Assad to get his cut from Kuwait aid conference

By www.facebook.com/rev.multimediateam

I've heard it said that mixed feelings, like mixed drinks, confuse the soul and mind. So I don’t know whether to hail or wail tomorrow’s international pledging conference for Syria in Kuwait City.

Hail, because over four million people are in need of assistance in Syria, half of them in Aleppo, Homs and Rural Damascus, plus another 704,314 Syrian refugees in neighboring countries and North Africa.

Wail, because UN fundraisers have already earmarked at least a third of the required humanitarian response for the next six months to President Bashar al-Assad’s tentacles.

Tomorrow, heads of state and representatives from UN agencies and non-governmental organizations will gather at Bayan Palace in Kuwait City to attend the first-ever high-level International Humanitarian Pledging Conference for Syria.

The one-day conference will give member states an opportunity to continue supporting the much-needed humanitarian response. So far, only a small percentage of the funding has been received, limiting the ability of UN agencies and their humanitarian partners to reach people who desperately need help. 

Hosted by Kuwaiti Emir Sheikh Sabah al-Ahmed al-Sabah and chaired by UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, the conference will address the funding gaps for the Humanitarian Assistance Response Plan (HARP) for Syria and the Syria Regional Refugee Response (SRRP).

Together the plans seek $1.5 billion to assist millions of civilians affected by the Syria war over the next six months, including those inside the country as well as many others taking refuge beyond its borders.

About $1 billion is for the SRRP, which will support more than 700,000 refugees who have fled Syria to Jordan, Iraq, Lebanon, Turkey, Egypt and Algeria.

HARP requires more than $519 million to help over four million people inside Syria, including an estimated two million internally displaced persons.

Problem is the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UNOCHA) has unashamedly said all humanitarian assistance is, and will continue to be, delivered “with full respect to the sovereignty of the Syrian Arab Republic” during the implementation of this Response Plan.

“This Humanitarian Assistance Response Plan aims at supporting the Government of Syria’s efforts in providing humanitarian assistance to the affected populations.  It will cover the period from 1 January 2013 until the end of June 2013.  The financial requirements amount to $519,627,047,” according to unocha.org.

And here is how HARP will disburse the $519,627,047 to Assad’s government ministries:

Agriculture & Agrarian Reform: $196,896,716

Health: $81,905,133

Education: $23,024,800

Foreign Affairs: $9,438,752

Labor & Social Affairs: $20,547,692

Local Administration (Water, Sanitation and Hygiene): $43,417,139

Labor, Social Affairs, Local Administration and Municipalities (Non-Food Items and Shelter): $110,771,867

Agriculture & Agrarian Reform, Labor & Social Affairs and Local Administration Labor (Livelihoods): $19,670,111

Logistics, Emergency Telecom and Staff Safety Services: $13,954,837

I wonder if UN budget planners had the wisdom of consulting Assad about his own destruction chart for the next six months to at least work in synch.

The Syrian Expatriates Organization (SEO), the Union of Syrian Medical Relief Organizations (USMRO) and the Syrian Americans for Democracy (SAD) have all deplored the UN decision assigning Assad’s government to manage the humanitarian aid inside Syria.

The Local Coordination Committees, a network of grassroots activists in Syria, said the proposed aid amounted to "blatant support for the regime to continue its savage crimes to repress the Syrian revolution.”

The Syrian National Coalition of Revolutionary and Opposition Forces wondered in a statement, “Is it logical to provide aid to a regime responsible for destroying cities, bombing hospitals and bakeries and displacing a population, so it can fix the dire situation it created?”

It said, “Humanitarian aid to the widows and orphans, the hungry, wounded and displaced in Syria, should not be delivered to them through the same party that caused their suffering and pain, for it would be an added humiliation and degradation.”

Avaaz, the international activist network, has condemned the HARP plan as a “crazy handout” to the Syrian government. It has called for donors to bypass the Kuwait conference and give money instead to the relief efforts of “the Syrian National Coalition, the recognized and legitimate representative of the Syrian people.”

“Friends of Syria” blitz Mali but duck Assad

Bombs rained down on Aleppo University students before they could toss their caps (By Yasser Abu Hamed)

Only God knows why Mali matters so much to the French, British and other European "Friends of Syria," and not the decimation of 21 million Syrians.

Only God knows why the U.S. and Israel's saber rattling at Iran -- which has just given Syria a credit facility of $1 billion -- evaporated.

Only God knows why Russia -- which vetoed so far three UN Security Council draft resolutions threatening Damascus with sanctions -- this week endorsed a unanimous UNSC statement backing France's intervention in Mali.

Only God knows why Algeria -- which has consistently opposed intervention in Syria -- allowed French jets to use its airspace to intervene in Mali.

The imponderables are countless, but here is a rundown of fresh but cheerless news concerning Syria:

Homs massacre

More than 100 people were shot, stabbed and possibly burned to death in the Syrian city of Homs this week, in what a monitoring group said was a massacre by the army or militia loyal to President Bashar al-Assad.

The Britain-based monitoring group said women and children were among the 106 people killed by forces who stormed Basateen al-Hasawiya بساتين الحصوية, an impoverished district on the edge of town. (Read Reuters dispatch).

Detainees

The Syrian League for Human rights (SLHR) says more than one million Syrians – men, women and children – have been arbitrarily detained since the beginning of anti-government protests in mid-March 2011.

It says in a report 99% of them were tortured or otherwise ill-treated. Some were subjected to enforced disappearance.

It put the number of deaths under torture at 1,350. The figure excludes summary executions at homes, on the streets or at checkpoints and roadblocks.

SLHR estimates the present number of detainees at 165,000, about 6,000 of them females.

Students

Avaaz, the globe's largest and most powerful online activist network, issued the following appeal overnight:

Six hundred and seventy (670) students currently study in United Kingdom higher education institutions. Many have been threatened by their universities with immediate expulsion – some have already been expelled – if either they or their sponsors can no longer pay for their tuition fees, due to the conflict in Syria.

Syrian students in that case would then lose their student visas and their right to work, leaving them in impossible situations.

Also, the Syrian Government -- under the British Council’s Capacity Building Scheme -- sponsors at least 100 Syrian PhD students in the UK, and the Syrian authorities have stopped their funding and maintenance payments.

This has left these students in limbo, as they may not be allowed to complete their studies.

The lives of these 670 Syrian students are threatened – those who would lose their UK visas would be forced to return to Syria. And if they are suspected of taking part in protests against Assad's government, they could face detention, torture and even assassination at the hands of the Syrian regime.

The Foreign Secretary William Hague can ensure that Syrian students are able to continue their studies in the UK, including those who have already been expelled – like he did for the Libyan students affected by the conflict in 2011. Let's call on him, the Universities Minister David Willetts and his colleagues in Scotland to do the same for Syrian students. Please sign and share this petition widely!

The Avaaz petition

By this writing, the number of signers had exceeded 25,000. You can add your signature here.

Speaking of Syrian students, more than 85 of them were killed at Aleppo University on Tuesday. Here is what U.S. State Department spokesperson Victoria Nuland told reporters at the daily press briefing yesterday:

I have one statement at the top, and then we’ll go to what’s on your minds. This is with regard to the deadly attack on the University of Aleppo yesterday. The United States is appalled and saddened by the Syrian regime’s deadly attack yesterday on the University of Aleppo, which reportedly killed more than 80 people and injured more than 150.

According to eyewitnesses at the scene, regime planes launched aerial strikes on university facilities. We understand that most of the victims of this tragedy were students and refugees who had been housed at the university.

We condemn this despicable attack on unarmed civilians and continue to emphasize that those responsible for unlawful killings and other violations of international law will be identified and held accountable.

Our sympathies and condolences go out to all those devastated by this senseless tragedy. The Syrian people have already endured too much loss as a result of the Assad regime’s relentless attacks on its own people.

Chemicals

The Obama administration is still trying its hardest to shoot down a secret U.S. diplomats’ cable saying the Syrian military dropped an exotic chemical weapon on rebels during a December 23 attack in the city of Homs.

Read more about the diplomats’ cable in Foreign Policy’s exclusive by Josh Rogin, “Secret State Department cable: Chemical weapons used in Syria.”

Have two more journalists been killed in Syria?

Syria's Darkush township on the River Orontes (Photo from tripmondo.com)

Syrian security forces reportedly killed Monday two independent journalists of Algerian origin but holding British citizenship in Idlib province, where they were filming a documentary on the Syrian uprising.

Algeria’s Echorouk Online today names the two victims as Walid Boudina and Wassim Lazayzieh and says they were killed near Darkush, a small township on the River Orontes in the Idlib region.

Although Syrian activists on the ground and the London-based Human Rights Watch organization have confirmed news of the purported double killing, there has been no word on it in the British media or at the Foreign Office.

Protesters with portraits of the two Turkish journalists missing in Syria 

Two Turkish journalists -- Adem Özköse and Hamit Coşkun – went missing around Idlib on March 11. Their whereabouts remain unknown, but the general belief in Ankara is that regime’s shabiha allegedly handed them over to Syrian intelligence.

Özköse, a reporter from the Istanbul-based Gerçek Hayat magazine and the Milat daily, arrived with Coşkun, a cameraman, in Syria on March 5. They were last heard from on March 10.

In London, The Guardian quotes the campaign group Avaaz as saying a Syrian activist who helped injured journalists flee Babr Amr, in Homs, after Sunday Times correspondent Marie Colvin and French photographer Remi Ochlik were killed, has been arrested by government forces.

Avaaz says Jassim Khaled Diab, 35, was ambushed Saturday outside the village of Nazariya bordering Lebanon.

It describes Diab as "instrumental in securing the delivery of life-saving humanitarian aid to besieged cities and towns across Syria". It also credits him with evacuating the injured across the border into Lebanon so that they could receive appropriate medical care. Avaaz says he was trying to help one such person across the border when he was arrested. His companions managed to escape and transfer the injured person to a safe area.

According to Avaaz campaigner Wissam Tarif, “Jassim embodies the courage shown by the Syrian people who are locked in a bitter and bloody struggle against a murderous barbaric regime. Jassim has saved dozens of lives by evacuating patients across the border so that they could receive medical treatment and by delivering humanitarian aid to besieged cities. He was fighting for a brighter future.

“Avaaz believes the bloody Syrian regime will not hesitate to take revenge on Jassim because of the role he played in the Syrian revolution. At this time the brave activist is facing the worst kind of torture regularly used in the regime's prisons and detention centers. This torture could result in his death. We hold the Syrian regime fully responsible for his safety and demand his immediate release together with that of all activists and protesters arrested during the year.”

“Syrian Army to blitz Idlib after Baba Amr fall”

An official Syrian communiqué will announce “in the next few hours” the Syrian Army’s full takeover of the rebel-held district of Baba Amr in the restive central city of Homs.

This is according to the Beirut daily al-Akhbar, which is close to the regime of President Bashar al-Assad.

A report titled “Crucial Hours” on the paper’s front page states: “Damascus sources confirmed to al-Akhbar the Syrian Army has gained control of most parts of Baba Amr neighborhood and broke into its main streets after a 25-day blockade. The sources said the army was overnight flushing the remaining rebels out of hiding while guarding against mines and booby traps. They (the sources) expect the authorities to issue a communiqué in the next few hours announcing the area is now safe.”

The global campaign organization Avaaz announced Tuesday that “a network of Syrian activists” coordinated by the group “helped the international journalist Paul Conroy escape into Lebanon. He had been injured and trapped in Baba Amr for six days under continuous Syrian government shelling. The three other journalists Javier Espinosa, Edith Bouvier and William Daniels remain unaccounted for.

“Avaaz responded to requests from the journalists, their families and colleagues to attempt to evacuate them and worked with over 35 heroic Syrian activists each night who volunteered to help in the rescue.  

“The activists have offered to support in the evacuation every night since Remi Ochlik and Marie Colvin were killed by Syrian government shellfire last Wednesday, during which time they rescued 40 seriously wounded people from the same place and brought in medical supplies. Tragically this operation led to a number of fatalities as the Syrian Army targeted those escaping, during their bombardment of the city on Sunday evening. 13 activists were killed in the operation. Syrian targeted shelling killed three activists as they tried to assist the journalists through Baba Amr.  

“While Paul Conroy successfully escaped the city, ten activists died bringing relief supplies into Baba Amr...”

IDLIB NEXT

The Syrian Army’s next target after Baba Amr will be Idlib, according to a pro-Assad figure talking exclusively to Lebanese Hezbollah’s al-Manar news website.

Dr. Muhammad Darar Jamo, identified as “head of the political division and international relations of the International Organization for Arab Immigrants,” tells al-Manar in remarks published this morning: “The Syrian army is set to launch, within the coming 10 days, a major offensive in the north, starting in Idlib and extending to the borders with Turkey.”

Jamo said, “Calm on the Syrian-Turkish border is the kind of calm preceding a storm… specially that armed gangs consider Idlib a safe haven and an area of influence that is out of bounds for state authorities.”

In Turkey, meantime, activist Taner Kiliç, chair of the Executive Board of the Association of Solidarity with Refugees, explains in an article for Today’s Zaman how “Syrian asylum seekers have been sold out” by Ankara.

In the U.S. last week, Republican Senator John McCain called for arming Syrian insurgents against Assad regime repression.

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton disagreed with McCain’s plea during an interview Sunday with CBS News.



“We really don’t know who it is that would be armed,” Clinton said during a visit to Morocco. “Are we supporting al-Qaeda in Syria?” she said. “Hamas is now supporting the opposition. Are we supporting Hamas in Syria?”

All these news tidbits justify the title of an exceptional essay I read last night, "The Syrian Uprising of 2011; Why the Assad Regime is Likely to Survive to 2013."

The author is Dr. Joshua Landis, a highly respected Syria expert and associate professor and director of the Center for Middle East Studies at the University of Oklahoma. He wrote the piece for the journal of the Middle East Policy Council.

You can read it here.

Smuggle hope into Syria

(Photo from Avaaz.org)

You can “smuggle hope into Syria” by following this link to Avaaz org:

https://secure.avaaz.org/en/smuggle_hope_into_syria_q/?copy