US DELIVERS 50 TONS OF AMMUNITION TO SYRIA REBEL GROUPS
U.S. military cargo planes gave 50 tons of ammunition to
rebel groups overnight in northern Syria, using an air drop of 112 pallets as
the first step in the Obama Administration's urgent effort to find new ways to
support those groups.
Details of the air mission over Syria were confirmed by a
U.S. official not authorized to speak publicly because the details have not yet
been formally announced.
C-17s, accompanied by fighter escort aircraft, dropped small
arms ammunition and other items like hand grenades in Hasakah province in
northern Syria to a coalition of rebels groups vetted by the US - the
Syrian Arab Coalition.
Source: CNN
NEGOTIATING WITH SYRIAN GOVERNMENT WOULD BE AN ACT OF TREASON?
Armed opposition groups in Syria have said that they will
not attend the Geneva II peace talks, saying that negotiating with the
government of Bashar al-Assad would be an act of betrayal and would be an act of treason.The powerful opposition group's statement comes on Sunday as fighting rages on near the border with neighboring Iraq and in the central city of Homs.
The Geneva peace talks set to take place on 
November 23 have been repeatedly
postponed amid wrangling among the Syrian opposition, and a dispute over which
countries, including Iran, should participate.
November 23 have been repeatedly
postponed amid wrangling among the Syrian opposition, and a dispute over which
countries, including Iran, should participate.
Meanwhile, in a hopeful turn, Assad's government has handed over on time a
detailed plan on destroying its chemical weapons stockpile, an international
watchdog has said.
- A move in line with US-Russian deal reached last month that headed off threatened military strikes on Syria and triggered the initiative for peace talks staged in Switzerland next month.
- However, in the latest blow to the peace talks, 19 of the groups fighting to topple Assad issued a statement saying: "We announce that the Geneva II conference is not, nor will it ever be our people's choice or our revolution's demand."
- The statement was read out by Suqur al-Sham brigade chief Ahmad Eissa al-Sheikh in a video posted online.
- They warned anyone who attends such talks would be committing "treason, and... would have to answer for it before our courts".
Iran's President Hassan Rouhani also weighed in on the upcoming talks, saying
that part of the solution to the Syria crisis was expelling 'terrorist groups'
from the country and complete the destruction of chemical weapons, a report
said.
"Iran believes in preventing the entry (and) expelling terrorist
groups from Syria and the complete destruction of chemical weapons will be
first important steps for achieving stable peace in Syria," Rouhani said.
The statement comes as the UN-Arab League peace envoy to Syria, Lakhdar Brahimi,
prepares to travel to Damascus on Monday garnering support for the upcoming
talks, a Syrian government source told AFP news agency.
Source: Al Jazeera
SYRIA CHEMICAL WEAPONS DEAL BRINGS CHANCE FOR PEACE
A diplomatic breakthrough Saturday on securing and destroying Syria's
chemical weapons stockpile averted the threat of U.S. military action for the
moment and could swing momentum toward ending a horrific civil war.
Marathon negotiations between U.S. and Russian diplomats at a Geneva hotel
produced a sweeping agreement that will require one of the most ambitious
arms-control efforts in history.
The deal involves making an inventory and seizing all components of Syria's
chemical weapons program and imposing penalties if
President Bashar Assad's government fails to comply will the terms.
After days of intense day-and-night negotiations between U.S. Secretary of
State John Kerry and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and
their teams, the two powers announced they had a 
framework for ridding the
world of Syria's chemicals weapons.
framework for ridding the
world of Syria's chemicals weapons.
The U.S. says Assad used chemical weapons in an Aug. 21 attack on the
outskirts of Damascus, the capital, killing more than 1,400 civilians. That
prompted U.S. President Barack Obama to ready American airstrikes on his order
— until he decided last weekend to ask for authorization from the U.S.
Congress. Then came the Russian proposal, and Obama asked Congress, already
largely opposed to military intervention, to delay a vote.
Kerry and Lavrov said they agreed on the size of the chemical weapons
inventory, and on a speedy timetable and measures for Assad to do away with the
toxic agents.
But Syria, a Moscow ally, kept silent on the development, while Obama made
clear that "if diplomacy fails, the United States remains prepared to
act."
The deal offers for reviving international peace talks to end
a civil war that has claimed more than 100,000 lives and sent 2 million
refugees fleeing for safety, and now threatens the stability of the entire
Mideast.
Source: CBC...More...
VISITORS GEOFLAGS SINCE AUGUST 26, 2009
