Syria News Wire

UN Special Envoy Terje Roed-Larsen says arms are being smuggled into Syria across the Lebanese border. Now, this is very interesting, because until recently, observers – myself included – had dismissed ‘discoveries‘ of arms factories and large-scale weapons shipments as theatrics aimed at tarnishing the Syrian rebels. When Syria’s allies in the Lebanese government impounded a ship [...]

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The Red Cross has made an urgent appeal for $27 million for its vital work in Syria. To date, it has helped 200,000 victims of the violence across the country. The International Committee for the Red Cross is the only international aid agency working in Syria, and despite occasional hiccups, it has managed to get help to [...]

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Excellent argument by Robin Yassin-Kassab, who looks back at the history of Syria’s sectarian divides. And what can be done to avoid an intra-community battle. Public discussion of sect and sectarianism was taboo. To an extent this was a good thing. When I lived in Damascus I heard about a Christian (the friend of a [...]

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One year ago today, Syria changed forever. One year ago today, demonstrations were still called unprecedented. One year ago today, the country was silent. One year ago today, Syria found its voice. I was sitting in Rawda Cafe, opposite parliament on February 4, the day a protest was called on Facebook. It turned out to [...]

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The SNC is dedicated to defending the Syrian people. Unless those Syrian people happen to live in the UAE, one of the campaign group’s sponsors. Last week, the UAE cancelled residency permits for Syrians and refused to issue visas to anyone holding a Syrian passport. The SNC’s weasel-worded statement accuses the world of stirring up [...]

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This sums up the past year pretty well. “Bashar has not got the message. I, for example, loved him when he took over. I thought he would be different to his father,” he said. He pointed to a part of his little finger. “If he had just given us this little bit of freedom, we [...]

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Two real must-reads from two very dear friends who care a lot about Syria. And I don’t say ‘must read’ lightly. You need these two pieces in your life. First, Jillian York looks at how activists are feeding the mainstream media with the story (it’s something The Listening Post has looked at many times over [...]

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A day after an Arab League monitor quit Syria in disgust, another one is apparently threatening to resign. Yesterday, Anwar Malek left the mission in Syria, appearing on Al Jazeera English to call it a ‘farce’: The Algerian (although some sources call him Tunisian) said: “What I saw was a humanitarian disaster. The regime is not just [...]

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When Christopher Hitchens died, there was renewed debate about the power his pen wielded. When he wrote in defence of Bush’s invasion and occupation of Iraq, he crossed the line. He crossed over from the bubble that observers and commentators inhabit into the political arena. He had become a player. Now, one of his friends, Nick [...]

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Two pieces of interesting reading today. The first from the unmissable Qifa Nabki, who notes that the blogosphere’s support for Bashar has made a remarkable u-turn. From this: For the first decade of Assad’s presidency, most Syrian blogs I read were fairly supportive of the regime To this: Several bloggers have defected from the regime’s [...]

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