The Daily Monitoring Report – Monday – 16-07-2012

July 16^th, 2012

- Some 95 people were martyred by the Assad forces’ gunfire Sunday. Clashes, which were described as the heaviest fighting since the start of the Syrian revolution, were reported in several Damascus neighborhoods.^(1)(2)(3)(4)

Field Mobility

- Night demonstrations were staged in the Damascus neighborhoods of Al-Qaboun, Jobar, Barzeh, Kafr Sousa, Al-Baramkeh, Al-Hajar Al-Aswad, Al-Souweqah and Al-Qudsaya in support of Al-Tadamon district. The protests also called for more support to the Free Syrian Army (FSA), as well as the removal of the Assad regime.⁽¹⁾⁽²⁾Political Mobility

- Abdel Basit Sida, head of the Syrian National Council (SNC), stressed the need for international intervention in Syria after Tremseh massacre before it is too late, warning of explosion of the entire Middle East if situation continued as it is, which would threaten security and peace in the region and the whole world.⁽¹⁾⁽²⁾

- Samir Nashir, member of the Syrian National Council (SNC)’s executive office, said the SNC will not speak to any mediators whether they are Iranian, Syrian or Russian, adding, “There is no need for meetings or talks with Al-Assad. Al-Assad needs to go to the International Criminal Court for the crimes he committed.”^(1)(2)(3)

- Nawaf Al-Fares, the Syrian ambassador to Iraq that has recently defected from the Assad regime, said that he helped his country’s regime to send Jihdist units to Iraq to fight against the US forces following the American invasion and fall of the late president Saddam Hussein. Al-Fares added that the Jihadist units are involved in a series of suicide bombings in Syria under direct instructions from the Assad regime in the hope that such bombings will be blamed on the revolutionists.⁽¹⁾⁽²⁾

Internal Situation

- Sawsan Ghosheh, the spokesperson for the UN Supervision Mission in Syria, said that the mission “called on the Syrian government to stop using heavy weapons in the highly populated areas and take all required measures to curtail injuries among the civilians’ ranks.” She also asserted that the Assad battalions” used direct and indirect weapons, including artillery, mortars and light weapons” in their attack against Tremseh, Hama countryside.⁽⁴⁾

Political Stances

Syria

- Syria denied on Sunday accusations by special envoy Kofi Annan that it used heavy weapons or helicopters in clashes in the village of Tremseh last week, saying his comments about the fighting, which activists called a massacre, were “rushed”. Jihad Makdissi, spokesman for Syria’s Foreign Ministry, said security forces killed 37 fighters and two civilians in a campaign against the town in central Hama, from which the government said rebels were launching attacks on other areas. “Government forces did not use planes, or helicopters, or tanks or artillery. The heaviest weapon used was an RPG (rocket propelled grenade),” Makdissi told reporters at a news conference in Damascus. He also added that the Syrian air forces used only a helicopter for intelligence purposes.^(1)(2)(3)(4)

Arab

- Commenting on the Tremseh massacre, Arab League Secretary General Nabil al-Arabi said that there was a “clear pattern of ethnic cleansing” to be seen in Syria, and called for steps under Chapter VII of the UN Charter, which permits enforcement action such as sanctions and, potentially, the use of force. Speaking at the African Union summit in Addis Ababa, al-Arabi said that “the delay in adopting a resolution to end the bloodshed in Syria is no longer acceptable.” ⁽²⁾

International

- UN-Arab League envoy to Syria Kofi Annan would head for Moscow this week with a view to considering the developments of the Syrian file with the Russian officials.⁽⁶⁾⁽⁷⁾

- The International Committee of the Red Cross has said it now considers the Syrian conflict a civil war, as activists reported intense battles between rebels and government forces in the capital, Damascus, which means that those responsible for the killings would be put on trial for war crimes.^(5)(6)(7)

- Alexis Heeb, an International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) spokesman in Geneva, said, “Now there are many places in Syria that fulfill requirements to be called a non- international armed conflict, and the situation is fluid and constantly evolving.” “What matters is that humanitarian law applies across the country, and that means civilians and those no longer taking part in the conflict are protected,” Heeb added.⁽⁵⁾⁽⁶⁾

- The Iranian Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi said Sunday that Tehran was ready to meet with Syrian opposition groups in order to promote dialogue between them and the Syrian government. “The Islamic Republic of Iran is ready to have meetings with Syrian dissidents in order to facilitate talks between government and Syrian dissidents,” said Salehi. Salehi also added, “We believe that the Syrian issue should be resolved through a Syrian-Syrian solution, and nothing, no rule, and no government, should be imposed (on Syria) from outside.”^(2)(3)(4)

Sources

1	Asharq Al-Awsat
2	Aljazeera net
3	Reuters
4	AFP
5	AP
6	Guardian
7	Telegraph