Syria recovers bodies of Colvin and Ochlik

State-run Syrian Arab News Agency (SANA) says the Syrian Army has today disinterred the bodies of two foreign journalists -- Marie Colvin of the United States and Javier Espinosa of Spain -- and French photographer Remi Ochlik after storming the Baba Amr district of Homs on Thursday.

Colvin and Ochlik were killed in the army’s mortar attacks on the neighborhood last week. But Espinosa is alive and tweeting (presumably from Beirut), “SANA mistake about my death can be based in my computer. I left everything on the spot when I had to run for my life.”

SANA said “competent authorities at Baba Amr” exhumed the bodies “following humanitarian-motivated strenuous efforts of search and follow up” after “foreign-backed armed terrorists” were flushed out of the area.

A foreign ministry source quoted by SANA said the bodies are to be transferred to a Damascus hospital for “DNA analysis, to be matched with DNA received from the victims respective countries, before being handed over to the embassies of Poland (representing U.S. interests in Syria), France and Spain the presence of Syrian Red Crescent and International Red Cross representatives.

The source offered “Syria’s condolences to the families of the three journalists,” hoping “foreigners would avoid entering the country illegally” and going to terrorist-controlled areas.

In its first statement on Syria in seven months, the UN Security Council yesterday deplored the rapidly deteriorating humanitarian situation in Syria and called on the government to grant UN humanitarian chief Valerie Amos "immediate and unhindered access.

Syria’s Champress today quotes a Syrian foreign ministry spokesman as saying, “We were surprised by Valerie Amos’ arrival in the region and her request to travel to Syria on a date that did not suit us. We are willing to consult with her on a mutually convenient date for her visit to Damascus.”

The Security Council press statement required agreement of all 15 Council members, including Russia and China, who vetoed two previous Syria resolutions.

Council President Mark Lyall Grant said, "The power of the statement is that it has all 15 members of the Security Council supporting it."

Full text of the press statement:

The members of the Security Council express their deep disappointment that the Syrian Government did not grant Ms. Valerie Amos, United Nations Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator, authorization to visit Syria in a timely manner, despite repeated requests and intense diplomatic contacts aimed at securing Syrian approval.  The members of the Security Council call upon the Syrian authorities to grant the coordinator immediate and unhindered access.

The members of the Security Council deplore the rapidly deteriorating humanitarian situation, in particular the growing number of affected civilians, the lack of safe access to adequate medical services, and food shortages, particularly in areas affected by fighting and violence such as Homs, Hama, Deraa and Idlib. 

The members of the Security Council call upon the Syrian authorities to allow immediate, full and unimpeded access of humanitarian personnel to all populations in need of assistance, in accordance with international law and guiding principles of humanitarian assistance.  They call upon all parties in Syria, in particular the Syrian authorities, to cooperate fully with the United Nations and relevant humanitarian organizations to facilitate the provision of humanitarian assistance and allow evacuation of the wounded from affected areas.

Nothing bright for Syria yet -- just blues

Homs victims Remi Ochlik and Mary Colvin (photos from dailymail.co.uk)

Barack Obama sang Sweet Home Chicago at a White House blues concert on Tuesday night. But Lebanese political analyst Zuhair Qusaybati suggests it’s the U.S. president himself who continues giving the beleaguered Syrians the blues.

Writing today for the pan-Arab Saudi-owned daily al-Hayat, of which he is the Beirut bureau chief, Qusaybati says he can only hear what he calls “The Tune of Deceit in Syria.”

Qusaybati explains:

Obama sings the blues… Why not? The president finds the time for a concert at the White House and is good at entertaining guests. He is also good at biting Iran with his teeth of “sanctions” and Syria with the teeth of “isolation.” He is also playing the strings for the “Arab Spring” at no cost to America.

An American journalist and a French photographer were killed in Syria hours after the blues concert at the White House. The likely misjudgment of Mary Colvin and Remi Ochlik, was that they hastened to Homs to find out the truth about who is killing whom and who is opposing what.

Wasn’t that supposed to be the job of Gen. Martin Dempsey, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, who still does not know who the Syrian regime opponents are or what “their nature” is? It seems America’s Director of National Intelligence James Clapper is better informed about the opposition’s “disorganization.” But he comes to a decision that the opposition allowed al-Qaeda to infiltrate its ranks. Accordingly, responsibility for the massacres in Homs and elsewhere is apportioned equally among “terrorists,” armed insurgents and soldiers under orders to foil the “conspiracy.”

Obama sings the blues while bereaved survivors of Syria’s killing machine can’t even bury their dead. And while Obama sings, Damascus plays the Russian tune and Vladimir Putin pumps his muscles before returning to the presidency in a few days.

After his heavy verbal bombardment of the Syrian regime, Turkey’s Recep Tayyip Erdogan is meanwhile keeping his ears open to Obama’s chords and the Kremlin’s melodies. At the same time, he is biding his time to get to know the “Friends of Syria” who will be assembling in Tunis tomorrow. He might also be waiting for the results of next Sunday’s “referendum” on Syria’s new constitution that will purportedly end the Baath’s one-party rule.

Despite their clash at the UN and in the Security Council, Washington and Moscow are ironically one in casting doubt on the identity, goals and intentions of the Syrian opposition.

The White House’s “conscience” supposedly cannot put up with “militarization.” Hence, it continues to hedge its bets on the Syrian regime buckling under the weight of “soft sanctions.” Russia, in turn, gloats over the mantra of seeking to avert the dire fallouts of the “conspiracy.” Even humanitarian corridors are anathema to the Russians. Their sequential priorities: reform steps, cessation of violence and then humanitarian aid to whoever survives.

Syrian citizens are looking for friends. They are searching for graves to bury victims of a killing machine hiding at the rear of a joint American-Russian blitz on the legitimacy of the Syrian opposition and behind requiem music for the repose of national dialogue.

Obama sings the blues, Putin plays the requiem soundtrack and Erdogan is pricking up his ears.