Syria : US says coalition partners must only fight IS

The US has warned its coalition partners in Syria to focus exclusively on the fight against so-called Islamic State (IS) and not regime forces.

US Airdrops 50 Tons of Ammunition to Syria Rebels

The United States airdropped 50 tons of small arms ammunition Sunday to rebels in northern Syria, a U.S. defense official told VOA.

ISIL/ISIS captures last government oilfield in Syria

The Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) fighters have captured the last major oilfield under Syrian government control during deadly clashes over a vast central desert zone, a monitoring group said.

Syrian army and rebels agree to new truce in Zabadani

Syrian rebels and forces loyal to the country's President Bashar al-Assad have agreed to a new ceasefire to end government bombardment of the town of Zabadani and the rebel siege of two Shia villages.

Saudi FM offers ceasefire as warplanes pound Yemen rebels

Saudi Arabia's foreign minister vowed Friday that a ceasefire would begin on May 12, despite Saudi-led coalition attacks on Thursday against Yemeni rebels.

Ukraine: Ban deplores planned holding of November ‘elections’ by rebel groups

UN, 29 October 2014 – United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon today deplored the planned holding by armed rebel groups in eastern Ukraine of their own “elections” on 2 November, calling the potential polls a “breach of the constitution and national law.”

“These ‘elections’ will seriously undermine the Minsk Protocol and Memorandum, which need to be urgently implemented in full,” Mr. Ban said in a statement issued by his spokesperson in New York.

Syrian rebels overrun intelligence base on Golan Heights used to spy on Israel

Syrian rebel forces fighting the government of President Bashar Assad overran a military intelligence base on the Golan Heights that served as a joint Russian-Syrian forward post for information-gathering on Israel.

In a four-minute video clip which was posted on the Internet by the rebels, Free Syrian Army fighters are seen in a building in Quneitra, just near the boundary between Syria and the Israeli-controlled Golan Heights.

Secret UK plan to "train 100,000 Syria rebels" exposed. (at bases in Turkey and Jordan)

A plan to train and equip a 100,000-strong rebel army to defeat Syrian President Bashar al-Assad was drawn up by Britain, then scrapped as it was deemed too risky, BBC Newsnight reported on Thursday.
The alleged proposal, put forward two years ago, was the idea of General David Richards, then chief of Britain's defense, according to the BBC.

The secret "extract, equip, train" proposal was considered by Prime Minister David Cameron and the National Security Council, as well as U.S. officials, the BBC said, citing Whitehall sources.

Kerry urges Assad's allies to end Syria war

BEIRUT: US Secretary of State John Kerry dismissed Syria's election as a "great big zero" on Wednesday, urging President Bashar al-Assad's allies Iran, Russia and Hezbollah to end the country's three-year war.

His remarks during a surprise trip to Beirut came ahead of the publication of official results from the election, dubbed a "disgrace" by Washington.

Kerry also announced US$290 million in humanitarian aid for Syria and neighbouring countries hosting refugees, key among them Lebanon.

Syria hails big turnout in presidential poll

Voting extended for five hours in first Syrian election for 50 years, which incumbent Assad seems certain to win....

Syrians are voting in a presidential election which the incumbent Bashar al-Assad is widely expected to win.
State television said on Tuesday that voting had been extended for five hours "because of the massive influx of voters". Polls will now close at 9pm GMT.

Syria gives Russia ceasefire plan for Aleppo

Syria has handed Russia plans for a ceasefire in Syria’s biggest city, Aleppo, and was ready to exchange lists with rebel forces on a possible prisoner swap, its foreign minister Walid Muallem told a joint news conference in Moscow with Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov before a planned peace conference on Syria in Switzerland next week
“I count on the success of this plan if all sides carry out their obligations,” Reuters quoted Muallem as saying following talks with Lavrov.
“We would like this to serve as an example to other towns,” Muallem said of the plan for Aleppo.

Mass 'executions' in Syria could be war crime: UN

GENEVA: Extremist Islamic groups in Syria are committing a "soaring" number of killings in the country's north that could amount to war crimes, the UN human rights office said on Thursday.

UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay says that over the past two weeks her office has received reports of "a succession of mass executions of civilians and fighters who were no longer participating in hostilities in Aleppo, Idlib and Raqqa by hardline armed opposition groups in Syria, in particular by the" al-Qaida linked Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant.

She warned that such killings violate international humanitarian law, and the numbers of such violations are thought to be alarmingly high.

Churkin: Syrian Opposition used chemical weapons in a bid to provoke Western invasion ....

UNITED NATIONS, December 14 (Itar-Tass) - Russia’s UN envoy Vitaly Churkin has said that chemical attacks in Syria, including the one in Guta on August 21, were staged by the Syrian Opposition, which was trying to provoke armed intervention by Western countries. 

Churkin was speaking at a meeting of the UN General Assembly behind closed doors on Friday. A transcript of his statement has been circulated by Russia’s permanent mission at the United Nations.

Turkish patrol seizes over a ton of chemicals from smugglers at Syria border.

Turkish border guards seized three vehicles loaded with over 1,000 kg of chemicals as they tried to illegally cross the border into Syria. One of the smugglers was arrested, while others managed to escape.
The Turkish General Staff reported that the chemicals were seized after a convoy of three vehicles refused to stop and attempted to illegally cross the border near the southeastern Turkish town of Reyhanli on Saturday.

Paramilitary police were ordered to shoot out the tires of the vehicles to stop them. As the tires caught on fire, the three drivers jumped out and fled in the direction of Syria. One of them was arrested.

The vehicles contained 20 bags of sulphur, weighing about 50 kg each, and eight sealed barrels. Their contents were not immediately known.

United Nations: Most Syrians killed in unlawful conventional attacks, UN human rights panel says

16 September 2013 – The vast majority of Syrians are killed in unlawful attacks using conventional weapons such as guns and mortars, with children making up a large proportion of the casualties, the United Nations-appointed human rights probe today reported, calling for a halt to weapons being supplied to Government and the rebels. 

“Arms transfers should not occur where there is a real risk that they will be used in the commission of crimes against humanity, violations of international humanitarian law, or war crimes. In Syria, this is a tragic reality,” Paulo Pinheiro, the chairman of the International Commission of Inquiry on Syria said as he introduced the report to the Human Rights Council.

Dramatic report: Inside the battle for Syria's ancient Christian village (VIDEO RT).

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Anti-Assad rebels have been forced out of many parts of Syria’s ancient Christian village of Maaloula, but the fighting there remains heavy, RT correspondent Maria Finoshina reports from the scene.
After arriving in the center of the village Wednesday, Maria Finoshina and the RT camera crew saw signs of a recent battle and heard shelling, but received a warm welcome from smiling and relieved Syrian Army soldiers, who said the village was freed from jihadists. The claim would later in the day turn out to be premature.

Carla del Ponte: Syrian Chemical Weapons Attack Carried Out by Rebels. -May 2013 (VIDEO YT 27/8/13)

As the Syrian revolt continues to tear the country apart, the international community has been eager to condemn Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, even as it became clear that the rebels do not, in fact, represent a popular uprising against the oppression of the Assad regime. According to UN diplomat Carla del Ponte, however, it appears that the recent chemical weapons attack was carried out by the Syrian rebels and not the regime, as it had been widely assumed. Speaking to a Swiss television channel, del Ponte said that there were “strong, concrete suspicions but not yet incontrovertible proof,” that rebels had carried out the attack. She also said UN investigators had seen no evidence of the Syrian army using chemical weapons, but that further investigation was needed (May 2013***).