Foreign Affairs
Related: About this forumSyria peace talks delayed till midweek
US Secretary of State John Kerry has said he wants "clarity" within 48 hours on bounds of upcoming peace talks to end Syrian civil war. Kerry's efforts are part of the biggest diplomatic push to resolve a five-year conflict.
Representatives of the Syrian government and opposition had been set to meet in Switzerland on Monday as part of a UN-endorsed 18-month peace plan. But a dispute over whether armed opposition groups should have a seat at the table appears to have kept the sides at loggerheads.
But Kerry - the United State's top diplomat - says he hopes these sticking points would be resolved within the next two days and that the ball, metaphorically speaking, is in the Syrians' court.
"They have to be serious," Kerry said during a visit to Laos. "If they are not serious, war will continue. Up to them - you can lead a horse to water; you can't make it drink."
http://www.dw.com/en/syria-peace-talks-delayed-till-midweek/a-19002064
bemildred
(90,061 posts)IDLIB - At least 11 Islamist fighters and five civilians were killed as a ballistic missile struck a building in northwest Syria during a meeting between rebel groups, a monitor said Monday.
"Eleven fighters from (Al-Qaeda affiliate) Al-Nusra Front and other Islamist groups were killed on Sunday, along with five civilians, when a ballistic missile hit a police station being used as a court in Salqin" in Idlib province, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.
The Britain-based monitoring group said it was unclear if the missile was fired by Russian or Syrian forces.
The monitor said the toll could rise further because a number of people had been seriously wounded in the strike.
http://www.middle-east-online.com/english/?id=74856
bemildred
(90,061 posts)Hilal al-Hilal, a senior official in Syrian president Bashar Assads ruling Baath party, made the comments to state media ahead of talks due to take place in Geneva to work on ending Syrias nearly five-year conflict, which has killed more than 250,000 people.
The talks, which were to begin today but will likely be delayed, are part of a UN plan that envisions an 18-month timetable for a political transition.
The Syrian opposition says Assad should have no role in Syrias future, even during a transitional period. Assad, whose family has governed Syria for over four decades, has said he will only step down if voted out.
http://www.irishexaminer.com/world/syria-will-not-make-new-concessions-at-talks-377963.html
bemildred
(90,061 posts)Beirut: The upcoming Geneva talks, slated for Thursday, is expected to be a catastrophe for Syrias opposition. The talks, which were supposed to take place today, were delayed due to last-minute diplomatic wrangling.
US Secretary of State John Kerry who was in Riyadh over the weekend met with Riad Hijab, a senior figure in the Syrian opposition and former Prime Minister, as well as senior Gulf officials.
At the time, the US issued a vague statement saying that Saudi Arabia and the US had reached an unspecified understanding on Syria.
Sources speaking to Gulf News, who declined to be named due to the sensitivity of the issue, say that Kerry delivered a Russian ultimatum to the Saudi-backed Syrian opposition.
http://gulfnews.com/news/mena/syria/geneva-talks-will-be-catastrophe-for-syrian-opposition-1.1659479
bemildred
(90,061 posts)Turkey and the United States are singing the same tune on a number of key regional issues including a Turkish military camp on Iraqi soil and the total closure of a key stretch of the Turkish border with Syria, but they remain in disagreement over the Democratic Union Party (PYD) in northern Syria, following an official visit by U.S. Vice President Joe Biden to Turkey.
Washington recognized the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) in Turkey was as much of a threat to Ankara as the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), Biden said.
Speaking at a joint press conference with Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu on Jan. 23, Biden also said the United States and Turkey were prepared for a military solution against ISIL in Syria should the Syrian government and rebels fail to reach a political settlement.
We know it would be better if we can reach a political solution but we are prepared ..., if thats not possible, to have a military solution to this operation in taking out Daesh, Biden, using the pejorative Arabic acronym for ISIL, while a U.S. official later clarified that Biden was talking about a military solution to ISIL, not Syria as a whole.
http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/us-turkey-agree-on-iraq-syria-border-split-on-pyd.aspx?pageID=238&nID=94268&NewsCatID=352
bemildred
(90,061 posts)Washington have reached a compromise on which opposition groups can join peace talks later this month.
Ending weeks of deadlock over the United Nation-sponsored Syria talks, the United States and Russia have reached a compromise over the inclusion of two delegations from two separate Syrian opposition groups, officials told Bloomberg News late Saturday.
According to three unnamed Western and U.N. officials, Russia had previously rejected the inclusion of the Army of Islam, also known as Jaysh al-Islam.
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Meanwhile, the officials told Bloomberg that Russia wanted the inclusion of Qadri Jamil, a former Syrian deputy prime minister, as well as Saleh Muslim, co-head of the Syrian Kurdish group PYD, a demand Washington had rejected.
http://www.telesurtv.net/english/news/Russia-US-Agree-Army-of-Islam-Kurdish-PYD-to-Join-Syria-Talks-20160124-0021.html
bemildred
(90,061 posts)Russian soldiers are searching for the alleged killer of a Russian pilot who was shot after the downing of a Russian jet by Turkey near the Syrian border on Nov. 24, according to reports by Russian media.
Alparslan Çelik, a Turkish citizen who claimed to have shot Russian pilot Oleg Peshkov, and his group were in the rebel-held Rabia town in the western coastal province of Latakia, which was recently recaptured by Syrian pro-government forces, where soldiers were looking to take revenge, Russian DNI and Lifenews have reported.
The U.K.-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights has also reported that Russian officers entered Rabia.
Backed by Russian airstrikes, Syrian pro-government forces recaptured the town on Jan. 24.
http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/russia-seeks-alleged-killer-of-turkey-downed-jet-pilot-after-rabia-recapture.aspx?pageID=238&nID=94293&NewsCatID=352
bemildred
(90,061 posts)On January 24, Jordanian security officials killed 12 suspected smugglers trying to cross the border from Syria. After a firefight, officials seized 2 million pills of the amphetamine commonly known as Captagon. The drug plays a doubly destructive role in the war in Syria as well as in the wider region. The sale of the drug across Middle Eastern countries helps fund criminal networks in Syria affiliated with both the regime and the rebels. The use of the drug among rebel fighters helps fuel the fighting, but this is only the latest chapter in the longstanding role of amphetamines as the drug of choice in war.
The seizure at the Jordanian border was notable for its violence, but not for the quantity of pills that were found. Last October, Lebanese officials arrested several Saudi nationals and seized two tons of Captagon in the largest ever drug seizure at Beiruts airport. In 2014, Lebanese officials seized 15 million pills of the same drug. Also in 2014, officials in Dubai seized 17 million pills, again of Captagon. Some of the drugs are produced in Lebanon, but the majority are made in Syria, where the combination of a once-thriving pharmaceutical industry, growing regional demand, and the near-complete collapse of the state economy has turned the war-torn country into a haven for drug manufacturers.
The widespread and systemic use of amphetamines in Syria by rebels and extremistsand presumably by regime forces as wellcontinues a decades-long trend of amphetamine usage in war. Captagon is the brand name of the drug Fenethylline, developed in the 1960s. Long before that, soldiers and airmen in World War II were using massive amounts of amphetamines to either stay awake during long missions or to dull their aftermaths. U.S. and UK soldiers and airmen used benzedrine, developed by a Japanese scientist in 1919. German soldiers relied on an amphetamine called Pervitin. Billions of pills were given to combatants on all sides during the war. U.S. troops also consumed huge amounts of amphetamines throughout the Vietnam War. These drugs keep soldiers awake but significantly impair judgment. Modern variants, such as Adderall, seek to heighten awareness and wakefulness without the attendant risks to health, motor control, and judgment.
The manufacture and sale of Captagon in Syria helps fund not just criminal networks but reportedly groups such as al-Qaedas Syrian affiliate, Jabhat al-Nusra, and the so-called Islamic State. While the anti-Islamic State coalition has been targeting the groups money collection sites and hurting its ability to refine and sell oil, the sale of amphetamines under the Captagon name continues to fill the groups coffers. The drugs supply and demand strongly favors the suppliers; the precursor chemicals are in abundance, the drugs are relatively easy to manufacture, and the demand comes not just from the Gulf, but from fighters across Syria.
http://soufangroup.com/tsg-intelbrief-the-drug-of-war/
bemildred
(90,061 posts)A suicide bomber driving a fuel tank blew himself up on Monday at a checkpoint run by Islamist group Ahrar al-Sham in Syria's northern city of Aleppo killing at least seven of its members, a monitoring group said.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights also said that four of the group's commanders are believed to be among those killed. Ahrar al-Sham officials were not immediately available for comment.
The Britain-based monitoring group said that the attack in the Sukari neighborhood in the city destroyed three nearby buildings and wounded dozens of people while many are believed to be stuck under rubble.
http://www.reuters.com/article/us-mideast-crisis-syria-group-idUSKCN0V31FV?rpc=401
bemildred
(90,061 posts)DAMASCUS, Jan. 25 (Xinhua) -- A booby-trapped vehicle tore through a security headquarter of the Syrian rebel, Ahrar al-Sham Movement, in the northern province of Aleppo on Monday, killing 23 people, including 19 militants and injuring tens of others, a monitor group reported.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the "powerful explosion" rocked the rebel-held district of al-Sukary in eastern Aleppo city.
It added a suicide bomber detonated his booby-trapped fuel tanker in the security zone of the Ahrar al-Sham Movement, killing four civilians, including a woman and a child, and 19 militants, including at least four commanders. The bombing also destroyed three buildings.
The UK-based watchdog group said the death toll could likely rise as many militants were critically wounded and people were under the rubble. No party claimed responsibility for the attack.
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2016-01/26/c_135044336.htm
bemildred
(90,061 posts)GENEVA (AP) -- Peace talks between the Syrian government and opposition groups are to start on Friday, the U.N. special envoy on Syria announced Monday.
Staffan de Mistura told reporters he would be sending out invitations to the talks in Geneva on Tuesday. The talks are expected to take six months and the sides will not talk directly to each other to begin with.
De Mistura said the priorities would be creating a broad cease-fire, stopping the threat from the Islamic State group, and clearing the way for humanitarian aid.
"We want to make sure that when and if we start, to start at least on the right foot," he said. "It will be uphill anyway."
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/S/SYRIA_PEACE_TALKS?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2016-01-25-09-43-22