Syria Feature: US Finds "Assad Forces Probably Used Chemical Weapon" in Homs (Rogin)

Testimony of victims of the "toxic gas" incident in Homs on 23 December

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A secret State Department cable has concluded that the Syrian military likely used chemical weapons against its own people in a deadly attack last month....

United States diplomats in Turkey conducted a previously undisclosed, intensive investigation into claims that Syrian President Bashar al-Assad used chemical weapons, and made what an Obama administration official who reviewed the cable called a "compelling case" that Assad's military forces had used a deadly form of poison gas.

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Syria Interview: Free Syrian Army Commander Riad Al-Asaad "The Revolution is on the Right Track Now"

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From the beginning when we established the Free Syrian Army, our goal was to unify the fighters. It has a great name and we kept working on it --- we did a really good job....Until recent months, when some people appeared and tried to hijack the revolution or use it....We really don’t know what their aim was.

So they accused us, and tried to cut off all our support from the outside, but thank God they couldn’t cut it....We are calling for unity. We are the ones who want unity. If anybody wants unity, it’s the Free Syrian Army.

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Syria (and Beyond) Live Coverage: Fighting Continues in Aleppo and Damascus

A mass rally on Wednesday night in al-Hamdania in Aleppo in Syria

See also, Syria Feature: US Promoting General Tlass as "Transitional Leader"? (Solomon/Dagher)
Bahrain Feature: Not So United --- The Regime v. Sunni Political Groups (Al Hasan)
Turkey Analysis: Facing The Complications of Syria, Iraq, and Kurdistan
Wednesday's Syria (and Beyond) Live Coverage: What Next in Aleppo...and Elsewhere?

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2100 GMT: Saudi Arabia. Footage of a protest tonight in Qatif in Saudi Arabia, calling for the release of Sheikh Nimr al-Nimr --- shot and detained earlier this month --- and other political prisoners. The demonstration follows protests in Jeddah and Riyadh on Wednesday.

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