Israeli warplanes attack shipment of Russian missiles in Syria stronghold. Israeli jets have attacked Russian missiles in Syria, a development that threatens to add another explosive layer to regional tensions.
Source: AP ISRAELI warplanes have attacked a shipment of Russian missiles inside a Syrian government stronghold, officials say, a development that threatens to add another explosive layer to regional tensions from the Syrian civil war. An Obama administration official confirmed the Israeli airstrike overnight, but provided no details. Another security official said the attack occurred late on Wednesday in the Syrian port city of Latakia and that the target was Russian-made SA-125 missiles. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorised to publicly discuss the attack. The revelation came as the government of President Bashar Assad met a key deadline in an ambitious plan to eliminate Syria's entire chemical weapons stockpile by mid-2014 and avoid international military action. Can India help undo the Syrian knot? Author: Sukalpa Chakrabarti, Symbiosis School of Economics Syria is set to turn into one of India’s most complex foreign policy challenges, given the conflicting stakes of regional and extra regional players.
Successful negotiations at the Geneva II peace conference are the only hope for avoiding yet another worst-case scenario of humanitarian crisis and extensive civil war. The US, EU, Russia or the Arab League can engage in dialogue with Syria, but they do not enjoy the Syrian government’s confidence to spearhead a peaceful transition. This is where India’s role emerges. Syrie : la Russie lâche un peu de lest. La Russie ne s'est pas opposée, vendredi 7 juin, à l'adoption par le Conseil de sécurité de l'ONU d'une déclaration s'alarmant de la situation humanitaire à Qoussair, où une bataille a fait rage pendant plus de trois semaines avant que les troupes syriennes ne reprennent le contrôle de la ville.
Moscou avait pourtant bloqué un texte identique le week-end dernier avant la chute du fief rebelle. Moscou avait alors jugé la déclaration "partiale", au motif qu'elle appelait l'armée régulière et ses alliés du Hezbollah à décréter un cessez-le-feu, et autoriser les organisations humanitaires à accéder à la ville. Les déclarations du Conseil de sécurité devant être adoptées à l'unanimité – contrairement aux résolutions –, elle avait donc été bloquée. Les diplomates occidentaux ont fait contre mauvaise fortune bon cœur face à cette déclaration tardive. Russia says it will keep selling missiles to Syria. Wikileaks : Released: All emails to and... Ministry of Presidential Affairs (mopa.gov.sy); 16518 emails.
Thursday 5 July 2012, WikiLeaks began publishing the Syria Files – more than two million emails from Syrian political figures, ministries and associated companies, dating from August 2006 to March 2012.
This extraordinary data set derives from 680 Syria-related entities or domain names, including those of the Ministries of Presidential Affairs, Foreign Affairs, Finance, Information, Transport and Culture. At this time Syria is undergoing a violent internal conflict that has killed between 6,000 and 15,000 people in the last 18 months. The Syria Files shine a light on the inner workings of the Syrian government and economy, but they also reveal how the West and Western companies say one thing and do another. France speculated to broker between Israel, Syria_English_Xinhua. By David Harris JERUSALEM, Nov. 12 (Xinhua) -- During a week in which Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Syrian President Bashar al-Assad pay visits to Paris successively, both men have talked about the possibility of renewing peace talks between their countries.
Arabic-language satellite TV channel al-Arabiya reported, citing "knowledgeable sources", that Netanyahu told his host, French President Nicolas Sarkozy, on Wednesday to pass a message to Assad, calling for immediate and unconditional negotiations. Meanwhile, also speaking on Wednesday, Assad talked of both peace and resistance. These developments have led to speculation among media and analysts that France tries to broker a peace agreement between the old enemies. The Syrian leader made his comments during his keynote address to the fifth General Conference of the Arab Parties in Damascus. Syria. Syria: Who are the good guys again? The air is thick with the stench of hypocrisy over Syria.
For a country whose own politicians often refer to it as 'The City Upon a Hill' for its role as a moral exemplar, the US risks losing what remains of its moral authority in the Middle East through its hypocritical policy in Syria. Perhaps the most egregious example is the way the West has allied itself with Saudi Arabia and Qatar, two of the least democratic states in the world. Reader riposte: The good guys in Syria. 09DAMASCUS562.
Russian interests in Syria « Russian Military Reform. A couple of weeks ago, I wrote about why Russia protects Assad. Russian navy ships 'to set sail for Syria' Two Russian warships are completing preparations to sail to Syria with a unit of marines, on a mission to protect Russian citizens and the nation's base there, according to a news report.
The deployment appears to reflect Moscow's growing concern about the future of the Syrian president, Bashar al-Assad. The Interfax news agency quoted an unidentified Russian navy official as saying two amphibious landing vessels, Nikolai Filchenkov and Caesar Kunikov, would be heading shortly to the Syrian port of Tartus, but gave no precise date. The official said the ships would carry an unspecified number of marines to protect Russians in Syria and evacuate some equipment from Tartus if necessary. Interfax said each of the ships was capable of carrying 150 marines and a dozen tanks. It quoted a deputy Russian air force chief as saying Russia would give the necessary protection to its citizens in Syria.
Hezbollah chief Nasrallah meets Ahmadinejad in Syria. Hassan Nasrallah (far right) has made few public appearances since 2006 The head of the Lebanese Shia Islamist movement Hezbollah, Hassan Nasrallah, has made a rare public appearance in the Syrian capital, Damascus.
Sheikh Nasrallah attended a dinner with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and Iran's President, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. 09DAMASCUS697. Bachar El-Assad veut un plan d'action. Le président syrien s'entretient du Proche-Orient, vendredi à Paris, avec Nicolas Sarkozy.
Il estime que ses relations avec Washington ne se sont pas encore suffisamment améliorées. LE FIGARO - Monsieur le président, vous effectuez votre deuxième visite en France en moins de dix-huit mois.