Russia Thursday proposed a new draft resolution condemning the violence in Syria, giving rise to hopes the U.N. Security Council will end its relative silence on the nine month crackdown on protestors. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton says the United States is ready to work with Moscow on the proposal. Officials here say the Russian [...]
Tag: bashar al assad
December 16, 2011
December 16, 2011
27 Dead After Syrian Government Forces, Defectors Clash
Reports from Syria say military defectors killed at least 27 soldiers Thursday in intensifying bouts of armed resistance against embattled President Bashar al-Assad. At least a half dozen anti-government protesters also were killed across the country on the fifth day of an opposition-led general strike. An escalating insurgency pitting growing bands of Syrian Army defectors [...]
December 15, 2011
US Congressional Panel Seeks to Aid Syrian Opposition
A congressional subcommittee panel on Wednesday examined U.S. policy toward Syria, asking what lawmakers can do to help the opposition as the Damascus government crackdown on the Syrian people continues. Some lawmakers questioned whether the Obama administration should continue to advocate for a peaceful resolution in Syria in the face of widespread violence. Members of [...]
December 15, 2011
Rights Activists Say 25 Syrians Killed in Attacks
Rights activists said Wednesday’s violence across Syria killed at least 25 people, including eight Syrian troops who died in a retaliatory attack by suspected army defectors. The British-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the defectors ambushed a military convoy traveling through a village near the flashpoint city of Hama. Hours earlier, rights activists [...]
December 14, 2011
Rights Activists: Syrian Forces Kill 5 in Hama
Rights activists say Syrian security forces have opened fire on a car in the restive central province of Hama, killing five people. The activists said the shootings happened Wednesday near the town of Khattab, a day after a surge in deadly violence in Syria. The London-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights says loyalist forces killed [...]
December 13, 2011
UN Says Syria Crackdown Death Toll Exceeds 5,000
The United Nations says the death toll from months of unrest in Syria has now surpassed 5,000 people. U.N. human rights chief Navi Pillay said Monday her office has received credible reports from a variety of sources that indicate the death toll since the unrest began in March “probably exceeds 5,000.” She released the statement [...]
December 12, 2011
Syrians to Vote in Local Elections
Syrians are due to vote in municipal elections Monday, the first test of reforms promised by President Bashar al-Assad’s government following protests against his rule. The elections cover more than 17,000 seats on local councils across the country’s 14 provinces. The government has called for a large voter turnout. The poll comes a day after [...]
December 11, 2011
Defectors Fight Syrian Troops in South
Army defectors in southern Syria battled loyalist forces backed by tanks in a major armed confrontation Sunday near the Jordanian border, as at least eight people were killed in nationwide violence. Residents and activists said government troops from Syria’s 12th Armored Brigade stormed the southern town of Busra al-Harir overnight. The British-based Syrian Observatory for [...]
December 11, 2011
UN Rights Chief Dismisses Syria’s Assad Claims on Credibility
United Nations human rights chief Navi Pillay has dismissed Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s recent claims that the U.N. is not a credible organization and that her commission of inquiry failed to contact his government during an investigation of human rights violations in his country. Earlier this week, U.S. television network ABC aired an interview with [...]
December 11, 2011
10 Killed in Syria’s Anti-Government Unrest
Activists say Syrian forces have opened fire on protesters who had gathered at a funeral for a child, killing at least four people. The activists say the unrest the northwestern Idlib province was among several deadly incidents Saturday. They also say three civilians were killed in the central Homs region after gunfire erupted near a [...]
December 10, 2011
UN Rights Chief Dismisses Syria’s Assad Claims on Credibilit
United Nations human rights chief Navi Pillay has dismissed Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s recent claims that the U.N. is not a credible organization and that her commission of inquiry failed to contact his government during an investigation of human rights violations in his country. Earlier this week, U.S. television network ABC aired an interview with [...]
December 10, 2011
Syrian Forces Kill At Least 24 as Protests Spread
Syrian activists say security forces have killed at least 24 people, including several children, as anti-government protests spread nationwide. The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights says three boys, ages 10, 12, 14, were shot and killed Friday in and around the restive city of Homs. Meanwhile, a 12-year-old girl was shot in the southern [...]
December 9, 2011
December 8, 2011
Syria Blames Oil Pipeline Explosion on Sabotage
There has been a major explosion in a Syrian pipeline carrying oil to a refinery near the restive city of Homs. This, as violence from the country’s nine-month uprising escalates. The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights confirmed the report, but gave no cause for the blast. The state-run SANA news agency blamed “an armed [...]