Oct 15, 2016

TEHRAN (FNA)- The Peace Coordination Center in Syria announced on Saturday that rebel groups in seven towns in three provinces have arrived at an agreement with government officials in last 24 hours to give up fight and lay down arms.

"Five towns in Lattakia, one in Hama and one in Homs have accepted the terms for the peace process," the Center said in a statement carried by the Russian Defense Ministry's website.

"The total number of the cities and towns that have so far joined the peace agreement with the government now stands at 790, while negotiations between the center's representatives and militants' leaders are also underway in the provinces of Damascus, Homs, Aleppo and Quneitra through which at least 69 militant groups have thus far inked ceasefire agreement with government forces," the statement added.

Earlier this week, more than 200 militants laid down their arms and surrendered a strategic city in Western Ghouta in Damascus province to the Syrian government forces.

Over 200 militants in Elhameh region ended fight against the Syrian army and the legal government of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and turned themselves in to the government authorities earlier this week.

In the meantime, 640 terrorists in al-Qodsiyeh and al-Hamah laid down their arms and left the two towns this week. 

Earlier today, 2,000 militants in the city of Aleppo also announced they are ready to give up fight against the government, a development seen as a major breakthrough in capturing the strategic city.

http://en.farsnews.com/newstext.aspx?nn=13950724000645

18 Oct, 2016

The western world is dividing Syrian children according to the political views of their parents, Asma Assad, the Syrian First Lady, said in a rare interview. She said the mainstream media only concentrated on those stories which matched their policy.

The wife of President Bashar Assad gave an exclusive interview, her first in eight years, to Russia’s Rossiya 24 channel. The full version of the interview is to be shown on Saturday.

Mrs. Asma al-Assad interview with Russia's Channel 24

Published on Oct 18, 2016

Mrs. Assad's public interview for the past 8 years.
source: Presidency of the Syrian Arab Republic





https://www.rt.com/news/363221-asma-assad-syria-children/

18.10.2016

In late October, the US intends to introduce a resolution at the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) demanding Syria should get rid of chlorine and other "toxic chemicals." However, chlorine is hardly ever used for military purposes today. At the same time, water chlorination is required to avoid epidemics. Without chemical production, any country will be thrown back into the Middle Ages, but this is what Washington has been up up in the Middle East lately.

Late last week, US-based Foreign Policy Magazine reported that the US administration was once again preoccupied with the problem of chemical weapons in Syria and developed an appropriate resolution on the matter.

The resolution is said to be submitted to the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons, where decisions are usually made by consensus, but they can also be approved by the majority or two thirds of votes. Most importantly, Russia does not have the veto right at the OPCW.

It is an open secret that the issue of "chemical weapons" has long been Washington's universal tool to justify its aggressive and hegemonic plans. The USA used this tool in the case of Iraq, where the Americans found no chemical weapons at all. They acknowledged their mistake, but did not stop the export of democracy in Iraq. As a result, the authoritarian but stable country was ruined during a civil war.

The "the citadel of democracy" has decided to play the same card during the civil war in Syria, when the Americans were ready to protect the population of Syria from horrors of the chemical warfare. The USA was about to start a direct military intervention in Syria to topple the legitimate Syrian government. The plan did not work. Damascus, with Russia's mediation, agreed to deliver all of its chemical weapons to international observers for its subsequent destruction.

Noteworthy, there are chemical weapons in the arsenal of the US Army too. In general, despite a great deal of prohibitions, soldiers of every respectable army in the world have had gas masks in their bags for more than 100 years.

The Syrian government got rid of poisonous gas inventories in accordance with the adequate resolution of the UN Security Council from September 2013. This brings up a question about the essence of the new US resolution. Does Washington still want to find chemical weapons in Syria?

Fortunately, Washington has not accused the Syrian authorities of the possession and use of chemical warfare agents. Nevertheless, the US still remains attached to the idea. Washington decided to make Syria destroy its stock of chlorine and other toxic industrial chemicals. It is an open secret that chlorine can be used as suffocating gas.

Yet, chemical substances, with rare exceptions, are all toxic. Toxic substances are widely used in modern chemical productions in compliance with safety regulations.

Chlorine, for example, is used for the production of coloring agents, solvents, polyvinyl chloride, agents for the protection of herbs, disinfectants, textile and paper bleaches and, of course, for water chlorination.

Let us imagine for a moment that a more or less developed state is told to say no to the above-mentioned activities. The absence of chlorinated water in water supply systems in hot countries naturally leads to outbreaks of intestinal infections - from typhoid fever to polio and cholera, dysentery and even plague. Common chlorine is required to combat epidemics and disinfect floors, walls and other objects in rooms and hospitals.

Chlorine is not required for the synthesis of many chemical warfare agents. For example, the production of sarin - one of the most powerful nerve gases - needs fluorine, rather than chlorine. Will they ask Syria to destroy fluorine as well?

The funny thing is that the Americans may ask Syria to give up on salt, because salt is sodium chloride, from which chlorine can be obtained easily, through electrolysis.

The decision of the OPCW will undoubtedly be used by Western propaganda to further indoctrinate citizens on the subject of the dangers of the regime of Bashar Assad, who wants his citizens to drink disinfected, chlorinated water and add salt to their food. Western politicians will naturally hush up the role of chlorine in modern-day civilization. Instead, they will advertise chlorine as a terrible poison and then blame Russia again for supporting such a "villain."

http://www.pravdareport.com/world/asia/syria/18-10-2016/135919-usa_syria-0/

Oct 21, 2016

The Syrian military has warned to intercept and bring down any Turkish fighter jets entering the country’s airspace, nearly a day after Turkish warplanes bombarded 18 positions of the People's Protection Units (YPG) in northern Syria, and killed up to 200 Kurdish fighters.

    "Any attempt to once again breach Syrian airspace by Turkish war planes will be dealt with and they will be brought down by all means available," the Syrian army general command said in a statement on Thursday.

Earlier in the day, the Turkish army said its jets had conducted 26 airstrikes against YPG targets in Maarrat Umm Hawsh region north of the embattled northwestern Syrian city of Aleppo.

Turkey’s state-run Anadolu news agency reported that between 160 and 200 YPG fighters were killed in the raids on Wednesday night.

It added that Turkish military aircraft destroyed nine buildings used as YPG headquarters, meeting points, shelters and weapons depots.

Takfiri militants preventing Aleppo evacuation

Meanwhile, Syria's UN Ambassador Bashar al-Ja'afari said foreign-sponsored Takfiri terrorist groups in Aleppo are using civilians in the militant-held eastern flank of the city as human shields.

Ja'afari (seen below) told a UN General Assembly session on Thursday that the extremists are resorting to snipers and mortar shells in a bid to prevent civilians and gunmen from leaving the area despite a humanitarian truce.

The Syrian diplomat further noted that the Damascus government welcomes any meeting aimed at helping the Syrian nation in a fair manner.

The Syrian UN ambassador’s remarks were later echoed by Russia's Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, who said the Takfiris are preventing civilians from leaving the embattled areas of eastern Aleppo

Lavrov told his US counterpart John Kerry in a phone conversation on Thursday that the militants “are violating the ceasefire and preventing the evacuation of the population.”

The top Russian diplomat pointed out that the truce should give both civilians and armed men the opportunity to leave.

The humanitarian pause took effect on Thursday and will last three days as announced by the Syrian army.

Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu later said in a statement that the truce had been extended by a further day, and that Syrian authorities had agreed to the measure.

Earlier, Chief of the Main Operational Directorate of the General Staff of the Russian Armed Forces Lieutenant General Sergei Rudskoi stated that there are six corridors in Aleppo for civilians and humanitarian aid deliveries, while two others are meant to be used by the militants in the city.

One of those corridors is in the direction of the Turkey-Syria border, while the other leads to the northwestern Syrian city of Idlib, located 59 kilometers southwest of Aleppo.

Both Russian and Syrian Air Force fighter jets stopped their bombing of militant-held neighborhoods in eastern Aleppo on Tuesday – two days ahead of the truce.

Rudskoi said Russian and Syrian military aircraft were deployed to an area at least 10 kilometers away from Aleppo during the truce, adding that the jets had not struck targets inside Aleppo since October 18.

http://presstv.com/Detail/2016/10/21/489981/Syria-target-Turkey-jets-airstrike-Y...

25 Oct, 2016

A number of human rights and aid organizations have urged the United Nations to deprive Russia of its seat on the UN's Human Rights Council (UNHRC), AFP reported on Monday.

More than 80 international organizations have signed the appeal, with such groups as Human Rights Watch, CARE International and Refugees International among them, AFP says.

The move was prompted by Russia's involvement in the anti-terrorist campaign in Syria.

The signatories asked the UN member states to "question seriously whether Russia's role in Syria which includes supporting and undertaking military actions which have routinely targeted civilians and civilian objects renders it fit to serve on the UN's premier inter-governmental human rights institution," AFP reports, citing the text of the appeal.

The appeal has been submitted ahead of elections to the UN's human rights body that are scheduled for Friday. The UN General Assembly in New York will be selecting members to fill 14 seats, with Russia, Hungary and Croatia running for two seats representing the Eastern European group at the council.

Saudi Arabia, China, Iraq, Brazil, Cuba, Egypt and South Africa are among the other countries vying for seats in various regional groups. The US and UK are seeking election to the two seats representing the Western Europe and Others group. Elected nations will be represented in the 47-nation council for three years, starting from 2017.

Russia is currently in the UNHRC, but its membership expires this year.

Last week, Britain and its Western and Arab allies introduced a resolution to the UNHRC demanding a review into alleged human rights violations in the Syrian city of Aleppo. The council then voted to start an independent special inquiry into the situation in the war-ravaged city.

Russia has been assisting the Syrian Army in fighting Al-Nusra Front terrorists in eastern Aleppo, which has become the militants' stronghold in Syria. However, the West has blamed Moscow and Damascus for most of the civilian casualties in the area.

Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova has called the resolution's accusations "cynical" and "dishonorable."

The fighting has divided the city of Aleppo into two parts, with its western districts currently under government control and eastern parts held by rebels and Al-Nusra Front fighters. Although the militants have constantly attacked western Aleppo, resulting in numerous civilian deaths, last week Russia and Syria initiated a humanitarian ceasefire, giving people a chance to flee the battle scene.

But despite the hopes, civilians have not been able to leave the militant-held eastern Aleppo for days, with terrorists constantly bombing humanitarian corridors. The UN and other aid groups which were supposed to bring humanitarian aid through the corridors were unable to do so because of security concerns.

The NGOs, some of which are well known “respectful organizations,” have become “pawns in a propaganda war” as part of an “orchestrated campaign” against Russia, according to Peter Ford, a former British ambassador to Syria.

“It’s a great pity that they have allowed themselves to become pawns in a propaganda war. It seems this initiative has been orchestrated, it comes here right at the moment [when] the ceasefire of three days ended only because of violations from eastern Aleppo, from the rebel side. The call would have been more convincing had signatories shown any interest in...the suffering in western Aleppo at the hands of the rebels,“ Ford told RT.

“The double standards here are very striking,“ Ford added. “And this comes at a time when in Mosul, the Western coalition and allies are engaged in an operation very similar to Aleppo. With regard to that, the Western spokesmen just shrug their shoulders and say, “Well, civilian suffering is an inevitable part of operations.” But in the case of Aleppo, Russia and the Syrian government get all the blame.“

Investigative journalist Willy Van Damme, who has been closely following the Syrian conflict, told RT he was not surprised by the NGO’s move. “I haven't seen the list of all these 80 NGOs, but there are apparently a lot of NGOs involved in Syria exclusively... and they are financed by Saudi Arabia, United States, France, United Kingdom, Qatar… and repeat what their governments want them to say.”

“These organizations are not really dealing with human rights, they use human rights as an excuse to meddle in affairs of other governments,” he told RT.  “Double standard is the rule of the game in international diplomacy. The US has destroyed Iraq, Libya, Afghanistan... but these NGOs never talk about it, they don't make any reports on it. You could call them traitors of human rights.”

26 Oct, 2016

Around 300 civilians were killed in eleven airstrikes conducted by the US-led coalition in Syria, which Amnesty International investigated for its latest report. Amnesty says the US must come clean about the civilian toll of its fight against Islamic State.

Amnesty suspects that US Central Command (CENTCOM), which directs coalition airstrikes in Syria, “may have… carried out unlawful attacks” in Syria, failing to take necessary measures to prevent civilian killings.

“We fear the US-led coalition is significantly underestimating the harm caused to civilians in its operations in Syria,” said Lynn Maalouf, Deputy Director for Research at Amnesty International’s Beirut regional office.

“It’s high time the US authorities came clean about the full extent of the civilian damage caused by coalition attacks in Syria. Independent and impartial investigations must be carried out into any potential violations of international humanitarian law and the findings should be made public.”

Amnesty investigated evidence, including eyewitness accounts, reports by human rights organizations and the media, photographs and video footage as well as satellite imagery, related to 11 suspected coalition attacks in Syria. The group estimates that the attacks have claimed as many as 300 civilian lives. So far none of these deaths has been acknowledged by CENTCOM.

The report published on Wednesday added that the total civilian death toll from coalition action “could be as high as 600 or more than 1,000” since the operation against Islamic State (IS, formerly ISIS, ISIL) started in Syria in 2014.

One of the strikes investigated by Amnesty took place in the early hours of December 7, 2015. The attacks hit two houses in the village of Ayn al-Khan, near al-Hawl in al-Hasakah governorate in northern Syria, killing 40 civilians, including 19 children, and injuring at least 30 others, the report said.

According to an eyewitness account, an initial night strike was followed by a second attack from a helicopter gunship, which hit first responders trying to dig out survivors.

“At this point I had a two-month-old baby boy in my arms whom I had rescued. The hit caused me to fall and drop him… I fell into the hole made by the air strike. That was what saved me… My mother, aunt, wife and children – a daughter who was four years old and a son who was two and a half were all killed. The woman and her son who I’d rescued were killed. Everyone but me was killed,” the survivor said.

The strike is believed to have targeted IS fighters. But local Kurdish militia reportedly warned the coalition that there were civilians in the area.

Amnesty said CENTCOM’s failure to acknowledge civilian deaths in Syria, as well as the poor record of investigating such incidents in Afghanistan and Iraq, poses grave concerns over the toll which the civilian population of Mosul, Iraq is likely to face from the ongoing operation to take the city from IS. The US-led coalition is providing air support for the offensive.

“Given the likely increase in air strikes by the US-led Coalition as part of the Iraqi offensive to recapture Mosul, it is even more pressing that CENTCOM be fully transparent about the impact of their military actions on civilians. And it is crucial that they adhere scrupulously to international humanitarian law, including by taking all feasible precautions to spare civilians and to minimize harm to civilian homes and infrastructure,” said Maalouf.

A similar operation to capture Manbij, Syria, which is far smaller than Mosul, killed more than 200 civilians, Amnesty estimated.

Meanwhile, US State Department spokesman John Kirby said that the US “takes seriously all credible allegations of civilian casualties.”

“Pentagon has a fairly comprehensive system for analyzing themselves what these allegations are and then, when they feel that they want further investigation, they do it. And unlike any other military in the world, they actually release the results of these investigations. And unlike any other military in the world, if the hold people accountable for their actions they [bring them to justice] too,” Kirby said during the press briefing on Wednesday.

At the same time, he said that the Department of State is not aware of the Amnesty’s report about the US Central Command (CENTCOM) strikes in Syria and suggested contacting the Pentagon for that matter. He also welcomed the Amnesty’s “input” and stressed that “no military tries harder than the US military to limit, to prevent casualties to civilians or damage to civilian infrastructure.”

“We are not at all afraid to receive criticism about our efforts,” Kirby added.

The 300 fatalities are those that Amnesty considers credible, but the number is likely around 900, the report’s author, Neil Sammonds, told RT. He said that while there were some indications that the Pentagon would try to improve the targeting of its strikes in Syria, so far this hasn’t happened.

Published on Oct 24, 2016

Does the topic of Russia play well in the U.S. elections? Also, what is the role of journalism today, and RT is again in the news….
CrossTalking with Dmitry Babich, James Bradley, and Adam Garrie.

Published on Oct 31, 2016

The fog of war – how the tragic war in Syria is endlessly spun in the West. And, the world according to Vladimir Putin – words Washington hates to hear.
CrossTalking with Mark Sleboda, Alex Christoforou, and Dmitry Babich.