The Daily Monitoring Report – Saturday – 14-07-2012

July 14^th, 2012

- Some 100 people were martyred at the hands of the Assad forces during yesterday’s demonstrations called Friday of “Toppling Annan, servant of Al-Assad and Iran.” Fierce clashes between the Free Syrian Army (FSA) fighters and Al-Assad’s forces in some Damascus districts were reported. Meanwhile, the UN observer mission arrived in the Hama town of Tremseh, which witnessed a new massacre claiming 220 lives.⁽²⁾

Field Mobility

- Demonstrations broke out in all Syrian governorates, condemning the Tremseh massacre. Syrian opposition accuses the regime’s forces and the Shabiha militia of committing such carnage after bombing the town by heavy weapons. The opposition also blamed the massacres on the international remissness in dealing with the Assad regime.^(1)(2)(4)

- Since Friday early morning, massive demonstrations took place in the Damascus neighborhoods of Bab Srija, Al-Qadam, Al-Mezzeh, Al-Qaboun, Al-Maidan, Kafr Sousa and Al-Asali demanding the fall of the regime, putting killers of the Syrian people to trial, as well as backing Hama’s Tremseh, which saw a horrific massacre last Thursday.⁽¹⁾⁽⁴⁾

Political Mobility

- Abdel Basit Sida, head of the Syrian National Council (SNC), calls on the UN Security Council to immediately meet to discuss how to protect the Syrian people from massacres committed by the Damascus regime, as well as conducting an international investigation in the past, present and future massacres in Syria. Sida also asked the Arab League to hold an emergency meeting for foreign ministers to discuss ways and means of protecting people of Syrian, “even if that required sending Arab forces” there.⁽²⁾

- In a statement, the Muslim Brotherhood group in Syria said, “It is not only the monster Bashar Al-Assad, who is responsible for the horrible crime in Tremseh, but also the UN-Arab envoy Kofi Annan, the Russians and the Iranians, as well as all countries of the world claiming responsibility for protecting world peace and stability, but, when it comes to the crunch, they keep silent and doge.”⁽²⁾

Internal Situation

- Activists from the Hama rural town of Tremseh reported that there were 600 injured people in the town who are in need of treatment.⁽⁶⁾

- The Syrian state news agency SANA accused what it called as “Bloodthirsty Media” of collaboration with the armed gangs in killing the people of the Hama rural town of Tremseh!.⁽⁷⁾

Activities of Civil Organizations

- Amnesty International called for conducting an investigation into the killings in Syria’s Tremseh town. In addition, Amnesty International said that that matter proves that the Syrian government must allow U.N. monitors access to all parts of the country with a view to carrying out independent investigations into the violations of the human rights.⁽¹⁾⁽²⁾

Political Stances

Arab

- The Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi and his Tunisian counterpart Moncef Marzouki expressed their countries’ full support for the Syrian people and their revolution, but they rejected the military foreign interference in Syria.⁽¹⁾⁽²⁾

- Arab League secretary general Nabil Al-Araby condemned the crime against the innocent civilians in the Syrian town of Tremseh in the countryside of Hama. In a statement, Al-Araby said the Syrian government was responsible for this crime which showed the use of heavy weapons like artillery, tanks and helicopters against citizens. The UN Security Council (UNSC) and particularly the five permanent members have no options but to issue a resolution under Chapter VII to force the Syrian government stop the killing and violence against civilians, as well as implement Kofi Annan’s six-point plan to start political transition, said Al-Araby. ⁽¹⁾⁽²⁾

International

- The United Nations held the Assad regime responsible for the Tremseh massacre.⁽⁵⁾

- Organization of Islamic Cooperation called on the UN Security Council to “take all necessary measures on Syria immediately, to end the bloodshed in Syria and protect the Syrian people.”⁽²⁾

- The UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon warned that in case the UN Security Council failed to take a unified action for pressurizing Bashar Al-Assad to stop violence, it would be regarded as “a license for him to commit further massacres”. He also added that the UN Security Council “should deliver a strong message to the whole world to the effect that there would be catastrophic consequences “in case the peace plan brokered by Annan was not respected.”⁽¹⁾⁽²⁾

- UN special envoy Kofi Annan said he was “shocked and appalled” by news of “intense fighting, significant casualties, and the confirmed use of heavy weaponry such as artillery, tanks and helicopters” in the village of Tremseh. “I condemn these atrocities in the strongest possible terms,” Annan said in a statement. He also pointed out that what had happened in Tremseh village can be regarded as a violation of the Assad government’s pledge not to use the heavy weaponry in the residential areas.^{(1)(2)(3)(5)(6)(7)}

- The White House said on Friday that reports of the Tremseh massacre had eliminated any doubt over the need for a coordinated international response. “Through these repeated efforts, through these repeated acts of violence against the Syrian people, President Assad has lost legitimacy to lead. It is time for him to go,” White House spokesman Josh Earnest said.^(1)(2)(3)

- European Union (EU) condemned the massacre, asserting that it is a flagrant violation of the Arab and international envoy to Syria Kofi Annan’s plan. It also considered that the use of tanks and helicopters “is a crime whose perpetrators should be brought to book.”⁽¹⁾⁽²⁾

- French president Francois Hollande condemned the massacre, warning both Russia and China against not taking actions towards Syria, as it would lead to chaos and war.⁽²⁾⁽³⁾

- Canada’s Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird said that what had happened in Taramseh “unforgivable”. He also called on the UN Security Council to agree about a resolution on Syria.⁽²⁾

- Russia condemned the massacre committed in Tremseh village, calling for conducting an immediate investigation into that massacre. It also considered that what had happened only benefits those who want to foment sectarian war.^(1)(2)(3)(5)

- “Israeli” and Western officials said that the Assad regime has secretly begun moving parts of its vast arsenal of chemical weapons out of storage facilities. But, it is not clear whether that operation aims at safeguarding the material from his opponents or to complicate Western powers’ efforts to track the weapons or for any other purpose.⁽²⁾⁽³⁾

- The Western States think that the Assad regime has the largest undeclared chemical weapons arsenal in the world, including the Sulfur mustard and VX (nerve agent).  Reports of Western media pointed out that the storage facilities of those chemical weapons are located in some 6 cities and towns, including the capital Damascus, Latakia, Hama and near Aleppo.⁽²⁾⁽³⁾

-  Iran’s armed forces chief accused Turkey and Jordan of allowing rebel fighters into Syria to undermine security and stability there and urged them to seal off their borders. “It is the duty of Syria’s Muslim neighbors to refrain from backing the terrorists,” armed forces chief of staff General Hassan Firouzabadi was quoted as saying. “Turkey and Jordan should close their borders to terrorists,” he added.⁽²⁾

- The chief UN observer Robert Mood asserted that the Assad regime bombed Taramseh city in Hama countryside before the massacre, using tanks and helicopters, noting that the international monitors are ready to enter the city after reaching a truce there. He also called on the international community to settle its differences to be able to solve the crisis.^(5)(6)(7)

Sources

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