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02 June 2012

Synopsis: Clashes Leave 19 Dead As Powers Warn Syria Is Descending Into Civil War: Al Arabiya Clashes broke out between Syrian troops and rebels outside Damascus on Saturday as world powers warned of the country descending into civil war. (Source: Dubai, UAE; Independent; Claim Neutrality) Arab League Urges More UN Monitors In Syria: Al Jazeera The head of the Arab League has asked the UN Security Council to boost the size of a UN mission in Syria and give it expanded powers to protect people following a surge in violence there, according to a letter leaked to media outlets on Friday. (Source: Doha, Qatar; Independent; Website of the TV Network; Claim Neutrality) Annan Warns Of 'All-Out' Sectarian War in Syria: Jerusalem Post International peace envoy Kofi Annan warned on Saturday that Syria was slipping into "all-out" war, and a Syrian opposition figure said Russia had become part of the problem and should urge President Bashar Assad to quit power. Prime Minister Sheikh Hamad bin Jassim al-Thani of Qatar - which has backed arming Sunni Muslim insurgents fighting to topple Assad, a member of Syria's minority Alawite sect - said Annan should set a time limit for his mission. (Source: Israel, Independent, Right-of-center) Syria Opposition Fingers Iran: News 24 The opposition Syrian National Council (SNC) on Friday accused Iran of "interference in Syrian affairs" by providing Damascus with military aid, and called for an Arab League and UN probe. (Source: Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan; Independent; Neutral) Russia Wants To Be the Sponsor Of the Alternative Regime in Syria: Al Arabiya The major developments in both Egypt and Syria last week have proven wrong all those who assume that monopolizing power today is still possible, whether in the form of a regime that has for decades practiced the monopoly of power, or in the form of political parties which are new to government and which have become intoxicated with power. (Source: Dubai, UAE; Independent; Claim Neutrality) U.S. Publishes Satellite Images of Syria: Peyamner A U.S. government website on Friday published what it said was photographic evidence of mass graves and attacks on civilian areas by Syrian government forces. (Source: Arbil, Iraqi Kurdistan; Concentrates on Iraqi Kurdistan and Kurdish Areas) Witnesses to al-Houla Massacre: Massacres were Carried out against Specific Families that Support the Government: SANA Two witnesses to al-Houla massacre said that the massacres in that area were carried out by armed terrorists who targeted specific families that supported the government and refused to join protests, bear arms or pay money to the terrorists. (Source: Sana'a, Yemen; Official; State-run) US, Russia In Dispute Over Syria Arms Supply: Al Bawaba The Hula massacre is the result of foreign financial aid and arms deliveries to Syrian rebels, said Friday the Russian Foreign Ministry in a statement. (Source: Amman, Jordan; Popular Arab media; Daily; Claims Neutrality) Hollande Says No Syria Solution Unless Assad Goes As Putin Warns Of Civil War: Al Arabiya French President Francois Hollande said on Friday that the only way out of the ongoing crisis in Syria was the departure of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, which would require an increase in international pressure and more U.N. sanctions. (Source: Dubai, UAE; Independent; Claim Neutrality)

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02 June 2012

Supporting Documentation:

02 Jun 2012 Al Arabiya Clashes Leave 19 Dead As Powers Warn Syria Is Descending Into Civil War Clashes broke out between Syrian troops and rebels outside Damascus on Saturday as world powers warned of the country descending into civil war. Arab League Secretary General Nabil al-Arabi said he had asked the U.N. Security Council to take strong action in order to protect civilians in Syria. I sent a letter to the U.N. Security Council asking it to undertake all necessary measures to protect the Syrian people, Arabi told AFP shortly before the opening of a meeting of the ministerial committee on the Syrian crisis. Asked if he had called for armed action against the regime of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, Arabi said: I have not referred to military intervention. Qatar meanwhile urged U.N. envoy Kofi Annan to set a timeframe for his Syria peace mission, and asked the UN Security Council to apply Chapter VII which permits military intervention. We request Mr. Annan to set a timeframe for his mission because it is unacceptable that massacres and bloodshed continue while the mission is ongoing indefinitely, Qatar Prime Minister Sheikh Hamad bin Jassim AlThani told a ministerial committee on Syria attended by Annan. We demand the U.N. Security Council to refer the six-point (Annan plan) to Chapter VII so that the international community could assume responsibilities, he said. Syrian troops conducted raids in search of anti-regime militants and clashed with rebels in several regions of the country, with at least 19 people killed, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said. In central Homs province, one civilian was killed during raids of the town of Karatin, and a man and his daughter were fatally shot on a bus on the road to Talbisseh. Homs city was bombarded by shelling by regime forces for several hours overnight, leaving one rebel dead, according to the Britain-based watchdog. Further north, in the coastal region of Latakia, the army attacked Kurdish communities, bombing from helicopters an area known as Kurdish Mountains. Injuries were reported but no deaths. In Damascus province, one civilian was killed and five others were injured in Kafar Batna, the target of gunfire and explosions. And in the town of Douma outside Damascus, heavy gunfire was reported. Near the capital, at least eight soldiers were killed at dawn during fighting with rebels of the Free Syrian Army (FSA) in the area of Al-Ghouta Al-Sharqiyah. And tensions spilled into neighboring Lebanon, as clashes between pro- and anti-Damascus gunmen killed one man and wounded five other people in the northern city of Tripoli.

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02 June 2012

On Friday, world leaders voiced fears that Syria, wracked by a nearly 15-month uprising against President Bashar al-Assad, stood on the brink of civil war. Independent probe At the same time in Geneva, the Human Rights Council ordered an independent probe to hunt those guilty of a massacre last week in Houla that rights chief Navi Pillay said could constitute a crime against humanity. Forty-one of the 47-member council backed a call urging an investigation by the Commission of Inquiry on Syria, set up by the council last year to gather evidence on alleged rights abuses. Russia and China, key allies of Assad, voted against the resolution, which they said was unbalanced, as it presumed the guilt of the Syrian authorities for the massacre of 108 people, mostly women and children. On Friday, a U.S. government website published what it said was photographic evidence of mass graves and attacks on civilian areas by Syrian government forces. The website, operated by a bureau of the State Department, published a series of overhead photos, said to be taken earlier this week by commercial satellite, showing what it said were mass graves dug following the Houla massacre. They also showed apparent artillery impact craters near civilian areas of a town called Atarib. U.N. peacekeeping chief Herve Ladsous said earlier this week that the people who died from artillery and tank fire were clearly victims of government shelling while the others were most likely killed by shabbiha militia loyal to Assad. Signs of civil war Russian President Vladimir Putin, who met separately with German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Francois Hollande on Friday, warned that the situation in Syria was extremely dangerous and said he saw emerging signs of a civil war. But he struck a fiery tone in a press conference with Hollande, indicating that Assads departure would not in itself resolve the crisis. Hollande kept up the pressure for decisive action, insisting that Assad leaving power was a prerequisite for a political transition. After talks with U.N. chief Ban Ki-moon in Istanbul, British Foreign Secretary William Hague voiced similar concerns. Both the secretary general and I -- and also the opposition in Syria -- think that Syria is on the edge of a catastrophic situation... on the edge of an all-out civil war and the collapse of Syria into sectarian strife, Hague said. Speaking in Lebanon, Annan spoke of his frustration at the slow progress in implementing his six-point peace plan that was supposed to begin with a ceasefire from April 12 but that has been violated daily. The London-based Syrian Observatory says as many as 2,300 of the more than 13,400 people killed since the uprising against Bashar al-Assads regime began in March last year have died since the ceasefire began.

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02 June 2012

The rebel Free Syrian Army said the Annan plan had failed and announced that it would resume defensive operations after an ultimatum for the regime to adhere to the plan expired at noon Friday. The U.N. ceasefire observer mission in Syria is now at full strength, with nearly 300 military monitors in the conflict-stricken country, a U.N. peacekeeping spokesman said Friday. Because of the worsening violence and Assads failure to meet commitments under an agreed peace plan, the United States has warned that it may not agree to renew the mission, whose mandate expires on July 20.

02 Jun 2012 Al Jazeera Arab League Urges More UN Monitors In Syria The head of the Arab League has asked the UN Security Council to boost the size of a UN mission in Syria and give it expanded powers to protect people following a surge in violence there, according to a letter leaked to media outlets on Friday. Images of the bloodied bodies of children and others massacred in the city of Houla in attacks blamed on President Bashar al-Assad's forces have shocked the world and highlighted the failure of a six-week-old UN-backed ceasefire plan to stop the violence in the 14-month uprising against Assad's rule. Nabil Elaraby, secretary-general of the Arab League, condemned the attacks in a letter to the Security Council. "I therefore urge you to move quickly to end all acts of violence taking place in Syria, and to take the necessary measures to protect Syrian civilians, including increasing the number of international monitors and allowing them the necessary powers to put a stop to the violations and crimes being committed," Elaraby said in the letter. Elaraby, who has said the violence was intended to undercut a truce brokered by international mediator Kofi Annan that never took hold, is struggling to keep alive Annan's six-point peace plan and avert full-scale civil war in Syria. Security Council diplomats in New York said they received the letter, although it was not immediately clear how they would react. Calls for investigation The latest diplomatic development came as Aleppo, Syria's second city, saw on Friday its largest protests since the country's uprising began in March 2012. Amateur footage posted online by activists showed anti-government protesters being dispersed before they reached the city centre. Meanwhile, the UN Human Rights Council has condemned Syria for last week's massacre in the Houla region and called for a UN investigation to identify the perpetrators and gather evidence for possible criminal prosecution. The 47-member forum, which held an emergency session in Geneva, adopted a resolution on Friday by a vote of 41 states in favour to three against - China, Cuba and Russia - with two abstentions and one delegation absent. The resolution was put forward by Qatar, Turkey and the US amid international outrage at the killing of 108 people, nearly half of them children, in Houla a week ago.

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02 June 2012

Speaking to Al Jazeera from Geneva, Laura Dupuy Lasserre, the permanent representative of Uruguay to the UN and also the president of the Human Rights Council, said the council holds the Syrian government responsible for the violence in Houla. "The council in its resolution understands that pro-regime elements and Syrian govenrment artillery and tank shelling were used against residential neighbourhoods. That means: attacking the civilian population," Dupuy Lasserre said. "Nevertheless, it reiterates that all violence in all its forms by all parties must seize as well." The 193-nation UN General Assembly is planning to meet next Thursday to discuss the escalating crisis in Syria and the Houla massacre. International mediator Kofi Annan and Navi Pillay, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, are expected to address the assembly, UN diplomats told the Reuters news agency. Annan will also speak to the 15-nation UN Security Council that day about the lack of progress implementing his six-point peace plan. Syrian rejection Syria's delegation at the Human Rights Council accused "terrorists" of carrying out the killings - its term for antigovernment fighters - and rejected the text as politically motivated interference. It said its own investigation was under way. "The perpetrators will be brought to the courts and will not go unpunished," Syrian diplomat Tamim Madani told the meeting before the vote. "Voting for this resolution is tantamount to killing the victims again." Pillay said Syrian forces and pro-government armed men accused of committing the slaughter could face prosecution for crimes against humanity, in a speech read out on her behalf. She again called for the Security Council to refer Syria to the prosecutor of the International Criminal Court. But Russia and China, which dismissed the text as "unbalanced", said that UN observers were already investigating the massacre and there was no need for duplication. Vladimir Putin, the Russian president, warned on Friday of an "extremely dangerous" situation in Syria but rejected military intervention as he met with Angela Merkel, the German chancellor, in Berlin. Hours later, in a joint press conference with French President Francois Hollande, Putin said "sanctions hardly ever work in an efficient manner" and indicating that Assad's departure would not in itself resolve the crisis. "What is happening in Libya? What is happening in Iraq? Has it become safer there?" he said in Paris. "We propose to act in an accurate, balanced manner at least in Syria." But Hollande kept up the pressure for decisive action, insisting that Assad's departure was "a prerequisite for a political transition" and that "there must be sanctions" against his regime.

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02 June 2012

"Bashar al-Assad's regime has conducted itself in an unacceptable and intolerable manner. It has committed acts that disqualify itself" from governing, said Hollande.

02 Jun 2012 Jersusalem Post Annan Warns Of 'All-Out' Sectarian War in Syria International peace envoy Kofi Annan warned on Saturday that Syria was slipping into "all-out" war, and a Syrian opposition figure said Russia had become part of the problem and should urge President Bashar Assad to quit power. "The specter of an all-out war, with an alarming sectarian dimension, grows by the day," Annan told a meeting of members of the Arab League, co-sponsor with the United Nations of a peace plan aimed at ending the bloodshed in Syria. Burhan Ghalioun of the Syrian National Council, the divided body claiming to speak for political opposition to Assad, said: "With its support of the regime and for Assad remaining, Russia has become part of the problem rather than part of the solution. If it cooperates to find a formula that makes Assad leave, it will become part of the solution." Prime Minister Sheikh Hamad bin Jassim al-Thani of Qatar - which has backed arming Sunni Muslim insurgents fighting to topple Assad, a member of Syria's minority Alawite sect - said Annan should set a time limit for his mission. He also called on the UN Security Council to put Annan's plan - based on a ceasefire that has yet to take hold, and that is meant to lead to a negotiated end to the Syrian crisis - under Chapter 7 of the UN charter, a measure that could authorise the use of force. "We want the Security Council to refer the six-point (Annan) plan to a Chapter 7 resolution. We, the international community, cannot accept the situation to continue as it is," he said. The fighting continued on Saturday as Syrian rebels fighting to oust Assad killed six soldiers in the southern province of Deraa and at least eight others in clashes on the outskirts of the capital Damascus, a monitoring group reported. "There were heavy clashes between Syrian forces and fighters from the opposition in (Deraa)... resulting in the death of at least 6 Syrian troops," the British-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said in a statement. "At dawn, there were violent clashes in al-Ghouta (near Damascus), killing at least eight Syrian troops," it added. The Observatory said that two civilians were also killed on Saturday, one during army raids in Damascus and one by gunfire in the central city of Homs, where activists say the army has been waging a shelling offensive on opposition districts.

02 Jun 2012 News 24 Syria Opposition Fingers Iran The opposition Syrian National Council (SNC) on Friday accused Iran of "interference in Syrian affairs" by providing Damascus with military aid, and called for an Arab League and UN probe.

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02 June 2012

"Despite the Syrian regime's crimes... the Iranian regime seems determined to provide it with full military, security, economic and political support," the SNC said in a statement. "Iranian interference in Syrian affairs includes the training of pro-regime militias on the repression of protests," it said. The SNC charged that Tehran was providing Damascus with surveillance technology and weapons, including explosives, machineguns, heavy artillery and tanks. "Iran's Revolutionary Guard have taken part in security operations to persecute anti-regime dissidents," the statement added. The opposition coalition demanded that the Arab League and the UN Security Council "investigate" Iran's involvement, adding that the Iranian regime was "complicit in trying to ignite a civil war in Syria". The UN Security Council "must condemn and take the necessary steps, while preventing the illegal arrival of Iranian weapons and equipment to the Syrian regime", it said. "Tehran has also pumped billions of dollars [to the Syrian regime] through banks in Lebanon and Iraq, in order to prevent the economy from collapsing," the SNC added. The SNC also accused Iran of complicity in "the crimes committed by the [Syrian] regime", and of "denying the regime's responsibility for these crimes".

02 Jun 2012 Al Arabiya Russia Wants To Be the Sponsor Of the Alternative Regime in Syria By Raghida Dergham The major developments in both Egypt and Syria last week have proven wrong all those who assume that monopolizing power today is still possible, whether in the form of a regime that has for decades practiced the monopoly of power, or in the form of political parties which are new to government and which have become intoxicated with power. The number of votes obtained by the Muslim Brotherhood in the presidential elections has diminished compared to the parliamentary elections and this should awaken the leaders of this party and of other Islamist political parties to the fact that a large segment of the Egyptian people does not want to once again fall victim and hostage to the monopoly of power. Indeed, people have grown weary of broken promises, and the youths of Egypt do not want to topple a tyrannical regime in order to replace it with another religiously inclined tyrannical regime that has made use of political assassinations as one of the means to attain power, by its own admittance. Egypt may be in danger of slipping into chaos over the next few days as a result of former President Hosni Mubaraks trial coinciding with a verdict being issued that could lead to dissolving the parliament, as well as with a decision being issued that may result in the exclusion of Ahmed Shafik, one of the candidates to the second round of elections which would undermine the nature of the electoral process and set up the candidate of the Muslim Brotherhood as President of the Republic. Anything is possible in Egypts ordeal of change.

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02 June 2012

Regarding Syrias ordeal of change, the element of the Muslim Brotherhood has begun to find its way to the discussions taking place among the major powers, which are thinking of solutions to the current situation in Syria first, because of its importance at the domestic level in Syria; and second, as a result of the repercussions of the rise of Islamists to power in Egypt and in other countries, which the United States has welcomed, and perhaps encouraged, at least from the point of view of Russia. The major events unfolding in both Syria and Egypt deserve an in-depth analysis of what they entail in terms of a new aspect of the process of change currently taking place. To begin with, let us examine Syria and Russia. Russian messages on the issue of Syria intentionally suggest two contradictory conclusions, namely: that Moscow will not abandon the regime in Damascus and will not accept for it to be replaced; and that Moscow has entered as party to negotiations to apply the model of the Yemeni solution to Syrian president Bashar al-Assad, i.e. to secure his departure from power with guarantees that he and his family would not be subjected to prosecution. Such contradiction seems to represent a well thought-out policy by Moscow, which does not trust the promises of the United States or the stances taken by the North Atlantic Alliance (NATO). It seeks to hold the solutions in Syria and seeks for trade-offs over different issues to be part of the Grand Bargain which would ensure for Vladimir Putins Russia the status of a major power. Russian President Vladimir Putin has sent envoys to several parties in order to inform of his desire or rather his decision to apply the model of the Yemeni solution, according to a high-ranking source who received Russias envoy. If the said source and the Russian message prove true, this would mean that Moscow has not restricted its discussion in this direction to the Russian-American channel. And that is noteworthy. It is noteworthy, yet it has also led some to consider Russias stance, which publicly insists on not changing the regime, to represent an attempt to ensure safe passage to the Syrian President and his family, provided that guarantees that the regime in Damascus would be maintained are obtained. Others have interpreted these stances on the basis that there was no way to separate the family from the regime, and that what Moscow means is thus not for the Baath Party to remain in control of the monopoly of power, but rather that Moscow will not accept for the regime in Damascus to be toppled and for the Muslim Brotherhood to rise to power in its stead. Russia has, from the beginning, made it clear to the other major powers with permanent membership at the Security Council that it rejects the rise of Islamists to power in Syria. Indeed, it has interpreted the stances taken by the West and especially the United States in the places where change has occurred in the Arab World as another bargain having been struck with the Islamists in order to draft a new regional map that would intentionally exclude Russia, in order to remove its influence from the region. Putins Moscow remembered that the collapse of the Soviet Union and the beginning of its fragmentation had come through the gateway of Afghanistan, when the United States allied with Jihadists and with the countries of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC). This had been the key to ending the era of the two poles and starting that of the United States monopoly over the superpower status. Moreover, Russia felt that the rise of Islamists to power would surround it at its borders through the five Muslim republics of Central Asia, in addition to the repercussions of such a rise on Chechnya. For all of these reasons, what Moscow wants in any Grand Bargain is, first, for the United States and the other members of NATO to recognize Russias status as an active major power, and one that is entitled to a strategic foothold in the region starting from Syria; and second, for those countries not to dare make light of it or insult it at the Security Council, as they did, in Moscows opinion, in the way they dealt with the Libyan uprising.

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02 June 2012

Third, the anger shown by Russia and the risks it is taking with its relations with the six GCC countries certainly have an Iranian and a Syrian dimension, but they essentially stem from its overwhelming discontent at the features of the semi-alliance that emerged between NATO and the GCC on the issue of Libya, and what this entails in terms of forging a partnership between the two for the sole purpose of defining the features of a new regional order, and subsequently of a new world order. Russia has therefore resolved on the issue of Syria to do away with this partnership or alliance and to reshuffle cards, in order to inform all those it may concern that a mistake has been made than cannot be corrected, and that what has happened has struck a major blow in terms of relations of trust. Fourth, to return to the alternative regime in Damascus, Russia will not accept any American, Gulf Arab or other promises about Islamists/Jihadists according to its own understanding of them not seizing power. It wants to be the sponsor of the alternative regime itself, and has therefore reached a final decision regarding the Yemeni solution. Fifth, Iran is important for Russia, but Moscow does not link its fate at the Syrian level to its fate at the Iranian level. It is soundly analyzing the current situation and examining its options. One of these options is to move forward with strengthening the bonds of international consensus on the Iranian nuclear issue in order to protect Tehran from the military option, and as part of Moscows resolve not to allow the admission of the Islamic Republic of Iran as a new member of the nuclear club. The trade-off could take place in Syria, provided that the United States accepts for Moscow to take the drivers seat in finding a solution that would prevent the eruption of a bloody civil war in Syria, and for the authority to define the features of the alternative regime in Damascus to also be Russias. Anything else would lead to ever-increasing rigidity by Vladimir Putin and tension for his Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, despite the tremendous embarrassment caused them by the Syrian government and the massacres committed by the Shabbiha (statesponsored thugs) in order to eradicate the opposition. Damascus might interpret such a formula on the basis of Washington refusing to comply with Moscows wishes, and thus commit another grave mistake. Indeed, Syrias leadership is still implementing a strategy for remaining in power on the basis of its assumption that Moscow is still clinging to maintaining the regime in Damascus. It is wagering on NATOs unwillingness to direct any military strike, as well as on the period of time stretching until the American presidential elections in November, during which President Barack Obama will not be taking any risks. It is also wagering on a real fear among a substantial part of the Syrian population from the Islamists seizing power, and it is watching the events unfold in Egypt with a great deal of relief. The Muslim Brotherhoods candidate to the presidency of Egypt, Mohamed Morsi, seeks to send out reassurances by pledging to establish a presidential council that would include Copts, and a broadened coalition government that would not be headed by the Brotherhood. The Muslim Brotherhoods spiritual leader, Sheikh Yusuf al-Qaradawi, has come out with a new fatwa to reassure people about the rule of Islamists. And the head of Tunisias Ennahda (Renaissance) Movement, Rashid al-Ghannushi, has intentionally sent messages of moderation, pledging that there would be no monopoly or hoarding of power. He said, addressing the U.S.-Islamic World Forum held by the Brookings Institution in Doha this week, Our diagnosis of the facts on the ground was a source of error, and this has driven us to recognize the principle of consensus with others and the principle of citizenship as the basis for the distribution of rights. He implicitly admitted that Tunisias civil society had forced the Muslim Brotherhood to back down on imposing Sharia law in the constitution. Yet the battle for the constitution is ongoing in Tunisia, as it is in Egypt. And in Egypt, the Muslim Brotherhoods monopoly of all centers of power has come to frighten a large part of the Egyptian people, especially

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02 June 2012

those whose revolution was hijacked by Islamist movements that dedicated it to seizing power and to monopolizing the process of defining a new face for Egypt, one alien to the nature the country has had historically. Noteworthy is the fact that many American experts, or the circle of those who reject the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF), overlook basic foundations of the democracy and freedom which the Egyptian Revolution had sought after as they devote themselves to gaining the approval of the Islamists and consider them to represent the Revolution, frighteningly ignoring the youths who had made the Revolution happen. It is striking that the attempt by the Islamists to monopolize all branches of power does not worry them, just as they give no great importance to the personal status or the freedom of individuals sought by the liberals who overthrew the rule of tyranny and the monopoly of power. This might be the result of short-sightedness or of ill intent, but the rush of the Americans to embrace the Islamists has a strange flavor and a suspicious scent, especially as nonIslamist movements in Egypt are being intentionally marginalized and ignored. Perhaps this represents part of the doubts felt by some Egyptians towards the Islamists. And perhaps such a rush represents the unintended kiss of death. More importantly, there is an important lesson here for Islamist political parties, whether Salafist or whether affiliated with the Muslim Brotherhood, which is that the number of votes in their favor dropping by 50 percent in the presidential election must represent a necessary wake up call. Indeed, partnership in power is undoubtedly one of the rights of Islamist political parties, but seeking to monopolize power is unacceptable, whether it is new or old.

02 Jun 2012 Peyamner U.S. Publishes Satellite Images of Syria A U.S. government website on Friday published what it said was photographic evidence of mass graves and attacks on civilian areas by Syrian government forces. The website, operated by a bureau of the State Department, published a series of overhead photos, said to be taken earlier this week by commercial satellite, showing what it said were mass graves dug following a massacre near the town of Houla. They also showed apparent artillery impact craters near civilian areas of a town called Atarib. Included on the web page, which can be viewed at http://www.humanrights.gov/2012/03/05/situation-in-syria/, are pictures which apparently show artillery deployed as of May 31 - Thursday - near three Syrian towns and attack helicopters allegedly deployed near the towns of Shayrat and Homs.

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Unclassified The pictures are credited to commercial satellite imagery companies. Syria's U.N. Ambassador Bashar Ja'afari did not have an immediate reaction when reached by Reuters. More than 100 men, women and children were massacred in Houla last week, most of them shot at point-blank range or slashed with knives. U.N. peacekeeping chief Herve Ladsous said earlier this week that the people who died from artillery and tank fire were clearly victims of government shelling while the others were most likely killed by "shabbiha" militia loyal to President Bashar al-Assad. Damascus has blamed the massacre on the opposition, which Assad has tried unsuccessfully for 14 months to crush, killing over 10,000 people in the process, according to the United Nations. Russia, which has used its veto powers to prevent the U.N. Security Council from sanctioning Syria, blames Islamist militants for the Houla massacre. The State Department website highlights what it said are before and after satellite pictures showing mass graves near Houla. A May 18 photo from Tall Daww, a village near Houla, shows what the government says is a square that appears to be a flat dirt clearing. Juxtaposed against this is what the U.S. government says is a May 28 photo of the same square with what appear to be rows of turned up earth, which is labeled as "probable newly-dug graves/trenches."

02 June 2012 SANA Witnesses to al-Houla Massacre: Massacres were Carried out against Specific Families that Support the Government

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This OSINT publication contains foreign media derived entirely from open sources in and around the CENTCOM AOR.

02 June 2012

Two witnesses to al-Houla massacre said that the massacres in that area were carried out by armed terrorists who targeted specific families that supported the government and refused to join protests, bear arms or pay money to the terrorists. The two witnesses, who identities were not disclosed for their protection, said on Friday in interviews with the Syrian TV that the terrorists came from several areas and attacked law-enforcement forces checkpoints simultaneously using advanced wepaons, adding that the images shown on TV channels were of the people murdered by terrorists along with the bodies of the gunmen killed in the initial conflict which were piled with the victims to increase the number of bodies. The first witness said that he used to accompany the gunmen and knew the details of their work, and that three days before the massacre, the gunmen had been discussing something that would happen on Friday, saying that it was something "special and big." He said that on Friday May 25th after noon prayers, gunmen showed up near the Clock Roundabout, while a large group headed down the road to al-Sad area which is known as Tripoli road, with the first group beginning to shoot their guns in the air to keep the checkpoint at the roundabout busy and give the impression that they intend to attack it. The witness said that he joined the second group which consisted of several armed groups from several areas, some he knew and some he didn't, and all of them heavily armed. Then the gunmen opening fire at random at a security detachment in the area, hitting its personnel along with nearby houses and locals. He said that most of the gunmen didn't know how to handle their weapons, as one was using a PKC machinegun that kicked him back, while another launched an RPG round that hit al-Zakahi house rather than the detachment, killing two civilians. The witness said that the gunmen's intention was to liquidate a specific family over membership in the People's Assembly and the fact that it's members didn't join protests, support the government, stay out of trouble, and didn't give the gunmen money to buy weapons, adding that there were also personal vendettas and family feuds and the fact that al-Sayed family which was targeted is related to a People's Assembly member, and the gunmen wanted to make this a "present" for becoming a member. He explained that the group led by one Haitham al-Housan hated al-Sayed family, and that they're killers, not revolutionaries, and their trade is abduction, murder and theft through which they amassed millions, adding that this group didn't even fire at the detachment but rather at the house where Okba al-Sayed, his brother, his sister-in-law and their children were, killing them. The witness noted that next to al-Sayed house was a house belonging to Nidal Bakkour, the leader of another group, and that the people in that house are still alive while the others were killed, and that the same applies to several houses near the detachment, concluding that the massacre was simply an attack against specific families by the gunmen. The second witness, a woman, said that Friday May 25th saw a large number of gunmen appearing, many of them strangers not from Teldo area, and that these gunmen began by attacking a security checkpoint with a mortar round fired by a man named Saiid Fayez al-Okesh which the law-enforcement personnel noticed, prompting them to shoot him and the leg, and then he was rushed to a field hospital in Kafer Laha. She said that the gunmen then opened heavy fire on the checkpoint, with other groups communicating with them through wireless devices, with talk indicating that they were simply distracting the law-enforcement forces at the

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The CENTCOM

This OSINT publication contains foreign media derived entirely from open sources in and around the CENTCOM AOR.

02 June 2012

checkpoint, adding that she heard them referring to specific groups by the areas they came from such as Tal Dahab, Aqrab and al-Rastan. The witness said the groups attacked checkpoints in the area simultaneously at around 1:30, with many lawenforcement personnel dying as the gunmen kept attacking for nearly three hours, and that after taking over the checkpoint they stole the weapons and ammo which was in it and began distributing them among themselves, then immediately set fire to the checkpoint along with the nearby hospital and the woods behind it. She said that one of the gunmen was Haitham al-Hallaq who led a group of around 200 and carried a cleaver along with his firearm, and that his group is notorious for theft and abduction, noting that this group joined groups from outside the area and headed to al-Sad road, adding that she later around 7 they learned that the gunmen attacked the detachment and committed the massacre in al-Sad. The witness said that at around 8, the gunmen had finished transporting their victims to al-Ram Mosque north of the area, and then they brought cars and used them to move around the area. She said that the victims belong to the family of al-Sayed, with Muawiya al-Sayed being a police officer who didn't defect and was always in danger, along with two other al-Sayed households who are related to Meshleb al-Sayed who recently became Secretary of the People's Assembly. The witness added that another family that was targeted is Abdelrazzaq family which consists of four household and supports the government, noting that the houses belong to al-Sayed family are located next to the houses of gunmen and their relatives, wondering how the gunmen's children weren't killed if the attack had been perpetrated by "Shabiha" as some claim? She added that another family that was untouched is that of Faour, and that all the members of this family are armed and one of whom acts as a cameraman for al-Jazeera, wondering how none of these people died when their houses were full at the time of the massacre. The witness concluded by saying that the large number of bodies which they dragged out before the observers to pass as victims of artillery bombardments included the bodies of gunmen along with the families that were murdered.

01 Jun 2012 Al Bawaba US, Russia In Dispute Over Syria Arms Supply The Hula massacre is the result of foreign financial aid and arms deliveries to Syrian rebels, said Friday the Russian Foreign Ministry in a statement. "The tragedy of Hula has shown what can happen from financial assistance, delivery of modern weapons smuggled to the rebels, the recruitment of mercenaries and advances in all sorts of extremists, "said the Russian ministry regretting that" some key players on the international stage are not ready to act in a logic and peaceful settlement. On her part, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, visiting Norway, on Friday expressed concerns about the information on deliveries of Russian weapons to Syria. "We know that there have been regular arms sales, even during the past year from Russia to Syria. We also believe that the continuous supply of arms to the regime of Bashar alAssad by Russia has strengthened," Clinton said at a press conference in Oslo.

OSINT Phone #: 813.827.1441 - Email: CCJ2-OSINT@CENTCOM.SMIL.MIL UNCLASSIFIED//FOUO

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The CENTCOM

This OSINT publication contains foreign media derived entirely from open sources in and around the CENTCOM AOR.

02 June 2012

Syrian opposition sources on Thursday said that a ship carrying Russian weapons arrived last weekend in the Syrian port of Tartus, which hosts a Russian naval base. The U.S. then announced its agencies were collecting information on the ship and called Moscow to suspend supplies of weapons to the Syrian authorities. Russian President Vladimir Putin said Thursday during a press briefing in Berlin that Russia was not providing weapons to Syria because this could be used in a civil war.

01 Jun 2012 Al Arabiya Hollande Says No Syria Solution Unless Assad Goes As Putin Warns Of Civil War French President Francois Hollande said on Friday that the only way out of the ongoing crisis in Syria was the departure of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, which would require an increase in international pressure and more U.N. sanctions. The regime of Bashar al-Assad has behaved in an unacceptable and intolerable manner and has committed acts which disqualify it, Hollande told a joint news conference with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin, according to Reuters. No solution to this crisis is possible without the departure of Bashar al-Assad. I believe that more sanctions are an essential part of a political solution, he said. There must be sanctions against the Syrian regime, Hollande added, noting that he recognized the risks of destabilization, the risks of civil war in Syria, AFP reported. President Putin, meanwhile, said that further pressure on the regime will radicalize the country and lead to civil war. On sanctions, such question needs to be discussed primarily by the U.N. Security Council. Sanctions dont always work. The main thing we need to do is to prevent the situation from developing under the worst scenario and not let a civil war take place, Putin told the news conference. Putin said it was counterproductive to announce that the mission of U.N.-Arab League envoy to Syria Kofi Annan had failed despite ongoing violence and he stuck to opposition to U.N. sanctions on Damascus. Mr. Annan is a very experienced and respectable person, and we must do everything for his mission to succeed. I think it is counterproductive to announce his mission as a failure in advance, he said.

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