The Daily Monitoring Report – Monday – 23-07-2012

July 23^rd, 2012

- Some 109 people were martyred at the hands of the Assad forces in different places in Syria, including 50 martyrs in Damascus and Rif Dimashq. Al-Assad troops escalated their military operations against Damascus in an attempt to confront the Free Syrian Army. Clashes also got worse in Aleppo. ⁽²⁾

Political Mobility

- The Syrian National Council sounded a defiant note in an overnight statement, saying fierce clashes in cities across the country were a sign that the opposition was “at the gates of victory.” SNC spokesman George Sabra said in a statement the heavy fighting that has broken out in Damascus and the country’s second city Aleppo in recent days was an important sign of rebel progress. “What is happening in Damascus and Aleppo and other Syrian towns in recent days is a crucial step to establish a new phase of history in our country and the region as well,” he said. Sabra also called on the Syrian population to back the rebels, urging them to do their best “to facilitate the new birth of their nation after the fall of tyranny,” “The last step could be very dangerous. We are at the gates of victory.” He added.⁽⁴⁾

- Burhan Ghalioun, ex-leader and current political bureau chief of the Syrian National Council (SNC), said that the notion of any political solution to the Syrian crisis has become ineffective in terms of the continued killings on the part of the Assad regime against its people. He also asserted that all people currently feel that the regime is over, and the matter is now related to thinking in post-Assad era and to any extent the Arab States would be able to help the Syrians get the power transferred and avoid any possible chaos.⁽²⁾   

Internal Situation

- The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) Spokesperson Ali Bibi asserted that the UNHCR- in cooperation with the Jordan Hashemite Charity Organization- is working on the preparation of the first batch of tanks that would be ready to receive 5,000 refugees within 48 hours’ time. He also noted that the UNHCR’s teams are currently working on preparing 700 tanks in almokhayam camp that includes all main requirements, adding that the camp’s area hits about 8 kilo Meters and can house 113,000 Syrian refugees in case all the camp’s area was used.⁽²⁾

Activities of Civil Organizations

- Rami Abdul-Rahman, director of the British-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, said “Since the eruption of battles in Damascus on last Sunday some 1,261 people were killed, including 931 civilians, 299 elements affiliated to the Syrian security forces and 31 defectors.”, noting that “the number of the civilians includes the ordinary people who carried weapons against the regime”.⁽³⁾⁽⁴⁾

Political Stances

Syria

- Bashar Al-Assad appointed Ali Abdallah Ayoub as Chief of Staff to succeed Fahd Jassem al-Freij who has been recently appointed as defense minister.⁽¹⁾⁽²⁾

- State television in Syria broadcast pictures from Al-Midan district through which it said that the security forces have “purged” it of armed men, claiming that life was beginning to get back to normal and the inhabitants also started to return to their homes.⁽²⁾⁽⁴⁾

- Syrian authorities accused the West on Sunday of planning to “hijack” the country’s satellite television channels to broadcast misinformation about an alleged coup or defections. “An information ministry source warned that Western intelligence are planning, in cooperation with some Arab parties, to hijack the frequencies of Syrian satellite channels,” state news agency SANA reported.⁽⁴⁾

Arab

- The Arab League (AL) will offer Syrian President Bashar al-Assad “a safe exit” if he resigns quickly and leaves the country, a senior Arab League official said, marking the latest attempt to get Syria’s longtime ruler to step down and end more than a year of daily bloodshed. The AL also called for immediately forming a transitional government in Syria that enjoys all competences and includes the opposition forces from inside and outside, and the Free Syrian Army (FSA) to facilitate the “peaceful transition of power”.⁽⁴⁾

- The Prime Minister and Qatari Foreign Minister Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al-Thani did not discuss an exit plan when speaking with reporters after the Sunday meeting, but confirmed “there is an agreement on the need for the swift resignation” of Assad. “We call on the opposition and the Free Syrian Army to form a government of national unity,” Sheikh Hamad said. He also called for holding democratic elections and drafting a democratic constitution after the formation of the government of national unity in Syria.^(1)(2)(3)

International

- Turkey has sent batteries of ground-to-air missiles to the border with Syria, boosting its firepower as rebels in Syria seized several border posts. A train convoy carrying several batteries of missiles arrived in Mardin in southeastern Turkey and will be transferred to several army units deployed on the border.^(1)(2)(4)

- Syrian government has a responsibility to safeguard its stockpiles of chemical weapons, and the international community will hold accountable any Syrian officials who fail to meet that obligation,” White House spokesman Jay Carney said.⁽⁴⁾

- The Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak decided to shut the Malaysian Embassy in Damascus as a precautionary measure and momentarily remove the ambassador and other officials, after the evacuation exercise was completed.⁽²⁾

- The situation in Syria is “calm,” requiring no repatriation of Iranian citizens there, Iranian Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi said on Sunday. “Syria is calm and Iranian nationals who are there have no problem and there is no need to conduct any special action” for them, Salehi was quoted as saying.⁽¹⁾⁽⁴⁾

Sources

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