Syria 1st-Hand: The Insurgent Sniper in Aleppo (Abouzeid)

Insurgents in AleppoHe may look calm, but he’s deeply troubled. After some nine months of fighting with several Free Syrian Army units, first on the outskirts of Aleppo and then in the city itself after the rebel push into it in late July, he has grown disillusioned with the fight and angry with its conduct. “I did this when it was clean,” he says. “Now it’s dirty. Many aren’t fighting just to get rid of Bashar, they’re fighting to gain a reputation, to build up their name. I want it to go back to the way it was, when we were fighting for God and the people, not for some commander’s reputation.”

He refused an order in November to fight a proregime, ethnic Kurdish militia in a Kurdish neighborhood of Aleppo that the rebels had entered. “Why should I fight the Kurds?” he says. “It’s a distraction. This isn’t our fight.”

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Syria (and Beyond) Live Coverage: While US Warns About Chemical Weapons, 239 Die

As a motorcade apparently carrying Egyptian President Morsi exits the Presidential Palace, protesters chant "Leave!"

See also Monday's Syria (and Beyond) Live Coverage: The Death Toll Rises Again

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2142 GMT: Kuwait. More protests, sparked by the Emir's changes to the electoral laws last month, and encounters with security forces tonight:

Happening now - Clashes in Sabah al-Nasser area #Kuwait twitter.com/Q8Ping/status/… v @assafsalem

— Hamad Al-Sabah (@hmalsabah) December 4, 2012

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Syria (and Beyond) Live Coverage: The Death Toll Rises Again

2136 GMT: Syria. The situation in Aleppo may feel like a stalemate to the residents of the city, but there is plenty of efforts being made by both sides to lift that stalemate. For the last week or so the FSA has been sieging the Air Force Intelligence building in Aleppo. Snipers have pinned down the building periodically, and the FSA has hit it with all sorts of RPGs, small arms fire, and recoilless rifles. Videos have even showed the FSA conducting improvised rocket attacks against the building.

But this video is interesting. It shows insurgents using some sort of small field artillery piece to target the building. An activist translates the talking, and suggests that the insurgents are using a radio to make sure that the shell hits the target, and also to make sure that they are not being targeted by snipers:

2120 GMT: Syria. The FSA is sacking bases around Aleppo, and has the city nearly completely cut off from the outside world. However, while the FSA is advancing in the east, sieging the last vestiges of the Assad regime in Idlib province, making inroads in Daraa, and turning up the heat on Damascus, Aleppo is in much the same position it was a month ago, and the conflict has seen little change in even longer than that. With some of the regime's strongest units still operating in Aleppo, it's clear that while the co0nflict is dynamic, and the the momentum clearly on the insurgents' side outside Aleppo, city itself could remain in this state for some time.

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Syria, Egypt (and Beyond) Live Coverage: Internet Returns as Regime Tries to Hold Damascus "Periphery"

Saturday's rallies for Egyptian President Morsi and the draft Constitution

See also Syria Feature: How the Assad Regime Shut Down the Internet
Syria, Egypt (and Beyond) Live Coverage: Breaking Through the Blackout

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2135 GMT: Yemen Two tribesmen have been killed following intensive Government shelling in Marib province, east of the capital Sanaa. According to Associated Press, citing an anonymous official, the shelling "was aimed at intimidating militants who attacked a crude oil pipeline just half an hour after repairs to it were completed a day earlier".

2130 GMT: Syria. Journalist Jenan Moussa reports on food shortages and rising prices in Aleppo:

A pack of bread, 8 loafs, was for 20 Syrian liras b4 revolution in #aleppo. Now a pack, 6 loafs, costs 150 Syrian liras, 2 dollars | @akhbar

— Jenan Moussa (@jenanmoussa) December 2, 2012

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Syria Feature: How the Assad Regime Shut Down the Internet (Gallagher)

Arbpr Networks graphic of Syria's cutoff from the Internet on Thursday

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Just after noon Damascus time on Thursday, the government-owned Syrian Telecommunications Establishment essentially deleted the whole country from the Internet's routing tables, blocking all inbound and outbound network traffic. Rather than the result of terrorist attacks, as the government claimed on state television, the blackout was a well-rehearsed and deliberate act intended to deny connection to Syria's citizens and the opposition forces currently trying to topple the regime of President Bashar Al-Assad.

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Syria, Egypt (and Beyond) Live Coverage: Breaking Through the Blackout

Today's rally in Cairo in support of Egyptian President Morsi and the draft Constitution:

See also EA Video Analysis: Mr Obama, Why Should We Trust You With Drones?
Friday's Syria Live Coverage: The Country Goes Dark as Internet Cut Off

Friday's Palestine, Egypt (and Beyond) Live Coverage: Statehood for the Palestinians, A Constitution for Morsi

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1948 GMT: Egypt. President Morsi has set 15 December as the date for the referendum on the draft Constitution.

1945 GMT: Syria. Medics announce the opening of a new field hospital Aleppo, some of them covering their faces for anonymity.

A previous field hospital was shelled by the regime last month.

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Syria Live Coverage: The Country Goes Dark as Internet Cut Off

A poster showing President Assad standing against the enemy militaries of the US, France, Britain, Turkey, and Arab States

See also Syria Analysis: A Threatened Regime Cuts the Internet
Palestine, Egypt (and Beyond) Live Coverage: Statehood for the Palestinians, A Constitution for Morsi
Thursday's Syria Live Coverage: Insurgents Take More Bases as Damascus Hit by Bombs

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2121 GMT: Today is Friday, and while the world is focused on battles and meetings and organizations and diplomatic recognitions, on Friday there is always another story. Every Friday since March 2011, protesters have taken to the streets in Syria. Even in towns where bombs fall and bullets fly, somewhere close by it is possible to find an anti-government protest somewhere in Syria.

Also, every Friday has a theme, agreed upon by activists ahead of time by voting on Facebook. Today's theme does not translate well into English, but according to Zilal, it means roughly "the sign of victory over the palace" or "The Fingers of Victory over the palace." The meaning is clear --- the opposition believes it is winning, and is close to grabbing control from President Assad.

There were interesting twists this week.

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Syria Live Coverage: Insurgents Take More Bases as Damascus Hit by Bombs

2047 GMT: According to the LCC, 93 people (including 21 children) have been killed across the country today:

51 martyrs were reported in Aleppo (most of them in a massacre in Zebdiya neighborhood); 15 in Damascus and its Suburbs; 8 in Daraa; 6 in Deir Ezzor; 5 in Idlib; 4 in Hama; 3 in Homs; and 1 in Raqqa.

See our note on the casualty figures published by the LCC.

2017 GMT: Syrians are finding many ways to communicate, even though the internet is down. Some have equipment, given to them by the US, that allows them to access the internet anyway. Some are relying on the some-what unreliable cell networks. Others are using dial-up internet connections. Yet others are using satellite uplinks.

Still others are using a technology that allows them to call a number which will tweet their voice message:

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Syria Feature: After Insurgent Victories, US Again Considers "Deeper Intervention" (Sanger/Schmitt)

David Sanger and Eric Schmitt write for The New York Times:

The Obama administration, hoping that the conflict in Syria has reached a turning point, is considering deeper intervention to help push President Bashar al-Assad from power, according to government officials involved in the discussions.

While no decisions have been made, the administration is considering several alternatives, including directly providing arms to some opposition fighters.

The most urgent decision, likely to come next week, is whether NATO should deploy surface-to-air missiles in Turkey, ostensibly to protect that country from Syrian missiles that could carry chemical weapons. The State Department spokeswoman, Victoria Nuland, said Wednesday that the Patriot missile system would not be “for use beyond the Turkish border.”

But some strategists and administration officials believe that Syrian Air Force pilots might fear how else the missile batteries could be used. If so, they could be intimidated from bombing the northern Syrian border towns where the rebels control considerable territory. A NATO survey team is in Turkey, examining possible sites for the batteries.

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Syria (and Beyond) Live Coverage: The Insurgents Challenge the Regime in the Air

2122 GMT: Syria. The Free Syrian Army has captured yet another anti-aircraft base near Aleppo, this time near Assan, south of the city (map).

#Syria #Aleppo Rebels seized next air-defence near #Asan -using captured AA-guns immediatelyyoutube.com/watch?v=wOCxE8… wikimapia.org/#lat=36.057098…

— Mark (@markito0171) November 28, 2012

Another source suggests that this base is the headquarters of the 608 regime, though that is unclear. Still, there are plenty of videos that have been posted in the last few hours:

Another major victory? There's also a trend. The FSA is targeting relatively small anti-aircraft bases, capturing equipment that can be used against the Assad regime, but also looking for ways to confront the Assad airforce. Furthermore, there is a suspicion that they may have received encouragement to specifically target anti-aircraft bases, as this removes a threat to any foreign aircraft that could potentially engage in a no-fly zone.

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