April 30, 2013 - SYRIA - US President Barack Obama has voiced concern to his Russian counterpart
Vladimir Putin about reports that Syria has used chemical weapons.
Obama Tells Putin Of Concern Over Syrian Chemical Arms.
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President Obama has pledged to investigate claims
that Syria has used chemical weapons |
In a
phone conversation, the two leaders agreed to stay in touch on the
issue, tasking their foreign ministers to hold further talks. The US
earlier said it had "varying degrees of confidence" that chemical
weapons had been used in Syria. The government in Damascus have
denounced the claims as "lies". In
a statement, the White House said on Monday that Mr Obama and Mr Putin
talked on the phone on Monday, with the US leader "underscoring his
concern over Syrian chemical weapons".
Washington has repeatedly
criticised Russia - along with China - for blocking tougher action
against Syria in the UN Security Council, including new sanctions. Mr
Putin and Mr Obama are scheduled to hold a face-to-face talks in June.
Mr Obama last week promised a "vigorous investigation" into the issue.
He warned that it would be a "game changer" for US policy if the reports
about chemical weapons were to be proved true. Both the US and UK have
pointed to emerging evidence that Syria has used weapons such as the
nerve gas sarin. The Syrian government has dismissed claims that its
forces have used chemical weapons, saying that the Western accusations
"do not have any credibility". More than 70,000 people have been killed
since fighting between Syrian forces and rebels erupted in March 2011. -
BBC.
'US Mulls Way To Hit Syria Chemical Weapons Sites'.
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| The Pentagon Photo: Digital Vision |
There is increasing speculation that Washington is considering an aerial or sea missile attack on Syrian chemical weapons sites, a CNN correspondent reported on Monday. The report quoted an anonymous senior administration official as saying, "there is intensified planning in the works." "As the situation in Syria becomes more grave and as we are increasingly concerned about chemical weapons use in Syria, it's the responsibility of the US military to prepare detailed options," the official said. US President Barack Obama has not asked for the strike options yet, but the Pentagon is preparing all military options, the official continued. Foot troops involvement has been discussed, but a missile strike is a far likelier scenario, even though Syrian chemical stockpiles are constantly moved around the country to avoid being located. Israel has joined Turkey and Jordan in discussions about possible courses of action if Syria threatens them with the use of chemical weapons, according to the report.
There is increasing speculation that Washington is considering an aerial or sea missile attack on Syrian chemical weapons sites, a CNN correspondent reported on Monday. The report quoted an anonymous senior administration official as saying, "there is intensified planning in the works." "As the situation in Syria becomes more grave and as we are increasingly concerned about chemical weapons use in Syria, it's the responsibility of the US military to prepare detailed options," the official said. US President Barack Obama has not asked for the strike options yet, but the Pentagon is preparing all military options, the official continued. Foot troops involvement has been discussed, but a missile strike is a far likelier scenario, even though Syrian chemical stockpiles are constantly moved around the country to avoid being located. Israel has joined Turkey and Jordan in discussions about possible courses of action if Syria threatens them with the use of chemical weapons, according to the report.
Recently Egyptian and Iranian government officials conducted a meeting to discuss their growing concerns that the US may choose to carry out a military operation in Syria, Arab newspaper 'Al-Akhbar' reported. "There are serious moves being made by the US that imply an imminent strike on Damascus," the paper quoted a senior Egyptian diplomat as saying. The diplomat added that there is a general consensus that Israel would likely have a hand in a US military operation in Syria, the report said.
Recently Egyptian and Iranian government officials conducted a meeting to discuss their growing concerns that the US may choose to carry out a military operation in Syria, Arab newspaper 'Al-Akhbar' reported. "There are serious moves being made by the US that imply an imminent strike on Damascus," the paper quoted a senior Egyptian diplomat as saying. The diplomat added that there is a general consensus that Israel would likely have a hand in a US military operation in Syria, the report said. -
JPOST.
Al-Qaeda's Battle For Control Of Assad's Chemical Weapons Plant.
Set
amid the rolling plains outside Aleppo, the town of al-Safira looks
just like another vicious battleground in Syria's civil war. On one side
are lightly-armed rebels, on the other are government troops, and in
between is a hotly-contested no-man's land of bombed-out homes and
burned-out military vehicles. The fight for al-Safira is no ordinary
turf war, however, and the prize can be found behind the perimeter walls
of the heavily-guarded military base on the edge of town. Inside what
looks like a drab industrial estate is one of Syria's main facilities
for producing chemical weapons - and among its products is sarin, the
lethal nerve gas that the regime is now feared to be deploying in its
bid to cling to power. Last week, Washington said for the first time
that it had evidence of Sarin being used in "small" amounts during
combat operations in Syria, a move that President Barack Obama has long
warned is a "red line" that President Bashar al-Assad must not cross.
But as the West now ponders its response, the fear is not just that
President Assad might start using his chemical arsenal in much greater
quantities. Of equal concern is the prospect of it falling into even
less benign hands - a risk that the stand-off at al Safira illustrates
clearly.
For among the rebel lines in al-Safira
flutters the black flag of the al-Nusra Brigade, the jihadist group that
recently declared its allegiance to al-Qaeda. Known for their fighting
prowess honed in Iraq, they are now taking the lead in nearly every
frontline in the Syrian war, and earlier this month, pushed to within
just over a mile of al-Safira, only to for the Syrian troops to regain
the ground last week. Should the tide of battle turn in al-Nusra's
favour again, though, there is the possibility of the West's worst-case
scenario unfolding - Syria's weapons of mass destruction falling into
al-Qaeda's control. More than 500 times as toxic as cyanide and deadly
in milligram-sized doses, a single canister of sarin could unleash
carnage if released on a Tube network in London or New York. Such grim
possibilities are now uppermost in the minds of Western officials as
they try to work out how to prevent Syria's vast chemical stockpiles
being unleashed, be it by President Assad on his own people, or by his
more extreme opponents on the outside world. Yet it is not just at
al-Safira that the danger lies. As the Syrian uprising has intensified
in the past year, the regime has been secretly moving its stockpiles to
weapons dumps all over the country, much of which it barely controls
anymore. Nobody knows, therefore, when or where a cache might be
captured by the opposition's more militant factions.
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| A location widely reported as a chemical weapons facility in Al Safirah Photo: Getty Images |
"The
West may be saying: 'A red line has been crossed, let's do something'.
But the question is what exactly can they do?" said Dina Esfandiary, an
expert on Syria's WMD programme with the International Institute for
Strategic Studies, the London-based defence and security think-tank.
"Syria's stockpiles of chemical weapons are huge, and President Assad
has done a very good job of hiding them all over the country." The
Syrian regime's chemical warchest is indeed vast - the biggest in the
Middle East, and the fourth largest in the world. Started in the 1970s
ranks with help from Syria's Cold War sponsor, Russia, today its
programme includes facilities for making mustard gas, sarin and another
nerve agent, VX, which stays lethal for much longer after dispersal. In
charge of the programme is the innocuous-sounding Scientific Studies
and Research Centre outside Damascus, a body officially tasked with
academic research. In practice, it reports directly to President Assad
and operates a string of chemical production facilities, some allegedly
developed with help from Iran and North Korea. As Syria has not signed
the international Chemical Weapons Convention, it has never declared
details of its stockpiles to the outside world. But outside intelligence
estimates reckon that Damascus has between 100 and 200 warheads filled
with sarin for its Scud missiles, and thousands of chemical artillery
bombs filled with sarin and VX. Nobody outside the Assad regime now
knows for certain where the stockpiles are
now: the contents of the plant at Safira, for example, may have been
moved
to other, more secret storage spaces for safekeeping. But that
uncertainty
adds to the challenge. With such a vast arsenal scattered nationwide,
the
West would face a formidable task were it to attempt to secure it by
force.
In December, the Pentagon told the Obama
administration that it would require upward of 75,000 troops - almost
half the number it took to topple Saddam Hussein. Such numbers would
amount to an invasion in everything but name, and would doubtless
attract hostility from both of Syria's warring sides. An alternative
would be smaller, ad hoc strikes of the sort that Israel has already
admitted to doing to stop the weapons falling into the hands of its
Lebanon-based enemy Hezbollah, whose Assad-backed fighters are now in
Syria helping defend the regime. But these would not be practical for a
large-scale neutralisation of the country's chemical threat, according
to Ms Esfandiary. "Airstrikes aren't reliable because they can just
release all the chemical agents into the air," she said. "Alternatively,
they only do half the job and then render a secure site open to
looters." Nor, she added, would quick-fire raids by small teams of
special forces be an alternative. "You would have to first secure the
sites and then do a careful analysis of what was there, followed by
controlled explosions. It is, frankly, a labour intensive job, and that
is why the Pentagon assessed it as requiring 75,000 men. "Besides,
there may be any number of caches hidden all over the place, and even if
you could look for them properly - which is difficult with a civil war
going on - you would run the risk of some being left behind."
Not
all the sites represent a genuine danger. Some store only the basic
component chemicals, which must be mixed first before being weaponised,
processes which require technical know-how. But others have cannisters
full of battle-ready nerve agents, which could be operated in crude
fashion simply by breaking them open. "They might not be quite as
effective in amateur hands, but the fact is that they are containers
full of very nasty stuff, and if they were opened on a Tube train it
would very dangerous," said Ms Esfandiary. "As an instrument of terror,
they also have a fear factor that more conventional weapons don't
have." Despite that, many analysts believe that the "red line" is now
simply being blurred rather than crossed. With only limited evidence of
Sarin use so far, they suspect Damascus is deliberately using such
weapons just occasionally to test - and gradually undermine -
Washington's resolve. President Assad, they reason, knows all too well
that a major chemical attack would leave the US no option but to take
action. But successive, smaller ones are a harder call, while still
having the desired effect of spreading terror among Damascus's foes.
Outside of Syria, it also has another desired effect - underlining the
differences between Mr Assad's opponents in the West. Last week, the
hawkish US Republican senator, John McCain, who lost to Mr Obama in the
2008 presidential race, called on America to send in troops to secure
factories such as al Safira. But Mr Obama shows no enthusiasm for doing
so, and this weekend he even appeared to adjust his language slightly,
saying that America would not permit the "systematic" use of chemical
weapons. Critics pointed out that proscribing the use of chemical
weapons on a "systematic" basis is not the same as proscribing their use
altogether. Yesterday, the Syrian information minister, Omran al-Zohbi,
described the US
claims of chemical weapons use as a "barefaced lie", insisting
that for both legal and "moral" reasons, Damascus would never
deploy them. But with Syria's civil war escalating daily, nobody -
least of
all a Syrian government minister - can guarantee that al Safira's
deadly
concoctions will remain safe forever. -
Telegraph.
'Missiles Fired At' Russian Plane With 159 Passengers Onboard Flying Over Syria.
Two missiles were reportedly fired at a Russian plane with at least
159 passengers on board that was flying over Syrian territory. Russian
officials admit the jet faced danger, but are not talking of a targeted
attack. The news broke in on Monday as Interfax, citing
“an informed
source in Moscow,” reported that a Russian passenger plane was
attacked. “
Syrian [officials] informed us that on Monday morning,
unidentified forces launched two ground-to-air missiles which
exploded in the air very close to a civilian aircraft belonging to
a Russian airline,” the source told the Russian agency. The pilots reportedly managed to maneuver the plane in time
however, “
saving the lives of passengers.” It is believed the aircraft was intentionally targeted, “
but
it remains unclear whether the attackers knew it was Russian or
not,” the source added. However, Russian officials, though admitting the plane might
have been endangered, are not yet talking of a targeted attack.
The Russian Foreign Ministry’s said on its website the plane’s
crew at 4.55 PM Moscow time (12.55 GMT) “
detected battle action
on the ground that, according to the crew, could constitute a
threat to the 159 passengers on board the plane.” The Russian Foreign Ministry is now “
taking emergency
measures to clarify all the circumstances of this situation,
including making contact with the Syrian authorities,” the
ministry’s spokesperson Aleksandr Lukashevich said.
The plane that was allegedly targeted belonged to Nordwind
Airlines – a Russian charter air carrier – and was identified as an
Airbus A320. On April 29 it was en route to the city of Kazan, in
Russia’s republic of Tatarstan, from Egypt's resort city of Sharm
el-Sheikh. So far, there are no grounds to claim that the aircraft became a
target of a missile attack, experts say. It was flying over a mountainous area in Syria when one of the
pilots noticed
“flashes on the ground.” After that, to keep
safe, it was decided to increase the height of the flight, Irina
Tyurina, a spokeswoman for Russian Union of Tourist Industry told
RIA Novosti. “
No one was injured, and the plane was not damaged. The
aircraft landed in Kazan as had been planned,” the Russian
Federal Agency for Tourism told news agencies. There were 159
passengers and eight crew members on-board the aircraft. Meanwhile, Syrian aviation authorities received no indication of
the alleged attack on the Russian plane, says the director of
Syrian Airlines, Ghaida Abdullatif:
WATCH: Russian passenger jet carrying 160 evades 'signs of war' over Syria.
“
We contacted the service that monitors traffic within Syrian
airspace. None of the air traffic control services or other ground
services at the airports in Damascus and Latakia have confirmed the
information of a Russian plane being fired at". Russian experts have already voiced their doubts that a
passenger plane can actually perform the kind of maneuvers that
would allow it to avoid a missile attack. “
Planes are usually attacked either from the side or from
above. A pilot could not have seen the missiles ,” Vladimir
Gerasimov, a Russian pilot and an expert on flight security told
RT. “
A passenger plane crew simply couldn’t see what’s behind. And
if something is approaching the plane from the opposite direction –
the speed doubles, so there is no time to do anything, ” he
added. The civil war in Syria between the government of President
Bashar Assad and opposition forces has been raging for over two
years, claiming the lives of more than 70,000 people according to
UN estimates. Assad says he is fighting an insurgency that has been
sponsored from abroad. -
RT.
Syrian Prime Minister Survives Damascus Bombing, Six Die.
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People stand near debris and a damaged vehicle after an explosion at
al-Mezze neighbourhood in Damascus April 29, 2013, in this handout
photograph distributed by Syria's national news agency SANA.
Credit: Reuters/SANA/Handout
|
Syria's prime minister survived a bomb attack on his convoy in Damascus on Monday, as rebels struck in the heart of President Bashar al-Assad's capital. Six people were killed in the blast, the British-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said. Previous rebel attacks on government targets included a December bombing which wounded Assad's interior minister. U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon condemned the bombing, which he described as a "terrorist attack." As prime minister, Wael al-Halki wields little power but the attack highlighted the rebels' growing ability to target symbols of Assad's authority in a civil war that, according to the U.N., has cost more than 70,000 lives. Assad picked Halki in August to replace Riyadh Hijab, who defected and escaped to neighboring Jordan just weeks after a bombing killed four of the president's top security advisers. Monday's blast shook the Mezze district soon after 9 a.m. (2.00 a.m. EDT), sending thick black smoke into the sky. The Observatory said one man accompanying Halki was killed as well as five passers-by.
WATCH: Deadly Blast - Car bomb hits Damascus school, targets Syrian PM.
State television showed firemen hosing down the charred and mangled remains of a car. Close by was a large white bus, its windows blown out and its seats gutted by fire. Glass and debris were scattered across several lanes of a main road. "Dr. Wael al-Halki is well and not hurt at all," state television said. It later broadcast footage of Halki, who appeared composed and unruffled, chairing what it said was an economic committee. In comments released by the state news agency SANA but not shown on television, Halki was quoted as condemning the attack as a sign of "bankruptcy and failure of the terrorist groups", a reference to the rebels battling to overthrow Assad. Mezze is part of a shrinking "Square of Security" in central Damascus, where many government and military institutions are based and where senior officials live. Sheltered for nearly two years from the destruction ravaging much of the rest of Syria, it has been sucked into violence as rebel forces based to the east of the capital launch mortar attacks and carry out bombings in the center.
CHEMICAL WEAPONS
Assad has lost control of large areas of northern and eastern Syria, faces a growing challenge in the southern province of Deraa, and is battling rebels in many cities. But his forces have been waging powerful ground offensives, backed by artillery and air strikes, against rebel-held territory around the capital and near the central city of Homs which links Damascus to the heartland of Assad's minority Alawite sect in the mountains overlooking the Mediterranean. As part of that counter-offensive, Assad's forces probably used chemical weapons, the United States and Britain have said. However, the trans-Atlantic allies, whose 2003 invasion of Iraq to overthrow Saddam Hussein was based in part on flawed intelligence about an Iraqi program of weapons of mass destruction, have been cautious in their accusations. Ban said on Monday that investigators have been gathering and analyzing available information on alleged chemical attacks in Syria, but full access to the war-torn country is essential for a "credible and comprehensive inquiry. Assad's government has refused to give the U.N. inspection team the kind of unfettered access inside Syria that Ban is demanding. As a result, the team has yet to deploy to Syria. A Western diplomat said British officials had shown the head of the U.N. inspection team, Ake Sellstrom of Sweden, evidence on which London based its assertion that there was "limited but growing" evidence of chemical weapons use - possibly the nerve agent sarin - by Syrian troops. But Sellstrom found the evidence inconclusive, said the diplomat, speaking on condition of anonymity. President Barack Obama repeated U.S. concerns about Syrian chemical weapons in a phone conversation with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Monday, the White House said, adding that the two leaders agreed to stay in contact. The United States is trying to determine the facts around alleged Syrian use of chemical weapons. Last week U.S. officials said they had "varying degrees of confidence" that such weapons were used in Syria, which if proven with certainty could trigger unspecified U.S. action against the Syrian government. Despite congressional pressure to do more to help the rebels, the U.S. president has made clear he is in no rush to intervene on the basis of preliminary evidence. A U.N. team of experts has been waiting to travel to Syria to gather field evidence, but has yet to win agreement from Syrian authorities who want it to investigate only government accusations of chemical weapon use by rebels in Aleppo province. Russia, which has criticized Western and Gulf Arab support for the anti-Assad fighters, said that attempts by Western countries to expand the U.N. inquiry to cover rebel accusations of Syrian government use of chemicals in Homs and Damascus mounted to a pretext to intervene in the civil war. The U.N. said in February that around 70,000 people had been killed in Syria's conflict. Since then activists have reported daily death tolls of between 100 and 200. Five million people have fled their homes, including 1.4 million refugees in nearby countries, and financial losses are estimated at many tens of billions of dollars. The Beirut-based U.N. Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia estimates that 400,000 houses have been completely destroyed, 300,000 partially destroyed and a further half million have suffered some kind of structural damage. -
Reuters.
WATCH: RT's CrossTalk - Syrian Tipping Point?
