http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2255103/Syria-rebels-beheaded-Christian-fed-dogs-fears-grow-Islamist-atrocities.html
and......
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/2012/12/31/281020/troops-arrest-4-turkish-pilots-in-syria/
The Turkish pilots were arrested by the Syrian troops at the Koerc military airport while trying to sneak into the airfield with the help of a militant group, Arabic-language newspaper Al-Watan reported on Monday.
The report gave no further details on the development, but said the incident attests to Turkey’s direct involvement in the Syrian conflict.
Tensions have been running high between Syria and Turkey, with Damascus accusing Turkey - along with Saudi Arabia and Qatar - of backing a deadly militancy that has claimed the lives of many Syrians, including security and army personnel.
Syria has been experiencing unrest since March 2011.
The Syrian government 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.
http://www.debka.com/article/22642/Failed-Syria-envoy-Brahimi%E2%80%99s-mission-brings-chemical-war-closer
http://www.debka.com/article/22640/Fateh-missiles-and-Russian-Iranian-military-cooperation-to-bolster-Assad-
“Domestic missiles and torpedoes with greater range, precision and destructive power compared to materiel used in last year’s drill wills be tested during the Velayat 91 naval exercises,” Rear Admiral Amir Rastegari, spokesman for the drills, said on Friday. Iran’s Navy launched the six-day naval maneuvers on Friday in order to display the country’s capabilities to defend its maritime borders and maintain durable peace in the region.
The exercises cover a vast area including the Strait of Hormuz, the Sea of Oman, north of the Indian Ocean, the Gulf of Aden and Bab-el-Mandeb Strait.
The commander described using overhauled super-heavy Tareq 901 submarine as the turning point of the exercises.
“Two Ghadir-class submarines which joined the Army’s submarine fleet on November 27, will also be employed during the drill,” the Iranian commander noted.
Over the past few years, Iran has held several military drills to enhance the defensive capabilities of its armed forces and to test modern military tactics and equipment.
The Islamic Republic has repeatedly assured other nations, especially neighbors, that its military might poses no threat to other countries, insisting that its defense doctrine is based on deterrence.
Syria rebels 'beheaded a Christian and fed him to the dogs' as fears grow over Islamist atrocities
- Christian Andrei Arbashe, 38, was kidnapped and beheaded by rebel fighters in northern town of Ras Al-Ayn on the Turkish border
- News came as pro-government forces celebrated their victory against rebels near Aleppo Airport
By NICK FAGGE
|
Syrian rebels beheaded a Christian man and fed his body to dogs, according to a nun who says the West is ignoring atrocities committed by Islamic extremists.
The nun said taxi driver Andrei Arbashe, 38, was kidnapped after his brother was heard complaining that fighters against the ruling regime behaved like bandits.
She said his headless corpse was found by the side of the road, surrounded by hungry dogs. He had recently married and was soon to be a father.
Volatile fighting: The news of the kidnapping and beheading of Mr Arbashe came as pro-government forces celebrated their victory against rebels at the Air Defence Base in Tal Hassil near Aleppo Airport last night
Sister Agnes-Mariam de la Croix said: ‘His only crime was his brother criticised the rebels, accused them of acting like bandits, which is what they are.’
There have been a growing number of accounts of atrocities carried out by rogue elements of the Syrian Free Army, which opposes dictator Bashar al-Assad and is recognised by Britain and the West as the legitimate leadership.
Sister Agnes-Miriam, mother superior of the Monastery of St James the Mutilated, has condemned Britain and the west for supporting the rebels despite growing evidence of human rights abuses. Murder, kidnapping, rape and robbery are becoming commonplace, she says.
‘The free and democratic world is supporting extremists,’ Sister Agnes-Miriam said from her sanctuary in Lebanon. ‘They want to impose Sharia Law and create an Islamic state in Syria.’
Fatal opinion: The man's brother had criticised the behaviour of members of the Free Syrian Army, seen here during heavy clashes with government forces north of Aleppo earlier this month
The 60-year-old Carmelite nun claims the west has turned a blind eye to growing evidence of a ‘fifth column’ of fanatics within the rag-tag ranks that make up the Free Syrian Army that they back to oust Assad.
One of the most effective fighting forces is the Jabat Al-Nusra, which has an ideology similar to Al Qaeda.
‘The uprising has been hijacked by Islamist mercenaries who are more interested in fighting a holy war than in changing the government,’ she said.
‘It has turned into a sectarian conflict. One in which Christians are paying a high price.’
The rebel attacked the northern town of Ras Al-Ayn, on the Turkish border, last month. The fighters entered the Christian quarter, ordering civilians to leave and leaving their homes.
‘More than 200 families were driven out in the night,’ Sister Agnes-Miriam says. ‘People are afraid. Everywhere the deaths squads stop civilians, abduct them and ask for ransom, sometimes they kill them.’
Threat: Sister Agnes-Mariam said that rebel fighters, pictured, are targeting Christians in Syria in a bid to make it a Muslim state
Militants wearing black bandanas of Al Qaeda recently laid siege to the Monastery of St James the Mutilated, located between Damascus and Homs, for two days in an attempt to prevent Christmas celebrations, the nun claims.
An estimated 300,000 Christians have been displaced in the conflict, with 80,000 forced out of the Homs region alone, she claims.
Many have fled abroad raising fears that Syria’s Christian community may vanish - like others across Middle East, the birthplace of Christianity.
Al Assad, a member of the Alawite Muslim sect, claims only his regime can protect Syria’s minorities from domination from the Sunni Muslims majority.
Meanwhile the fighting continues to rage with government forces retaking control of a key district in the city of Homs yesterday.
The latest violence comes after United Nations peace envoy Lakhdar Brahimi warned of ‘hell’ for Syria if no political solution could be found.
Russia has stated the conflict is becoming increasingly militarised and sectarian and risks bringing chaos to the whole region.
Some 44,000 people have been killed since the uprising against the Al Assad regime began in March 2011.
and......
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/2012/12/31/281020/troops-arrest-4-turkish-pilots-in-syria/
Syrian troops arrest 4 Turkish fighter jet pilots in Aleppo: Paper
A Turkish pilot salutes before take-off at an air base in Konya, Turkey. (File photo)
Syrian Army troops have reportedly arrested four Turkish fighter jet pilots near a military airport in Syria’s northwestern province of Aleppo.
The Turkish pilots were arrested by the Syrian troops at the Koerc military airport while trying to sneak into the airfield with the help of a militant group, Arabic-language newspaper Al-Watan reported on Monday.
The report gave no further details on the development, but said the incident attests to Turkey’s direct involvement in the Syrian conflict.
Tensions have been running high between Syria and Turkey, with Damascus accusing Turkey - along with Saudi Arabia and Qatar - of backing a deadly militancy that has claimed the lives of many Syrians, including security and army personnel.
In an interview with the Turkish daily Cumhuriyet in July, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad said Ankara “has supplied all logistic support to the terrorists who have killed our people.”
Syria has been experiencing unrest since March 2011.
The Syrian government 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.
http://www.debka.com/article/22642/Failed-Syria-envoy-Brahimi%E2%80%99s-mission-brings-chemical-war-closer
Failed Syria envoy Brahimi’s mission brings chemical war closer
DEBKAfile Special Report December 30, 2012, 9:08 PM (GMT+02:00)
Victim of Syrian army poison gas attack in Homs
The Syrian crisis unbelievably took another turn for the worse Saturday, Dec. 29: After making no headway with Bashar Assad in Damascus, the UN-Arab League envoy Lakhdar Brahimi was told in no uncertain terms by Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov in Moscow: “There is no possibility of persuading Syrian ruler Bashar Assad to leave Syria.” As they spoke, a record 400 people died in hostilities in the country. The burnt remains of hundreds of people slaughtered by the army were discovered in a Homs district. And Syrian opposition leaders have repeatedly preconditioned their acceptance of the Russian invitation to talks on Assad’s prior exit.
This stalemate is compounded by escalation in the use of two extreme weapons of war. Since Dec. 12, the Syrian army has been firing home-made Scud missiles at rebel centers. The US and NATO have responded by stationing six Patriot batteries manned by 1,000 American, German and Dutch servicemen, on the Turkish-Syrian border to protect Turkey from Syrian attack. The inference here is that so long as the Scuds are confined to targets inside Syria, Western intervention will stop at the border.
Then on Dec. 26, The Syrian army, under the command of Iranian officers, began shooting Fateh A-110 high-precision, short-range surface missiles made in Iran. They were sent to Syria at top speed by an Iranian airlift flying over Iraq. Syria in fact manufactures a local version of the Fateh A-110, called M600. But Tehran decided to deliver the originals to show the world that Assad is not fighting alone and that Iran’s military support for his regime is solid – not just against the uprising, but also against NATO, its missiles and the units which have taken up position in Turkey.
This stalemate is compounded by escalation in the use of two extreme weapons of war. Since Dec. 12, the Syrian army has been firing home-made Scud missiles at rebel centers. The US and NATO have responded by stationing six Patriot batteries manned by 1,000 American, German and Dutch servicemen, on the Turkish-Syrian border to protect Turkey from Syrian attack. The inference here is that so long as the Scuds are confined to targets inside Syria, Western intervention will stop at the border.
Then on Dec. 26, The Syrian army, under the command of Iranian officers, began shooting Fateh A-110 high-precision, short-range surface missiles made in Iran. They were sent to Syria at top speed by an Iranian airlift flying over Iraq. Syria in fact manufactures a local version of the Fateh A-110, called M600. But Tehran decided to deliver the originals to show the world that Assad is not fighting alone and that Iran’s military support for his regime is solid – not just against the uprising, but also against NATO, its missiles and the units which have taken up position in Turkey.
In effect, both sides to the conflict appear to have resorted to a form of chemical warfare. Western and Middle East military sources report that, last week, Syrian forces loyal to Assad are thought to have used in the Homs battle of Dec. 23 grenades containing a gas that paralyzes lungs and causes extreme infirmity, or even death.
Those sources were careful to point out that the gas was most likely “a concentrated irritant,” but not one of the deadly chemical weapons stockpiled by the Assad regime. They were equally careful to avoid indentifying its origin. DEBKAfile’s intelligence sources disclose that these gas grenades were especially developed by Iran’s Revolutionary Guards Corps for use against the masses which demonstrated against the 2009 presidential elections. The grenades have now been distributed to pro-Assad Shabiha militias, the Syrian equivalent of Iran’s brutal al Qods Brigades.The gas grenades were brought out on Dec. 22, the day after the Syrian Presidential Guard reported that seven of its number had died in battle near Damascus as a result of a weapon used by the rebels which “produced a yellow toxic gas.”
This allegation may have been trumped up to justify the pro-Assad forces’ use of toxic gas grenades in Homs. Be that as may, both sides appear to be preparing the ground for chemical warfare. Yet no Western, or any other external power, including Russia, appears ready to intervene to put a stop to the latest horror raising its head in the Syrian conflict, the escalation to chemical warfare - any more than they prevented its descent to the bombardment of civilians by missiles.
In Amman, the Jordanian information minister Sameeh Maaytah, said Sunday, Dec. 30, that his government is prepared for any chemical threat on the kingdom but will not enter into “any alliance” to protect itself.
Several media attributed the minister’s comment to the visit Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu paid to Amman last week for talks with King Abdullah, purportedly about the Syrian chemical weapons threat they share.
Several media attributed the minister’s comment to the visit Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu paid to Amman last week for talks with King Abdullah, purportedly about the Syrian chemical weapons threat they share.
DEBKAfile’s military sources point out that only the first half of the Jordanian statement is correct. The other half is as unreal as most of the comments on the chemical weapons peril heard from Western powers, Russia, Israel or Arab spokesmen. It is a fact that Jordan has after all entered into close alliance with NATO, not to mention the US, for protecting the kingdom. This alliance goes forward on six tracks:
1. Learning how to treat victims of a potential Syrian chemical attack;
2. Setting up an American-Jordanian headquarters in Amman for coordinated operations against this threat, similar to the joint outfits the US has established in Israel and Turkey. The Americans have imported to Jordan a military field hospital specializing in the treatment of chemical warfare victims;
3. Since last summer, US Army Green Berets, which specialize in chemical warfare, have been training Jordanian troops;
4. Czech and Polish military units, expert in chemical and biological warfare, are also in the Hashemite kingdom. They are not only teaching Jordanian units how to combat chemical warfare, but also Syrian rebels;
5. US and Jordanian special units are standing ready for orders to enter Syria and attack the sites of the chemical weapons positioned for shooting into Jordan and Israel;
5. US and Jordanian special units are standing ready for orders to enter Syria and attack the sites of the chemical weapons positioned for shooting into Jordan and Israel;
6. The Jordanian army units deployed between the areas around Amman and close to the northern Jordanian border with Syria were issued last week with anti-contamination masks and suits.
All in all, the United States and NATO have prepared Jordan exhaustively for a possible Syrian chemical weapons attack. If this happens, some intelligence sources estimate Israel or Turkey may be targeted next. Given the Syrian conflict’s sequential plunge into unspeakable atrocities, Israel cannot count on being exempt from a poison weapons attack - even before its Jan. 22 general election.
http://www.debka.com/article/22640/Fateh-missiles-and-Russian-Iranian-military-cooperation-to-bolster-Assad-
Fateh missiles and Russian-Iranian military cooperation to bolster Assad
DEBKAfile Special Report December 29, 2012, 11:23 AM (GMT+02:00)
The Iranian Fateh A-110 surface missile
French and Israeli intelligence sources affirmed Saturday, Dec. 29, that, contrary to reports appearing in the United States Friday, Iran has accelerated rather than slowed down its 20-percent grade enrichment of uranium and is racing toward a nuclear weapons capacity. Furthermore, for the moment, there is not the slightest indication that Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has any intention of accepting the Obama administration’s latest plan for a nuclear deal.
As DEBKAfile has revealed, this plan would require Iran to discontinue production of 20-percent enriched uranium (which can be quickly converted to weapons grade material), and confine itself to producing low 5 percent uranium in agreed amounts. Tehran would also have to accept the removal from the country of its entire stock of 20-percent refined uranium.
The same sources point to the first appearance this week of Iran-made Fateh A-110 high-precision, short-range missiles in the use of the Syrian army against rebel fighters, under the guidance of Iranian officers and instructors, as underscoring the inter-dependence Tehran draws between the Syrian and nuclear issues.
The same sources point to the first appearance this week of Iran-made Fateh A-110 high-precision, short-range missiles in the use of the Syrian army against rebel fighters, under the guidance of Iranian officers and instructors, as underscoring the inter-dependence Tehran draws between the Syrian and nuclear issues.
Khamenei now links an acceptable solution for the Syrian dilemma to his possible nuclear flexibility.
DEBKAfile: When Iranians talks about an inter-power solution for ending the Syrian war, they mean a deal between Washington, Moscow and Tehran on both issues.
The Fateh missiles are being fired quite openly by Iranian military personnel in command of Syrian missile units as Tehran’s answer for the deployment of US, German and Dutch NATO Patriots on the Turkish side of the Syrian border. They also carry a message in response to Israel’s threat of offensive action against Syria if it becomes necessary to thwart its use of chemical weapons. According to our French and military sources, Tehran is using the Fateh missiles and the Iranian military presence in Syria to warn that there is no bar to their use against Turkey, Jordan and Israel as well, in the event of a US or Israel attack on Syria’s chemical stores.
On no account, will Iran permit the overthrow of Bashar Assad’s regime in Damascus. At most, Tehran conceives of his departure in stages and handover to an emergency government led by the military or an armed forces faction to which certain opposition elements may be co-opted. Elections, in the Iranian view, must be deferred until hostilities end and the security situation is stable.
The Fateh missiles are being fired quite openly by Iranian military personnel in command of Syrian missile units as Tehran’s answer for the deployment of US, German and Dutch NATO Patriots on the Turkish side of the Syrian border. They also carry a message in response to Israel’s threat of offensive action against Syria if it becomes necessary to thwart its use of chemical weapons. According to our French and military sources, Tehran is using the Fateh missiles and the Iranian military presence in Syria to warn that there is no bar to their use against Turkey, Jordan and Israel as well, in the event of a US or Israel attack on Syria’s chemical stores.
On no account, will Iran permit the overthrow of Bashar Assad’s regime in Damascus. At most, Tehran conceives of his departure in stages and handover to an emergency government led by the military or an armed forces faction to which certain opposition elements may be co-opted. Elections, in the Iranian view, must be deferred until hostilities end and the security situation is stable.
American and French sources agree that Tehran and Moscow have attained full coordination in their strategies for Syria and also on Iran’s nuclear program. They note that it was not by chance that the Russian Navy Wednesday, Dec. 26, launched its largest sea maneuver ever in the Mediterranean and the approaches to the Persian Gulf, just two days before Iranian warships, submarines and aircraft embarked on their week-long Velayat 91 sea exercise in the Straits of Hormuz, the Gulf of Oman, and northern parts of the Indian Ocean.
The command centers of the Russian and Iranian war games are under orders from Moscow and Tehran to jointly exhibit naval muscle in order to bolster the Assad regime against collapse.
Parallel to the influx of Fateh missiles from Iran to Syria, Moscow is rapidly expanding the deployment of its highly-sophisticated S-400 air and missile interceptors in Russia’s southern military region near the Turkish border.
and......
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/2012/12/29/280721/iran-drill-to-test-highpower-missiles/
‘Iran to test indigenous, high-power missiles, torpedoes in naval drill’
File photo shows an Iranian Navy vessel launching an indigenous Tondar-class missile.
Sat Dec 29, 2012 2:43PM GMT
7
A senior Iranian commander says indigenous missiles and torpedoes with great precision and high destructive power will be tested during the ongoing Velayat 91 naval drills.
“Domestic missiles and torpedoes with greater range, precision and destructive power compared to materiel used in last year’s drill wills be tested during the Velayat 91 naval exercises,” Rear Admiral Amir Rastegari, spokesman for the drills, said on Friday. Iran’s Navy launched the six-day naval maneuvers on Friday in order to display the country’s capabilities to defend its maritime borders and maintain durable peace in the region.
The exercises cover a vast area including the Strait of Hormuz, the Sea of Oman, north of the Indian Ocean, the Gulf of Aden and Bab-el-Mandeb Strait.
The commander described using overhauled super-heavy Tareq 901 submarine as the turning point of the exercises.
Rastegari added that domestically produced drones with longer ranges would be tested during the drill, saying, “Drones which will be flown in the exercises are equipped with strengthened sensor systems.”
“Two Ghadir-class submarines which joined the Army’s submarine fleet on November 27, will also be employed during the drill,” the Iranian commander noted.
Over the past few years, Iran has held several military drills to enhance the defensive capabilities of its armed forces and to test modern military tactics and equipment.
The Islamic Republic has repeatedly assured other nations, especially neighbors, that its military might poses no threat to other countries, insisting that its defense doctrine is based on deterrence.
No comments:
Post a Comment