Tag Archive for Syria

| December 2, 2012
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Intelligence Report: Signs of activity at Syria’s chemical weapons caché

U.S. int’l official tells the NYT that Assad’s forces are ‘doing some things that suggest they intend to use the weapons.’

By

 

Western intelligence officials said that they have been seeing new signs of activity at Syrian sites used to hold chemical weapons, the New York Times reported on Sunday.

A satellite image of al-Safir, Syria's main chemical weapons facility, near Aleppo.

A satellite image of al-Safir, Syria’s main chemical weapons facility, near Aleppo. Photo by GlobalSecurity.org

The officials said they were not sure whether the forces of Syrian President Bashar Assad were preparing to employ the chemical weapons, or rather use them to deter the West from aiding the rebels. Continue Reading »

Category: Mid-East News | Tags: , ,
| November 25, 2012
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Iran, Syria and Russia Object Placement of NATO Missiles on Turkish-Syrian Border

Moscow, a heavy benefactor of Damascus joined Iran in opposing the deployment of the NATO Patriot missile battery,  which called the Turkish request “provocative.”

By Chana Ya’ar

 

Iran is doing everything it can to fight the placement of Patriot defense missiles along the Turkish-Syrian border. So is Syria, Iran’s beneficiary, backed by Russia, its other benefactor.

Turkey, a member of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) has requested deployment of the Patriot anti-missile defense system. Ankara has been looking for ways to beef up defenses along Turkey’s 900-kilometer (560-mile) border with Syria.

The request came during talks over how best to prevent further spillover from the ever-intensifying civil war between the regime of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and opposition forces. Continue Reading »

Category: Mid-East News | Tags: , , ,
| November 6, 2012
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Bashir al Assad’s Grandfather’s 1936 Letter Predicts Muslim Slaughter of Minorities and Praises Zionists

The grandfather of Syria’s embattled dictator Bashir al Assad, Suleiman Assad, warned France of the dangers of a Sunni Islam takeover back in 1936.

He was fearful of a Muslim massacre and appreciated Zionism.

By: Dr. Mordechai Kedar from The Jewish Press

 

I will begin on a personal note. Since the start of the pogroms in Syria a year and a half ago, I have written again and again in my articles on this honorable stage that the Alawites will behave with cruelty and severity and with total insensitivity toward their opposition, because they are aware that they are fighting not only to keep control of the regime in their hands but also – and mainly – in order to keep their heads connected to their shoulders.
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Category: Mid-East News | Tags: , , ,
| October 21, 2012
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After slain Lebanese official’s funeral, protesters try to storm PM’s office

Lebanon opposition leader Saad Hariri urges his supporters to pull back as heavy gunfire erupts in Beirut, with security forces using tear gas & firing into the air.

 

Heavy gunfire erupted in central Beirut on Sunday after protesters tried to storm the offices of Prime Minister Najib Mikati, demanding that he quit over the assassination of a top intelligence official.

Lebanese protestes wave Syrian revolutionary flags, national flags and Islamic flags

Lebanese protestes wave Syrian revolutionary flags, national flags and Islamic flags as they gather in Martyrs’ Square at funeral for the country’s intelligence chief, Brig. Gen. Wissam Hassan. – Photo by AP

Witnesses said at least two people had fainted, apparently as a result of tear gas fired by security forces after protesters breached an outer barrier around the prime minister’s offices. Continue Reading »

Category: Mid-East News | Tags: , ,
| October 2, 2012
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Syrian media blasts Hamas leadership for abandoning Syria’s Assad

As fighting intensifies in Damascus, new video of missing U.S. journalist surfaces and Syrian State TV describes Hamas’ leader Khaled Meshal as ‘ungrateful & traitorous’

Syria’s state-run media have criticized the leader of the Palestinian militant group Hamas – once a staunch ally of the Damascus regime – for turning his back on President Bashar Assad.

Heavy shelling in Aleppo, Syria

Empty streets are seen as smoke rises from Aleppo’s Bustan al-Qasr district, due to heavy shelling on the area, October 1, 2012. – Photo by Reuters

Syrian TV in a late Monday broadcast described Hamas leader Khaled Meshal as “ungrateful and traitorous.” Continue Reading »

Category: Mid-East News | Tags: , ,
| October 1, 2012
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Syria blasts France & U.S. for supporting ‘terrorists,’ says Israel must submit to NPT

Syrian FM Walid al-Moualem accuses France & U.S. of “blatant interference in the domestic affairs of Syria,” & says Israel must join NPT & be forced to submit nuclear sites to IAEA supervision.

By Reuters and Jack Khoury

 

Syria accused the United States, France, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and Turkey on Monday of hijacking the country’s 18-month conflict between government forces and pro-democracy rebel groups by supporting ‘terrorism’  with arms, money and foreign fighters, and said Israel should be forced to sign the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.

AP

al-Moualem, Foreign Minister of Syria, addresses the 67th session of the United Nations General Assembly at UN headquarters, October.

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Category: Mid-East News | Tags: , , ,
| September 30, 2012
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UNICEF uses Israel-made water purification tablets in Syria

Israel Chemicals given special authorization to sell water purification tables to UN to rehabilitate Syria’s water sources

By Avital Lahav

Israel Chemicals (ICL) was given a special authorization Sunday to have one of its European subsidiaries sell water purification tablets to UNICEF with the knowledge that they will be used in the agency’s relief mission in Syria.

Syria In ruins. – Photo: Reuters

UNICEF is overseeing a project meant to rehabilitate Syria’s water sources, which have suffered significant damage during the 18-months revolt against President Bashar Assad.

The deal will be carried out by ICL’s Ireland-based subsidiary, Medentech. The company needed government approval for the deal since it involved the delivery of Israeli products to an enemy state. Continue Reading »

Category: Innovations & Discoveries, Mid-East News | Tags: , ,
| September 30, 2012
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Both Egypt & Turkey pledge support for Palestinian cause & denounce Syrian regime

Erdogan says Turkey determined to speak out against Israel’s ‘state terrorism’ and Egypt’s new president & Turkish PM call on China, Russia & Iran to stop backing Assad regime.

Turkey and Egypt sought to boost their alliance in a turbulent region on Sunday, unleashing harsh criticism of the Syrian regime and pledging joint support for the Palestinian cause.

Erdogan and Morsi in Ankara - AP - Sept. 30, 2012

In this photo provided by Turkish Prime Minister’s Press Service,Turkish PM Recep Tayyip Erdogan, right, and Egypt’s President Mohammed Morsi in Ankara, Sept. 30, 2012. – Photo by AP

Egypt’s new president, Mohammed Morsi, addressed a major congress of Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s ruling party, amid signs that a partnership between their two countries is emerging, and said they both plan to stand by Palestinians and the Syrian people. Continue Reading »

Category: Mid-East News | Tags: , , , , , ,
| September 28, 2012
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Hizbullah Fighters Dying in Syria, Sources Say Funerals are Secret

Hizbullah has recently increased their size and type of its assistance to al-Assad’s gov’t

By David Lev

 

Hizbullah has increased the size and scope of its assistance to the government of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, as he fights to retain his position as leader of Syria in the face of a wide-ranging rebellion. According to a report in Thursday’s Washington Post, Hizbullah has sent special advisers to Syria in order to assist Assad in beating back rebel forces.

Official sources in the Lebanese government said that the assistance Hizbullah is providing Assad was increased after a major attack on Assad’s forces on July 18. Continue Reading »

Category: Mid-East News | Tags: , ,
| September 10, 2012
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Exposé: How Israel Knew Syria Reactor had to be Bombed

The Israeli operation on the Syrian nuclear reactor began with intel gathered 6 months earlier, in a daring raid on an Austrian home.

By Tzvi Ben Gedalyahu

 

The Israeli bombing of a Syrian nuclear strike began with intelligence gathered six months earlier in a daring raid on the Austrian home of the Syrian Atomic Energy Commission director Ibrahim Othman, The New Yorker reported in its new edition.

David Makovsky, a fellow at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, wrote under the headline “The Silent Strike,” that in March 2007, Mossad agents raided the home following suspicions concerning a large building the Assad regime was building in the northeastern Syrian desert. Continue Reading »

Category: Mid-East News | Tags: , , ,
| September 8, 2012
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Canada says Tehran ‘most significant threat’ to world peace, recalls Ambassador, Closes Iran Embassy

 

Citing hostility to Israel, assisting Assad & its nuclear program, Foreign Minister John Baird said Canada will expel all Iranian diplomats within 5 days; Netanyahu: Canada took a moral step.

Canada has closed its embassy in Iran and will expel all remaining Iranian diplomats in Canada within five days, Foreign Minister John Baird said on Friday, denouncing Tehran as the biggest threat to global security.

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad - AP.

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad speaks at Iran’s nuclear enrichment facility in Natanz. – Photo by AP

Baird cited Iran’s nuclear program, its hostility toward Israel and Iranian military assistance to the government of President Bashar Assad in Syria, which is locked in civil war with rebels, as the reasons for suspending diplomatic relations. Continue Reading »

Category: Mid-East News | Tags: , , ,
| August 31, 2012
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Iran attacks Egypt’s Morsi over remarks about Syria

Speaking at the opening ceremony of the Non-Aligned Movement, Morsi said that ‘solidarity with the Syrian people’ against Assad is ‘a moral obligation.’

By DPA

Iran on Friday criticized Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi over his remarks on Syria at the Non-Aligned Movement summit, saying he did not have “the necessary political maturity.”

Mohammed Morsi - Reuters - 30.8.2012

Egypt’s President Mohammed Morsi, left, speaking to Iran’s Executive Vice President Hamid Baghai, right, during their meeting at Mehrabad airport in Tehran, August 30, 2012. Photo by Reuers

Morsi said at the opening ceremony Thursday that “solidarity with the Syrian people against an oppressive regime that lost its legitimacy is a moral obligation.” Continue Reading »

Category: Mid-East News | Tags: ,
| August 19, 2012
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Syrian rebellion tips Middle East power balance toward the Sunnis

The region’s Sunni-led countries are appearing more confident at the prospect that the Sunni-led rebellion could bring down Syria’s al-Assad’s regime. On the other hand, Hezbollah & Iran have had their reputations & Shiite influence damaged by their support for Assad’s brutality.

By The Associated Press & Israel Hayom Staff

 

Not long ago, Arabs everywhere listened when the leader of Hezbollah spoke. Sheik Hassan Nasrallah’s prominence, bolstered by his Lebanese terrorist organization’s battles against Israel, was a sign of the rising regional influence of Shiite Muslims and overwhelmingly Shiite Iran. Now, his speeches don’t necessarily make front pages even in Lebanon.

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Category: Mid-East News | Tags: , ,
| August 17, 2012
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Diplomatic Sources say Securing Syria’s chemical weapons could take 60,000 troops

Washington & European Allies discuss possibility if Assad regime loses control of WMDs; American official: U.S. still has no plans to put troops on the ground in Syria.

By Reuters

 

The United States and its allies are discussing a worst-case scenario that could require tens of thousands of ground troops to go into Syria to secure chemical and biological weapons sites following the fall of President Bashar Assad’s government, according to U.S. and diplomatic officials.

Syria - AP - 15.8.2012

Syrian children playing near a destroyed military tank next to the rubble of a damaged building in town of Azaz on the outskirts of Aleppo, Syria – Photo by AP

These secret discussions assume that all of Assad’s security forces disintegrate, leaving chemical and biological weapons sites in Syria vulnerable to pillaging. Continue Reading »

Category: Mid-East News | Tags: ,
| August 9, 2012
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Tehran reports Iranians kidnapped by Syrian rebels are alive & well

Syrian rebels seized a busload (48) of religious Iranian pilgrims in Damascus on August 4 on suspicion of being military personnel.

By Reuters

All the Iranians kidnapped by Syrian rebels last week are alive and well, an Iranian foreign ministry official said, contrary to statements by rebels holding them that three of the captives had been killed in an air attack.

Bashar Assad and Mahmoud Ahmadinejad

Syrian President Bashar Assad and Iranian counterpart Mahmoud Ahmadinejad (2nd R) review the guard of honor in Damascus January 19, 2006. – Photo by Reuters

Syrian rebels waging an uprising against the government of President Bashar Assad seized a busload of 48 Iranians in Damascus on August 4 on suspicion of being military personnel. Continue Reading »

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