The Daily Monitoring Report – Tuseday – 10-07-2012

July 10^th, 2012

- Yesterday, 89 people were martyred by the Assad forces’ gunfire, mostly in Deir Al-Zour and Idlib. Confrontations between the Free Syrian Army and the government forces reached the heart of the Syrian capital of Damascus.⁽¹⁾⁽²⁾

Political Mobility

- The Syrian National Council slams the UN-Arab envoy Kofi Annan’s visit to Damascus. In a statement, the SNC said that Annan chose, despite the continued killings in Syria, to meet with the Assad regime’s key figures, while all participants in the Friends of Syria meeting in Pars were astonished at his absence.⁽⁴⁾

- The Syrian National Council (SNC) is expected to take part in talks called for by Moscow. The meeting will be held on tomorrow Wednesday. A delegation of 10 members led by the group’s head Abdel Bassit Sida will attend the meeting.^(2)(3)(4)

- Following talks held between a delegation of Syrian opposition figures with the Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, Syrian opposition figure Michel Kilo, head of the Democratic Forum, said the delegation suggested that Russia accept a transition period starting with departure of Al-Assad, nominating Brigadier General Manaf Tlass, one of Syria’s top Sunni military figures from the Inner-circle of Bashar al-Assad that have recently defected, to lead that period.⁽¹⁾⁽²⁾     

- Syrian opposition figure Samir Aita said, “The transition period must begin with Assad’s departure,” adding, “A national government must be created, and in order to do that, a national conference, where all representatives of the Syrian population would express their opinions, needs to take place.”⁽³⁾

Political Stances

Syria

- The Syrian Foreign Ministry Spokesman Jihad Makdisi said “In both meetings, we reassured the UN-Arab envoy Kofi Annan of Syria’s commitment to implement the six-point plan and hoped (the) other side is mutually committed.”^(1)(2)(3)(4)

Arab

- The Jordanian government agreed to establish emergency camps for refugees. Jordan hosts about 140,000 Syrians who sought refuge in it to escape violence in their country. The number of Syrian refugees pouring into Jordan increases on a daily basis.⁽⁴⁾

International

- The UN-Arab envoy Kof Annan said that he agreed with Bashar Al-Assad on the need to achieve progress towards political dialogue, without giving details about the transition plan agreed by the big powers and the Arab countries. Annan added that he had a positive and constructive discussion with President Assad on ways and means to end violence. He added, “We agreed on an approach to end violence in the country, which I will discuss with the armed opposition.”^(1)(2)(3)(4)

- A United Nations source says that the UN-Arab envoy to Syria Kofi Annan believes that the Iranian role is necessary to resolve the Syrian crisis, as Tehran can use its good relation with the Assad regime to reach a solution ending violence.⁽¹⁾⁽²⁾

- Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov says his country is interested in implementation of what came in the final statement of the international conference on Syria, which was held in Geneva, i.e. stopping violence, and forging ahead with a political process that gives parties the right to self-determination.⁽¹⁾⁽²⁾

- The Russian news agency (Interfax) quoted the Russian the Federal Service for Military Technical Cooperation as saying that Russia would not deliver Yak-130 fighter planes or other new arms to Syria while the situation there remained unresolved. Interfax added that Vyacheslav Dzirkaln, deputy director of the Federal Service for Military Technical Cooperation, said talk about the delivery of fighter aircrafts to Syria under the current situation is premature.^{(1)(2)(3)(6)(7)}

- Iran’s Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi said the Syrian people should be left to choose their president in elections due in 2014, calling on countries that are concerned with the Syrian crisis should avoid, until then, aggravating the bloodshed by interfering in the conflict on the ground.⁽²⁾⁽³⁾

Sources

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