BREAKING: Heavy fighting in Damascus as coup attempt reported in progress

[FourScore]

Mon Dec 17, 2012 at 09:47 AM PST
BREAKING: Heavy fighting in Damascus as coup attempt reported in progress

by Clay ClaiborneFollow

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Alexander Page @AlexanderPageSY

UPDATE: #Muhajrin area of Central #Damascus is in a state of LOCKDOWN following blast just moments ago. regime forces secure area #Syria
17 Dec 12
Rami Jarrah @RamiJarrah

BREAKING: Huge blast rocks Muhajrin area of Central #Damascus just 500 meters from Presidential Residence #Syria
17 Dec 12
Stephanie Lamy @WCM_JustSocial

RT @freereb: Reports of an attempted #coup in #Damascus #Syria against #Assad. Troops loyal o VP #AlSharaa leading the assault on palace.
17 Dec 12
Follow clayclai on Twitter

There are reports of heavy fighting in many areas of Damascus this morning, as NBC Richard Engels is reported to have gone missing and Syrian VP Farouk Al-Sharaa has been speaking out in favor of a negotiated settlement with the opposition. He is speaking out everywhere. From the Associated Press we get this report:

We can’t win, Assad’s vice-president says

Dec 17, 2012 10:24 AM ET
BEIRUT — Syria’s longtime vice president said the army cannot defeat the rebels fighting to topple the regime, the first admission by a top government official that a victory by President Bashar Assad is unlikely.

In an interview with Lebanese newspaper Al-Akhbar published on Monday, Farouk al-Sharaa offered the unusually bleak public assessment of the civil war.

“All these opposition forces can only conclude the battle to topple the regime if their goal is to push the country into chaos a cycle of violence that has no end,” al-Sharaa said in the interview. “I don’t see that what the security forces and army units are doing will lead to a definitive victory.” More... http://news.nationalpost.com/2012/12/17/we-cant-win-assads-vice-president-says/

Farouk was sidelined after the July Damascus explosion that took out four of Assad's top people, and hasn't had any real power or influence since. Also today al Akhbar English is running this exclusive interview:

Syrian VP Farouk Al-Sharaa Proposes Alternative to War

By: Ibrahim al-Amin
Monday, December 17, 2012
Syrian Vice-President Farouk al-Sharaa is in the heart of the action, but not in the decision-making circles. He keeps in touch with a few officials, speaks to President [Bashar al-Assad] from time to time, and communicates with some of the leadership.

His residence is under the same security precautions as those of figures in the decision-making circles, and so are his movements. But he is full of energy and also keeps communication channels open with members of the opposition and figures, who are not connected to the state or the regime.

Sharaa has his own views on the daily events, including criticisms and apprehensions, which he kept expressing in official meetings, but without going public with them in the media.

Something has changed, however. More...

Amidst all of tis come twitter reports of a coup in progress lead by forces loyal to the veep.

Stay tuned. More, later....

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2012/12/17/1171061/-BREAKING-Heavy-fighting-in-Damascus-as-coup-attempt-reported-in-progress

[Warpy]

1. Thanks! I knew Engle had gone missing

but this puts it in some real context. I hope that whatever happens, this is the end of it.