SHAFAQNA

SHAFAQNA Russia’s Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Bogdanov says claims about use of chemical weapons in Syria should not be used as pretext for military intervention in the country.

"We must know the truth and have proof and not rely on information reported in the media which is not supported by facts," Bogdanov said on Saturday. 

He added that the claims should be dealt with “in conformity with international criteria” and should not not used to “achieve other objectives. It must not be a pretext for an intervention in Syria.” 

"We have the past experience of another violent intervention in Iraqi affairs under the pretext of the presence of nuclear weapons, and it turned out in the end that there was nothing," the Russian official said.

The remarks by the Russian official come two days after US Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel claimed that the American intelligence community had made an assessment “with varying degrees of confidence” that the Syrian government had used chemical weapons on a small scale. 

On Friday, an unnamed Syrian official denied the accusations by saying that Damascus was capable of reaching any area of Syria by relaying on traditional weapons and that it would not use chemical arms "even if it had them." 

Syria has been gripped by a deadly unrest since March 2011, and many people, including large numbers of government security forces and army personnel, have been killed in the violence. 

Damascus says the chaos is being orchestrated from outside the country, and there are reports that a very large number of the militants are foreign nationals. 

The Syrian government says the West and its regional allies including Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and Turkey are supporting the militants. 

Several international human rights organizations have accused the militants operating in Syria of committing war crimes.

www.shafaqna.com/English

SHAFAQNA (Shia International News Association) –Syrian Information Minister Omran al-Zoubi said the chemical weapons used by terrorist groups in Khan al-Assal in Aleppo countryside have been probably arrived from Turkey, stressing that the Western allegations that the Syrian army used chemical weapons in other areas are not credible.

RT news website quoted Zoubi as saying in a statement that the missile which targeted Khan al-Assal area was launched from a place where militants exist and which is not far from the Turkish lands.

“The anti-Assad lobby in the UN is using the chemical weapons scare as a new way to exert political and economic pressure on the Syrian government,” the country’s information minister Omran Ahed al-Zouabi told RT.

He pointed out that the Syrian government took the initiative to made the official request to the UN to investigate the incident, reiterating Syria’s demand to include Russian experts in the investigation of the use of chemical weapons in Khan al-Assal.

Answering a question about the Western allegations which claim that chemical weapons were used by the Syrian army in other areas, the Information Minister said “The U.S.-British and Western allegations in general on that issue do not have any credibility.”

Zoubi held the Western sides directly responsible for what happened in Khan al-Assal, saying they want now to hide behind this “fabricated and false” talk to justify their silence on failing the investigation mission requested by Syria and to exonerate the terrorists.

The Minister added that the US is already involved in large-scale terrorist operations in the world and is involved in Syria now because of its support for and silence on the terrorism committed by the terrorist groups. -www.shafaqna.com/English

Source:Islamic invitation turkey

SHAFAQNA A UN spokesman has said that investigators from the world body have started collecting evidence outside Syria on the suspected use of chemical weapons.

Ban Ki-moon, UN secretary-general, on Friday wrote to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad with a new request for access to investigators inside the war-torn country.

Last month, both the Syrian government and rebels accused each other of using chemical weapons in an attack on the village of Khan al-Assal outside the northern city of Aleppo.

Following the incident, the Syria government called for the UN to investigate alleged chemical weapons use by rebels.

Syria, however, has still not allowed a team of experts into the country because it wants the investigation limited to the single Khan al-Assal incident, while the UN chief is urging the Syrian government to accept an expanded UN probe.

Weapons inspectors will determine whether banned chemical agents were used in Syrian conflict only if they are able to access sites and take soil, blood, urine or tissue samples and examine them in certified laboratories, according to the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons, which works with the UN on inspections.

Assertions of chemical-weapons use in Syria by Western and Israeli officials citing photos, sporadic shelling and traces of toxins do not meet the standard of proof needed for a UN team of experts waiting to gather their own field evidence, the organisation said.

'Game changer'

For his part, US President Barack Obama gave warning to Syria that its use of chemical weapons would be a "game changer" for the US but made clear he was in no rush to intervene in the country's civil war on the basis of evidence he said was still preliminary.

Speaking a day after the disclosure of US intelligence that Syria had probably used chemical weapons against its own people, Obama talked tough while calling for patience as he sought to fend off pressure for a swift response against Assad.

"Horrific as it is when mortars are being fired on civilians and people are being indiscriminately killed, to use potential weapons of mass destruction on civilian populations crosses another line with respect to international norms and international law," Obama said at the White House as he began talks with Jordan's King Abdullah on Friday.

"That is going to be a game changer," he said. But Obama stopped short of declaring that Assad had crossed "a red line" and described the US intelligence evaluations as "a preliminary assessment".

Obama said he and Abdullah agreed that Assad's regime "has lost legitimacy".

Separately, David Cameron, UK prime minister, said that the increasing evidence of chemical weapons use was unlikely to prompt a Western military intervention.

"It's limited evidence but there's growing evidence that we have seen too of the use of chemical weapons, probably by the regime," Cameron told the BBC.

Not 'airtight case'

US officials said the evaluation that Syria probably used chemical weapons was based in part on "physiological" samples, but have refused to say exactly where they came from or who supplied the material.

Jay Carney, White House spokesman, said the evidence so far of Syrian chemical weapons use was not an "airtight case" and declined to set a deadline for corroborating reports.

Carney said Obama would consider a range of options including, but not exclusive to, military force, should it be determined that Syria has used chemical weapons.

The Obama administration's sudden disclosure of its chemical weapons findings came just two days after it played down an Israeli assessment that there had been repeated use of chemical weapons in Syria.

France and Britain have also concluded that evidence suggests chemical arms have been used.

Two Syrian officials denied the US accusations on Friday, with a senior official saying the country did not, and would not, use chemical weapons even if it had them.

Sharif Shehadeh, a Syrian official, called the US claims "lies" and compared them to false accusations that Iraq possessed weapons of mass destruction in the run-up to the US-led invasion of that country.

On the other hand, the Syrian opposition urged the UN Security Council to take immediate steps, possibly even by imposing a no-fly zone.

"Should it find the regime used such weapons, it must act immediately, at least by imposing a no-fly zone," a spokesperson for the Syrian National Coalition said.

www.shafaqna.com/English

SHAFAQNA (Shia International News Association) –Aided by the Popular Committees, the Syrian army regained the Prophet Mando strategic hill in Homs countryside, and dominated over the military supply lines that lead to Homs and al-Qussayr on the sides of Tel-Kalkh and Al-Qaa.

Moreover, the Syrian army retrieved tens of villages in Qussayr countryside; the most important are Al-Borhania and Sakarja. Some villages east and west Assi River were also recaptured. Consequently, the Syrian Army tightened its control over the entrances of Qussayr city.
In Homs, the Syrian troops were able to impose control over many regions that were considered militants’ strongholds, restore security in Feraaya, strengthen their deployment in Khaledeya and Baba-Amru, and distance themselves from threats of militant groups.
In Damascus countryside, however, the Syrian troops were able to tighten the ring around the gunmen in east Gouta, severely siege Darya, and restore security in Jdaydet Al-Adem.
In North-east of Syria in Idleb, Specifically in Maaret Al-Noaman, the Syrian army was able to lift the siege on Wadi Al-Dayf and Hamedeye military camps; consequently, the route that links Damascus with Aleppo became totally secured.
Also in Aleppo, the Syrian army was able to regain control over the strategic village of Aziza that overlooks several towns south of the city. Aziza lies only 4 km away from the towns of Almarj and Sheikh Saeed that both represent the stronghold of militant groups.
Furthermore, the Syrian army is narrowing the screws around gunmen through advancing in parallel with the areas adjacent to the Turkish borders.
The battlefield results indicate that the situation in Syria tends to improve gradually after “the period of the strategic concerns has ended,” according to the Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.
Syria was hit by a violent unrest since mid-March 2011, where the Syrian government accuses foreign actors of orchestrating the conflict, by supporting the militant opposition groups with arms and money.

-www.shafaqna.com/English

Source:Islam times

SHAFAQNA (Shia International News Association) –A UN spokesman has said that investigators from the world body have started collecting evidence outside Syria on the suspected use of chemical weapons.

Ban Ki-moon, UN secretary-general, on Friday wrote to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad with a new request for access to investigators inside the war-torn country.
Last month, both the Syrian government and rebels accused each other of using chemical weapons in an attack on the village of Khan al-Assal outside the northern city of Aleppo.

Following the incident, the Syria government called for the UN to investigate alleged chemical weapons use by rebels.

Syria, however, has still not allowed a team of experts into the country because it wants the investigation limited to the single Khan al-Assal incident, while the UN chief is urging the Syrian government to accept an expanded UN probe.
Weapons inspectors will determine whether banned chemical agents were used in Syrian conflict only if they are able to access sites and take soil, blood, urine or tissue samples and examine them in certified laboratories, according to the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons, which works with the UN on inspections.

Assertions of chemical-weapons use in Syria by Western and Israeli officials citing photos, sporadic shelling and traces of toxins do not meet the standard of proof needed for a UN team of experts waiting to gather their own field evidence, the organisation said.

'Game changer'

For his part, US President Barack Obama gave warning to Syria that its use of chemical weapons would be a "game changer" for the US but made clear he was in no rush to intervene in the country's civil war on the basis of evidence he said was still preliminary.

Speaking a day after the disclosure of US intelligence that Syria had probably used chemical weapons against its own people, Obama talked tough while calling for patience as he sought to fend off pressure for a swift response against Assad.

"Horrific as it is when mortars are being fired on civilians and people are being indiscriminately killed, to use potential weapons of mass destruction on civilian populations crosses another line with respect to international norms and international law," Obama said at the White House as he began talks with Jordan's King Abdullah on Friday.

"That is going to be a game changer," he said. But Obama stopped short of declaring that Assad had crossed "a red line" and described the US intelligence evaluations as "a preliminary assessment".

Obama said he and Abdullah agreed that Assad's regime "has lost legitimacy".
Separately, David Cameron, UK prime minister, said that the increasing evidence of chemical weapons use was unlikely to prompt a Western military intervention.

"It's limited evidence but there's growing evidence that we have seen too of the use of chemical weapons, probably by the regime," Cameron told the BBC.

Not 'airtight case'

US officials said the evaluation that Syria probably used chemical weapons was based in part on "physiological" samples, but have refused to say exactly where they came from or who supplied the material.

Jay Carney, White House spokesman, said the evidence so far of Syrian chemical weapons use was not an "airtight case" and declined to set a deadline for corroborating reports.

Carney said Obama would consider a range of options including, but not exclusive to, military force, should it be determined that Syria has used chemical weapons.

The Obama administration's sudden disclosure of its chemical weapons findings came just two days after it played down an Israeli assessment that there had been repeated use of chemical weapons in Syria.

France and Britain have also concluded that evidence suggests chemical arms have been used.

Two Syrian officials denied the US accusations on Friday, with a senior official saying the country did not, and would not, use chemical weapons even if it had them.

Sharif Shehadeh, a Syrian official, called the US claims "lies" and compared them to false accusations that Iraq possessed weapons of mass destruction in the run-up to the US-led invasion of that country.

On the other hand, the Syrian opposition urged the UN Security Council to take immediate steps, possibly even by imposing a no-fly zone.

"Should it find the regime used such weapons, it must act immediately, at least by imposing a no-fly zone," a spokesperson for the Syrian National Coalition said. -www.shafaqna.com/English

Source:AL Jazeera

SHAFAQNA (Shia International News Association) – The Imam of Al-Quds Mosque in Saida, Lebanon, said declaration of Jihad in Syria is not allowed according to Islamic laws and wisdom. He added that Jihad has many conditions which do not exist in Syria’s conflict. Sheikh Maher Hamoud pointed to Syria’s current situation and explained that the conflict means right and wrong are mixed together and in this type of situation declaring Jihad is not the right act. He invited all sides to attend talks in order to find peaceful solutions. According to Al-Khabar Press Network the Lebanese Sunni scholar stressed that when Quranic terms such as Jihad enters in such conflicts we should not follow it blindly and instead we must refer to firm religious rules.

www.shafaqna.com/english

SHAFAQNA (Shia International News Association) – The estimates show that nearly 50000 Alavides have been killed so far in Syria and it seems that they are facing a revenge campaign against them. According to Shafaqna reports from village of Alhaterieh in Alghadmoos region with population of 1500 so far 2% of the population has been killed and they call this village the place of martyrs and braves. However it is thought that the number of people killed in the village is more than the 2%. Women of the area wearing black and are constantly morning their dear ones who are killed daily. No one knows the exact number of those that have been killed so far. Some families do not even receive the body of their dear ones and just get a verbal message.

Current estimates show that just from the Alavide tribe nearly 50000 or half of the war casualties have been killed. This figure gets significant when it is revealed that only 15% of Syria is Alavides and most of the dead are men. The truth of the matter is that the number of dead from the Alavides is much more than the figures reveal and the world media have totally ignored them. Unfortunately it seems that there is no one to defend the rights of Alavides. The countries of the region only talk about the number of dead from Sunnis and ignore the casualties from Alavides and other minorities. The minorities in Syria say that it is a sad situation when in today’s world; tribalism is blinding the society’s vision.

Source: Al-Hayat

www.shafaqna.com/english

SHAFAQNA (Shia International News Association) –Syria has criticized UN-Arab League special envoy to Syria Lakhdar Brahimi, saying he lacks neutrality.

In a statement issued on Wednesday, the Syrian Foreign Ministry announced that Damascus would stop cooperating with Brahimi unless he severs his ties with the Arab League.

“Brahimi’s report (on April 19) to the United Nations Security Council was marked by (a tone of) interference in Syria’s internal affairs and a lack of the neutrality required by his mission as international mediator,” the statement said.

Brahimi said at a closed-door session of the Security Council that Syrian President Bashar al-Assad does not have the right to run for president in the upcoming election scheduled for next year.

“Syria has cooperated and will cooperate with Brahimi only as UN envoy, because the Arab League is complicit in the conspiracy against Syria,” the statement read.

“If Brahimi wants his mission to succeed, we expect him to start working to stop the violence and terrorism along with the parties concerned, and to expose the roles played by France, Britain, Turkey, Qatar and Saudi Arabia, which finance and arm Al-Nusra Front’s terrorists,” it added.

Brahimi, a veteran Algerian diplomat, was assigned the role in September 2012 when he replaced Kofi Annan, the former UN secretary general.

Syria has been experiencing unrest since March 2011. Many people, including large numbers of Syrian army and security personnel, have been killed in the violence.

The Syrian government says that the chaos is being orchestrated from outside the country, and there are reports that a very large number of the militants are foreign nationals.

Damascus says the West and its regional allies including Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and Turkey are supporting the militants. -www.shafaqna.com/English

Source:Islamic invitation turkey

SHAFAQNA-- United Nations investigators will examine soil samples collected by western intelligence agencies and enter Syrian refugee camps in an effort to assess claims that the Assad regime has used sarin gas against its opponents.

Proof of sarin use would increase pressure on the Obama administrationwhich, after the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, is deeply reluctant to intervene in what could be another protracted and unwinnable conflict.

The White House has long claimed the use of chemical weapons by the Syrian regime would represent a "red line", but has so far been reluctant to follow Britian, France and Israel, who claim to have evidence of chemical weapons use in Aleppo and Homs.

Syria has prevented the UN investigation from being carried out inside the country, but Jeffrey Feltman, UN under-secretary for political affairs, made it clear on Wednesday that refusal would not prevent an inquiry from being carried out.

"The secretary-general [Ban Ki-moon]'s position is that, at this time, the mission should investigate the allegations pertaining to incidents in Aleppo and Homs. While awaiting access to the Syrian territory, the experts of the mission are studying the information on the alleged incidents of the use of chemical weapons provided to them by member states," Feltman told the security council.

"They remain ready to deploy to Syria within 24 to 48 hours following the Syrian government's acceptance of the modality and the scope of the mission." He deliberately did not name the member countries but they include Britain, France and Israel.

It is understood that as well as visiting refugee camps and potentially taking hair and other biological samples from survivors of alleged chemical attacks, UN investigators will also analyse soil samples in the possession of British and French intelligence agencies.

British and French officials believe there is incontrovertible evidence that the Syrian government has used sarin nerve gas, though only on a small scale.

"There is no doubt that sarin has been used but we are not talking about Halabja," one Whitehall source said, referring to the 1988 gas attack by Saddam Hussein's forces against Iraqi Kurds, in which up to 5,000 were killed by a combination of Sarin, other nerve agents and mustard gas. "We are talking about use in small areas and small groups of people."

British officials are adamant that the source of the sarin was the government and that the exposure of Syrian army troops in the town of Khan al-Asal on March 19, as claimed by Damascus, was the result of "friendly fire", a government shell that had gone astray, rather than a rebel attack.

A French official said that it would be up to the UN investigators " to establish evidence that will allow to confirm the use of chemical weapons".

The official added: "we deplore that the regime is seeking to impose unacceptable conditions on the UN for the deployment of the team … If the regime does not come back on its decision, it will bear the entire responsibility of the team's failure. That would be a renewed proof of its duplicity."

The British and French claims, backed up publicly by an Israeli general, have opened a rift with the US, which has been far more cautious about its claims, privately questioning the strength of their allies' case.

On a visit to Egypt, the US defence secretary Chuck Hagel faced intensive questioning from American reporters. He denied that US credibility was at risk over Obama's failure to respond over chemical weapons, and played down the conclusions of British, French and Israeli intelligence.

He said: "Suspicions are one thing. Evidence is another ... And that's not at all questioning other nations' intelligence, but the United States relies on its own intelligence. So until I can see that intelligence, I really don't have anything else to say."

A group of Arab foreign ministers is due in Washington on Monday and are expected to meet the secretary of state, John Kerry. That meeting may prove crucial in formulating Washington's next step.

British officials argue the real difference between London and Paris on one side and Washington on the other is political rather than factual, as President Obama had previously taken the lead in making the use of chemical weapons a red line.

The stand-off with Syria has echoes of the run-up to the Iraq war. The Obama administration is desperate to avoid a repeat of that debacle, not least because of the way intelligence was discredited at that time, with no weapons of mass destruction found after the 2003 invasion.

Obama said last month that if it it was found that such weapons were used, the Assad regime would have crossed the red line. The White House has since rowed back, with the New York Times quoting aides saying he only meant major chemical weapons such as those used by former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein against the Kurds.

The Obama administration is seeking to make a distinction between lethal chemical weapons and ones that only have a temporary effect. But sarin, which attacks the nervous system, is lethal. The US intelligence assessment is that Syria has a stockpile of sarin, VX and mustard gas.

The UN investigations team is in Cyprus awaiting entry into Syria. Assad initially said the team would be allowed in but later blocked them.

A security council source said: "While we would like the investigation to go ahead in Syria ... we are hopeful that the investigation team will still be able to undertake elements of the investigation even without access to Syria. This could include conducting interviews in refugee camps."

The Russian foreign minister, Sergei Lavrov, was quoted by the Russian news agency Novosti warning that its ally Syria should not face a repetition of "Iraq scenario".

Tony Cordesman, of the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington, said the White House's reluctance to become involved was understandable. "It is far easier to talk about reacting to Syria's possible use of chemical weapons than do something meaningful. First, there needs to be firm evidence. The US cannot commit an act of war on the basis of outside claims or 'evidence' that is suspect and may be politically motivated – particularly after invading Iraq in search of weapons of mass destruction that did not exist."

Cordesman said an attack on Syrian targets would represent a serious escalation. "It would take a massive ground intervention to seize and destroy Syria's stocks of chemical weapons, if they have not been partially dispersed to the point where such a mission is impossible. This means fighting the way in, fighting long enough seize and destroy the weapons, and fighting on the way out."

But analysts question the wisdom of western governments laying down public ultimatums about the use of chemical weapons. Bruno Tertrais, senior research fellow at the Foundation for Strategic Research in Paris, said: "The downside is that it implicitly signals to the Syrian government that anything below that line is not unacceptable."

Security officials also caution that it is not clear what western forces could do even if the use of chemical weapons was proved or found to be imminent. Bombing Assad's chemical arsenal would disperse the chemicals and nerve agents with potentially disastrous consequences, while any special forces deployed to seize and secure such weapons would immediately become stationary targets for Islamist groups now fighting with the rebels.

"My immediate reaction is to urge caution," said Dina Esfandiari of the International Institute of Strategic Studies in London. "If these claims are based on photographs and soil samples taken some time after the alleged attacks, I don't see how could you possibly be sure. And without definite proof how can you assert that it is the regime and not the other side?"

Andrew Tabler, a Syria specialist at the Washington Institute of Near East Policy and author In the Lion's Den: An Eyewitness Account of Washington's Battle with Syria, warned that the longer the Obama administration delays in enforcing its red line, the worse it will be later. "I think in the end we will be drawn into this conflict and it will be ten times more expensive than now. Everything will be worse," he said.

"The Obama administration is demanding a lot of direct evidence before it reacts. It just shows the reluctance of the Obama administration to enforce its red line. The Assad regime is pushing and testing the US and the US is not reacting, except verbally," Tabler said.

He predicted the country would disintegrate into three pieces, with terrorists potentially active in all three. "That would be a policy failure by any stretch of the imagination," he said.

www.en.shafaqna.com

SHAFAQNA-- The minaret of one of Syria's most famous mosques has been destroyed during clashes in the northern city of Aleppo.

The state news agency Sana accused rebels of blowing up the 11th-Century minaret of the Umayyad Mosque.

However, activists say the minaret was hit by Syrian army tank fire.

The mosque, which is a Unesco world heritage site, has been in rebel hands since earlier this year but the area around it is still contested.

Last October Unesco appealed for the protection of the site, which it described as "one of the most beautiful mosques in the Muslim world".

Images posted on the internet showed the minaret reduced to a pile of rubble in the mosque's tiled courtyard.

Other parts of the mosque complex - which dates mostly from the 12th Century - have been badly damaged by gunfire and shell hits.

A report by Sana said fighters from the al-Qaeda-linked Jabhat al-Nusra group had destroyed the once famous landmark.

It quoted an official source saying that "terrorists... placed explosive materials in the minaret and the mosque's southern door and set them off".

However, Aleppo-based activist Mohammed al-Khatib, quoted by AP news agency, said a tank shell had "totally destroyed" the 45m (148ft) minaret.

The mosque has suffered extensive damage during months of fighting, with antique furnishings and intricately sculpted colonnades affected.

Reports say some ancient artefacts have also been looted, including a box purported to contain a strand of the Prophet Muhammad's hair.

However, rebels said they had salvaged ancient handwritten Koranic manuscripts and hidden them.

Earlier, rebels and government forces reportedly clashed near Aleppo as they fought for control of a military airbase.

Rebels took a key military position outside the Minnigh airport on Tuesday and launched another raid on Wednesday, according to opposition activists with the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.

"The rebels, who have laid siege to the airport for months now, entered it for the first time around dawn," Rami Abdel Rahman, director of the UK-based activist group, told AFP news agency.

Heavy fighting was taking place in the grounds, he added.

Analysts say losing control of the airport would be a strategic blow for the government.

The Free Syrian Army has been trying to seize a number of airbases in the area to disrupt regime supply routes.

In another development on Wednesday, Syria's Deputy Foreign Minister told the BBC that his country was fighting a war against terrorism.

Faisal Mekdad said the international community should be supporting President Assad and his government.

Asked if he thought the Syrian government could still defeat the rebels, he said: "We shall defend our sovereignty and independence to the last drop. We have a strong army, we have a lot of our people who are supporting the government, who are uniting their ranks to defend the country. And in such a situation they will never defeat Syria."

According to the UN, at least 70,000 people have been killed in the civil war and more than a million are now living as refugees in neighbouring countries.

www.en.shafaqna.com