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Entries in Syria (1394)

Saturday
Jan282012

Syria Video Analysis: "Beginning of End of Regime is At Hand"


View Syria - Friday 27/01/2012 in a larger map

Map of Friday's protests and clashes in Damascus, as reported by the Syrian Uprising 2011 Information Centre


On Friday, the talk about Syria was death, destruction, and a story about "Iranian soldiers"/engineers in the custody of the Free Syrian Army's al-Farouk Brigade in Homs. Amidst this, the most important piece of the narrative may have been missed:

The protests across the country, particularly in and around Damascus, are large, defiant, and increasingly confident in the face of the violence.

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Friday
Jan272012

The Latest from Iran (27 January): Pilgrims and Soldiers 

A photo of five abducted Iranian "engineers", with their Syrian cook --- are they the five captured "Iranian soldiers" shown in a video from Syria?

See also Syria Video Special: Free Syrian Army Captures "Iranian Soldiers"


2119 GMT: Warning the Supreme Leader. Earlier this month Hossein Alaei, the former Revolutionary Guards commander, caused a stir with an article implicitly warning the Supreme Leader against the consequences of repression. Twelve Guards commanders called Alaei an agent of the enemy and an angry crowd gathered outside his house and defaced it, while other former commanders and some conservative politicians defended him.

Now Alaei has put out another statement, in Jomhouri Eslami, about dictatorships. This one, however, is carefully worded to avoid accusations that the former commander is challenging Ayatollah Khamenei. He states that dictatorships have come to an end, referring to the 1979 Islamic Revolution, and continues that "dictators cannot rule with tyranny".

2059 GMT: The "Iranian Soldiers" in Syria. The Iranian Embassy in Syria's Press attaché, Leva'a Roudbari, has declared that none of the seven Iranians held by the Free Syrian Army are in the military, “The kidnappers’ claims is baseless."

Roudbari, in an interview with Syrian State TV, also appeared to say that two of the seven men would be released, "Iran welcomes the kidnappers’ decision to free two of the kidnapped engineers.”

In statements to Reuters (see 1932 GMT), members of the Free Syrian Army said that, while the first five Iranians seized were not engineers but were snipers assisting the Assad regime's military, the two men who came to Syria to enquire about them were civilians.

There is a curiosity in the article with Roudbari's statement, however. The six men in the accompanying photograph, shown in a power plant, do not appear to be match up to the "engineers" seized in Syria.

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Friday
Jan272012

Bahrain, Syria (and Beyond) Live Coverage: A Blanket of Tear Gas, A Battle in Homs

2240 GMT: An EA correspondent in Bahrain reports that Sitra looked like a "war zone" today:

"Sitra was heavily attacked today I spend the time trying to get trapped people out. People who are not from Sitra doesn't know all the inner roads..I had to drive around trying to get some of them out... [because many roads were blocked by police].

"This used to be kind of safe before police started attacking and hitting the cars! Today finished fine, so let's hope I keep on being lucky!

"I am getting news that there are some searious injuries too...but can't check now since it's late."

Our correspondent also sends us a video that he describes as a montage of the police attack on mourners in Waydan village. Several other sources also reported that the video was legitimate:

2230 GMT: This video was reportedly taken earlier today in Daraa, Syria. It is important for several key reasons. First of all, it's dramatic:

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Friday
Jan272012

Syria 1st-Hand: Getting Behind the Stories of "Revolution" (Aissa)

Claimed footage of a crowd in Homs greeting defecting troops of the 4th Brigade


Given the weaknesses of all the Syrian opposition and activists groups at present, however, it is critical to avoid even the suggestion that the opposition could transform into something of a monolithic force in the near future. This discounts the reality of its divisions and the significance, both symbolically and practically, of debates between its members. To that end, it is also unrealistic to expect Syrian dissidents and activists in and outside of the country to develop, agree upon, and advance a plan for the overthrow of the regime and the subsequent political reconstruction of Syria, in a matter of months. Syrians have spent some four decades under the depoliticization program of the Baath Party, unable to organize or openly discuss the political future of the country. For those inside Syria, the onset of the revolution has shattered the barrier of fear keeping many from expressing their views - but it has done nothing to mitigate the reality that those attempting to organize against the government, do so under threat of violence. Even in the best of circumstances, such issues would take months and years to sort out.

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Thursday
Jan262012

Syria Video Special: Free Syrian Army Captures "Iranian Soldiers"


UPDATE 1705 GMT: The Iranians in Syria. Press TV claims, from "a tribal figure in northern Lebanon", that five Iranians --- engineers, according to Tehran; soldiers, according to the Free Syria Army, who seized the men --- have been moved to the area.

Press TV does not indicate if two other Iranians, who were seized when they tried to obtain information about the missing men, have also been relocated.

The Al Farouk Brigade, which claims to hold the five Iranians and put them on a video which was released last week, is based in Homs, near where the men were abducted.

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Thursday
Jan262012

Syria, Bahrain (and Beyond) Live Coverage: Insurrection?

See also, Syria Video Special: Free Syrian Army Captures Iranian Soldiers


2133 GMT: Bahraini police have released claimed footage, released by Bahraini police, of 17-year-old Mohammad Ebrahim (see 0555 and 1700 GMT), who was allegedly hit by a police jeep on Wednesday and later died in hospital.

The video shows an alert Ebrahim, but he is in great discomfort, apparently from pain in his lower body, and needs to rest on the person next to him; also pain seems to be stemming from lower part.

This would appear to match up with the video we posted this morning, where Ebrahim appears to be limping away after being struck by the police jeep.

Curiously, the video --- like the one released by police earlier this month in which they denied beating activist Nabeel Rajab --- has no sound, limiting what we can learn of the incident.

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Wednesday
Jan252012

Egypt, Syria (and Beyond) Live Coverage: A Year After the Uprising

2359 GMT: We close today's coverage with the news that a fourth person has died in Bahrain in two days. Mohammed Ebrahim Yaqoob, a 17-year-old from Sitra,, died this evening in hospital whilst under police custody, from injuries sustained earlier today.

As we noted earlier, police action in Sitra was especially reckless, endangering many lives. The following video, where Bahraini security forces drive aggressively at defenceless citizens, allegedly shows Mohammed fleeing from the Toyota manufactured jeeps. This detail is unconfirmed, but many activists are claiming that Mohammed was subsequently run over by police and that is how he sustained his fatal injuries:

The news of Mohammed's death follows the announcement of three other deaths, allegedly at the hands of security forces.

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Tuesday
Jan242012

Syria, Bahrain (and Beyond) Live Coverage: Another Bloody Day

2102 GMT: Everything in Syria isn't about the death tolls, however. Because it's been such a busy day, we've neglected to report that there have been a large amount of peaceful protests across the nation. And many of those protests have lasted into the night.

This video was taken in Duma, Damascus, a city that has hosted some of the most impressive protests in the entire uprising in recent days:

This video was taken in Anadan, an important suburb of Aleppo and a stronghold for anti-government protests.

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Monday
Jan232012

Syria, Bahrain (and Beyond) Live Coverage: The Arab League Speaks --- Does It Matter?

2141 GMT: Large protests have lasted well into the night in many cities across Syria. This video was one of the more impressive ones, reportedly showing a protest in the Bab Qebli neighborhood of Hama:

2115 GMT: It has been another extremely bloody day in Syria, as the LCCS is now reporting 33 people killed by security forces, "including 2 children and a defected recruit and 2 men who died under torture. 11 martyrs in Homs, 9 martyrs in Idlib, 6 martyrs in Daraa, 3 in Damascus Suburbs and a martyr in each of BoKamal, Raqqa, Damascus and Hasakeh."

The steepest escalation since the last report is in Homs, where reports of heavy attacks have been reported, perhaps in response to a new wave of defections in the city.

Also, the civilian who was killed in Damascus was reportedly, killed in a protest near the Mujtahed Hospital in Midan. This video was taken, reportedly showing the protest:

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Sunday
Jan222012

Syria, Bahrain (and Beyond): Finding the Dead in Idlib

Clashes on Saturday in AlEker in Bahrain, from police dispersing a funeral procession --- with detentions of youths and pushing of women --- to young people forcing the security forces to flee (see also 0814 GMT)

See also Syria Interview: Kurdish Leader Abdulhakim Bashar "We Demand the Right to Self-Determination"
Saturday's Syria, Bahrain (and Beyond) Live Coverage: An Exclusive in Zabadani, A Rally in the Kingdom


2200 GMT: The Arab League has put forth a political roadmap for Syria, with President Assad delegating power to a deputy and setting up a unity government as a prelude to early Parliamentary and Presidential elections.

The League called on Assad to open discussions with other groups, including the opposition, within two weeks on the intiative. The new government would be formed within two months, electing a council that will write a Constitution and prepare for the elections.

Qatari Prime Minister Hamad bin Jassim al-Thani told a news conference, after the meeting of Arab foreign ministers in Cairo, that the League would ask for the enforcement of the UN Security Council.

One observer, journalist Blake Hounshell, has noted the plan is similar to the approach taken by the Gulf Co-operation Council to resolve the Yemen crisis. The GCC put forth its call to President Saleh to transfer power in spring 2011; Saleh finally agreed in November and said today that he is leaving for the US for medical treatment.

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