シリア情勢 70

FARSNEWS2015/12/27
Iraqi MP: Saudi Arabia's Anti-Terrorism Coalition Promoting Israel's Proxy War in Region

TEHRAN (FNA)- A senior Iraqi lawmaker blasted the Riyadh government for supporting the Takfiri terrorist groups in the region, and said that the new coalition formed by Saudi Arabia to fight terrorism is actually meant to help Israel implement its plots in the region.

"Saudi Arabia wants to fight a proxy war against the resistance groups in the region by setting up its own version of anti-terrorism coalition," Iraqi MP Iskandar Witwit told FNA on Sunday.

He reiterated that Saudi Arabia is commanding a war on behalf of Israel and its allied Persian Gulf Arab Sheikhdoms against the national resistance groups of the region.

"Therefore, the regional countries that have national resistance forces, including Iraq, Lebanon, Syria and Iran, are preparing for a war that will be waged and led by traitor Saudi Arabia, Israel and their allied Sheikhdoms," Witwit said.

In mid-December, Saudi Arabia formed an alliance of 34 Muslim countries to coordinate fight against terrorist organizations.

FARSNEWS2015/12/27
TEHRAN (FNA)- Abdel Bari Atwan, the editor-in-chief of Rai al-Youm newspaper, underlined that the death of Jeish al-Islam commander Zahran Allouch who was killed by a powerful airstrike in Eastern Ghouta in Damascus countryside sent a strong message to other terrorist leaders.

"This powerful operation has this strong message for the Syrian dissidents and their leaders inside and outside the country that they might come to be targeted by similar operations in the future," Atwan wrote on Sunday.

He said that the operations also revealed other points, including the lack of security for the armed militants in Syria and Jeish al-Islam as was seen in the operation that claimed the lives of 50 members of Ahrar al-Sham terrorist group near Aleppo last year.

According to Atwan, the operations was also a major blow at the recent meeting of the dissidents in Riyadh as well as Saudi Arabia, itself.

This precise strike which killed an important terrorist element in Syria also showed that the country has come out of its defense crouch and has started offensive operations against the enemies which is somehow the result of Russia's military assistance to Damascus, he added.

FARSNEWS2015/12/27
Syrian Planes Drop More "Surrender Now" Leaflets for Militants in Damascus
On Friday, the notorious commander of Jeish al-Islam, Zahran Allouch was confirmed dead after the Syrian fighter jets conducted a powerful airstrike in Eastern Ghouta in Damascus countryside, killing the terrorist leader and several other militant commanders in the attack.

On December 19, sources disclosed that Allouch was hunted as a result of an inside job.

"The Syrian Air Force Intelligence Unit was behind the attack which killed Zahran Allouch and several of his deputies," the sources said.

"One of the intelligence officers that infiltrated Allouch’s network had revealed to the air force the precise location of the militant commanders' meeting that took place in Eastern Ghouta, and this ultimately led to the death of Zahran Allouch and his comrades," the sources said.

"This is not the first time that the Syrian Air Force Intelligence Unit has carried out a spying operation; however, this is by far one of their largest operations during this war," the sources said.

Army Spokesman Ali Mayhoub confirmed on Saturday that Allouch and a number of other commanders of Jeish al-Islam and other terrorist groups, including Al-Rahman and Ahrar al-Sham, were killed in a special operation conducted by the Syrian air force on terrorists’ military positions in Eastern Ghouta.

Allouch was killed when the Syrian fighter jets fired eight rockets at the terrorist group's command center in Al-Marj region of Eastern Ghouta, he said.

FARSNEWS2015/12/27
FM: Terrorists from 100 Countries Fighting in Iraq
TEHRAN (FNA)- Citizens of nearly 100 foreign states are carrying out terrorist acts in Iraq, Iraqi Foreign Minister Ibrahim al-Jafari said, stressing that his country is representing the power of the Muslim world in its war against terrorism.

"Terrorists from almost 100 countries have come to Iraq but we could stand against them despite their large number and therefore, we are today witnessing their withdrawal," Jafari said, addressing the 29th International Islamic Unity Conference in Tehran on Sunday.

FARSNEWS2015/12/27
Iranian President Asks S. Arabia to Revise Policies on Region
TEHRAN (FNA)- Iranian President Hassan Rouhani called on Saudi Arabia and certain other regional states to review their hostile policies against the Muslim countries and focus on the crimes committed by Israel against the Palestinian people.

"While once, we were sad to see that foreign aggressors and enemies of Islam were attacking Muslims and occupying an Islamic country, unfortunately, today we are under such conditions that when we think of the Muslim states, we see that either a country is attacking another one and is pounding its innocent people with bombs and missiles or certain groups in the Muslim world are showing their blades to the Muslims under the name of Islam and Jihad," Rouhani said, addressing the 29th International Islamic Unity Conference in Tehran on Sunday.

"We never imagined that the main occupier, the Zionist regime, would be forgotten in the Muslim world," he added.

Rouhani blasted those states which support the terrorists in Syria and Iraq financially and by sending arms, and asked, "Does the destruction of Syria lead to the development of Turkey, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, UAE or other countries? Who is happy with the destruction of Syria but Israel? Who is happy with war in Iraq but Israel and those who hold a grudge against the Muslims?"

He called for strengthening solidarity among Islamic states, and said, "We, Muslims, are in a world that we should stand united."

Saudi Arabia and certain other Persian Gulf Arab states have long been criticized for their hostile polices against the regional Muslim countries.

In October 2014, Iraqi Prime Minister Haider Al-Abadi blamed Riyadh and a number of Persian Gulf Arab capitals for war in his country, saying "provocateurs" exist in Saudi Arabia and some other Persian Gulf Arab states.

Al-Abadi noted that the Persian Gulf Arab states and Turkey willed to support the Syrian opposition despite knowing that the strongest faction were "the terrorists of the ISIL, Al-Nusra and other terrorist groups".

"They knew that well, but they imagined that they could use them to pressure their enemies and their rivals in the region."

The premier also said that there is a project aimed at drawing the region into a bloody sectarian conflict and warned that "ISIL is now posing a threat to several countries such as Saudi Arabia and Turkey and may soon expand into other countries where it will pose a threat to the entire region".

Al-Abadi said that "many provocateurs are in Saudi Arabia and some other (Persian) Gulf states and they embrace the same takfiri discourse as ISIL".

He pointed out that there is a real danger to Saudi Arabia because of the ISIL threat. This, according to Al-Abadi, prompted Saudi officials to comprehend the enormity of the danger facing them since ISIL seized a number of Iraqi towns.

He called on Saudi Arabia to move quickly "in proportion to the needs of the time, so as for us to open a new and positive page with everyone".



PRESSTV2015/12/28
Russia can sustain Syria war for years: US
American officials have acknowledged that Russia’s military campaign against terror groups in Syria has been successful and achieved Moscow’s chief goal.

Three months into Russia’s military operations in Syria, Russian President Vladimir Putin has achieved his central goal of stabilizing the government of Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad and, with the costs relatively low, could sustain the mission at this level for years, Reuters reported on Monday, quoting unnamed US officials.

The report said the acknowledgment comes despite public assertions by US President Barack Obama and his top aides that Putin launched an ill-conceived mission in support of President Assad and that it will likely fail.

"I think it's indisputable that the Assad regime, with Russian military support, is probably in a safer position than it was," Reuters quoted a senior administration official, who requested anonymity.

Five other American officials interviewed by the news agency concurred with the view that the Russian mission has been mostly successful so far and is facing relatively low costs.

However, the US officials stressed that Putin could face serious problems if Russia’s campaign lasted dragged on.

The report also noted that since the onset of Moscow’s campaign on September 30, Russia has suffered minimal casualties and, despite domestic fiscal woes, is handily covering the operation's cost, which analysts estimate at $1-2 billion a year.

A US intelligence official said the Russian mission is being funded from the country’ regular annual defense budget of about $54 billion.

PRESSTV2015/12/28
Hundreds of militants being evacuated from three Syrian villages

Hundreds of militants fighting against the Syrian government of Bashar al-Assad have been given safe passage by Damascus to evacuate three villages under a UN-brokered deal.

More than 120 militants were being evacuated from the village of Zabadani, near the Lebanese border, on Monday, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.

A convoy of buses and ambulances were taking the militants and their families, along with those who were wounded, to the Beirut airport and then reportedly to Turkey.

At the same time, about “335 people” are being evacuated from Fuaa and Kefraya, two villages in the northern province of Idlib that have been under siege by the militants, the rights group said. They are being taken to Turkey from where they will leave for Lebanon and then return to government-held areas in Syria.

The International Committee for the Red Cross (ICRC) said several organizations, including the Syrian Arab Red Crescent, the Lebanese Red Cross as well as the UN, were involved in transferring the various groups of people.

The evacuations take place under a UN deal that was agreed in September. The UN and foreign governments have tried to broker local ceasefires and safe-passage agreements as steps toward the wider goal of ending the conflict in Syria.

Damascus has previously agreed to several ceasefires with militant groups.

Syria has been gripped by deadly violence since March 2011.Since then, Syrian forces have been battling militants on different fronts throughout the Arab country. More than 250,000 people have died in Syria since the beginning of the nearly five-year conflict.

RT2015/12/29
Kuwait to send ground troops to protect Saudi Arabia from Houthi incursions – report
Kuwait, which is formally part of the Saudi-led coalition conducting a military crackdown in Yemen, is to send an artillery battalion to protect southern regions of its Gulf neighbor from cross-border attacks, according to a report.

"Kuwait decided on the participation of its ground forces, represented by an artillery battalion, in operations to strike at positions of Houthi aggression against the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia," the Kuwaiti daily Al-Qabas reported Tuesday, citing an informed source.

Saudi Arabia has provided the bulk of the fighting forces for the Yemen campaign, with the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain also playing significant parts. Other members of the coalition were hesitant in providing ground troops.

RT2015/12/29
Need for aid in Yemen & what is David Cameron doing about the Saudi beheadings? (E264)
Afshin Rattansi goes underground with the former Vice Chairman of the Conservative Party Andrew Mitchell. He asks him about the unbroken silence on Saudi that has left tens of millions needing humanitarian aid in Yemen. And, while the world watches on to see whether Saudi Arabian King Salman will behead and crucify a 21 year old, we speak to journalist and political analyst Catherine Shakdam. Plus, PMQs are back once again- and the Speaker tells David Cameron to sit down.