http://www.debka.com/article/22485/Syria-on-a-cliff-edge-between-Assad-and-Al-Qaeda
The PKK has attacked several FSA military bases over the weekend, which they say is retaliation for the attacks and the kidnappings, a move which threatens to bring Syria’s Kurdish minority into the growing civil war.
Syria on a cliff edge between Assad and Al Qaeda
DEBKAfile DEBKA Video October 30, 2012, 1:59 PM (GMT+02:00)
The collapse of the Eid al Adha truce brokered by UN envoy Lakhdar Brahimi left Syria careering into unknown territory.
The powers which castigate Bashar Assad for butchering his people refuse to abandon their hands-off policy for clipping his wings. On this point, there is little difference between US President Barack Obama and his Republican rival Mitt Romney, except that the latter says Syrian rebels ought to be given heavy arms for defense against Assad’s army, tanks and air force.
Even America’s allies in the region are being held back from direct military confrontation with the Assad regime. Turkey was on the verge of expanding its border clashes with Syria into active backing for the rebels with a view to carving out a buffer strip, a safe haven and a no-fly zone on and over Syrian soil. But then, last week Obama sent the Gen. Martin Dempsey, Chairman of the Joint US Chiefs, to Ankara to hold Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan back from any cross-border action. He was followed by his deputy.Assad, the Syrian rebels – and al Qaeda too - sense that the country is now up for grabs. This realization is shared by their various sponsors, including Saudi Prince Bandar bin Sultan and the Emir of Qatar.
The powers which castigate Bashar Assad for butchering his people refuse to abandon their hands-off policy for clipping his wings. On this point, there is little difference between US President Barack Obama and his Republican rival Mitt Romney, except that the latter says Syrian rebels ought to be given heavy arms for defense against Assad’s army, tanks and air force.
Even America’s allies in the region are being held back from direct military confrontation with the Assad regime. Turkey was on the verge of expanding its border clashes with Syria into active backing for the rebels with a view to carving out a buffer strip, a safe haven and a no-fly zone on and over Syrian soil. But then, last week Obama sent the Gen. Martin Dempsey, Chairman of the Joint US Chiefs, to Ankara to hold Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan back from any cross-border action. He was followed by his deputy.Assad, the Syrian rebels – and al Qaeda too - sense that the country is now up for grabs. This realization is shared by their various sponsors, including Saudi Prince Bandar bin Sultan and the Emir of Qatar.
The Syrian ruler therefore feels he is sitting pretty with no one around who is willing or able to stop the indiscriminate air bombardment of urban areas which he began to intensify in the last week.
By the same token, Russia and Iran don’t face international opposition to the arms and personnel back-up they are providing Assad’s forces.
In sharp contrast, the Obama administration is entangled by his critics at home in a crisis over the circumstances surrounding the terrorist murder of US ambassador Chris Stevens and 3 diplomats at the US consulate in Benghazi, Libya. The administration is accused of failing to provide the necessary security before and during the consulate raid.
The ambassador played a key role in US undercover operations to neutralize Libya and the region against destabilizing jihadists.
As an indirect consequence of the crisis around his death, the supply of SA-7 missiles from Libya to the Syrian rebels has dried up.
After looking around him, Assad felt he could safely put into practice his plot for the assassination of the Libyan security chief Brig. Gen. Wassam in Beirut on Friday, Oct. 19.
By a single stroke, the Syrian knocked over the mainstay of US-Saudi intelligence operations in Syria. But, as a vital hub for the American war on al Qaeda in the region, the Lebanese security chief’s importance far transcended a single conflict. His death was a major blow for US intelligence.
So the two murders eliminated two linchpins of the US undercover war on al Qaeda in the region and left a free field for Assad and the jihadists to fight it out between them for supremacy.
By the same token, Russia and Iran don’t face international opposition to the arms and personnel back-up they are providing Assad’s forces.
In sharp contrast, the Obama administration is entangled by his critics at home in a crisis over the circumstances surrounding the terrorist murder of US ambassador Chris Stevens and 3 diplomats at the US consulate in Benghazi, Libya. The administration is accused of failing to provide the necessary security before and during the consulate raid.
The ambassador played a key role in US undercover operations to neutralize Libya and the region against destabilizing jihadists.
As an indirect consequence of the crisis around his death, the supply of SA-7 missiles from Libya to the Syrian rebels has dried up.
After looking around him, Assad felt he could safely put into practice his plot for the assassination of the Libyan security chief Brig. Gen. Wassam in Beirut on Friday, Oct. 19.
By a single stroke, the Syrian knocked over the mainstay of US-Saudi intelligence operations in Syria. But, as a vital hub for the American war on al Qaeda in the region, the Lebanese security chief’s importance far transcended a single conflict. His death was a major blow for US intelligence.
So the two murders eliminated two linchpins of the US undercover war on al Qaeda in the region and left a free field for Assad and the jihadists to fight it out between them for supremacy.
http://news.antiwar.com/2012/10/29/syrian-rebels-in-ceasefire-talks-with-kurdish-militia/
Syrian Rebels in Ceasefire Talks With Kurdish Militia
Rebel-Held Kurdish Captive Dies of Torture
by Jason Ditz, October 29, 2012
Fighting between the rebel Free Syrian Army (FSA) and the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) has picked up around Aleppo over the past several days, and are now reportedly discussing a ceasefire after the FSA attacked several Kurdish neighborhoods and kidnapped over 100 Kurds.
The PKK has attacked several FSA military bases over the weekend, which they say is retaliation for the attacks and the kidnappings, a move which threatens to bring Syria’s Kurdish minority into the growing civil war.
Among those captured in the FSA raids was a Kurdish man named Khaled Bahjat Hamdu, a 37 year old man from the attacked village of Hayan. According to rebel-linked Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, Hamdu has “diedfrom wounds caused by torture” while in custody.
Syria’s significant Kurdish minority lives mostly along the Turkish and Iraqi borders, and many of them also live in enclaves around the major city of Aleppo. Though the Kurds have tried to stay out of the Syrian Civil War for the most part, several rebel factions have questioned where their loyalties lie, particularly as the PKK is in open warfare with Turkey, which is backing the FSA.
http://www.aljazeera.com/news/middleeast/2012/10/2012103093035382754.html
| Syria air raids continue as diplomacy falters | |||
Bombardment around Homs comes as Qatar accuses Assad of waging "war of extermination" and Brahimi seeks China's support.
Last Modified: 30 Oct 2012 12:42
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| Syrian fighter jets have struck rebel positions around the city of Homs as the international envoy appointed to try to resolve the crisis prepares to hold talks in China. Two rebel fighters were killed and 10 wounded on Tuesday at al-Mubarkiyeh, a village 6km south of Homs, where fighters have besieged a compound guarding a tank maintenance facility, opposition activists said. The attacks came as Lakhdar Brahimi, the envoy appointed by the Arab League and United Nations, arrived in Beijing for a two-day visit, part of an attempt to secure support from Syria's allies before a visit to the UN Security Council next month.
Brahimi's scheduled talks with Yang Jiechi, foreign minister, follow a similar meeting with Sergey Lavrov, Russia's foreign minister, on Monday.
After that meeting, Brahimi said the civil war in Syria was growing even worse and that he was "terribly sorry" a ceasefire he had attempted to negotiate had failed. Both China and Russia are allies of President Bashar al-Assad and have vetoed three Western- and Arab-backed resolutions at the Security Council condemning the Syrian regime for the violence. Both countries oppose any intervention in the war and have criticised others for interfering. China had backed Brahimi's failed plan for a three-day truce that had been agreed by the Syrian government and the rebels last week, ahead of the Eid al-Adha holiday. Russia and China have been scorned by the Gulf, the US and Turkey - a strong ally of the Syrian opposition which on Tuesday ruled out further dialogue with Assad's government. "There is no point in engaging in dialogue with a regime that continues to carry out such a massacre against its own people, even during Eid al-Adha," Ahmet Davutoglu, foreign minister, said. The ceasefire arranged by Brahimi was violated almost as soon as it was agreed, and both rebels and government troops initiated firefights after the holiday began at sunset on October 25. Elsewhere in Syria on Tuesday, activists reported heavy fighting and air raids in the northern province of Aleppo, where they said rebels are surrounding an area where the headquarters of the air defence intelligence is located. Activists also reported air raids for the second consecutive day on areas on the outskirts of Damascus.
Clashes on Monday left 130 people dead, according to the UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.
That violence included an explosion near a bakery in a southeastern district of Damascus controlled by forces loyal to Assad, killing at least 11 people, including children and women, and injuring scores, according to both activists and state news agency SANA. A second explosion was reported in al-Hajar al-Aswad neighbourhood. Activists there said an air raid by government forces struck a bus and left at least 10 people killed. State TV said it was a "terrorist" car bomb that left an unspecified number of victims. The opposition claims at least 32,000 people have been killed since the uprising against Assad's rule began in March last year. Hundreds of thousands of people have fled to neighbouring countries. Qatar's accusation In a televised interview after Monday's violence, Sheikh Hamad bin Jassim Al Thani, Qatar's prime minister, accused Assad's government of waging a "war of extermination" against its people He told Al Jazeera that he also took issue with Brahimi's characterisation of the crisis. "What is happening in Syria is not a civil war but a war of extermination against the Syrian people," he said.
But he said Qatar still had faith in Brahimi, who is due to go to the Security Council in November with new proposals to push for talks between Assad and the opposition. Brahimi said on Monday that the UN "is not considering" sending an armed peacekeeping force to Syria, though relevant officials were conducting contingency planning in case the Security Council ordered such a mission. That is highly unlikely with Russia and China wielding vetoes.
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