Syria crisis: Obama and Cameron issue chemical weapons warning - Thursday 23 August 2012

UK PM endorses Obama warning
Civilians suffering 'horrific violence' in Aleppo - Amnesty
Fresh clashes in Damascus

Read the latest summary
Syria Damascus tank
An image grab taken from a video uploaded on YouTube allegedly shows a Syrian army tank deploying the the Nahr Aishe neighborhood of Damacus on 22 August, 2012. Photograph: AFP/Getty Images Photograph: -/AFP/Getty Images

Summary of the latest developments

Syria

David Cameron has echoed a warning by Barack Obama that the use, or even the threat, of chemical weapons by President Bashar al-Assad could trigger a military intervention in Syria.

Fresh clashes have broken out in Damascus with Syrian government forces firing mortar rounds on rebel positions, Reuters reports, citing activists. Another Reuters report says Syrian forces backed by tanks have stormed Darayya, on the outskirts of Damascus, after 24 hours of artillery and helicopter bombardment to drive out rebels.

A resident of al-Qaboun district in Damascus told the Guardian that 46 bodies have been discovered since forces loyal to the regime tried to storm the area yesterday.

The Syrian army is reported to have recaptured three Christian neighbourhoods in the heart of Aleppo but clashes are continuing in other parts of the city.

Syrian rebels have captured a string of security posts and the local police headquarters in Albu Kamal, near the border with Iraq, despite heavy government shelling and airstrikes by warplanes, activists say.

Two 19-year-old students of Syrian descent from west London are reported to have joined a rebel unit in al-Rab, just outside Aleppo, after telling their parents they were going on holiday.

The UN's humanitarian chief has appealed to the international community to increase its funding to help 2.5 million Syrians who are in urgent need of basic services such as shelter, food, healthcare, water and sanitation. 

Dozens of people were killed in Damascus on Wednesday as the capital suffered its heaviest bombardment this month, opposition activists said. 

Civilians are enduring horrific levels of violence in the battle between Syrian government forces and opposition fighters for control of Aleppo, Amnesty International said today. 

Iran appears to be supplying Syria with arms, the UN has said.

The Chinese government is to provide 30m yuan (£3m) worth of emergency humanitarian aid to Syrian refugees in Jordan and Lebanon, the foreign ministry announced.

Lebanon

 Sporadic clashes erupted for a fourth day in Lebanon's northern city of Tripoli today, breaching a truce agreed by local political leaders less than 24 hours earlier, Reuters reports. The death toll has now reached at least 13.

Lebanon's foreign minister, Adnan Mansour, is reported to be resisting calls to expel the Syrian ambassador.

Bahrain

A defence lawyer says a Bahrain court has overturned a conviction against prominent human rights activist Nabeel Rajab for posting alleged anti-government comments on social media, AP reports. But Rajab remains jailed while he appeals against a three-year sentence for his role in protest rallies.

Thirteen leading activists and opposition figures have submitted a letter to the prison authorities informing them that they will start a series of protest actions including a hunger strike if increased restrictions in prison are not removed by Thursday.

Egypt

A Cairo court has ordered that the chief editor of an Egyptian daily be detained pending trial on charges of insulting the country's president and "spreading lies".

Morocco

Moroccan police have violently broken up a protest demanding more political freedoms and denouncing an annual ceremony honouring the king, AP reports.

Report from Albu Kamal

Earlier today, the Associated Press reported that Syrian rebels had captured a string of security posts and the local police headquarters in Albu Kamal, near the border with Iraq, despite heavy government shelling and airstrikes by warplanes.

Our colleague Mona Mahmood has now spoken via Skype with Abu Ahmed, a member of the Syrian Revolution Council in in Albu Kamal. This is what he told her:

Yesterday, the first shooting by MiG 21 started against Albu Kamal. The shooting was random as the FSA are not centered at any place. The FSA liberated the crossing point [to Iraq] and the checkpoints and went away. They are conducting here a guerilla war and do not want to commit the same mistake they made in Aleppo.

The mistake in Aleppo was that when the FSA got control of one of the districts, they based themselves there. Now, they do not want to do that in Albu Kamal. There are 15 [army] checkpoints in Albu Kamal – 12 of them were liberated and other three are still waiting.

The three checkpoints which are not liberated yet have the biggest number of Syrian forces in men and equipment. All the Syrian army who were at the 12 liberated checkpoints are now gathered at these three checkpoints.

The biggest checkpoint is near the military airport in al-Hamdan district. It is 4km north-west of the centre of Albu Kamal behind al-Sukkariya village. There are more than 37 tanks at the airport, 10 armoured vehicles, some of the tanks are T-52 and T-62. There are six officers, one of them is an Alawite general, and the other five officers are Druze.

Most of the security officers here are Druze – we don't know why. The FSA have arrested some of them, but soon afterwards they were released to encourage them not to work for the regime. The population of Albu Kamal is 250,000 people. Ninety per cent of the families have Iraqi origins – from al-Anbar province. Even their accent is Iraqi. The countryside is inhabited by Iraqi tribes too. There are a few Kurd families and about 30 Alawite families. There are 30 Christian families too.

There were more than 15 security offices for the regime here. Some of them are for the police and intelligence, others were taken over by the army and used as a base, like the office which was liberated [by the FSA] yesterday – it was a department for fisheries, but the regime turned it into a military barracks. The Baath Party headquarters was turned into a military office too.

The checkpoint near al-Suwa'iya village is 4km from the Iraqi border. It was a very risky site – if anyone passed by, the sniper would shoot him. Fifteen martyrs have been killed at this point. The FSA surrounded it yesterday and liberated it.

Then all of a sudden the Syrian army left the crossing point [at the Iraqi border] without any fight. People were completely surprised to see that the tanks were pulling out as well as the soldiers without firing one bullet. But we found the Iraqi army just in beyond the crossing point, as if there was a coordination between the two armies. The Iraqi army soon afterwards sealed off the border.

The number of the Syrian refugees who fled from Albu kamal to Iraq is 3,000. Al-Anbar tribes are offering aid to these refugees, not the Iraqi government. Most of the refugees are Iraqi in origin; they asked the Iraqi government if they could live with their relatives in Iraq, but their request was refused.

The situation is very bad, with three deaths among the refugees inside Iraq – one of them was a child.

We have the Allahu Akbar brigade of the FSA in Albu Kamal. There are other brigades in the countryside, most of them are civilians who volunteered to fight with the FSA, a few of them are defected soldiers.

There is no presence at all for the Syrian army inside the city. They are based at three checkpoints only.

Since the beginning of the revolution till now more than 170 clashes happened between the FSA and the Syrian army and we lost 126 martyrs so far. The last two martyrs fell yesterday and another three the day before yesterday.

The mortars are targeting the hospitals. The main military hospital is for the army only. Most of the wounded are treated at field hospital. If they are critical cases we take them to Iraq, but the borders are closed now. We have four people who died out of their wounds.

The shooting by the artillery started at the beginning of Ramadan but the warplanes started yesterday.

For food, the families are helping each other and the FSA are also distributing wheat among people by smuggling it to the city. The FSA are taking the wounded to the hospitals, they are not fighters only.

The Iraqi tribes are helping us by sending food to us, bread, vegetables and other stuff.

Muslim Brotherhood and the SNC

In an article for Comment is free, Hassan Hassan considers the Muslim Brotherhood's role in the Syrian opposition – and suggests it has not been particularly beneficial.

A year ago this week, the Syrian National Council was formed in Istanbul by a coalition of political forces and figures that presented themselves as society's representatives. In the absence of a mechanism to determine the power base of each political force, the Muslim Brotherhood came to dominate the council, benefiting from its relations with Islamist-leaning Turkey.

The Brotherhood's perceived monopoly over the council has led to a chronic political stalemate within the opposition and will most likely undermine an orderly transition if the situation persists. But the appointment of Algerian veteran diplomat Lakhdar Brahimi as the new UN-Arab League envoy to Syria, along with the recent defections of high-level technocrats, presents a new opportunity to reverse the group's domination.

'11 killed in Kafr Sousseh'

Lena Shami, a Damascus-based activist told the Guardian via Skype that there has been an escalation of casualties in and around the capital:

As usual today started with shelling, mortar shelling , tank shelling and helicopter shelling in several areas in Damascus and Damascus suburbs ...

Today it [Kafr Sousseh] was targeted with shelling, also a raid of the neighbourhood. Military and Shabiha (pro-Assad militia) raided the neighbourhood and started looking for activists, all kinds of activists, civil activists, media activists. Unfortunately, today 11 people were killed in Kafr Sousseh in extra-judicial executions ...They are being killed and executed on the ground in front of their families ...

We are witnessing an escalation here in the number of casualties. So many people are dying under shelling, in extra-judicial executions ....

Inside the capital so many checkpoints are placed to cut roads from one another to separate areas from each other and to stop people getting from one area to another ...

In Damascus suburbs we have here a horrible humanitarian situation, particularly in Darayya and Mouadamiyeh ..I am living in Mezzeh so my house overlooks these areas and all the time we have helicopters flying over to target Darayya and Mouadamiyeh with helicopter shelling, with rocket shelling ....

Asked whether people were blaming the regular army's assault on the activities of the rebel fighters, Shami said:

Some people who have their families killed are going to start blaming the Free Syrian Army partially but at the end of the day they always keep seeing that the regime is the main party that's responsible for these massacres and shelling ...Assad's forces are the forces that use airplanes to shell civilian areas. There is no justification for that.

Damascus activist: "All the time we have helicopters flying over to target Darayya & Mouadamiyeh" (mp3)

Interview with a resident of Deraa

Our colleague Mona Mahmood has interviewed Thaer Abdulla, a resident of Deraa al-Balad, via Skype. This is what he told her:

I live in Deraa al-Balad near the station. For 10 days now, we have sustained heavy firing from the warplanes, though today it is quiet. The main reason for this focus on Deraa is to attack the road that leads to Jordan which most of the defecting politicians and officers would take. The road is under the control of the FSA but every night you can hear clashes between the Syrian army and Jordanian security.

The Syrian army is so upset at the situation here, they want to get control of the road to stop the fleeing of the Syrian people to Jordan. Now snipers who are deployed on the top of the buildings, they are targeting civilians. Security patrols are touring the city all the time.

New military enhancements for the Syrian army are arriving here today. They are taking the old Abu Bakr al-Sadeeq mosque as a base for them where they have also the biggest checkpoint. They have set up snipers on top of the mosque. A lot of people are killed by these snipers.

The FSA attacked this checkpoint the day before yesterday and soon after shooting by tanks and artillery started against the town from three directions – Hameed al-Taher park near the station, the old customs office near the Jordanian border (where most of the artillery are based) and the third direction was the local stadium.

The local stadium is a base for the artillery and tanks. It is a base to shoot the town and the countryside.

Now, the FSA are in control of some parts of Deraa. They are using hit and run tactic. They attack checkpoints, set up ambushes and do some operations then leave immediately. For the regime it is not that easy – in a way, the FSA no more able to be in control of Deraa al-Balad.

We have Rayat al-Haeq Brigade of the FSA fighting here, Sons of Julan, al-Sadieq and al-Omeri Martyrs.

For 10 days now, a lot of clashes are happening at the main road that lead to Jordan. The road has become very risky, the Syrian army is targeting the families who are fleeing to Jordan and also shooting mortars against the Jordanian security at the borders.

The Jordanian authorities are giving the FSA a hard time trying to smuggle weapons through Jordan. They are confiscating any piece of weaponry they get. The FSA are relying on smuggled weapons only. It is much easier to get weapons from Iraq rather than Jordan. It is a shorter route than Turkey for smuggling weapons.

We have fighters who are coming from Iraq to fight with the FSA. The Iraqi fighters are helping the FSA in Der Ezzor and Albu Kamal. There are a lot of Syrian fighters who fought with the Iraqis at Baghdad airport during the US invasion against Iraq in 2003. Now, they think it is their duty to support the Syrian fighters and help them to liberate their country – some of them are even siblings.

FSA gains near Iraq border

Syrian rebels have captured a string of security posts and the local police headquarters in Albu Kamal, near the border with Iraq, despite heavy government shelling and airstrikes by warplanes, activists told AP.

Heavy fighting was reported in Albu Kamal yesterday.

From AP:

Taking full control of Albu Kamal, located in the eastern oil-rich province of Deir el-Zour and across the border from the Iraqi town of Qaim, would expand the rebel foothold along the frontier with Iraq. The border crossing point has been in rebel hands since last month, although government troops have remained in control of much of the town, activists say...

Rebels have been fighting troops for days in Albu Kamal, but over the past few hours have taken over several checkpoints, the main police station and the local command of the Political Security Directorate, one of Syria’s powerful intelligence agencies, according to Rami Abdul-Rahman, who heads the British-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.

“There is an attempt to take full control of Albu Kamal,” Abdul-Rahman said.

The Local Coordination Committees activist group said warplanes bombed Albu Kamal, but Abdul-Rahman said the jets were flying over the town and struck nearby areas, not the town itself.

Abu-Omar al-Deery, an activist in the provincial capital of Deir el-Zour, said by telephone that there are “fierce battles” in Albu Kamal and that “the Free Syrian Army is trying to liberate and clean the city”.

There was no immediate word on casualties.

Christian districts recaptured

The Syrian army has recaptured three Christian neighbourhoods in the heart of Aleppo but clashes are continuing in other parts of the city, AFP reports:

"Battles on Monday and Tuesday were very violent, and they lasted for many long hours before the army managed to expel the rebels," a resident of the neighborhood told AFP by telephone.

"After cleansing the area, hundreds of residents of the districts of Telal and Sulamaniyeh took to the streets to celebrate and express their support for the army," he added.

The other recaptured district is named as Jdeide. They had all reportedly been captured by the Free Syrian Army on the weekend.

'A bipolar reality' in Syria

The Finnish newspaper Helsingin Sanomat has interviewed two of Finland's UN monitors on their return from Syria. One of them, Capt Harri Huttunen told the paper:

The situation in Syria is critical, unstable, and somehow bipolar in its way. People are getting killed every day, but on the other hand efforts are being made to keep life as normal as possible. This bipolar reality is not easy to take in.

The other, Lt Cmdr Mikko Suomela, said:

The situation has just got worse over there [since the start of the UN operation]. The fighting has escalated from sporadic outbreaks to cover almost the entire country. At some point, undoubtedly, there will be peace, but I’m afraid that it will take some time. It doesn’t look good.

Cameron to meet king of Bahrain

British prime minister David Cameron is to meet the king of Bahrain in Downing Street on his first day back at work after his summer holiday, the BBC reports.

It will be Cameron's third meeting with the king since he became prime minister, the BBC adds.

Amnesty International's UK director, Kate Allen, has responded critically to the news:

There’s been a façade of supposed reform in Bahrain in recent months, but the reality is that the country’s courts have been jailing human rights defenders and peaceful protesters.

We want Mr Cameron to make it crystal clear that the UK will not stand idly by while Bahrain proceeds to lock up its dissidents.

Blame for Japanese reporter's death

A senior Syrian official has blamed the killing of Japanese journalist Mika Yamamoto on "armed groups", denying that the regular army was responsible. From AP:

Veteran Japanese war correspondent Mika Yamamoto on Monday became the first foreign journalist to die in Aleppo since clashes between rebels and regime forces erupted there almost a month ago.

Rebels have said she was killed by regime forces. Japan's foreign ministry said she was hit by gunfire while traveling with rebels from the Free Syrian Army.

Syrian deputy foreign minister Faysal Mekdad said that journalists who behave in an "irresponsible" way should expect all kinds of possibilities.
He says Yamamoto was killed by "armed groups" to frame the Syrian army.

Summary of the latest developments

Syria

David Cameron has echoed a warning by Barack Obama that the use, or even the threat, of chemical weapons by President Bashar al-Assad could trigger a military intervention in Syria.

Fresh clashes have broken out in Damascus with Syrian government forces firing mortar rounds on rebel positions, Reuters reports, citing activists. Another Reuters report says Syrian forces backed by tanks have stormed Darayya, on the outskirts of Damascus, after 24 hours of artillery and helicopter bombardment to drive out rebels.

A resident of al-Qaboun district in Damascus told the Guardian that 46 bodies have been discovered since forces loyal to the regime tried to storm the area yesterday.

Two 19-year-old students of Syrian descent from west London are reported to have joined a rebel unit in al-Rab, just outside Aleppo, after telling their parents they were going on holiday.

The UN's humanitarian chief has appealed to the international community to increase its funding to help 2.5 million Syrians who are in urgent need of basic services such as shelter, food, healthcare, water and sanitation. 

Dozens of people were killed in Damascus on Wednesday as the capital suffered its heaviest bombardment this month, opposition activists said. 

Civilians are enduring horrific levels of violence in the battle between Syrian government forces and opposition fighters for control of Aleppo, Amnesty International said today. 

Iran appears to be supplying Syria with arms, the UN has said.

The Chinese government is to provide 30m yuan (£3m) worth of emergency humanitarian aid to Syrian refugees in Jordan and Lebanon, the foreign ministry announced.

Lebanon

 Sporadic clashes erupted for a fourth day in Lebanon's northern city of Tripoli today, breaching a truce agreed by local political leaders less than 24 hours earlier, Reuters reports. The death toll has now reached at least 13.

Lebanon's foreign minister, Adnan Mansour, is reported to be resisting calls to expel the Syrian ambassador.

Bahrain

A defence lawyer says a Bahrain court has overturned a conviction against prominent human rights activist Nabeel Rajab for posting alleged anti-government comments on social media, AP reports. But Rajab remains jailed while he appeals against a three-year sentence for his role in protest rallies.

Thirteen leading activists and opposition figures have submitted a letter to the prison authorities informing them that they will start a series of protest actions including a hunger strike if increased restrictions in prison are not removed by Thursday.

Egypt

A Cairo court has ordered that the chief editor of an Egyptian daily be detained pending trial on charges of insulting the country's president and "spreading lies".

Morocco

Moroccan police have violently broken up a protest demanding more political freedoms and denouncing an annual ceremony honouring the king, AP reports.

'46 bodies found in Qaboun'

Our colleague Mona Mahmood has interviewed Abu Omer, a resident of the al-Qaboun district of Damascus, via Skype. He told her that 46 bodies have been discovered since forces loyal to the regime tried to storm the area yesterday.

Yesterday, at midday, the Syrian army accompanied by Shabiha (pro-government militia) tried to stormed al-Qaboun district by the eastern entrance. A small group of FSA men who belong to the al-Bade" brigade, no more than 50 to 60 men, came repel the attack of Shabiha and stop the detention of the people. Clashes lasted more than an hour and a half. A campaign of raids was launched and tens of people were detained. Many stores and houses were burned by the Shabiha in al-Qaboun district.

After two hours, when things got calmer, people went out and found bodies for 12 men at the surroundings of Sheikh Jaber and Tishreen districts. These districts are entirely inhabited by Allawite whom most of them are Shabiha. The Shabiha were wearing civilian clothes and had long beards, some of them had tattoos. Up till now we have found 46 bodies (WARNING: graphic video), all of them found near districts occupied by Allawites. People were able to identify some of the bodies as those who were detained by the Syrian army a month ago.

We found seven bodies belong to the Hamood family who were detained yesterday by the Syrian army. They were taken now to Jabel Qalmoun to be buried there. . Two bodies for Ahmed Tu'ama and Ali Al-Habou who had disappeared a month ago after being detained by the Syrian army were identified.

Some of the bodies belonged to a few people who were trying to put out fires in some shops and houses. Another six bodies were found in al-Berza district which is another Allawite district. They were detained yesterday as they were trying to cross a checkpoint there.

All of the bodies were executed by gun shots in the upper part of the body, others were even mutilated. Ten of the bodies were handcuffed but none of them were blindfolded. Though there were heavy clashes between the FSA and Shabiha, all the bodies belonged to the civilians of al-Qaboun district - none of them are FSA.

When we first found the bodies, we gathered them in a district called al-Ba'ala to give the families time to identify the bodies. There are four checkpoints in Qaboun district, a matter which makes navigating through the alleys very complicated. later on we took all the bodies to the headquarter of the Red Crescent in Aa-Qaboun district. They are still there and the families are heading to the headquarters in a bid to identify the bodies.

Two Londoners join Syria fight

Two 19-year-old students of Syrian descent from west London have joined a rebel unit in al-Rab, just outside Aleppo, after telling their parents they were going on holiday, the Evening Standard reports.

They said they wanted to persuade other young British men to join them. “We felt very strongly that we should join the fight, that this was something we just had to do,” said Abu Musef, who asked for his real name not be used.

“Inside Syria, you’ve got bombs dropping on you like rain but you know you are doing the right thing because you’ve got little children in this situation next to you.”

His friend, Abu Omar, who is also using a false name, said the violence in Syria was constantly discussed in their homes and that those who left Syria for Britain are “devastated” by it ...

The teenagers plan to return to London to go to university but Abu added: “If I met another London boy who wanted to go I would ask this, ‘Is your Arabic any good? Do you have money to pay your way there? And, do you believe in the cause?’ If he said yes to all of that I’d tell him to go.”

Egyptian journalist detained

A Cairo court has ordered that the chief editor of an Egyptian daily be detained pending trial on charges of insulting the country's president and "spreading lies", AP reports:

The case against Islam Afifi, chief editor of the privately-owned el-Dustour, is one among several lawsuits leveled mainly by Egypt's Islamists against several journalists and TV presenters, accusing them of inflammatory coverage and inciting the public against the Muslim Brotherhood, the country's largest political group.

The Cairo criminal court on Thursday also postponed the trial of Afifi until mid-September.

Pro-democracy activists have shown mixed reactions to the court cases. Many defend the right of freedom of expression and deem the Islamists' practices as repressive. Others say the journalists facing trials are former regime loyalists.

Fourth day of Lebanese clashes

Sporadic clashes erupted for a fourth day in Lebanon's northern city of Tripoli today, breaching a truce agreed by local political leaders less than 24 hours earlier, Reuters reports.

The sectarian clashes began after gunmen in a nearby Sunni area shot dead an Alawite man. Nine others were wounded in the subsequent fighting.

At least 13 people have died and more than a hundred have been wounded in fighting this week between Lebanese Sunni Muslims and Alawites, reflecting the sectarian faultlines that have emerged in Syria's conflict.

Meanwhile, Robert Watkins, the UN deputy special co-ordinator for Lebanon, issued a statement following a meeting with interior minister Marwan Charbel earlier today:

The United Nations has been following closely and with concern recent security incidents in the country, particularly the kidnappings targeting Syrian nationals and others in Lebanon as well as armed clashes that have been taking place in the past few days in Tripoli ...

We believe the Lebanese state has an important role to play in ensuring the stability is preserved while all sides in the country should respect and not overstep the country’s state institutions. I praised the tireless efforts of Minister Charbel, the Lebanese armed forces and the security agencies in preventing the security situation from deteriorating further.

Lebanon cannot accept that there are actors who take the law into their own hands with impunity. We support the statements by the Lebanese president and prime minister to bring those guilty of crimes to justice.

I also agreed with Minister Charbel that the Lebanese state has a moral responsibility to protect innocent people, including Syrian nationals, many of whom are here as refugees seeking shelter from the violence in their own country.

Internet problems

Turkey's telecommunications company says its internet services to neighbouring Syria have come to a halt due to infrastructure problems in the war-torn country, AP reports.

A statement from Turk Telekom, carried by the state-run Anadolu on Thursday, denied reports it had shut down Internet connections to Syria, insisting the interruption was linked to problems in "Syria's own fiber optic infrastructure."

It says the company has not been able to provide services since 11 August.

Renesys Corp, a firm that tracks Internet pathways, said Wednesday that a Hong Kong-based company is keeping Syria connected to the Internet as other telecommunications companies, including Turk Telekom, withdraw.

Turkey has imposed sanctions on Syria but insists they are aimed against the regime and not the Syrian people. It is continuing to provide electricity to the country.

China ups refugee aid

The Chinese government is to provide 30m yuan (£3m) worth of emergency humanitarian aid to Syrian refugees in Jordan and Lebanon, the foreign ministry announced today. The aid will be equally divided between the two countries.

The latest figures from the UN's refugee agency say there are 43,474 registered refugees in Jordan, with another 5,463 awaiting registration, and 39,194 registered refugees in Lebanon, with another 11,861 awaiting registration.

There are 74,112 registered refugees in Turkey and 15,096 in Iraq, making a total of 171,876 registered refugees.

Lebanese foreign minister backs Syria

Lebanon's foreign minister, Adnan Mansour, is resisting calls to expel the Syrian ambassador, the Daily Star reports.

“There is nothing that warrants the expulsion of the ambassador or the withdrawal of Lebanon's ambassador to Syria because of the lack of convincing reasons and motives to do so,” Mansour is quoted as saying.

The Daily Star explains:

The March 14 [opposition] coalition demanded that the Lebanese government expel the Syrian envoy to Lebanon, Ali Abdel-Karim Ali, describing the embassy as a centre for the administration of bombings and abductions in the country.

The opposition has also accused Syria of instigating the latest clashes in north Lebanon in a bid to divert attention away from the 18-month uprising against the rule of President Bashar Assad.

The demand for the expulsion also comes after the government’s deputy commissioner at the military tribunal earlier this month accused former information minister Michel Samaha and Syrian National Security Bureau head Ali Mamlouk of plotting to assassinate political and religious figures in Lebanon and carry out terrorist attacks.

Ya Libnan website says Mansour is also delaying passing to Syria a letter of complaint about border violations which was requested by President Suleiman.

Ya Libnan adds:

Mansour is a member of the Amal movement which is allied with the Iranian- and Syrian-backed Hezbollah militant group ... Mansour has been accused on several occasions of acting on orders from Syria, but since Hezbollah dominates the cabinet prime minister Najib Mikati cannot fire him.

Mansour's stance is also reported approvingly by the Syrian government's news agency, where he is said to blame "external and international hands" for the Syrian conflict.

"Some want the Lebanese foreign policy to take a hostile stand towards Syria and its leadership. However, this will not happen today nor tomorrow," he is quoted as saying.

Fighting near Iraq border

Yesterday, Reuters reported that Syrian government forces were battling rebels for control of a military base and an airfield near the eastern town of Albu Kamal on the Iraqi border.

The videos below purport to show footage of clashes in Albu Kamal.

Escalation in Damascus?

A tweet from The 47th, who has a good record for accurately predicting developments:

♕The 47th♕ (@THE_47th)

If u or ur family is in #Damascus, stock up & stay at home & try to avoid going out as much as possible. All chatter is abt mjr escalations.

August 23, 2012

Sharia in Syria

Some Syrian rebels are seeking the implementation of sharia law in Syria, Hugh Naylor reports for the National. (thanks to lacilir btl for the link)

Rebel interrogators in this town [Tell Rif'at], about 20km from the Turkish border, said they had beaten the legs of detainees with sticks.

Insurgents in nearby Mare' threatened to amputate the hands of alleged thieves and paraded them through town in an effort to publicly shame them, residents said.

In Aleppo, where fierce fighting between insurgents and government forces has raged for weeks, one rebel leader said he had ordered lashings using rubber hoses and knotted ropes.

Abu Yaqoub, a 26-year-old Muslim cleric in rebel-held Tell Rif'at, believes Sharia would provide the best form of government for Syria in a post-Assad era.

"God willing," Mr Yaqoub replied, when asked if Islamic law should be imposed nationwide ...

Not all opponents of the Assad government favour more Sharia.

Abu Tayyib, 39, an official in Mare', wants to restrict Sharia law to mediating marital and family disputes.

He expressed fear that its imposition could upset the country's fragile religious diversity, which includes Christians and Alawites, an offshoot of Shiite Islam.

"We want a Syria where the law respects the rights of religions and backgrounds in Syria, to build a Syria based on equality," he said.

Bahrain Twitter conviction overturned

A defence lawyer says a Bahrain court has overturned a conviction against prominent human rights activist Nabeel Rajab for posting alleged anti-government comments on social media (via AP).

But Rajab remains jailed while he appeals a three-year sentence for his role in protest rallies. The sentencing last week brought criticism from Washington and sparked clashes in the Gulf kingdom, home to the US navy's 5th Fleet.

Mohammed al-Jishi says the court threw out the conviction for the Twitter posts on Thursday. Rajab has already served more than half of his three-month sentence. The decision came after Rajab was removed from the court after claiming he endured abuses behind bars.

Moroccan protest over royal ceremony

Moroccan police have violently broken up a protest demanding more political freedoms and denouncing an annual ceremony honouring the king, AP reports.

Dozens of activists gathered in front of parliament in the capital, Rabat, on Wednesday.

Police blocked the unauthorised gathering, beating protesters with batons. An Associated Press reporter saw people in the crowd, including another journalist, come under blows.

Officials from around the country came to Rabat this week to prostrate themselves before King Mohamed VI. The elaborate, nationally televised ceremony is considered a near-sacred event in Morocco and usually meets no public resistance. But the protesters now say it's humiliating and medieval.

Moroccan youth took to the streets last year amid uprisings around the Arab world. The king announced reforms and early elections, but activists are calling for more change.

Tanks enter Darayya

Another Reuters report says Syrian forces backed by tanks have stormed Darayya, on the outskirts of Damascus, after 24 hours of artillery and helicopter bombardment to drive out rebels.

The bombardment killed at least 15 people and wounded 150 in Daraya, situated on the southwest edge of Damascus, sources said. 
Troops were conducting house to house raids in the conservative Sunni Muslim town and making their way to the town's centre, meeting light resistance from rebels who appear to have largely withdrawn from the area, activists in Damascus said.

Fresh clashes in Damascus

Fresh clashes have broken out in Damascus with Syrian government forces firing mortar rounds on rebel positions, Reuters reports citing activists.

Government forces fired mortar rounds from the Qasioun mountain overlooking Damascus, activists said, and southern suburbs echoed with the sound of gunfights between the army and rebels who have been struggling to topple President Bashar al-Assad for more than 17 months. 

"For about an hour we heard explosions and gunfire. It is not as bad as yesterday yet but tensions are really high. I think you could probably hear the echo of shelling or clashes from most parts of Damascus," said opposition activist Samir al-Shami, who spoke to Reuters by Skype. 
He and other activists said the bombardment and fighting seemed to be concentrated on southern districts of Damascus, where rebels have been able to slip in from rebellious suburbs near the capital. 

Assad's forces stormed the south-eastern district of Kafr Sousseh early on Thursday and were making arrests, another activist said. 

Summary

Good morning. Welcome to Middle East Live. Here is a round-up of the latest developments.

Syria

British prime minister David Cameron has echoed a warning by Barack Obama that the use, or even the threat, of chemical weapons by President Bashar al-Assad could trigger a military intervention in Syria. In a phone conversation on Wednesday evening, the two leaders agreed to "revisit their approach" if the Syrian president makes any moves towards using chemical weapons. "Both [leaders] agreed that the use – or threat – of chemical weapons was completely unacceptable and would force them to revisit their approach so far," a Downing Street spokesperson said after the call.

The UN's humanitarian chief has appealed to the international community to increase its funding to help 2.5 million Syrians who are in urgent need of basic services such as shelter, food, healthcare, water and sanitation. Valerie Amos said:

“The humanitarian situation has worsened since my visit in March. We face problems with access to people in need, particularly where there is intense and ongoing fighting, but funding is also holding us back. If we had more resources, we could reach more people, especially as we have established solid partnerships with local non-governmental organizations and with the Syrian Arab Red Crescent.”

Dozens of people were killed in Damascus on Wednesday as the capital suffered its heaviest bombardment this month, opposition activists said. The Local Co-ordination Committees (LCC) activist group claimed 100 were killed in Damascus and its suburbs, The British-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said 68 were killed. The Observatory put the death toll across the country at more than 250, including 152 unarmed civilians and 51 members of the Syrian regular army. The LCC put the total death toll at 184 at the hand's of the regime's forces (it does not list rebel fighters and civilians separately). The LCC does not record the death of troops in the regular army.

Civilians are enduring horrific levels of violence in the battle between Syrian government forces and opposition fighters for control of Aleppo, Amnesty International said today. During a 10-day visit to the city, Amnesty investigated some 30 attacks in which scores of civilians not involved in hostilities, many of them children, were killed or injured in their homes, while queuing for bread and even in the places where those displaced by the conflict were sheltering as a result of earlier attacks on residential neighbourhoods. The attacks, said Amnesty, have often failed to distinguish between opposition fighters and civilian residents. Amnesty's senior crisis response adviser Donatella Rovera, who recently returned from Aleppo, said:

The use of imprecise weapons, such as unguided bombs, artillery shells and mortars by government forces has dramatically increased the danger for civilians.
Civilians face a daily barrage of air and artillery strikes by government forces in different parts of the city. For many there is simply nowhere safe and families live in fear of the next attack. 

As civilian casualties continue to mount it is imperative that all parties - government forces and opposition fighters - comply with international humanitarian law, which requires that they take all feasible precautions to spare civilians.
Those responsible for indiscriminate attacks against civilians and other war crimes should expect that they will be held to account.
It is shameful that the international community remains divided over Syria, disregarding the body of evidence of the scale and the gravity of the human rights abuses in Syria and effectively looking the other way while civilians are bearing the brunt.”

Iran appears to be supplying Syria with arms, the UN has said. From Reuters:

"The secretary-general has repeatedly expressed his concern about the arms flows to the two parties in Syria, which in some cases appear to violate resolution 1747 passed by this council banning arms exports under chapter 7 authority," UN political affairs chief Jeffrey Feltman told the UN security council.

In a prepared copy of his speech, Feltman noted that the ban was on Iranian arms exports. resolution 1747 bans arms exports by Iran under chapter 7 of the UN charter, which allows the security council to authorise actions ranging from diplomatic and economic sanctions to military intervention.

Lebanon

The death toll from fighting between Lebanese Sunni Muslims and Alawites echoing the conflict in Syria climbed to at least 12 on Wednesday, the third day of clashes described as some of the heaviest since Lebanon's 1975-90 civil war. "A ceasefire was supposed to take place this afternoon but it did not happen," a Tripoli resident told Reuters.

Bahrain

Thirteen leading activists and opposition figures have submitted a letter to the prison authorities informing them that they will start a series of protest actions including a hunger strike if increased restrictions in prison are not removed by Thursday. They said:

Today we submitted a letter to prison authorities that we will start a series of actions to protest against the violations and new restrictions, including on calls to families and lawyers, prevention from daily newspapers as well as prevention from daily exercise in the open air. The protest will include a hungerstrike.