Yahoo: Assad predicts disaster if West meddles in Syria

[visionary]

http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/...8740A820120805

Aleppo fight a journey into unknown for rural rebels

The young rebel fighters' mission was clear: to rid an Aleppo neighborhood of Syrian army snipers who had infiltrated rebel lines on Saturday.

But before they had reached their target, a skirmish with government troops forced them to make a diversion, throwing the group into confusion. All 40 were from rural areas outside Aleppo, and none could find their way through the city streets.

"Wait, are we in the right place?" one rebel asked. "Weren't we supposed to turn at a mosque? Where's that mosque? Have we passed it?"

A few minutes passed as the men circled around, peeking behind buildings into alleyways to see if they recognized them, unsure where to go next.

"I guess we're coming back as martyrs today," one fighter joked darkly to his friend, who chuckled nervously in front of a Reuters reporter and photographer accompanying the fighters.

http://blogs.aljazeera.com/topic/syr...ght-syria-says

International jihadists, including several Britons, have joined the fight in Syria, says photographer

A British photographer who was held hostage in Syria for a week said on Sunday that his captors were international jihadists who included several Britons.

Freelance photographer John Cantile and his Dutch colleague Jeroen Oerlemans were kidnapped in northern Syria on July 19 and freed a week later.

Writing in the Sunday Times newspaper, Cantile said he was held in a camp by some 30 Islamist fighters from Britain, Pakistan and Russia's volatile republic of Chechnya.

He added that he and Oerlemans escaped with help from members of the Free Syrian Army, one of the groups fighting forces loyal to Syrian President Bashar al Assad.

Both Cantile and Oerlemans were wounded when their captors fired shots after the fleeing men.

"I ended up running for my life, barefoot and handcuffed, while British jihadists, young men with south London accents. shot to kill," he wrote.

"They were aiming their Kalashnikovs at a British journalist, Londoner against Londoner in a rocky landscape that looked like the Scottish Highlands.

http://blogs.aljazeera.com/topic/syr...a-flee-lebanon

Around 600 Palestinian families from Syria flee to Lebanon

"Some 600 Palestinian families have arrived in Lebanon's Palestinian refugee camps in the past three days," said Marwan Abdel Aal of the Lebanese branch of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine.

"Most of these families came from Yarmuk camp," he added.

On Thursday, 21 people were killed in Yarmuk when regime forces shelled the area, according to the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.

"Most of the families have sought shelter in the Jalil and Taalabaya camps in the Bekaa region" of eastern Lebanon, Abdel Aal said.

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

about 6 hours ago
The leader of Syria's main political opposition group said he was ready to negotiate with government officials whose hands are not "stained with blood", once President Bashar al-Assad and his associates leave power, according to an interview published on Sunday.

Abdelbasset Seida, head of the Syrian National Council (SNC), also told the pan-Arab Asharq al-Awsat newspaper that the resignation of Syria peace envoy Kofi Annan may open the door for a new initiative to resolve the crisis.

"As far as we are concerned, the authorities have lost their credibility and legitimacy, and we have said this in Moscow bluntly: that dialogue with this regime is no longer possible," Seida said.

Bashar and his gang must leave and after that we will move to negotiate with other officials whose hands were not stained with Syrian blood and who were not involved in big corruption cases," he added. [Source: Reuters]

about 3 hours ago
Syrian rebels posted Sunday an online video of Iranians kidnapped in Damascus, charging they were elite Revolutionary Guards, and warning Tehran of further abductions over its support for Damascus.

Fighters of the Al-Baraa Brigade of the rebel Free Syrian Army have "captured 48 of the shabiha (militiamen) of Iran who were on a reconnaissance mission in Damascus," said a man dressed in FSA officer's uniform in the video posted on YouTube.

"During the investigation, we found that some of them were officers in the Revolutionary Guards," he said, showing documents taken from one of the men, who appeared in the background. [Source: AFP]

about 3 hours ago
An aid convoy left the West Bank city of Ramallah on Sunday carrying food and medicine in a symbol of support for Palestinian refugees caught up in the crisis in Syria.

"Today the first convoy will leave from here, from the West Bank, from Palestinian soil towards Syria," Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said at a press event marking the event.

An official donations drive netted around $650,000 worth of food and medical aid from Palestinian companies, businessmen, and individuals during the charitable month of Ramadan.
[Source: Reuters]

about 3 hours ago
Germany's defence minister again ruled out military intervention in Syria Sunday, warning it should not be considered a knee-jerk response to the failure of diplomatic efforts to end the bloodshed.

Thomas de Maiziere told the Welt am Sonntag newspaper that Kofi Annan's decision to quit as international peace envoy to Syria did not change Germany's stance on the sending of troops into the nearly 17-month conflict.

"The failure of diplomacy must not automatically bring about the onset of the military," he said in an interview with the paper.

Knee-jerk response? Where the **** has he been the last 17 months?

https://twitter.com/jenanmoussa

Hey all, I am totally ok. No worries. Thanks 4 checking on me. Communications very difficult. Will tweet as much as possible.
6:26 AM

Syria: Check here our pics of Syrian refugee kids in Turkey city of Kilis bordering Syria. http://akhbar.alaan.tv/video/world-n...urkish-Kielce/
8:18 AM

FSA here in Syria tells me Iranians caught in Damascus are from revolutionary guards. Iran denies, says they are pilgrims.
9:04 AM

FSA here in Northern Aleppo tells me they also have Iranians & Russian prisoners. I can't confirm cz I didn't see in my own eyes.
9:07 AM

FSA seems to have adapted in area where I am to Ramadan rhythm. They take it easy during day, plan attacks for the night.
9:32 AM

https://twitter.com/sharifkouddous

Back from a week-long trip in Syria. Photos and articles to come.
9:23 AM

Shelling in Zabadani, Syria pic.twitter.com/TZcXaRfQ
9:59 AM

Car hit with artillery shell Wednesday morning in Zabadani, killing two, including 5 year old boy pic.twitter.com/KTWKkdVb
10:01 AM

Iftar in Zabadani with defector to Free Syrian Army and family pic.twitter.com/i2HII4d5
10:10 AM

Zabadani youth (ages 18, 21, 16) act as guides/smugglers across rugged mountain trail between Syria and Lebanon pic.twitter.com/2P1chYjM
10:51 AM

https://twitter.com/HodaAH

Syrian Kurd refugees in N.Iraq say they want an autonomous region in Syria similar to the KRG in Iraq
8:01 AM 4 Aug

many syrian kurd refugees believe Assad will fall but not so soon.
10:44 AM 4 Aug

Many syrian kurds who were serving in Assad's army are deserting. they dont want to fight for a gvt that never did much for Kurds
11:06 AM

https://twitter.com/AlexanderPageSY

New Battalion is declared in Idlib named: "Martyrs Battalion of Binnish" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rV9Y...layer_embedded
11:09 AM

[visionary]

Ok I tried this earlier and I had issues posting it.
Anyway, I'm in OC and didn't have a good net connection until tonight.

http://www.cnn.com/2012/08/06/world/...html?hpt=wo_c1

Officials: Syria's prime minister defects from al-Assad regime

Syria's prime minister defected Monday, becoming the latest among high-profile politicians and leaders to leave the embattled regime of Bashar al-Assad.

"I announce today my defection from the killing and terrorist regime and I announce that I have joined the ranks of the freedom and dignity revolution. I announce that I am from today a soldier in this blessed revolution," Riyad Hijab said in a written statement read by a Syrian opposition official on Al Jazeera.

A Syrian opposition official, Muhammad el-Etri, told CNN that Hijab had defected, was "in a country neighboring Syria" and would be heading to Qatar "sometime soon."

George Sabra, a spokesman for the opposition Syrian National Council, said Hijab fled Syria overnight and arrived with his family in Jordan.

Jordanian government spokesman Samih Maaytah said Hijab had not entered the country's territories, according to state television. But a senior Jordanian official told CNN that Hijab had defected to Jordan and was with his family

Meanwhile, fighting raged in Aleppo, Syria's most populous city.

Snipers fired from the roofs of buildings and artillery fire rang out in the besieged neighborhood of Salaheddin.

CNN's Ben Wedeman said drivers had to dodge piles of rubble in the streets. Residents evacuating to safer neighborhoods left their homes with all the belongings they could carry, he said.

An elderly man, carrying a briefcase and a bag full of jam, said he was leaving the neighborhood to move in with his daughter.

"What kind of leader does this to his own people?" the man said as he left his home.

At least one rebel-controlled neighborhood was notably calmer, Wedeman said. Shops and bakeries were open, and residents walked the streets.

Clashes raged for hours at various spots near the city center, some close to the presidential palace, said Bashir Al-Hajji, a spokesman for a Free Syrian Army brigade in Aleppo.

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

about 15 hours ago
Al Jazeera's Anita McNaught has just been speaking to us live from northern Syria.

She was in Aleppo city earlier, and reports that the situation there is "very difficult to read" - even more so for citizens, who in most cases do not have electricity, working phone lines or internet access, and so are unaware of the full extent of the conflict in their city.

"[In many cases they] have no idea of the massive battle that is likely to come in Aleppo," she reported, referring to the army's build-up of forces outside the city in preparation for what the government is calling the "decivise battle".

She reported that the destruction in Aleppo is "not severe" at the moment, but it is "very widespread and indiscriminate".

Food supplies are getting in so far, she says, but the situation is "very frightening" for citizens.

about 13 hours ago
Syrian rebels said three Iranian captives were killed on Monday during an air attack in Damascus province by government forces, and threatened to kill their remaining captives unless the army stopped its attack. "They were killed when the aircraft attacked, one of the houses they were in collapsed over their heads," the group's spokesman, Moutassam al-Ahmad, told Reuters. "We will kill the rest if the army does not stop its assault. They have one hour."

about 11 hours ago
The Syrian army has shelled rebel-held districts of commercial capital Aleppo as violence nationwide killed 37 people, 27 of them civilians, a human rights group said.

Ten people were killed in Aleppo on Monday, eight of them civilians, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said. Clashes broke out in the southwestern district of Salaheddin, where a rebel commander was killed on Monday morning after three tanks moved in on Sunday evening, the Britain-based watchdog said.

In this exclusive report, Al Jazeera's Anita McNaught follows members of the Free Syrian Army deep into the heart of Aleppo's old city.

about 8 hours ago
UN observers have been moved out of the besieged Syrian city of Aleppo because of worsening security, a UN spokeswoman said Monday.

The approximately 20 unarmed observers were moved back to the mission's Damascus headquarters at the weekend.

"It is a temporary relocation because of the deteriorating security," Josephine Guerrero, a UN peacekeeping spokeswoman, told AFP.

https://twitter.com/jenanmoussa

Syria: Again shelling started close 2 village where I am. Frankly I'm much less jumpy now as when I started 2 hear them 2 days ago.
3:08 PM

****. This was close. I am running to hide.
4:20 PM

I am literally tweeting from next to the toilet. Another explosion.
4:23 PM

****.
4:28 PM

My vest on, helmet on. Shoes on. Tweeting from next to toilet. We will run to basement soon. If I go offline, u know. Ya rab. This is 6th explosion.
4:32 PM

https://twitter.com/jenanmoussa

Guys, I am ok. We just got out of basement. It's 4 am. Doesn't mean it's safe but just quieter.
8:45 PM

total 3 people died in neighborhood due to shelling, 2 injured. We are ok el hamdellah.
8:51 PM

I saw an hour ago civilians walking on streets during night with blankets & mattresses heading for shelters. Very sad sight. Thing was that we waited for hours in basement till it got quiet. As we walked back to house, 5 mortars fell close killing 3.

As our basement is occupied w/ families, we'll sleep in house where we were staying b4. But I will keep my clothes on just in case.
9:13 PM

By chance colleague @HaraldDoornbos had camera running when 3 mortars hit close. Vid crap due 2 darkness. Audio intense. Will post 2morow.
9:15 PM

https://twitter.com/NMSyria

Spokesperson for defected PM Riyadh Hijab claims the regime threatened Hijab to kill him if he didn't accept the PM post.
6:26 AM

The FSA was directly responsible for organizing and providing a safe route for defected PM Riyadh Hijab out of Syria into Jordan.
6:29 AM

Spokesperson: 8 of PM Riyadh Hijab's siblings held important government positions and have all defected and safely made it to Jordan.
6:34 AM

BREAKING: The Head of Aleppo International Airport, Mohammad Yassin Al-Yasin, has defected and his family's safety secured.
8:38 PM

https://twitter.com/SyrianSmurf

Ariha Idlib is being slowly wiped from existence
5:08 PM

13 martyrs in Ariha today...11 yesterday...many more in previous days...continuous shelling for a week now.
5:11 PM

The bases around Ariha are huge! And they are very strategically located...I've seen them try...but they will soon enough...
5:15 PM

The Mashfa checkpoint has been destroyed by the FSA in Kafranbil. Idlib
8:26 PM

Intense clashes between the FSA and the regime convoy that is headed towards Aleppo in Jabal Alzawiyah, Idlib. http://youtu.be/9p8FSHgt6Cg
9:29 PM

https://twitter.com/javierespinosa2

@adnanhobalah my friend I was in Aleppo on friday, on saturday at least half a dozen western journalists went inside the city
11:34 AM

there are now 31 syrian generals in Turkey
12:57 PM

1 rebel admits to Reuters that they had to retreat from some areas of Salahadine, main front line in Aleppo
1:36 PM

Syria: they died in front of our eyes - families blown to pieces in Aleppo http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worl...in-Aleppo.html …
1:15 AM

School bombed in East Aleppo was for many days the local headquarter for foreing press,activists and FSA leadership
1:18 AM

8/5/12
http://www.lccsyria.org/9711

The Local Coordination Committees in Syria:

The LCC managed to document 125 martyrs for today, including 6 women and 9 children. 59 martyrs were reported in Damascus and its suburbs, including 20 martyrs in the Irbeen massacre; 25 in Aleppo; 14 martyrs were reported in Idlib;11 in Daraa; 5 in Homs;5 in Deir Ezzor and 5 in Hama

8/6/12
http://www.lccsyria.org/9722

Local Coordination Committees in Syria

The Local Coordination Committees were able to document 161 martyrs for Monday. 54 martyrs were reported in Aleppo, 33 in Damascus and its Suburbs, 22 in Idlib, 12 in Homs, 12 in Hama, 18 in Deir Ezzor, 4 in Daraa, 4 in Quneitra, 1 in Banyas and 1 in Raqqa.

http://www.extremeskins.com/showthre...75#post9046975
22,395 people killed so far in Syria

[visionary]

http://www.cnn.com/2012/08/07/world/...html?hpt=wo_c1

Aleppo strafed by shells, fear, misery

People who aren't able to flee the city hunkered down in their homes or shelters. They fear a bloodbath as the Syrian army masses its forces on the outskirts of the city.

The Free Syrian Army remains ensconced in many Aleppo neighborhoods, but it has endured a pounding from Syrian forces for days and days.

Blasts rattle the city through the night, and the Levantine metropolis is coming to resemble a battered urban moonscape.

Several Aleppo neighborhoods took artillery fire Tuesday morning, striking panic among residents.

Opposition forces report warplane strikes on the Bab al-Hadid and Bab Al-Nasr areas, and shelling is raging in the Salaheddine neighborhood.

All, especially children, are traumatized.

At one bakery, about 100 men, women and children lined up, waiting 90 minutes for bread. Most of them lack cooking gas and have to cook their food over firewood.

Some people have moved to rebel-controlled areas regarded as safer. Others have moved to the countryside, escaped to Turkey or taken refuge in government-controlled neighborhoods.

One man said he left the city recently and then returned, hoping things would be calmer. But he saw people in the rebel-controlled parts of Aleppo packing up and leaving.

There's desperation among rebel fighters too, as they wait for more munitions to arrive.

One field hospital was overwhelmed by rebel fighters wounded in attacks by Syria's air force. Doctors lacked enough staff, medicine and supplies to deal with the wounded.

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

about 10 hours ago
Outgoing UN-Arab League envoy Kofi Annan will not send a representative to a meeting on the Syria conflict to be hosted by Iran on Thursday, a UN spokesman said.

Iran has called a ministerial meeting of states that have taken a "realistic and principled stand" on the Syrian crisis. Iran, a key ally of Syria's President Bashar al-Assad, has said it expects representatives from 10 countries to attend.

"Neither Kofi Annan nor anyone from his office will attend the talks on Syria in Tehran," a UN spokesman, Farhan Haq, told reporters. Haq did not give a reason for the decision

about 7 hours ago
Clashes rocked several areas of Aleppo's city centre, while the army also shelled rebel-held areas in the east, activists said.

The fighting in Aleppo killed at least 23 people on Tuesday, the Local Co-ordination Committees, an opposition activist network said, adding that the nationwide toll was 115.

Aleppo has been bracing for a threatened major ground offensive by the army against the rebels, who say they control around half of the city.

https://twitter.com/WashingtonPoint

I watched quiet a few MIGs diving in Aleppo today and bombing randomly the city.. It is just infuriating.. One after another..and another
1:07 PM

I have seen not sure how many small vans, trucks carrying families from Aleppo today.. I ve seen residential buildings bombed a day after
1:10 PM

Understood that NoFlyZone so expensive to do..least give them some stinger missiles to hunt these nasty MIGs! it is a human responsibity.
1:35 PM

https://twitter.com/HamaEcho

Syrian MP Ali Albash defects: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qPZX5n41B2Y
6:02 PM

9 Brigadier Generals have announced their defection in the past week, along with 3 defected Generals who are yet to make a statement.
6:16 PM

First video of the defected Syrian Prime Minister with FSA and his family https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7C9G...layer_embedded
6:36 PM

4 more units join the Unification Brigade in Aleppo city http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_A0OmAe9f5o&feature=plcp … http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ICkEPtWp2Xg … http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6qFkn...ature=youtu.be … http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gVBfq74QtTs
6:54 PM

FSA attacked the large convoy heading from Latakia to Aleppo, making it retreat. Destroyed truck and BMP: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=442Wz...ature=youtu.be
7:43 PM

http://www.lccsyria.org/9769

Posted by abeer on August 7th, 2012
The Local Coordination Committees in Syria:

The number of martyrs has risen to 140 thus far in Syria, and include 6 women and 12 children. 31 martyrs were reported in Damascus and its suburbs; 29 in Homs, including 10 in Deir Baalba (most of them children) and 5 children from a single family in Rastan; 27 were reported in Aleppo, including 10 prisoners who were field-executed; 19 in Daraa; 15 in Idlib; 10 martyrs in Deir Ezzor, including 4 from the Free Syrian Army; 5 in Lattakia; and 4 in Hama

http://www.lccsyria.org/9791

The Local Coordination Committees in Syria:

The Local Coordination Committees were able to document, thus far today, 170 maryrs, including 10 women and 18 children. 35 martyrs were reported in Homs, including 10 in Deir Baalba (most of them children) and 5 in Rastan, all from the same family; 33 martyrs were reported in Damascus and its suburbs; 33 in Aleppo, including 10 prisoners who were field-executed; 25 in Daraa; 15 in Idlib; 14 in Hama (most of whom were martyred during the Jarsisa massacre); 10 in Deir Ezzor, including 4 from the Free Syrian Army; and 5 in Lattakia

http://www.extremeskins.com/showthre...75#post9046975
22,565 people killed so far in Syria

[visionary]

http://www.cnn.com/2012/08/08/world/...html?hpt=wo_c1

Syrian forces hammered rebels in Aleppo Wednesday, another day of battles for control of the country's largest city and commercial hub.

Fierce fighting raged in the Salaheddine neighborhood, where rebels have a strong presence.

Syrian State TV said its armed forces killed and captured "terrorists," including "mercenaries who are non-Syrian nationals."

A Free Syrian Army fighter, Abu Ayham al-Halaby, said military fighter jets, helicopters and tanks are shelling the neighborhood. He reported a rebel fighter was among two killed and many people were injured.

But Abu Hussain, an FSA commander, said the Syrian forces have not yet succeeded in entering the neighborhood.

Elsewhere in the city, random shelling hit two residential buildings in the Sukari neighborhood, al-Halaby said. Nearby suburbs also sustained heavy shelling overnight, opposition activists said.

Shelling was also reported in the Aleppo province towns of Atareb, Kafrtooneh, and Abzamo, opposition activists said.

Iranian officials visited capitals in the region to discuss the situation and get help to free dozen of Iranians abducted by rebels in Syria over the weekend.

Iranian media initially reported that the 48 people were religious pilgrims on a visit. In a televised video later, a group of Free Syrian Army rebels claimed responsibility for the kidnapping, saying the captives were members of Iran's Revolutionary Guard, not pilgrims.

But Foreign Ministry Ali Akbar Salehi said the pilgrims included some retired members of the guards, the semi-official Iranian Students' News Agency reported Wednesday.

"The desire to visit holy places in Syria is so strong that we cannot stop the faithful from making these pilgrimages," Salehi said.

https://twitter.com/javierespinosa2

5 wounded in south Lebanon gunfight, after TripoliLB,a new front of instability could open in Sidon http://www.dailystar.com.lb/News/Loc...#axzz22wRNwfRN …
8:24 AM

Some 2,400 people, including another 2 generals, fled the violence in Syria to reach neighbouring Turkey overnight (Anatolian agency)
9:46 AM

Al Jazeera's journalist in Salahadin denies regime's army had captured that neighborhood, only have occupied some buildings Aleppo
10:04 AM

https://twitter.com/MahirZeynalov

2 generals, 2 colonels, 1 lt. colonel, 1 captain, 1 lieutenant, 1 sergeant, 29 soldiers were among 2,399 Syrians who fled to Turkey today.
10:05 AM

https://twitter.com/SkyNewsBreak

AFP: Syrian rebels say they retake part of Aleppo district in counter-attack
10:28 AM

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

The Local Coordination Committees in Syria:

The number of martyrs in Syria has risen to 91 thus far today, and includes 12 women and 10 children. 22 martyrs were reported in Hama (most of them in Jarjiseh); 22 in Aleppo; 13 in Deir Ezzor; 11 in Damascus and its suburbs; 11 in Idlib; 7 in Daraa; 4 in Homs; and 1 in Lattakia
10:25 AM

[Switchgear]

I admire your stamina, Visionary.

It's hard to believe the sacrifices the Syrian people are making. It's a shame we aren't doing more to help.

[visionary]

http://www.cnn.com/2012/08/08/world/...html?hpt=wo_c1

Views differ on status of Salaheddine neighborhood in Syria's Aleppo battle

The Syrian government and rebel groups on Wednesday offered opposing accounts about who controls the volatile neighborhood of Salaheddine in the city of Aleppo.

The London-based opposition Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said regime forces initiated a ground assault on Salaheddine early Wednesday, entering the district but partially withdrawing after encountering fierce clashes with rebel fighters.

That account was corroborated by Free Syrian Army sources in Aleppo.

An FSA member who goes by the nom de guerre Sheikh Abu Hussein told CNN that some 200 Syrian ground forces supported by tanks tried to enter Salaheddine but were pushed back.

Abu Hussein said at least one tank and an armored vehicle were destroyed and that 32 government troops and three rebels were killed.

A second FSA source calling himself Abu Ayham said late Wednesday that the situation was "quiet." He said he had counted four government tanks destroyed by rebels.

State television, which has consistently referred to rebels as "terrorists," offered an opposing view: "Our armed brave forces continue to cleanse Salaheddine district from remnants of terrorists who ran away when scores of them were killed," it said, citing a reporter in Aleppo. "There are hundreds (of dead) among the ranks of the terrorists in Salaheddine district."

http://news.blogs.cnn.com/2012/08/08...tairwell-beds/

Two days in Aleppo: Snipers, temporary graveyards and stairwell beds

We eventually drove to Salaheddine, one of the main rebel-government battlefields, where a rebel commander said fighters were preparing to lay down improvised explosive devices in anticipation of an advance by government tanks.

A commander said these IEDs are being put together under the supervision of Syrians who learned how to make them while fighting Americans in Iraq.

It was a neighborhood virtually deserted outside of rebel forces. A couple of blocks from the front line, a few handfuls of people were retrieving possessions on Monday; otherwise, several thousand residents had fled.

More: Who controls Salaheddine?

Deeper inside rebel-held territory, such as the Sikkari neighborhood, many more residents have stayed, though not because conditions are pleasant. Government bombs fall on targets across rebel-held parts of the city, and electricity in these areas is intermittent. Despite this, many people stay – sometimes because they have no easy way out, and in many cases because they don't have the means to leave, even if they have a path out.

Cut off from the city morgue, Sikkari residents turned a public park into a temporary graveyard. Abu Hamoud, a fighter, said that one grave contained three bodies that no one could identify because they were so severely mutilated.

"We're confused," Nahla, an 11-year-old Aleppo resident, said. "We feel they want to attack us. We left this area before, then came back. Now we want to leave again, but we can't."

In Sikkari, a few shops and street vendors were at work this week, giving inhabitants some sense of normality. But at night, many people sleep in stairwells, deeming them the safest place to rest amid the bombing.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/...c85_story.html

Syrian rebels feel abandoned, betrayed by U.S.

As the Arab world’s bloodiest revolt continues to maim, kill and ravage lives on an ever-escalating scale, anti-American sentiments are hardening among those struggling to overthrow President Bashar al-Assad, in ways that could have profound consequences for the country and the region in a post-Assad era.

America, once regarded by the Syrian opposition as a natural friend in its struggle for greater freedoms against a regime long at odds with the West, increasingly is being viewed with suspicion and resentment for its failure to offer little more than verbal encouragement to the revolutionaries.

In the nearly 17 months since Syrians joined the clamor for change that swept the Middle East last year, Tunisians, Egyptians and Libyans have voted in elections, chosen new leaders and embarked, however messily, on democratic transitions.

Syria, by contrast, is hurtling ever deeper into an all-out conflict with no end in sight, “and all we get is words,” said Yasser Abu Ali, a spokesman for one of the Free Syrian Army battalions in the town of al-Bab, which lies 30 miles northeast of Aleppo.

The rebels say they don’t want direct military intervention in the form of troops on the ground. But they have repeatedly appealed for a no-fly zone similar to the effort that helped Libyan rebels topple Moammar Gaddafi last year and for supplies of heavy weapons to counter the regime’s vastly superior firepower, say rebels and opposition figures.

When the regime falls, as the rebel battalion spokesman assumes it eventually will, Syrians will not forget that their pleas for help went unanswered, he said.

“America will pay a price for this,” he said. “America is going to lose the friendship of Syrians, and no one will trust them anymore. Already we don’t trust them at all.”

http://mobile.reuters.com/article/id...20808?irpc=932

Syrian rebels sign battlefield 'code of conduct'

Some prominent Syrian rebel fighters have signed a 'code of conduct' committing them to observe human rights in their battle to overthrow President Bashar al-Assad, a week after video footage showed rebels executing pro-Assad militiamen in Aleppo.

The code, which activists said was signed by leaders of several rebel brigades, included pledges not to rape, torture or kill captives.

Free Syrian Army rebels will "respect human rights in accordance with our legal principles, our tolerant religious principles and the international laws governing human rights," it said.

Any soldier or Assad supporter captured by the rebels should be treated in accordance with laws governing prisoners of war.

"I pledge not to practice any form of torture, rape, mutilation or degradation. I will observe prisoners' rights and will not exercise any of the above practices in order to abstain confessions," the rebel code said.

The Aleppo-based Tawheed brigade, believed to have captured the men who were shot dead in Aleppo last week, was not on the list of signatories, which included fighters from Deraa, Deir al-Zor, Sweida, Hama and Homs.

The leader of one of the brigades confirmed to Reuters he had signed the accord, but said he did not consider the commitments in the code to be binding.

Another rebel said his brigade refused to sign the conduct because they had reservations over some of its articles.

https://twitter.com/WashingtonPoint

People around the world watch fireworks during nights, people of Aleppo watch the Syrian regime's war planes where to strike and guess after
2:09 PM

Tonight's air attacks just ended, they werent close to where I stay this time, but we were easily watched lights of strikes right and left
2:10 PM

I asked one Aleppo's activist today who do you want to see president after Assad, he said:"it can be Ariel Sharon as long as he wont steal.."
2:16 PM

The regime made another attempt to break Selahiddine's hold today, they were unsuccessful, 3 or 6 tanks were destroyed, acc. two activists
2:30 PM

FSA confronted PKK in Al Ra'ee yesterday where PKK flag replaced FSA's. 3 PKK members arrested, w/out clashes, FSA flag returned to flagpole
3:52 PM

https://twitter.com/Mou2amara

Protest tonight in Aleppo city, Nile Street - http://youtu.be/0NohqKLcNt4
7:10 PM

CELEBRATIONS in village of Rbeaa Lattakia - village is free of Assad forces. FSA raise flag & sing Qashoush. http://youtu.be/zhvPxMQPSHk
7:16 PM

IMPORTANT: Syria'n embassy in UK will be closed indefinitely starting after tmrw August 10, 2012. If you have processes pending do it now.
7:53 PM

Ppl attempt to return electricity to parts of DeirEzzor hit by intentional blackouts from regime v @Lensofayoungder
8:11 PM

INCREDIBLE NEWS!! One person just donated all 3 refrigerators, stoves and cooking fuel for the Syria'n refugees!!! God bless!!!!
8:39 PM

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

Aleppo: More than 50 people were reported wounded as a result of shelling in the Sha'ar district
6:03 PM

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

Idlib: Ariha: Fierce clashes between the Free Syrian Army and the regime's army were reported; the Free Syrian Army is trying to prevent the regime's army from storming the city
12:01 AM

http://www.lccsyria.org/9804

The Local Coordination Committees in Syria:

The Local Coordination Committees was able to document 167 martyrs in Syria today, including 12 women and 10 children. 44 martyrs were reported in Aleppo; 30 in Damascus and its suburbs; 25 in Deir Ezzor; 22 in Hama (most of them in Jarjeeseh); 15 in Daraa; 12 in Homs; 11 in Idlib; and 8 in Lattakia

http://www.extremeskins.com/showthre...75#post9046975
22,732 people killed so far in Syria

[visionary]

http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/...8780AC20120809

Syrian fighter jet strafes farming village

The sandy color of the Syrian air force jet was visible as it circled overhead. Then a screaming nosedive and the orange flames of firing rockets on the farming village of Tel Rifaat.

This Reuters journalist saw the jet make at least a dozen rounds of the village of a few thousand people, 35km (20 miles) north of Aleppo city, firing missiles and mounted machine guns.

Villagers panicked - some tried to escape on motorbikes while other crammed belongings and bread into three-wheeled vans. They were unsure of where was safe to go.

Loud explosions rang out and black smoke billowed from an olive grove. A 12-wheeler truck was engulfed in flames.

Six children and a crying woman fled their tiny home. One woman held the Koran above her head, kissing it, and another banged her head in her hands.

Men came out of their homes to stare at the sky and throw their arms up in despair.

Abu Hassan, a rebel fighter from the Liwa al Fatah brigade, said the jets were targeting rebel bases in the area. "Four of our bases have been hit so far in and around Tel Rifaat," he said. Three rebels fighters fruitlessly fired an old anti-aircraft gun and a rifle at the speeding plane.

Forces loyal to President Bashar al-Assad face guerrilla fighters hiding in farm houses, not a traditional army, and war has been brought to small villages like Tel Rifaat across the country.

Although the pilots seemed to know where the rebel bases were, their fire was often indiscriminate.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worl...to-Turkey.html

Syria: refugee crisis looms as 50,000 flee to Turkey

The total number of the refugees was 50,227 as of Thursday after more than 5,000 Syrians crossed into Turkey this week, the country's Disaster and Emergency Administration said in a statement posted on its website.

A Turkish foreign ministry official at the border told AFP some 2,300 Syrians including low-ranking military defectors fled to Turkey in the last 24 hours.

This week has seen a marked increase in the number of refugees making their way to Turkey amid escalating clashes in Syria's northern city of Aleppo.

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

Syrian rebels withdraw fighters from Aleppo stronghold

The withdrawal was ordered just after sunrise on Thursday after a night of intensive shelling from planes and tanks on all three rebel frontlines. Commanders in Aleppo claimed the pullout was tactical and said a small force had remained behind to oppose any advance by regime forces.

However, the rebel move seems to mark a significant moment in the fight for control of southern Aleppo – which has raged for more than two weeks, claiming several hundred casualties – and laid the rest of the city to siege.

Shelling intensified on Thursday in other parts of Syria's second city, which had notionally been held by the FSA since it secured its foothold in Salahedin in late July.

"They were shelling the buildings at the frontline all night," said Major Abu Furad, who led one of the main units in Salahedin, Katiba al-Ansar. "The buildings were falling in front of us. It was impossible to stay there."

The rebel group had been occupying an area known as street 15, which faced a regime force around 200 metres away. Both sides had traded small arms fire for the past fortnight, but neither had advanced beyond their positions.

"We withdrew to street 10, which [runs parallel] behind street 15, 150 metres back," he said. "But the regime was shelling that street too. It was relentless and no one could stay behind.

"They have started using bigger bombs from planes. They were far bigger than the shells from the tanks."

The FSA leadership in Aleppo says it is now redeploying its forces to other key areas of the city. It claims its ousting from Salahedin has not damaged morale and maintains that the regime is continuing to hold back its ground forces because it fears many would defect if they were ordered to enter the city.

"That's what the defectors are telling us," said Sheikh Tawfik Abu Sleiman, the leader of one of the Aleppo brigades. "They would shed their uniforms and run away."

The FSA in Aleppo seemed to be united in a plea for an internationally enforced no-fly zone, which would ground the Syrian air force jets now playing an increasing role in the campaign.

"That's all we need," said Abu Hanefa. "No guns, no armies, just the ability to get these things out of the sky. They are killing us."

Another rebel leader, who had left Salahedin, said: "Even the bravest among us had to acknowledge that these jets are something that we cannot fight. It is one thing being outgunned by tanks, but planes are creating a very, very difficult situation."

http://www.aljazeera.com/video/middl...=MasterAccount

Syrians in rebel town struggle to survive

Approximately 40km from the shelling in Aleppo, residents of a small town in a Free Syrian Army-controlled zone are facing food and fuel shortages while living in fear of retaliation from the army of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.

With high prices and insecurity, the mood in the town is far from one of liberation.

“There is no bread, no gasoline, no oil. Whatever you look for, you can’t find,” one resident said.

Al Jazeera's Andrew Simmons reports from Ad Dana in northern Syria.

http://in.reuters.com/article/2012/0...87708R20120809

Syria rebels say fighting army in Salaheddine

Syrian rebels said they had regained control over parts of a strategic district of Aleppo on Thursday after countering a sustained assault by President Bashar al-Assad's forces seeking to retake Syria's biggest city.

They said army tanks had pulled back from Salaheddine, the southern gateway to Aleppo, and pockets of fighting continued across the district which Syrian official media said on Wednesday had been "cleansed" of rebel fighters.

As the battle for Aleppo raged, Assad's key foreign backer Iran gathered ministers from like-minded states for talks about how to end the conflict. Russia, a key Assad ally, said its ambassador to Tehran would attend.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worl...d-brother.html

Maher Assad: profile of the Syrian president's feared brother

To the regime's opponents, he is "the most feared man in the country"; "the Butcher of Deraa" or simply "the enforcer".

As Syria's uprising has ground on, Mr Assad's ability to inspire terror has only multiplied.

For the regime, it is invaluable to have in its service a man whose name alone can strike fear into the entire civilian population of a town.

By dissident accounts, the president's brother revels in his unwholesome reputation.

He has, they say, the classic psychopath's appetite for inflicting suffering and a total inability to empathise with the plight of his victims.

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/08/09/op...&smid=tw-share

Obama AWOL in Syria

President Obama’s finest moments in foreign policy, like the Osama bin Laden raid or the Libya intervention, resulted from close engagement and calculated risks.

His lapses come when he’s passive or AWOL — as in Syria. I’m generally a fan of Obama’s foreign policy, but on Syria there’s a growing puzzlement around the world that he seems stuck behind the curve.

The United States shouldn’t invade Syria. But we should work with allies to supply weapons, training and intelligence to rebels who pass our vetting.

I’m in Aspen for the annual meeting of the Aspen Strategy Group, a bipartisan group looking at international affairs, and I’m struck by how many strategists whom I respect think it’s time to move more aggressively.

William Perry, a secretary of defense under Bill Clinton, told me that if he were in the Pentagon today, he would be recommending a military intervention in Syria — conditioned on Turkey’s participation and without ground forces. Specifically, he said he would favor imposing a no-fly no-drive zone in northern Syria.

“This isn’t a full strategy, but it could facilitate the overthrow of Assad and have a real humanitarian benefit,” Perry said. “And if successful, it could help us influence the post-Assad government. If we sit by, we’ll be in no position to influence it.”

Madeleine Albright, who was secretary of state under Clinton, told me: “I’m for intervention, but it doesn’t have to be on-the-ground military intervention. We do have to get more involved in this.”

Look, I’m no hawk. I was strongly against the Iraq war and the Afghan surge, and I’m firmly against today’s drift toward war with Iran. But Syria, like Libya, is a rare case where we can take modest steps that stand a good chance of accelerating the fall of a dictator. And after 17 months, there’s growing agreement that Obama should no longer remain a bystander.

“The Middle East needs U.S. leadership on Syria,” said R. Nicholas Burns, a former under secretary of state for political affairs, now a Harvard professor. “I’m a supporter of the president’s approach to the Middle East in general, but his administration has been entirely reactive on Syria. You hear from all the Arabs: ‘Where is the United States?’ ”

Wow...people are getting pretty frustrated.


https://twitter.com/Shad_Meister

BREAKING: reports saying that FSA has killed Issam Zahruddin, commander of operations in Salahuddin in Aleppo
8:38 AM

https://twitter.com/NabilAbiSaab

Lakhdar Brahimi and Mohamad el-Baradei are possible candidates for Kofi Anann's job on Syria - Diplomats
9:13 AM

https://twitter.com/DougPologe

Iraqi gov't source: Iran has demanded that Iraq's PM support the Syrian army logistically and militarily. http://goo.gl/sD997 via @zuhair47
9:35 AM

[visionary]

http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/...8781FQ20120809

Exclusive: Algerian Brahimi seen replacing Annan as Syria envoy

Veteran Algerian diplomat Lakhdar Brahimi is expected to be named to replace Kofi Annan as the U.N.-Arab League joint special envoy for Syria barring a last-minute change, diplomats said on Thursday.

An announcement could come as early as next week but the diplomats, who spoke on condition of anonymity, warned that there are sometimes last-minute changes if a key government has concerns about the appointment or the candidate himself has misgivings.

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's forces have killed more than 15,000 people since March last year in a sustained effort to crush an anti-government rebellion, some Western leaders say. Damascus says rebels have killed several thousand members of its security forces.

Annan, a former U.N. secretary-general and Nobel Peace Prize laureate, said last week he would step down as the special envoy because he was unable to do his job with the U.N. Security Council's veto powers hopelessly deadlocked over Syria.

While the council united in April to approve the deployment of 300 monitors to observe a failed ceasefire as part of Annan's peace plan, Russia and China have vetoed three other resolutions criticizing Syria and threatening sanctions against Damascus.

A former Algerian foreign minister, Brahimi, 78, has been a diplomatic troubleshooter for decades, having served as a U.N. special envoy for Iraq, Afghanistan, Haiti and South Africa.

http://www.foreignpolicy.com/article..._libyan_weapon

The Syrian Rebels' Libyan Weapon

In a dusty schoolyard somewhere in Idlib province, several hundred men form neat rows before standing to attention. "Who are we?" bellows one man at the front. "Liwa al-Ummah!" the men reply in unison, pumping their guns in the air. They look different from your average Syrian rebel fighter, typically dressed in a scruffy mismatch of military fatigues and civilian clothes. Most of these men are decked out in identical fatigues, boots, and khaki-colored T-shirts.

A handful sport dazzling white T-shirts emblazoned with the Liwa al-Ummah crest: a raised fist set against the tri-starred green, white, and black flag adopted by the Syrian rebels. "Revolutionaries of Sham," it reads, using the Arabic term for historical greater Syria, above the name Liwa al-Ummah.

Sitting in an empty classroom flanked by several Syrian and Libyan fighters, a soft-spoken Libyan-born Irish citizen named Mahdi al-Harati explains how he came to be the leader of Liwa al-Ummah. The brigade emerged, he says, after several Syrians, aware of his experience as commander of the Tripoli Brigade during the Libyan revolution, approached him about founding a similar outfit in Syria.

He made his first trip to Syria shortly afterward for what he says was initially humanitarian work in the country's northern borderlands. The idea for Liwa al-Ummah came this year.

"There was a sense of increasing frustration among the Syrian thuwar [revolutionaries] over their lack of coordination," he says. "They asked me if I could help them train and organize, and I agreed."

According to Harati, more than 6,000 men across Syria have joined Liwa al-Ummah since its establishment three months ago. Most are members of existing rebel battalions or groups who decided to come under the Liwa al-Ummah umbrella; others signed up as individuals.

He says the brigade is separate from the Free Syrian Army, the loosely organized grouping of military defectors and civilian volunteers whose nominal leadership is based just over the border in Turkey. Liwa al-Ummah is also in the process of developing a Syrian-led political wing, as are an increasing number of other brigades.

"We're here to facilitate and train civilian rebels in Syria -- many of whom are doctors, engineers, and teachers -- using our experience during the Libyan revolution," Harati says. "We are a group of civilians brought together for a cause. When the Syrians have achieved their revolution, our job will be done."

https://twitter.com/LizSly

The theme of this Friday's protests in Syria (yes, they still protest on Fridays): arm us with anti aircraft weapons.
3:06 PM

Meanwhile, State Dept. gearing up to prevent Syria rebels acquiring shoulder fired anti-aircraft missiles http://bit.ly/P63BsS
3:20 PM

https://twitter.com/jenanmoussa

During my stay in Aleppo, I stayed w/ FSA in eastern part of city mainly in Hanano / Sakhour. Google map: http://bit.ly/NbFwks

We slept in empty house that belongs to Aleppo resident who fled. Shelling started @ 01.30 with literally 100's of mortars fired.
5:19 PM

Approximately 40 mortars landed close to our "apartment", which is on highest floor in bldg. So we fled to the staircase.
5:22 PM

When shelling got even heavier we moved to yet another empty apartment on a lower level. There we slept in Kitchen.
5:24 PM

Shelling stopped at 0430. Planes started 2 bomb our Aleppo area at 0630. This is how it sounded: http://twitpic.com/ahftqr In the morning we checked the damage. 100-150 meters away from our place, this is what we saw: http://twitpic.com/ahfwmi
5:35 PM

https://twitter.com/jenanmoussa

I met soldiers in FSA who still have brothers/ cousins in Syria(n) army. Didnt defect. Wut is happening in Aleppo is complicated.
5:50 PM

I asked FSA soldier: "Wut will u do if u meet bro in battlefield?" He said sadly: "Ill arrest him. Better than killing each other"
5:57 PM

Activists in Aleppo told me wut's happening in city isn't sectarian. "City is mainly Sunni, families divided btwn pro/ anti Assad"
6:16 PM

Fighter jets main problm for FSA. Few FSA members desprtly collecting money to buy for thousands of dollars anti aircraft missiles
6:22 PM

https://twitter.com/SyrianSmurf

The battle for Kafranbil is still ongoing. The FSA has had a large checkpoint surrounded for days while the regime has been shelling.
6:40 PM

In a span of 4 days, Kafranbil lost 50 martyrs, 300 injured, 50% of the city destroyed, shelling with MiG 21s..and NO ONE IS MENTIONING IT!
6:52 PM

https://twitter.com/MahirZeynalov

Veteran Algerian diplomat Lakhdar Brahimi, a great man indeed, will replace Kofi Annan as UN Syria envoy.
7:07 PM

https://twitter.com/SyrianSmurf

The person standing next to Abu Omar in the video is Abu Issa. He is the commander of the entire Suqoor Alsham brigade.
7:24 PM

I did meet him. Honestly I love the man. He's very tough, very strict, but you can tell he has a kind heart. When a prisoner was caught, he wouldn't let any1 hit them during interrogation. I think people don't like him because of his religious mindset.
7:29 PM

lol he rarely smiles and has a tough exterior. But u can tell he's a nice guy. The first time I met him and he found out I came from the states he gave me a big hug and sat me down and thanked me for everything...I really respect him.
7:35 PM

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

Local Coordination Committees in Syria:

We have documented 134 martyrs who have fallen today in Syria. In Damascus city and its suburbs, there were 40 martyrs including 7 unidentified corpses in Kafar Souseh, 47 martyrs in Aleppo including 13 in Entharat neighborhood, 21 in Idlib, 14 in Daraa, 5 in Deir Ezzor, 3 in Hama, 3 in Homs and 1 martyr in Qamishly
5:54 PM

http://www.lccsyria.org/9824

Local Coordination Committees in Syria:

The number of martyrs in Syria has risen to 142 martyrs up till now. The breakdown by area is: Damascus and its Suburbs 40 including 7 unidentified corpses found in Kafar Souseh, 33 in Aleppo including 10 in Al-Inzarat Street, 21 in Idlib, 10 in Daraa, 5 in Deir Ezzor, 3 in Hama, 2 in Homs and 1 in Qamishli

http://www.extremeskins.com/showthre...75#post9046975
22,874 people killed so far in Syria

[visionary]

http://www.aljazeera.com/news/middle...237597139.html

Deadly clashes rage on in Syria's Aleppo

Syrian troops and rebels have clashed in the city of Aleppo, amid reports that several people have died after a shell crashed into a bakery as residents queued for bread.

AFP news agency correspondents said that around a dozen people, including three children, were killed and 20 people were wounded on Friday at the bakery, in the eastern Tariq al-Bab district of Syria's second largest city.

Elsewhere, government forces repelled a rebel attack on Aleppo's international airport, state news agency SANA reported.

"Mercenary terrorists" had tried to attack it but the "army hit back and killed most of them", it said.

In the latest clashes, Aleppo's historic Citadel, part of a UNESCO-listed world heritage site, was heavily damaged by bombing, the opposition said.

A rebel commander, Hossam Abu Mohammed, said his men were still fighting in parts of Aleppo's southwestern district of Salaheddin after most fled on Thursday in the face of heavy bombing and advancing troops.

"We will not let Salaheddin go," Abu Mohammed of the Free Syrian Army (FSA) told AFP by telephone on the third day of a government offensive to take the city.

And one of the fighters told AFP the rebels were keeping at bay troops who control a key roundabout from advancing further into Salaheddin.

"They have a few soldiers at the roundabout and some snipers. What we are doing now is preventing the troops from advancing," the fighter said on condition of anonymity.

The army again bombed parts of Salaheddin, as well as the Sakhur and Hanano districts in the northeast, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR), the UK-based watchdog, said.

Before dawn, a MiG 21 fighter jet dropped four bombs on rebel positions in Hanano, an AFP correspondent said.

One struck the courtyard of an FSA compound and another struck a nearby house, wounding a number of people.

http://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/orig..._campaign=4228

Syria's Man in Lebanon Arrested: Three Reasons to Pay Attention

The silver-tongued politician, well-known for his close ties to the Syrian government and its allies in Lebanon, was arrested Thursday morning at his home in a Beirut neighborhood. A group of police officers reportedly stormed the apartment at dawn, while the couple was still in their pajamas, “armed as though they were going to go liberate something,” said Samaha’s wife, Gladys.

Within a few hours, a Lebanese TV station was reporting that Samaha had confessed under interrogation that he had participated in a plan to transfer “explosives from Syria to Lebanon in order to carry out bombings in North Lebanon, particularly in the area of Akkar, with Syria’s knowledge.”

http://www.dailystar.com.lb/Opinion/...#axzz23DOhzmVo

Poor substitute

The less time spent discussing the news that a replacement for Kofi Annan is going to be made, the better.

But for now, the media will be obliged to deal with the news that Algerian diplomat Lakhdar Brahimi is being considered for the post, and then likely cover the official announcement of the appointment.

The “news,” as such, boils down to this: Annan’s mandate as the United Nations-Arab League envoy to Syria will elapse on the 20th of this month, so if Brahimi is actually selected, he will only serve for a short interval – much more pressing is the question of whether the post itself is renewed.

The move to actually consider appointing a successor to Annan appears to be designed to appease Moscow, and it’s another sign of the failure of the U.N. and the international community. The world’s leading powers are searching for a way to avoid coming up with a solution, if asking Brahimi to step in is what’s on the table.

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

about 16 hours ago
Britain's government is giving an extra $7.8mn worth of aid to Syria's opposition, supplying items including communications equipment, body armour and medical supplies to non-armed rebel groups, the foreign ministry said Friday.

William Hague, the foreign secretary, insisted that the UK would not supply any weapons - and said supplies were not intended for rebel fighters - but declined to specify exactly who would receive the equipment, saying they would likely be targeted as a result.

"This is assistance that will help save lives," Hague told reporters at Britain's foreign ministry. "It will help people caught up in a terrible conflict."

about 14 hours ago
The United States denounced the Lebanese Shia movement Hezbollah for backing Bashar al-Assad on Friday, and added it to a list of organisations under sanctions for their ties to the Syrian regime.

"This action highlights Hezbollah's activities within Syria and its integral role in the continued violence the Assad regime is inflicting on the Syrian population," the US Treasury Department said in a statement. [AFP]

about 13 hours ago
The United States slapped sanctions Friday on the Syrian state oil company Sytrol for trading with Iran, in bid to starve the regimes in both Tehran and Damascus of much-needed revenue.

"This kind of trade allows Iran to continue developing its nuclear program while providing the Syrian government with resources to oppress its own people," the US State Department said in a statement.

about 5 hours ago
Fighting broke out between Jordanian and Syrian forces in a border region between the two countries late on Friday, but a Jordanian source said no one on Jordan's side appeared to have been killed.

A Syrian opposition activist who witnessed the fighting said armoured vehicles were involved in the clash in the Tel Shihab-Turra area, about 80 km (50 miles) north of the Jordanian capital Amman, that occurred after Syrian refugees tried to cross into Jordan.

"The Syrians fired into Jordan at 10.30 p.m. in pursuit of refugees and the Jordanians responded. The fighting escalated and Jordanian armoured vehicles hit two Syrian border guard outposts," said the activist, giving his name only as Abdallah.

"The fighting was intense for an hour and now it is intermittent," he said. A Jordanian source, speaking on condition of anonymity, said:

"The Syrian side fired across the border and fighting ensued. Initial reports indicate that there has been no one killed from the Jordanian side."
[REUTERS]

about 3 hours ago
US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is set to holds talks on the conflict in Syria with Turkish leaders on Saturday after Washington slapped fresh sanctions on Bashar al-Assad's regime and its allies.
Clinton arrived in Istanbul early Saturday after wrapping up a nine-nation Africa tour.

The visit comes after Washington on Friday announced sanctions on Syrian state oil company Sytrol for trading with Iran, in a bid to starve the regimes in both Tehran and Damascus of much-needed revenue

https://twitter.com/SyrianSmurf

MiG fighter jets have been shelling Kafranbil for days...earlier, a shell from one fell on a house, leaving an entire family of 6 lifeless.
4:36 AM

There were also 2 other martyrs in Kafranbil today. They were both from the FSA and are from JabalAlzawiyah. Idlib
4:38 AM

Satellite image of Kafranbil highlighting the areas of regime concentration, and locations of the clashes now. pic.twitter.com/VUQb9hLt
4:40 AM

The FSA in Kafranbil JUST breached one of the major checkpoints in the city! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jmax...layer_embedded
5:47 AM

Kafranbil has been declared a free city by the FSA. But it is still being shelled heavily.
7:19 AM

https://twitter.com/HamaEcho

"Russia... a shameless *****. USA .... a hypocritical *****. See the difference?" sign in Idlib today https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cfLH985KCts
9:20 AM

Protest in the rubble of Talbisah, Homs today demanding anti-aircraft weapons http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rBHXrA73f9Q … City destroyed by air strikes.
9:36 AM

Tour in Salah Eddine neighbourhood of Aleppo today http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kewqVPKGMiM FSA retake the occupied street there: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MEYp9kOehnA&feature=plcp
10:00 AM

Destroyed tank in Salah Eddine neighbourhood of Aleppo today after Assad forces failed to storm it http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V4aokf778-c
10:17 AM

https://twitter.com/HamaEcho

FSA secures the defection of Brigadier General Ibrahim Jebawi http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CRzOJ...&feature=g-u-u … He's gone to Jordan now. pic.twitter.com/BhYvdfNN
11:10 AM

Assad's democracy - Mazen Darwish will be tried in a military court with no right of defense, may be executed http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/...87711B20120808
11:31 AM

FSA capture a checkpoint in Rastan, Homs http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=glt6gdVKLPg
11:44 AM

IMPORTANT: Massive operation by FSA in Aleppo. Capturing of 5000 AK-47s and ammo after taking a weapons depot http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6EsCle4ooM011:49 AM

Kafranbel's cartoonist standing with the FSA leader, behind destroyed BMPs, in their liberated city. I love this town. pic.twitter.com/8wHqBA4z
8:58 PM

https://twitter.com/SyrianSmurf

A friend of mine istashhad today...he was an FSA fighter...after they killed him they burned his body and cut it up
2:32 AM

MohamadAssi He had this shirt that he wore everywhere...even during the fighting. It was a white shirt with the subway logo on the front.
3:10 AM

MohamadAssi He never missed an opportunity to fight the regime. Except once..because there was no room in the car...1st time i saw him cry.
3:12 AM

MohamadAssi He had almost perfect aim with the RPG. He personally destroyed several tanks.
3:14 AM

MohamadAssi He made the best tea you ever had.
3:15 AM

http://www.lccsyria.org/9840

Local Coordination Committees
Friday ended with the fall of 180 martyrs in Syria: 75 martyrs were reported in Aleppo, among them 45 unidentified bodies that were found in Salah Eddin neighborhood; 40 in Damascus and its Suburbs; 22 in Idlib; 20 in Homs; 12 in Daraa; 6 in Deir Ezzor; 4 in Hama and 1 in Lattakia

http://www.extremeskins.com/showthre...75#post9046975
23,054 people killed so far in Syria

[visionary]

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/08/11/wo...tary.html?_r=1

U.S. Accuses Hezbollah of Aiding Syria’s Crackdown

The United States accused the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah on Friday of deep involvement in the Syrian government’s violent campaign to crush the uprising there, asserting that Hezbollah has trained and advised government forces inside Syria and has helped to expel opposition fighters from areas within the country.

The American accusations, which were contained in coordinated announcements by the Treasury and State Departments announcing new sanctions against Syria, also accused Hezbollah of assisting operatives of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards Quds Force in training Syrian forces inside Syria. A Treasury statement said the Hezbollah secretary general, Hassan Nasrallah, had overseen those activities, which it called part of the Syria government’s “increasingly ruthless efforts to fight against the opposition.”

The accusations, which went beyond previous American charges about Hezbollah support for Syria’s government, seemed intended to counter critics of the Obama administration who say that the White House is not doing enough to support the Syrian opposition now that diplomatic efforts to resolve the conflict are paralyzed.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012...y-no-fly-zones

Syria crisis: US and Turkey consider no-fly zones

The United States and Turkey are considering imposing no-fly zones and other steps on Syria to help rebel forces, Hillary Clinton has announced.

The US secretary of state said she and the Turkish foreign minister, Ahmet Davutoglu, agreed to examine the possibility of imposing a flying ban, while Turkish media reported that they were also considering creating safe havens within Syria.

"It is one thing to talk about all kinds of potential actions, but you cannot make reasoned decisions without doing intense analysis and operational planning," Clinton said. "Our intelligence services, our military have very important responsibilities and roles to play so we are going to be setting up a working group to do exactly that."

The imposition of no-fly zones by foreign powers were crucial in helping Libyan rebels overthrow Muammar Gaddafi last year. But until recently the international community has been reluctant to take an overt military role in Syria's 17-month-old conflict.

Davutoglu said it was time for outside powers to take decisive steps to resolve the humanitarian crisis in cities such as Aleppo, which is under daily Syrian government bombardment.

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

about 5 hours ago
Activists in Homs say an airstrike by Syrian air force on al- Khalidiyeh neighbourhood left six people dead.

These photos purport to show the damage caused by the attack on Friday.

about 3 hours ago
The United States and Turkey will expand operational planning for Syria, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said on Saturday after meeting Turkey's foreign minister, with both indicating no fly zones could be a possible option.

"We have been closely coordinating over the course of this conflict. But now we need to get into the real details of such operational planning and it needs to be across both of our governments," Clinton told reporters in Istanbul in a joint press conference with Ahmet Davutoglu.

"Our intelligence services, our military have very important responsibilities and roles to play so we are going to be setting up a working group to do exactly that," she added. [Reuters]

about 4 hours ago
Arab foreign ministers will meet on Sunday in Jeddah to discuss developments in Syria and selecting a replacement for Kofi Annan, the United Nations-Arab League envoy, Egyptian state TV said on Saturday.

The meeting comes before Muslim leaders meet in Saudi Arabia on Tuesday for an Organisation of Islamic Cooperation summit.

"Arab foreign ministers will hold a meeting tomorrow in Jeddah to discuss who will be appointed as a successor to Annan," deputy Arab League chief Ahmed Ben Helli told reporters. [Reuters]

31 minutes ago
More violence in Aleppo today, as shelling has been reported from the eastern district of Saif al-Dawla, the western districts of Bustan al-Qasr and al-Masharaqa, Malak district and the embattled southwestern Salaheddin district.

In Salaheddin, rebel commanders say they are continuing to put up stiff resistance to the Syrian army, despite being outgunned.

"Fierce fighting has continued without respite for the past 24 hours as the army tries to push us out of the neighbourhood," Abdel Qader Saleh told AFP by telephone.

27 minutes ago
Canadian Foreign Minister John Baird has said today that he was "horrified" by the violence in Syria as he visited a desert refugee camp in neighbouring Jordan.

"We are tremendously horrified to learn of this experience that so many people here face, the horrifying experiences that cause them to leave," their country, Baird said during a tour of the Zaatari refugee camp outside the northern Jordanian city of Mafraq.

Addressing reporters with Jordanian Foreign Minister Nasser Judeh at the UN-administered camp, which has so far taken in 6,000 people, Baird said Canada "has been a lead donor in support" of Syrian refugees.

"We want to do more, we have come here to take a first-hand look at the situation to see what else we can do, to take that back," he added.

Baird said Canada plans to provide an additional $1.5 million to the World Food Programme to help the refugees.

"In Syria, Canada is also providing $2 million in health care supplies to doctors and health care providers to enable more responsive and better treatment for the tragedies going on the other side of the border," he said.

Canada has so far given $8.5 million in humanitarian aid to Syrians since the uprising against Syrian President Bashar al-Assad regime began in March 2011, making country the third largest donor after the United States and Britain.

Jordan is hosting more than 150,000 Syrians, around 46,000 of whom are UN-registered.

"The solution to the crisis really must be a political one," Judeh told reporters. "I fear that the chances (for a political solution) are dwindling." [AFP]

28 minutes ago
French President Francois Hollande says that France is pushing hard for a political end to the conflict in Syria, after the conservative opposition angered the government by calling for rapid foreign intervention.

Hollande, breaking off his summer holiday to attend a ceremony for a soldier killed in Afghanistan, said France had deployed a medical team to Jordan to help with the humanitarian crisis caused by the conflict in neighbouring Syria.

"We are carrying out our humanitarian duty in addition to support for the Syrian opposition and also a determined search for a political transition in Syria," he said at the military ceremony, standing before the flag-draped coffin of France's 88th soldier killed in Afghanistan.

France, which holds the rotating chair of the UN Security Council this month, has convened a ministerial-level meeting of the body for August 30 to discuss the humanitarian crisis unfolding in Syria and the wider region.

It was Hollande's first comment on Syria since his predecessor Nicolas Sarkozy called on Wednesday for a rapid international intervention, likening the bloodshed there to the early days of war in Libya in which he mobilised a NATO-led force which helped rebels oust Muammar Gaddafi.

After Sarkozy's remarks, his first official statement since losing to Hollande in May's election, Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius accused him of appearing to undermine government policy. But Sarkozy's conservative UMP opposition hit back, with one legislator accusing Hollande of "peacefully sunbathing on the beach" while massacres were taking place in Syria.[Reuters]

https://twitter.com/OnlySyrian

Assad's army has intentionally shelled 6 bakeries in Aleppo while queued ppl wr getting bread.
8:11 AM

https://twitter.com/BigAlBrand

I've got a list of names of military officers who have been called in few months ago and disappeared since. I know some of them personally.
8:41 AM

I won't publish the names in case they're still alive and are being held in a military branch. They're all from Homs.
8:43 AM

https://twitter.com/LBCI_News_EN

Former Minister Michel Samaha and Syrian army General Ali Mamlouk charged with forming an association to commit crimes [in Lebanon]
9:42 AM

https://twitter.com/KarlreMarks

this is really big news, for the Lebanese judiciary to issue an indictment of a senior Syrian security chief
9:57 AM

https://twitter.com/SaraAssaf

Rumor says it is now "hunting season" in #Lebanon & we should be expecting more arrests next week.
6:46 AM

MichelSamaha & Ali Mamlouk (head of National Security Bureau in Syria) were charged for forming a 'crime cell' to operate in Lebanon.
10:07 AM

VDL: Mamlouk & Adnan prepared the explosives & Samaha transported them from Syria for murder of political & religious figures in Lebanon
10:11 AM

As @AliNahar puts it, Mamlouk reports directly to Assad so pressing charges against him implicates the Syrian president as well.
10:15 AM

This is the first time since March 14, 2005 Lebanese feel Syria has lost its power over Lebanon. Thank you Syrian Revolution.
10:47 AM

https://twitter.com/oh_bergine

In any other country,this is "normal" news,but for us Lebanese, indicting a high ranking Syria'n general is a HUGE MichelSamaha AliMamlouk
10:30 AM

https://twitter.com/hadeelalsh

Walked right to Salahdin Roundabout in Aleppo where fighting is today. Very hairy and dangerous. Heard rumble of tanks...
10:46 AM

https://twitter.com/blakehounshell

Latest moves in Lebanon suggest Assad's fall could actually be GOOD for Lebland, contra the conventional wisdom.
11:04 AM

https://twitter.com/farGar

rebels take govt complex in salib al turkman north of latakia & raise Syria flag http://youtu.be/stIXc8xLa5g
11:27 AM

[visionary]

From yesterday:
https://twitter.com/Mou2amara

ALL THREE PARTS OF THE BATTLE FOR KAFRANBEL HERE: http://youtu.be/JmaxsQzuXec http://youtu.be/3IsD9Cz8UR8 http://youtu.be/QR-G7qlv3kE IDLEB
10:45 AM

Kafranbel is free from Assad forces today. FSA forces from Idleb, Northern Rif Hama & city of Hama joined together for this operation.
12:03 PM

Kafranbel has been occupied since July 4 2011. The battle lasted 5 days and these are the results: destruction of 6 tanks, 5 BMB
12:04 PM

http://www.sundayszaman.com/sunday/n...?newsId=289198

DSP leader: Russia downed jet with new-generation missile

Masum Türker, chairman of the Democratic Left Party (DSP), has claimed that it was a Russian warship, and not Syria, that shot down a Turkish aircraft over the Mediterranean on June 22.

According to Türker, the Turkish jet was downed by a new-generation electromagnetic missile shot from one of the Russian warships which was in the region at the time of the incident. "New-generation missiles do not explode, but block the electronic systems,” Türker told Today's Zaman in an exclusive interview.

According to Türker, the US and Great Britain are aware, having their own radar records, that the jet was downed by Russia, and Russia is disturbed by fact that Turkey is carrying out the demands of the US regarding the Syrian issue.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012...?newsfeed=true

Anger, tears, and forgiveness as Syrian rebel and his prisoner share their fears

First Lieutenant Darid Barakat sat on a foam mattress on the floor of a schoolhouse, men he once commanded alongside him, and his captors standing in a murky corridor outside.

There were 30 or so men held in the room – in what passes for a prisoner of war facility in a rebel-controlled part of Syria. Barakat and two others, both officers like him, were members of the Alawite sect. Another officer was a Shia, and the rest were all soldiers – and Sunnis – like the rebels now holding them.

The prisoners had been there since late July, not long after a plan by the Free Syrian Army to bring its uprising to the heart of the country's second city, Aleppo, was put into action by the rebel force in the city of al-Bab. Until that point, the local guerrillas had not fired a shot in 18 months of uprising.

Barakat and some others had worked at the military security office in the heart of al-Bab, 30km north-east of Aleppo. With him in the makeshift jail were captives from the nearby political security building and from all other corners of the regime's extensive police state.

http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/...87A0C720120811

Syrian rebels carve paths through buildings to avoid snipers

Four men from the rebel Free Syrian Army check their assault rifles and sling them over their shoulders.

Their commander, Abu Thabet, calls them over to give final instructions before they head through the deadly, sniper-ridden neighborhood of Salaheddine in Aleppo.

"Keep your heads down, stick close to the sides of the buildings and walk fast," he tells them.

Aleppo, Syria's biggest city and the engine room of its economy, is seen as a vital prize by both sides in the 17-month-old uprising against President Bashar al-Assad.

A Reuters crew joined the group from the Seyoof al-Shahbaa brigade on its way to reinforce 20 of their men.

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

9 minutes ago
A French cargo plane carrying tonnes of aid supplies and medical equipment for Syrian refugees has landed today in Jordan

The aid is meant for tens of thousands of Syrians who have fled violence in their country following the 17-month uprising against President Bashar al-Assad.

The Antonov aircraft is carrying 80 tonnes of medical and support equipment and more French supplies destined for Syrian refugees will be flown to Jordan soon, Colonel Yannick Rio, the head of the operation, said.

"Additional material will be transported to Jordan in the following days. In total, 200 tonnes of medical and supply equipment will be deployed in the future," Rio told reporters at the Marka military airport in Amman.

He said an A310 airliner carrying 85 medical and support staff, and seven tonnes of medical equipment arrived in Jordan on Thursday.

Colonel Gerard Dosseh, head doctor, said "a surgical team, a medical centre and an emergency vaccination centre" have been dispatched. The medical team can carry out up to 10 operations a day and admit up to 20 patients.

"All supplies and equipment will leave for the Zaatari refugee camp on Sunday morning," Sabine Riverol, member of the aid staff, told the AFP news agency. The UN-administered desert camp, outside the northern city of Mafraq across the border from Syria, has so far taken in 6,000 refugees.

http://mar15.info/2012/08/lebanese-s...an-revolution/

Lebanese Shiite clerics back Syrian revolution

BEIRUT, Lebanon – Two prominent Lebanese Shiite clerics, Mohammad Hassan al-Amin and Hani Fahs, issued a joint-statement on Thursday endorsing the Syrian revolution and calling on Lebanon’s Shiite community to support the popular uprising against the al-Assad regime.

The statement called on Lebanon’s Shiite community to “support the Arab uprisings…particularly the Syrian [revolution], which will triumph God willing.”

The statement read “we reveal our unwavering stance in support of the Syrian uprising in an unambiguous and non-aggressive way; the same way we backed the Palestinian, Iranian, Egyptian, Yemeni and Libya revolutions and sympathized with the reform movements and popular [protests] in Iran, Bahrain, Mauritania and Sudan.”

The two Lebanese Shiite clerics added “we are prepared to support any popular movement that opposes any regime that refuses to move towards deep reform in order to avoid revolution and collapse.”

https://twitter.com/IbrahimOlabi

Who is in Damascus Syria , tune your radio to 95.5. Let us know if its working clearly. The first pro-revo radio broadcasting from within.
11:43 AM

it was a trail, and it has stopped for now. We will give it another shot tonight, stay tuned
11:52 AM

https://twitter.com/simmjazeera

Clinton in Turkey not ruling out Syria no fly zone in but "needs more in-depth analysis." But we know Russia China would veto at UN.
12:42 PM

Clinton in Turkey: talk of working group, intense operational planning. But for civilians suffering in Syria for now no respite
12:48 PM

https://twitter.com/wissamtarif

17 months counting bodies, documenting torture, forced disappearance, detention. 17 months of impotence messages to Syria US Clinton
12:41 PM

Thanks @IbrahimArab I feel like a broken machine that keeps telling the world how ugly it is. Clinton statement is depressing.
12:55 PM

https://twitter.com/D_R_23

i hope the U.S can stop pledging and claiming and ACTUALLY start HELPING , this is a shame to humanity + for U.S as it is
1:25 PM

Will be distributing toys to 160 Syrian refugee children in Lebanon, hopefully more to come pic.twitter.com/fl9O8I0d
12:36 PM

Eid bag for boys, Syria n refugees in Lebanon each child will receive basic toys and some candy pic.twitter.com/mAILKZrI
12:54 PM

Eid bag for girls, Syrian refugees in Lebanon pic.twitter.com/6Dbztti8
12:55 PM

Clothes we've been gathering for Syria n refugees in Lebanon, to be distributed in eid pic.twitter.com/fCmXR1ws
1:17 PM

https://twitter.com/AlexanderPageSY

BREAKING: Citizen Journalist Baraa al Bushi was just killed by shelling from regime forces in the Tal area of Damascus
1:52 PM

Baraa Al Bushi worked as a citizen journalist for the FreeMedia group in Damascus, also a defected officer he died today in shelling
2:06 PM

https://twitter.com/LeShaque

Just received word that Baraa AlBoushi, a friend, journalist, and FSA comms, passed away today in AlTal. I miss you already Baraa.
2:13 PM

I used to speak with Baraa daily. He's one of the bravest Syrian activists I have ever met. Never wasted a moment before helping others.
2:21 PM

https://twitter.com/AnonymousSyria

The same is being said on AlArabiya now! Must-read from @THE_47th http://pic.twitter.com/S7bYsoqD http://pic.twitter.com/5G8ULHcC
3:27 PM

[FSA reshaping groups into one big army and trying to limit foreign islamist jihadi involvement. Turkey will play a large role in this and Manaf Tlass may sit in on meetings]

[visionary]

http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/...87A0FN20120811

Eleven killed in Syrian army attack in Damascus area

At least 11 people were killed in fierce fighting that broke out in a Damascus suburb on Saturday when Syrian forces mounted an armored attack to try and regain the area from rebels, opposition activists said.

After three days of heavy army shelling and helicopter bombardment, tanks and armored carriers advanced on the conservative Sunni Muslim suburb of al-Tel on the northern edge of Damascus but were repelled by the rebels, two activists in the suburb said by telephone.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worl...talingrad.html

Aleppo 'is becoming Syria's Stalingrad'

By tank shell, by MiG rocket, Syria’s cities are gradually being ground to dust. A stream of pick-up trucks heads north out of Aleppo each day, carrying the bodies of slain shop-keepers and car mechanics, amateur revolutionaries finding permanent peace in the dusty home villages they left just a few days ago.

This is a civil war that is destroying his country, but Abdulaziz al-Salameh, provisional head of the Aleppo revolutionary council, has the bravado of a Second World War general as he looks at the chaos, and the clear prospect of more. "We are prepared to see the city destroyed before we give it up," he said in an interview with The Sunday Telegraph in the early hours of Saturday.

The key battle of the Syrian war is now raging in Aleppo, the country’s largest and richest city. Earlier this year, the Free Syrian Army withdrew from strongholds in other cities such as Homs when the loss of civilian life under bombardment became overwhelming. Aleppo, Mr Salameh said, would be different, more like Misurata, the Libyan port that held out against the vastly superior firepower of Muammar Gadaffi’s forces. Or even Stalingrad.

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

about 8 hours ago
In the battle to control Aleppo, rebel fighters are facing the Syrian military with limited support from locals.

Some residents give them food and shelter - but few are joining their ranks.

Anita McNaught was in Aleppo City in recent days - and sent this report.

about 7 hours ago
Guido Westerwelle, the German foreign minister, says that he wants Bashar al-Assad, the Syrian president, to appear before the International Criminal Court, which tries cases of genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes.

Westerwelle was speaking to German newspaper Bild am Sonntag.

But he added: "If one can prevent fresh deaths by Assad's voluntary exit, legal proceedings for me would not have greater importance."

"This would certainly be against my sentiment for justice but the most important thing for me is to stop these deaths and ensure a democratic and peaceful future for Syria," he said.
Westerwelle again voiced his opposition to a foreign military intervention in Syria saying it "will only heighten problems" and violence.

Oh no, not the ICC!
Assad must be terrified that they'll paratroop into Syria and arrest him.
But of course some diplomats won't even call for that without a caveat, as unlikely and unintimidating at it is to a mass murdering dictator who is much more likely to end up killed by his own people anyway.
And still western diplomats are talking about voluntary exit and implying immunity.
Sometimes I marvel at their ability to live in an alternate reality.



https://twitter.com/Turk4Syria

Assad's criminal soldiers shot at refugees crossing to Turkey. 4 People were killed. 3 Were able to reach the border with their wounds.
4:18 PM

https://twitter.com/jenanmoussa

Reposting. I joined FSA as they tried 2 attack Assad controlled airport in rebel held Aleppo countryside http://bit.ly/PIcROu
7:24 PM

https://twitter.com/KareemLailah

FSA throwing security forces from the post building in Bab city in Aleppo is a big shame & must be widely condemned.
9:01 PM

https://twitter.com/InshaatReporter

The first evidence that FSA is destroying helicopters every now and then Idleb pic.twitter.com/xOE0GxC9
10:29 PM

https://twitter.com/wissamtarif

A volunteered Libyan war surgery doctor saved many lives tonight in Aleppo Syria Thank you Dr Abdulkarim!
10:36 PM

https://twitter.com/SyrianSmurf

Flint community is just awesome!! barely half an hour of fundraising and they raised over $400,000 for Syria!
12:15 AM

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

The Local Coordination Committees in Syria:

The Local Coordination Committees was able to document 101 martyrs on Saturday. 29 martyrs were reported in Damascus and its suburbs (most of the martyrs were from the town of Al-Tal); 18 martyrs were reported in Daraa; 16 in Aleppo; 13 in Idlib; 12 in Homs; 5 in Deir Ezzor; 4 in Raqqa; 3 in Hama; and 1 in Lattakia

http://www.extremeskins.com/showthre...75#post9046975
23,155 people killed so far in Syria

[visionary]

http://news.yahoo.com/rebels-carve-l...200959664.html

Rebels carve out large enclave in north Syria

AZAZ, Syria (AP) — Residents of this north Syrian border town like to snap photos of their children atop the tank parked downtown, one of more than a dozen captured or destroyed by rebels in the battles last month that "liberated" the area from President Bashar Assad's army.

Across the street in air-conditioned offices once occupied by Assad's Baath party, a new political order is emerging. Local rebels have formed committees to fix power lines, fire up bakeries and staff the nearby border crossing with Turkey. They also run security patrols and a prison with some 60 captives. Two men were executed by firing squad recently after a judge and Islamic clerics found them guilty of murder.

"We run a state system here," said Samir Hajj Omar, the silver-haired former teacher who heads the rebel political office for Azaz, a town of 35,000. "We're enforcing the law."

In recent months, Syria's rebels have extended control over a large swath of territory in the northeastern corner of the country after forcing the army from town after town in a string of bloody street battles.

As a result, for the first time in Syria's 17-month conflict, rebels have a cohesive enclave in which they can move and organize with unprecedented freedom, plus a long stretch of the border with Turkey key for moving out refugees and smuggling in weapons. They also have one official, working border crossing.

The area extends about 50 kilometers (30 miles) south of the Turkish border and from the edge of Idlib province in the west to the cities of al-Bab and Manbaj some 130 kilometers (80 miles) east. Its southern edges reach the outskirts of Aleppo, Syria's largest city and for weeks the scene of heavy battles as regime forces try to uproot rebels who have taken control of several neighborhoods.

The pocket is not an outright safe zone. The military holds two bases within it — at Mannagh airport near Azaz and at an infantry academy north of Aleppo. From there, it shells nearby towns daily, wrecking buildings and killing people. It often targets rebel enclaves with helicopters and fighter jets; there remains a continual back-and-forth of residents fleeing homes around the areas.

But the army has largely surrendered the ground, creating a huge vacuum for rebels to fill. Across the scattered farm towns, locals have formed councils to remove rubble, restore utilities and funnel supplies to fighters in Aleppo. They organize security patrols to guard against thieves and government spies. Some are running prisons and rudimentary courts.

http://bigstory.ap.org/article/syria...y-assassinated

Syrian journalists killed in Damascus

Two Syrian journalists were killed in the capital Damascus, state media and an Arab satellite television station reported on Sunday.

SANA said one of its reporters, Ali Abbas, was killed at his residence in Damascus. The report blamed an "armed terrorist group" — the regime's catch-all term for its opponents — but gave no further details.

Pan-Arab satellite news channel Al-Arabiya television said that Bara'a Yusuf al-Bushi, a Syrian national and army defector who worked with the station and several other international news organizations, was killed in a bomb attack while covering a story in al-Tal, a suburb in northern Damascus.

Both reporters were reported killed on Saturday.

Bushi (an opposition activist journalist) was mentioned yesterday and was killed by regime shelling of the area.

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

about 5 hours ago
Arab foreign ministers postponed a planned meeting on the Syrian conflict that had been due to take place in Saudi Arabia later on Sunday, a top Arab League official said.

Ministers had been due to meet in in the Red Sea city of Jeddah to mull their next moves on the Syrian conflict after the resignation of UN-Arab League envoy Kofi Annan earlier this month, as well as who might succeed him.

The meeting was "postponed until a later date," the pan-Arab bloc's deputy secretary general, Ahmed Ben Helli, told reporters at League headquarters in Cairo.

about 2 hours ago
President Bashar al-Assad's forces on Sunday reportedly shelled the districts of al-Shaar and Hananu in the east of the city of Aleppo, while clashes were reported in the northern city's Salaheddin neighbourhood.

Earlier this week, rebels were forced to flee Salaheddin, one of their key strongholds in Aleppo, due to a major offensive by al-Assad's forces. Activists said the rebels continued to attack government forces in the district.

31 minutes ago
The deputy police commander for the central Syrian province of Homs has defected to Jordan, an opposition source said on Sunday, further undermining President Bashar al-Assad as he struggles to crush an uprising against his rule.

"Brigadier General Ibrahim al-Jabawi has crossed into Jordan. He will announce his defection on al-Arabiya television later today," an official in the Higher Revolution Council, a
activists' organisation, told Reuters from Amman.

Jabawi is from Deraa, a rural province where the revolt against Assad erupted 17 months ago before spreading to the rest of the country.

Syrian Prime Minister Riyad Hijab defected to Jordan last week, the highest-ranking Syrian official to abandon Assad since the uprising began.

Homs has been the scene of some of the heaviest fighting of the conflict. [Reuters]

https://twitter.com/MahirZeynalov

4 Syrian colonels, 3 lt. colonels, 2 majors, 2 captains, 3 lieutenants, 22 soldiers were among 566 Syrians who fled to Turkey this morning.
4:34 AM

https://twitter.com/THE_47th

Syrians & Lebanese: check out this awesome group in Leb, serving over 600 Syrian refugee fams in Leb. Support! https://www.facebook.com/Sawa.4.Syria
5:41 AM

I've personally worked with this group..and witnessed the miracles they do for Syrian Refugees..please join & support https://www.facebook.com/Sawa.4.Syria
5:44 AM

Eid is coming, donate a book..a toy..these kids left Syria with nothing https://www.facebook.com/Sawa.4.Syria email for info
5:45 AM

https://twitter.com/SyrianSmurf

Rocket from MiG fighter jet hits a 2-story house in Kafranbil bringing it down on its occupants. The ppl get them out after they died.
7:15 AM

40 martyrs in Ariha Idlib! Only 12 names have been received as of now.
8:11 AM

clashes happened there everyday because the lataqia-aleppo highway passes there...fsa would attack the convoys headed to Aleppo
8:20 AM

It is actually the 4th Armored [mechanized] Division...my mistake.
8:35 AM

https://twitter.com/hadeelalsh

Hardest part of covering Syria is not knowing if ppl u meet daily will be alive the next day.
4:16 PM

Wow. @SlaughterAM is following me. So cool.
6:32 PM

Aleppo is starting to really stink. Garbage and flies everywhere.
9:51 AM

https://twitter.com/jfoleyjourno

brave video of Talbiseh fighting from Japanese journo Yasuda Jumpei http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pbdqk...ature=youtu.be
10:32 AM

[visionary]

http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/...87B0G420120812

Lebanon indicts Syrians as bomb plot uncovered

Lebanese authorities say they have uncovered a Syrian plot to destabilize Lebanon in an investigation that has led to the indictment of a top Syrian official and compounded fears that Damascus aims to export its civil conflict next door.

The indictments issued in Beirut against two Syrian officers, including General Ali Mamlouk, mark an unprecedented Lebanese move against a more powerful neighbor that has been a major player in the country's affairs for decades.

If confirmed, the alleged plot drawn up in collaboration with a former Lebanese minister to ignite sectarian strife in Lebanon would represent a major blow to Syria's Lebanese allies, including Hezbollah.

A formal indictment from the military prosecutor issued on Saturday accused Michel Samaha, the Lebanese politician in question, Ali Adnan, a Syrian colonel, and General Mamlouk, head of the Syrian national security bureau, of forming an "armed gang" that planned to detonate bombs prepared by the Syrians with the aim of "inciting sectarian fighting" in Lebanon.

http://www.todayszaman.com/news-2893...-in-syria.html

Turkey signals to US, may go ahead ‘solo' with safety zones in Syria

While NATO allies Turkey and the US have started synchronizing their contingency operation plans for Syria amid the influx of thousands of refugees into Turkey in recent days, Turkey has made it clear that it will go ahead with setting up “safety zone” pockets inside Syrian territory to handle the mounting humanitarian crisis.

Speaking to Today's Zaman on Sunday, diplomatic officials drew a picture of a two-stage plan for Turkey to handle the mass exodus from Syria, underlining that the issue may have already become a “significant national security threat” for Turkey.

According to officials who asked for their names to be withheld, Turkey, in coordination with the US and other allies, will press for a UN Security Council resolution mandating the establishment of “protective enclaves” within Syria so that potential refugees will be taken care of inside Syria. This will be complemented by military measures that may include a no-fly zone and restriction of troop movements loyal to the embattled leader of Syria, Bashar al-Assad, in areas close to the border.

Since the border is 900 kilometers long, the idea is to set up pockets of “safety zones” or “enclaves” in residential areas close to the Turkish border.

If the UN mandate fails under the veto powers of Russia and/or China, Turkish diplomats say Ankara will go ahead with its own planning anyway, backed by Western and Arab allies. “Threat is not limited to a military nature. If refugees flood into Turkey in hundreds of thousands, then it will become a national security risk threatening Turkey. It all depends on how events unfold in Syria,” officials said. Turkey has so far declined to provide exact figure of refugees that will prompt Ankara to start military intervention for humanitarian purposes.

Officials underscored that “a new stage” has begun in Syria, adding that American involvement in Syria will become more visible in the upcoming weeks. They said the visit of US Secretary Hillary Clinton focused on a number of issues and both side exchanged their view on Syria. Both Turkey and the US have agreed that state institutions will remain intact in the post-Assad era, preventing a power vacuum in Turkey's southern neighbor.

Probably just more empty talk for the most part.
We'll see.


https://twitter.com/cjchivers

In N Syria w @bentonphoto, watching FSA unit w HMG hide from circling L39. Cdr has HMG trained up toward aircraft, waiting.
10:44 AM

L39 has done five gun runs. Deep dive, strafe, bank, hard climb. Circle. Repeat. Should run out of ammo soon.
10:59 AM

https://twitter.com/HamaEcho

sweet home - Masyaf http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cs-wZGaCl7Y … Miss it
10:39 AM

FSA soldier helping a woman escape clashes in Aleppo today. pic.twitter.com/pWREmHDa
11:36 AM

FSA soldier in Salah Eddine neighbourhood of Aleppo. pic.twitter.com/o1nc5Dlb
11:37 AM

Artillery of Assad's thugs who are shelling Homs for months catches fire and explodes http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z_hCeUAyaZg Shame they were not near it.
12:05 PM

https://twitter.com/AlexanderPageSY

BREAKING: shelling has now intensified in the Zabadany area of Damascus as more heavy artillery is being deployed to the area
12:12 PM

CONFIRMED INFO: Syria'n military aircraft flies into Bashmarga airspace of kurdistan-iraq and is forced back by anti-aircraft missiles
12:37 PM

Hmmm. Not sure if I believe that.
Could be significant if true though.


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

The Local Coordination Committees in Syria:

The number of martyrs in Syria has risen to 90 thus far today, and include women and children. 38 martyrs were reported in Damascus and its suburbs (most of the martyrs were from the Free Syrian Army in Kesweh); 24 martyrs in Homs, including 14 in the Shammas neighborhood; 11 in Daraa; 10 in Idlib; 4 in Deir Ezzor, most in Bokamal; 1 in Lattakia; and 1 in Aleppo
11:44 AM

[visionary]

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/08/13/wo...imes&seid=auto

Syrian Jets Pound Rebel Positions as Opposition Presses for No-Fly Zone

Syrian jets fired on areas in and around Aleppo again on Sunday, continuing an escalation of force that has led activists and rebels to demand that foreign forces establish a no-fly zone to counter the government’s air superiority.

Over the weekend, the United States and Turkey discussed a variety of measures to aid the opposition to President Bashar al-Assad, including a no-fly zone, though no decisions were reached.

The Arab League postponed a meeting on Syria scheduled for Sunday. An official told Reuters that it had to be rescheduled because Saudi Arabia’s foreign minister, Prince Saud al-Faisal, required surgery.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/...d06_story.html

UK offers body armor, satellite phones, medical supplies to Syria’s opposition

Britain’s government is giving an extra 5 million pounds (US$7.8 million) worth of aid to Syria’s opposition, supplying items including communications equipment, body armor and medical supplies to groups seeking to oust President Bashar Assad’s regime.

Foreign Secretary William Hague insisted that the U.K. would only supply equipment to those not directly involved in fighting — and seek to ensure the supplies did not end up in the hands of rebel fighters — and would not provide any weapons. But he declined to identify which individuals and groups would receive the equipment, saying to do that would leave them as likely targets.

http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/...87B0KW20120812

Confused civilians swarm into Syria battle zone

Syrian civilians desperate to check on their homes pushed into fluid front lines around the devastated Salaheddine district of Aleppo on Sunday, even as sniper fire cracked out and rebels warned them to stay away.

Civilians drove their cars up to rebel checkpoints demanding to be allowed through, apparently convinced by government messages that the army had regained full control of their neighborhood, where battles have raged for three weeks.

"Snipers, snipers," the rebels manning the checkpoints shouted, but some women sat there, confused and stubborn, insisting they had to go through to check on their homes.

"I have to go in," pleaded one man. "My neighbor told me my house is being looted and I need to get my stuff. Please let me in, I left with only the clothes on my back."

One exasperated fighter eventually responded: "Say your prayers and go, just go."

https://twitter.com/Basma_

The building where bodies are thrown from in Aleppo is not only Post Office - it is the headquarters of the Military Intelligence division.
10:40 AM

Bodies thrown from Aleppo building belonged to dead security men after intense fighting with rebels inside military intelligence devision
10:42 AM

July 19 was final battle to 'liberate' Al Bab. After fierce fighting, the whole town gathered at the scene.. to celebrate. Aleppo
10:47 AM

I'm not justifying the act. What I am saying is it's rare that one side would respect bodies of those they kill. It's war in Syria.
12:06 PM

https://twitter.com/cjchivers

At least 1 h-copter & amp; 1 low-flying jet have flwn sorties over N Syria tonite & were fired @ by FSA. Gvt effort to protect/resupply air base?
6:25 PM

https://twitter.com/jfoleyjourno

Some FSA brave enough to show videos of summary executions of accused Shabiha to foreign journos and call it wrong
7:03 PM

https://twitter.com/HamaEcho

Brigadier General Ali Louleh, who defected to Turkey a few days ago, joins the Unification Brigade in Aleppo http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7npPu...ature=youtu.be
2:09 PM

FSA destroys Assad's artillery stationed in Zahra area of Aleppo http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XWqu1h420Xg … Big amount of artillery exploding.
7:59 PM

August 12th should be known as exploding artillery day. Aleppo: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XWqu1...ature=youtu.be … Homs: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z_hCeUAyaZg …
8:08 PM

I think so yes, this artillery shells Anadan and Hreitan.
9:19 PM

https://twitter.com/SyrianSmurf

In Moadamiya Damascus 2 men were shot execution style in public. One of them, from Midan, was martyred. The other, from Daraa, survived.
7:39 PM

The FSA in Idlib attack and control a military airbase. Lots of weapons and artillery gained in the attack. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y8DB...layer_embedded
11:28 PM

All the revolutionary pages are reporting that the battle to free Homs has begun! GO GET 'EM!!!
11:37 PM

LIVE shelling on Talbiseh, Homs http://www.ustream.tv/channel/talbisah1
12:40 AM

http://www.lccsyria.org/9848

The Local Coordination Committees in Syria:

The number of martyrs in Syria has risen to 110 thus far today, and include women and children. 45 martyrs were reported in Damascus and its suburbs (most of the martyrs were from the Free Syrian Army in Kesweh) and in Tal city; 26 martyrs in Homs, including 13 in the Shammas neighborhood; 20 in Daraa; 12 in Idlib; 5 in Deir Ezzor, most in Bokamal; 1 in Lattakia; and 1 in Aleppo

http://www.extremeskins.com/showthre...75#post9046975
23,265 people killed so far in Syria