Iran activates advanced centrifuges in third upgrade of atomic program

Anti-aircfat gun guarding Natanz (Photo Wikipedia)

Iran has begun injecting gas into advanced centrifuges to increase its stockpile of enriched uranium, an official has announced, warning that time is running out for other signatories to save a multilateral 2015 nuclear deal.

In the meantime negotiations are still underway between France and Iran about a loan of some $ 15 billion, in order to truy to svae the nuclear deal (see below)

Behrouz Kamalvandi, spokesman for Iran's Atomic Energy Organisation, said on Saturday the agency had started up advanced centrifuges at Iran's enrichment facility in Natanz as the third step by Tehran in scaling back its commitments under the crumbling pact following the United States' unilateral withdrawal last year.

"We have started lifting limitations on our research and development imposed by the deal ... it will include development of more rapid and advanced centrifuges," Kamalvandi said.

"The capacity of these machines is many times more than the previous machines. This started as of yesterday (Friday)," he continued, adding that "all these steps are reversible if the other side fulfils its promises".
In two separate moves already, Iran reduced its commitments outlined in the crumbling deal and vowed further measures unless the European signatories of the pact did more to shield Tehran's economy.

Chilcot report is damning verdict on Blair's decesion to join Bush and go to war in Iraq

Blair during his press conference. (AP)

Prime Minister Tony Blair led Britain into an unsuccessful war in Iraq through a mix of flawed intelligence, "wholly inadequate" planning and an exaggerated sense of the U.K.'s ability to influence the United States, according to a damning official report on the conflict that was published Wednesday.
The government-commissioned inquiry fell short of delivering what many bereaved families sought — a declaration that the 2003 war was illegal. But its 2.6 million words give the most comprehensive verdict to date on the mistakes of a conflict whose violent aftershocks still rattle the world.
Blair, however, stood by his decision to join U.S. President George W. Bush in toppling Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein.

"I believe I made the right decision and that the world is better and safer as a result of it," he said.

The decision to go to war was the most contentions act of Blair's decade as prime minister between 1997 and 2007. By the time British combat forces left Iraq in 2009, the conflict had killed 179 U.K. troops, almost 4,500 U.S. personnel and more than 100,000 Iraqis.

Main points of the nuclear agreement of the 5 + 1 with Iran

The participants at the final stage of the negotiations.

The 5 + 1 (US, Russia, China, France, Great Britain, + Germany) finally, after almost ten years of negotiations reached an agreement with Iran over ways to control Iran's nuclear program. The main issue, the French newspaper Le Monde writes, was to get a mechanism in place that would guarantee that Iran's breakout time, the time it would need to produce enough enriched uranium for the production of an atomic bomb, would be fixed at at least a year. The mechanism will stay in place during the next ten years.
The agreement reached in Vienna will reduce in ten years the number of centrifuges that enrich uranium from 19.000 to 5.060.

US Congress moves to make BDS illegal en put pressure on EU

The finance committees of the U.S. House and Senate have approved amendments to a trade bill that equate boycotts of West Bank settlement products with boycotts of Israel, strengthening efforts by the Israeli right to silence opponents of West Bank settlements. Both committees approved the amendments unanimously. Each committee then approved its version of the trade bill on a split vote, with Republicans in favor and Democrats divided for and against.
The nearly identical amendments require U.S. trade negotiators to “discourage politically motivated actions” by foreign countries and international organizations that aim to “penalize or otherwise limit” commercial relations with Israel or “persons doing business in Israel or in territories controlled by Israel.” The Senate Finance Committee took its action on Wednesday evening and the House Ways and Means Committee

Rouhani: 'Nuclear deal is first step towards new relationship with the world'

Joy in the streets of Tehran after the breakthrough was announced.  (Photo EPA)

Iran's president Hassan Rouhani said on Friday that a framework for a nuclear deal was just the first step toward building a new relationship with the world. In a televised speech he said the nuclear talks were just the start of a broader policy of opening up. "This is a first step towards productive interactions with the world. Today is a day that will remain in the historic memory of the Iranian nation," he added. "Some think that we must either fight the world or surrender to world powers. We say it is neither of those, there is a third way. We can have cooperation with the world."
U.S. President Barack Obama also hailed the agreement, which was the most significant step towards rapprochement  between the twio countries since the Iranian revolution of 1978, as a "historic understanding". Diplomats, however, cautioned that hard work lies ahead to strike a final deal.

Some 700 British artists announce cultural boycott of Israel

Some 700 British artists, inlcuding writers, filmmakers, actors and musicians, have anounced that from now they will boycott Isarel culturally, will not perform there, not cooperate wityh cultural Israeli institutions and not accept fundings. In the British newspaper The Guadrian the wrote:

.... we are announcing today that we will not engage in business-as-usual cultural relations with Israel. We will accept neither professional invitations to Israel, nor funding, from any institutions linked to its government. Since the summer war on Gaza, Palestinians have enjoyed no respite from Israel’s unrelenting attack on their land, their livelihood, their right to political existence. “2014,” says the Israeli human rights organisation B’Tselem, was “one of the cruellest and deadliest in the history of the occupation.” The Palestinian catastrophe goes on.

British activists launch lawsuit over Israeli attack on Mavi Marmara in 2010

Mavi Marmara

 Scotland Yard has been asked to investigate whether Israeli special forces who attacked a "peace flotilla" of ships in international waters killing 10 people committed war crimes. Lawyers acting for British activists have launched legal proceedings in the hope of prosecuting the Israeli soldiers in the UK. Evidence passed to the Metropolitan Police names five Israeli military commanders alleged to have committed war crimes when the troops they commanded stormed the flotilla which was attempting to breach Israel's blockade of Gaza in May 2010.
Lawyers representing 13 of the 34 Britons on the Turkish-registered MV Mavi Marmara, the main civilian vessel in the fleet of six ships carrying humanitarian aid and construction materials, say some of the commanders had visited Britain since the incident and said the police now had evidence which should result in their arrest if they return. Identical legislation was used to arrest the Chilean dictator General Augusto Pinochet in the UK in 1998.

State of Palestine praises France, Germany and the UK for their warning against dealing with settlements

The Palestinian ministry of Foreign Affairs welcomed Thursday publications on the websites of the foreign ministries of France, the UK and Germany, which warned against the legal and economic consequences of investing in the Israeli settlements, since that is illegal under international law. The Palestinian ministry called the Europeans ''balanced'' and said it is in line with the European guidelines, effective since 1 January 2014, on settlement construction and settlement products, as well as with international law.
“This is evidence to the European officials’ understanding and recognition of the dangers of settlement construction in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, and its catastrophic consequences on peace opportunities and on the potential of a viable, contiguous State of Palestine,” the Palestinian ministry said in an official statement. ''This means the world is not deceived by the Israeli propaganda.” The ministry considered the European position towards settlements and their products an indicator of the “increasing international isolation” of Israel, since it is “committed to occupation, settlement and failure of negotiations.”
It called upon the European Union member countries to adopt this stance and to take the necessary legal procedures capable of putting an end to Israel’s settlement policies, so that Israel will realize it will be held accountable and punished for its ”aggressive” practices and for failure of negotiations.

Rouhani: Iran wants full nuclear deal and seeks investments

(Reuters)
 Iran is determined to negotiate a comprehensive deal on its nuclear program with major powers so it can develop its battered economy, President Hassan Rouhani said on Thursday, inviting Western companies to seize opportunities now.
Addressing the World Economic Forum in Davos, Rouhani said Tehran was negotiating with the United States as part of a "constructive engagement" with the world and wanted Washington to back up its words with actions. An interim deal with the United States, Russia, China, Britain, France and Germany (the P5+1) came into force this week. This granted Iran a limited easing of the sanctions in return for temporary constraints on its uranium enrichment and nuclear development. Most sanctions, including a severe squeeze on Iran's access to the international financial system, remain as yet in force and the United States has stressed Western companies should not regard Iran as "open for business".

Amnesty: Europe should be ashamed by its attitude towards Syrian refugees

 

European leaders should be ashamed by the paltry numbers of refugees from Syria they are prepared to resettle, human rights group Amnesty says.

Only 10 member states have offered to take in refugees and even then only 12,000, it complains. The UK and Italy have offered no places at all, it adds.
But the UK government says it is focusing on the region and is one of the biggest international donors.
European Union aid has reached 1.3bn euros (£1.1bn; $1.7bn), officials say.
The bloc says its priority is providing help to Syria's internally displaced people, now thought to number 6.5 million, and those hosted in other countries.
The UN estimates almost 2.3 million Syrians have fled to neighbouring countries since March 2011.
The harsh conditions faced by Syrian refugees have been highlighted this week with the first winter snowfalls in the Bekaa valley of northern Lebanon, where tens of thousands of Syrians are sheltering in tents.
A total of 838,000 Syrians have fled to Lebanon, living either in tented camps, unused buildings or with friends and family.
The bitterly cold weather has also halted a UN airlift of food and other humanitarian supplies from Iraq to Kurdish areas inside north-eastern Syria.

Bab al-Salam camp in Syria, near the broder with Turkey.

Should we be happy that the EU put Hezbollah's 'armed wing' on the blacklist?

European Union governments agreed on Monday to put the armed wing of Hezbollah on the EU terrorism blacklist in a reversal of past policy fuelled by concerns over the Lebanese militant movement's activities in Europe.

Timmermans

Britain and the Netherlands have pressed EU peers since May to put the Shi'ite Muslim group's military wing on the bloc's terrorism list, citing evidence it was behind a bus bombing in Bulgaria last year which killed five Israelis and their driver.

Until now, the EU had resisted pressure from Washington and Israel to blacklist Hezbollah, arguing such a move could fuel instability in Lebanon, where the group is part of the government, and add to tensions in the Middle East.

But evidence from Bulgaria about the attack and concerns over Hezbollah's growing involvement in the war in Syria persuaded opponents to back the move, which triggers the freezing of any assets the group's armed wing may hold in the 28-nation EU.
"It is good that the EU has decided to call Hezbollah what it is: a terrorist organization," Dutch Foreign Minister Frans Timmermans said on the sidelines of a meeting of EU foreign ministers who decided on the blacklisting.
"We took this important step today, by dealing with the military wing of Hezbollah, freezing its assets, hindering its fundraising and thereby limiting its capacity to act."

As far as I know the evidence that Bulgaria produced for Hezbollah's involvement in this bombing affair was far from convincing. What the EU did in fact was blacklisting the resistance to Israel in South-Lebanon, as Hezbollah is the only force there to be reckoned with. Apart from that, it is ludicrous to separate the 'military arm' from Hezbollah's political one, as the two are one. One does not have to be a supporter of Hezbollah (take for instance their present involvement in Syria) to see that what the EU did was in fact follow the wishes of Israel. That a fellow Dutchman,  minister Frans Timmermans, thus played the Israeli card is not exactly something that makes me happy. Apart from everything else, it cannot be denied that Hezbollah plays an important role in Lebanese politics and that EU is thus creating obstacles for itself as far as relations with Lebanon are concerned. 

EU: agreements with Israel have to exclude East-Jerusalem and settlements

The Guardian:
The European Union has banned its 28 member states from signing agreements with Israel without an explicit exclusion of Jewish settlements in the West Bank or East Jerusalem, in a directive described by an Israeli official as an "earthquake".
The EU guidelines, adopted on 30 June, will prohibit the issuing of grants, funding, prizes or scholarships unless a settlement exclusion clause is included. Israeli institutions and bodies situated across the pre-1967 Green Line will be automatically ineligible.
The Israeli government will be required to state in any future agreements with the EU that settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem are outside the state of Israel.
The binding directive, part of the 2014-20 financial framework, covers all areas of co-operation between the EU and Israel, including economics, science, culture, sports and academia. It does not cover trade, such as produce and goods originating in settlements.
An EU statement said the guidelines "set out the territorial limitations under which the commission will award EU support to Israeli entities … Concern has been expressed in Europe that Israeli entities in the occupied territories could benefit from EU support. The purpose of these guidelines is to make a distinction between the state of Israel and the occupied territories when it comes to EU support."
The move follows a decision by EU foreign ministers last December that "all agreements between the state of Israel and the EU must unequivocally and explicitly indicate their inapplicability to the territories occupied by Israel in 1967". All Israeli settlements are illegal under international law. (Read here the rest of the article)

It was about time. 

Syrian opposition fails to broaden coalition in four days of talks in Istanbul

To the dismay of envoys of Western and Arab nations monitoring four days of opposition talks in Istanbul, the 60-member Syrian National Coalition thwarted a deal to admit a liberal bloc headed by opposition campaigner Michel Kilo.
Kilo's group received an offer of only five seats - instead of the more than 20 it had been looking for - after a session in Turkey that stretched nearly to dawn, coalition sources said.
The move left the Coalition controlled by a faction loyal to Qatari-backed Secretary-General Mustafa al-Sabbagh, and a bloc largely influenced by the Muslim Brotherhood. That group led resistance to the rule of Assad's late father in the 1980s, when thousands of its members were tortured and executed.
---------------------------------

European Union foreign ministers have agreed not to renew the union's arms embargo on the Syrian opposition, due to expire on Saturday.

But there was no immediate decision to send arms to Syrian rebels and all other sanctions remained in force, the EU foreign policy chief said.
The decision came after lengthy talks among divided ministers in Brussels.
-----------------------------------
The failure to broaden the coalition, in which Qatar and a bloc largely influenced by the Muslim Brotherhood has been playing the driving role, could undermine Saudi Arabian support for the revolt and raise the specter of a rivalry among Gulf powers that could further weaken the opposition.
Its Western backers have pressured the Coalition to resolve its divisions and expand to include more liberals to counter domination by Islamists. The plan also had support from Saudi Arabia, which had been preparing to assume a bigger role in coalition politics and has been uneasy about the rise of Qatar's influence, coalition insiders said.
Its apparent failure to do so came hours before the European Union was scheduled at a meeting in Brussels to discuss lifting an arms embargo that could allow weapons to reach rebel fighters in Syria seeking to oust President Bashar al-Assad.
With Lebanese Shi'ite guerrillas from Iranian-backed Hezbollah now openly fighting alongside government troops in Syria, Saudi Arabia is keen to play a greater role in backing the Sunni-led opposition, opposition sources have said.
Significant expansion of the 60-member Coalition would have diluted the influence of Qatar, the other main Arab player backing the revolt against Assad.
Coalition members who had campaigned for an organizational shake-up said the feeble offer to Kilo's bloc was an affront to Riyadh and would make Saudi Arabia balk at backing the opposition more forcefully.
"The only time the Saudis ask for something substantive from the opposition we turn them down," a coalition source said.
"Saudi Arabia before this meeting was on the verge of throwing its weight behind the revolt. It would have made sense for Qatar to take a role in line with its size and let Saudi Arabia take a lead role. Sabbagh, and apparently Qatar, got their way, but at what expense?"

Group of former European leaders: The Oslo process has nothing more to offer

 
 EU-commissioner Catherine Ashton visits Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, 9.5.12. (Getty)

A number of prominent European ex-politicians and leaders have urged to leave the Oslo-process between Israel en the Palestinians and work out something new. In a letter to EU-commissioner Ashton they argue that the Oslo peace process has nothing more to offer and that it is time to conceive something new: 

''We have watched with increasing disappointment over the past five years the failure of the parties to start any kind of productive discussion, and of the international community under American and/or European leadership to promote such discussion.  We have also noted with frustration and deep concern the deteriorating standards of humanitarian and human rights care of the population in the Occupied Territories.  The security and long-term stability of Israel, an essential objective in any process, cannot be assured in such conditions, any more than the legitimate rights and interests of the Palestinian people.

President Obama made some of these points during his March 2013 visit to the region, particularly in his address to the people of Israel, but he gave no indication of action to break the deep stagnation, nor any sign that he sought something other than the re-start of talks between West Bank and Israeli leaders under the Oslo Process, which lost its momentum long ago.

We are therefore appealing to you, and through you to the members of the Council of Ministers, to recognise that the Peace Process as conceived in the Oslo Agreements has nothing more to offer. Yet the present political stalemate, while the situation deteriorates  on the ground, is unsustainable, given the disturbed politics of the region and the bitterness generated by the harsh conditions of life under the Occupation.''

The letter also blames the Western countries themselves, as they have done next to nothing to reverse the situation:

It is time to give a stark warning that the Occupation is actually being entrenched by the present Western policy. The Palestinian Authority cannot survive without leaning on Israeli security assistance and Western funding and, since the PA offers little hope of progress towards self-determination for the Palestinian people, it is fast losing respect and support from its domestic constituency. The steady increase in the extent and population of Israeli settlements, including in East Jerusalem, and the entrenchment of Israeli control over the OT in defiance of international law, indicate a permanent trend towards a complete dislocation of Palestinian territorial rights.

We have reached the conclusion that there must be a new approach. Letting the situation lie unaddressed is highly dangerous when such an explosive issue sits in such a turbulent environment.

The Eminent Persons Group gives a number of recommendations for a new approach, among which are the following:

- an explicit recognition that the current status of the Palestinian Territories is one of occupation, with responsibility for their condition falling under international law on the occupying state;
- an insistence that Israeli settlements beyond the 1967 lines are illegal, must cease being expanded and will not be recognised as one of the starting points in any new negotiations;
- a stipulation that any representative political organisation with a valid claim to participate in negotiations must renounce the use of violence outside established UN norms; a clearer willingness within the EU to play a political and not just a funding role and to resume a more strategic dialogue with the Palestinians.
- a vigorous international drive for the implementation of much improved humanitarian and human rights conditions in both the West Bank and Gaza, monitored by the United Nations, whatever the state of peace negotiations might be at any time.

The Eminent Persons Group is led by Sir Jeremy Greenstock, former UK Ambassador to the UN; Hubert Védrine, former French Foreign Minister; and Wolfgang Ischinger, former State Secretary of the German Foreign Ministry—representing the E.U. 3, the most powerful grouping in the bloc and one that leads on many foreign policy issues. Other signatories included former prime ministers of France Lionel Jospin, Former Prime Minister of Ireland John Bruton, Former Prime Minister of Italy Giuiliano Amato, Former Prime Ministre of the Netherlands Andreas van Agt, Former High Representative and Former NATO Secretary-General Javier Solana; Former president of Latvia Vaira Vike-Freiberga, and a host of other former foreign ministers and top government deputies, including veteran officials of multilateral groups like NATO and the E.U. itself. (Dutch ex-politicians that signed were, apart from former Prime Minister Van Agt, Frans Andriessen, Former Vice-President of the European Commission, Laurens Jan Brinkhorst, former Vice-Prime Minister,and Hans van den Broek, former Netherlands Foreign Minister and Former EU Commissioner for External Relations).

(For the complete text of the letter, click here) 

Syrian National Council elects new leaders after US attempt to replace it failed

George Sabra

The opposition Syrian National Council (SNC) has elected George Sabra,a leading secular Christian opposition figure, for a six-month term as its leader. Farouq Tayfour, a senior member of the Muslim Brotherhood, was elected Sabra's vice president.
Sabra, born in Qatana near Damascus, is a leading member of the leftist Syrian Democratic People’s Party. He was arrested several times by Assad's government. Earlier, the SNC elected 11 members to its executive committee, having already elected a 41-member secretariat.
The elections, on Friday, took place after several days of discussions in Doha, Qatar, after an American initiative to replace the SNC with an alternative body had failed. The US no longer considers the SNC as the representative of the Syrian opposition, as divided as it is and as ineffective as far as the coordination of military activities is concerned. US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton last week called the SNC unrepresentative of opposition forces on the ground and said it "can no longer be viewed as the visible leader of the opposition."
In the Doha conference the US this past week tried to erect a new body, called the Syrian National Initiative, consisting of an umbrella body of some 60 members, representing several groups active on the ground, armed groups, Muslim scholars and others. This body would in turn form a transitional government of some 10 members, and a military council. The SNC would be represented by 15 members in the new initiative. As the leader of the new group, the US put forward Riad as-Seif, a member of the SNC. The formation of the new body was coordinated by former US ambassador to Syria, Robert Ford, and had strong backing from Great-Britain. (Britain's Prime Minister Cameron also suggested this week thet Britai would guarantee Assad immunity whe he would leave the country). France and the Gulf States were said to be favourable of the plan as well.
However, there was sytrong opposition of the SNC, which refused to be marginalised. It accused Washington of undermining the revolt and "sowing the seeds of division." Many members criticized the fact that the new initiative was in fact imposed by the US. Mockingly Al-Seif was called 'Ford's sword', a pun on the fact the Seif means 'sword'in Arabic.
As a result of the sever criticism Al-Seif on Wednesday lost his seat in the SNC and he withdrew. Also three of the dissident bodies seen as integral to the US-backed initiative said that they had refused to attend. That was the end of the plan, which was a severe setback for Hillary Clinton and the American attempts at reforming the Syrian opposition.

Riad al-Seif (r) with the outgoing SNC-leader Abdel Basset Seda during the meeting i Doha(AP). 

However, the SNC adopted the plan in an modified form. On Friday it proposed to hold ''a national congress of 300 members in liberated territories" in order to add "revolutionary legitimacy" to any executive, according to SNC member Najati Tayara. Such a congress would form a transitional government that would run territories seized by the rebels, channel humanitarian aid and direct military operations, he said. Burhan Ghalioun, a former SNC chief, said any accord "could boost the uprising" as it would enable the opposition to unite the different military groups battling regime forces.

Joshua Landis reports o his blog that shortly before the Doha effort to put together a Syrian government in exile collapsed, Ambassador Ford, the State Department’s ambassador to the Syrian opposition, inisted to exiles that Syrians must find a “political solution and not a military solution to their problem.” He reportedly told Syrian Opposition leaders that the international community will not create a “no fly zone” over Syria and that it will not support the Free Syrian Army militarily.” “There is no military solution to the Syrian problem,” he insisted. There is only a political solution.” 

European Sakharov Awards for two Iranian dissidents

Nasrin Sotoudeh

The European Union's Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought was awarded on Friday to two Iranian activists, filmmaker Jafar Panahi and rights lawyer Nasrin Sotoudeh.
 Nasrin Sotoudeh is a prominent human rights lawyer who has represented imprisoned Iranian opposition activists and politicians following the disputed June 2009 Iranian presidential elections as well as prisoners sentenced to death for crimes committed when they were minors. Sotoudeh was arrested in September 2010 on charges of spreading propaganda and conspiring to harm state security. In January 2011 she was sentenced to 11 years in prison in addition to barring her from practicing law and from leaving the country for 20 years. 

Jafar Panahi is an Iranian film director, screenwriter and film editor of Azerbaijani descent, most commonly associated with the Iranian New Wave film movement.  Panahi first achieved international recognition with his debut The White Balloon which won the Caméra d'Or at the 1995 Cannes Film Festival. It was the first major award won by an Iranian film at Cannes. Other awards include the Golden Leopard at the 1997 Locarno International Film Festival for The Mirror, the Golden Lion at the 2000 Venice Film Festival for The Circle and the Silver Bear for Best Director at the 2006 Berlin Film Festival for Offside.

Panahi with Silver Bear, Berlin 2006

Panahi was arrested in March 2010 and charged with committing propaganda against the Iranian government. In December 2010 he was sentenced to a six-year jail sentence and a 20-year ban on directing any movies, writing screenplays, giving any form of interview with Iranian or foreign media and from leaving the country. This led to Panahi's last film to date: This Is Not a Film, a documentary feature in the form of a video diary that was made despite of the legal ramifications of Panahi's arrest. It was smuggled out of Iran in a Flash-Drive hidden inside a cake and was screened at the 2011 Cannes Film Festival.

Deraya (Syria) paid a heavy price for demanding freedom'

French President Francois Hollande stepped up pressure on Syria Monday, saying France would recognise a provisional government and warning of a foreign intervention if the regime uses chemical weapons.

In a speech to French diplomats, Hollande called for an "intensification of efforts for the political transition to take place quickly" and urged the Syrian opposition to form a "provisional, inclusive and representative" government.

"France will recognise the provisional government of the new Syria as soon as it is formed," he said.

Washington, however, reacted that before setting up a government the Syrian opposition first needed to coordinate with citizens inside and outside the country and set a democratic path.

 Hollande was on the same page with the United States and Britain when he warned the regime of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad that using chemical weapons would be a legitimate reason for a foreign intervention.

 

Deraya (Anadolu Agency) 

In what is unfolding as one of the deadliest and most focused short-term assaults by the Syrian military since the uprising started nearly 18 months ago, witnesses and activist groups say hundreds have been killed in Daraya in the past week alone. Residents described how the Syrian Army first closed off the city, keeping civilians from fleeing, then methodically began a campaign of heavy shelling and house-to-house searches ending with executions.

The death toll, rising all week, grew again on Sunday. A day after two activist networks, the Local Coordination Committees and the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, said that more than 200 bodies had been found in the town, activists said another 15 bodies were discovered in the basement of a home in the area. That put the death toll for the week at more than 630 in the city, said the Local Coordination Committees, including nearly 300 people reported executed.

“Daraya, a city of dignity, has paid a heavy price for demanding freedom,” the group said in a statement, adding: “The death toll has doubled in the past few days due to field executions and revenge killings.”

 Daraya, a city of several hundred thousand, has been reported as a mainstay of opposition support within the capital area since the start of the uprising. Its location is also critical: it abuts the Mezze military airport, a major base for Syrian forces. There are farms on the fringe of town, and small furniture factories dominate the city center.

When the government assault started, activists said that rebels had established a large armory inside the city. They said it had been rumored to hold missiles, a detail that could not be confirmed, perhaps to target helicopters at the Mezze airport.

The government operation began early last week. Troops first surrounded Daraya and set up checkpoints, blocking food and other supplies from entering, residents said. Electricity was cut, then Internet and phone service.

Syria accepts Annan's deadline, but West is sceptical and Arab wold divided

Free Syrian Army rebels in a suburb of Damascus. (AP)

Syria has agreed to "immediately" start pulling troops out of protest cities and to complete a troop and heavy weapon withdrawal by April 10, Arab League and UN envoy Kofi Annan said Monday. US ambassador Susan Rice told reporters after a UN Security Council meeting on the Syria crisis that

the Syrian foreign minister, Walid Muallem, had written to Annan on Sunday agreeing to the new deadline.

 She added that Annan's deputy Nasser al-Qudwa is in contact with Syrian opposition groups to get them to halt hostilities within 48 hours of government forces carrying out their commitments.

 The Syrian ambassador to th UN, Bashar Jaafari, said there were no preconditions for the April 10 accord with Annan. But he added: "We are expecting Mr Annan and some parties in the Security Council to get the same kind of commitments" from the opposition.

The US ambassador said the United States and other countries doubted that Assad would carry out the new commitments.  "Past experience would lead us to be skeptical and to worry that over the next several days, that rather than a diminution of the violence we might yet again see an escalation of the violence. We certainly hope that is not so," Rice said.

During the meeting Annan also called on the council to support the April 10 deadline and to start considering the deployment of a UN-backed observer mission in Syria if fighting is halted. Members of Annan's team are to go to Damascus this week to discuss a possible observer mission.
 The Syrian government has largely recaptured most rebel-held areas in recent months, but still faces sporadic clashes from poorly equipped rebel fighters.
The UN estimates that over 9,000 people have died in the year-long uprising while the government says over 3,000 of its forces have been killed.

Arab, Western and other nations at a Friends of Syria meeting on Sunday in Istanbul called for a deadline to be set, but Russia, Syria's last major ally and a permanent member of the Security Council, has rejected the calls. "Ultimatums and artificial deadlines rarely help matters," Russia's Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Monday. Lavrov said the peace plan would not work unless rebel forces also agreed to halt hostilities.


Some countries at the conference – notably Saudi Arabia and Qatar – have been openly calling for the arming of insurgents in Syria. The US, Europe and Turkey, however, are more cautious, fearing it could fuel an all-out civil war. But the US will send non-lethal material to the rebels, like "communications equipment, US Foreign minister Clinton announced. Also Burhan Ghalioun, president of the Syrian National Council (SNC) announced that the SNC will take upon itself to pay the salaries of members of the Free Syrian Army. The SNC in turn, receives most of its money through contributions from the Gulf countries.
 The hardline stance of Qatar and Saudi Arabia has sharpened the differences in the Arab world. Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki on Sunday sharply criticized the Qatari and Saudi position, as well as the ''Friends of Syria'' conference.

 Nuri al-Maliki, the Iraqi prime minister, at the opening of the Arab summit in Baghdad on 29 March.  (Reuters)

The Syria issue has split the Arab world, with hardline states including  advocating arming Syrian rebels and calling for Assad's departure, while others including Iraq want to see a political solution.
"We reject any arming (of Syrian rebels) and the process to overthrow the (Assad) regime, because this will leave a greater crisis in the region," Maliki said at a news conference after the
"The stance of these two states is very strange," he said in apparent reference to Qatar and Saudi Arabia.
"They are calling for sending arms instead of working on putting out the fire, and they will hear our voice, that we are against arming and against foreign interference."
"We are against the interference of some countries in Syria's internal affairs, and those countries that are interfering in Syria's internal affairs will interfere in the internal affairs of any country," the Iraqi leader added. He also predicted that Assad's regime will hang on, saying: "It has been one year and the regime did not fall, and it will not fall, and why should it fall?"

Amnesty: NATO failed to investigate civilian victims of intervention in Libya

 The remains of the Gafez family home in Majer. (photo Amnesty)

Amnesty International says that NATO has so far failed to investigate the killing of scores of civilians in Libya in air strikes carried out by its forces. Amnesty released a paper on Monday, one year after the first sorties took place,  Libya: The forgotten victims of NATO Strikes. The organization has documented 55 cases of named civilians, including 16 children and 14 women, killed in air strikes in Tripoli, Zlitan, Majer, Sirte and Brega.
Many of the deaths occurred as a result of airstrikes on private homes where Amnesty International and others have found no evidence to indicate that the homes had been used for military purposes at the time they were attacked.
In the evening of 8 August 2011 two houses belonging to the Gafez and al-Ja’arud families were struck in Majer, west of Misrata. According to members of the family who survived the attack, 34 civilians, including eight children and eight women, were killed and several were injured in three separate strikes. The family said they had not been aware of the presence of any persons or of any activities near their homes which could explain the attacks.
Amnesty says that  NATO must ensure that prompt, independent, impartial and thorough investigations are conducted into any allegations of serious violations of international law by participants in Operation Unified Protector and that the findings be publicly disclosed.

'Friends of Syria' try to isolate Assad further

 
 British Channel 4 carried this blood chilling report about the siege and shelling of Homs on 22 February. The same day reporters Narie Covin (SndayTimes) and the French photographer Rému Ochlik were killed in Homs by a rocket.

Representatives of more than 70 nations in Tunisia for the "Friends of Syria" meeting have called for an immediate end to violence in the country and for new sanctions on the government of President Bashar al-Assad.
In a final declaration on Friday, the group also called to allow for humanitarian aid to be brought in.
It vowed to "press the Syrian regime to stop all acts of violence" by enforcing current sanctions and introducing new ones, including with travel bans, asset freezes, ceasing oil purchases, reducing diplomatic ties and preventing the shipment of arms.
"[Friends of Syria] demanded that the Syrian regime immediately permit humanitarian agencies to deliver vital relief goods and services to civilians affected by the violence," the declaration said.
The group also recognised the main opposition umbrella group, the Syrian National Council (SNC), as "a legitimate representative of Syrians seeking peaceful democratic change" but fell short of giving it exclusive recognition.
 The declaration did not fully endorse some Arab calls for peacekeepers to be deployed to Syria, with the declaration saying only that it "noted the Arab League's request to the United Nations Security Council to issue a resolution to form a joint Arab-UN peacekeeping force".
Prior to the declaration, Saudi Arabia and Qatar pushed for a more forceful intervention in Syria, with Saud al-Faisal, the Saudi foreign minister, saying he supported the arming of opposition fighters.
Faisal said Syrians had the right to defend themselves against a crackdown by security forces that has left thousands dead.
 US Secretary of State Hilary Clinton forcefully criticised Russia and China which did not attend the Tunis conference. "They are setting themselves not only against the Syrian people but also the entire Arab awakening. It's quite distressing to see permanent members of the Security Council using their veto when people are being murdered - women, children, brave young men -- houses are being destroyed. It is just despicable."
 Meanwhile Assad's forces killed 103 people in Syria on Friday in the bombardment of the besieged city of Homs and in attacks on the countryside of Hama and the east and north of the country, the activist group Local Coordination Committees said. Most of those killed were civilians, including 14 children and one woman, it said.

Earlier, the UN and the Arab League appointed Kofi Annan, a former UN secretary-general, to act as a joint special envoy on Syria. He "will consult broadly and engage" with all sides inside Syria and out, "to end the violence and the humanitarian crisis," a UN statement said.
Annan is backed by a UN general assembly resolution and Arab League resolutions that support the league's plan for Mr Al Assad to delegate power to a vice president while a national unity government is formed ahead of elections. He will try to "facilitate a peaceful Syrian-led and inclusive political solution that meets the democratic aspirations of the Syrian people," the statement added. Russia yesterday welcomed Mr Annan's appointment. A western diplomat said that efforts by the UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon to find an Arab envoy had failed because of the difficulty in appointing someone acceptable to both Mr Al Assad and the opposition.