Syria Today: Obama Maintains Cautious Line on US Intervention

Protest in Beza'a in Aleppo Province on Friday

See Also: Iran Today --- Iran Slams Destruction of Shia Shrine

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1400 GMT: Refugees

The number of Syrian refugees in Lebanon topped 450,000 in April, amid a wave of violence bordering the northern Bekaa Valley.

A UN report said 50 families were arriving each day with close to 1000 crossing into Lebanon in the last week of April. About 90% of the arrivals were women and children.

1205 GMT: Sanctions and Computer Equipment

Documents establish that large amounts of computer equipment from Dell have been sold to the Syrian government through a Dubai-based distributor despite strict trade sanctions, according to The New York Times.

The computer equipment was sold by BDL Gulf, which is based in Saudi Arabia and is an authorised distributor for Dell in the Middle East and Africa and a reseller for other computer brands, including Samsung and Acer.

BDL sold the equipment to Anas Hasoon Trading, a Damascus-based company with contracts to provide computers to the Syrian government, according to billings records and e-mail exchanges between the companies.

1125 GMT: Assad Appears

President Assad attended the unveiling of a statue to "martyrs" at Damascus University on Saturday.

"President Bashar al-Assad joined thousands of students and the families of martyred students at the unveiling of a statue to the memory of the martyrs of Syria's universities at the University of Damascus," State TV reported.

A photo showed Assad being greeted by enthusiastic students.

On Wednesday, Assad visited a Damascus electrical plant on Workers' Day. His last reported appearance before that was on 20 March.

0950 GMT: Israeli Airstrike

Israeli officials have confirmed an airstrike early Friday on a shipment of advanced missiles.

The officials said on Saturday the shipment was not of chemical arms, but of "game changing" weapons bound for the Lebanese Hezbollah group.

It is unclear if Israeli forces hit the target outside Syria or fired from Israeli airspace into Syria, for example, from the Golan Heights. The Israeli officials gave no location for the strike --- US officials earlier said that the Israelis fired from outside Syria into the country.

0648 GMT: Kurdish Clashes with Insurgents

Wladimir Van Wilgenburg writes....

Kurdish news sites claim that the Kurdish People's Defence Units have killed 11 insurgents and captured others in fighting close to the cities of Hasaka and Ras al-Ain.

Among the insurgents involved were members of the Islamist faction Jabhat al-Nusra.

Clashes have persisted despite an agreement between the YPG and Free Syrian Army which declared areas as "liberated". Fighting is also reported near the Kurdish city of Efrin and in Aleppo.

0538 GMT: Casualties

The Local Coordination Committees claim 139 people were confirmed dead on Friday, including 37 in Damascus and its suburbs, 35 in the Bayada mass killing, and 22 in Aleppo Province.

The Violations Documentation Center puts the confirmed death toll at 59,262 since the conflict begin in March 2011, an increase of 149 from Thursday.

Of those killed, 46,542 were civilians, a rise of 107 from yesterday.

0530 GMT: Israeli Strike?

Two US officials have said that Israeli warplanes fired into Syria, targeting a weapon site.

The officials said US and Western intelligence agencies are reviewing classified data showing Israel most likely conducted the strike overnight on Thursday.

0520 GMT: US Intervention

At a Friday news conference, President Obama maintained a cautious line while holding out the possibility of tougher American public action against the Syrian regime: "If in fact there is the kind of systematic use of chemical weapons inside of Syria, we expect we are going to get additional further evidence and at that point we will absolutely present that to the international community."

While ruling out direct involvement by the US military, Obama said additional steps will be based on the "facts on the ground" and what is in the best interests of the American people and US national security":

I'm going to make those decision based on the best evidence and after careful consultation, because when we rush into things, when we leap before we look, then not only do we pay a price but oftentimes we see unintended consequences on the ground. So it's important that we do it right.

While American officials have said that a decision on the public arms supply of weapons to insurgents is weeks away, the US is already involved in a multi-lateral covert effort to provide arms and to train opposition fighters, primarily from a base in Jordan.