syrian Alawites. same sect as Assad, to the leader's side and explain away opposition to him by majority Sunni states in the region, Ibrahim Kalin told Reuters.

But Syria's Sunnis and Alawite sect, an offshoot of Shi'ism to which Assad belongs, are not fixed blocs and Turkey does not see the crisis in sectarian terms, Kalin said at a weekend conference of Muslim and Christian religious leaders from the Middle East.

"The Assad regime, because it has lost its political legitimacy, is now trying to present this as a sectarian conflict," he said. "They claim that those who oppose the Assad
regime do so because they are Sunnis and they hate Shi'ites.

about 16 hours ago
Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Iran will pursue contacts on a solution to Syria's conflict after launching talks in Cairo that grouped one ally and three opponents of President Bashar al-Assad, a senior diplomat said on Tuesday.

The diplomat, who was involved in the talks, did not elaborate on further gatherings. But Egyptian Foreign Minister Mohamed Kamel Amr had said shortly before the discussions on
Monday evening that delegates would prepare for a ministerial meeting in Cairo in "coming days".

Iran's Fars news agency said that Tehran, one of the Syrian president's few remaining allies as he battles to crush a popular rebellion, proposed expanding the group to include Iraq and Venezuela.[Reuters]

Venezuela? I hope they told the Iranians to go **** themselves.
It might make sense to have Lebanon and Jordan involved though.

about 14 hours ago
Lebanese security forces freed four Syrian hostages on Tuesday in a raid on a powerful Shia Muslim clan that kidnapped more than 20 people last month. The four freed men told a Lebanese television station they had been tortured by armed members of the Meqdad family and were forced to confess that they were rebels fighting President Bashar al-Assad.

The Meqdads kidnapped 20 men, including a Turkish businessman, in Beirut in August after one of their relatives was captured by Syrian rebels. The Meqdads later released all but the four Syrians and the Turk, the latter of whom Meqdad family spokesman Maher Meqdad said was shot and wounded in the raid and is now the only hostage left.

about 7 hours ago
A Lebanese clan that had kidnapped a group of men in retaliation for one of their relatives being captured by Syrian rebels freed their final hostage on Tuesday.

A Turkish man, wounded earlier in the day during a rescue by the Lebanese army that freed other men in the Meqdad clan's custody, was let go, Turkish and Lebanese sources said.

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?p...17848338242310

The Local Coordination Committees in Syria

The LCC was able to document 130 martyrs at the end of Tuesday. 30 were martyred due to aerial shelling. 43 martyrs were reported in Aleppo; 34 in Damascus and its suburbs; 25 in Hama, including martyrs from the massacres in Kafar Zeita and Halfaya; 11 in Deir Ezzor, including 4 martyrs in Shaheel and 4 in Bokamal as a result of shelling; 6 in Daraa; 5 in Idlib; 2 in Lattakia; 2 in Banyas; and 1 in Homs
6:28 PM

http://www.extremeskins.com/showthre...=1#post9046975
28,753 people killed so far in Syria

[visionary]

Not much Syria news on twitter today.
I think most Syrians I follow were too angry or depressed over the events in Libya and Egypt to focus much on looking for news from Syria today.


http://www.nowlebanon.com/NewsArticl...aspx?ID=435785

Syrian rebels vow to retake Aleppo barracks

A Syrian rebel commander vowed on Wednesday to retake a major barracks in the northern city of Aleppo after it was recaptured by the army the previous day.

"We lost the Hanano barracks, and I regret that. But I assure you we will retake it within a week," Abu Mohammed, who did not give his real name, told AFP in a house in the center of Aleppo.

The Hanano base, perched on a hill not far from the citadel that dominates the city and is controlled by government troops, "is too big and impossible for us to defend," the Free Syrian Army commander said.

"As soon as we entered [the barracks], Bashar al-Assad's army opened fire on us with everything they have got – artillery, helicopters, planes. We would have had to defend it with dozens of men, and would have failed. They'd have died for nothing."

Abu Mohammed said last Thursday's assault on the base had enabled the rebels to free "at least 350 prisoners, civilians kept in underground cells," and to capture weapons.

"There were even more weapons in the armories, but we couldn't carry everything," he said. "We found anti-tank rocket launchers but no rockets for them."

The rebels executed 20 soldiers they captured when they entered the base, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.

"This was a big mistake, a crime, and those who did it will be held accountable," Abu Mohammed said.

Fantastic...this will go well.
http://blogs.aljazeera.com/liveblog/topic/syria-153

a day ago
Venezuela will evaluate a proposal to join in a team of non-aligned nations to solve the crisis in Syria, President Hugo Chavez has said.

Chavez has remained a vocal supporter of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad throughout the uprising, and was a staunch critic of foreign military intervention in Libya to unseat Muammar Gaddafi.

Chavez said he will look at the proposal by Iran late last month to form a group with other non-aligned countries like Venezuela, Egypt, Lebanon and Iraq that would try to end the bloodshed.

"We're going to evaluate the proposal and hopefully we can somehow help to achieve peace in Syria, whose people are being run over by this imperialist, violent politics,'' Chavez said at a news conference. "From here I send my greetings to President Bashar Assad and the Syrian people who are resisting an imperialist aggression."

Chavez, a fierce critic of the US government, has accused Washington of stirring up violence in Syria similar to the fighting in Libya. [AP]

about 13 hours ago
The AFP reports:
Film star and UN special envoy Angelina Jolie said on Wednesday she was moved at how Lebanese families were opening their homes to Syria refugees, after Beirut ruled out setting up camps for them.

"I was very moved today to meet again with the Syrian families. And to meet them here, not in a camp, but in homes where they are welcomed and protected," the Oscar-winning star told reporters in Beirut.

"I know the Lebanese people themselves are dealing with their own problems, their own economy, so it is all the more more meaningful that they are so generous and kind and I hope the world acknowledges that."

about 13 hours ago
Syrian rebels have killed at least 18 soldiers in the northwestern town of Saraqeb, in Idlib province, by setting off a car bomb outside a military position and then attacked it, according to a watchdog group.

Rami Abdul Rahman, head of the UK-based rights group Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR), said on Wednesday the details of the incident were still sketchy, and that he could not say whether the car bombing was a suicide attack.

"There were 70 to 100 soldiers there when the attack occurred" in Saraqeb, he said.

"Twenty soldiers escaped, and clashes are still going on."

https://twitter.com/NMSyria

FSA has taken down a fighter jet in Maaret al-Nouman, eastern Idlib suburbs.
3:48 PM

Al Arabiya. Check it out.
3:52 PM

Keep in mind that the main source is Al arabiya though, so....

https://twitter.com/BigAlBrand

If you got anything you need to tell me, please say it now. Mention me, I'll read everything. I will be deleting my accounts soon. Ty.
8:47 PM

No matter how we try, no matter what we write or say, we'll always be accused of doing what we're against. In Syria and the world.
8:54 PM

We're being terrorized the most here in Syria, yet many will keep calling us terrorists. Any terrorist attack anywhere is hurting us.
8:54 PM

We're getting killed by *******s terrorists then we're being accused and blamed for others' actions. This will never end.
8:54 PM

https://twitter.com/SyrianSmurf

I hate this world............
3:07 AM

Im tired of the news...im tired of all the violence..im tired of the world not caring....wallah my nerves are fried...
3:08 AM

http://www.lccsyria.org/10161

The Local Coordination Committees in Syria

The number of martyrs in Syria has risen to 173 thus far, among them 30 due to aerial shelling, 10 children and 6 women. 67 martyrs were reported in Aleppo; 25 in Damascus and its Suburbs; 20 in Daraa, among them 12 unidentified bodies; 20 in Deir Ezzor, most in Bokamal; 15 in Hama, most in Helfaya massacre; 9 in Homs; 1 in Hasakeh; 1 in Lattakia and 1 in Banyas

http://www.extremeskins.com/showthre...=1#post9046975
28,926 people killed so far in Syria

[visionary]

http://www.theinternational.org/arti...utside-world-i

Supplying Syria: What the Outside World is Actually Doing

http://blogs.aljazeera.com/liveblog/topic/syria-153

about 7 hours ago
The AFP reports:
Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi reiterated during a visit to the EU on Thursday that Syrian President Bashar al-Assad must step down as "a president that kills his own people is not acceptable."

At a news briefing, Morsi interjected to state "this is completely agreed upon" when European Commission president Jose Manuel Barroso told reporters after talks between the two sides that "we are also adamant that Assad should go."

"A president that kills his own people is not acceptable," said Barroso.

"There is no place for a president who is killing his people," interjected Morsi.

Responding later to questions from the press, Morsi for his part said: "We want to end the bloodshed."

"We think there is a need today to have a regime change in Syria, that is what we agreed," he added.

about 2 hours ago
The conflict in Syria has raged on for so long - 18 months - that for children there, war is now the stressful norm.

And there are concerns that an entire generation of children could be left with psychological scars.

Al Jazeera's Sue Turton reports.

about an hour ago
The AP reports:
Hollywood star Angelina Jolie met with Syrian refugees in Turkey on Thursday to draw attention to the plight of the hundreds of thousands who have fled their nation's civil war.

The trip by Jolie, who is a special envoy for the UN refugee agency, comes as Turkey grows increasingly concerned that the number of registered Syrian refugees on its soil - about 80,000 - is becoming difficult to manage.

Turkey has also been frustrated in attempts to persuade the international community to help set up safe havens for Syrian civilians inside Syria.

Jolie and Antonio Guterres, the UN high commissioner for refugees, met privately with refugees at two camps near the Syrian border.

https://twitter.com/NMSyria

Many wounded in Qaboun, Damascus after security forces opened fire on residents trying to flee the city after regime entered area.
12:08 PM

Military truck ran over elderly man on Mazzeh Highway. They forced taxi driver to move body and the truck went on its way. Damascus
12:10 PM

New massacre has taken place in Yarmouk Camp in Damascus. At least 15 Palestinians killed, 10 from the al-Masry family alone.
12:16 PM

https://twitter.com/borzou

Just left northern Syru after brief trip to rebel territory; regime shelling and airstrikes greatest threat to self-rule experiment
11:07 AM

Syria: After reporter asked Damascus govt for official quote on what happened in Daraya, they literally said, "Ask Robert Fisk."
12:26 PM

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?p...17848338242310

Local Coordination Committees in Syria

The number of martyrs in Syria has risen to 96 thus far. 35 martyrs were reported in Aleppo including 14 in Bab town, 33 in Damascus and its Suburbs including 8 from one family in Yalda town,7 in Daraa, 6 in Deir Ezzor including 3 from Bokmal, 6 in Lattakia, 5 in Idlib, 1 in Hama and 1 in Homs
12:35 PM

[visionary]

http://www.dailystar.com.lb/News/Pol...#axzz26O4ar2sp

Ex-Lebanon security chief says Jumblatt must be killed: source

Progressive Socialist Party leader MP Jumblatt “must be killed,” former General Security head Jamil al-Sayyed was recorded as saying on an audio device, a source close to the probe into the case of former MP Michel Samaha told The Daily Star Thursday.

“This [guy] Jumblatt should be the first one to be killed,” Sayyed, a retired major general, was captured on a recording as telling Samaha during a recent trip from Damascus to Beirut, the source said.

Samaha, who is close to Syrian President Bashar Assad, was charged in August with plotting to carry out terrorist attacks in Lebanon, as well as assassinate religious and political figures. He was also accused of transporting explosives into the country from Syria.

http://blogs.aljazeera.com/liveblog/topic/syria-153

about 9 hours ago
The AFP reports:
French Defence Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian said in Beirut on Thursday that France will not send weapons to the Syrian opposition.

"We do not intend, neither today nor tomorrow, to send weapons to the Syrian opposition," the minister told journalists.

https://twitter.com/javierespinosa2

Lebanese army confirmed that it arrested Maher al-Meqdad,leader of clan that abducted more than 20 syrians and turkish citizens in #Lebanon
1:17 PM

https://twitter.com/NuffSilence

In DeirEzzor, FSA got their hands on a nice cache of weapons and ammo after storming a border guards post: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tacauW3L7Mc
1:18 PM

https://twitter.com/TaziMorocco

BREAKING: URGENT: Reports that FSA is moving towards Saad Allah Jabari Square in Aleppo after a surprise attack on Assad's forces
1:25 PM

https://twitter.com/markseibel

1 month since we heard from @Austin_Tice Keep him in yr thoughts. Pic from @DebraTice pic.twitter.com/8BFVTcUY
2:32 PM

https://twitter.com/vvanwilgenburg

Syrian regime forces attack Kurds waiting for bread in Qamishli http://www.diekurden.de/news/qamishl...medium=twitter
3:16 PM

https://twitter.com/NMSyria

Clashes between FSA and regime forces near Managh Military Airport in Aleppo
8:12 PM

http://www.lccsyria.org/10172

Local Coordination Committees in Syria

The LCCSY could document 165 martyrs in Syria for today, Thursday. Among them 66 martyrs in Damascus and its Suburbs with 8 belonging to the same family. 52 martyrs in Aleppo of whom 15 in Al-Bab town. 15 martyrs in Daraa, 11 in Idlib, 9 in Deir Ezzor including 3 in Bokamal. 6 martyrs in Lattakia, 4 in Hama and 2 in Homs

http://www.extremeskins.com/showthre...=1#post9046975
29,091 people killed so far in Syria