The four French journalists safely returned to France last month after being held as hostages in Syria for 10 months reported the shocking news that some of their captors spoke perfect French. The men were never allowed to see their hooded guards’ faces, and were told they would be killed if they did. The idea that French citizens might have been among the hostages’ captors has shaken the French public, and the government moved quickly to announce a plan to prevent its citizens from joining extremist groups in Syria.
Some of the measures will be difficult to put into effect, and some raise legal and civil liberties issues, but there is no question that the government has to act. The French Foreign Ministry estimates that 500 to 700 citizens have left the country to join radical groups fighting in Syria, like the Islamist State of Iraq and the Levant, which is suspected of kidnapping the French journalists. Many are teenagers or young adults who have become radicalized by visiting websites that promote jihad in Syria as holy war.
The government will take aim at extremist Islamic websites; reinstate a requirement that minors have parental permission to leave French territory; and register profiles of people deemed to pose a risk with French agencies and with the Schengen Information System, the European database.
On April 30, the French, British, Belgians and Germans met in London to discuss how best to tackle this growing, pan-European problem. France is cool to Britain’s plans to encourage British Muslims who want to help Syrians to do so through charitable groups, and to enlist women to work with the police to identify potential jihadists.
ARSAL, Lebanon: Clashes erupted in northeast Lebanon over the weekend as the fallout from the Syrian war continued to batter the region, with Syrian gunmen fighting residents of Arsal as well as Hezbollah.
Three Lebanese men were lightly wounded and two others likely kidnapped in clashes Sunday between residents of the east Lebanon border village of Arsal and armed Syrian rebels, a security source told The Daily Star.
The clashes – the first of their kind – took place in the mountainous region of Rahwa, which separates Arsal from Syrian territories, the source said, adding that Arsal officials contacted Syrian opposition groups in the area to secure the release of the two kidnapped men.
The reasons behind the clashes were not immediately clear. One wounded man was identified as Ahmad al-Atrash by the state-run National News Agency. The other two are from the Hujeiri and Jabbawi families.
The Bekaa Valley town of Arsal in the Baalbek region is known for its strong support for Syrian rebels and houses many families of Syrian rebels.
(Reuters) - War-torn Syria is struggling to buy food commodities in the quantities it needs, despite repeatedly issuing tenders for hundreds of thousands of tonnes of sugar, rice and wheat, trade sources say.
The sources, who have knowledge of the country's commercial food deals, said the country's three-year civil war, which has claimed more than 150,000 lives and forced millions from their homes, is taking its toll, with large suppliers increasingly unwilling or unable to provide cargoes for the Syrian market.
"What we are seeing is a fragmentation of the business now. Smaller, fly-by-night outfits and new companies connected with the Syrian government are more active. This is not enough in terms of what the country needs to buy, and they cannot do the high-volume business to meet the demand," a Middle East-based trade source said.
On top of the risks of trading with a country wracked by violence, suppliers to Syria require licenses from U.S. and European Union authorities, even for unrestricted humanitarian goods, which creates extra red tape.
So Assad has finally driven out the last of the rebels from Homs. Doubt that city will ever recover fully from this war but at least the civilians can finally take a rest after what? 2 years?
Opposition forces torched a historic church in the Syrian city of Homs today, where government officials are evacuating rebel forces as a part of a ceasefire between the opposition and government.
The Um al Zennar Church, also called Saint Mary Church of the Holy Belt, had previously been damaged in confrontations between the two groups in 2012, but as rebels exited the city today, they set the building on fire.
Damascus-based Sham FM Radio confirmed the news and photos.
A huge explosion on Thursday leveled a hotel in the Syrian city of Aleppo that government troops were using as a military base, according to the state news agency and opposition activists.
The explosion struck the Carlton Hotel, which faces Aleppo’s 13th century citadel — a UNESCO World Heritage site — on the edge of a neighborhood that has seen fierce gun battles between Syria’s rebels and government forces.
Fourteen Syrian troops and pro-regime militiamen were killed in the blast and ensuing clashes with rebels, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, an anti-Assad monitoring network based in London with sources on the ground in Aleppo. Several other buildings in the historic Old City were also reportedly destroyed.
The observatory said rebel fighters belonging to the Islamic Front, a coalition of Islamist rebel factions, planted explosives in a tunnel they dug below the hotel, detonating it remotely.
So disgusting. These artifacts have survived the invasions of the Persian Empire, the Roman Empire, The Caliphate expansion from the Arabian Peninsula, The Crusades, the Mongol Empire's pillaging, and the rise of the Ottoman Empire.
(AINA) -- According to a report from the website www.apsa2011.com, the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL, also known as ISIS) has destroyed Assyrian statues and artifacts believed to be 3000 years old. The Assyrian archaeological artifacts were illegally excavated from the Tell Ajaja site.
Looting of Assyrian artifacts was also carried out in Iraq soon after 2003 by Al-Qaeda, which sold the artifacts to finance its operations. The looting occurred at the Baghdad Museum (AINA 2003-04-19) as well as archaeological sites which were left unguarded as a result of the collapse of the government of Saddam Hussein
Prior to the events in Syria, Hezbollah and al-Qaeda fighters had never met face to face. They clashed for the first time in the Syrian arena. For the Islamist fighters, Hezbollah is fighting under the influence of Captagon. Hezbollah fighters, on the other hand, believe their adversaries are "crazy, carrying spoons in their pockets in preparation for a meal with the prophet."
"Hezbollah members are takfiris," according to al-Qaeda fighters, and so are the members of the "international jihad" as perceived by their arch-enemy and many others. The two organizations had never fought each other before Syria. When the opportunity came, they clashed on several fronts in that country, in Ghouta, Aleppo, and Qalamoun. Both sides lost men and the upper hand went to Hezbollah. However, al-Qaeda's fighters believe that "losing a battle does not mean losing the war...for we are the victorious sect." The limited confrontation was a chance for both sides to create an image of the other.
Hezbollah's fighters do not underestimate their opponents from al-Qaeda and vice versa. They both give their adversaries their dues, without ignoring the generally negative landscape. Speaking to Al-Akhbar, a Lebanese al-Nusra Front fighter, who used to be stationed at al-Sahl front and Rima Farms in Qalamoun said, "some Hezbollah fighters looked like they were possessed." "I was with a brother during the fighting," he explained. "Hezbollah fighters were facing us within our line of fire. We would shoot at them but they would not back down. We hit three of them but they continued to descend. Only a crazy person would do that. Their courage is not normal. I admit that." However, his companion interjected and said "it is certain that they are using drugs, Captagon." But how about accusations of drug use by his side? "Pills are forbidden by our Sharia," he declared. The reply came from the original interviewee: "Their side also forbids pills. Even if they were your enemies do not underestimate them. I saw them with my two eyes."
News of the recent confrontations in Qalamoun is the talk of the town in a Bekaa village, which became a refuge for a good number of fighters fleeing the confrontations. What is constant, by everyone's account, is that most fighters fled from the battles with the Syrian army and Hezbollah, with the exception of al-Nusra and the [Salafist] Green Brigade. Fighters from the two al-Qaeda related organizations lasted a few days, before withdrawing from one village to another. Despite this, there are many who boast about "individual heroism," which did not impact the course of the battle.
The death toll in Syria's three-year conflict has exceeded 160,000, an activist group said Monday, a harrowing figure that reflects the country's relentless bloodletting that appears no closer to a resolution.
The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said it has documented 162,402 deaths since the uprising against President Bashar Assad's government began in March 2011.
By handing so many weapons to newly formed militia groups, Assad has ceded a lot of his power. In-fighting within the Assadist power structure is big news. It means the war is rapidly becoming a free for all.
Easy to give weapons to militias. Much harder to take it away. The war continues.
Britons make up most of the foreign members in Syria's most violent terror group, a senior rebel leader says.
In a letter to The Times, Brig-Gen Abdulellah al-Basheer of the Free Syrian Army asks for help in curbing the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant.
He claims the group attacks opposition forces, not the Assad regime
UK fighters are involved in activities including beheadings, crucifixions and ill-treatment of women, he adds.
In his letter, General al-Basheer writes that ignoring the problem could lead to British extremists returning home to "continue on their pernicious path of destruction".
Last week father-of-two Mashudur Choudhury became the first person in the UK to be convicted of terrorist offences in connection with the conflict in Syria.
Using the example of Choudhury, General al-Basheer writes: "He is one of many. They are not freedom fighters. They are terrorists."
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Barack Obama may soon sign off on a project to train and equip moderate Syrian rebels, in an open move that would significantly boost U.S. support to forces who have been asking for three years for military help in their quest to oust President Bashar Assad, administration officials said Tuesday.
The step would send a limited number of American troops to Jordan to be part of a regional training mission that would instruct carefully vetted members of the Free Syrian Army on tactics, including counterterrorism operations, the officials said. They said Obama has not yet given approval for the initiative, and that there is still internal discussion about its merits and potential risks.
In a foreign policy speech on Wednesday to the U.S. Military Academy, Obama is expected to frame Syria as a counterterrorism challenge and indicate that he will expand assistance to the opposition, according to the officials. However, he is not likely to announce the specific program, which is still being finalized, the officials said.
The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to publicly discuss administration deliberations.
WASHINGTON — A United States citizen working in Syria with a militant group backed by Al Qaeda conducted a suicide bombing there Sunday, in what is believed to be the first time an American has been involved in such an attack, American officials said Wednesday.
The suicide attack first surfaced on Tuesday in Twitter messages from the Nusra Front, an Islamist extremist group in Syria aligned with Al Qaeda in the fight against the government of President Bashar al-Assad of Syria.
American officials, speaking on the condition of anonymity because intelligence matters were involved, declined to identify the American or provide any information about him. NBC News first reported that American government officials had confirmed the bomber was an American.
Syrian opposition brigades have received French made anti-aircraft missiles, this is considered to be a major step towards a change in the balance of power on the ground, media reports said yesterday.
EPT![[image loading]](http://i.imgur.com/5tiaYri.jpg)
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