Yahoo: Assad predicts disaster if West meddles in Syria

[visionary]

http://worldnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2...z_as70.twitter

Syria loads chemical weapons into bombs; military awaits Assad's order

The Syrian military is prepared to use chemical weapons against its own people and is awaiting final orders from President Bashar Assad, U.S. officials told NBC News on Wednesday.

The military has loaded the precursor chemicals for sarin, a deadly nerve gas, into aerial bombs that could be dropped onto the Syrian people from dozens of fighter-bombers, the officials said.

As recently as Tuesday, officials had said there was as yet no evidence that the process of mixing the "precursor" chemicals had begun. But Wednesday, they said their worst fears had been confirmed: The nerve agents were locked and loaded inside the bombs.

Sarin is an extraordinarily lethal agent. Iraqi President Saddam Hussein's forces killed 5,000 Kurds with a single sarin attack on Halabja in 1988.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/...b_story_1.html

U.S., allies look to expedite Syria transition planning amid rapid rebel gains

“It is bloody and long,” the French official said of the 20-month-old uprising. “But my feeling is there has been an acceleration of dynamics in the last few weeks, an erosion of the regime while the morale of the activists is higher and higher. I believe it is now possible the regime will fall soon,. Whether that is weeks or months, I don’t know.”

The growth of extremist factions within the rebel ranks has increased the urgency of developing a political alternative to match opposition military gains, according to the French official and others, all of whom spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss ongoing diplomatic talks.

“This is a real concern for the United States, for France and for the Syrians themselves,” the French official said. “The quicker the fall of the regime and the stronger the political alternative, the more you empower it . . . the more likely that Syrians themselves will be able to resist radicalization.”

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/12/06/wo...ist-hands.html

Weapons Sent to Libyan Rebels With U.S. Approval Fell Into Islamist Hands

The Obama administration secretly gave its blessing to arms shipments to Libyan rebels from Qatar last year, but American officials later grew alarmed as evidence grew that Qatar was turning some of the weapons over to Islamic militants, according to United States officials and foreign diplomats.

No evidence has emerged linking the weapons provided by the Qataris during the uprising against Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi to the attack that killed four Americans at the United States diplomatic compound in Benghazi, Libya, in September.

But in the months before, the Obama administration clearly was worried about the consequences of its hidden hand in helping arm Libyan militants, concerns that have not previously been reported. The weapons and money from Qatar strengthened militant groups in Libya, allowing them to become a destabilizing force since the fall of the Qaddafi government.

The experience in Libya has taken on new urgency as the administration considers whether to play a direct role in arming rebels in Syria, where weapons are flowing in from other countries.

The Obama administration did not initially raise objections when Qatar began shipping arms to opposition groups in Syria, even if it did not offer encouragement, according to current and former administration officials. But they said the United States has growing concerns that, just as in Libya, the Qataris are equipping some of the wrong militants.

Pretty much inevitable to some extent, and better than no one being able to fight back or defend themselves.
A lot of weapons in "wrong hands" come from Syria itself or from private funding/suppliers.
Not to mention the explosives that they make on their own.
That isn't to say that more can't be done to lessen the problem though





https://twitter.com/anguswalkeritv

Chinese artist joins Syrian Mujahideen

Chen Weiming, a Chinese artist who took part in the protests in Tiananmen Square in 1989, has joined the Syrian Mujahideen http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Eqxh...ature=youtu.be
5:32 AM

https://twitter.com/arwaCNN

dr osama has been released,details murky w/regards 2 who took him & why...its the emerging dark underbelly of the revolution
3:37 PM

old city of aleppo that i remember being filled w/intoxicating smells of spices now stench of filth & cordite
4:09 PM

streets of old city in aleppo that bustled with people down winding alleyways now maze of ever shifting frontlines & sniper alleys
4:09 PM

one FSA unit we saw in aleppo old city was recording names&car plates&only allowing those who have shops/homes through 2 prevent robberies
4:12 PM

https://twitter.com/And_Harper

Number up due 2 shelling w/ 469 x'd 2 safety of Jo despite torrential rain, ankle deep mud. Refugees arriving cold, wet & hungry.
11:39 PM Dec 4

4 tired boys sharing 1 blanket after fleeing 2 jo. 100's of children x each nite. We heard artillery 2nite in syria. pic.twitter.com/AFm2vBnV
5:46 PM

Exhausted but safe, the latest arrival to jo. Just back from the border where we saw several hundred more cross. pic.twitter.com/tp9oAYW3
5:19 PM

Clashes at military airport in Managh, Aleppo now.
7:00 PM

.


https://twitter.com/Syrian_Scenes

The US administration has said for months that chemical weapons are a "red line". If it's crossed, how will we respond?
8:18 PM

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

The Local Coordination Committees in Syria

As Wednesday drew to a close, the LCC was able to document 107 martyrs in Syria, including 8 women and 6 children. 45 martyrs were reported in Damascus and its suburbs; 20 in Aleppo; 22 in Idlib; 8 in Daraa; 4 in Raqqa; 3 in Lattakia; 3 in Deir Ezzor; and 2 in Homs
6:30 PM

http://www.extremeskins.com/showthre...=1#post9046975
41,578 people killed so far in Syria

[thebluefood]

If Assad actually does this, what do you guys think the reaction of the international community will be? Are troops from NATO countries going to be sent in to break this up?

[visionary]

If Assad actually does this, what do you guys think the reaction of the international community will be? Are troops from NATO countries going to be sent in to break this up?

If he only uses them in Syria I doubt troops will be sent in.
Most likely it will just be more condemnations and we possibly take it to the UN and try to get Russia and China to support some kind of resolution against it.
If Assad or people around him use it on Turkey or another country or along the border and it goes over....

[visionary]

http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/...8B40SD20121205

Syria conflict threatens U.N. troops on Golan ceasefire line

United Nations forces based inside Syria to monitor a longtime ceasefire between Syria and Israel will bring in armor to reinforce their security because of a threat posed by an influx of Syrian rebels, the U.N. peacekeeping chief said.

The U.N. force deployed after the 1973 Middle East war, in which Syria failed to recapture the Golan Heights taken by Israel seven years before and later annexed by the Jewish state in a move never recognized internationally.

Speaking in Paris, peacekeeping chief Herve Ladsous said a number of countries contributing to the U.N. Disengagement Observer Force (UNDOF) had voiced concerns after two Austrian soldiers were shot on November 29 in an area of Damascus where government troops and rebels have been fighting.

http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/...8B411620121205

Syria's rebels in new effort to unite ranks

Syrian rebels are trying to restructure their leadership on a country-wide scale, in hopes of gaining foreign funding for their armed revolt against President Bashar al-Assad, opposition sources said on Wednesday.

Final deals over the new structure were still being hammered out late on Wednesday at a secret meeting in Turkey which brought together a diverse array of rebel units long plagued by deep divisions and bitter rivalries that defy coordination.

"The goal is to get us on track to move towards a unified force, though we are not there yet. Right now, the priority is to create a structured leadership for all the rebels to follow," said Ubada al-Agha, who represents the Sahaba Battalions of Damascus.

But the absence from the meeting of Jabhat al-Nusra, a radical Islamist unit suspected of ties to al Qaeda, threatens to undermine the project.

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/12/06/wo...seid=auto&_r=0

Minorities in Lebanon Are Wary of Syrian War

As the 20-month-long conflict in Syria continues to aggravate the frictions between Sunni and Shiite Muslim groups in Lebanon, other sectarian groups, and notably the country’s Christian and Druze minorities, are trying to distance themselves from the rising tensions.

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/12/06/wo...orld&seid=auto

War Drives Businesses of Aleppo Into Exile

In an unheated apartment in Istanbul, Mohammed Sahsoun, a businessman who fled the fighting in Syria, has set up a tiny garment factory. Here, on a chilly day, Mr. Sahsoun and the other proprietors of the shop welcomed a 32-year-old exiled trader from Aleppo with cigarettes and cups of sweet tea.

The guest is a former supplier. When Syria was at peace, his family sold Mr. Sahsoun and other garment makers denim fabric imported from China. At its peak, it was a $7.5 million-a-year business that now has been all but wiped out by the fighting.

“The war will go on for 10 years at least,” said Mr. Sahsoun. “We hate violence and we hate the two sides who are creating it in equal measure.”

Only a half-decade after Iraqi businessmen fled civil war in their country, a second exodus is depleting another stronghold of Mesopotamian enterprise. Aleppo, Syria’s largest city and a key hub on the old Silk Road, is the country’s industrial and commercial turbine.

http://jordantimes.com/heavy-rain-fa...flow-to-jordan

Heavy rain fails to slow Syrian refugee flow to Jordan

Heavy rainfall has failed to slow the ongoing influx of Syrian refugees into Jordan, relief officials said on Wednesday, reporting over 800 new arrivals in less than 48 hours.

According to the UN Refugee Agency, there has been a rise in the number of Syrians fleeing to the Kingdom since the outbreak of torrential rain on Tuesday, with 469 new arrivals recorded early Wednesday.

The spike in new arrivals comes despite inclement weather and mudslides which, according to security sources, have blocked off traditional crossing routes along the mountainous northwest border region — driving the bulk of the refugee flow eastward into the desert plains.

According to activists, some 9,000 displaced Syrians remain “stranded” along the southern border, waiting for a break in Damascus’s military blockade to cross into the Kingdom.

Jordan follows an open-border policy, having granted refuge to over 250,000 Syrians since the outbreak of the conflict in March 2011.

http://www.dw.de/german-government-d...der/a-16430831

German government decides to send troops to Turkey-Syria border

The German government has decided to send up to 400 troops to Turkey's border with Syria as part of a NATO mission. The troops are to accompany Patriot missile systems requested by Turkey.

The government confirmed in an early morning cabinet session what had emerged in media reports on Thursday.

http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/...8B50DL20121206

Syria envoy Brahimi to meet Clinton, Lavrov on Thursday

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton will meet international Syria mediator Lakhdar Brahimi in Dublin on Thursday to try to put a U.N. peace process for Syria back on track, diplomatic sources said.

Yeah....

http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/...8B50AM20121206
Blast hits Syrian Red Crescent HQ in capital: Syria TV

https://twitter.com/RafifJ

Apparently there were many defections in Sanmein, Daraa, and regime is unleashing all kinds of fury on the city.
10:23 PM

Daraa is getting pounded into oblivion tonight.
11:42 PM

Tibeh, Sanmein, and Tal Shehab most shelled towns in Daraa right now.
11:46 PM

https://twitter.com/AlexCrawfordSky

FSA say they have taken all the Syrian border stations along with Jordan.
1:25 AM

https://twitter.com/NMSyria

BREAKING: German Cabinet approves sending German Patriot air defense missiles to Turkey, to be deployed to Syria border. Reported by @AP.
2:50 AM

https://twitter.com/rozalinachomsky

heavy clashes continue between defected troops & assad's troops in the town of al-sanamayn in daraa
1:00 AM

resistance fighters liberated brigade 22 base in al-ghutah al-sharqiyah http://youtu.be/S6a0CyDlcuk
2:06 AM

resistance fighters have entered a military site in irbin (damascus countryside) & seized tanks. many assad troops have surrendered
3:15 AM

the military site in irbin is called idarat al-markabat
3:19 AM

https://twitter.com/Ugariti_Homsi

My 16-yr-old cousin was released after 5 months in Assad's prisons
4:37 AM

[visionary]

http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/syria...j9AZkw.twitter

Syria's Assad May Be Considering Using Chemical Weapons, Panetta Says

"I think there is no question that we remain very concerned, very concerned that as the opposition advances, in particular on Damascus, that the regime might very well consider the use of chemical weapons," Defense Secretary Leon Panetta said today.

"The intelligence that we have causes serious concerns that this is being considered," he said.

Syria's current Deputy Foreign Minister Faisal Mekdad told Sky News Wednesday that international intervention in Syria would be "dangerous for the whole region" and that it is "funny" to think that Syria could threaten a NATO country.

"In no way we can threaten a NATO country and these are just provocations and further support for the terrorist groups that are supported by the Turkish government and by many European countries," Mekdad said.

Mekdad also told Sky News that Assad will "never, ever" leave Syria and said "even if" Syria has chemical weapons it would not use them against its own people.

"We are saying if we have them we shall not use them against our people," Mekdad said.

http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/headline...aSXKvA.twitter

Warning to Syria on Chemical Weapons Stemmed From Airfield Intel

Alarming intelligence about Syria’s chemical weapons stockpile earlier this week had to do with the apparent loading of elements of dangerous sarin nerve gas into bombs at Syrian airfields, a senior U.S. official said.

American officials remain concerned by the Syrians’ intent behind the move, though their concerns have eased in the past 48 hours since the move became public.

Concerns were raised this weekend after U.S. intelligence uncovered movements on or near Syrian airfields, the senior U.S. official said.

According to the official, the U.S. believed that Syria loaded components of sarin gas into bombs near or on those Syrian airfields.

The bombs were not loaded onto aircraft. Though it is assumed that is what the intent may have been, the official said there was no way to know for certain.

One has to wonder what they are up to if they aren't going to use them.
Why load and weaponize them in the first place, unless you plan for them to be used in some manner?



http://www.politico.com/story/2012/1...694.html?hp=r5

U.S. ambassador warns Syria

If the Syrian government crosses American “red lines” by using chemical weapons against its own people, that will “change our calculations in a fundamental way,” Robert Ford, the U.S. ambassador to Syria, said on Thursday.

“What must be understood is that the use of those weapons is for us a qualitatively different situation, and frankly, countries in the region also view it that way,” Ford said at a conference held by the Foundation for Defense of Democracies. “If so, it will change our calculations in a fundamental way. It will change the way we have approached the Syrian problem, the Syrian crisis, in a different way. Let me leave it at that.”

https://twitter.com/rozalinachomsky

resistance fighters killed & injured +75 assad troops & destroyed 3 tanks in darayya
8:32 AM

4 troops have defected from al-hamidiyah military base (idlib)
8:39 AM

from the battlefield in shab`a: resistance fighters liberated a compound for assad's thugs http://youtu.be/3D9OAC-_WCg
8:54 AM

resistance fighters seized a tank in irbin http://youtu.be/qfteIsuPeX8
11:01 AM

https://twitter.com/samersniper

Unprecedented heavy shelling on Bab Amr Orchards, and fierce clashes between FSA and Assad's forces in the area. Explosions r shaking Homs
1:38 PM

https://twitter.com/JMiller_EA

Syria Live: Rebels capture Baath HQ 2 km away from massive suspected chemical weapons depot - MAP http://bit.ly/TUuNIX
12:47 PM

Syria Live: Videos show FSA defusing & collecting landmines regime deployed on border with Turkey http://bit.ly/UImHXv
1:50 PM

Syria Live: 5 reportedly killed in car bombing in Mezzeh86 district of Damascus http://bit.ly/UIp8Jr
2:10 PM

https://twitter.com/rozalinachomsky

liberation of the town of aqrab (officially in hama countrysde) http://youtu.be/iPKLPftOhEE
11:20 AM

resistance fighters raised the 'revolution flag' on the municipality building in the town of al-kaltah (al-raqqah's countryside)
11:37 AM

6 troops have defected from al-sheikh sulieman brigade in aleppo
11:54 AM

resistance fighters killed +25 assad troops & destroyed 2 tanks near aqraba
1:21 PM

ahrar al-sham brigades confirm the liberation of al-amiriyah neighborhood in aleppo city. the brigades destroyed a tank near aleppo
2:31 PM

[visionary]

http://m.apnews.com/ap/db_15884/cont...tguid=GxM6Xhni

Syrian capital a maze of checkpoints, blast walls

Instead of a quick half-hour trip home from her class at Damascus University, Lama Issa says she now must maneuver through security checkpoints, army tanks and blast walls - a two-hour journey that is often terrifying.

That's the new price of an uneasy security these days in the Syrian capital, the seat of power for President Bashar Assad.

Rebels have set their sights on the city of 1.7 million, and fighting on the outskirts is raising fears that Damascus soon could be facing the most brutal battle of the Syrian civil war.

"All these checkpoints make me feel like we're under occupation. Yet I have to remind myself that these are Syrian soldiers," Issa, a 22-year-old architecture student, told The Associated Press in the capital.

http://edition.cnn.com/video/#/video...iref=allsearch

December 6, 2012
CNN's Arwa Damon reports from the historic heart of Aleppo now a battlefield in the Syrian conflict.

https://twitter.com/arwaCNN

even those who dont support nusra front ideology R fuming that the US designating terrorist group, say utterly counter-productive move
2:57 PM

ppl say unprecedented level of begging in streets of aleppo...we see it everyday...all over...little children...old women...people r hungry
3:44 PM

On sun fuel cost 85 syrian pounds...on tues it went up to 125...today 150...& we're hearing that tomorrow its going up to 200
3:45 PM

https://twitter.com/LizSly

Brahimi on meeting Clinton, Lavrov re Syria: "We haven't taken any sensational decisions but I think we have agreed the situation is bad"
3:46 PM

https://twitter.com/SeekerSK

Jordan Zaatari refugee camp completely inhumane, big fenced in prison, of you don't leave you ID/passport w/ guards you cant leave
4:21 PM

No lights in far bathroom, only cold water even 4 bathing children, barely get some bulgar/rice 4 food aid & bad fish made kids sick
4:23 PM

Some Syrian young boys sleep in streets of Jordan, can't afford shelter- shabiha & conmen show up, many in need of medical procedures
4:26 PM

People trample you to get supplies and aid and it's never enough, 1 Jordanian guard took a jacket himself said he needed it too, much poverty
4:27 PM

Honestly most aid from organizations or whatever doesn't reach the refugees, better to go and personally give it to them by hand
4:28 PM

https://twitter.com/rozalinachomsky

7 troops have defected from regiment 145 in al-qamishli (al-hasakah)
3:49 PM

heavy clashes continue in the town of al-baath in al-qunaytirah
4:13 PM

24 troops from regiment 103 have defected (near al-qalamoun)
4:46 PM

resistance fighters destroyed a military checkpoint & killed assad troops in the town of souha in the eastern countryside of hama
5:12 PM

[visionary]

http://www.cnn.com/2012/12/06/world/...int/index.html

Syria's endgame in sight as rebels advance

Hell came to Damascus months ago. It's loud and scary in Syria's capital. But now, this week, something seems different.

It feels worse. And that makes Leena feel better.

The Damascus resident, who sides with the rebellion, says it means the forces fighting to oust President Bashar al-Assad are winning.

"The rebels are winning, can you see?" she insisted during a Skype call Wednesday. "The regime feels threatened. They are scared. You can feel it here. It's so tense."

http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-202_162-...asylum-offers/

U.S. aware of Assad asylum offers

The Obama administration says it is aware that several countries in the Middle East and elsewhere have informally offered to grant asylum to Syrian President Bashar Assad and his family if they leave Syria.

The State Department said Wednesday it couldn't vouch for the sincerity of the offers and noted that they raise serious questions of accountability for abuses committed by the Assad regime. But spokesman Mark Toner said the U.S. is convinced that Assad must leave and cannot play any role in Syria's future.

Toner added that the United States believes Syrian foreign ministry spokesman Jihad Makdissi is currently in London. If Makdissi defected, Toner said it would be another sign the regime is "crumbling" and that members of Assad's inner circle are realizing that the end is near.

http://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/poli...-damascus.html

Is Damascus a Trap for the FSA?

http://www.foreignpolicy.com/article...syria?page=0,1

The White House wants to marginalize radicals within the anti-Assad insurgency -- but does it have any leverage left with the rebels?

The unique circumstances in Syria might be the reason for the differing approach. Syrians have been demonstrating and fighting for more than 21 months to shed the President Bashar al-Assad's yoke of tyranny. The rebellion has been radicalized over time by the brutal tactics of the regime, creating a more Islamist fighting force than when the armed rebellion first started gaining steam.

Getting Syria's rebels to disavow Jabhat al-Nusra may not be an easy task, however. As in Iraq, jihadists have been some of the most effective and audacious fighters against the Assad regime, garnering respect from other rebel groups in the process. Jabhat al-Nusra seems to have learned from the mistakes of al Qaeda in Iraq: It has not attacked civilians randomly, nor has it shown wanton disregard for human life by publicizing videos showing the beheading of its enemies. Even if its views are extreme, it is getting the benefit of the doubt from other insurgents due to its prowess on the battlefield.

So can the Obama administration isolate Jabhat al-Nusra? While some in the Syrian opposition would welcome a U.S. decision to slap a terrorist designation on the group, many will likely view this as another case of the U.S. government actually acting in support of Assad -- demonizing an element of the insurgency while simultaneously offering little assistance itself to topple the regime.

https://twitter.com/hahussain

Washington panels on Syria feel like Ashoura sessions where everyone regrets US not intervening earlier to topple Assad
12:33 PM

https://twitter.com/michaeldweiss

Syrian deputy FM says "we don't know if we have [chemical weapons] or not": http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Erx5pPWdUt4
5:46 PM

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

The Local Coordination Committees in Syria

By the end of Thursday the LCC managed to document 89 martyrs (including 5 children and 7 women), 45 martyrs were reported in Damascus and its Suburbs, 21 martyrs in Aleppo, 7 martyrs in Idlib, 5 martyrs in Homs, 4 martyrs in Hama, 3 martyrs in Daraa, 2 martyrs in Deir Ezzor, 1 martyr in Raqqa, and 1 martyr in Hasakeh
6:56 PM

http://www.extremeskins.com/showthre...=1#post9046975
41,667 people killed so far in Syria

[visionary]

http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/...8AJ1FK20121207

Rebels circle Damascus airport; Russia, U.S. downbeat

Rebels fighting to topple Syrian President Bashar al-Assad declared Damascus International Airport a battle zone on Friday, while Moscow and Washington both sounded downbeat about the prospects of a diplomatic push to end the conflict.

Fighting around the capital city has intensified over the past week, and Western officials have begun speaking about faster change on the ground in a 20-month-old conflict that has killed 40,000 people.

But Russia and the United States, the superpowers that have backed the opposing sides in the conflict, both played down the chance of a diplomatic breakthrough after talks aimed at resolving their differences.

https://twitter.com/NMSyria

Reuters reported Nabil al-Amir, spokesman for the Damascus Military Council, said that FSA brigades have declared airport a 'fair target'.
5:37 AM

“The airport is now full of armored vehicles and soldiers. Civilians who approach it now do so at their own risk.” - Nabil al-Amir [Reuters]
5:38 AM

FSA's announcement naming Damascus Airport a legitimate military target is very important and hints to plans to escalate the fight there.
5:45 AM

https://twitter.com/BigAlBrand

Syrian regime targeted Quibaa mosque with a car bomb in Inshaat Homs as people were leaving after prayer.
5:30 AM

Yet another car bomb in an area that is completely controlled by the regime near a mosque.
5:32 AM

No way to get a gun in that area as it's surrounded by regime barriers who check everyone and every car
5:37 AM

Some of my relatives were injured after the glass window fell on them cause of the explosion in Inshaat they're only kids.
5:46 AM

https://twitter.com/IvanCNN

Border pic.twitter.com/AfiZyFrW
4:15 AM

Winter in a Syrian refugee camp sucks pic.twitter.com/8AT2Zmv2
5:30 AM

Adham Ismail runs barber shop out of freezing tent, 2 months after his family fled to camp on edge of Syria pic.twitter.com/ENTbriUG
6:42 AM

Part of camp for 7,000 refugees on edge of Syria is built underneath what used to be the government customs compound pic.twitter.com/1P9HmX9J
6:55 AM

In Syrian refugee camps, winter is coming pic.twitter.com/PmeohFk1
7:26 AM

https://twitter.com/Dr_mz13

Netherlands agrees to NATO request to send Patriot missiles and personnel to Turkey to defend against Syria, Dutch agency says, Reuters
9:18 AM

https://twitter.com/rozalinachomsky

resistance fighters have repulsed an attack on al-ma`damiyah & destroyed 3 military tanks
5:46 AM

resistance fighters destroyed 5 tanks in darayya? (i have stopped counting!!!)
8:07 AM

there are heavy clashes near al-mazzeh military airport. it is not possible for activists to go there & know the facts
8:08 AM

resistance fighters destroyed a military tank near al-qadam neighborhood in damascus
10:33 AM

assad's troops are intensely bombing al-hajar al-aswad (2 missiles every 5 minutes). 3 people were killed
12:43 PM

https://twitter.com/jenanmoussa

Depressing. Taxi driver in aleppo tells me: 'I feel like a dead man. I don't feel anything. I don't care. Waiting 2 die physically'
11:40 AM

I'm going thru my Aleppo tapes as I'm editing a story. I realize almost all women I interviewed R crying. No food, no diapers, no milk.
12:19 PM

A mom in Aleppo has no diapers for her little child. She went searching for old clothes to cut and use as diapers.
12:26 PM

I really really dont understand why international community isnt sending food/ aid 2 North Syria thru turkey. How difficult can that be?
12:30 PM

I'm still watching my Aleppo tapes. Ive a story so heartbreaking. Don't know how Ill edit it. Watching footage makes me cry already
12:48 PM

https://twitter.com/arwaCNN

angry crowd @ bread line gathered demanding we stop filming "world just watching our misery & laughing at us" aleppo
10:38 AM

No power, no water, no bread. met family that hadnt eaten since the night B4, 2yro keeps saying "i;m hungry, i'm hungry"
11:09 AM

bread & costs of living situation isnt sustainable, tempers R flaring, fear riots if not resolved, people hungry & helpless
11:16 AM

touching moment. amid all the misery, 6yro girl holding small stack of bread says to me "auntie are you hungry?" i didnt take the bread, i thanked her & told her to hurry home.
11:25 AM

https://twitter.com/THE_47th

BREAKING | US INTELLIGENCE ON ASSAD WILLING TO USE CHEMICAL WEAPONS CAME FROM JIHAD MAKDISSI, WHO IS NOW IN WASHINGTON DC, MY SOURCE SAYS.
1:44 PM

https://twitter.com/acarvin

As of this morning the US was still denying Makdissi is here, for whatever that's worth.
1:47 PM

[visionary]

http://alpha.syriadeeply.org/2012/12.../#.UMJNkIPhptU

EXCLUSIVE: US Trains Rebel Brigades to Secure Chemical Weapons

The US and its allies have hired contractors to train some Syrian rebel brigades in chemical weapons security, Syria Deeply has exclusively learned from four diplomats, including one US official. The sources asked to remain anonymous, as they deal directly with developments in Syria. The training would mark a higher level of coordination between the US and armed opposition forces, working to secure Syria’s chemical arsenal during a period of political turmoil.

The diplomatic sources say defense contractors hired by the US and its European allies have recently conducted training exercises with Syrian rebel forces in Turkey and Jordan. The programs were intended to prepare brigades to handle chemical weapons sites and materials they might encounter, as Assad troops lose control of over parts of the country. US contractors have also been on the ground in Syria to monitor the status of regime stockpiles, said an employee with a major US defense consultancy that has been engaged in that work.

“They’re probably trying to provide near real-time surveillance at all these sites. There’s no point in limiting yourself,” said Anthony Cordesman of the Center for Strategic and International Studies. He emphasized that any training of rebel fighters would represent just one element of contingency planning underway and said it would be incorrect to assume that training rebels is “the only hope”.

http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/...8B60QX20121207

Syrian rebels elect Islamist-dominated unified command

Syrian rebel groups meeting in Turkey elected a 30-member unified command on Friday at talks attended by security officials from international powers, delegates said.

The 30 included many with ties to the Muslim Brotherhood and Salafists, and excluded the most senior officers who had defected from President Bashar al-Assad's military, they said.

"The command has been organized into several fronts. We are now in the process of electing a military leader and a political liaison officer for each region," said one of the delegates who did not want to be named, speaking from the coastal city of Antalya, where the meeting is being held.

Another delegate said that two-thirds of the leadership had ties to the Muslim Brotherhood or were politically allied with the group, a composition which resembles that of the civilian opposition leadership coalition created under Western and Arab auspices in Qatar last month.

http://www.motherjones.com/photoessa...tal/10-girljpg

The Last Days of a Rebel-Held Hospital in Syria

Just 400 meters from the front line in Aleppo, gunfire and mortar blasts echoed through the streets as the wounded and desperate were wheeled and carried to the Dar al-Shifa hospital in the ancient Syrian city. While located in the Free Syrian Army-held zone, a doctor said hospital workers tended to both FSA fighters and government soldiers, but that a full 80 percent of those treated were civilians, many of them children.

Formerly a private clinic owned by a local business man loyal to President Bashar al-Assad, the hospital was transformed into a field station where the desperately understaffed medical personnel tended to between 100 and 150 patients per week. With limited supplies and medical specialization, the volunteer doctors and nurses and even veterinarians worked to patch up the wounded and sent those who needed special attention, such as surgery, to the Assad-held part of the city to be treated at better-equipped hospitals.

Dar al-Shifa was a target for frequent bombings by government forces, but through the fighting the medical staff stayed put, continuing their work to help the grievously injured on hospital floors littered with debris and puddled with blood. Chief Doctor Osman al-Haj Osman, 30, told Vice that the reason Assad forces aim for the hospital is that "when you kill one doctor, it is better than killing 1,000 fighters."

http://blogs.aljazeera.com/topic/syr...t-hits-soldier

Jordan fires back after Syria bullet hits soldier

A stray bullet fired from inside Syria wounded a Jordanian soldier on the border on Friday, prompting the kingdom's army to respond to the source of fire, an armed forces spokesman said.

"The border area in Tel Shehab has in the past few hours witnessed heavy fighting between the Syrian (regime) army and the Free Syrian Army," he said in a statement carried by the state-run Petra news agency.

"Shells and bullets fell on Jordanian territory. A stray bullet hit Jordanian soldier Oday Hussein Momani in the shoulder."

Momani was taken to hospital "and now he is in good condition."

"Jordan's armed forces have been exercising self-restraint despite indiscriminate fire from unknown sources inside Syria," the spokesman added.

"This time, however, and in an act of self-defence, the army used a suitable response to the source of fire. The army will not hesitate in the future to take all necessary measures to defend Jordanian territory and border."

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012...els?CMP=twt_gu

France funding Syrian rebels in new push to oust Assad

France has emerged as the most prominent backer of Syria's armed opposition and is now directly funding rebel groups around Aleppo as part of a new push to oust the embattled Assad regime.

Large sums of cash have been delivered by French government proxies across the Turkish border to rebel commanders in the past month, diplomatic sources have confirmed. The money has been used to buy weapons inside Syria and to fund armed operations against loyalist forces.

The French moves have stopped short of direct supply of weapons – a bridge that no western state has yet been willing to cross in Syria. But, according to western and Turkish officials as well as rebel leaders, the influx of money has made a difference in recent weeks as momentum on the battlefields of the north steadily shifts towards the opposition.

Some of the French cash has reached Islamist groups who were desperately short of ammunition and who had increasingly turned for help towards al-Qaida aligned jihadist groups in and around Aleppo.

One such group, Liwa al-Tawhid, an 8,000-strong militia that fights under the Free Syria Army banner, said it had been able to buy ammunition for the first time since late in the summer, a development that would help it resume military operations without the support of implacable jihadi organisations, such as Jabhat al-Nusra, which is now playing a lead role in northern Syria.

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/wo...g-8392398.html

Food shortages in Syria send prices soaring

Plenty of food lines the shelves in Abd al-Razzak's warehouse, but only for those who can afford the sky-high prices needed to cover the bribes it took to transport it there.

"There's a powdered milk factory in Latakia, but there are 13 security checkpoints to go through," al-Razzak explained, sitting in the darkened warehouse in this forlorn northwestern town that has no electricity, no running water and trash pickup only when gas can be found for the trucks. "We have to pay a bribe at each checkpoint."

http://www.cbsnews.com/video/watch/?id=50136556n

Inside Damascus military hospital

December 6, 2012 4:18 PM

Against a massive Syrian military, rebel forces have clawed their way into the suburbs of the capital Damascus. Elizabeth Palmer managed to get to the dictatorship's main military hospital, to look at the damage being inflicted on Assad's army.

http://www.reuters.com/video/2012/12...videoChannel=1

Bread shortages in Damascus and Aleppo (1:02)

Dec. 6 - Video footage shows Syrians in Damascus and Aleppo lining up for bread amid shortages, while other amateur video shows a blast at the headquarters of the Syrian Red Crescent. Sarah Sheffer reports.

https://twitter.com/rozalinachomsky

3 troops defected in al-qamishli http://youtu.be/JDgYFqW_acc
12:26 PM

resistance fighters arrested a major responsible for arming troops in division 26 in al-qalamoun
1:51 PM

resistance fighters liberated a military base in turkman mount in latakia http://youtu.be/81Ay2kG3V8g
2:43 PM

resistance fighters attacked a military checkpoint near ebla al-sham hotel (damascus airport road) & forced assad troops to leave
2:57 PM

https://twitter.com/WashingtonPoint

All this talk by the West & US, and they still cant get even enough bread into Aleppo!! note all the bragging about money they donate etc!
3:56 PM

https://twitter.com/Guardian_Mario

Today in Giant Slingshots™: Fighters in Aleppo use a conga-line of men to deploy a homemade grenade: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V1HVdOJyCCU
4:03 PM

https://twitter.com/zaidbenjamin

Breaking: Salim Idress elected chief of staff for the Syrian United Military Front. Next step electing head of the transitional government
4:01 PM

Breaking: Talks has started to elect a civilian as a defense minister in the Syrian transitional government
4:06 PM

[visionary]

https://twitter.com/LeShaque

Today Syrian activists made it very clear that intervention must happen on Syrian terms and not dictated by foreign powers.
4:48 PM

Syrians have grown skeptical of all offers of help that come with preconditions. "Do it on our terms or **** off."
4:50 PM

Daraa activist with hopes of taking refuge told me he'd rather be arrested by the regime than end up in Jordan's Zaatari camp.
5:35 PM

https://twitter.com/arwaCNN

"moderate" islamist just told me nusra front wants assad regime 2 last bc longer the fighting goes on the stronger&more popular they become
4:11 PM

US designation of nusra front terrorist group as terrorist grp isnt creating wedge between them&other rebel units, quite the opposite
4:23 PM

even majority of people who dont support nusra front respect them as fighting force, many credit them with rebel gains in aleppo
4:24 PM

irony of course is in the fact that the main reason that the nusra front exists is bc of lack of weapons & funding 2 the opposition
4:25 PM

UN Sec Gen, Ban Ki-moon on syria "the country has been brought to ruin"
6:00 PM

https://twitter.com/jenanmoussa

Back on Turkish Syria border. Sleeping tonight in a warm, clean and safe bed without fear of bombardment.
6:20 PM

I am editing one of most miserable stories you can watch from Aleppo. Will air tomorrow @akhbar. Stay tuned.
6:23 PM

https://twitter.com/T_Aldiery

A nice video showing the DeirEzzor military airport and the defence positions of Assad soldiers. http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature...&v=DsAidLEzzDU
9:11 PM

I'm seriously hoping this airport falls as soon as possible. The siege on it has taken a toll on the people of DeirEzzor city itself
9:12 PM

https://twitter.com/And_Harper

248 x'd last nite in rain 2 Jo. Fighting @ Tal Shehab blocked routes to the west. Refugees originated frm Tafas & Busra Esh Sham
10:54 PM

https://twitter.com/rozalinachomsky

fierce fighting is going on now in yabroud. resistance fighters are trying to besiege a regiment in al-qalamoun
11:07 PM

21 troops have defected from brigade 79 in the town of al-sanamayn in daraa. assad's thugs killed 3 troops who tried to defect
11:43 PM

6 troops defected from al-tabqa airport
11:59 PM

head of the police department in qatana, jihad walid, & his family have defected to jordan
12:07 AM

https://twitter.com/rozalinachomsky

resistance fighters destroyed 13 military vehicles, including 9 tanks & 2 bmps, & wiped out the corniche checkpoint in al-zabadani
12:13 AM

reports say resistance fighters killed brigadier general muwaffaq al-asaad, the military commander of assad's troops in al-zabadani
1:06 AM

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

Local Coordination Committees in Syria

By the end of Friday LCC could document 130 martyrs including 4 women and 4 children, 51 martyrs in Deir Ezzor including 50 in Aljbaila neighborhood massacre, 43 in Damascus and suburbs, 9 in each [9]Aleppo and [9]Daraa, 8 in Idlib, 6 in Hama, 2 in Homs and a martyr in each [1]Latakia and [1]Hassaka

http://www.extremeskins.com/showthre...=1#post9046975
41,797 people killed so far in Syria

[visionary]

https://twitter.com/jenanmoussa

I saw terrible stories in Aleppo but this is worst. Dozens of mentally handicapped pple stuck under shelling: http://bit.ly/VTwGI7
7:25 AM

https://twitter.com/rozalinachomsky

resistance fighters destroyed a tank in yabroud. fierce clashes continue
4:08 AM

assad's artilleries continue to bomb irbin & harasta. resistance fighters liberated most of the military base there
4:27 AM

resistance fighters have liberated a military compound in the town of ariqah in al-suwayda. 14 assad thugs were killed
4:57 AM

4 troops have defected from brigade 137 in the western countryside of deirezzor
6:20 AM

resistance fighters destroyed 3 tanks in darayya
7:58 AM

https://twitter.com/THE_47th

Ongoing gunfights btwn Jebel Mohsin & Bab Al Tebbane in sectarian fightings in Tripoli, Lebanon.
9:08 AM

How crazy is this: the battle line that separates Jebel Mohsin from Bab Al Tabane in Lebanon is a street called "Syria"
9:10 AM

https://twitter.com/SyrianSmurf

Hey everyone sorry i was MIA i was in Aleppo for a few days.
I really did not want to leave...
9:03 AM

Conditions in Aleppo are even more dire than I previously thought. Lines for bread have no end and gasoline and kerosene are non-existent.
9:13 AM

The Shifaa Hospital on Aleppo that was completely destroyed wasn't the intended target of the shelling last week. That same day there was a meeting of several opposition members in the building next door including Bayanouni of the MB. None of them were hurt though as they left 10 minutes before the strike.
9:17 AM

Turkey limits amt of flour crossing border due to flour shortage in Turkey. Gasoline isn't allowed across the border.
9:28 AM

https://twitter.com/KareemLailah

Assad’s statements about warning terrorists in Syria of using CW sounds really terrible. I think he’s planning something really bad.
9:37 AM

https://twitter.com/arwaCNN

activist was just telling me he met a 65yro man so desperate he said "just give me mouldy bread, i dont care" aleppo
10:08 AM

https://twitter.com/tweets4peace

Does any1 have ideas on helping end starvation in Aleppo Syria? What about the WHO where are they? Borders are okay, why is helping so hard
10:09 AM

https://twitter.com/blakehounshell

hmm RT @andrewchappelle: Report: Syrian govt warns UN that rebels have gained access to chlorine gas production facility.
10:14 AM

https://twitter.com/DSyrer

The regime's talk about "terrorists using CW" should raise some red flags. Obvious preparation for false-flag CW attack blamed on FSA.
10:14 AM

https://twitter.com/libyanproud

GCC Approves the Syrian opposition request to appoint a representative.
10:20 AM

[visionary]

http://www.naharnet.com/stories/en/6...led-to-lebanon

U.N. Says 150,000 Syrians Fled to Lebanon

More than 150,000 Syrian refugees have fled the bloody conflict in their home country for Lebanon, according to figures released by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees on Saturday.

“There are around 109,000 refugees formally registered within the agency and 41,000 others currently contacting it to be registered,” a statement released by the U.N. said.

It pointed out that a large number of the refugees are stationed in north Lebanon, where their numbers reached around 55,872 Syrians, while 44,178 are located in Bekaa and around 9,031 refugees in Beirut and the South.

http://www.freep.com/article/2012120...m-Clinton-says

U.S., Russia recommitted to fostering political transition in Syria, Hillary Rodham Clinton says

Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton said Friday that the U.S. and Russia are committed to trying again to get President Bashar Assad's regime and the rebel opposition to talk about a political transition in Syria.

Her comments set aside a year and a half of U.S.-Russian disagreements that have paralyzed the international community.

Clinton stressed, however, that the U.S. would insist once again that Assad's departure be a key part of that transition, a position not shared by the Russians.

It was her first comments on the surprise three-way diplomatic talks held Thursday with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and United Nations peace envoy Lakhdar Brahimi.

Clinton said the U.S. and Russia agreed to support a new mediation effort Brahimi would lead.

Righhhht....


http://mahirzeynalov.blogspot.com/20...a-anymore.html

Does Russia matter in Syria anymore?

https://twitter.com/DamascusTribune

FSA say they repelled a military convoy heading to Damascus International Airports & captured suits for CW. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XyKSc0jDPTw
10:51 AM

https://twitter.com/LeShaque

The US is still mounting pressure on Syrian opposition members to accept a "peaceful settlement," i.e. bend over to Assad.
12:02 PM

https://twitter.com/WashingtonPoint

US Syria Envoy Ford was talking abt Syrian rebels' gain as good news to the audience @followFDD Forum. Rebels that his adm refused helping!
12:24 PM

https://twitter.com/DSyrer

If Clinton is looking for someone who'll talk with Assad & do a "regime-sponsored transition", I suggest Haitham Manna (NCB), not FSA or NC.
12:20 PM

Clinton will be able to find many people who'll agree with her within the ranks of the pro-Iranian/Russian NCB. No need to hassle NC/FSA.
12:22 PM

https://twitter.com/rozalinachomsky

resistance fighters shot down a warplane near the town of al-dumair
12:10 PM

sayf al-sham brigade says it killed assad officers & troops in sufyan al-thawri military barracks in midan in damascus city
12:13 PM

assad's troops are bombing douma. 10 people were killed today in the town
12:25 PM

assad's troops are bombing al-sayyidah zaynab. some homes & shops were destroyed
12:26 PM

resistance fighters didn't liberate all aqraba military airport & the military base in irbin-harasta due to intense bombing
12:38 PM

https://twitter.com/NMSyria

The FSA has taken control of the military checkpoint in Tishreen, Damascus.
4:32 PM

Syrian opposition coalition Moaz al-Khatib called for talks between all opposition groups to form transitional government.
5:35 PM

He also said that the recently formed coalition does not seek to hold on to power, and would be dissolved after free elections in Syria.
5:35 PM

Khatib also said that talks were already underway to form a judiciary to be put in place immediately after overthrow of regime.
5:37 PM

https://twitter.com/rozalinachomsky

resistance fighters destroyed a military checkpoint & killed assad troops in tariq halab neighborhood in hama city
1:19 PM

head of the police school in aleppo brigadier general sallouh al-ahmad has defected
1:45 PM

resistance fighters killed +25 & destroyed 3 tanks & an armored vehicle in al-ghutah al-sharqiyah. 4 resistance fighters were killed
2:20 PM

resistance fighters destroyed military factories near al-sayyidah zaynab http://youtu.be/k53iqKsCTAs
2:34 PM

resistance fighters destroyed a tank & killed +15 assad troops near beit sahem (damascus countryside)
5:39 PM

[visionary]

http://www.sfgate.com/news/world/art...#ixzz2EWsutp4U

NATO moves toward deployment on Syria border

As fears grow in the West that Syrian President Bashar Assad will unleash chemical weapons as an act of desperation, NATO moved forward Thursday with its plan to place Patriot missiles and troops along Syria's border with Turkey to protect against potential attacks.

Assad's regime blasted the move as "psychological warfare," saying the new deployment would not deter it from seeking victory over rebels it views as terrorists.

The missile deployment sends a clear message to Assad that consequences will follow if he uses chemical weapons or strikes NATO member Turkey, which backs the rebels seeking his ouster. But its limited scope also reflects the low appetite in Western capitals for direct military intervention in the civil war.

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/12/09/wo...anted=all&_r=0

Syrian Rebels Tied to Al Qaeda Play Key Role in War

The lone Syrian rebel group with an explicit stamp of approval from Al Qaeda has become one of the uprising’s most effective fighting forces, posing a stark challenge to the United States and other countries that want to support the rebels but not Islamic extremists.

Money flows to the group, the Nusra Front, from like-minded donors abroad. Its fighters, a small minority of the rebels, have the boldness and skill to storm fortified positions and lead other battalions to capture military bases and oil fields. As their successes mount, they gather more weapons and attract more fighters.

The group is a direct offshoot of Al Qaeda in Iraq, Iraqi officials and former Iraqi insurgents say, which has contributed veteran fighters and weapons.

“This is just a simple way of returning the favor to our Syrian brothers that fought with us on the lands of Iraq,” said a veteran of Al Qaeda in Iraq, who said he helped lead the Nusra Front’s efforts in Syria.

The United States, sensing that time may be running out for Syria’s president, Bashar al-Assad, hopes to isolate the group to prevent it from inheriting Syria or fighting on after Mr. Assad’s fall to pursue its goal of an Islamic state.

But blacklisting the Nusra Front could backfire. It would pit the United States against some of the best fighters in the insurgency that it aims to support. While some Syrian rebels fear the group’s growing power, others work closely with it and admire it — or, at least, its military achievements — and are loath to end their cooperation.

Leaders of the Free Syrian Army, the loose-knit rebel umbrella group that the United States seeks to bolster, expressed exasperation that the United States, which has refused to provide weapons throughout the conflict that has killed more than 40,000 people, is now opposing a group they see as a vital ally.

The Nusra Front “defends civilians in Syria, whereas America didn’t do anything,” said Mosaab Abu Qatada, a rebel spokesman. “They stand by and watch; they look at the blood and the crimes and brag. Then they say that Nusra Front are terrorists."

https://twitter.com/SyrianSmurf

I asked one activist what the general idea on the street was in regards to the NC... he said that most people don't follow their news...that they have lost all hope in the outside opposition politics.
6:32 PM

Tawheed is a HUGE brigade. It used to be one of the strongest and best brigades. But since they keep getting bigger, many brigades and battalions its been swallowing up have been ruining its image. But Tawheed itself is a very good brigade.
6:15 PM

JA [Jabhat Al-Nusra] has made MANNYYYY mistakes...and the way they force their views on people in unacceptable.
6:07 PM

when you have groups of JA calling other people Kuffar and punishing them for "crimes" when they arent even a gov.
6:59 PM

I met with people that lost relatives because of JA operations. JA scares me...I worry what will happen to Syria if they stay.
7:13 PM

https://twitter.com/rozalinachomsky

resistance fighters have liberated al-saba` bahrat in aleppo city
3:12 AM

resistance fighters have liberated a center for assad's presidential guards near damascus international airport
3:16 AM

resistance fighters blew up a building for assad troops in salah al-din neighborhood (near al-ammouri pastries) in aleppo city
4:38 AM

resistance fighters liberated the town of khanasir in aleppo http://youtu.be/Fme3P2CHT74
5:46 AM

https://twitter.com/NMSyria

The FSA has attacked a headquarters for the republican guard in al-Bayad near Damascus Int'l Airport.
8:20 PM

FSA shelling the Department of Motor Vehicles in Damascus, home to military vehicles & tanks. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7ZQqx...ature=youtu.be …
9:53 AM

https://twitter.com/rozalinachomsky

resistance fighters killed assad troops & destroyed 2 tanks near al-qadam neighborhood in damascus
8:35 AM

9 judges in idlib have defected http://youtu.be/Ku6Pb7IJmRE
8:40 AM

5 troops have defected in khan al-asal in aleppo
9:18 AM

resistance fighters shot down a military copter in aleppo
9:19 AM

resistance fighters liberated 3 detachments in regiment 111 base in aleppo
9:20 AM

https://twitter.com/ScottLucas_EA

Lebanon Live: 6 killed & 40 wounded in overnight fighting in Tripoli, linked 2 Syria conflict http://bit.ly/RPoVFo
10:04 AM

https://twitter.com/hhassan140

Syrian ambassador in Algeria is reportedly denying he defected.
10:47 AM

George Sabra, head of SNC, becomes the deputy head of NC. via @ghaliakabbani
10:46 AM

Makes sense.
He had a big role in the NC formation conference in Qatar and gave some impressive speeches afterwards.
Plus he's well respected.
They need to do more in Syria soon though.


https://twitter.com/tweets4peace

Alawite neighborhoods in Homs calling for blood donations urgently after regime plane hit them by accident. I shall not comment.
11:15 AM

https://twitter.com/samersniper

When MiGs were shelling Homs's neighborhoods 2day, a missile fell on pro-regime neighborhood called Arman killing at least 10 &injuring 10s
11:19 AM

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

Local Coordination Committees in Syria

By the end of Saturday the LCC documented 129 martyrs (including 16 children and 9 women), 58 martyrs were reported in Damascus and its Suburbs (7 of them were martyred due to shelling in Mesraba and 15 of them were found in Kafarsousa), 20 martyrs in Idlib, 18 martyrs in Aleppo, 13 martyrs in Daraa (4 of them were martyred due to shelling in Taseel), 15 martyrs in Dier Ezzor (10 of them were pulled today from Jbeila neighborhood), 2 martyrs in Hama, 2 martyrs in Homs and 1 martyr in Raqqa

http://www.extremeskins.com/showthre...=1#post9046975
41,926 people killed so far in Syria

[visionary]

http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/...8AJ1FK20121209

Jihadist-backed rebels take Syrian army command post

Syrian rebels backed by radical Islamists captured a northern regimental command center of President Bashar al-Assad's army, activists said on Sunday, as Russia dismissed speculation that it is preparing for its ally's possible exit from power.

Assad's forces hammered rebel units on the outskirts of Damascus as they tried to drive back opposition fighters rebels seeking to advance toward the embattled leader's seat of power.

Rebels have made a series of advances in recent weeks, partly due to help from radicals such as Jabhat al-Nusra, a group linked to Al Qaeda in Iraq which has been excluded from a newly-formed rebel military command.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said Jabhat al-Nusra, which has called for the creation of an Islamic state in Syria, had participated in capturing the command center of the army's 111th regiment in the north of the country. It said around five soldiers were captured, while the commanding officer and some 140 of his men fled to another army site nearby.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012...ria?CMP=twt_gu

Russia and US in Geneva talks over future of Syria

Russian and American diplomats have met in Geneva to discuss the future of Syria with the UN envoy, Lakhdar Brahimi, according to the Russian foreign minister, Sergey Lavrov, who insisted the meeting did not imply Moscow had softened in its support for the Syrian leader, Bashar al-Assad.

Lavrov said the 'brainstorming session' involving Brahimi with senior officials from Washington and Moscow, had been agreed last week when Lavrov, Brahimi and the US secretary of state, Hillary Clinton, met in Dublin.

But Lavrov stressed that the agreement to meet over the deeply divisive issue did not amount to Russian acknowledgement that Assad's fall was inevitable.

"We are not holding [any talks] about Assad's fate. And all attempts to present the situation in any other way are unscrupulous, even for diplomats from those countries which are well-known for their intention to distort facts in their favour," Lavrov said.

https://twitter.com/rozalinachomsky

resistance fighters destroyed a tank in bustan al-basha in aleppo city
9:23 AM

resistance fighters destroyed a military checkpoint in al-ashrafiyah in aleppo city
9:22 AM

resistance fighters destroyed 3 armored vehicles in al-zabadani
9:25 AM

ahrar al-sham brigades blew up a building for assad troops near al-amiriyah neighborhood in aleppo city. 12 thugs were killed
9:35 AM

https://twitter.com/Guardian_Mario

Assad's forces dropping naval mines onto Darayya threatening residents including kittens: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VBOdBECVzaQ … pic.twitter.com/aIzzIgvb
11:34 AM

https://twitter.com/jenanmoussa

I was on Aleppo frontline. Crazy destruction. Snipers everywhere. Dead girl in NoMansLand. Check my TV-report: http://akhbar.alaan.tv/news/post/297...hild-touchline
11:51 AM

https://twitter.com/CovertPolitics_

A child in Syria holds a poster that reads, "I'm cold." Keep them warm this winter and donate to http://coversyria.com pic.twitter.com/Fhd3zozW
11:51 AM

https://twitter.com/BahmanKalbasi

After Mashal rose the flag of Syrian opposition in Gaza now there is talk of Hamas office closing in Iran. http://baztab.net/fa/news/19326/
11:04 AM

https://twitter.com/libyanproud

Bashar drops Naval Mines on his people from planes http://brown-moses.blogspot.co.uk/20...ropped-on.html … via @Brown_Moses
12:52 PM

[visionary]

https://twitter.com/TaziMorocco

BREAKING: URGENT: The Air Defense battalion in the Western suburbs of Aleppo has been liberated.
1:12 PM

https://twitter.com/rozalinachomsky

heavy clashes continue in al-qadam in damascus. resistance fighters destroyed 4 tanks today in the neighborhood
1:07 PM

resistance fighters say they have liberated al-tadamon neighborhood in damascus city
1:42 PM

resistance fighters liberated a building for assad's troops & destroyed a tank in busra al-sham in daraa. many troops were killed
2:20 PM

https://twitter.com/T_Aldiery

That video from Houla PISSED me off. No revenge killings will be tolerated in Syria.
9:48 PM

Shame on anyone who says they fight in the name of #Islam and does this ****. The only people you ruin it for are normal people like us.
9:50 PM

To the ******* who gave the little boy the mechete: Your head should be cut off for allowing this. NoToRevengeKillings
9:54 PM

https://twitter.com/And_Harper

403 x'd last nite cold & windy. Youngest 15 day girl oldest 77 yr woman. Est. 240k syrians in Jo but aid agencies little or no $ for 2013.
11:55 PM

https://twitter.com/zaidbenjamin

Sources are telling me that George Sabra was elected yesterday deputy for the head of the Syrian National Coalition instead of Riad Saif
2:18 AM

Building on that, Riad Saif is out of the coalition and is being groomed for the post "the head of the transitional government in Syria"
2:19 AM

Radwan Ziyadh resigned from the SNC but still, he appears in Washington as its spokesman. His name is circulated as Foreign Minister
2:20 AM

https://twitter.com/lukeharding1968

Back in syria and the northern town of Azaz. Free Syrian army took control four months ago
2:45 AM

Life normal to a degree. But no power and little food. Plus shelling at 2am from regime airbase
2:46 AM

Biggest problem is lack of bread. And cold. Freezing at night, and no electricity
2:48 AM

https://twitter.com/rozalinachomsky

romania has withdrawn its ambassador and most of its embassy staff from
3:10 PM

resistance fighters have liberated a military checkpoint in al-zabadani. fierce fighting continues
4:19 PM

ahrar al-sham brigades killed 5 assad troops & destroyed a tank & a bmp vehicle in basanqoul (idlib countryside)
4:44 PM

4 troops defected from deirezzor military airport http://youtu.be/82ZsnQsN7lc
2:49 AM

http://www.lccsyria.org/10624

Local Coordination Committees in Syria

By the end of Sunday, LCC was able to document 116 martyrs, including 4 women and 10 children. 41 martyrs were reported in Damascus and its suburbs; 32 martyrs in Aleppo, including 20 who had been burned near the Air Force Intelligence branch; 22 in Idlib, including 7 members of a single family; 8 in Homs; 8 in Daraa; and 5 in Deir Ezzor

http://www.extremeskins.com/showthre...=1#post9046975
42,042 people killed so far in Syria