SHAFAQNA

SHAFAQNA (Shia International News Association) – Like many Palestinians, West Bank farmer Emad Burnat punctuates his life story with events from the Israeli occupation of his village.

His first son was born amid the optimism that followed the 1993 Oslo peace accords, and another came just as the 2000 Palestinian uprising erupted.

His youngest, Gibreel, was born the same week that Israel began constructing a separation barrier through his hometown of Bilin. That's when Burnat got his first camera, initially to capture his newborn, but later to document his village's fight against the Israeli military and nearby settlers.

It was the first of five cameras he would use, all destroyed during filming by bullets, tear-gas canisters or angry settlers.

With the help of Israeli activist and filmmaker Guy Davidi, Burnat turned the footage into "5 Broken Cameras," a deeply personal glimpse of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict nominated for an Oscar in the documentary feature category. The Oscars will be awarded Feb. 24.

Overlooking the snaking concrete barrier that separates Bilin from nearby Jewish settlements, Burnat, 41, spoke with The Times about the challenges in making the film, working with an Israeli to finish it and balancing roles as filmmaker and activist.

There's been some recent controversy around calling this an "Israeli" film since it was co-directed by an Israeli and got some Israeli funding. Is it Israeli or Palestinian?

This came from my mind, my heart and my soul. It's a Palestinian film, and that was the idea from the beginning. The collaboration between me and Guy is not between two states. It's between two human beings because I knew him as a friend. It was never supposed to be about making an Israeli-Palestinian film or about Israeli-Palestinian collaboration.

Why did you turn to an Israeli to help shape and complete the film? Were there trust issues that arose or a backlash from Palestinians?

I had 90% of the footage when I proposed Guy join me. What was missing was the funding and the editing. It could have come from a German or a Palestinian or anyone. But I trusted Guy. He was someone who came to support us in the village in the demonstrations against the wall and the settlements. I knew how he thought about Palestinian rights and the occupation. He was a strong supporter. ... But after the Oscar nomination, the Israeli media started calling it an Israeli film because of Guy's role. And that has brought some pressure on me from some Palestinian politicians and journalists. Some people didn't respect the film because of that.

Did you set out to make such a personal film?

I started documenting the village's story. The daily life. And also some of my personal daily life, like my son growing up. The idea was always to make a personal film because many people were making films about the same subject, but most were by outsiders. So in 2005 a friend suggested making the film about my friends, my family and my son. At first I didn't want to include footage of myself. I didn't want people to say, "Oh, he's making a film about himself." But Guy said that was normal and encouraged me to make it more about myself.

You narrate the footage in very personal terms, but the script was something Guy wrote. Was that strange?

He knows about words and is a good writer. But the narrative came from inside me, after discussions with me. If you didn't live here, you couldn't understand those feelings. I never really cared about who got credit. My goal was to finish the film and spread the word.

Was there any friction in working with Guy? Any arguments about the film's message?

I'd by lying if I said there was never any problem, but that happens even between brothers. After the film became famous, we decided to distribute it and there were some problems over that. To me the main purpose was to show the footage as much as possible to as many people [as possible]. So I'm always fighting for free screenings. But the business partners are sometimes focusing more on business and money.

Do Palestinians care about the Oscars?

No, they don't care. Sometimes I would see them on TV, but as a child we didn't have a TV. My wife grew up in Brazil, and she followed them every year. She's excited about going to the ceremony. She has a dress. My son Gibreel will go with us.

If you win, what will you say to the millions of people watching worldwide?

I have to prepare something. It would be a very special moment to say something about the Palestinian issue. It would be the first Palestinian to win an Oscar. So it would be a chance to inform people around the world about our situation, and give Palestinians some hope.

Will you do another film?

I'm thinking about another project, but I have to find a good story to tell. I'm so busy with the current film that I don't have a clear mind. And I think after the Oscars it will probably be even busier.

Do you see yourself now as a filmmaker?

To me it's not just about making films. I put my life at risk. I was shot at. I was arrested twice. I was seriously injured in a car accident. But that was not to make a film or to make money. The film was a way to reach my goal, and that is to tell people the truth about our lives, to tell the story of Palestine.-www.shfaqna.com/English

Source: Layimes

SHAFAQNA (Shia International News Association) – The FBI has launched an investigation after hacker-activist group Anonymous says it hijacked the website of the U.S. Sentencing Commission to avenge the death of Aaron Swartz, an internet activist who committed suicide.

The website of the commission, an independent agency of the judicial branch, was taken over early Saturday and replaced with a message warning that when Swartz killed himself two weeks ago "a line was crossed."

The hackers say they've infiltrated several government computer systems and copied secret information that they now threaten to make public.

Family and friends of Swartz, who helped create Reddit and RSS, say he killed himself after he was hounded by federal prosecutors.

U.S. Attorney Carmen Ortiz, in the wake of the suicide, said she believed the case was conducted "reasonably" and "appropriately."

Officials say he helped post millions of court documents for free online and that he illegally downloaded millions of academic articles from an online clearinghouse.

The FBI's Richard McFeely, executive assistant director of the Criminal, Cyber, Response, and Services Branch, said in a statement that "we were aware as soon as it happened and are handling it as a criminal investigation. We are always concerned when someone illegally accesses another person's or government agency's network."

Swartz's supporters believe Ortiz's office was overly aggressive in charging Swartz with 13 felonies for tapping into the computer network at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology to download nearly five million articles from an online clearinghouse for academic journals.

Swartz's lawyer, Elliot Peters, said prosecutors were insisting that any plea deal would involve Swartz pleading guilty to all 13 felony charges against him and serving four to six months in prison.

Ortiz has said her prosecutors did not demand that Swartz plead guilty.-www.shfaqna.com/English

SHAFAQNA (Shia International News Association) -- Three Kurdish women activists have been found dead with bullet wounds to the neck and chest in the Kurdistan information centre in Paris.

One of the women found in the early hours of Thursday was said to be Sakine Cansiz, a co-founder of the Kurdistan Workers' party (PKK).

Officials in Turkey have been holding talks with the PKK's jailed leader, Abdullah Öcalan, to persuade the group to disarm. The decades-long conflict between the Turkish state and the PKK has killed about 40,000 people since the 1980s.

Another victim of the Paris shootings, Fidan Dogan, was part of the Kurdistan National Congress, based in Brussels. The third was a young activist.

Kurdish groups in Turkey said the murders could be part of an attempt to sabotage the peace talks. Mehmet Ali Ertas, an activist and journalist at the pro-Kurdish news agency DIHA in Diyarbakir, said: "These murders happened during a pivotal moment. Military operations [against the PKK] and the talks [with Öcalan] are both ongoing.

"It looks like someone is trying to impede on the possibility of a peace process, like someone wants to create chaos."

Ihsan Kaçar, head of the Istanbul Human Rights Association, said the murders could have been an attempt to undermine the positive reaction in Turkey to the nascent peace process. "I was very hopeful about the talks with Öcalan, but after reading about the killings in Paris, these hopes have been shattered," he said.

The bodies were discovered on the first floor of the building in Paris's 10th arrondissement just before 2am after one woman's partner, concerned he could not contact her, called police.

The French interior minister, Manuel Valls, visited the scene and described the killings as intolerable and unacceptable. He said French anti-terror police would help with the inquiry.

French police sources told reporters that the crime scene suggested "an execution", but the circumstances and motive remain unclear. "The only certainty for the moment is that this is a triple homicide," a French police spokesperson told TF1 news.

The shooting is believed to have taken place late on Wednesday afternoon, but the bodies were not discovered until the early hours of Thursday morning.

The building where the women were found is said to have housed an office of the Kurdistan information centre of Paris, though there was no door plaque identifying the building, situated between a Bengali grocer and a mobile phone shop on a busy street near Paris's Gare du Nord. The blinds and net curtains of the first-floor windows were closed and riot police guarded the door.

At midday around 200 Kurdish protesters gathered outside the building with flags of Öcalan, shouting: "We are all the PKK." One 25-year-old protester, who said his parents were political activists, said: "The community is in shock. We all knew these women.

"There are so many Kurdish political refugees in France. If we can't feel safe here where can we feel safe? This killing was clearly well organised. Unfortunately this is a dirty war. The feeling among this crowd is that this killing was done to sabotage the peace talks."

In Istanbul, Asiye Kolçak, of the pro-Kurdish Peace and Democracy party, said: "Sakine Cansiz was an activist and a revolutionary in the Kurdish women's struggle for 40 years. [Her murder] is an attack also on Kurdish women's struggle for freedom."

She added: "We also hold the French government responsible for this, and we expect the French government to thoroughly investigate the killings, and bring the murderers to justice."

www.shafaqna.com/English

SHAFAQNA (Shia International News Association) -- A judge at Marylebone Magistrate Court in Central London yesterday discharged two Bahraini activists who had climbed to the roof of the Bahrain’s Embassy earlier this year. Ali Mushaima and Moosa Abd Ali were reprimanded for “trespassing” on a “diplomatic”premises and warned them not do it again. On 17^th April 2012 the two Bahraini activists broke away from their hunger strike outside the American Embassy and made their way to Belgrave Square; climbed onto a scaffolding attached to a nearby building and occupied the roof of the Bahraini Embassy. After 24 hours of negotiations, the pair came down voluntarily and were briefly arrested by the police. Two weeks ago they were taken to court where their case had been heard. Yesterday marked the end of the ordeal when a magistrate at the Court considered the case on its merits and ordered the discharge of Ali Mushaima and Moosa Abd Ali. He also ordered them to pay £100 each towards the cost of the extensive police operations at the scene. The judge expressed clear sympathy with them especially after the courtroom turned into a trial of the Alkhalifa murderous regime.

As the regime became more desperate in the face of the steadfast people, its cruelty has become more vicious. It has become emboldened by the presence within the police and security forces of the British “security experts” like John Yates, Sir Daniel Bethlehem and Sir Jeffrey Jowell. Over the past few months human rights violations have escalated and the regime’s ability to hide its crimes with the help of those “legal” and “professional” experts has also improved. On Tuesday 5^th December, Alkhalifa Death Squads attacked the town of Bani Jamra using live ammunition as well as shotguns. A young man of 20 years was shot in the face and left for dead. His face became another emblem for Bahrain’s peaceful revolution which is being crushed by evil power of criminal dictators. Three women from the area were arrested; Lubaba Jaffar Mulla Ahmad, her sister Salma and Fatema Hassan Hussain. The Death Squads aimed at another Bahraini, Redha Al Ghasra, but missed. Another Bahraini boy, Mohammad Ibrahim Al Zaki, was arrested on 3^rd December at Maqaba Town.

In the past two days the regime’s Death Squads attacked several towns and villages including Bani Jamra, Dair, Wadyan and Samaheej. Ransacking people’s homes continued throughout the night during which the contents of these houses were destroyed or looted.

Last Saturday 1^st December Alkhalifa forces demolished four more mosques in various places. In Karzakkan Fadak Mosque was demolished by regime’s mercenaries using tractors. Three other mosques were demolished at Hamad Town; Fadak AlZahra at 2^ndRoundabout, Abu Talib at 19^th Roundabout and Imam Hassan Al Askari at Roundabout 22. These mosques were destroyed by Alkhalifa last year but were partially rebuilt by the people. A tent that had been erected at the site of Imam Al Hadi’s mosque at Roundabout 20 has been burnt by regime’s forces.

On 3^rd December The Washington Post published an opinion column by By Elisa Massimino who is president and chief executive officer of Human Rights First under the title “An intolerable status quo in Bahrain”. After describing the proceedings of the trial of the medical staff on 22^nd November she wrote: “During my 25 years as a lawyer and human rights advocate, I’ve been in many courtrooms in many places. But I’ve never seen anything quite like what I recently witnessed in Bahrain. I sat in on one of the hearings for the 28 medics being prosecuted after treating injured protesters during the democratic uprising last year”. She concluded: “In a region where threats to U.S. interests abound, it may be tempting for the Obama administration to conclude that, while not ideal, the status quo in Bahrain is tolerable for now. That would be a mistake. There is no status quo in Bahrain. The situation is deteriorating, and pro-democracy activists are growing more desperate. There will either be reform, or a descent into worsening violence. The United States may not be able to control the outcome, but — for its own strategic interests and the good of the Bahraini people — it must do everything it can to persuade the regime to choose the right path”. www.shafaqna.com/English

SHAFAQNA (Shia International News Association) --  A few hundred people marched in a peaceful demonstration Saturday for "climate justice" in Doha, where negotiators from nearly 200 countries are debating about how to slow global warming and help protect the most vulnerable countries from rising seas and other impacts of climate change.

Waving banners saying "Stop climate change" and "Arabs reduce emissions," the well-behaved crowd marched along the Qatari capital's Corniche, a waterfront walkway lined by gleaming skyscrapers.

Khalid al-Mohannadi, one of the organizers, noted that "it's not a protest, it's a march for peace."

The march was billed as the first environmental rally ever in the wealthy emirate, which is hosting the two-week U.N. talks aimed at forging a global deal to curb emissions of carbon dioxide and other heat-trapping gases.

Many of those taking part in the March said Arab leaders need to look beyond the political turmoil in the region and address the broader challenge of climate change.

"Governments always talk about economy and stabilizing the country, but you can't talk about that without talking about climate change, because the Arab region is one of the most impacted regions," said Sarah Rifaat, an Egyptian activist.

Dangerous warming effects could include flooding of coastal cities and island nations, disruptions to agriculture and drinking water, and the spread of diseases and the extinction of species.

The vast majority of climate scientists say human activity — primarily emissions from the burning of fossil fuels and deforestation — is to blame for the rise in global temperatures seen in recent decades.

Both rich and poor countries say emissions have to be reduced, but don't agree on how to divide the burden. That dispute and other disagreements have slowed talks on crafting a new global climate treaty, which was originally planned for adoption in 2009 but has now been postponed until 2015.

"We think the Western countries are not serious about cutting emissions," said Dorchas Moeketsi, a climate activist from the African country of Lesotho. "Their actions are our survival. If they act positively, then we survive; negatively, we perish."

The U.N. talks are set to shift into higher gear next week, when environment and climate ministers arrive to discuss reining in emissions before the new treaty takes effect and climate financing to help poor countries develop clean energy and adapt to the impact of climate change.

www.shafaqna.com/English

SHAFAQNA (Shia International News Association) – A Saudi activist says the eldest son of Saudi King Abdullah bin Abdul Aziz has been releasing images of the king to imply that he is still alive amid reports, stating that the monarch has been pronounced clinically dead.

Reports say Mujtahid bin Hareth bin Hammaam, who is an active critic of the Al Saud royal family, posted a message on Twitter, saying that Prince Mutaib bin Abdullah, the Commander of the Saudi National Guard, together with Khalid al-Tuwaijri, the senior consultant of the king, have released images of King Abdullah to show he is alive.

The Twitter activist is known for exposing controversial information about the House of Saud.

A Saudi journalist at the London-based Asharq Alawsat had already said the king had gone into a coma and that he was clinically dead, nearly a week after a 14-hour-long back surgery in a hospital in the Saudi capital, Riyadh.

Hospital sources say the king’s essential organs, particularly his heart, lungs and kidneys are not functioning and that the doctors have been forced to use electric shocks to stimulate his cardiac muscles several times.

The surgery, aimed at correcting “a ligamentary slackening in the upper back,” began on November 18 and ended at dawn.

The 89-year-old king’s health has deteriorated over the past few years, and he has been hospitalized several times.- www.shfaqna.com/English

SHAFAQNA (Shia International News Association) -  A Moscow court has given a four-and-a-half-year jail sentence to an opposition activist, the first of 18 people on trial for protesting against Vladimir Putin's government.

Maxim Luzyanin, 36, co-operated with investigators and pleaded guilty to charges of participating in "mass unrest" during a protest on 6 May, the eve of Putin's inauguration for a third term as president. The 17 other men and women charged in the so-called Bolotnaya affair – named after the site of the protest – have maintained their innocence.

Fellow opposition activists and sympathisers took the harsh sentence as a sign that heavy jail terms awaited the rest. "Recognising non-existent guilt in order to soften the sentence doesn't lead to anything in this system," tweeted Mark Feygin, an outspoken lawyer for the jailed punk band Pussy Riot. "These punishments carry a demonstrative character."

The Bolotnaya Square protest in May was the only one to turn violent in the nearly year-long wave of demonstrations that brought on to the streets tens of thousands of people opposed to Putin's return to the presidency. Clashes broke out after police blocked access to the protest site to thousands of protesters.

The arrests have come slowly, spanning May to October. Some activists have been picked up from their homes. Several have said they were not near the site of the unrest in which they have been implicated.

Luzyanin, arrested in late May, pleaded guilty to "participating in the unrest" and "using violence against a representative of power", reportedly admitting to beating a police officer and throwing rocks. Officials said around 20 police officers were injured in the clash. All received free flats as compensation.

Although footage of Russia's riot police beating protesters was widespread, and their actions criticised by Putin's human rights ombudsman, no charges or punishment have been issued.

The start of trials in the Bolotnaya affair comes amid a wider crackdown on Russia's anti-Putin opposition. A series of repressive laws, coupled with a campaign against a leading leftist opposition group, has sown fear among many.

Sergei Udaltsov, the leader of the Left Front and a protest organiser, faces up to 10 years in prison after being charged with conspiracy to provoke mass unrest. He responded to Luzyanin's sentence by writing on Twitter: "Four and a half years for Luzyanin is a challenge to society and the start of the jailing of the opposition. We can only protect ourselves by coming out into the streets en masse." A protest is planned for 8 December.

Prosecutors asked for the Moscow court to give Luzyanin six and a half years. It decided on four and a half after taking into account his guilty verdict, co-operation with the investigation, and the fact that he is the father of a young child.

www.shafaqna.com/English

SHAFAQNA (Shia International News Association) -  Bahrain has extended the detention of a leading human rights activist arrested last week for taking part in a demonstration in the Gulf Arab state by seven days, his lawyer said on Sunday.

Lawyer Mohammed al-Jishi said Sayed Yousif Al-Muhafda, a leading figure at the Bahrain Centre for Human Rights, was being investigated on charges of illegally gathering and taking part in an unauthorised march last Friday, the day of his arrest.

The Interior Ministry issued no statement about the case.

Jishi said Friday's protest took place in Diraz, a Shi'ite Muslim district west of Manama. Muhafda says he went there to follow up on reports of injuries after clashes, Jishi said.

Bahrain, where the Sunni Al Khalifa family rules over a majority Shi'ite population, has stepped up efforts to quell an uprising that has simmered since mass protests broke out in February and March 2011.

The kingdom is a base for the U.S. Fifth Fleet, which patrols oil shipping lanes in the Gulf region.

Earlier last week, Bahrain's interior minister said all rallies and gatherings had been banned to ensure public safety, a move condemned by Amnesty International as a violation of the right to freedom of expression and peaceful assembly.

Leading rights activists Nabeel Rajab and Zainab al-Khawaja were arrested in recent months. Rajab is appealing convictions for gathering illegally. Khawaja was jailed for two months in October for tearing up a picture of King Hamad bin Isa.

The government said last month that four men had been detained on charges of defaming the king on Twitter. Jishi said the courts were prosecuting six such cases.

www.shafaqna.com/English

SHAFAQNA (Shia International News Association)– Syrian warplanes pounded opposition strongholds around Damascus and in the north Wednesday, as President Bashar Assad's forces intensified airstrikes against rebels seeking to topple him, activists said.

The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, which gathers reports from a network of activists on the ground, said government jets carried out five strikes in the eastern Ghouta district, a rebel stronghold close to the capital.

Three airstrikes also hit the rebel-held city of Maaret al-Numan that straddles a key supply route from Damascus to Aleppo, Syria largest city and a main front in the civil war. Maaret al-Numan has been under constant bombardment since it fell to the rebels on Oct. 10.

No casualties were reported in Wednesday's strikes, the Observatory said. However, at least 185 people were killed nationwide in airstrikes and artillery shelling the day before, pushing the total death toll from the relentless fighting in Syria to over 36,000 since March 2011, said Rami Abdul-Rahman, the activist group's president.

At least 47 soldiers were also killed Tuesday, according to the Observatory.

Syria's crisis began as a peaceful uprising against Assad's regime inspired by the Arab Spring but quickly morphed into a bloody civil war.

The international community remains at a loss about how to stop the war and a U.N.-proposed truce last week for a major Muslim holiday failed to take hold. More than 500 people were killed in fighting during what was supposed to be a four-day cease-fire ending Monday.

In China, the U.N.-Arab League envoy to Syria, Lakhdar Brahimi, met Wednesday with China's foreign minister to solicit Beijing's support for international efforts to stop the bloodshed.

The U.S. and other Western and Arab nations have called on Assad to step down, while Russia, China and Iran continue to back him.

In the past weeks, the regime has intensified airstrikes on rebel positions and strongholds. Activists speculate that the government's heavy reliance on air power reflects its inability to roll back rebel gains, especially in the north of the country near the border with Turkey, where rebels have control of swathes of territory.

"The Syrian regime can't do anything on the ground, and that's why they use air strikes," Abdul-Rahman said.

The international community's failure to push for an even modest truce raised fears of a prolonged conflict in Syria that could drag in its neighbors such as Turkey, Lebanon and Jordan.

Turkey's support for the Syrian rebel movement has been a particular point of tension between the former allies. Turkey has reinforced its border and fired into Syria on several occasions recently in response to shells that have landed from Syria inside Turkish territory.

Syria's Foreign Ministry spokesman, Jihad Makdessi, accused Turkey of having "destructive policies" against Damascus and claimed the Turkish foreign minister, Ahmet Davutoglu, was "targeting the security and stability" of Syria.

Makdessi was referring to Tuesday's comments by Davutoglu who expressed "great sadness" that the holiday cease-fire had failed and said his government was done talking to Assad's regime.

The spokesman insisted it was the unwillingness of Turkey and Gulf states to cease supporting the rebels that doomed the truce, the state-run SANA news agency reported late Tuesday.

Damascus views the rebels as terrorists and accuses them of being foot soldiers in a foreign plot to destroy Syria.

www.shafaqna.com/English

SHAFAQNA (Shia International News Association)– Syrian warplanes pounded opposition strongholds around Damascus and in the north Wednesday, as President Bashar Assad's forces intensified airstrikes against rebels seeking to topple him, activists said.

The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, which gathers reports from a network of activists on the ground, said government jets carried out five strikes in the eastern Ghouta district, a rebel stronghold close to the capital.

Three airstrikes also hit the rebel-held city of Maaret al-Numan that straddles a key supply route from Damascus to Aleppo, Syria largest city and a main front in the civil war. Maaret al-Numan has been under constant bombardment since it fell to the rebels on Oct. 10.

No casualties were reported in Wednesday's strikes, the Observatory said. However, at least 185 people were killed nationwide in airstrikes and artillery shelling the day before, pushing the total death toll from the relentless fighting in Syria to over 36,000 since March 2011, said Rami Abdul-Rahman, the activist group's president.

At least 47 soldiers were also killed Tuesday, according to the Observatory.

Syria's crisis began as a peaceful uprising against Assad's regime inspired by the Arab Spring but quickly morphed into a bloody civil war.

The international community remains at a loss about how to stop the war and a U.N.-proposed truce last week for a major Muslim holiday failed to take hold. More than 500 people were killed in fighting during what was supposed to be a four-day cease-fire ending Monday.

In China, the U.N.-Arab League envoy to Syria, Lakhdar Brahimi, met Wednesday with China's foreign minister to solicit Beijing's support for international efforts to stop the bloodshed.

The U.S. and other Western and Arab nations have called on Assad to step down, while Russia, China and Iran continue to back him.

In the past weeks, the regime has intensified airstrikes on rebel positions and strongholds. Activists speculate that the government's heavy reliance on air power reflects its inability to roll back rebel gains, especially in the north of the country near the border with Turkey, where rebels have control of swathes of territory.

"The Syrian regime can't do anything on the ground, and that's why they use air strikes," Abdul-Rahman said.

The international community's failure to push for an even modest truce raised fears of a prolonged conflict in Syria that could drag in its neighbors such as Turkey, Lebanon and Jordan.

Turkey's support for the Syrian rebel movement has been a particular point of tension between the former allies. Turkey has reinforced its border and fired into Syria on several occasions recently in response to shells that have landed from Syria inside Turkish territory.

Syria's Foreign Ministry spokesman, Jihad Makdessi, accused Turkey of having "destructive policies" against Damascus and claimed the Turkish foreign minister, Ahmet Davutoglu, was "targeting the security and stability" of Syria.

Makdessi was referring to Tuesday's comments by Davutoglu who expressed "great sadness" that the holiday cease-fire had failed and said his government was done talking to Assad's regime.

The spokesman insisted it was the unwillingness of Turkey and Gulf states to cease supporting the rebels that doomed the truce, the state-run SANA news agency reported late Tuesday.

Damascus views the rebels as terrorists and accuses them of being foot soldiers in a foreign plot to destroy Syria.

www.shafaqna.com/English