Thread: Russia Sends Warships To Syrian Waters To Stop NATO

Report: Russia warships to enter Syria waters in bid to stem foreign intervention

Syrian official says Damascus agrees 'in principle' to allow entrance of Arab League observer mission; 22-member body proposed sending hundreds of observers to the to help end the bloodshed.

By Jack Khoury and HaaretzTags: SyriaArab SpringBashar Assad

Russian warships are due to arrive at Syrian territorial waters, a Syrian news agency said on Thursday, indicating that the move represented a clear message to the West that Moscow would resist any foreign intervention in the country's civil unrest.

Also on Friday, a Syrian official said Damascus has agreed "in principle" to allow an Arab League observer mission into the country.



But the official said Friday that Syria was still studying the details. The official asked not to be named because the issue is so sensitive.

The Arab League suspended Syria earlier this week over its deadly crackdown on an eight-month-old uprising. The 22-member body has proposed sending hundreds of observers to the country to try to help end the bloodshed.

The report came a day after a draft resolution backed by Arab and European countries and the United States was submitted to the United Nations General Assembly, seeking to condemn human rights violations in the on-going violence in Syria.

Jordan, Morocco, Qatar, and Saudi Arabia were among Arab states that joined Germany, Britain, and France to sponsor the draft submitted to the assembly's human rights committee. In Washington, State Department spokesman Mark Toner said the U.S. would sign on as a co-sponsor of the resolution.

The draft demanded an end to violence, respect of human rights and implementation by Damascus of a plan of action of the Arab League.

The move comes as clashes escalated in Syria and after Russia and China used their veto in October to block a Security Council resolution that would have condemned the Syrian government of President Bashir for the violence.

Such a veto is not applicable in the 193-nation assembly, which will consider the issue after the human rights committee reports back to it.

The UN says more than 3,500 people have been killed since unrest erupted in spring against Assad.

http://www.haaretz.com/news/middle-east ... n-1.396359

Russia stands by Assad as pressure mounts on Syria

Credit: Reuters/Stringer
By Khaled Yacoub Oweis
AMMAN | Thu Nov 17, 2011 11:20pm GMT

AMMAN (Reuters) - Russia stood by President Bashar al-Assad on Thursday as Arab and Western countries sought to pile pressure on the Syrian leader to halt a violent crackdown on his opponents.

The Arab League has suspended Syria and given it until the end of the week to comply with an Arab peace plan to end bloodshed that has cost more than 3,500 lives, by a U.N. count.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, whose country is one of Syria's few remaining foreign friends, said demands for Assad's removal would destroy the initiative, which calls for dialogue between the Syrian government and its foes.

"If some opposition representatives, with support from some foreign countries, declare that dialogue can begin only after President Assad goes, then the Arab League initiative becomes worthless and meaningless," Lavrov said.

He was speaking after talks with European Union foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton, who said the world must bring all the influence it could to bear on Syria to change course.

Lavrov said a raid on Wednesday by the Free Syrian Army on an Airforce Intelligence complex on the outskirts of Damascus was "already completely similar to real civil war".

Opposition sources said Syrian army defectors had killed or wounded 20 security police in the early-morning attack, the first of its kind in an eight-month revolt against Assad.

It was not possible to verify the casualty toll. The authorities have not mentioned the attack. Syria has barred most foreign media since unrest began in March.

"The attack itself was significant because of the target and the ability to pull it off. It's much too soon to tell if this is the beginning of a trend of armed opposition to the regime," a U.S. official said on condition of anonymity.

State Department spokesman Mark Toner said the United States did not have any contact with the Syrian Free Army but did not condone any use of violence.

He rejected the suggestion that Syria was virtually in civil war, saying: "We believe it's very much the Assad regime carrying out a campaign of violence, intimidation, and repression against innocent protesters."

RETALIATORY RAIDS

Residents of Harasta, the suburb where the Airforce Intelligence compound is located, said army deserters had fired rocket-propelled grenades and machineguns for 10 minutes, provoking a security sweep that netted about 70 people.

Together with Military Intelligence, Airforce Intelligence is in charge of preventing dissent within the armed forces.

Syria blames the violence on foreign-backed armed groups who it says have killed more than 1,100 soldiers and police.

Hundreds of people have been killed this month, one of the bloodiest periods in the revolt that began in March.

Catherine Altalli, of the opposition Syrian National Council, said Wednesday's assault was understandable after the violence, detention and torture used on peaceful protesters.

"I am not saying this is right. There have to be limits," she said. "But what is unacceptable is that every day bodies come out with marks of torture from Air Force Intelligence buildings and other secret police dungeons across Syria".

Syria's pervasive security apparatus, dominated by Assad's minority Alawite sect, underpins the power structure that has enabled Assad and his father before him to rule for 41 years.

The bloodshed in Syria has angered other Arab and Western nations, whose criticism of Assad led to several attacks on diplomatic missions in Damascus and other cities this week.

Syrian state media said the authorities had vowed to prosecute anyone who carried out such attacks.

FRANCE HELPING OPPOSITION

France, which withdrew its ambassador from Damascus on Wednesday, said it was encouraging Syrian opposition groups, which include the Paris-based Syrian National Council, but remained opposed to outside military intervention.

"We have had contacts with them ... in any case we are helping them, we are encouraging them to get organised," Foreign Minister Alain Juppe told French BFM radio.

France was the first Western nation to recognise Libyan rebels in March, but has yet to endorse any Syrian group.

While the West appears to have no appetite for military intervention in Syria, a leader of Syria's outlawed Muslim Brotherhood said Turkish military action might be acceptable.

"If other interventions are required, such as air protection, because of the regime's intransigence, then the people will accept Turkish intervention. They do not want Western intervention," Mohammad Riad Shaqfa, who lives in exile in Saudi Arabia, told a news conference in Istanbul.

Ankara is considering imposing sanctions on Syria, has hosted opponents of Assad and is working with the Arab League to increase pressure on Damascus, but denies any plan to intervene militarily in its southern neighbour.

No U.N. sanctions against Syria seem likely given opposition from Russia and China, which last month vetoed a draft Security Council resolution condemning Damascus.

Now France, Britain and Germany plan to ask the U.N. General Assembly's human rights committee to approve a resolution condemning the violence in Syria, before putting the non-binding measure to a vote in an Assembly plenary session.

Burhan Ghalioun, head of the Syrian National Council, called for a calming of sectarian tensions between Alawites and majority Sunni Muslims, especially in the restive city of Homs.

"We have seen in the last few weeks kidnappings, assassination and score-settling among members of the same people, even from within the sons of the revolution, which poses a dangerous threat to the gains of the revolution and offers a big service to the regime," he said in a statement.

(Additional reporting by Souhail Karam in Rabat, Dominic Evans in Beirut, John Irish in Paris, Steve Gutterman and Thomas Grove in Moscow, Tabassum Zakaria in Washington; Writing by Alistair Lyon; Editing by Mark Heinrich)

http://uk.reuters.com/article/2011/11/1 ... 9Y20111117

Britain in secret talks with Syrian rebels

Former envoy's overture to enemies of Assad

Kim Sengupta and Catrina Stewart
Saturday 19 November 2011

Britain has formally opened talks with the Syrian opposition movement as international pressure continues to mount against the beleaguered regime of President Bashar al-Assad.

Frances Guy, a former ambassador to Lebanon, met members of the exiled opposition in Paris yesterday. The Foreign Secretary, William Hague, is to meet members of the Syrian opposition in London next week when they will also hold talks with senior officials in Downing Street.

Although the UK, along with other Western states like France – which appealed to the United Nations yesterday to impose tougher sanctions – has been in informal contact with the opposition for the last three months, the progression of the working relationship opens up the prospect of the rebels eventually being recognised as the country's representatives and supplanting the Assad regime.

The West's Libyan mission started in a similar fashion with the country's revolutionaries, but senior diplomatic sources warned against drawing parallels. "This is not about recognition of them as the government – that is not the case," said a senior diplomatic source. "The difference with the Libyan situation was that the Libyan National Transitional Council controlled swathes of the country. We are asking the Syrian opposition to present a coherent set of policies and organise themselves." The Syrian National Council and the National Co-ordination Committee for Democratic Change are among the groups whose leaders have been involved in the talks.

The development comes as France said that it, too, was ready to work with the Syrian opposition, maintaining that it is too late for the Assad regime to save itself by carrying out reforms.

Opposition from the veto-wielding members Russia and China has largely prevented the UN's Security Council from responding to Assad's crackdown on an eight-month uprising against his rule. But, following talks yesterday in Turkey, the French Foreign Minister Alain Juppé said the situation was "no longer sustainable" and that the UN must act.

"It is not normal that the Security Council has not made any decision so far," Mr Juppé told reporters. "I hope those blocking any resolution will be aware of the reality of the situation."

Turkey also called for action, with its Foreign Minister, Ahmet Davutoglu, saying more must be done to stop the "massacre".

As international pressure on Syria builds, Damascus made a tentative gesture to the Arab League, agreeing in principle to allow observers to enter the country for the first time to oversee the implementation of a peace plan to end the bloodshed.

But there were few signs yesterday that the violence was abating following reports that at least 12 civilians, including two children, were killed when security forces fired on protesters following Friday prayers.

Syria's apparent concession came after the Arab League suspended Syria and gave it until the end of this week to implement a peace plan that calls for the regime to withdraw its forces from towns and end the violence. Hundreds of people have been killed since Syria accepted, and then largely ignored, the peace plan three weeks ago.

Syrian officials were yesterday quoted as saying that they would accept foreign observers in the country, but that they had outlined their reservations to the Arab League. The body, which has threatened Damascus with sanctions, said it was studying the suggestions.

But Mr Juppé expressed scepticism that Syria was ready to stop the violence. "We believe the regime was not willing to implement a reform programme and now it is too late," he said.

The UN estimates that at least 3,500 people have been killed since the government began its crackdown against an anti-regime uprising in March. Assad's regime has accused foreign-backed "armed terrorist gangs" of killing 1,000 of its security personnel.

The soaring death toll has pushed some to demand the international community put greater pressure on the embattled regime. In what could be a preliminary push towards sanctions, Germany, France and Britain are planning to ask the UN General Assembly to adopt a non-binding resolution condemning the violence in Syria.

The European Union has already imposed sanctions on Syria, but Russia, a close ally of Syria, and China have blocked any wider international measures under a UN umbrella.

Some protesters have responded to the regime's crackdown by taking up arms to defend themselves. In the past week, the Syrian Free Army, a rebel force formed in July from military defectors, has mounted deadly attacks on regime targets, including the air force's intelligence directorate. The attacks are the most potent fightback so far, and have exacerbated fears that the country is sliding towards armed insurrection.

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world ... 64592.html

Russia And China Block New Iran Sanctions

Iran to avoid sanctions over nuclear work

There are no plans at present to refer the matter to the UN Security Council

Kim Sengupta Friday 18 November 2011

The much-awaited resolution by the UN's atomic watchdog will not propose tougher sanctions against the Iranian regime – despite its report claiming that the country may be trying to acquire a nuclear arsenal.

After lengthy discussions and pressure from Russia and China, the document, due to be made public today, avoids calling for punitive measures while expressing "deep and increasing concern" over Iran's atomic work.

The 35-nation board of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has not set a deadline for inspectors to be allowed access to the programme Tehran is alleged to be carrying out in secret towards developing the bomb. And there are no plans, at present, to refer the matter to the UN Security Council for further action.

Britain is expected to set out its position after the presentation of the resolution. Foreign Secretary William Hague had told the Commons that there may be unilateral strengthening of sanctions, but it remains unclear when these will be introduced.

The Israeli administration, which has threatened military strikes against Iranian nuclear installations, said it expected the resolution to be far weaker than it considers necessary.

Defence Minister Ehud Barak said: "I'm not very optimistic – there are difficulties in mobilising will in the world. That's why we're working to convince foreign leaders to impose strong and concrete sanctions to stop Iran. We should not appear to be a country that whines, that is afraid, but simply stress that Iran has launched a challenge to the whole world... and the world must move. No option should be taken off the table, which is also the position of the Europeans and Americans, but I think that I should not say anything more at this stage."

A leaked copy of the draft resolution expressed "serious concern that Iran continues to defy the requirements and obligations contained in the relevant IAEA Board of Governors and UN Security Council Resolutions". It also stressed "deep and increasing concern about the unresolved issues regarding the Iranian nuclear program, including those which need to be clarified to exclude the existence of possible military dimensions".

According to diplomatic sources, the leading Western members in the board had considered at one stage going ahead with a tougher resolution without the backing of Moscow and Beijing. But the idea was quickly dropped because "it would have meant Iran had succeeded in formalising the split in the three-plus-three group" – the US, Britain, France, Germany, Russia and China, who have been negotiating with Tehran on the nuclear issue.

The head of the IAEA, Yukiya Amano, has written to the Iranians requesting a visit by senior officials from the agency to start talks on issues of difference. So far there has been no response from Iran.

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world ... 63992.html

Turkey Urged To Take Military Action On Syria

France calls for tough sanctions on Syria

France's foreign minister Alain Juppe said the time has come to increase sanctions against the Syrian regime, but ruled out military intervention to end eight months of violence against protestors.


Sergei Lavrov, the Russian foreign minister, warned that the situation in Syria was 'all looking very much like a civil war', but insisted that the opposition was as much to blame as the government Photo: REUTERS

By Adrian Blomfield, Middle East Correspondent and Ruth Sherlock
11:00AM GMT 18 Nov 2011
104 Comments

"The situation is no longer sustainable," Alain Juppe told reporters during an official visit to Ankara.

"It is not normal that the [United Nations] Security Council has not made any decision so far," he said. "I hope those blocking any resolution will be aware of the reality of the situation."

Russia and China, which hold veto power on the council, have clearly indicated they would block global sanctions against Syria. The regime of Bashar al-Assad has however been hit by European Union sanctions.

Speaking alongside Ahmet Davutoglu, the Turkish foreign minister, he said he doubted that Syria would respond positively to an Arab League peace plan proposal. The regional body earlier this week suspended Syria because of its brutal repression of its civilians.

As a first step towards sanctions at the UN, France, Britain and Germany plan to ask the UN General Assembly's human rights committee to approve a resolution condemning the violence in Syria, before putting the non-binding measure to a vote in an Assembly plenary session.

Syria's opposition has meanwhile urged Turkey to mount a military operation to protect civilians from Mr Assad's security forces, as Russia warned that the fighting in the country was now akin to a "civil war".

Representatives from dissidents groups submitted a formal request to Turkey for troops to be sent across the border to create a haven for civilians and rebels fighting Mr Assad's regime, according to a Turkish newspaper with close links to the government in Ankara.

The Turkish administration has already provided shelter to the Syrian Free Army, an increasingly potent rebel force, on its side of the border, but has long denied having any intention of forming a buffer zone within Syrian territory itself.

Despite the risks of being drawn into a regional war with its neighbour, Turkey is considering the request and could take action if it received backing from the United Nations and the Arab League, the Sabah newspaper quoted officials as saying.

Stepping up the pressure on Ankara, Islamists within the Syrian opposition indicated yesterday that they could ask Turkey to broaden its mission by imposing a no-fly zone across the country.

"If the international community procrastinates, then more is required from Turkey as a neighbour to be more serious than other countries," Mohammed Riad Shaqfa, an exiled leader of Syria's Muslim Brotherhood, said in Istanbul.

"If other interventions are required, such as air protection, because of the regime's intransigence, then the people will accept Turkish intervention. They do not want Western intervention."

Sergei Lavrov, the Russian foreign minister, warned that the situation in Syria was "all looking very much like a civil war", but insisted that the opposition was as much to blame as the government.

"It is not a secret that along with the peaceful demonstrators, whose strivings and demands we support, there is more and more participation from groups of armed people who have an entirely different agenda from reform and democracy in Syria," he said.

"Their agenda concerns ethnic and tribal interests, and these people have received and are continuing to receive weapons in growing amounts from neighboring countries, and they don't particularly hide it. Weapons are being smuggled in through Lebanon, Iraq, Afghanistan, Jordan, and if the opposition uses such methods, this will lead to a full-scale civil war."

In recent days, the Syrian Free Army - which was formed only in July - launched a series of co-ordinated attacks against four military targets on the outskirts of Damascus, including the air force's intelligence directorate, a powerful and hated symbol of the regime's authority.

Yesterday, it struck again, attacking a ruling party building near the Turkish border with rocket-propelled grenades and launching a raid on a security building close to the Lebanese frontier. There were no details of casualties.

Turkey has emerged as the region's most virulent critic of Syria's bloody repression of the eight-month uprising against Mr Assad, during which more than 3,500 people have been killed according to UN estimates.

How willing it would be to become involved militarily is open to question, however, with fears that any armed confrontation between Turkey and Syria could cause a civil war in one country to turn into a conflict engulfing many.

But with the situation growing ever more violent - 400 people have reportedly been killed in the country this month alone - many Arab states fear that instability could equally spread if decisive action is not taken.

The Arab League last week suspended Syria's membership. On Wednesday it gave Mr Assad three days to allow observers into Syria to verify whether he is abiding by a league-brokered peace plan.

In the meantime, a number of Arab states have offered to co-sponsor a European UN General Assembly resolution condemning the Syrian regime's repression. The resolution is to be introduced next week but is non-binding.

Britain is also hoping they can win Arab backing to revive a Security Council resolution threatening the Assad regime with sanctions, a move so far blocked by Russia and China.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldne ... Syria.html

Russian Military Chief Warns NATO Of Nuke War

Russian military chief warns of nuclear war risks

By VLADIMIR ISACHENKOV | AP – Thu, Nov 17, 2011...


In this Dec. 10, 2008 file photo, Chief of the General Staff of the Russian armed forces Gen. Nikolai Makarov meets with a military attache in Moscow. Russia is facing a heightened risk of being drawn into conflicts at its borders that have the potential of turning nuclear, the nation's top military officer said Thursday Nov 17 2011. (AP Photo/Mikhail Metzel, File)

MOSCOW (AP) — Russia is facing a heightened risk of being drawn into conflicts at its borders that have the potential of turning nuclear, the nation's top military officer said Thursday.

Gen. Nikolai Makarov, chief of the General Staff of the Russian armed forces, cautioned over NATO's expansion eastward and warned that the risks of Russia being pulled into local conflicts have "risen sharply."

Makarov added, according to Russian news agencies, that "under certain conditions local and regional conflicts may develop into a full-scale war involving nuclear weapons."

A steady decline in Russia's conventional forces has prompted the Kremlin to rely increasingly on its nuclear deterrent.

The nation's military doctrine says it may use nuclear weapons to counter a nuclear attack on Russia or an ally, or a large-scale conventional attack that threatens Russia's existence.

Russia sees NATO's expansion to include former Soviet republics and ex-members of the Soviet bloc in eastern and central Europe as a key threat to Russia's security.

Makarov specifically referred to NATO's plans to offer membership to Georgia and Ukraine as potentially threatening Russia's security. Russia routed Georgian forces in a brief August 2008 war over a separatist province of South Ossetia. Moscow later recognized South Ossettia and another breakaway Georgian province of Abkhazia as independent states and increased its military presence there.

Makarov warned that the planned pullout of NATO forces from Afghanistan could trigger conflicts in neighboring ex-Soviet Central Asian nations that could "grow into a large-scale war."

In its military doctrine, Russia has also described U.S. missile defense plans as another major security challenge, saying it could threaten its nuclear forces and undermine their deterrence potential.

Moscow has agreed to consider NATO's proposal last fall to cooperate on the missile shield, but the talks have been deadlocked over how the system should operate. Russia has insisted that the system should be run jointly, which NATO has rejected.

Makarov also said Russia is struggling to get enough recruits for the 1-million military, as the number of draftees has shrunk dramatically because of demographical changes.

He said that the military is aiming to gradually increase the number of contract soldiers and eventually form an all-volunteer army. He didn't mention a specific time frame.

The statement marked a sharp change of course for the top military brass who previously insisted that Russia needs to maintain the highly unpopular draft because an all-volunteer military would be too costly.

http://tinyurl.com/84m2y5m