Voltairenet

30th May, 2013

Robert Ford, the U.S. ambassador to Syria, is expected to leave his functions in the near future.

Mr. Ford, former deputy to John Negroponte in Baghdad, had learned from him the method of destabilizing a state, as his boss had done in Nicaragua in the 1980’s. He then applied this recipe to Syria: first by corrupting officials of the Syrian secret services to smuggle in weapons and build tunnels, then by filtering jihadists into the country to foment an “Arab Spring.” Called back to Washington in October 2011, he is currently based in Turkey.

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Voltairenet

30th May, 2013

The Free Syrian Army, which took over control of al-Qusayr nearly a year ago, had expelled the Christian population and confiscated their homes. She has been expelled by the Syrian Arab Army, backed by Hezbollah.

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Asia Times

29th May, 2013

A bombing in the Turkish town of Reyhanli on May 11 killed 51 people but was largely ignored by Turkish media. Turkey President Recep Tayyip Erdogan blamed the Syrian government – with no evidence.

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The mess in the West only gets worse. They tried to create a respectable front organisation for the rebel rabble, but in vain. They’ll have to come up with someone to negotiate at the peace conference. Otherwise they face undisguised defeat and humiliation.

Orlando Sentinel

29th May, 2013

ISTANBUL (Reuters) – Opposition groups on the ground in Syria slammed their counterparts in exile for undermining the rebellion and lacking legitimacy, laying bare chronic divisions among the foes of PresidentBashar al-Assad ahead of a planned peace conference.

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“Those systems by definition cannot be used by militant groups on the battlefield,” Ryabkov said. “We consider this delivery a factor of stabilization. We believe that moves like this one to a great degree restrain some hotheads from escalating the conflict to the international scale, from involving external forces.”

An unmistakeable reference to British foreign secretary, William Hague.

Russia slams end of EU arms embargo, calls S-300s ‘stabilizing factor’ in Syria

RT

28th May, 2013

The failure of the European Union to agree on a new arms embargo for Syria is undermining the peace process, Moscow says. But the delivery of S-300 surface-to-air missiles may help restrain warmongers.

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SBS

28th May, 2013

Russia says the European Union’s decision to lift its embargo against arming Syrian rebels but not the regime will “directly harm” the prospects of holding a peace conference on the crisis.

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“EU nations agreed to bring the arms embargo on the Syrian opposition to an end. This was the outcome that the United Kingdom wanted. It was a difficult decision for some countries but it was necessary and right to reinforce international efforts to reach a diplomatic solution(sic) to the conflict in Syria,” Hague said.

UK forces EU to lift embargo on Syria rebel arms

Guardian

28th May, 2013

Europe‘s sanctions regime against Syria was plunged into uncertainty after Britain, backed by France, forced a lifting of the EU arms embargo on what it identifies as the moderate opposition to President Bashar al-Assad.

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Yahoo(AFP)

27th May, 2013

International efforts to end the conflict in Syria accelerate on Monday with key talks in Brussels and Paris, amid a push for a new peace conference despite growing divisions within the Syrian opposition.

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