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Syria’s Assad Set to Recover Golan Frontier With Israel as Rebels Surrender

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The border between Israel and Syria, April 2018

It would mark another major victory for Assad, who has recovered swathes of southwestern Syria over the last month in a Russian-backed offensive.

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad is set to recover control of the frontier with the Israeli Golan Heights after rebel fighters in the area agreed to surrender terms, sources on both sides said on Thursday.

The rebels in al-Quneitra province at the border with the Israeli-controlled territory have agreed either to accept safe passage to the rebel-held province of Idlib in the northwest or to remain in the area on the state’s terms, according to details outlined by a Hezbollah-run news outlet and a rebel source.

It would mark another major victory for Assad, who has recovered swathes of southwestern Syria over the last month in a Russian-backed offensive that has already forced many rebels to surrender.

The report by the Hezbollah-run military news outlet said the agreement stipulated “the return of the Syrian army, represented in the 90th and the 61st brigades, to the positions that it was in before 2011.”

Syria’s Bashar Assad talks ‘world war,’ chemical weapons and political solution in new interview

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Syria’s president believes his country is caught up in a much larger conflict than its own civil war. He warned that “things are going to be out of control” if superpowers engage in direct conflict.

In an exclusive interview with Greek newspaper Kathimerini, Syrian President Bashar Assad weighed in on major issues, including allegations of chemical weapons attacks, US troops in the country and his possible resignation as a political solution to the seven-year conflict.

Assad compared the fighting in Syria to a “world war,” saying “it’s something more than a cold war, but less than a full-blown war.”

Since the civil conflict emerged in 2011, it has transformed into a multi-faceted war, drawing in global superpowers, regional players and non-state actors, including the US, Russia, Iran and Israel.

“I hope we don’t see any direct conflict between these superpowers, because this is where things are going to be out of control for the rest of the world,” Assad said in the interview, which was aired on Thursday by DW partner, Greek broadcaster SKAI TV.

His comments came ahead of an Israeli retaliation against Iranian military assets in Syria. Israeli Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman said his country was responding to an Iranian assault on front-line military positions in the Golan Heights.

We don’t have any chemical arsenal’

On the question of chemical weapons, Assad said his country complied with UN resolutions and handed over its stockpiles to international authorities.

“We don’t have a chemical arsenal since we gave it up in 2013,” said Assad. “The (Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons) made investigations about this, and it’s clear that we don’t have them.”

In December 2014, OPCW investigators began dismantling Syria’s chemical weapons stockpile as part of a UN Security Council resolution passed the year before. But the United States and its European allies have accused Damascus of still using chemical weapons on civilians.

Read more: What traces of chemical weapons could OPCW investigators still find in Syria?

Last month, at least 49 people were killed and dozens more injured in an alleged chemical weapons attack. The US and other Western countries accused the Syrian regime of staging the assault.

But Assad refused to accept responsibility for the attack in rebel-held Douma, saying: “It’s a farce, it’s a play. It’s a very primitive play just to attack the Syrian army.”

One day ‘I have to leave’

The Syrian president also said he would step down under certain conditions, but rejected doing so as part of a political solution to the seven-year conflict.

“When I feel that the Syrian people do not want me to stay anymore, of course I have to leave, without hesitation,” Assad said.

Christian refugees in the Netherlands say Assad is OK; priest calls him ‘a gift from heaven’

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Christians love Assad

Christians love Assad

The Armenians are a well-integrated Christian minority in the Netherlands. Originally they came from Syria, Iraq, Lebanon and Southern Turkey. Dutch newspaper ‘De Telegraaf’ interviewed several of them and talked about the civil war in Syria.

Christian refugee Johnny Shabo says that the same group responsible for the civil war in the eighties is now responsible for more chaos. The Muslim brotherhood that attacked the regime of Assad’s father earlier, are now attacking Assad junior’s regime.

Shabo says that the leaders of ISIS and Al Qaeda who are fighting in Syria are part of the Muslim brotherhood. For Christian Arameans the Muslim rebels pose a bigger threat than Assad’s troops, Shabo says.

“It’s a fact that Christians in Syria were left alone by Assad as long as they didn’t interfere in politics”, he adds. “Every Christian from Syria will tell you that before the civil war, our country was a far better place for us than Turkey.”

A while ago the Aramean priest Zuhri Khazaal travelled from Syria to visit the Dutch community in the city of Enschede.

Zuhri blames the West, Turkey and Arabic countries for arming the jihadist rebels. “And now the Turks are lighting up the fire with their invasion. Everybody in Syria wants to be left alone and wants that Assad stays leader. Why? Because compared to other Arab dictators, Assad is a gift from heaven for Christians”.

Johnny Shabo and his friends understand what priest Zuhri means. Every Aramean fears radical Islam. “We are very worried looking at the developments in Syria where American interventions can have a big impact.” Shabo continues, “they could unintentionally be of great advantage for the jihadist rebels”.

Assad: Reconstruction of Syria will cost $400bn and will take 15 years

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Assad: Reconstruction of Syria

Assad: Reconstruction of Syria

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad on Sunday revealed his country’s need for $ 400 billion for the reconstruction of infrastructure, stressing that the reconstruction process could take 10 to 15 years Nenosplace.forumotion.com reports.

“Repatriation of the infrastructure will cost at least $ 400 billion, and this needs 10 to 15 years,” the Russian news agency Sputnik quotes Assad as saying during a meeting with Russian parliamentarians.

On Sunday, Assad met with a group of Russian parliamentarians, including a member of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the Duma, Sergei Glyzinak.

“The meeting of Russian parliamentarians with President al-Assad was constructive and important on both sides,” he said.

At the time of the Syrian Army General Command announced that the triple strike included the launch of about 110 rockets towards Syrian targets in Damascus and outside, and that the Syrian air defense system confronted and dropped most of it.

OH-MY-GOD Tillerson Unveils ‘New’ US Syria Plan: ‘Assad Must Go Again!’

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Written by daniel mcadams,

Confirming that the US military presence inside Syria had little to do with fighting ISIS, US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson unveiled in detail today the real US strategy for Syria: overthrow of the Assad government. 

In a speech at Stanford University’s Hoover Institution and introduced by President George W. Bush’s Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice, Secretary Tillerson vowed that the United States military would continue to occupy Syrian territory until three conditions are met:

First: ISIS must be destroyed.

This condition is made all the more problematic by the well-reported fact that it is the United States government that at every turn seems to pull ISIS chestnuts out of the fire. From handing them weapons to allowing them to escape when they are trapped in places like Raqqa, it almost seems like the US does not want to really see the end of ISIS.

Second: Assad must go. 

Tillerson’s admission that this is a sine qua non for any US military departure from Syria confirms that the Trump foreign policy is no different from that of Hillary Clinton or her former boss, President Obama. Recall that as part of his “thank you” tour, President-elect Trump reiterated promises made by candidate Trump to break with the past:

We will pursue a new foreign policy that finally learns from the mistakes of the past. We will stop looking to topple regimes and overthrow governments. …In our dealings with other countries we will seek shared interests wherever possible…”

It is clear that he lied, as it is reported that he signed off on this new Syria strategy last month at a meeting of his National Security Council.

Secretary Tillerson said today that new elections should be held in Syria and that President Assad should lose:

The United States believes that free and transparent elections … will result in the permanent departure of Assad and his family from power… Assad’s regime is corrupt, and his methods of governance and economic development have increasingly excluded certain ethnic and religious groups… Such oppression cannot persist forever.

Tillerson’s speech reveals that the old myth about the Syrian people “rising up” to overthrow Assad is still very much viewed as Gospel truth in Washington:

…our expectation is that the desire for a return to normal life … will help rally the Syrian people and individuals within the regime to compel Assad to step down.

Translation: we are going to continue to make life miserable for you until you overthrow Assad. Then it will return to “normal.” Presumably the people of Syria understand what “normal” life after a US “liberation” looks like from examples like Libya, Iraq, and Ukraine.

Tillerson also made the bizarre assertion that US troops will remain in Syria to prevent the Syrian government from re-establishing control over the parts of Syria abandoned by a defeated ISIS. So the legitimate government of Syria will be prevented by an illegal United States military occupation from reclaiming its own territory? This is supposed to be a coherent policy?

Third: Refugees must be returned to Syria.

Secretary Tillerson said today at Stanford University:

America has an opportunity to help people who have suffered greatly. The safe and voluntary return of  refugees serves the security interests of the U.S. and our allies and partners. We must give Syrians a chance to return home and rebuild their lives.

But the one event that led to the biggest return of refugees back to Syria was violently opposed by the US government: the Syrian government’s liberation of east Aleppo from al-Qaeda control!

For additional consideration:

The US military is busy creating a 30,000-strong Kurdish militia to reportedly guard Syria’s borders with Turkey and Iraq. NATO-ally Turkey is violently opposing US moves to further arm Kurd groups that it considers terrorist.

The discredited “Free Syrian Army” (FSA) is back in Washington begging the Trump Administration to re-open the CIA weapons pipeline. The FSA is perhaps best known for immediately handing any weapons it gets from Washington directly to al-Qaeda in Syria. Will Trump’s neocon-filled ecosphere convince him to once again put some wind in al-Qaeda’s sails?

Will Congress awake from its slumber and finally dust off the part of the Constitution directing the Legislative Branch to decide on matters of war and peace? It’s probably an ill-advised bet, however there are a few whispers on Capitol Hill that a shift in US military focus from anti-ISIS to anti-Assad and anti-Iran might be slightly problematic.

Secretary of State Rex Tillerson has just unveiled a 100 percent neocon approved “new” US policy for Syria: No more pussyfooting around. We won’t abandon our project in Syria like Obama “abandoned” Libya (presumably, as the neocon myth goes, on the verge of becoming a new Switzerland after its “liberation” only to be thrust back into the mire by Obama’s premature withdrawal).

President Trump is set to out-neocon the neocons with this foolish and destructive policy. The showman is shown to be nothing but a fraud.

Source: http://ronpaulinstitute.org/archives/featured-articles/2018/january/17/breaking-tillerson-unveils-new-us-syria-plan-assad-must-go/

 

Erdogan wants Aleppo reconstruction Project, have not problem contacting with Assad

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“Authentic Turkish Crime “Your Friend today your enemy tomorrow”

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has not ruled out possible contact with Bashar Assad, signaling a break with his long-held opposition to the Syrian president’s role in the Arab country’s future.   

“The political doors are always open until the last minute,” Erdogan said when asked about a possible contact or cooperation with Assad.

Erdogan’s comments were reported by Hurriyet newspaper and other Turkish media on Friday, made on board his plane returning from a trilateral meeting with Russia and Iran to promote a peaceful settlement in Syria.

Even though Russia and Iran have backed Assad’s government since the start of the Syrian conflict in March 2011 and Turkey has supported his foes, the three countries have teamed up to help mediate a peace settlement.

Ankara has toned down its anti-Assad rhetoric, and the climbdown was clear during the trilateral meeting with Russia and Iran in the Russian Black Sea resort of Sochi on Wednesday.

Turkey made clear its “reservations” about Assad having any future role in Syria, Mahir Unal, the spokesman of the Justice and Development Party, told reporters.

Assad says Turkey not partner or guarantor for Syria

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Syrian President Bashar Assad said on Sunday that Damascus does not consider Ankara as its partner or a guarantor state of Syrian settlement as the latter allegedly supports terrorism and thus undermines political and social crisis settlement in Syria, Sputnik agency reported.

According to the source, the activities of Ankara in the region prompted criticism from Damascus, which says that Turkey’s actions in the Syrian province of Idlib, the seizing of Syrian territory and building of camps to train militants in the area are a violation of Syria’s sovereignty and UN Security Council resolutions.

“[Turkish President Recep Tayyip] Erdogan is playing the role of political beggar after his support for terrorists was exposed. We do not consider the Turkish side to be a partner nor a guarantor nor do we trust it,” Assad said in a speech at the opening of the Foreign and Expatriates Ministry Conference in Syria, as quoted by the SANA news agency.

Terrorists receive chemical weapons from Turkey, says Syria’s Assad

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Damascus is 100 percent certain that terrorists get chemical weapons and other financial and military support directly from Turkey, Syrian President Bashar Assad told Sputnik in an interview.
“Directly from Turkey, and there was evidence regarding this, some of [it has] been shown on the internet a few years ago. You had many parties and parliament members in Turkey who questioned the government regarding those allegations. So, it’s not something hidden,” Assad said.
He further maintained that financial, armament and logistic support for terrorists in Syria, including recruitment, is provided through Turkey.
“They don’t have any other way to come from the north. So, it’s a hundred percent Turkey,” Assad said.
Earlier, Assad warned that new provocations, similar to the one that took place in the Khan Sheikhoun area of Syria’s province of Idlib, could take place in Syria.
On April 4, the National Coalition for Syrian Revolutionary and Opposition Forces claimed that 80 people were killed and 200 injured in a suspected chemical attack in Khan Sheikhoun, putting the blame on the Syrian government. Damascus vehemently rejected the accusations and said militants and their allies were responsible.
According to the Russian Defense Ministry, the Syrian Air Force hit a warehouse where militants stored chemical weapons, which were sent to Iraq. The Russian Foreign Ministry reminded that the Syrian government doesn’t possess chemical weapons since mid-2014. Chemical weapons have been taken out of the country with US’ help.
In response to the Khan Sheikhoun incident the United States launched 59 Tomahawk cruise missiles at the Syrian military airfield in Ash Sha’irat, located about 40 kilometers (25 miles) from the city of Homs. Russia described the attack as an aggression against a sovereign state

Syrian president vows to liberate ‘every inch’ of country

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Syrian President Bashar al-Assad has underlined his government’s determination to liberate “every inch” of Syria held by foreign-backed militants.

In a Thursday interview with French media, Assad said the liberation of the northern city of Raqqah is not the only priority for his government, noting that “Raqqah is a symbol.”

“You have ISIS (Daesh) close to Damascus, you have them everywhere,” Assad said. “Everywhere is a priority depending on the development of the battle,” he added.

“For us it is all the same, Raqqah, Palmyra, Idlib, it’s all the same,” Assad pointed out, stressing that it is the “duty of any government” to regain control of “every inch” of its territory.

The remarks came as the Syrian army uploaded a video to its website showing government troops clashing with militants from al-Nusra Front in Dara’a Province.

The militants say they seek to obstruct any army attempts to capture a strategic border crossing with Jordan. The army’s control over the crossing in the southern strip of the city would sever the militants’ access to the eastern and western parts of Dara’a.

International peace talks on Syria

In his interview, Assad criticized the West for its “passive” role in helping resolve the Syria crisis and said Western countries had “lost their chance of achieving anything in Geneva twice.”

Assad praised Turkey, Russia and Iran for leading the Syrian peace talks in the Kazakh capital, Astana, and denounced the West for supporting “those groups that represented the terrorists against the government.”

The opening of the negotiations between Damascus and opposition groups in Astana was slated to be held on Thursday.

The first round of Astana talks in January brought together representatives of the Damascus government and opposition groups for the first time during nearly six years of the conflict.

Russia, Iran and Turkey agreed at the end of the talks to establish a mechanism aimed at monitoring the ceasefire that took effect across Syria on December 30, 2016.

Syria’s warring sides are also set to hold a separate round of talks in the Swiss city of Geneva on February 20 under the auspices of the United Nations.

Syria has been fighting foreign-sponsored militancy since March 2011. UN Special Envoy for Syria Staffan de Mistura estimated in August last year that more than 400,000 people had been killed in the Syrian crisis until then.

The UN has stopped its official casualty count in Syria, citing its inability to verify the figures it receives from various sources.

Rumours circulate that Syria’s President Assad has suffered a stroke after state media release a denial that he is seriously ill

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Assad is pictured enjoying an after-dark feast with Syrian soldiers during Ramadan last year

(dailymail) report Syria has refuted claims that President Bashar al-Assad has had a stroke and insists he is in ‘excellent health’.

The Lebanese newspaper, al-Mustaqbal, said ‘reliable sources’ had told them Assad, 51, had suffered a cerebral infarction and was being treated in a hospital in Damascus amid high security.  

But Syria’s state news agency SANA quoted the president’s office in Damascus as saying rumours about his health were ‘absolutely incorrect’ and he was working as normal.

Assad’s office said the Syrian people had become ‘immune against such lies’ and made dark insinuations about who was behind the claims.

Russian blogger Navsteva added: ‘Saudi Arabia’s Al Arabiya spreading rumours Assad suffered a stroke, was shot by his Iranian bodyguard, and is dead.’

Saudi Arabia supported Sunni Muslim rebels when they first rose up in 2011 against Assad, who is from the Alawite minority and has close links with Shia Iran and Lebanese-based Hezbollah. 

Earlier in the month the Saudi-owned daily Asharq al-Awsat, based in London, claimed the Syrian leader’s mental health was deteriorating because of the ‘psychological pressures’ of Syria’s civil war. 

But SANA said the spreading of ‘unfounded claims’ coincided with a change in the balance of power in Syria, after the Assad regime recaptured Aleppo in November, and said the health rumours were ‘hopes in the imagination of those who made them up’.

Source: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-4171722/Syria-denies-rumours-President-Assad-stroke.html#ixzz4XGhuilDH