The Daily Monitoring Report – Wednesday – 08-08-2012

 August 8^th, 2012

- Some 257 people were martyred at least at the hands of Al-Assad’s forces, mostly inAleppo,Damascus, Rif Dimashq andHoms. Districts in centralAleppowitnessed fierce clashes between the governmental army and the Free Syrian Army (FSA) that controlled theCriminalSecurityBuildingand popular army building in the city. The defected Prime Minister Riad Hijab arrived inJordan. (2)

Filed Mobility:

- A demonstration took place in Bab Sraija district in the middle ofDamascusfor denouncing bombing the residential areas. (2)

Political Mobility:

- Fawaz Al-Nasser, representative of the Kurdish bloc in the Syrian Revolution’s Board of Trustees, which has been announced inCairoearlier this month, says that the Assad regime will only be toppled by military force. Al-Nasser called on the Islamic summit, which will be held inMeccain a few days, to adopt a unified Islamic, humane and Arab stance to help the displaced Syrian people. “Irandeals with the Levant as if it was theprovinceofKermanshah,” said Al-Nasser, criticizing the Iranian and Russian support for the Assad regime. (1)

Internal Situation:

- The State’s authority is now missed in most the city ofAleppo’s neighborhoods. Markets of Al-Sha’ar district became the only market capable of attracting the rest of people ofAleppo’s neighboring areas. A number of citizens expressed their outrage over what they described as remissness on the part of the international community to support them in the face of the daily killings. (2)

Activities of Civil Organizations:

- The World Health Organization (WHO) said many of the main drugs factories inSyriahave closed down, causing severe shortages of medicines for treating chronic diseases and a rising number of casualties. Hospitals and health care centers stopped working due to lack of medical personnel or supplies. (3)

Political Stances:

Syria

- Bashar Al-Assad emphasized that he is determined to purge the country of what he described as “terrorists” and to relentlessly combat “terrorism”. (2) (3) (4)

Arab

- In an interview with theUSnetwork CBS, Jordanian King Abdullah II warned of withdrawal of the Assad forces to the Alawite area in northwestSyria. Abdullah added that he felt that Al-Assad might try to form an “Alawite enclave” if he failed to rule Greater Syria, adding, “For us, I think that would be the worst scenario, because that would mean the partitioning of Greater Syria.” (2) (4)

International

- UN observers have been moved out of the besieged Syrian city ofAleppobecause of worsening security, a UN spokesperson said on Monday. The approximately 20 unarmed observers were moved back to the mission’sDamascusheadquarters at the weekend. “It is a temporary relocation because of the deteriorating security,” Josephine Guerrero, a UN peacekeeping spokesperson, said.” (1)

- Turkish Foreign Ministry strongly condemned comments by Iranian Chief of General Staff Hasan Firuzabadi blamingAnkarafor the bloodshed inSyriaand warningTurkeyit would be next, as baseless and inappropriate. “We strongly condemn statements of baseless accusations and inappropriate threats against our country by some Iranian officials,” Turkish Foreign Ministry statement said. Moreover, Turkish Foreign Ministry urgedIranto preserve neighborly relations.   (2) (3) (4)

- White House spokesman Jay Carney warned that “Assad’s growing despair may increase his violence” in the last stage of his rule, asserting that the next step after the defection of Hijab, who joined the opposition, is the Assad departure and planning for the post-Assad era in consultation with the allies and friends. (1)

- Said Jalili, an envoy fromIran’s Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said that theSyriaconflict ”is not an internal issue but a struggle between the (anti-Israeli) axis of resistance, and the enemies of this axis,” Jalili told reporters from Al Mayadeen TV. ”Iranwill in no way allow the axis of resistance to be broken, andSyriais an essential lynchpin of this axis,” he added. (2) (3) (4)

- Iranian parliament speaker Ali Larijani said theU.S., along with some regional countries are responsible for the incident with the kidnapped Iranians, adding that they will get a proper response, in time. Larijani, in a speech in parliament aired on Iranian television, said: “In the name of Islam, some of these governments have launched killings and even treat Iranian pilgrims inSyriawith violence. These crimes are not something the Iranian nation will disregard. “The American regime and some countries in the region are responsible for these crimes. And they will receive their response in turn.”  He added. (3)

Sources

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