The Daily Monitoring Report – Wednesday – 01-08-2012

August 1^st, 2012

- Some 86 people were martyred at the hands of Al-Assad’s battalions, mostly in Aleppo, Damascus, Rif Dimashq, Idlib and Deir Al-Zour. The Free Syrian Army (FSA) tightened control over AleppoCitywhich faces fierce clashes for the 12^th day in a row between Al-Assad troops and the FSA which did not hesitate to use aerial shelling to strike the security premises held by the FSA. (2)    

      Political Mobility

- Syrian opposition figure Haytham al-Maleh announced the formation of the Council of Syrian Revolutionary Trustees inCairo. The council would comprise 15 opposition figures under the chairmanship of Al-Maleh and two deputies. He added that it was agreed on forming a presidential council, and he was entrusted with forming a transitional government. (1)(2)(3)(4)

-  Al-Maleh said the new alliance would be tantamount to an alternative to the Syrian National Council which failed to help the Syrian Revolution. He added that the new alliance would work for getting more support to the opposition. (3)

- Abdul Basit Sida, chairman of the Syrian National Council, described the establishment of the Council of Syrian Revolutionary Trustees as “an unconsidered step that we hoped it would not have been taken”, adding that “forming the transitional government or any other government in this way would weaken the opposition”. (2) (4)

    Internal Situation:

- The Syrian National Council announced Deir Al-Zour as “a war-torn city”, noting in a statement that the city has been subject to a stifling siege since more than a month by the Al-Assad’s regime. This led to an acute shortage of basic foodstuffs, medicines and requirements of surgeries. (1) (4)

     Activities of Civil Organizations:

- Secretary General of Organization of Islamic Conference (OIC) Dr Akmal El Din Ihsan Oglo said the organization calls for exerting more human efforts and cooperation between international and regional organizations for delivering an urgent humanitarian aid to the Syrians in Syrian and the neighboring countries. He added thatSyrianeeds some $500 million aid. (3)

 - Kristalina Georgieva, the European Commissioner for International Cooperation, Humanitarian Aid and Crisis Response, said the fights taking place all overSyriarecall to memory the dismantling ofYugoslaviain the 1990s, adding thatSyriais slipping to a large-scale humanitarian tragedy which recalls horrible memories about the formerYugoslavia. (2) (3)

Political stances

Syria

- An official with the Syrian Arab Airlines said that the company gradually started, this week, to stop its flights to the European Union (EU)’s states, because those states prevented the planes affiliated to the aforementioned company from landing in their airports under the recent wave of sanctions. (4)

Arab

- TheKingdomofSaudi Arabia’s cabinet warned against deterioration of humanitarian situation inSyriaas a result of massacres and acts of violence which led to the current plight of Syrian refugees, and urged the international community to assume its responsibilities in ending such brutal acts of violence constantly being committed by the Syrian regime against the Syrian people. (1)

- Arab League Secretary-General Nabil El-Araby “welcomed the French call for an urgent meeting of the Security Council at the foreign minister level to discuss developments of the dangerous situation inSyriaand take the necessary measures to halt ongoing military operations.” (2) (3)

International

- Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan and U.S. President Barack Obama discussed how they could work together to speed up political transition inSyriaduring a telephone call, Erdogan’s office said. “In the talks, they took up the co-ordination of efforts to accelerate the process of political transition in Syria, including Bashar al-Assad leaving the administration and the meeting of the Syrian people’s legitimate demands,” a statement from Erdogan’s office said.)  1) (2) (3) (4)

-USDefense Sec. Leon Panetta said thatSyria’s government forces should remain intact after embattled President Assad is ousted. Panetta also warned that theUSwould not repeat the mistakes it made inIraq. “It’s very important that we don’t make the same mistakes we made inIraq,” he said, referring to the Bush administration’s decision to disband the country’s military in the wake of the invasion. “I think it’s important when Assad leaves, and he will leave, to try to preserve stability in that country.” He added. (2)

- Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Gennady Gatilov said on Twitter: “Situation is really critical inAleppo. It is clear that biased media by all means try to do work for the opposition when the latter fails.” (2)

- The Russian government has upgraded the status of the Syrian conflict, adding the country to the list of nations “in the state of emergency or military conflict,” in line with a decree issued by Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev. Previously,Syriawas listed as a country with a “complicated social and political situation.” (2)

Sources

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