Russia ‘actively engaged’ in Syrian war, Israeli source says - Alarabiya.net English | Front Page

Al Arabiya

An Israeli security source said that Russia is actively engaged in the Syrian conflict helping Syrian troops by providing intelligence-gathering technology, Al Arabiya’s correspondent reported.

“Russia is effectively and actively engaged [in the Syria conflict] beside the army of the Syrian regime by [providing] drones that are collecting information and data and relaying them to Syrian troops,” said the source on condition of anonymity.

FULL ARTICLE HERE: Russia ‘actively engaged’ in Syrian war, Israeli source says - Alarabiya.net English | Front Page

PUTIN THE HYPOCRITE: Russian manufacturer to sell 10 or more MiGs to bloody Syrian regime | The Times of Israel

Amid reports of a delay in delivery of advanced S-300 air-defense missiles to Assad, new fighter jets deal could prove deadly to rebels.

MOSCOW — A Russian arms manufacturer says it is signing a contract to deliver at least 10 fighter jets to Syria.

Sergei Korotkov, general director of the MiG company that makes the jets, told Russian news agencies Friday that a Syrian delegation was in Moscow to discuss terms and deadlines of a new contract supplying MiG-29 M/M2 fighters to Syria.

FULL ARTICLE HERE: Russian manufacturer to sell 10 MiGs to Syria | The Times of Israel

Israel says Syria buying advanced Russian missile system | The Times of Israel

Jerusalem warns US over sale of S-300 batteries, fearing move could hamper intervention efforts, according to the Wall Street Journal

US officials say they have been warned by Israel over the impending sale of an advanced Russian missile system to Syria, fearing it could hamper efforts for international intervention in the war-torn country. Israel suspects that Russia plans to sell Damascus six S-300 missile batteries, as well as 144 missiles, the Wall Street Journal reported Thursday........

FULL ARTICLE: Israel says Syria buying advanced Russian missile system | The Times of Israel

Defected Syrian pilot says he made trips to Russia and Iran to ‘collect cash’ - Alarabiya.net English | Front Page

 A Ammon News handout photo supplied by Syrian activists shows the Syrian Air Force Russian-made MiG-21 plane that a pilot landed with at the King Hussein Air Base in northern Jordan on June 21, 2012. (AFP)

Al Arabiya -

A defected Syrian pilot told The Sunday Telegraph that he was part of the Syrian regime’s air fleet to Russia, where he amass money to support Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. 

The pilot, who asked the Telegraph to identify him as Nazim, said that he and his fellow pilots “flew a cargo plane two or three times a month” to collect funds that were used to allegedly support the regime........

FULL ARTICLE: Defected Syrian pilot says he made trips to Russia and Iran to ‘collect cash’ - Alarabiya.net English |

Syria opposition to boycott upcoming talks - Middle East - Al Jazeera English

Demonstrations against President Bashar al-Assad's government have continued in the northern city [Reuters]

The most prominent Syrian opposition group, the Syrian National Coalition (SNC), has announced it is pulling out of the upcoming Friends of Syria meeting in Rome and scheduled talks in Russia and the United States.


After missiles killed dozens in Aleppo on Friday, the SNC released a statement saying the move was to protest the lack of international condemnation of the "crimes committed against the Syrian people".

"Hundreds of civilians have been killed by Scud missile strikes. Aleppo, the city and the civilisation, is being destroyed systematically," the statement said.

"The Russian leadership especially bears moral and political responsibility for supplying the regime with weapons," it added, referring to Moscow's status as a leading ally of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.

"In protest of this shameful international stand, the coalition has decided to suspend its participation in the Rome conference for the Friends of Syria and decline the invitations to visit Russia and the United States."

FULL ARTICLE HERE: Syria opposition to boycott upcoming talks - Middle East - Al Jazeera English