Syrian opposition rejects U.N. transition plan
Source: USA Today
BEIRUT (AP) Syrian opposition groups on Sunday rejected a U.N.-brokered peace plan for a political transition in Syria, calling it ambiguous and a waste of time and vowing not to negotiate with President Bashar Assad or members of his "murderous" regime.
The disappointed reaction underlined the seemingly intractable nature of the Syrian conflict, which this week saw some of the bloodiest violence since the start of the uprising against Assad's regime in March 2011.
¬snip
Maleh described the agreement reached in Geneva as a waste of time and of "no value on the ground."
"The Syrian people are the ones who will decide the battle on the ground, not those sitting in Geneva or New York or anywhere else," he said by telephone from Cairo, where opposition groups are to meet Monday.
Read more: http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/story/2012-07-01/syria-un-plan/55957804/1
Activists: Over 14,000 killed in Syrian uprising; more than half in last 4 months
(CNN) -- More than half of the over 14,000 people killed since the Syrian crisis began 16 months ago were slaughtered in the past four months, according to tallies from opposition activists.
June was a particularly gruesome month, with 2,386 people killed compared to 1,196 in May, the Local Coordination Committees of Syria said.
The bloodshed continued Sunday, with at least 20 people killed, according to the LCC. The dead include several people who died from injuries sustained in a blast at a funeral procession in Zamalka on Saturday, the group said.
more: http://www.cnn.com/2012/07/01/world/meast/syria-unrest/index.html
leveymg
(36,418 posts)The Last Rogue Superpower. On to Damascus.
maddezmom
(135,060 posts)Syria crisis: Geneva talks on Syria sound death knell for Assad regime
UK and French foreign ministers confirm there is no place for President Bashar al-Assad in transitional Syrian government
The UK and French foreign ministers have said a UN comminique drawn up in Geneva on Saturday night to address the escalating conflict in Syria will mean President Bashar al-Assad is "finished" and will have to step down.
The communique, which agreed terms for a transitional authority to oversee the end of violence in the country, was hammered out with the inclusion of Russia and China and called for "clear and irreversible steps" after a fixed time frame.
It stated that present members of the government could be included in the new body and initially leaving unclear the key question of whether Assad could be part of that transitional government.
However, speaking on Sunday morning, the foreign secretary, William Hague, confirmed Assad would be excluded from any unity government under the terms of the agreement.
more:http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/jul/01/syria-crisis-geneva-talks-assad
David__77
(23,311 posts)The communique means no such thing, and they know it. I can't help but be amused by the frustration in Western capitals. We will see if they adhere to international law, unlike Bush with his war against Iraq.
maddezmom
(135,060 posts)David__77
(23,311 posts)I'm not sure that the US has the same position, actually. There is a nuanced difference, with the US being more committed to military non-intervention.
cqo_000
(313 posts)may3rd
(593 posts)and they will use Turkey as a springboard to further their 'righteous' cause to let freedom ring
....Turkey shelters the rebel Free Syria Army (FSA) and hosts 32,000 Syrian refugees on its southeastern border with Syria, some 50 km (30 miles) from where the Turkish aircraft was shot down. But it denies providing arms for the insurgents.
Ankara requested a meeting of NATOs North Atlantic Council to discuss the incident, which it has branded an act of aggression. Damascus said it shot the aircraft down in self-defense after it strayed into Syrian airspace
...
http://www.yalibnan.com/2012/07/01/russians-involved-in-downing-turkish-jet-by-syria-report/
oh
BTW, just for the record, ever
wonder when the first time article 4 was invoked and why ??
....The only other time NATO has convened under Article 4 was in 2003 to discuss the Iraq war, again at the request of Turkey.....
http://www.aljazeera.com/news/middleeast/2012/06/201262622637749577.html
What was Turky concerned about then ?
To them...
"There is a bear in the woods" . The woods are on their property line.
and
They are still concerned now.
Some say the bear is now tame. I think so too
jmo
may3rd
(593 posts)...they entered the country prepared for a fight
Russias SA-24 Grinch Lands In Insurgent Hands
Fears that some of the world's most sophisticated anti-aircraft weapons that disappeared from government warehouses in Libya would end up in the hands of stateless insurgent are being realized.
At least some of the roughly 480 high-performance SA-24 Grinch shoulder-launched missiles that disappeared during the Libyan uprising have reappeared in the hands of insurgents on the borders of Israel, say senior Israeli officials.
The advanced weapons were smuggled out of Libya to Iran. From there the supply line split, with some weapons going to Syria and finally to the military wing of the Hezbollah organization in Lebanon. Others were smuggled into Egypt and then to Hamas in Gaza.
They are in the Gaza Strip, an Israeli official tells Aviation Week. I don't know in what numbers. They also are in Lebanon.
The Russian-made SA-24 is a top-of-the-line, man-portable air defense system (Manpads) that is lethal to aircraft, helicopters and UAVs to an altitude of 11,000 ft. U.S. officials earlier confirmed that Libyan weapons went to Hezbollah and Gaza, but contended they did not know the fate of the SA-24s. Only empty packing crates were found in Libyan warehouses.
Opinions are mixed about the impact of these weapons.
http://www.aviationweek.com/Article.aspx?id=/article-xml/AW_03_12_2012_p27-433282.xml&p=1
Tin foil screeders can start the
"It was a robot phantom jet
shot down by a foreign supported organization working in Syria
to make it look like the Syrian military done the dirty deed"