Wednesday, 19 September 2012

Syrian rebels get third border crossing to Turkey


07:05 |

Within the diplomatic front, Iranian Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi, as their country is Assad's main Midsection East ally, arrived in Damascus to contact the Syrian leader about proposals by regional powers to eliminate the 17-month Syrian crisis.

Salehi's talks followed a meeting in Cairo on Monday with the "Contact Group", grouping Iran, Egypt, Chicken and Saudi Arabia. Salehi said before leaving Cairo the four states had a "great role" to play and might table a proposal that might build a satisfactory result but that this needed more talks.

In your Syrian capital Damascus, rebels said they had started to retreat from southern districts in the beginning Wednesday after weeks of heavy bombardment and government air hits.

The neighborhoods of Hajar al-Aswad, al-Asali and al-Qadam lie for the southern edge of what is considered Damascus proper and a withdrawal will be seen as a large setback after rebel gains inside the capital three months ago.

Your revolt, which began as calm street protests cracked down in by Assad's military, has escalated into a civil war in which in excess of 27, 000 people have passed on. Daily death tolls now approach 200 and also the last month was the bloodiest but.

London-based Amnesty International said within a report on Wednesday that civilians, as well as many children, are the primary victims of indiscriminate Syrian armed service bombing and shelling of places abandoned to opposition forces.

The international human rights group said attacks near hospitals and on bread queues seemed to be deliberately targeted at civilians, thereby constituted war crimes.

Government forces use "battlefield weapons which is not aimed at specific targets, knowing that the victims of such indiscriminate attacks are nearly always civilians, " said Amnesty's Senior Crisis Response Adviser Donatella Rovera.

CHEMICAL WEAPONS PLANS

A former Syrian general was quoted on Wednesday as stating that his country had used plans to turn chemical weaponry against rebels and civilians with Aleppo. He said he was interested in top-level talks before defecting to Turkey ninety days ago.

"We were in a serious discussion about the usage of chemical weapons, including how we would use them and in precisely what areas, " Major-General Adnan Sillu told The times newspaper.

"We discussed this to be a last resort — such just as if the regime lost control associated with an important area such as Aleppo. inches

Sillu said Syria, which began to acquire to be able to develop and produce chemical weaponry agents in 1973, also considered transferring chemical weapons towards the Lebanon-based Shi'ite Muslim Hezbollah group - a move that could prompt Israel into action.

Activists stated 170 people, mostly civilians, were killed on Tuesday.

At your Tel Abyad border crossing, among seven main crossing points for the Turkish-Syrian border, television footage confirmed rebels tearing down a Syrian the flag above one government building.

"I can confirm that the (Tel Abyad) gate has fallen. It is under the full control of the rebels, inches a Turkish official said.

Your fighting, which started on The following thursday evening, appeared to be the initial attempt by insurgents to assert their grip spanning a border zone in Syria's al-Raqqa land, most of which has continued to be solidly pro-Assad.

Rebels hold two other crossings for the northern border with Turkey. A third border point would help strengthen their control inside the north and put more pressure for the army as they battle intended for control of Syria's largest city Aleppo not miles away.

"FIGHTERS WILL BE BACK"

Throughout Damascus, a rebel fighter told Reuters that civilians was fleeing the southern suburbs for days and after this rebels were withdrawing as we were holding unable to resist the heavy bombardment.

"They're withdrawing to another area because we just don't have enough weapons to maintain up our hit and run procedures. Also, we've got a lots of wounded people and many martyrs. The wounded need treatment and also the fighters need some rest, inches said Moaz, a rebel with Damascus, who was wounded last week.

"The regime is bent on destroying all of the southern region to try to maintain us from advancing. But the southern areas are very large, so the regime will move into one area and comb this for rebels, while we move to another. There are a lots of places we can go, and also the fighters will be back for you to fight again soon. "

Syrian state television said the armed forces had freed four employees through an electricity terminal building in Hajar al-Aswad as soon as the men were kidnapped by "terrorists, " a broad brush term they use to reference the opposition.

On Wednesday, activists uploaded a video connected with 11 dead bodies laid on a lawn of a mosque in your Damascus suburb of Jobar.

The bloodied corpses were outlined on white stretchers and seemed to have been shot dead. Many of the men checking the bodies were sobbing. Activists had scribbled the names of some of the dead on white paper and also the unknown were marked with lots. Activists said several of the bodies were men who had previously been arrested by Assad's forces and executed.

REFUGEES FLEE FIGHTING

Your civil war in Syria can be spilling over its borders, with related sectarian violence in Lebanon and tens of thousands of refugees living in nearby countries.

One Turkish woman and the woman daughter were wounded on The following thursday night by stray bullets on the fight for the border gate and an official said other bullets had smashed windows in several houses along the border.

Salehi said his mission was to "consult with (Syrian) officials to achieve a unified conclusion on a remedy to the Syrian crisis. " But the international community has failed to halt the violence.

Western and Arabic countries have all demanded in which Assad step down. Iran has stood staunchly by Assad, agreeing the revolt is a foreign-backed conspiracy theory and accusing Saudi Arabia and Turkey of helping the rebels that are fighting to topple him.

Russia and China, both veto-wielding You. N. Security Council members, include blocked three resolutions condemning Assad.

In Wednesday, Syrian National Council (SNC) scalp Abdulbaset Sieda told pan-Arab al-Hayat newspaper that Iran was "part of the problem" and mustn't be involved in efforts to take care of the Syrian crisis.

He called on Arab states to figure together to effect an international intervention in Syria just like campaign in Libya, which assisted to topple Libya's Muammar Gaddafi.

Even though the West has shied away through intervention in Syria, France's ambassador to Syria explained to France Inter radio on Wednesday which he had been instructed by President Francois Hollande to aid organize the opposition, including network . groups, and that Paris was "seriously" discussing the matter of arming the rebels.

"We are working with the opposition to aid them organize themselves and For a nice and instructed by the president to talk with all the components of your opposition, including, and we are the 1st country to do it in their normal structured way, armed groups, inches Eric Chevallier said.

French International Minister Laurent Fabius has repeatedly said Paris, which is offering non-lethal aid to rebels as well as communications equipment and night vision goggles, would not give weapons presented the embargo and for fears the weapons could get into the wrong hands.


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