Syrian protest
NATO: Patriot deployment to take weeks not months
By Slobodan Lekic | AP | 01 Dec 2012
NATO will deploy Patriot missiles to Turkey’s border with Syria “within several weeks” after the move is approved, officials said Friday.
A team assessing possible sites for the air defense systems is making good progress and is expected to report back to NATO’s military command soon, alliance spokeswoman Oana Lungescu said. This opens the possibility that foreign ministers of the 28 member countries, meeting in Brussels on Tuesday and Wednesday, could make the final decision.
Syrian rebels seize major dam in north; Russia slams French support
Source : Agencies | 27 Nov 2012
Activists say Syrian rebels have captured a hydroelectric dam on the Euphrates river in the country’s north in a strategic victory that followed days of fighting.
The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights says the Tishrin Dam, near the town of Manbij, fell to the rebels before dawn on Monday.
Rami Abdul-Rahman, who heads the Observatory, says the dam supplies several areas of Syria with electricity.
Syria opposition coalition names London ‘ambassador’
By AFP | 26 Nov 2012
Syria’s opposition coalition on Monday named a human rights activist as its “ambassador” in London, it said in a statement posted online, the second such appointment by the newly formed coalition.
“The coalition of the opposition announces the nomination of the president of the Syrian Commission for Human Rights, Walid Safur, as ambassador to London. He is the second ambassador of the Syrian revolution,” the National Coalition said on its Facebook page.
Qaradawi Criticism Upsets Russia Muslims
Source : OnIslam | 23 Nov 2012
The highest Muslim religious authority in Russia has criticized prominent scholar Sheikh Yusuf Al-Qaradawi over his criticism of Moscow for supporting Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad’s crackdown on anti-regime protestors.
"Unfortunately, some claim today that Russia is the number one enemy of the Muslims," Ravil Gainutdih, the head of the Russian Council of Muftis, told the European Islamic Council in Istanbul, Interfax news agency reported.
UN chief fears ‘regional battleground’ in Syria
Source : Agencies | 21 Nov 2012
UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said yesterday he feared that the militarization of the conflict in Syria could turn the country into a “regional battleground.”
“We are deeply concerned about the continued militarization of the conflict, horrendous violations of human rights and the risk of Syria turning into a regional battleground as the violence intensifies,” Ban said during a visit to Cairo.
EU recognizes Syrian National Coalition
Source : Agencies | 20 Nov 2012
The European Union (EU) said that it considered the National Coalition for Syrian Revolutionary and Opposition Forces legitimate representatives of the aspirations of the Syrian people.
The foreign ministers of the EU held a meeting on Monday and said in a statement that the EU welcomed the agreement reached on November 11 in the meeting of the Syrian opposition groups gathered in Doha and in particular the formation of the National Coalition for Syrian Revolutionary and Opposition Forces.
Syria Islamist fighters in Aleppo reject new opposition
Source : BBC | 20 Nov 2012
Islamist rebel groups in the Syrian city of Aleppo say they reject the new Western-backed opposition coalition.
In an internet video, they denounced what they called "the conspiratorial project" and said they intend to establish an "Islamist state" in Syria.
Britain welcomes Syrian opposition leaders to London
By AFP | 16 Nov 2012
Britain welcomed the new Syrian opposition to London on Friday but said it needed to know more about their plans before joining France in recognizing them as the main voice against Bashar al-Assad’s regime.
Foreign Secretary William Hague said the opposition had taken a “very big step forward” by uniting and said Britain would decide “in the coming days” whether to recognize it as the legitimate representative of the Syrian people.
