Yahoo: Assad predicts disaster if West meddles in Syria

[visionary]

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

about 11 hours ago
Syrian regime air strikes targeted rebel-held police stations inside Aleppo city on Friday, ahead of talks between visiting peace envoy Lakhdar Brahimi and opposition groups in the 18-month conflict.

An AFP correspondent said three loud explosions were heard on Friday in Damascus, where Brahimi spent his first night ahead of meetings with the opposition groups tolerated by the embattled regime of President Bashar al-Assad.

Among those the UN and Arab League envoy is scheduled to meet is the opposition National Coordination Committee for Democratic Change, which brings together Arab nationalists, Kurds and socialists.

about 11 hours ago
Recep Tayyip Erdogan, the Turkish prime minister, has said the regime of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad was nearing its "inevitable" end despite violence threatening the entire region.

"Assad's regime is approaching its inevitable end," Erdogan said in comments translated into Russian at a conference in the Ukrainian Black Sea resort of Yalta.

Erdogan said his government was holding continuous contacts with the Syrian opposition in hopes of advancing a transition process that never materialised under former international mediator Kofi Annan.

"We must say 'no' to this human drama and not allow flames to engulf the whole region, so that the transition process could move more quickly ahead," the Turkish premier said.

about 10 hours ago
Turkish authorities have begun taking steps to stop Syrian refugees and rebels coming and going freely across the border with the conflict-torn country.

"Police have come knocking on our door," said Hassan, an illegal Syrian immigrant in the border town of Reyhanli, where he lives with about 20 fighters "on leave", wounded people and refugees.

All of them, living on what he calls "apartment rest", have crossed the border illegally, mostly at night, through a hole in the fence.

Their presence in Reyhanli in Hatay province along with hundreds of other illegal Syrians was until recently tolerated by the authorities, which took a rather benevolent attitude towards the rebels and refugees.

But things are changing.

"Police gave us 24 hours to leave," said Hassan. "Those who don't have a visa, papers that are in order, must go to the refugee camps. Or else go back to Syria," said Hassan, who did not give his full name.

about 9 hours ago
Pope Benedict arriving in Lebanon on Friday for a three-day visit as civil war rages in neighbouring Syria called for a halt to weapons imports to Syria which he said were a "grave sin".

Speaking to reporters aboard his plane, the pope praised the Arab Spring, calling it a positive "cry for freedom" as long as it was accompanied by religious tolerance.

Uh...what about the 100+ killed every day by shelling and airstrikes?




https://twitter.com/THE_47th

a spinach salesman interrupts an FSA [brigade formation] announcement. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IGTm...layer_embedded
4:38 AM

https://twitter.com/AssadPresident

Wow! Good thing I just bombed mosques, killed women and children and I didn't make an anti-Muslim video! People would be after me!!
11:30 PM

https://twitter.com/NMSyria

Where were all of you when every other day a mosque is demolished to the ground in Syria?
12:29 PM

https://twitter.com/SyrianSmurf

FSA Battalions from Idlib & Aleppo perform an operation in Aleppo killing an Iranian army officer & show his army ID
1:52 PM

https://twitter.com/TaziMorocco

Aleppo Freedom Fighters In Saladin After Assad Army Flees Neighborhood: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1oxH8JgtHWQ
2:18 PM

https://twitter.com/AmalHanano

Have you heard? Warplanes are dropping barrels of explosives on civilians. Someone should protest or something. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cSsUa...ature=youtu.be
12:11 PM

Injured boy protests in Aleppo after being shelled in his house. Must watch this cute boy, Nour: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LjKlX...em-uploademail
12:54 PM

I just spoke to a man from Jisr al-Shughour. He's lived in a refugee camp for a year. He doesn't know if he'll ever go back home.
2:46 PM

He watches more and more families cross the border everyday with nothing. They claim a tent and settle into their displaced lives.
2:47 PM

[visionary]

http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/...88E03U20120915

Syria envoy Brahimi meets Assad in Damascus

International mediator Lakhdar Brahimi met Syria's President Bashar al-Assad on Saturday, state television said, to discuss efforts to end the country's 18-month-old conflict which activists say has killed more than 27,000 people.

It was Brahimi's first meeting with Assad since he replaced Kofi Annan as peace envoy two weeks ago.

https://twitter.com/NuffSilence

The Assad regime committed countless massacres, each one of them is an insult to Muslims and Islam.
5:05 PM

https://twitter.com/Homsuptodate

Pilot Colonel Yusuf al-Assad has defected from the Syrian regime The first one of the family has defected http://fb.me/tlY7FtUB
5:36 PM

https://twitter.com/JMiller_EA

Syria Snap analysis: The Free Syrian Army maintains the initiative in the battle for Aleppo http://bit.ly/R64e1l
5:54 PM

https://twitter.com/AmalHanano

Aleppo on fire. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h6qM_...ature=youtu.be … Midan
9:17 PM

A child covered with scars protests in Aleppo: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YdhyI...ature=youtu.be …. Not against a movie, but against the president who burned him.
9:23 PM

At least 6 people are dead and over 50 are severely wounded in al-Bab after a day of non-stop shelling by Assad's warplanes. Aleppo
9:29 PM

At least 46 people died in Aleppo today. Two of the martyrs were sons of martyrs.
9:36 PM

https://twitter.com/NMSyria

An entire building has collapsed on it's residents in Busra al-Sham in Daraa after bombing by Assad forces this morning.
3:30 AM

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

Local Coordination Committees in Syria

The LCC managed to document 112 martyrs by the end of Friday, among them 20 children and 5 women. 30 martyrs were reported in Aleppo; 26 in Damascus and its Suburbs; 20 in Daraa, most in Busra Al-Sham massacre; 19 in Deir Ezzor, among them martyrs from Mohasan and Bokamal; 6 in Homs; 4 in Hama; 4 in Lattakia; and 3 in Idlib
5:40 PM

http://www.extremeskins.com/showthre...=1#post9046975
29,203 people killed so far in Syria

[visionary]

http://www.aljazeera.com/programmes/...412941304.html

Hala Mohammad: Waiting for Spring

Renowned and outspoken Syrian poet Hala Mohammad explains how she thinks poetry is central to the political change underway in the Middle East, and especially to the fight against Bashar al-Assad, the Syrian president.

Her work is respected for tackling memory, fear, alienation and loneliness and they are feelings which pervade this moving meditation from a woman trapped in exile for medical reasons.

She may be living in Paris, the city of romance, but her stay is marked by despair and claustrophobia as she is forced to watch from afar the deepening crisis in her country.

But even with her faith in politics exhausted, Hala retains her belief in the power of poetry to inspire change.

https://twitter.com/javierespinosa2

Shocking interview with Rifaat al Asad in Paris Match, not surprising that he jokes with Hama's massacre but journalist doing the same. "Hama was not destroyed. Some narrow streets were been expanded" Rifaat al Assad in Paris Match with week. "What you saw destroyed (in Hama) were buildings that were to be rebuild.It was not bombed" Rifaat al Assad in Paris Match. Rifaat al Assad says that in 1982, when Hama was destroyed, he was leading the "education" of his country (Paris Match).
8:05 AM

Al-Arabiya: Syrian forces enter Lebanon’s Beqaa, shell three farms
12:12 PM

According to Al-Nashra clashes in the vicinity of Arsal,where there have been multiple armed confrontations Bekaa Lebanon
12:28 PM

shells crossing the boundary and shootings are now a constant on the Lebanese and Syrian border
12:30 PM

https://twitter.com/DSyrer

Pathetic bunch. See how Syrian State TV is condescending of the regime's own "stooge opposition" - http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature...&v=VLca_lwD-Lo NCB
12:48 PM

Regime TV insults NCB oppositionist stooge Hasan Abdulazim even though he's toeing the regime line. Pitiful.
12:52 PM

https://twitter.com/Brown_Moses

The FSA In Aleppo Kill An Iranian Officer, Or Do They? http://brown-moses.blogspot.co.uk/20...n-officer.html
1:02 PM

https://twitter.com/Avend93

official in Azadî party: Kurdish Supreme commission meetings in Hewlêr were successful. KNC PYD
12:59 PM

some important points issued out in the Final Statement: 1. controlling borders should be equal between the PYD and KNC.
1:03 PM

2. establishing commissions to manage the borders administratively and militarily, to take orders from the KSC exclusively.
1:08 PM

3. putting all gunmen under the control of the KSC, including PYD gunmen. to take orders from the KSC exclusively.
1:10 PM

4. Qamişlo to be the headquarter of the KSC.
1:12 PM

https://twitter.com/IvanCNN

Hunger Wave. Damascus friend says gang of kids tried to rob her. She asked 'why?' 10-yr old with knife told her he hadn't eaten in 3 days
1:46 PM

https://twitter.com/SyrianSmurf

20 martyrs in Idlib so far. Most of them in a massacre in Saraqib. 4 children and 6 women.
2:35 PM

Massacre in Saraqib Idlib. At least 10 martyrs as of now. Many more still under the rubble.
2:35 PM

https://twitter.com/KurtPelda

Spent a not-so-quiet day in Aleppo. Snipers were active and helicopters strafed the city. Not seen any anti-American demonstrations though.
1:17 PM

Saw a house destroyed by an air raid in Aleppo. Two families were wiped out. Locals blamed the FSA and foreign journalists like me.
2:07 PM

Saw several bomb craters in Aleppo where air raids had broken water pipes. The claim that the FSA is blowing up pipes is pure propaganda.
3:14 PM

Saw a rebel in Aleppo take his bird on a walk through the old city up to the frontline. He put it behind himself while he was fighting.
4:55 PM

http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pi...17848338242310

Local Coordination Committees in Syria

The LCC managed to document 164 martyrs by the end of Saturday. 63 martyrs were reported in Damascus and its Suburbs, among them 20 in the Tadamon massacre; 39 in Aleppo, among them an entire family in Daret Ezza; 22 in Idlib, most from Saraqeb; 15 in Deir Ezzor, most in the Boqros massacre; 9 in Daraa; 8 in Hama; and 4 in Homs
6:34 PM

http://www.extremeskins.com/showthre...=1#post9046975
29,367 people killed so far in Syria

[visionary]

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationwo...,1563817.story

Syria massacres seem to show slow, steady killing strategy

DARIYA, Syria — As he hid from soldiers in a field next to his neighborhood, a young man watched as a cat wandered down a street. Suddenly, it was shot dead. That's when Zuhair noticed the sniper on a nearby roof.

But a father and son walking along the street didn't see the gunman, Zuhair said. The sniper lowered his head and peered through his scope.

He shot the boy first. As the man tried to grab his son, who looked to be about 10, he was shot as well.

The two are among a reported 700 victims of snipers, shelling and summary executions, most of them men, since forces loyal to President Bashar Assad stormed the Damascus suburb of Dariya in late August, one in a growing list of Syrian towns and villages that briefly enter the world's spotlight, only to be replaced by another one when a new mass killing is committed.

Unlike a massacre by government forces three decades earlier in the city of Hama, which left more than 20,000 dead in just three weeks and still haunts the country, the reported atrocities have been spread over months of bloodshed in Syria. That has led some to call the government campaign a kind of slow-motion Hama.

Late last year, as the government siege of the city of Homs was underway, activists began tweeting: "Homs 2011 = Hama 1982, but slowly, slowly." As the conflict becomes more bloody on both sides, the same can be said for the entire country.

"They killed them in one sweep [in Hama]; with us, it's in stages," said Um Hussam, a mother of five who runs a small convenience shop in an old neighborhood of Dariya. "We expected they would kill and terrorize people, but not to this … level of barbarity."

http://www.aljazeera.com/video/middl...755879536.html

Syrian army shells northern cities

Government troops have pounded the rebel-held Shaar district of Aleppo, killing 11 people, a rights group said, while 11 others including seven rebels were killed elsewhere in Syria's northern city.

"Eleven civilians were killed, three of whose names have been documented, when the army shelled the district of Shaar," the UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said in a statement on Sunday.

Amateur video posted online showed what appeared to be the streets of Shaar in ruins, with rubble everywhere, electricity cables hanging from buildings, and black smoke rising.

"God curse you, O army," said an unidentified cameraman recording footage in Shaar, his voice trembling. Another video showed bloodied corpses, including at least one child.

A helicopter strike on Sunday on the town of Kafr Aweid in the northwest Syrian province of Idlib killed at least five children and one woman.

Fresh fighting erupted in the central Midan district, a battleground for more than a week, an AFP correspondent said. The wire service also reported citing a military source, the army shelled Bustan al-Basha just north of Midan and pushed into neighbouring Arkoub after seizing a mosque between the two areas following fierce fighting on Friday.

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

about 17 hours ago
As the uprising against Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's government continues, the air force has been carrying out an aerial bombardment campaign that has reportedly killed thousands of people.

The armed opposition in Syria says that it does not have the firepower to take down those aircraft. The Free Syrian Army does, however, have other means to disable the planes.

Al Jazeera's Sue Turton reports from Idlib province, where she followed a brigade during its attack on Abu Dahuur Airport.

about 13 hours ago
Reuters reports:
Iran is using Iraqi airspace to fly supplies to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's forces and thousands of Iraqi militia fighters have crossed into Syria to support his troops, Iraq's fugitive vice president said on Sunday.

Tareq al-Hashemi, who fled Iraq in December and was sentenced to death a week ago by an Iraqi court, said the government of Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki was failing to stop ammunitions and armaments reaching Assad's forces.

about 12 hours ago
The AFP reports:
Syria's academic year officially started on Sunday, according to officials, but most schools remained closed in flashpoint areas including Aleppo as fighting raged between rebels and the army.

The United Nations had said on Friday that over 2,000 Syrian schools have been damaged or destroyed and hundreds more are being used as shelters, and warned of the staggering challenge to prepare for the new school year.

about 10 hours ago
The AP reports:
The top commander of Iran's powerful Revolutionary Guard says the elite unit has high-level advisers in Lebanon and Syria but remains undecided on whether to send military reinforcements to help save Bashar al-Assad's government.

https://twitter.com/jfoleyjourno

seems like rebels report somehow retaking salahadin, but a reporter said the regime is placing new snipers in saifaldawla aleppo
2:13 PM

http://www.lccsyria.org/10188

The Local Coordination Committees in Syria

The Local Coordination Committees was able to document 167 martyrs on Sunday. 60 martyrs were reported in Damascus and its suburbs; 50 in Aleppo, including 11 martyrs during shelling in Shaar; 19 martyrs in Daraa; 14 in Idlib; 11 in Homs; 7 in Deir Ezzor; 4 in Lattakia; and 2 in Hama

http://www.extremeskins.com/showthre...=1#post9046975
29,534 people killed so far in Syria

[twa]

Fatwa This! Syrian Rebels Draw Muhammad In Desperate Bid for Help
Syrians conclude the rest of the Muslim world's priorities are AFU.


http://mypetjawa.mu.nu/archives/213586.php

[visionary]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-19618777

Syria crisis: Aleppo's deadly aerial warfare

The Syrian air force jet roared over, making people crane their necks and flinch at the same time.

A small dot - a bomb - detached from the plane as it disappeared over the buildings on the horizon.

We counted to five before it hit, a deafening explosion that rattled the windows. A large black cloud billowed up, blotting out the sky at the end of the road.

It was noisy chaos when we got there.

A crowd of dozens quickly became a couple of hundred as men ran in from side streets to help. A white pick-up truck was enveloped in flames. A circle of scorched earth, 30-40m across, radiated out from it. Weeds on the edge of the blackened concrete were still burning too.

A plump woman in a headscarf and floral robe - her housedress - was pulling a small boy along by the hand. "Abdo, Abdo." She called out, the name of a man who ran to scoop up the child.

"Abdo, my family is dead."

She was barefoot, fleeing what remained of her home in a three storey apartment block. Part of the block's facade had gone, the roof collapsed. There were still people inside.

https://twitter.com/frontlinepbs

Who are Syria's rebels? Go behind the front lines with a group of fighters http://ow.ly/dJ9i2 @PBS 9/18
9:21 PM

https://twitter.com/abuhatem

Actually broke down crying after driving home when realizing how ****ed Syria actually is. #Assad #Salafis #AlQaeda #PKK #Ikhwan
1:41 AM

It's not a game when 23 million people's lives have truly been ****ed up because of one man not wanting to give up his damn chair!
1:45 AM

https://twitter.com/THE_47th

THEN WHAT THE **** WERE YOU THERE FOR? RT @AFP: UN investigators say will not publish names of suspected Syria war criminals
3:37 AM

https://twitter.com/NMSyria

Her name is Fatima. Not "It". Not "that headless girl". Her name was Fatima. Call her by her name. Respect her.
2:34 AM

@THE_47th @AFP Is this some sick joke? Oh yea, we know who the war criminals are. But we're keeping it a ****ing secret. -_-
3:39 AM

https://twitter.com/hhassan140

On my way to Jordan with UAE Red Crescent to visit Syrian refugee camps, for five days. Dreading it.
2:48 AM

The majority of medical cases treated in Zaatari camp are of people stung by scorpions - according to an Emirati who's been there recently.
4:19 AM

https://twitter.com/javierespinosa2

LBCI: Syrian warplanes bombed areas of Khirbet Daoud in Arsal in Bekaa Lebanon
3:55 AM

if true,bombing in Ersal represents serious escalation and most significant violancion of territory in Lebanon to date since 2011
4:03 AM

https://twitter.com/alihashem_tv

Two killed, one Lebanese and the other Syrian, after Syrian fighter jets bombed the surroundings of Ersal on the Lebanon Syria borders
4:25 AM

The raids followed an attack by armed Syrian opposition on a Syrian military post on the borders
4:28 AM

[visionary]

http://blogs.thenational.ae/photogra...bu-draft-title

Associated Press photographer documents the conflict in Aleppo, Syria

September 12, 2012

The war in Syria has been raging endlessly. The conflict between the Free Syrian Army rebel fighters and Syrian government forces has been the most drawn out of all of the revolts from the Arab Spring.

For some time photo editors relied on poor quality images from mobile phones, or frame grabs from a mobile video, released days after they had been taken.

Although it may have taken some time for him to gain access, this set of extraordinary images shot in Aleppo by Associated Press photographer Manu Brabo – within the last week – found him risking his life to get close to the rebels to convey the lengths they will go to fight for their cause.

Very interesting article. Don't have time to read it all now.
http://world.time.com/2012/09/18/syr...ataris-arming/

Syria’s Secular and Islamist Rebels: Who Are the Saudis and the Qataris Arming?

Vast swathes of northern Syria, especially in the province of Idlib, have slipped out of the hands of President Bashar Assad, if not quite out of his reach. The area is now a de facto liberated zone, though the daily attacks by Damascus’s air force and the shelling from the handful of checkpoints and bases regime forces have fallen back to are a reminder that the rebel hold on theterritory remains fluid and fragile.

What is remarkable is that this substantial strip of ‘free” Syria has been patched together in the last 18 months by military defectors, students, tradesmen, farmers and pharmacists who have not only withstood the Syrian army’s withering fire, but in some instances repelled them using a hodgepodge of limited, light weaponry. The feat is even more amazing when one considers the disarray among the outside powers supplying arms to the loosely allied band of rebels.

As TIME reports here, disorder and distrust plague two of the rebels’ international patrons — Saudi Arabia and Qatar. The two Gulf powerhouses are no longer on the same page when it comes to who among the plethora of mushrooming Syrian rebel groups should be armed. The rift surfaced in August with the alleged Saudi and Qatari representatives in charge of funneling free weaponry to the rebels clearly backing different factions among the groups – including various shades of secular and Islamist militias–under the broad umbrella that is the Free Syrian Army (FSA).

The middlemen of the two countries operate out of Turkey, the regional military power. Ankara has been quite public with its denunciation of Assad even as it denies any involvement in shuffling weapons across the border to Syrian rebels. It claims its territory is not being used to do so.

And yet, as TIME reported in June, a secretive group operates something like a command center in Istanbul, directing the distribution of vital military supplies believed to be provided by Saudi Arabia and Qatar and transported with the help of Turkish intelligence to the Syrian border and across to the rebels. Further reporting has revealed more details of the operation, the politics and favoritism that is undermining the task of creating a unified rebel force out of the wide array of forces trying to topple the Assad regime.

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

about 7 hours ago
Iran is proposing it, Egypt, Saudi Arabia and Turkey dispatch observers to its ally Syria in an effort to quell the violence there, state media reported on Tuesday.

Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi put forward the suggestion at a regional "contact group" meeting held in Cairo on Monday, the official news agency IRNA and broadcaster IRIB said.

He also offered to host the group's next meeting in Tehran, they added.

Salehi told his Egyptian and Turkish counterparts at the Cairo meeting that "observers" from their countries, and from Saudi Arabia, could "monitor the process of stopping the violence in Syria," according to IRNA.

He also called for peace talks "to help the process of fundamental reforms and finding a democratic approach in Syria."

Salehi appealed for "a simultanous halt in clashes and violence by the sides in Syria, insisted on a peaceful solution without foreign intevervention and a halt to financial, military and training support for the Syrian opposition," IRNA reported, without giving a source.

about 2 hours ago
The Syrian Contact Group is optimistic that diplomatic means can end the crisis in the country. Foreign ministers from Egypt, Iran and Turkey met for the first time in Cairo as part of what was supposed to be a quartet, although Saudi Arabia was not present.

Al Jazeera's Steve Chao reports from the Egyptian capital, Cairo.

Has Turkey mostly given up on the Syrian revolution?
They seem to be giving most of their attention to fighting with the PKK these days.



https://twitter.com/DamascusTribune

For the 12th time, Assad air force attack Shifaa Hospital in Aleppo. This time with 2 TNT barrels http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CZcJITkN7UA
8:37 AM

https://twitter.com/jfoleyjourno

@DamascusTribune Those are Huge craters! definitely were docs from Shifaa there, but looks like slammed the streets and residences around it
9:25 AM

clearly could level a building if got a direct hit.. haven't seen craters this big in Shaa'ar before
9:28 AM

https://twitter.com/ZeinakhodrAljaz

Iraq reopens border with Syria - Al Qaim - to allow refugees into country but refuses entry to young men for security reasons
10:15 AM

http://www.lccsyria.org/10192

Local Coordination Committees in Syria

Monday has ended with the 142 martyrs in Syria. 50 were reported in Damascus and its Suburbs, among them 10 in Yarmouk Camp;31 in Aleppo; 30 in Daraa, among them 13 in the shelling of Lajah; 12 in Homs; 12 in Idlib; 2 in Raqqa; 2 in Lattakia; 2 in Hama and 1 in Deir Ezzor

http://www.extremeskins.com/showthre...=1#post9046975
29,674 people killed so far in Syria

[visionary]

http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/...88H0YX20120918

Syrian rebels battle Assad forces near Turkish border

Syrian rebels battled government forces along the Turkish border on Tuesday in an attempt to seize a border crossing into its northern neighbor, which has backed the 18-month-old uprising against President Bashar al-Assad.

Fighting raged between Syrian troops and rebels close to the Tel Abyad border gate and stray bullets hit some houses in the town of Akcakale on the Turkish side, a Turkish official said.

He said the rebels were trying to gain control of Tel Abyad, which was a major crossing for Turkish-Syrian commerce in peacetime, and which rebels were rumored to have used for weapons smuggling in the past year.

It appeared to be the first attempt by insurgents to assert control over a border area in the al-Raqqa province, most of which has remained solidly pro-Assad.

Residents say only one town, near the border, has housed rebels in the province. The town held an anti-Assad protest on Tuesday, prompting government shelling and then triggered heavy fighting.

Raqqa has been mostly anti-Assad for a while now since the massacre in the town during a protest a few months ago. There isn't much FSA presence there though and the government still holds most of the control in the province.


http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/the...DJG-ZU.twitter

The al-Assad regime will fall but it needs more pressure, says McCain

http://www.haaretz.com/news/middle-e...Veyxdw.twitter

Report: Syria tested chemical weapons delivery systems in August

Syria tested delivery systems for chemical weapons at the end of August, according to the German weekly Der Spiegel.

The report, which quotes various witnesses, said that the tests took place near a chemical weapons research center at al-Safir, east of Aleppo, and were carried out with the aid of Iranian officers who were flown in for the testing.

According to the report, five or six empty shells capable of delivering poison gas were fired by tanks and aircraft at the site of Diraiham in the desert, near the village of Khanasir.

The report said that scientists from Iran and North Korea are said to work in the al-Safir research center, which is Syria's largest testing site for chemical weapons.

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/09/18/wo...oc.semityn.www

Civilian Attacks Rise in Syria, U.N. Says

Have to read through this one a bit more when I have time too.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/...a4a_story.html

Towns in rebel-controlled Syria experiment with self-government

SOURAN, Syria — The leaders of the council governing Souran, a town in rebel-controlled Syria, decide to hold an impromptu meeting right on the footpath along its main street, a gesture of open government that would impress Canada or Sweden.

They draw together some plastic chairs and a table, pour tea and, as pedestrians listen in, explain the workings of the government they have set up to replace the Baath Party and the security officials who ran the region with an iron fist under President Bashar al-Assad’s rule.

“This is a new thing for us,” says Faez Hamsho, a businessman and one of 11 members of the town’s governing council. “But when Bashar’s men fled, we had to solve the day-to-day problems of the area.”

A commotion suddenly erupts. Word trickles in that a missile fired by one of Assad’s fighter jets has struck a nearby village. There are numerous injuries. Drivers on motorcycles and cars full of children and loaded with suitcases zoom past, fleeing in fear of further bombs. Aircraft can be heard circling overhead. A minor panic erupts.

The experiment in open democracy is adjourned and the men rush indoors.

As a ferocious war pits Syrian rebels against Assad’s regime, a self-rule experiment has begun to take root in the parts of the country under the control of the opposition. Much of the country’s north is under rebel control. The regime still controls Damascus, but parts of the capital city remain contested. Elsewhere there are rebel enclaves.

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

A day after the Syria "contact group" of Turkey, Iran and Egypt (Saudi Arabia, officially part of the group, pulled out at the last minute) met in Cairo, the AP reports Egypt's President Mohamed Morsi said that Iran is holding the group back.

We don't have the direct quote yet, but this is interesting, because Iran is the only party that supports the government of President Bashar al-Assad.

How does this bode for future talks, which the group has promised to hold?

https://twitter.com/freeCritic2000

BREAKING: Syria State TV anchor Ola Abbas defects from Assad regime & explains how news were fabricated http://edition.cnn.com/video/?/video...ost-defect.cnn
10:48 AM

https://twitter.com/javierespinosa2

Another 1: syrian troops entered the border in Qaa (Bekaa) and burnt the house of a lebanese citizen (libancall) Lebanon
12:14 PM

https://twitter.com/Brian_Whit

Assad’s sister defects amid ‘disputes’ between ruling Alawites: source http://english.alarabiya.net/article...18/238771.html …
12:22 PM

Not sure I believe it though.

https://twitter.com/DSyrer

Syrian Communist Committee withdraws from the NCB http://all4syria.info/Archive/54379 v @CitizenGeo
12:27 PM

[visionary]

http://www.adnkronos.com/IGN/Aki/Eng...707287897.html

Vatican: Pope 'to meet top Syrian opposition leader'

George Saba, member of Syrian National Council, of which he is a spokesman, will be one of 120 delegates to a gathering of international Christian democrats, who will be received by the Pope.

Saba's attendence at the gathering, follows a request delivered by the papal envoy in Lebanon, Monsignor Gabriele Caccia, during the pontiff's three-day visit to the country last week.

During his visit to Italy, Saba will also meet with other senior Vatican officials, according to information obtained by Adnkronos.

Benedict made an impassioned appeal for peace in Syria during an open-air mass in Beirut on Sunday, the last day of his visit to Lebanon.

The pontif urged nations especially Arab countries to halt the "grim trail of death and destruction" plaguing Syria and the Middle East.

http://www.todayszaman.com/newsDetai...?newsId=292766

Egypt: Iran's support for Syria hinders relations

Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi warned Iran's foreign minister on Tuesday that better relations between the two Mideast heavyweights are being hindered by Tehran's support for Syria's regime.

The promise of greater rapprochement with Egypt is part of a package of incentives and efforts by Morsi to lure Iran, Syria's staunchest regional ally, away from Damascus and find an end to the bloodshed.

The two were meeting in Cairo as part of a Morsi-sponsored Syria peace initiative dubbed the "Islamic Quartet," bringing together Turkey, Saudi Arabia and Egypt - all supporters of the Syrian rebellion - with Iran.

Presidential spokesman Yasser Ali said that Morsi told the Iranian minister, Ali Akbar Salehi, in their meeting in Cairo that as president he cannot ignore public sentiment in Egypt, which is against the Syrian regime "that uses harsh language and violence against people."

Egyptian officials close to the presidency say Morsi has offered a package of incentives for Tehran to back off of its support to Assad, including the restoration of full diplomatic ties and efforts toward reconciliation with wealthy Gulf nations - a significant diplomatic prize for the Islamic Republic, especially as it comes under mounting pressure over its disputed nuclear program.

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

Local Coordination Committees in Syria:

The number of martyrs in Syria has risen to 100 martyrs thus far, including 60 who died due to aerial shelling. 43martrys in Damascus and its suburbs including those martyred due to the shelling in Hajar Aswad and Maleiha, 25 martyrs were reported in Deir Ezzor, including 23 who died as a result of shelling of Sour village. 15 in Aleppo, 6 in Homs, 4 in Daraa, 3 in Idlib, 2 in Raqqa and 1 in Hama, and 1 in Banyas
2:29 PM

[visionary]

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/09/19/wo...pagewanted=all

Syria Orders Schools to Open, but Classes Give Way to War

At one Syrian school, in the Damascus suburbs, students were so scarce this week that teachers spent most of the last few days sitting around and drinking tea.

On the outskirts of the northern city of Aleppo, the teachers just stayed home. The schools had been transformed into shelters for residents displaced by fighting, and in any case, one teacher said, there were more “more pressing concerns” than school.

PBS Frontline Videos: The Battle For Syria
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontl...e-for-syria/#a


http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontl...&utm_campaign=

Behind Rebel Lines: Ghaith Abdul-Ahad on Syria’s “War of Attrition”

Abdul-Ahad, who was the correspondent for FRONTLINE’s Al Qaeda in Yemen earlier this year, has received numerous accolades for his work, including the 2008 British Press Award for foreign reporter of the year. Below are excerpts from his interviews with FRONTLINE about filming The Battle for Syria.

The biggest question I had during the battle of Aleppo was why the government soldiers are incapable of taking back these streets and neighborhoods.

We saw it. When a tank passes the street, everyone is running like it’s the devil chasing us. Yet the government is incapable. I think it goes back to two points: A) They don’t have morale, the same courage the rebels have. They are better equipped, they are better armed obviously, yet the rebels are more courageous in one way or the other.

“When a tank passes the street, everyone is running like it’s the devil chasing.”

The second point is they don’t have enough troops. And remember, this is a year of constant fighting. They’ve lost so many tanks, so many armored vehicles. They are fighting a very difficult war with limited resources. We talk about the capacity of the Syrian government, but they’ve been stretched to the limit … That shows you how effective the rebels were at one point, and how weak the government soldiers are.

That is one of the conclusions that I came out from Aleppo [with]. Unless they have a major overhaul of their strategy, of their resources, reorganize their troops, this is a lost war for the Syrian regime.

The moment I will always remember in Aleppo is walking early in the morning one day — the air is fresh, crisp, but there is the smell of death — and you come across these two bodies laying in the middle of the street, their faces caked with black flies. You walk down the street a few more meters, and you see that taxi … a woman on her knees, a man cowering on top of her trying to protect her and their child in the back seat. It’s like the horror of death, of a battle zone frozen and given to you in one image.

What did they feel? Did they die immediately? Did they bleed to death? Did they hear the shots and then they died? How scared were they? That image, I don’t think it will leave me ever.

https://twitter.com/blakehounshell

Ghaith Abdul-Ahad is one of the bravest and craziest journalists around.
10:06 PM

Syrian rebel commander "Abu Mohamed" complaining that his troops don't really follow his commands.
10:14 PM

"A few streets away, a garden had become a front-line cemetery. This is where the next casualties would be buried."
10:16 PM

On regime use of air power: "They're missing the rebels, but they're actually hitting the civilian areas."
10:19 PM

It's amazing how casual the Syrian rebels sometimes seem, though they're only yards from the front lines.
10:23 PM

https://twitter.com/HalaGorani

The smallest things strike me most: a shopkeeper casually helps rebels locate a sniper position. The new normal in Aleppo.
10:26 PM

And the most tragic are most upsetting: a man's arm still wrapped around his wife's body as both lay dead in a car.
10:27 PM

Rebels drag the body of a dead imam away from sniper fire. He had just bought milk for his family.
10:39 PM

https://twitter.com/columlynch

Tomorrow at 10:30 AM I'll do a Twitterview w/ @RichardGowan1:We'll set scene for UNGA debates on Syria, Iran & Obama's very short UN visit.
10:39 PM

http://www.lccsyria.org/10206

The Local Coordination Committees in Syria

Tuesday ended with documenting 160 martyrs, including at least 60 who died due to regime shelling. 67 in Damascus and its suburbs where the majority died under aerial shelling in Hajar Aswad and Malhieha, 30 martyrs in Deir Ezzor, indluing 33 who died due to regime shelling in Sowr village, 26 in Aleppo, 16 in Idlib, 11 in Daraa, 6 in Homs, 2 in Raqqa, 1 in Hama and 1 in Banyas.

http://www.extremeskins.com/showthre...=1#post9046975
29,834 people killed so far in Syria

[visionary]

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/09/19/wo...&smid=tw-share

Turkish Public Sours on Syrian Uprising

As the war in Syria rages next door, Turks have grown increasingly weary of nearly daily reports of troubles at home: Iranian spies working with Kurdish insurgents, soldiers ambushed and killed, millions spent caring for a flood of refugees, lost trade and havoc in border villages.

“This is how we start our morning,” Mehment Krasuleymanoglu, a bookseller in a narrow alley in central Istanbul, said recently as he laid out several newspapers, each with a blaring headline about an explosion at a munitions depot that killed more than two dozen soldiers. The government called it an accident, but in the current environment, many Turks, including Mr. Krasuleymanoglu, are not so sure.

“What do we have to do with Syria?” he said. “The prime minister and his wife used to go there for tea and coffee.”

The Turkish government is facing a spasm of reproach from its own people over its policy of supporting Syria’s uprising; hosting fighters in the south, opposition figures in Istanbul and refugees on the border; and helping to ferry arms to the opposition. While many Turks at first supported the policy as a stand for democracy and change, many now believe that it is leading to instability at home, undermining Turkey’s own economy and security.

Turkey’s call for military intervention, which much of the international community opposes, has only added to the domestic frustration. Now, in the wake of the anti-American protests that have convulsed the Muslim world in reaction to a film that denigrated Islam, it seems less likely that Turkey will find partners in the West to join its call for military action in Syria.

http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/...88I0BB20120919

Rebels tear down Syrian flag at border post with Turkey

Rebels tore down a Syrian flag at a border gate on the Turkish frontier on Wednesday as they battled to seize control of the crossing, and schools on the Turkish side shut down as bullets flew into the northern neighbor's soil.

Television footage showed Syrian rebels taking down the Syrian flag on top of a government building at the Tel Abyad border gate. The sound of sporadic gunfire could be heard and black smoke rose from parts of the building, which appeared to be a customs office.

It was not immediately clear whether the rebels, fighting to overthrow Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, had seized control of the whole crossing.

Rebels hold two other crossings on the northern border with Turkey. A third border point would help strengthen their control in the north and put more pressure on the army as they battle for control of Syria's largest city Aleppo not far away.

The governor's office in the small town of Akcakale, on the Turkish side of the border post, ordered all schools in the town and the neighboring villages to close for one day for security reasons and banned all agricultural work in the area.

"A heavy hail of bullets is landing here. We are scared. We had to stay in another house last night. We don't know what to do," one man in his forties told CNN Turk television.

http://news.yahoo.com/syrian-rebels-...075346254.html

Syrian rebels seize control of a border crossing

Rebels seized control of a border crossing on the frontier with Turkey on Wednesday, pulling down the Syrian flag and sending a stream of jubilant people pouring across the border into Turkey.

An Associated Press reporter at the scene Wednesday said people were moving freely across the Tal Abyad crossing, crawling under barbed wire. Some appeared to be wounded.

"I am a free Syrian!" one man shouted, throwing his hands in the air.

Syria's rebels control several other border crossings into Turkey but Wednesday's capture of the Tal Abyad post is believed to be the first time they have taken the border area in the northern province of Raqqa.

Taking control of border crossings helps the opposition ferry supplies into Syria and carve out an area of control, which is key as the rebels try to tip the balance in the civil war.

Wednesday's takeover comes after a day of fierce clashes as rebels and regime forces fought for control of the Tal Abyad crossing.

Turkey's private Dogan news agency said earlier Wednesday that the rebels surrounded the customs building and engaged in an intense fire fight with Syrian sharp-shooters positioned at the building. Several people were wounded in the battles and were taken to Turkey for treatment, the report said.

https://twitter.com/Skytwitius

Syrian rebels seize control of a border crossing on Turkish frontier, pull down Syrian flag. [Raqqa] Tel Abyad crossing.
3:45 AM

https://twitter.com/THE_47th

Ansar Allah Brigae formation in Syria.. what's interesting: they are Christian Ansar Allah https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2A8i3lf7ZAk …
4:08 AM

Free Coastal Girls (frm the Alawite community) snd anti-Assad leaflets to fellow Alawites asking them 2 leave Assad https://www.youtube.com/watch?featur...v=dQ6lf_kbFs0#!
4:45 AM

https://twitter.com/janearraf

UN envoy Brahimi says in AJ interview reform won't work in Syria - says 'real change' needed. Not clear yet how Assad would be involved.
4:22 AM

http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pi...17848338242310

Local Coordination Committees in Syria

Wednesday began in Syria with the fall of 36 martyrs, 25 in Damascus and its suburbs, including 20 martyrs who were executred in Jobar neighborhood, 7 martyrs in Aleppo, and 4 martyrs in Al-Mohasan, Deir Ezzor
3:15 AM

[twa]

Defected Syrian general: Damascus planned to send chemical weapons to HezbollahAdnan Sillu, formerly in charge of Syria’s chemical weapons stockpile, tells Times of London Assad has drawn up plans to gas rebels and civilians
http://www.timesofisrael.com/defecte...-to-hezbollah/

[visionary]

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/...7738_blog.html

Refusing to play Assad’s sectarian games in Syria

The most interesting fact about Yazbek, which she doesn’t mention at first, is that she’s an Alawite who was born in Bashar al-Assad’s ancestral region near Latakia in the north. In that sense, she’s a walking refutation of the argument that the conflict in Syria is simply a sectarian civil war between Assad’s Alawites and the Sunni majority. She has defected from her clan into the community of the opposition.

What moved me most about Yazbek was when she voiced her fear that secular revolutionaries like her — who refuse to play the sectarian game — are being swept aside in the darkening tempest that is Syria. She said that the opposition must fight on three fronts — against Assad, against the Salafist Sunni extremists who want to capture the revolution and against the germ of sectarianism that is infecting Syria as the violence continues.

“When I go to Syria, I talk to the fighters about pardon and forgiveness,” she says, but she wonders how long this message can prevail. “There is a sentiment of hatred that the regime has succeeded in spreading through the country,” she says. She understands that the United States fears the rise of the jihadists. But she says the longer America lets this fire burn, the more likely it is that the haters and killers will own the future.

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

about 10 hours ago

Ali Akbar Salehi, Iran's foreign minister, has arrives in Damascus on a visit during which he will meet Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and Foreign Minister Walid Muallem.

about 10 hours ago

Fighters from the Armed Brigades have withdrawn from hotspot Damascus neighborhoods after fierce clashes with Syrian army, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights SOHR.

about 9 hours ago

William Hague, the British foreign minister, has said that the application of Chapter VII of the UN Charter will make a big difference in the efforts to resolve the Syrian crisis as it provides the use of all means to implement the UN Security Council resolutions, including military option.

Talking before the Committee on Foreign Affairs in the British Parliament, Hague has said the fall of the Syrian regime is only a matter of time.

about 7 hours ago

Alexia Jade, an opposition Syrian activist, spoke to Al Jazeera from Damascus about the rebels withdrawal from several neoghbourhoods in Syria.

about 3 hours ago
Military prosecutors investigating the downing of a Turkish plane by Syria say initial findings show Syria targeted the plane with a long-range missile while it was in international air space.

The report carried by the state-run Anadolu agency on Wednesday backed Turkish government claims. Syria has insisted the plane was hit by anti-aircraft artillery while flying low in Syrian air space.

The report says radar data and an inspection of the wreckage show the plane was not hit, but that it lost altitude and crashed from the power of a missile blast near its rear.

about an hour ago
Syria's state news agency says two bombs have exploded in a Damascus suburb, causing "many" casualties.

SANA says the first bomb went off Wednesday near a secondary school in the Qudsayya suburb followed by a second explosion about 200 meters away.

The agency says school students were not among those hurt.

- Associated Press

https://twitter.com/natlsecuritycnn

US Treasury id's 117 Iranian aircraft being used to ship equipment to Syria
11:44 AM

[SIZE+"3"]US Treasury: Iran has used "a combination of passenger and cargo flights and declaring illicit cargo as humanitarian"[/SIZE]
11:47 AM

https://twitter.com/Bambuser_Alert

A user asked us to forward: He and family URGENTLY NEED to get out of Syria. Can YOU help? Send mail: hansferiksson at http://gmail.com
1:13 PM

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

Damascus: Hajar Al-Aswad and Yarmouk Camp: Regime forces committed a new massacre, crushing 33 people, including 15 Palestinians. Included in the martyrs were 4 women and 3 chidlren.

Some of the victims were slaughtered and others were field-executed. 14 of the victims have been identified as follows:

Palestinians Hussam Shehabi, Yasser Al-Lahham, Mohamad Shaaban, all of whom were executed. Their bodies were discovered in the March 8 neighborhood behind Palestine Hospital.

Other martyrs include: Nafez Mohamad, a Palestinian who was executed; and Faten Al-Hasheem, 40, whose tortured body was discovered several days after her disappearance. Yahia, Jaafar, and Mohamad Abou Yahia were slaughtered, their bodies were discovered in the Jazeera neighborhood. Child martyr Fadi Alaa Al-Masri, 10, was shot by a sniper near the Awda gas station.

A young woman of approximately 20 years was slaughtered in her house. A Palestinian youth from the Al-Ashmawi family was executed in Hajar Al-Aswad. Palestinian child martyr Ahmad Mahmoud Abbas, 6, was martyred by sniper fire. Martyr Saleh Jalal Yousef, 15, was martyred by sniper fire near the Hamadeh dairy shop. Martyr Mohamad Mahmoud Diab was discovered near the Najmet Al-Sham restaurant on 30th Street. Finally, an elderly man's body was found on Deir Yassin Street.
11:27 AM

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

The Local Coordination Committees in Syria:

The number of martyrs in Syria has reached 117 thus far. 67 martyrs were reported in Damacus and its suburbs, among them 30 martyrs from Hajar Al-Aswad, 20 martyrs of whom had been slaughtered in Jobar, and 3 who were field-executed in Qadam. In addition, 15 martyrs were reported in Hama, including 4 who had been slaughtered in the Arbaeen neighborhood; 10 martyrs in Deir Ezzor, most in Mohassen; 21 in Aleppo, most in Manbaj; 2 in Daraa; 1 in Lattakia; and 1 in Idlib
11:58 AM

[visionary]

http://www.foreignpolicy.com/article.../19/syria_coup

A Coup for America

As the unrest in Libya and Egypt over the past two weeks demonstrates, extremist forces can benefit from instability in the wake of political transitions. In that respect, the Obama administration's Syria policy risks the worst possible outcome -- prolonging the conflict, fomenting sectarian strife, empowering radicals, and collapsing the state institutions that will be needed to stabilize the country after the departure of President Bashar al-Assad. It is time to change course.

Instead, the United States and relevant allied and friendly countries should empower the moderates in the opposition -- including through the provision of arms and other lethal assistance -- and encourage a coup by officers willing to break with Assad. The United States should then assist in brokering a power-sharing arrangement between these forces that will marginalize extremists and attract the support of all of Syria's diverse communities.

http://cjchivers.com/post/3186795559...-syrias-aleppo

Local Arms Production in Syria’s Aleppo Governorate.

On the NYT’s At War blog, a report and analysis on improvised arms in one corner of the Syrian war. The first part is live. A second installment will publish soon.

https://twitter.com/cjchivers

In N Idlib Syria w @bdentonphoto watching from olive grove while govt artillery position shells outskirts of Salqin.
3:42 AM

https://twitter.com/NMSyria

Syria government says helicopter that went down near Douma [Damascus Suburbs] hit the tail of a passenger plane, causing it to crash.
9:36 AM

200 were aboard the aircraft, according to Information Ministry, and the plane landed safely following collision.
9:37 AM

https://twitter.com/DSyrer

Acc. to @UgaritNews, Assad shelled a gas station in Northern Raqqa, where people were queueing up to get fuel https://www.facebook.com/UgaritNEWS/...67515303327653 …
9:15 AM

Pretty remarkable how the regime shows no remorse in targeting any assembly of civilians - protests, bread lines, gas stations, you name it.
9:43 AM

https://twitter.com/NMSyria

BREAKING: At least 54 killed after a regime air strike targeted a packed gas station in al-Raqqa
9:40 AM

54 dead, at least 83 wounded following air strike on packed gas station in al-Raqqa
9:45 AM

Several buildings surrounding the gas station are reported to have been destroyed. Death toll will rise as more bodies are found.
9:48 AM

WATCH: Initial footage following air strike on gas station in al-Raqqa
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KgJ-n...ature=youtu.be
10:03 AM

FYI - gas stations in Syria aren't like gas stations in the US. Gas stations in Syria are ALWAYS packed.
10:06 AM

https://twitter.com/KurtPelda

Was in a Jesuit church in Aleppo. Compound was hit by two bombs. FSA did not touch anything inside. All computers etc. still there.
9:59 AM

Saw a L-39 jet dropping six bombs on Bustan al-Basha in Aleppo. Two of them did not explode. Most civilians have fled the area.'
10:03 AM

Saw three killed men on the border between Midan and Bustan al-Basha in Aleppo. An army vehicle had crushed the head of one of the bodies.
10:15 AM

Yesterday:

http://www.lccsyria.org/10211

Local Coordination Committees in Syria

By the end of Wednesday, LCC could document 150 martyrs in Syria. 72 of them were in Damascus and suburbs including 30 in Hajar Aswad, 20 were slaughtered in Jobar and 3 were field executed in Qadam. 32 martyrs in Aleppo most of them are in Manbej, 25 in Hama most of them are in Hwaija village and Masha’ Arba’een neighborhood, 10 martyrs in Deir Ezzor most of them in Almohasan, 5 in Daraa, 3 in Idlib, 2 in Latakia and a martyr in Homs

http://www.extremeskins.com/showthre...=1#post9046975
29,984 people killed so far in Syria


Today:

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

Local Coordination Committees in Syria

The number of martyrs in Syria has risen to 120 so far. 35 martyrs were reported in Aleppo. 29 in Homs, 20 in Raqqa due to warplane shelling at Ain Easa and the number can rise, 15 in Damascus and its Suburbs, 12 in Hama, 5 in Deir Ezzor, 2 in Daraa, and 2 in Idlib
9:59 AM

[visionary]

http://www.aljazeera.com/news/middle...849826188.html

Syrian army raids Palestinian refugee camp

Syrian armed forces have shelled al-Hajar al-Aswad and the Palestinian refugee camp of Yarmouk in the capital Damascus, according to pro-state media reports.

Addounia TV reported that the Syrian army had also carried out hundreds of arrests on Thursday of what it called "terrorists" at al-Talnaa garden and al-Waseem mosque in the Yarmouk refugee camp.

Separately, state media blamed a helicopter gunship crash on an accident although monitors said rebels shot it down.

The military helicopter that went down outside Damascus crashed after an accident with a civilian aircraft, state television said.

"This morning's helicopter crash resulted from an accident in the air when the helicopter's rotor clipped the tail of a Syrian Air plane carrying 200 passengers," it said.

It cited air traffic controllers at Damascus airport and Syrian Air as saying the airliner landed safely.

Earlier, the SOHR reported the helicopter had been downed by rebels following a series of explosions in the restive town of Douma, northeast of the capital.

On the political front, diplomats from more than 60 nations and the Arab League met in The Hague, Netherlands, to toughen and improve co-ordination of sanctions against Assad's regime.

"We need vigorous implementation," Uri Rosenthal, Netherlands foreign minister, told the opening of the "Friends of Syria" working group.

"Sanctions will only have an impact if they are carried out effectively. That is how we can make a difference."

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/midd...e38ada8001621c

17:31 BST
Background to the petrol station airstrike

Abu Abdullah al-Riqqawi, commander of the FSA's Ma'awiya Ben Abi Sufyan brigade, has been talking to our colleague Mona Mahmood via Skype about the airstrike on the petrol station earlier today. He said the current death toll is 70.

Today at 11.30 in the morning, the Syrian army started to bring reinforcements from Al-Riqa province to Tal Abyad town [close to the Turkish border]. Tal Abyad town was liberated two days ago by the FSA and its border crossing is under the control of the FSA.

Fighters of Ma'awiya Ben Abi Sufyan brigade were able to block the road in front of the reinforcements heading to Tal Abyad. Heavy clashes erupted with the Syrian army and five of them were killed. The convey of the reinforcements could not keep going and they pulled out.

Soon afterwards, a MiG-23 began to strike Ain Issa (which is partly liberated) and Tal Abyad town. A petrol station in Ain Issa was hit and a massive fire broke out. The petrol station had more than 40,000 litres [of fuel].

We went to the station after two hours to remove the bodies. We found more than 70 burned bodies. Some of them can hardly be identified but there was a child and a woman among the victims, in addition to more than 80 wounded.

Most of the martyrs are civilians, but some of the wounded are members of the FSA, including me – I was shot in my leg. People who live nearby were suffocated by the dense smoke coming from the petrol station which is 35km from Tal Abyad. There are more than 45,000 people living in Ain Issa.

Meanwhile Brown Moses has some questions on the matter and is trying to figure out more details of what happened.
https://twitter.com/Brown_Moses

Hmm, those two small craters and the actual petrol station seems uneffected? Very odd.
12:25 PM

What I find odd is the petrol station seems undamaged, so I'm wondering where the fuel storage tanks are
1:02 PM

Thing is the pumps seem untouched, the fire appears to have happened outside the station, not inside.
1:23 PM

https://twitter.com/damspleet

I'm back in Turkey. Passing Idlib area wasn't easy. Back roads, scouts, scanning the sky for helicopters or planes, etc.
10:49 AM

https://twitter.com/MidaniSpeaks

Eventually you become numb to the fact that you’re constantly waiting for a phone call to tell you somebody else you know is dead.
11:21 AM

https://twitter.com/NMSyria

@StateDept "Standing" with the Syrian people and "listening" to their cries for help doesn't stop them from being killed.
12:56 PM

https://twitter.com/jfoleyjourno

4 children, total 7 dead, 80 wounded at Dar Shiifa today Aleppo. Most civilians had no idea what was coming
2:05 PM

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

Raqqa: Tal Abyad: The Free Syrian Army seized control of the buildings of Military Security and Political Security in Tal Abyad
12:07 PM

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

Aleppo: The leader of the Farouq Brigade [in the area], Abu Janeed, was martyred during clashes with security forces near the Aleppo Citadel
1:57 PM

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

Local Coordination Committees in Syria

The number of martyrs in Syria has risen to 203 far. 55 martyrs were reported in Raqqa due to warplane shelling at Ain Easa and the number is expected to rise, 49 in Aleppo, 37in Damascus and its Suburbs, 33 in Homs, 15 in Hama, 6 in Deir Ezzor, 5 in Idlib, and 3 in Daraa
2:04 PM