Syrian Revolution News & Discussions

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Saudi Arabia deplores world’s inaction on Syria

Saudi Arabia's Minister of Foreign Affairs, Adel Ahmed Al-Jubeir, speaks during the 70th session of the United Nations General Assembly. (AP)

By Staff Writer | Al Arabiya News
Friday, 2 October 2015

Saudi Arabia’s Foreign Minister reiterated that there is “no other political solution except the principles of the Geneva I agreement” regarding Syria, in a speech in front of the United Nations General Assembly on Thursday.

Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir said that tragic conflict in Syria, which is entering its fifth year, has devolved into the worst humanitarian disaster of the current era.

“Yet, the international community continues to be unable to save the Syrian people from the killing machine that is being operated by Bashar al-Assad,” he said.

Jubeir added that “there is no place for Bashar al-Assad” in a transitional phase in Syria’s future.

Saudi Arabia’s highest diplomat opened his address on Thursday evening by focusing on the Palestinian question. He noted that the Palestinian people deserve to live in dignity and urged action to that end that is in line with relevant Security Council resolutions and the Arab Peace Initiative.

Regarding the crisis in Yemen, Jubeir said that military intervention in Yemen came at the request of the Yemeni government, and that the restoration of Aden and the return of the internationally recognized government of President Yemeni President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi was a major step in restoring stability.

Last Update: Friday, 2 October 2015 KSA 08:37 - GMT 05:37
http://english.alarabiya.net/en/News/middle-east/2015/10/02/Saudi-Arabia-deplores-world-s-inability-to-end-bloodshed-in-Syria.html

 

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Patriot missiles to be pulled from Turkey as planned

NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg of Norway addresses U.S. soldiers during his visit to view the U.S. Patriot missile system at a Turkish military base in Gaziantep, southeastern Turkey. (File photo: Reuters)

By AFP | Washington
Friday, 2 October 2015

Patriot missiles deployed in Turkey since 2013 to guard against rockets from Syria will be removed for planned upgrades in October, despite the ongoing crisis across the border, the Pentagon said Thursday.

“The Patriots will be redeployed to the United States for critical modernization upgrades that will ensure our missile defense force remains capable of countering evolving global threats and protecting allies and partners -- including Turkey,” Defense Department spokeswoman Laura Seal said.

The U.S. and Turkey had in August announced the withdrawal of the missiles, deployed under NATO authority in 2013.

Germany has also announced its intention to withdraw its two Patriot missile batteries from Turkey.

NATO can still use a Spanish missile battery that has been deployed since January in Adana in the south of Turkey.

Seal said that if needed, the U.S. could send the Patriot missiles and their personnel back to Turkey “within one week.”

“We will also retain a persistent presence of U.S. Navy multi-role Aegis ships in the eastern Mediterranean,” she added.

The military situation in Syria is changing at a new pace, after Russia on Wednesday launched its first air strikes in the country.

Patriots can shoot down tactical ballistic weapons, cruise missiles or planes.

Last Update: Friday, 2 October 2015 KSA 11:17 - GMT 08:17
http://english.alarabiya.net/en/News/middle-east/2015/10/02/Patriot-missiles-to-be-pulled-from-Turkey-as-planned.html

 

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Turkey, coalition partners, call on Russia to cease air strikes in Syria

A man runs past a burning military vehicle at a base controlled by rebel fighters from the Ahrar al-Sham Movement in the southern countryside of Idlib. (Reuters)

By Reuters | Istanbul
Friday, 2 October 2015

Turkey and its partners in the U.S.-led coalition against ISIS called on Russia on Friday to cease its attacks on the Syrian opposition and focus on fighting Islamist militants, expressing “deep concern” over Moscow’s air strikes.

In a joint statement with the United States, Britain, France, Germany and Gulf Arab allies, Turkey said Russia’s actions constituted a “further escalation” of the conflict and
would only fuel more extremism.

“We express our deep concern with regard to the Russian military build-up in Syria and especially the attacks by the Russian Air Force on Hama, Homs and Idlib since yesterday which led to civilian casualties and did not target Daesh,” it said.

Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Thursday assertions that civilians had been killed in Russian air strikes in Syria were an “information attack”.

Russia’s decision to join the war with air strikes on behalf of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad this week, and the increased military involvement of Iran, could mark a turning point in a conflict that has drawn in most of the world’s military powers.

Hundreds of Iranian troops have arrived in Syria to join a major ground offensive in support of Assad’s government, Lebanese sources said on Thursday, a sign the civil war is turning still more regional and global in scope.

Last Update: Friday, 2 October 2015 KSA 10:08 - GMT 07:08
http://english.alarabiya.net/en/News/middle-east/2015/10/02/Turkey-coalition-partners-call-on-Russia-to-cease-air-strikes-in-Syria.html

 

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Obama clings to U.S. policy on Syria

http://english.alarabiya.net/en/News/middle-east/2015/10/03/Obama-Iran-Assad-make-up-Putin-s-allies-rest-of-world-is-ours-.html

 

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Syria conflict: Russia strikes 'will fuel extremism' - BBC News

Members of the US-led coalition against Islamic State have called on Russia to cease air strikes they say are hitting the Syrian opposition and civilians.

In a statement, the US, UK, Turkey and other coalition members said they would "only fuel more extremism".

Russia, which according to witnesses launched fresh strikes on Friday, says it is targeting Islamic State (IS).

Meanwhile, reports say IS fighters have attacked a government airbase in eastern Syria.

Reports from the area, near the IS-controlled city of Deir al-Zour, speak of loud explosions, heavy clashes and government fighter jets circling in the sky.

A senior Russian official says the air strikes could last for three to four months.

Alexei Pushkov, the head of the foreign affairs committee in Russia's parliament, added that the US had only "pretended" to bomb IS and promised that Russia's campaign would be much more effective.

The Russian air force began air strikes in Syria on Wednesday.

The Syrian military said Russia had carried out a total of 18 air strikes since Thursday evening. It said several of these were in Aleppo, Hama and Idlib, provinces with little IS presence.

Communications towers belonging to the Free Syrian Army - forces opposed to President Assad which have received American training and supplies - were destroyed in a Russian air strike in Aleppo.

The Russian defence ministry said it had attacked the IS stronghold of Raqqa on Thursday.

The British-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said a training camp and a camouflaged command post near Raqaa were hit, and 12 IS fighters were killed.

The strikes in Syria are Russia's first military engagement outside the borders of the former Soviet Union since the end of the Cold War.

The warning from members of the US-led coalition came as the French and Russian presidents met in Paris. The meeting was called to discuss peace efforts in Ukraine, but these are expected to be overshadowed by Syria.

The Syrian opposition and others have suggested non-IS rebel factions opposed to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad - the Kremlin's ally - are bearing the brunt of the Russian attacks.

French President Francois Hollande, using an derogatory Arabic acronym for IS, said it was important that "the strikes, regardless of who is carrying them out, target Daesh and not other groups".

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, speaking at the UN in New York, said Russia would also fight other terrorist groups including the al-Nusra Front - an al-Qaeda affiliate.

He said this position was the same as that of the US-led coalition, which has been carrying out air strikes in Iraq and Syria for the past year.

"We are not supporting anyone against their own people. We fight terrorism," he said.

Mr Lavrov said the targets were selected "in co-ordination with the Syrian army".

The entry of Russia into the Syrian conflict, albeit in the air not on the ground, will be a perfect recruiting sergeant for IS.

The propaganda videos are doubtless already being prepared. The Russians are, after all, the same historic enemy fought by the Mujahideen in Afghanistan throughout the 1980s and eventually defeated (with US, Saudi and Pakistani help).

The prospect of Russian pilots attacking Muslim fighters on the ground will be embarrassing to Arab governments who will not want their air forces to be seen as on the same side.

The result is likely to be more recruits joining the extremists of IS and al-Nusra, both from within Syria and from outside the region.

The joint coalition statement alleged that the strikes had caused civilian casualties but Russia says its warplanes have avoided civilian areas.

Rights groups have also accused the US-led coalition against IS of causing dozens of civilian deaths in air strikes.

 

[Gabriel92]

Russian precision at work :
Even with the most modern aircrafts (su34)their accuracy is very bad.

 

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NATO to Russia: Stop striking Syrian opposition

Technicians gathering around a Russian air force Su-25 military jet on the tarmac of Heymim air base in Syria. (File: Reuters)

By Staff writer | Al Arabiya News
Monday, 5 October 2015

NATO told Russia on Thursday to focus its military operations in Syria on Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) militants as it condemned Russian violation of Turkish airspace earlier this year.

A statement said the incursions into Turkish airspace were an “extreme danger” and demanded that Moscow halt all attacks against the Syrian opposition and civilians.

“Allies strongly protest these violations of Turkish sovereign airspace and condemn these incursions into and violations of NATO airspace. Allies also note the extreme danger of such irresponsible behavior,” NATO said in a statement

“Allies also note the extreme danger of such irresponsible behavior. They call on the Russian Federation to cease and desist, and immediately explain these violations.”

[Developing story]

Last Update: Monday, 5 October 2015 KSA 19:14 - GMT 16:14
http://english.alarabiya.net/en/News/middle-east/2015/10/05/NATO-to-Russia-Focus-on-ISIS.html

 

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UK blasts Russia ‘asymmetric warfare’ in Syria

Frame grab taken from footage shows smoke rising after airstrikes carried out by Russian air force near Jisr al-Shughour. (Reuters)

By Reuters | Manchester
Monday, 5 October 2015

Russia is engaged in “classic asymmetric warfare” in Syria by using its military clout to prop up President Bashar al-Assad while saying it is attacking ISIS militants, Britain’s foreign minister said on Sunday.

Russia last week began striking targets in Syria - a dramatic escalation of foreign involvement in the civil war which has been criticized by the West as an attempt to prop up Assad, rather than its purported aim of attacking ISIS.

“It looks like a classic bit of Russian asymmetric warfare - you have a strong propaganda message that says you’re doing one thing while in fact you are doing something completely different and when challenged you just flatly deny it,” Philip Hammond told Reuters in an interview in Manchester.

IN OPINION: Russian airstrikes and selective outrage over Syria

He said Britain had held discussions with Russia but kept on getting the same response - that Moscow was attacking ISIS militants in Syria.

“You try talking to the Russians,” he said. “They just keep repeating their position – that is by the way also the Iranian position – and it is just incredible.”

He said that Britain needed “absolute clarity” that Assad would not be part of Syria’s future.

“That’s not some random bee in the bonnet that I’ve got; it’s that without that commitment we will never get the broad spectrum of Syrian opposition groups to sit down and agree around a table how we take forward the discussion about Syria’s future,” he said.

IN OPINION: ‘Managed transition’ vs. ‘management of savagery’ in Syria

Hammond dismissed proposals put forward by Russia and Iran for elections, saying Syria was “a million miles away” from being able to hold a free and fair vote.

“In a country where 250,000 people have been killed and 12 million people have been displaced, half of them outside the country – how can you talk about free and fair elections?” he said.

Hammond said the key to ending the suffering caused by the four-year civil war was a managed transition to peace - even if it meant Assad retained power temporarily.

“If the price for doing that is that we have to accept that Assad will remain as titular head of state for a period of time, do I really care if that’s three days, three weeks, three months or even longer? I don’t think I do,” he said.

But Hammond said that for such a transition, Assad should make a pledge not to run in any future election and that he would give up control over Syria’s security apparatus.

He added that there was no agreement with Moscow and Tehran on such a transition.

Last Update: Monday, 5 October 2015 KSA 08:32 - GMT 05:32
http://english.alarabiya.net/en/News/middle-east/2015/10/05/Russia-conducting-asymmetric-warfare-in-Syria.html

 

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French PM: Russia must not hit ‘wrong targets’ in Syria

In this photo made from the footage taken from Russian Defense Ministry official web site on Saturday, Oct. 3, 2015 a bomb explosion is seen in Syria. (File photo: AP)

By AFP | Kyoto, Japan
Sunday, 4 October 2015

French Prime Minister Manuel Valls urged Russia on Sunday to direct air strikes at ISIS militants alone in Syria, as the West raises concerns Moscow will target moderate rebel groups opposed to Syria’s president.

Speaking to journalists on a visit to Japan, Valls said Russia should not “get the wrong targets”, echoing the words of French President Francois Hollande to Russian President Vladimir Putin at a Paris summit on Friday.

Hollande said he had “reminded President Putin that the strikes should be aimed at Daesh and only Daesh,” using the Arabic acronym for ISIS.

Valls also called on Russia to spare civilian lives, hitting out at President Bashar al-Assad’s sanctioning of the use of destructive weapons against his own population.

“We cannot attack civilians... Bashar’s regime continues to drop barrels of petrol (barrel bombs) and chemical weapons on civilians and that is intolerable,” Valls said, going on to state his preference for a political transition in Syria that would exclude Assad.

Moscow carried out air strikes this week against what it said were ISIS militants, but Western governments believe Russia is using its campaign against “terrorists” as a pretext to weaken opponents of its strongman ally Assad.

U.S. President Barack Obama called Moscow’s actions a “recipe for disaster” on Friday.

The Russian defense ministry said the latest strikes had completely destroyed an IS facility used to produce explosive devices near the city of Maaret al-Numan in Idlib province in northwestern Syria, as well as a nearby base.

They also targeted central Hama province.

But several military sources and the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitoring group said Russia had hit areas controlled by groups other than ISIS.

Just five percent of the Russian strikes hit ISIS targets, according to the British defense ministry.

Syria was among the topics of discussion during a Friday dinner held by Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe for Valls in Kyoto.

Valls is attending a science conference in Kyoto Sunday, and heads to Tokyo in the afternoon.


Last Update: Sunday, 4 October 2015 KSA 09:44 - GMT 06:44
http://english.alarabiya.net/en/News/middle-east/2015/10/04/Russia-must-not-hit-wrong-targets-in-Syria-French-PM.html

 

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UK signals push for vote on Syria military action

Hawk aircrafts at the RAF base at Scampton, England. David Cameron was quoted as saying that British military attacks in Syria ‘may well become possible.’ (File photo: Reuters)


By Reuters and AFP | Manchester, England
Sunday, 4 October 2015

British Prime Minister David Cameron signaled that he would push ahead with plans for a vote in the British parliament to approve military action against ISIS militants in Syria, The Daily Telegraph newspaper said.

Cameron was quoted as saying that British military attacks in Syria “may well become possible.” Previously, Cameron has said he sees a strong case for extending British air strikes to Syria from Iraq.

Cameron lost a parliamentary vote on the use of force in Syria in 2013. Consequently, British bombing so far has only targeted ISIS in neighboring Iraq.

Later on Sunday Cameron said that Vladimir Putin’s decision to take military action in Syria to support Syrian President Bashar al-Assad was a “terrible mistake”.

“They are backing the butcher Assad, which is a terrible mistake for them and for the world. It’s going to make the region more unstable,” Cameron told the BBC on the first day of his Conservative Party’s annual conference in the northern city of Manchester.

Russia this week struck at targets in Syria, a dramatic escalation of foreign involvement in the civil war.

“Most of the Russian airstrikes, as far as we’ve been able to see so far, have been in parts of Syria not controlled by ISIL (ISIS), but controlled by other opponents of the regime,” Cameron said.

However The Daily Telegraph said Cameron does not believe Russian military involvement in the Syrian civil war should prevent Britain’s attempt to strike at Islamic State.

“What I am clear about is one of the biggest threats we have to respond to is that terrorist threat,” he was quoted as saying by the newspaper on the eve of the annual conference of his ruling Conservative Party in the northern English city of Manchester.

In a move that is likely to please many in his party, he said he would “beef up” Britain’s elite Special Air Service regiment (SAS) and buy 20 new drones – known as Protectors - as part of the battle with ISIS militants, the newspaper said.

After revealing last month that Britain had killed two of its own nationals who had been fighting for ISIS in Syria, Cameron indicated that British militants in Syria will be targeted by drones as a “last resort”, the newspaper said.

Meanwhile, British Foreign Minister Philip Hammond said on Sunday Russia cannot fight ISIS militants in Syria and support Assad at the same time.

"Russian support for him will drive the opposition in Syria into the arms of ISIL (Islamic State) strengthening the evil that (Russian President Vladimir) Putin says he wants to defeat," Hammond told the Conservative Party conference in the northern city of Manchester

Last Update: Sunday, 4 October 2015 KSA 17:31 - GMT 14:31
http://english.alarabiya.net/en/News/middle-east/2015/10/04/UK-signals-push-for-vote-on-Syria-military-action.html

 

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