Syria profile A chronology of key events

1918 October - Arab troops led by Emir Feisal, and supported by British forces, capture Damascus, ending 400 years of Ottoman rule.

1919 - Emir Feisal backs Arab self-rule at the Versailles peace conference, following the defeat of Germany and the Ottoman Empire in World War I.

1919 June - Elections for a Syrian National Congress are held. The new assembly includes delegates from Palestine.

1920 8 March - The National Congress proclaims Emir Feisal king of Syria "in its natural boundaries" from the Taurus mountains in Turkey to the Sinai desert in Egypt.

Прочесть полностью

SYRIA: CIA-MI6 Intel Ops and Sabotage

 by Felicity Arbuthnot

“In order to facilitate the action of liberative (sic) forces, ...a special effort should be made to eliminate certain key individuals. ...[to] be accomplished early in the course of the uprising and intervention, ...

Once a political decision has been reached to proceed with internal disturbances in Syria, CIA is prepared, and SIS (MI6) will attempt to mount minor sabotage and coup de main (sic) incidents within Syria, working through contacts with individuals. ...Incidents should not be concentrated in Damascus …

Further : a “necessary degree of fear .. frontier incidents and (staged) border clashes”, would “provide a pretext for intervention... the CIA and SIS [MI6 should use … capabilitites in both psychological and action fields to augment tension.” (Joint US-UK leaked Intelligence Document, London and Washington, 1957)

“'The very concept of objective truth is fading out of the world. Lies will pass into history." (George Orwell (Eric Arthur Blair, 1903-1950.) 

For anyone in two minds about what is really going on in Syria, and whether President Assad, hailed a decade ago as “A Modern Day Attaturk”, has become the latest megalomaniacal despot, to whose people a US-led posse of nations, must deliver “freedom”, with weapons of mass, home, people, nation and livelihood destruction, here is a salutary tale from modern history.

Прочесть полностью

On current situation in Syria

Boris Dolgov, political scientist

The current situation in Syria remains one of the most important components of the Middle Eastern and international policies. Using Syria’s domestic crisis and pursuing their own goals NATO’s leading states, Israel, Turkey and the monarchies of the Persian Gulf are trying to undermine the Syrian regime.  

Since the beginning of the crisis in Syria I have made two trips to that country as a member of international delegations in August 2011 and in January 2012. If we watch the dynamics of situation’s development over that period on the one hand we can state intensification of terrorist groups in Syria and on the other hand we see a broader people’s support of President Bashar Assad and a clear demarcation of political forces’ positions.

In the last two months Syria has seen a number of terrorist attacks. The terrorist attacked Syrian servicemen and military facilities, law enforcement agencies institutions, blasts on oil pipelines, railroads, murders and taking of hostage among peaceful citizens (In the city of Homs insurgents killed five well known scientists), arson of schools and killing of teachers (since March 2011, 900 schools have been set on fire and 30 teachers have been killed).     

Прочесть полностью

Syria and the Arab League: An Arab Solution to an Arab Problem

The preliminary results of the Arab League’s observer mission in Syria were summarized at Sunday’s meeting of its ad hoc committee on Syria. Arab experts spent 10 days in areas gripped by riots and submitted daily reports of deaths in clashes between government forces and opposition supporters.

It was decided at the meeting to continue the observer mission in Syria. ITAR-TASS quotes a document is saying, “In accordance with the protocol signed with Damascus, the Arab League’s ministerial committee has decided to give observers time to continue their mission.”

The Arab League also decided to expand its observer mission in Syria. The mission began work on December 26 under a plan coordinated with the Syrian government to establish a dialogue between the government and the opposition. Currently, there are 163 observers from 12 Arab countries in Syria. The committee chairman, Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Hamad bin Jassim Al Thani, proposed increasing the size of the mission to 300 people and including UN experts to “provide assistance needed to more efficiently track events in Syria.” He said that this is the first time the Arab League has performed a mission of this type, so “foreign experience in this matter would be useful and would allow the experts to work more independently.” Damascus objected strongly to having foreign advisers in the Arab League’s mission.

Прочесть полностью