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ALL OF THE border crossings between Iraq and Syria and at least one of Syria’s borders with Turkey have been seized by rebels.
Rebels also claimed to have seized part of the capital Damascus for the first time.
According to a report from Beirut in the New York Times four crossings between Iraq and Syria were seized and additional Iraqi troops were sent to the borders. It’s also reported that several Syrian Army soldiers were executed by rebels.
Syrians have been fleeing from Damascus to neighbouring Lebanon, while Iraqis also returned home before the borders were seized. The Iraqi government has said that it will send aircraft to the capital to bring its citizens home.
Video posted to YouTube appears to show rebels celebrating at the Syria-Turkey border at Bab Alhawa:
Uploaded by Cookie78ist
This image made from amateur video released by Shaam News Network purports to show a Syrian rebel stomping on a picture of late Syrian President Hafez Assad, father of Bashar Assad, at the Bab al-Hawa border crossing with Turkey (AP Photo/Shaam News Network via AP video)
Yesterday President Bashar Al-Assad appeared on state television in Syria for the first time since a bomb killed some of his top lieutenants in an unprecedented attack.
Assad’s appearance Thursday was carried on state TV without audio, but the report appeared aimed at sending the message that he is alive and well, and in control.
The report said Assad, wearing a blue suit and tie, swore in the new defense minister and wished him good luck. The report did not say where the ceremony took place.
Meanwhile a top Chinese paper has today accused the West of seeking a green light for military intervention in Syria after Beijing and Moscow blocked a UN resolution threatening sanctions against Damascus.
The People’s Daily’s comments echoed those of Russia’s UN ambassador Vitaly Churkin, who said the resolution aimed to “open the path to the pressure of sanctions and further to external military involvement in Syrian domestic affairs.”
The defeat of the UN resolution leaves the 300-strong UN observer mission in Syria in limbo – just as the mission was forced to suspend operations because of the intensified fighting.
Its mandate, to monitor a cease-fire and implementation of international envoy Kofi Annan’s peace plan, expires today.
- Additional reporting by AP
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I like the use of the word rebels, it means you never have to identify the “enemy/good guys”. Label them all under one title and for some reason we are expected to get behind them and support them.
All the religious commentary in that clip is unsettling. Who are these guys? We call them rebels, are they all Syrian? and who is backing them to the extent to enable them to take on the national army? There is much more going on here than we know.
The devil you know…
I’ll forgive Deirdre Mac Mahon for problably being too dim-witted to realise a statement like that supports terrorism.
Maybe the ” rebels” will be worse than the present regime. Maybe not. We’ll see . Who’s pulling the strings in these middle eastern and north African ” revolutions”? Do you really know? Just work with probably a lot more Syrians than you. Syria is just a stepping stone
Once again Journal.ie serves as proxy of the propaganda machine and probably doesn’t even realise it. http://www.voltairenet.org/NATO-preparing-vast-disinformation
Stephen, First sentence from that piece, “In a few days, perhaps as early as Friday, ****June 15****, at noon, the Syrians wanting to watch their national TV stations will see them replaced on their screens by TV programs created by the CIA.”
That didn’t happen did it? Another conspiracy theory bites the dust.
Brilliant
Two weeks after the article was written :
From Examiner –
“U.S.backed terrorists in Syria target TV station”
http://article.wn.com/view/2012/06/27/USbacked_terrorists_in_Syria_target_TV_station/
Don’t react, Investigate and you will discover the war on Syrian journalism and the countless examples of editorial interference in regional and global reporting of the Syrian crisis.
Stephen, it’s full of “might have’s” and “possibilities” etc.. So the rebels blew up a government backed station, so what? The CIA are helping arm the rebels – good!
William, the Arab league report from a couple of days ago says that CIA, Mossad and MI6 have been on the ground for some time in Syria. To me thats a foreign invasion and if u believe that they are there for the good of the nation, then u have a pretty much skewed up vision of world.
William, obviously you haven’t done your research, your so called ‘rebels’ are terrorists. Rebels by their nature are indigenous people rebelling against tyranny in their homeland. Most of these ‘rebels’ are from beyond Syria, backed by NATO/CIA to destabilise a sovereign state. So, you are, hopefully unintentionally, supporting terrorism.
On the origonal issue you had, read the latest information regarding media control: “Syrian people warned against ‘fake TV channel’” http://www.presstv.ir/detail/251984.html
“We watched the FSA take captive a Syrian lieutenant colonel, and cut off his arms and legs.”
It is not correct for the article to state that the defeat of the Chapter 7 resolution leaves the 300 strong UN observer mission in Syria in limbo. Both China and Russia strongly supported the continuation of that mission but their efforts to pass a UN resolution specific to that was blocked by western powers.
It’s quite incredible that ostensibly sane, normal, work-a-day people in Ireland support these terrorists because, well, because they media has framed it such that they are the ‘good guys’. People need to do a bit more digging. I’m not a conspiracy theorist, but this one ain’t black and white folks, no matter how much you’d like it to be so.
Team America cheerleaders.
Yes. But they’re very quiet on this thread. They must be scratching their heads. Yesterday they had to try and justify suicide bombing, today’s it’s decapitation and execution. It’s a hard knock life!
Petr, I would like to remind you again that a few days ago you called this a civil war. Explain to me what a civil war is?
I think the video mentions something about Drogheda, towards the end, maybe they are coming for us ???
have your say