VIDEO — Embargo End: EU lifts Syria arms ban to spur peace process?
Russia Today
May 28, 2013
The EU has agreed to lift the Syrian arms embargo.The UK and France led the effort which has now opened the door to lethal aid flowing into the hands of the Syrian rebels. The UK aid agency Oxfam has warned of “devastating consequences” if more arms are sent into Syria. Anti-war activist Richard Becker says the arms embargo never stopped western supporters of the opposition. And Soraya Sepahpour-Ulrich, an independent researcher and writer, says Washington is not entirely sincere when it calls for peace talks.
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VIDEO — Syrian Rebels Executing 11 Shackled Men In Cold Blood
YouTube — ramez najemnews
May 16, 2013
[hat tip: Louise Koster]
VIDEO — Lebanon’s Hezbollah reiterates support for Syrian government
PressTV
May 27, 2013
Head of Hezbollah Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah says the Lebanese resistance movement will continue to support the Syrian government against U-S-backed extremism. During a celebration to mark the 13th anniversary of the withdrawal of Israeli occupation forces from Lebanon, the leader of the resistance also gave clear reasons as to why Hezbollah is fighting alongside the Syrian Army in the battle of Qusayr. Nasrallah considered Hezbollah’s contribution as an action to protect Lebanon and Syria with their various sects. The venue of the event was filled with loud cheers when Sayyed Nasrallah promised a victory against extremists like the victories of 2000 and 2006 against Israel.
Mariam Saleh, Press TV, Bekaa
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Qatari princess says Doha’s support for Syria militants ‘scandalous’
Friends of Syria
May 25, 2013
The daughter of Qatari ruler Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani has censured Doha’s support for the militants in Syria.
In a message she posted on Twitter, Sheikha Hind bint Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani stated that the backing of the militants was a ‘scandal in the history of Qatar.’
She also denounced the atrocities committed by the militants and said the armed groups had committed crimes against the Syrian people – an apparent reference to a gruesome video recently published on the Internet.
The video shows a cannibal militant in Syria cutting an organ of a Syrian soldier out of his chest and biting into it.
The Qatari princess also slammed the intervention of militants from Saudi Arabia in Syria and their ‘execution of Syrian citizens.’
Turmoil has gripped Syria since March 2011, and many people, including large numbers of Syrian security forces, have been killed in the unrest.
Syrian President Bashar al-Assad said on May 18 that militants from 29 different countries were fighting against the government in different parts of the country.
In January, Prince Turki al-Faisal, former Saudi spy chief, called for sending heavy weaponry to the militants in Syria.
MR/HSN
At least 28 dead, 250 wounded in Sunni-Alawite clashes in Tripoli (PHOTOS, VIDEO)
End the Lie – Independent News
May 25, 2013
A damaged building is seen through a hole in a wall in the Sunni district of Bab al-Tabbaneh following overnight clashes with the Alawite neighbourhood of Jabal Mohsen in the northern Lebanese port city of Tripoli, on May 25, 2013 (AFP Photo / Ghassan Sweidan)
At least 28 people were killed and 250 wounded in weeklong clashes between Sunni and Alawite Muslims in Tripoli, Lebanon, according to security officials. The violence is another sign of the Syrian conflict spilling over to Lebanon.
Last night, four Sunnis and one Alawite died in clashes, the Daily Star reported. The casualties raised this week’s death toll to 28.
Fierce fighting has raged in Tripoli since last Sunday, with assailants firing rocket-propelled grenades, mortars and machine guns. The violence is seen as a spillover from the recently intensified fighting between rebels and government forces in Qusayr, Syria, near the border with Lebanon.
Most of the clashes in Tripoli were between residents of the Sunni-majority Bab el-Tebbaneh district and the Alawite-majority Jabal Mohsen district. A third party in the conflict is the Lebanese Army, which has so far failed to quell the unrest.
Although the clashes subsided in the morning, the area is still reportedly controlled by snipers.
The week-long conflict brought life to a halt in Tripoli, home to 500,000 residents, with schools and shops closed because of the violence.
This is not the first time Tripoli has witnessed an outbreak of violence between Sunnis supporting the Syrian rebels and pro-regime Alawites, the religious branch of Shia Islam to which Syrian President Bashar Assad belongs. The Lebanese Army deployed in the city last October to broker a ceasefire.
A Lebanese gunmen stands guard behind a barricade in the Sunni district of Bab al-Tabbaneh following overnight clashes with the Alawite neighbourhood of Jabal Mohsen in the northern Lebanese port city of Tripoli, on May 25, 2013 (AFP Photo / Ghassan Sweidan)
People inspect the damage after overnight clashes in Al-Koubbeh, in Tripoli May 23, 2013 (Reuters / Omar Ibrahim)
Lebanese army soldiers patrol the Sunni Muslim Bab al-Tebbaneh neighbourhood after being deployed to tighten security, following clashes between Sunni Muslims and Alawites in the port city of Tripoli, northern Lebanon May 21, 2013 (Reuters / Omar Ibrahim)
A Lebanese army soldier walks with his weapon on a patrol after being deployed to tighten security, following clashes between Sunni Muslims and Alawites in the northern port city of Tripoli May 21, 2013 (Reuters / Omar Ibrahim)
Source: RT
Why We Oppose U.S. and Israeli intervention in Syria
Global Research
May 24, 2013
Having overthrown the Governments in Iraq in 2003 and Libya in 2011, the U.S. government has sought to topple the Syrian government during the past two years. The CIA has been the coordinating agency for massive weapons shipments from Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Turkey to armed groups fighting to topple the Syrian government.
The conflict in Syria that began more than two years ago was fueled by a wide range of grievances, some legitimate, some reactionary. But the armed rebellion inside the country is today inextricably bound to imperialism and the most reactionary regimes in the Arab world. Its aim is to destroy a secular, nationalist government that U.S. leaders view as an obstacle to their goal of dominating the entire Middle East.
The United States, Britain, France, Turkey, Saudi Arabia and Qatar have been funneling vast quantities of arms, money and supplies to the Syrian opposition, and training thousands of anti-government fighters in Turkey, Jordan and elsewhere. On May 5, Israel heavily bombed an area close to the capital, Damascus.
Harsh economic sanctions have been imposed on Syria. The United States and its allies have waged a worldwide campaign to isolate and demonize the Syrian government.
Outside support has sustained the opposition, but not brought it victory. Thus, the leaders of the U.S.-organized “National Coalition of Opposition and Revolutionary Forces” and the “Free Syrian Army” have been making repeated and urgent appeals for more direct imperialist intervention, including an air war against their own country. Those appeals have become even more urgent due to losses suffered by the splintered opposition forces in recent weeks.
“Friends of Syria”: another face of imperialism
Stepping up the imperialist-led campaign, on May 22, the so-called “Friends of Syria” met in Amman, Jordan. Led by U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, the other “Friends” at the meeting were the foreign ministers of Britain, France, Germany, Italy, Turkey, Egypt, Jordan, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar and Saudi Arabia.
The open aim of the “Friends” is the overthrow of existing government in Syria. Its concluding statement speaks of “supporting the legitimate rights of the Syrian people” and “a new Syrian constitution with equal rights for all.”
This supposed concern for “human rights” in Syria is nothing but the crassest cynicism.
Saudi Arabia, Qatar, UAE and Jordan are all police-state, absolute monarchies, sustained in power by U.S. support. Saudi Arabia has never had an election, women are forbidden to drive cars and public beheadings are a frequent occurrence. Britain and France are the former colonizing powers in the region, striving to retain their influence today. Germany and Italy shared in the colonial division of Africa; half the population of Libya died under Italian rule during World War II. Turkey has long repressed the Kurdish population inside its borders, as well as unions, leftist parties and other progressive organizations. The Egyptian government is suppressing the opposition as it seeks to consolidate its power.
As the dominant world power over the past 70 years, the United States has carried out genocidal wars from Korea to Vietnam to Iraq, leaving tens of millions dead, wounded and displaced. In addition, U.S. military and intelligence forces have intervened hundreds of times in countries around the world, and today the United States maintains more than 900 military bases on every continent. Death by U.S. drone is today a regular and terrorizing feature of life for people in Pakistan, Afghanistan and Yemen.
The “Friends” are in reality a criminal gang who have no concern whatsoever for the interests of the people of Syria – or any people anywhere, for that matter.
Say no to U.S./NATO and Israeli intervention
An international peace conference on Syria has been jointly proposed by Russia and the United States, and is tentatively set to take place in Geneva, Switzerland, in June. It is not clear yet whether it will actually take place.
Regarding the proposed conference, the “Friends of Syria” statement ended by threatening, “[U]ntil such a time as the Geneva meeting produces a transitional government, they [the “Friends”] will further increase their support for the opposition and take all other steps as necessary.” By “transitional government,” the “Friends” mean one absent the present leadership. In other words, until there is “regime change,” they will escalate the war.
The anti-war movement in the United States has a duty to unequivocally oppose all forms of intervention by the United States, the other imperialists and their clients, and to support the right of the Syrian people to determine their own future, free from imperialist intervention.
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related video: Why The NWO Hates Syria
Two rockets hit Lebanese capital
PressTV
May 26, 2013
People gather at the site of a rocket attack in Beirut, Lebanon, May 26, 2013.
Two rockets have hit the southern district of Zahyieh in Lebanon’s capital, Beirut, Press TV reports.
Several people were wounded in the incident that took place on Sunday, according to Lebanese security sources. Some vehicles and homes were also damaged.
The security sources said 107-mm rockets were used in the attack.
There has been no claim of responsibility for the rocket attack so far.
Lebanon’s caretaker Interior Minister Marwan Charbel, who visited at the site of the rocket attack, said it was an “act of sabotage.”
“The rockets were fired from a secluded area, southeast of the scene of the incident,” he stated.
“I believe this was an act of sabotage,” Charbel added, when asked about the motive for the attack. “I hope what is happening in Syria will not happen in Lebanon.”
The rocket incident in Beirut comes amid recent clashes between supporters and opponents of the Syrian government in Lebanon’s northern city of Tripoli, which have led to the death of more than two dozen people.
DB/HSN
[hat tip: Syrian Girl]
PN 