Time to aid, not stigmatize, the Syrian rebels

Syrian opposition groups willing to fight both the regime and al-Qaeda are worthy of Western and Arab support

With potential American strikes against Syrian chemical weapons-related targets averted for now, attention once again turns to the Syrian opposition. This is a crucial issue because the main way the West and the Arab states can, and should, act to influence the Syrian conflict is through a robust engagement with acceptable armed opposition forces.

As long as the Damascus dictatorship continues to enjoy impunity, air supremacy and unrestrained support from Iran, Hezbollah, and Russia, the existing power structure has no incentive whatsoever to look for an agreement, nor can it be forced into a de facto stalemate that can provide a modicum of stability.
FULL ARTICLE HERE: Time to aid, not stigmatize, the Syrian rebels

New Syria opposition chief sets arms priority - Alarabiya.net English | Front Page

 

Securing arms for the opposition fighters is a top priority for the new leader of Syria’s main opposition, the National Coalition. (File photo: Al Arabiya 

AFP

The new leader of Syria’s main opposition National Coalition has set his priority on securing arms for rebels fighting regime troops since 2011, in remarks published on Saturday.

Ahmad Assi Jarba spoke in Saudi Arabia after a meeting with Crown Prince Salman bin Abdul Aziz on Thursday ahead of a tour of Western capitals next week during which he will meet French President Francois Hollande.

“My first and foremost priority is securing arms for the Free Syrian Army fighters as soon as possible,” Saudi daily Asharq Al-Awsat quoted him as saying.

“We are facing gangs that are launching a war of extinction against the Syrian people and arms are the only means of facing them and ending their massacres,” Jarba said.

“I also plan to work on securing aid to our people,” added the new opposition leader who was elected on July 6....................

FULL ARTICLE HERE: New Syria opposition chief sets arms priority - Alarabiya.net English | Front Page

KINDA-SORTA: Friends of Syria pledge to arm rebels - Middle East - Al Jazeera English

   

Western and Arab countries have agreed to give urgent military support to Syrian rebels fighting President Bashar al-Assad, and to channel that aid through a Western-backed rebel military command.

In a statement following talks in Qatar on Saturday, ministers from the 11 main countries of the Friends of Syria group agreed "to provide urgently all the necessary materiel and equipment to the opposition on the ground".  

Their final statement also condemned "the intervention of Hezbollah militias and fighters from Iran and Iraq", demanding that they withdraw immediately from Syria. The ministers said the growing sectarian nature of the conflict and the foreign interventions "threaten the unity of Syria [and] broaden the conflict" across the region. 

They also expressed strong concern at the increasing presence of "terrorist elements" and growing radicalisation in Syria................

FULL ARTICLE HERE: Friends of Syria pledge to arm rebels - Middle East - Al Jazeera English

EMBEDDED WITH FREEDOM FIGHTERS: Syria: Behind Rebel Lines - People & Power - Al Jazeera English

   
After two years the civil war in Syria shows no immediate sign of coming to an end. Though exact numbers are difficult to determine it is likely that hundreds of thousands of people have been injured or killed.  

Millions more have been displaced and communities across the country have been irremediably scarred by fighting that has seen homes, schools, businesses and hospitals destroyed.  

Yet those opposed to the Assad regime show no signs of faltering. Something keeps them at the front line - even though they are outgunned and often desperately short of everything from ammunition to medical supplies.  

To find out what drives them, earlier this year veteran journalist Rania Abouzeid and Canadian filmmaker Sylvene Gilchrist went to spend time with elements of the Free Syrian Army in Idlib province, a key battleground in the northwest of Syria..............  

FULL ARTICLE W/VIDEO: Syria: Behind Rebel Lines - People & Power - Al Jazeera English

KERRY WRESTLING SYRIA POLICY FROM OBAMA?: US backs British, French plan to arm Syrian rebels | The Times of Israel

US Secretary of State John Kerry, accompanied by Australian Foreign Minister Bob Carr, gestures as he speaks to reporters following their meeting at the State Department in Washington on Monday. (photo credit: AP/Manuel Balce Ceneta)

The Obama administration lent its support Monday to British and French plans to arm Syria’s rebels, saying it wouldn’t stand in the way of any country seeking to rebalance the fight against an Assad regime supported by Russia, Iran and Hezbollah......
 

FULL ARTICLE: US backs British, French plan to arm Syrian rebels | The Times of Israel

BUG OFF OBAMA: France, Britain flout US objections on arms to Syrian rebels

Hollande, Obama, Cameron
no longer a threesome on Syria
 
Working through Jordan, Britain and France are determined to get arms shipments to the Syrian rebels fighting Bashar Assad -  parting ways for the first time with the Obama administration’s objections to this course throughout Syria’s two-year civil war.

The two European powers have embarked on  concrete step to make this possible..

Debkafile’s exclusive military sources reveal that Jordanian Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Mashal Mohammad Al Zaben was secretly flown into Brussels by British military plane Friday, March 14, as 24 European Union leaders led by German Chancellor Angela Merkel voted down the motion put before them by UK Prime Minister David Cameron and French President Francois Hollande to end the bloc’s embargo on arms for the Syrian opposition.....(CONTINUED)

France, Britain flout US objections on arms to Syrian rebels

US lawmaker pushes for lethal aid to Syrian rebels | The Times of Israel

Democratic Congressman Eliot Engel proposes legislation to provide funds to anti-Assad opposition

WASHINGTON (AP) — The top Democrat on the US House Foreign Affairs Committee is calling on the Obama administration to train and arm select elements of the Syrian opposition as well as provide humanitarian assistance as the deadly civil war marked a second anniversary Friday.

“It is past time to stop the madness in Syria,” Rep. Eliot Engel wrote to colleagues in seeking support for legislation to aid the rebels battling the regime of President Bashar Assad.

The lawmaker, who plans to introduce his bill on Monday, cited the estimated 70,000 Syrians killed and more than 1 million refugees. His legislation would provide economic assistance to local groups supporting the opposition, expand humanitarian assistance and authorize the training and arming of vetted Syrian opposition fighters...............

FULL ARTICLE: US lawmaker pushes for lethal aid to Syrian rebels | The Times of Israel

UK mulls arming Syrian rebels, Assad’s regime vows to fight ‘for years’ - Alarabiya.net English | Front Page

 

For half a century, Syrians lived in terror of the secret services, who held a vice-like grip over every aspect of daily life, but in March 2011 they finally threw off the shackles. (AFP)

Al Arabiya With Agencies - 

 
Britain said on Tuesday it could break with a European Union arms embargo on Syria to allow for arming opposition fighters as the regime of President Bashar al-Assad vowed to fight “for years.”

The arms embargo is part of a package of EU sanctions on Syria that currently roll over every three months, with the last extension achieved with the agreement of all 27 EU members on March 1.

Britain pushed for and won an agreement to amend the embargo to allow the supply of non-lethal equipment such as body armored vehicles to rebels, but warned that in future it might act alone.

UK mulls arming Syrian rebels, Assad’s regime vows to fight ‘for years’ - Alarabiya.net English | Front Page