Russia Begins Operations in Syria: End Game for the US Empire?

[angelburst29]

The Russian military accompanied a UN humanitarian convoy to the Rukban refugee camp near the Syria-Jordan-Iraq border, as shown in footage released by the Russian Ministry of Defence on Wednesday.

2019-02-07 - Russian military enters US-held Tanf Zone to deliver aid to Rukban Camp (video)
https://www.almasdarnews.com/articl...anf-zone-to-deliver-aid-to-rukban-camp-video/


“This is the second humanitarian convoy organised by the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement alongside the UN which is headed towards the Rukban refugee camp,” said Yamin Keirut, a spokesperson for the groups.

Keirut added that preparation of the convoy “took about a month” with “hundreds of people” collecting food and humanitarian aid.

Fifteen Russian military vehicles and 60 officers provided defense for the convoy on its journey to its destination close to the United States’ Al-Tanf military base.

Armenia carried out a large-scale humanitarian mission inside the historical city of Aleppo, today, fulfilling their promise to Syria late last year.

2019-02-08 - Armenia carries out large-scale humanitarian mission in Aleppo
https://www.almasdarnews.com/article/armenia-carries-out-large-scale-humanitarian-mission-in-aleppo/


The 83-member group of deminers, doctors, and security personnel made their journey from the Armenian capital of Yerevan to Aleppo on Friday morning.

This large humanitarian group will not only aid the Syrian and Russian forces in clearing mines but also administer much needed medical services to the people of Aleppo.

The Armenian population of Aleppo is primarily concentrated in the Al-Midan and Al-Suleimaniyeh neighborhoods, which were close to the front-lines for several years during the battle for the city. Many of the Armenian locals not only helped defend their neighborhoods but also served in civil defense groups that helped put out fires and administer medical support to any in need.

Over 5,000 new recruits have joined the ranks of the Syrian Arab Army (SAA) in the Hama and Homs governorates, a military source told Al-Masdar News this afternoon.

2019-02-07 - Exclusive: Over 5,000 new recruits join ranks of Syrian Army in Hama and Homs
https://www.almasdarnews.com/articl...s-join-ranks-of-syrian-army-in-hama-and-homs/


According to the source, the 5,000+ recruits will be inducted into the Syrian Arab Army’s 11th and 18th tank divisions, which primarily operate in the Hama and Homs governorates.

These new recruits will be specifically trained by the Russian military as they will have access to the upgraded T-72 and T-90 tanks.

The source added that these new recruits were part of the early 2019 conscription class that was focused on the Hama and Homs governorates. The 11th and 18th tank divisions suffered heavy losses over the course of the war, leaving them with a shortage of manpower.

A Russian soldier was killed a few days ago in the northern countryside of the Hama Governorate after the Turkish-backed rebels fired an anti-tank guided missile from the demilitarized zone.

2019-02-08 - Russian soldier killed in attack by Turkish-backed rebels
https://www.almasdarnews.com/article/russian-soldier-killed-in-attack-by-turkish-backed-rebels/


According to reports, the Russian soldier Maxim Pletnev was killed by a Jaysh Al-Izza ATGM team near the small town of Massasneh in northern Hama. Pletnev was reportedly killed on January 31st while on duty near the demilitarized zone along the Hama-Idlib axis.

The demilitarized zone is supposed to be absent of any violence; however, since its inception on September 17th, this area has witnessed an increase in hostilities between the Syrian Arab Army (SAA) and Turkish-backed rebels.

The Turkish regime allegedly deployed more than 1,500 jihadist rebels into the Idlib Governorate this week, the Sputnik News Agency reported on Wednesday.

2019-02-07 - Turkey allegedly deploys 1,500 jihadists to Idlib: report
https://www.almasdarnews.com/article/turkey-allegedly-deploys-1500-jihadists-to-idlib-report/

According to Sputnik Arabic, a source in the province told the news agency that around 1,500 jihadists loyal to Hay’at Tahrir Al-Sham and the Hurras Al-Deen group were deployed to the Idlib Governorate.

The source said that the Turkish border forces watched the jihadist cross into the Idlib Governorate as if they were supervising them. They would allege that the jihadist were transported under covered trucks on Sunday and Monday.

According to the report, the reason for the deployment of these jihadists is to protect the Idlib Governorate from the Syrian Arab Army (SAA) while the Turkish-backed rebels take on the Kurdish-led People’s Protection Units (YPG). No further details were added in the Sputnik report.

A high ranking commander from the Turkish-backed National Liberation Front was reportedly assassinated in the southern countryside of the Idib Governorate on Wednesday.

2019-02-07 - Turkish-backed rebel commander assassinated in southern Idlib
https://www.almasdarnews.com/articl...l-commander-assassinated-in-southern-idlib-2/

According to opposition activists in the Idlib Governorate, the National Liberation Front commander, Ahmad Al-Qassem (AKA “Abu Shihab”, was assassinated by unknown assailants inside the town of Al-Hish.

Al-Qassem was reportedly killed when the unknown assailants opened fire on him inside of Al-Hish, which is not far from the Syrian Arab Army’s (SAA) front-lines in southern Idlib.

Some members from the National Liberation Front have accused Hay’at Tahrir Al-Sham of carrying out the execution; however, nothing has been made official.

A new satellite image that was released by Image Sat International revealed on Tuesday that Syria’s S-300 system was ready for service.

2019-02-05 - New satellite image shows Syria’s S-300 system ready for service
https://www.almasdarnews.com/articl...-shows-syrias-s-300-system-ready-for-service/

According to the image, at least three of the four S-300 batteries were visible Satellites of via the satellite, but the picture did show them erected.

Based on the information from previous satellite images, these S-300 batteries are located around the strategic city of Masyaf in the western countryside of the Hama Governorate.

While this may be good news for Syria’s coastal region, it does not provide much relief for the Damascus countryside that is constantly targeted by the Israeli Air Force.

As long as Israel maintains air superiority over Lebanon, repelling the latter’s strikes on Damascus will be very difficult for the Syrian military.

The S-300 system was delivered by the Russian Federation to Syria on October 1st; this move came after a Russian IL-20 reconnaissance aircraft was accidentally downed over the Latakia coast.

Russia accused an Israeli F-16 jet of using the IL-20 for cover as Syrian air defense missiles attempting to down the enemy aircraft in the eastern Mediterranean.

 

[bjorb]

Bit off-topic, but Putin related.

The following picture I want to share below shows Putin depicted with a laurel wreath taken at the right angle while the Russian president is addressing the UN, a laurel wreath is a symbol of victory and honor. Julius Ceasar was often seen depicted with it on his head.

It might be interesting because of the possible symbolic value it contains. The laurel wreath itself and because Putin is basically addressing the World here. I don't know whether the picture is real or not, I certainly hope so.

(Sorry for the big size, to make it smaller click on the picture)

 

[angelburst29]

Tue Jan 29, 2019 - Aleppo: Ankara Continues Efforts to Annex Afrin to Turkey's Soil
Farsnews

It noted that that the Turkish Army and its affiliated militants have driven the residents of Kouran Village in Jandaris region of Afrin out of their homes and instead replaced them with their affiliated militants.

28 January، 2019 - Lavrov stresses need to eradicate terrorist hotbeds in Idleb (Idlib)
Lavrov stresses need to eradicate terrorist hotbeds in Idleb

Lavrov said the presence of Jabhat al-Nusra terrorist organization in Idleb (Idlib) does not correspond with the Russian –Turkish agreement on Idleb (Idlib), pointing out that Russia is committed to the elimination of this terrorist hotbed.

Lavrov pointed out to Kazakhstan’ efforts for holding Astana meetings on the crisis in Syria, adding that the next Astana meeting will be held in mid-February. He indicated that a Russian-Turkish-Iranian summit on Syria will be held in February as well.

Thu Jan 31, 2019 - Turkey Integrating Terrorist Groups in Idlib
Farsnews

Ankara is integrating the terrorist groups in regions occupied by them in Northern Syria, sources said, adding that the move contradicts Turkey's undertakings under the Sochi agreement.

Several pieces are starting to merge, giving a clearer picture of what Erdogan has been masterminding in plain sight? Since Trump announced a US Troop pull-out in late December, Erdogan has reinforced his position in Northeastern Syria, in Manbij, Afrin, Idlib and parts of Aleppo with several military convoys and equipment crossing the Turkey/Syrian Border.

A crucial meeting concerning Syrian territory is to be held in the Kazakh capital of Astana on February 14th. To better understand what is at stake, it helps to review vital points in what is dubbed the Sykes-Picot treaty, signed by Paris and London on May 16, 1916.

A century on: Why Arabs resent Sykes-Picot

In an overview of the details (in simplistic terms) - it was the break up and dividing of territories belonging to the Ottoman Empire.
Part of the Ottomans’ strongholds in the Levant included the provinces of Damascus, Aleppo and Raqqa. With that in mind, it gives a better understanding of what's behind Erdogan's remarks - that "Assad Must Go"? Erdogan's activities in the Northeast part of Syria, near the Turkish Border - is to gain a foothold - and then to stake "a claim" to these lost territories? In this vein, Erdogan has dragged his feet in upholding his agreed upon responsibilities, within the Mandates signed in the Sochi and Astana Agreements, to name only two documents or pledges.

The Sykes-Picot treaty was first referred to as “The Sick Man”.

During World War I, the foreign ministries of France, Russia, Britain and Italy assigned a group of selected diplomats to hold talks that would determine each country’s share of the inheritance of the Ottoman Empire, which at that stage was dubbed “The Sick Man”.

Between November 1915 and May 1916, secret negotiations and memos of understanding were exchanged among the foreign ministries of those countries, mainly represented by Britain’s Sykes and France’s Picot.

On May 16, 1916, a deal was secretly signed between Sykes and Picot, and approved Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Sazonov.

The deal called for the establishment of five entities in the Levant:

The first entity extended from Baghdad to the south to include Kuwait, reaching to the Gulf coast. This entity was under direct control of the British.

The second entity combined what is today northern Iraq, Jordan and the Negev desert, reaching all the way to Sinai. This part was under British influence.

The third entity included a coastal area that extended from southern Lebanon to the north towards the provinces of Mersin, Iskenderun and Adana. It extended anteriorly to the inside of Anatolia. This part was under direct French control.

The fourth entity comprised the Syrian Desert. This part was under French influence.

The fifth entity included the Ottoman Jerusalem sanjak, which was the northern part of historic Palestine. This part was an international zone due to its religious significance. Britain was, however, allocated control of Acre and Haifa.

With regards to Russia, the agreement stated that Russia’s tsar would keep his stake in Istanbul, the territories adjacent to the Bosphorus strait and four provinces near the Russian borders in east Anatolia. Greece was allocated control of Turkey’s western coasts. Italy was given control of Turkey’s southwest.

When Russian Tsar Nicholas II was overthrown in a popular revolution in 1917, the Bolshevik communists, led by Vladimir Lenin, found a copy of the Sykes-Picot agreement in the government’s archive records.

Lenin’s colleague Leon Trotsky published a copy of the agreement in Izvestia newspaper on November 24, 1917, in an attempt to expose the great powers’ plans to inherit the Ottoman Empire at the end of World War I.

Lenin called the treaty “the agreement of the colonial thieves”. The exposure of the agreement caused a political scandal for Britain and France.

The establishment of an Arab government in Damascus (October 1, 1918)

As the British were trying to force out the Ottoman army from the Levant, Arab forces, led by Sharif Faisal, the third and most popular son of Sharif Hussein, were protecting Britain’s right wing. Sharif Faisal entered Damascus on October 1, 1918, and founded an Arab government under his father’s rule, in an attempt to impose this new reality on Britain and France.

The French, who had already occupied Beirut, pretended that they wanted to reach a settlement with Sharif Faisal. They headed towards Damascus and defeated Sharif Faisal’s army at Maysalun near Damascus on June 24, 1920.

In compensation, the British founded a new Arab kingdom for Sharif Faisal in the old Ottoman provinces in Iraq, which the British army had marched towards in 1915 and fully occupied in 1917. Those provinces were later united under what became known as the Kingdom of Iraq.

In the meantime, France relinquished its claim on Mosul province in return for a bigger share in the Turkish Petroleum Company. The company was confiscated by the allies and re-established under the name of the “Iraq Petroleum Company”.

In 1920, the French annexed some parts of the Ottoman provinces - that were previously annexed to Beirut and Damascus - to the old Mount Lebanon Mutassarrifat to create the State of Lebanon, with its borders as they currently are.

The French later started to deal with the rest of the region that was under their mandate, and which they called the “Mashriq”. Besides Lebanon, they established four more states; two regional states – the Aleppo State and the Damascus State, and two sect-based states - the Alawite State and the Jabal al-Druz State.

In response to national pressure, the French merged Aleppo and Damascus states in 1932 under the “State of Syria”, which later became known as the “Syrian Republic”. They later annexed to it the states of Jabal al-Druz and the Alawite.

During the war, France’s government pledged to grant independence to the countries under its mandate, amidst the loudening voices of the local political class that called for independence. Syria and Lebanon gained independence in 1943, two years before the end of WWII.


2019-02-08 - Upcoming Syrian conference could have Sykes-Picot like outcome
https://www.almasdarnews.com/article/upcoming-syrian-conference-could-have-sykes-picot-like-outcome/


The upcoming Syrian peace conference that is scheduled to be held in the Kazakh capital of Astana on February 14th is expected to lay out the future of the country.

According to a government source in Damascus, the upcoming Astana Peace Conference will focus on several important issues that will deal with Syria’s territorial integrity.

The source said some of the following topics will be discussed among the Turkish, Russian, Iranian, and Syrian government and opposition delegations:

• Potential joint Russian-Turkish-Iranian Idlib operation
• Turkish safe zone in northern Syria
• Wide-scale prisoner exchange between government and opposition
• Constitutional committee
• Future presidential elections (2021)
• Refugee repatriation

The outcome of the first two topics could create a potential Sykes-Picot like break up of the country, especially with the northern part of the country falling under Turkish influence.

However, with no Kurdish political party present, any deal regarding the future of the territories governed by the Syrian Democratic Council (SDC) will no doubt be rejected by the latter.

The Syrian government is trying to regain control of the entire country; however, as long as Turkish troops remain present in northern Syria, their territorial borders will remain limited to any zone influenced by Ankara.

 

[Voyageur]

Came across this news story - was surprised actually, as it concerns a couple of 'Canadian' women who it says were "being detained" in Raqqa, Syria in "the village of Baghouz in eastern Syria" where they fled from.

It states that they had gone to Syria at the insistence of their husbands (nothing much about them is stated) and were held in ISIS controlled territory. It also mentions that they had surrendered to the U.S. (backed) SDF.

One was from Alberta and the CNN interview said she "claimed to be a 34-year-old former graphic designer from Alberta." It also mentions that:

The woman, who was travelling with her two sons, said her first husband -- who she claimed worked as an ISIS cook -- was killed during fighting. She also claimed to be pregnant with her third child from her second husband: a Canadian who was also killed.

It quickly mentions how the Canadian government has "resisted calls to repatriate Canadian fighters in Syria and their families" which is not so true based on the many returning ISIS fighters who acknowledged their roles; they say they are being watched in Canada by 'authorities' yet basically they have been reintegrated.

I guess I'm in left field, yet it seemed to me that back in 2014 etc. there was this mass exodus of Canadian nationalists or expats from other countries heading to Syria out of Canada for the big proxy fight - obviously the security globally is pretty tight, and it is not hard for a government's abc surveillance capabilities to put 2 + 2 together and know where people are going and why (or they are just unaware). Then there was the Jordan nexus point that seemed to have been used by 'operations' to funnel people into Syria. This was news many years ago when the the Canadian government's spy's seemed to have been caught up in this funneling of some young girls into Syria - even the opposition in Parliament were upset for a couple of days until it was up and mum was the word.

Anyway, not really sure what to make of it. Glad their kids are okay and can escape this; yet the one woman seems to think it was all rosy.

There is a video of these woman being interviewed in the link:

Global Affairs aware of Canadians detained in Syria

CTV National News: Canadian women in Syria

CNN's Ben Wedeman speaks with two Canadian women who followed their husbands to warn-torn Syria.
Daniel Otis, CTVNews.ca Writer
@dsotis

Annie Bergeron-Oliver , Reporter

@AnnieClaireBO

Published Saturday, February 9, 2019 8:22PM EST
Last Updated Saturday, February 9, 2019 10:28PM EST

Global Affairs Canada has confirmed that it is aware of Canadian citizens being detained in Syria.
That confirmation came Saturday after CNN reported that it had interviewed two Canadian women who had recently fled one of ISIS’ last remaining strongholds: the village of Baghouz in eastern Syria. The two women, who spoke fluent English, said they were from Toronto and Alberta and travelled to Syria at their husbands’ insistence.
With the help of U.S. airpower, the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) are currently fighting to rout ISIS from the village, which sits along the Euphrates River near Syria’s border with Iraq.




Photos




Civilians and suspected ISIS members who surrendered themselves to the U.S.-backed Syrian Democratic Forces are seen in eastern Syria on Feb. 9, 2019. (Source: CNN)




A woman who identified herself as 29-year-old Dura Ahmed of Toronto speaks to CNN correspondent Ben Wedeman in eastern Syria on Feb. 9, 2019. (Source: CNN)

“Given the security situation on the ground, the Government of Canada’s ability to provide consular assistance in any part of Syria is extremely limited,” Global Affairs spokesperson Richard Walker said in a statement to CTV News.
“The Government of Canada is engaged in these cases and is providing assistance -- to the limited extent possible.”
Canadian officials, Walker added, “have established a communications channel with local Kurdish authorities in order to verify the whereabouts of some Canadian citizens.”
“Reports of an agreement concerning the repatriation of Canadian citizens from Syria are false,” Walker stated.

‘EATING PRINGLES AND TWIX BARS’
One of the two women interviewed by CNN correspondent Ben Wedeman on Feb. 9 identified herself as 28-year-old Dura Ahmed of Toronto.
Wedeman spoke to Ahmed in a barren desert plain in eastern Syria, where scores of civilians and suspected ISIS members fleeing fighting in nearby Baghouz were being questioned after surrendering themselves to the U.S.-backed SDF.
With her face masked by a black niqab, Ahmed recounted how she came to Syria from Canada four years ago at her husband’s urging.
“I didn’t know anything about ISIS or anything,” she claimed in the CNN interview, speaking with a distinctly North American accent. “He said, ‘Just come and see, just come and see.’”
Ahmed described life in Raqqa, the one-time capital of ISIS’ so-called caliphate, in rather rosy terms.
“You’re there… you’re eating Pringles and Twix bars,” she recounted. “You don’t feel like you’re in a war.”
She also expressed little remorse for leaving the relative safety of Canada for perilous Syria.
“I believe in Shariah, wherever Shariah is,” Ahmed said. “Do I regret it? Coming, you mean? Like, no -- I don’t. Like in the sense, I had my kids here.”
The fate of Ahmed’s husband remains unclear.

‘I WAS JUST TRYING TO BE AN OBEDIENT WIFE’
CNN also interviewed a woman who claimed to be a 34-year-old former graphic designer from Alberta.
The woman, who wished to remain anonymous, said her husband had ordered her to come to the troubled country.
“He’s like, ‘It’s obligatory for you to come here -- you have no choice,’” she recalled. Like Ahmed, she spoke with a North American accent.
“He’s like, ‘I’m telling you to come here and as a Muslim wife, you have to obey,’” she said.
The woman eventually relented.
“Even though it was really hard for me to do it, I had to,” she said.
While in Syria, the woman said she lived a sheltered life, even keeping her children indoors.
“I didn’t let them go to school… because it’s dangerous, it’s too many bombings,” she said. “And they don’t speak Arabic, so I taught them myself.”
The woman, who was travelling with her two sons, said her first husband -- who she claimed worked as an ISIS cook -- was killed during fighting. She also claimed to be pregnant with her third child from her second husband: a Canadian who was also killed.
“I was just trying to be an obedient wife,” she said.

‘BRING THEM HOME NOW’
It is believed that more than two dozen Canadians are currently being held in Kurdish-controlled areas of Syria. Many, advocates say, want to come home.
Alexandra Bain is the director of Families Against Violent Extremism and Hayat Canada Family Support: groups that work with the families of those caught up in violent extremist groups like ISIS.
“It’s far better to bring them home now all together with a plan in safety and security than to leave them alone in the camps of Syria where they’re cold and hungry and sick,” Bain, who is also an associate professor of religious studies at St. Thomas University in Fredericton, N.B., told CTV News.
Canada, however, has so far resisted calls to repatriate Canadian fighters in Syria and their families, who could face up to 10 years in prison in the country if they were involved with groups like ISIS.
Amarnath Amarasingam is a senior research fellow at the London, U.K.-based Institute for Strategic Dialogue and a postdoctoral fellow at the University of Waterloo who researches extremism. Amarasingam says he understands the government’s stance.
“We don’t know what happens to them, we don’t know where they’d go next and we have no real eyes on them once they’re out of the prison,” he told CTV News.
Even if the detained Canadians managed to leave war-torn Syria, they would very likely be arrested and charged in neighbouring countries if they were affiliated with ISIS.

 

[sToRmR1dR]

2019-02-05 - New satellite image shows Syria’s S-300 system ready for service
https://www.almasdarnews.com/articl...-shows-syrias-s-300-system-ready-for-service/

A US spy plane is flying near the Hmeimim airbase just days after the satellite photos revealed that Syria's S-300 system is operational.

US spy plane tracked near Russian airbase in western Syria
2019-02-09

 

[angelburst29]

Came across this news story - was surprised actually, as it concerns a couple of 'Canadian' women who it says were "being detained" in Raqqa, Syria in "the village of Baghouz in eastern Syria" where they fled from.

It states that they had gone to Syria at the insistence of their husbands (nothing much about them is stated) and were held in ISIS controlled territory. It also mentions that they had surrendered to the U.S. (backed) SDF.

There were a few articles a while back (2 years ago maybe) where many Canadian's and their families ventured to Syria via a program called Canadians for Syria. Canadians for Syria

They would arrive in Jordan and then be transported to Syria - under the claim of humanitarian aid. Many of the men were enrolled in training camps in Jordon before taken across the border into Syria. Many of the wives and children had the option of staying behind in Jordan, in a make-shift barracks. Jordan is a hot bed for Military Special Operations Commands from several Countries.

Satellites reveal secret US Bases emerging in the Desert
Satellites Reveal Secret U.S. Bases Emerging in the Desert

In May 2017, DigitalGlobe released the first public images of H4. The site appears to support Air Force or CIA Reaper drones plus Jordanian military helicopters. Among other facilities, Jordan is known to host a second U.S. drone base at Muwaffaq Salti, 33 miles south of the border with Syria.

The Global News site often carries reports of Canadians in the war zones, Syria, Iraq, Afghanistan and Africa (Congo). This one is dated October 15, 2018.

ANALYSIS: Captured Canadians in Syria unlikely a legal problem for Trudeau, only a political one
ANALYSIS: Captured Canadians in Syria unlikely a legal problem for Trudeau, only a political one

The Trudeau government has said remarkably little about the 13 Canadians currently being held by Kurdish forces in northern Syria.

Each case, as Global News has been reporting over the last week, is unique ranging from children under five to a self-confessed ISIS sniper.

But if there is a common denominator to each case, aside from their citizenship, it is the Canadian government ’s lack of urgency to repatriate any of them.

In fact, Foreign Affairs Minister Chrystia Freeland seemed to suggest Monday that her government was more concerned with protecting law and order at home than hustling to help anyone get out of a Kurdish detention centre.

(Comment - With Freeland involved, is it any wonder why the Canadian Government is dragging their feet on this issue?)

 

[angelburst29]

Looks like we might be in for another "staged" Hollywood production? This time, not the White Helmets but Abu Bakr Al-Baghdadi miraculous capture?

2019-02-10 - Russian publication claims US has already captured Baghdadi
https://www.almasdarnews.com/article/russian-publication-claims-us-has-already-captured-baghdadi/


The Arabic-language website of the Sputnik News Agency quoted a source as saying on Sunday that Abu Bakr Al-Baghdadi is presently being protected by the American forces in a secret place in the eastern Euphrates region.

The Sputnik source said that the U.S. is waiting for an opportunity to conduct a heliborne operation in southeastern Deir Ezzor and declare the capture of Al-Baghdadi and end of ISIL on film.

The source insisted that the time for the “above-mentioned theater is close”, adding that the American forces have held SDF back from further advances in ISIL-occupied regions in Eastern Euphrates to play the scenario.

US President Donald Trump said on Wednesday that the country would likely announce next week that all of the ISIL terrorist group caliphate had been retaken in Syria and Iraq.

“It should be formally announced, sometime probably next week, that we’ll have 100 percent of the caliphate,” Trump stated
during his remarks at a ministerial meeting of US-led coalition member states.

Earlier, the American president said during his second State of the Union address that it was time to return US troops deployed in Syria back home.

The US Army has agreed with the ISIL on the latter's exit from areas under Washington's control in Eastern Euphrates, media reports said.

Sun Feb 10, 2019 - US Army Agrees on ISIL Relocation from Eastern Euphrates
Farsnews

The US-led coalition troops and the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) have reached an agreement with the ISIL terrorists on the militants' retreat from areas under the control of the US and its allied forces, the Arabic-language al-Mayadeen TV news channel reported.

It pointed to the preparations by the ISIL to move its terrorists out of Eastern Euphrates, and said that the ISIL terrorists might be transferred to al-Anbar desert of Badiya al-Tanf in Western Iraq.

The report comes as the SDF has claimed that it has started the final battle for uprooting the remaining elements of the ISIL from Eastern Euphrates.

 

[angelburst29]

Russia and Turkey agreed on Monday that they needed to take decisive measures to stabilize the situation in Syria's Idlib province after talks between the two country's defense ministers, Russia's RIA news agency reported.

February 11, 2019 - Russia, Turkey agree on decisive action in Syria's Idlib: RIA
Russia, Turkey agree on decisive action in Syria's Idlib: RIA

Turkish Defense Minister Hulusi Akar meets with his Russian counterpart Sergei Shoigu in Ankara, Turkey February 11, 2019. Turkish Military/Turkish Defense Ministry/Handout via REUTERS

The announcement, made after talks between Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu and Turkish Defense Minister Hulusi Akar in Ankara and outlined in a joint statement, did not specify what the decisive measures would be or when they might be taken.

The statement was released ahead of a Syrian summit between the leaders of Turkey, Russia and Iran in Russia on Thursday.

* Syrian peace settlement should include withdrawal of all foreign forces: Iranian FM
https://www.almasdarnews.com/articl...-withdrawal-of-all-foreign-forces-iranian-fm/
Any political decision in Syria should include the mandatory withdrawal of all armed forces that entered without the permission of the government,” Zarif, who became the first foreign minister to visit Lebanon after the creation of the new government said during a joint press conference with Lebanese Foreign Minister Gebran Bassil.

U.S.-led coalition warplanes struck Islamic State's last stronghold in eastern Syria and hundreds of civilians fled the besieged enclave on Monday as U.S.-backed fighters pressed their campaign to seize it.

February 11, 2019 - Coalition warplanes hit last Islamic State enclave in Eastern Syria
Coalition warplanes hit last Islamic State enclave in eastern Syria

Members of Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) stand together near Baghouz, Deir Al Zor province, Syria February 11, 2019. REUTERS/Rodi Said

The Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), which have driven Islamic State (IS) from swathes of northern and eastern Syria with U.S.-led coalition support, launched an offensive on Saturday to capture the enclave in Deir al-Zor province.

Ahead of launching the attack, the SDF said more than 20,000 civilians had left Baghouz in the preceeding 10 days.

The SDF believes 400 to 600 jihadists may be holed up there, including foreigners and other hardened militants.

* SDF suffers heavy casualties in failed attempt to capture last ISIS
The SDF’s attack on the last ISIS-held town of Baghouz did not go as planned on Sunday as the terrorist group refused to yield any ground to the Kurdish-led troops.

According to US officials, the pullout will take 60 to 100 days.

Feb. 11, 2019 - Russia calls on US to fully withdraw from Syria
Russia calls on US to fully withdraw from Syria

© AP Photo/Hussein Malla

Moscow insists that the United States should fulfill its pledge to fully withdraw from Syria, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov told reporters on Monday.

"We insist that the United States should fulfill its pledge and fully withdraw from Syria," he said.

* US military withdrawal from Syria ‘weeks away’: top general
The chief commander of the U.S. Central General Joseph Votel said on Sunday that the U.S. military will likely begin withdrawing their troops from Syria in the coming weeks. Command U.S. media reported on Sunday that a top commander has said that the United States would likely start to withdraw its troops from Syria in weeks.

The alleged list of 150 Syrians that form the new constitutional committee has been leaked by Sputnik Arabic.

2019-02-11 - Leaked 150 names of new Syrian Constitutional Committee
https://www.almasdarnews.com/article/leaked-150-names-of-new-syrian-constitutional-committee/


According to the list, the following 50 delegates will take part on the opposition side (translated by Leith Abou Fadel):

Ibrahim Al-Jabbawi

1. Ahmad Al-Ahmar
2. Ahmad Al-Sayyid
3. Ahmad Al-‘Asrawi
4. Ahmad Ta’amah
5. Adwan Hashweh
6. Elias Mafraj
7. Anis Al-‘Abadeh
8. Badr Jammous
9. Bismeh Qadmani
10. Bashar Al-Hajj ‘Ali
11. Bashar Al-Za’ubi
12. Jibre’al Kouriyah
13. Jamal Suleiman
14. Hassan Al-Hariri
15. Hassan ‘Abid
16. Hawas Sa’adoun
17. Dima Moussa
18. Riyadh Al-Hassan
19. Zahra Mohammad
20. Sami Beitnajaneh
21. Safwan ‘Akash
22. Tareq Al-Kurdi
23. ‘Abdel-Lahad Istayfawa
24. ‘Abdel-Bassit Al-Ways
25. ‘Abdel-Hamid Mohammad Wafa’ Rishah
26. ‘Abdel-Rashid Barakat
27. ‘Aroub Al-Masri
28. ‘Uthtar Mahmoud
29. ‘Ammar Al-Nahlas
30. ‘Awad Al-‘Ali
31. Firas Al-Khalidi
32. Qassem Darwish
33. Mohammad Al-Sa’adi
34. Mohammad Rashid
35. Mohammad ‘Ali Al-Sabbagh
36. Mohammad Nouri Ahmad
37. Mahmoud ‘Attour
38. Marah Al-Baqa’i
39. Mohannad Dalayqan
40. Nabras Al-Fadel
41. Hadi Al-Bahrah
42. Hinnawi Abou ‘Arab
43. Hisham Rahmeh
44. Yasser Al-Khamis
45. Yasser Al-Farhan
46. Yahya Al-‘Aridi
47. Yahya ‘Aziz
48. Yousef Suleiman
49. Yousef Qadourah

Another 50 delegates were representing the government:

1. Amal Fouad Yaziji
2. Ayman Yahya Hamdan
3. Ayhab Shibli Hamed
4. Ahmad Fareq Mohammad ‘Arnous
5. Ahmad Nabeel Mohammad Rafiq Kazbri
6. Ashwaq Ayoub ‘Abbas
7. Amjad Yasseen ‘Issa
8. Anissa Ibrahim ‘Abboud
9. Ayham ‘Abdel-Rahman Al-Hourani
10. Bashir Suleiman Al-Halbouni
11. Turki ‘Aziz Hassan
12. Jaziya ‘Abdel-Sheikh ‘Ali
13. Jansit ‘Adnan Qazzan
14. Jamal ‘Abdel-Razzaq Qadri
15. Jamilah Muslim Al-Sharbaji
16. Hassan ‘Abdullah Al-Atrash
17. Hussein Fawzi Farhou
18. Khaled Khaz’al Khaz’al
19. Khaled Moussa Al-‘Abboud
20. Dareen ‘Abdel-Salaam Suleiman
21. Ra’eda Yasseen Waqaf
22. Radwan Ibrahim Mustafa
23. Riyadh Ali Tawouz
24. Raymoun Sabri Hilal
25. Sa’ad ‘Abdel-Wahid Nahili
26. Shireen ‘Abdel-‘Aziz Al-Yousef
27. Safwan Mohammad Al-Qarbi
28. Taleb Mohamad Qadi Ameen
29. Tareq ‘Abdel-Al-Majid Qoutrush
30. ‘Abdel-Qader ‘Umar Qablan
31. ‘Abdel-Qader Mohammad Sha’aban ‘Azouz
32. ‘Abdullah Mohammad Al-Sayyed
33. ‘Issa Madallah Al-‘Mikhoul
34. Ghassan Suleiman ‘Abbas
35. Fahd Ahmad Al-‘Adawi
36. Mohammad Akram Mohammad Tayseer Al-‘Ajlani
37. Mohammad Bara’a Ahmad Rashid Qaterji
38. Mohammad Khayr Ahmad Al-‘Akkam
39. Mohammad Khayr Firas Kinbaher
40. Mohammad ‘Issam Ahmad Hazimi
41. Mohammad ‘Alaa’ Mohammad MahjoubAl-Tinawi
42. Mohammad Maher ‘Abdullah Al-‘Albi
43. Mohammad Maher Mahmoud Qabaqibi
44. Maha Mohammad ‘Ali Al-Ajili
45. Moussa Elias ‘Abdel-Nour
46. Mu’ad Mohammad Nasser
47. Nizal Sadiq Sidqani
48. Nizal ‘Ali Al-Skeif
49. Noura Mardirous Arisiyan
50. Hisham Hassan Al-Taas

 

[gdpetti]

All of which is a farce considering ISIS is CIA merc trained leadership core, so the only ISIS we are 'fighting' is the grunt jihadis that are mere sheeple soldiers. The trained 'leaders' are picked up by our infamous 'black helicopters' for repositioning.
A couple screen capture 'back in the day':

 

[Voyageur]

There is a video of these woman being interviewed in the link...

Today they interview another Canadian who has fought with ISIS for four years and wants to come home - also stated as a recruiter for ISIS on their social media. He says, he has 'broken no laws here' (Canada) however the Syrians may have other thoughts.

There is also an NGO (Families Against Violent Extremism - Facebook page with tweet from AOC of all people) intertwined. So, not sure yet about this group other than it is run by a professor Dr. Alexander Bain (religious studies at STU, NB). In 2016 she co-wrote with two others a paper on The Canadian Network for Research on Terrorism, Security, and Society or TSAS titled 'Talking to Foreign Fighters: Socio-Economic Push versus Existential Pull Factors' - which was funded by "SSHRC and Public Safety Canada, along with the following departments of the federal government:

•Royal Canadian Mounted Police
•Canadian Security Intelligence Service
•Immigration, Refugees, and Citizenship Canada
•Correctional Services Canada
•Defence Research and Development Canada
•Global Affiars Canada
•Security Intelligence Review Committee
•Office of the Communications Security Establishmnet Commissioner"

In the new video, a Canadian Minister is shunning the repatriation which Bain advocates (which is tied to these stateents), yet prior the Government funded, in part, the previous study (which requers more than a skim through, yet get the ghist of it. Obviously there are children involved now and people are looking for answers.

Former ISIS recruiter calls for help to return to Canada



2:06m

videoPlayer

www.ctvnews.ca

Now Playing
CTV National News: Canadian ISIS fighter detained

 

[sToRmR1dR]

Syrian air defense on high alert after Israeli forces struck three army positions in Quneitra, near the Golan Heights.

Israeli Air Force bombs southwestern Syria
By Leith Aboufadel - 2019-02-11

Syrian military on high alert after Israeli attack
By Leith Aboufadel - 2019-02-11

 

[angelburst29]

The Syrian Army heavily pounded the military positions of Tahrir al-Sham al-Hay'at (the Levant Liberation Board or the Al-Nusra Front) and their allied terrorists in Northern Ham and Southern Hama.

Wed Feb 13, 2019 - Syrian Army Heavily Pounds Terrorists' Military Positions in Hama, Idlib Provinces
Farsnews

The Damascus Army's artillery and missile units pounded the terrorists' positions in Kafar Nabudeh town, Tal Havash, areas surrounding Qala al-Maziq and Kharbeh al-Naqous in Northwestern Hama, inflicting heavy losses and casualties on them.

The Syrian Army attacks came in response to Tahrir al-Sham terrorists' attacks on their positions.

In Southeastern Idlib, the Syrian Army's artillery and missile units hit the terrorists' positions in al-Katibeh al-Mahjoureh, al-Khovein, Khan Sheikhoun, Jarjnaz, Tal Khazneh, destroying several positions and gatherings of terrorists as well as killing a large number of the terrorists.

The Syrian Army troops are standing on alert along the borders with the Occupied Golan after Israel's tank, missile and drone attacks on Damascus government forces' military positions and a hospital in Southern Quneitra Province.

Wed Feb 13, 2019 - Syrian Army Reinforces Along Borders with Occupied Golan after Israel's Attack on Quneitra
Farsnews

Israel conducted several missile and tank shelling attacks on the Syrian Army's military positions in Tal al-Zohour in Jbahata al-Khashb, Tal al-Doraya and Tal-e Khaled in Quneitra province.

Following the attacks, the Syrian Army is standing on alert behind borders with Occupied Golan.

Meantime, an Israeli drone also targeted Quneitra Hospital and a security point with four missiles in Quneitra Province. The Israeli attacks have reportedly left material damage and no casualties were reported.

The Arabic-language service of Russian Sputnik news agency, meantime, reported that Israel fired nine missiles from its positions in Occupied Golan towards Jbahata al-Khashb jungles, agricultural lands around Khan Arnabeh and the positions in Mana lands.

On Monday, the Syrian Arab News Agency (SANA) reported that Israeli tank shells had hit a demolished hospital and an observation post in Quneitra province in southern Syria near the border with Israel and that no one was hurt in the shelling.

2019-02-13 - Netanyahu admits to recent Israeli attack against Syrian Army
https://www.almasdarnews.com/article/netanyahu-admits-to-recent-israeli-attack-against-syrian-army/



Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu confirmed on Tuesday the Israel Defense Forces (IDF)’s strike on Syrian territory, saying that Israeli forces “operate every day, including yesterday, against Iran and its attempts to entrench itself in the region”.
(Video) https://www.almasdarnews.com/articl...rike-as-he-heads-to-poland-for-me-meet-video/

A number of intelligence officers of the French Army were killed in a bomb blast at their headquarters in the city of Raqqa amid heightened tensions in the US-controlled areas.

Wed Feb 13, 2019 - Several French Intelligence Officers Killed in Raqqa Bomb Blast
Farsnews

The Arabic-language service of the Russian Sputnik news agency reported that a bomb-laden motorcycle was blown off in the intelligence center of the French troops in Sugar Factory region in Raqqa-Hasaka road in Northern part of Raqqa.

It pointed to the magnitude of the explosion which forced the US-led troops to immediately go on alert and lay siege on the region.

Several French intelligence officers were also wounded in the explosion.

Local media also reported that another bomb also exploded in the headquarters of security forces of the Syrian Democratic Forces in the Western part of Raqqa city which resulted in the death and injury of several SDF security forces.

A prominent Syrian military expert revealed that Washington plans to transfer the remnants of the ISIL terrorists from Eastern Euphrates to other regions through Turkey and Iraq.

Tue Feb 12, 2019 - Expert: US to Evacuate ISIL Terrorists in Eastern Syria via Turkey, Iraq
Farsnews

The Arabic-language website of Sputnik quoted Brigadier General Mohammad Issa as saying on Tuesday that less than 600 ISIL militants are stationed in a 4-km/sq region in Eastern Euphrates who will be soon evacuated from the region to foreign territories.

Moscow is determined to continue assisting Damascus in liberating Syria’s territory, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said at a press conference on Wednesday.

Wed Feb 13, 2019 - Russia Vows to Continue Assisting Syrian Government, Army in Liberating Country
Farsnews

"I would like to reiterate that we will continue to make every possible effort to assist the Syrian government and armed forces in liberating the country," he stated according to TASS.

"We will support the Syrian army’s activities that must be consistent with international humanitarian laws," the Russian top diplomat added.

Lavrov stressed that while liberating the country’s territory, the Syrian military and government were abiding by international humanitarian laws and Russia was keeping an eye on that.

"We will not let things happen like in Raqqa, where the Western coalition was active," he stressed.

"Everybody has already seen how Aleppo and Eastern Ghouta were liberated, hundreds of thousands of people have already returned to these areas, while in Raqqa, dead bodies have not been taken away yet and the city has not been cleared of mines, as far as I know. We will not let such things happen, and the Syrian government surely does not want such developments to take place," the Russian foreign minister pointed out.

Russia is moving to ban its soldiers from sharing information on the internet, a step that follows the use of social media posts by investigative journalists to shine a light on Moscow's clandestine role in foreign conflicts.

February 13, 2019 - Russia moves to mask its soldiers' digital trail
Russia moves to mask its soldiers' digital trail

FILE PHOTO: A Russian Army member, dressed in a historical uniform, takes a selfie as he attends a rehearsal for a military parade to mark the anniversary of a historical parade in 1941, when Soviet soldiers marched towards the front lines at the Red Square in Moscow, Russia November 5, 2017. REUTERS/Maxim Shemetov/File Photo

Draft legislation proposes banning servicemen and reserve troops from posting anything online that would allow outsiders to glean their whereabouts or role in the military.

The bill, which was approved by lawmakers in its second of three readings in parliament on Tuesday, says the ban would cover photographs, video, geolocation data or other information.

It would also prohibit soldiers sharing information about other servicemen or the relatives of servicemen, while those who break the ban would be subject to disciplinary measures.

“Information shared by soldiers on the internet or mass media is used...in certain cases to form a biased assessment of Russia’s state policy,” the bill’s explanatory note said.

The move comes with online investigative journalism sites drawing on open source data to probe Russia’s alleged role in clandestine operations abroad.

Investigative site Bellingcat used social network posts extensively in reports concluding that Russian soldiers were involved in the downing of passenger flight MH17 over Ukraine in 2014.

A Dutch criminal investigation concluded last year that the plane was shot down with a surface-to-air missile belonging to the 53rd brigade of the Russian army. Moscow denies involvement.

“Social networks were used in many other investigations about the war in Ukraine and the war in Syria, for instance when fellow servicemen or relatives spoke about deceased soldiers,” said Roman Dobrokhotov, chief editor of investigative site The Insider.

Reuters has used social network posts to identify Russians fighting in eastern Ukraine at a time when Moscow denied its soldiers were fighting there.

If passed, the legislation will formally institute defense ministry recommendations that pro-Kremlin newspaper Izvestia says were issued to soldiers in 2017.

The lower house still has to vote on the bill once more before it is sent to the upper house for a vote and is then signed into law by President Vladimir Putin.

 

[angelburst29]

President Vladimir Putin said on Thursday that Russia, Turkey and Iran had agreed to take unspecified extra steps to clear Syria's Idlib region of what he called "a hotbed of terrorists," but the Kremlin said there would be no military operation there.

February 14, 2019 - Kremlin, after Summit, says no offensive planned in Syria's Idlib
Kremlin, after summit, says no offensive planned in Syria's Idlib

Russian President Vladimir Putin, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko attend an informal meeting in the Black sea resort of Sochi, Russia, February 14, 2019. Sputnik/Mikhael Klimentyev/Kremlin

Putin, one of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s closest allies, was speaking after hosting a summit in southern Russia to weigh the future of Syria with Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan and Iranian President Hassan Rouhani.

All three countries have forces on the ground in Syria, where they have coordinated their efforts despite sometimes differing priorities and interests.

But tensions between Moscow and Ankara over Syria have risen in recent months, fueled in part by a planned withdrawal of U.S. forces which promises to free up territory controlled by U.S. or U.S.-backed forces, spurring a race to fill the vacuum if and when it opens up.

Before the summit, the Kremlin had made clear it wanted a green light for action in Idlib where it says Islamist militants have made significant inroads despite the area’s technical status as a Moscow- and Ankara-backed demilitarized zone.

“...We should not put up with the presence of terrorist groups in Idlib,” Putin told Erdogan and Rouhani. “That’s why I propose we consider practical concrete steps that Russia, Turkey and Iran can take to completely destroy this hotbed of terrorists.”

At the summit’s close, Putin said the three countries had agreed to take unspecified extra steps, a formula used at previous meetings, but did not say what they were. Dmitry Peskov, Putin’s spokesman, told Russian news agencies that no new military operation against Idlib had been agreed on.

Rouhani had said he backed tough action, but Erdogan was more circumspect.

He did not respond to Putin’s suggestion of a joint plan in his opening remarks, and after the summit said that Turkey would continue to do all it could to stabilize Idlib. But he also repeated a warning he has often made about the need not to spark a humanitarian catastrophe there.

Moscow is keen to help Assad retake territory from rebels and militants, including eventually the northwestern Idlib province, but Ankara, which has called for the Syrian leader to leave power, has so far successfully pushed back.

It brokered a deal with Russia in September to enforce a demilitarized zone in Idlib. The agreement, which envisaged clearing the province of heavy weapons and jihadists, helped avert a Syrian government assault on the region, the last major bastion of Assad’s opponents after almost eight years of war.

But Moscow has since complained that Turkey has not done enough to keep its side of the bargain and that Islamist militants who used to belong to the Nusra Front group have seized control of much of Idlib.

Putin’s difficulty however has been persuading Erdogan to sign off on what would be a Russian-backed Syrian government offensive in a region that borders Turkey.

Ankara is concerned about potential refugee flows from Idlib in the event of a military operation, and wants to retain its influence there.

It also does not want developments in Idlib to distract from its own plan to set up a safe zone in the northeast of Syria.

SAFE ZONE TENSIONS
Turkey’s plan to create that safe zone has also stirred tension with Moscow.

It wants the area near the Turkish border to be cleared of the U.S.-backed Kurdish YPG militia and to move into territory there, some of which is currently controlled by U.S. forces.

Earlier on Thursday, Russia told Turkey it had no right to create such a safe zone unless it sought and received the consent of Assad.

“The question of the presence of a military contingent acting on the authority of a third country on the territory of a sovereign country and especially Syria must be decided directly by Damascus,” Maria Zakharova, a spokeswoman for Russia’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, said in answer to a question about the Turkish safe zone plan. “That’s our base position.”

After Thursday’s summit, Erdogan said Russia, Turkey and Iran were “on the brink” of taking certain steps east of the River Euphrates. He did not say what they were.

Slideshow (11 Images)
Kremlin, after summit, says no offensive planned in Syria's Idlib

Russia informed the Ankara that any planned safe zone in northern Syria must be approved by Damascus, the Spokesperson for the Russian Foreign Ministry Maria Zakharova said on Thursday.

2019-02-14 - Russia shuts down Turkey’s planned safe zone: ‘Need approval from Damascus’
https://www.almasdarnews.com/articl...lanned-safe-zone-need-approval-from-damascus/


“The question of the presence of a military contingent acting on the authority of a third country on the territory of a sovereign country, and especially Syria, must be decided directly by Damascus,” Zakharova said
on Thursday, as quoted by Reuters.

“That’s our base position,” she added.

The Syrian government has already rejected Turkey’s planned safe zone; however, the Turkish regime is adament on eliminating the ‘terror’ threat along their Syrian border.

Russia says no signs of U.S. troop withdrawal from Syria
President Vladimir Putin said on Thursday that Russia had not noted any big changes suggesting the United States was moving to withdraw its troops from Syria, following an order from U.S. President Donald Trump.

Iran says U.S. should leave Syria, change its Middle East policy
Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said on Thursday that the presence of its arch foe the United States in the Middle East harmed countries in the region and called on Washington to fully withdraw its troops from the country.

Putin says militants in Syria's Idlib region will not go unpunished
Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Thursday that aggressive actions by militants in Syria's rebel-held province of Idlib would not go unpunished.

For the first time during this eight-year-long conflict, the Russian Army has entered a Turkish military zone in northern Syria.

2019-02-14 - Russian Army patrol enters Turkish-held area near Manbij
https://www.almasdarnews.com/article/russian-army-patrol-enters-turkish-held-area-near-manbij-video/


According to Russia Today’s Arabic language channel, the Russian military police began conducting patrols in the Turkish-held areas around the strategi city of Manbij.

Premiered 16 hours ago (2:06 min.)

Carrying Syrian flags and pictures of President Bashar al-Assad, hundreds of Arab Druze who live on the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights gathered on Thursday to mark the annexation of the territory Israel captured from Syria in the 1960s.

February 14, 2019 - Golan Druze mark Anniversary of Israeli annexation
Golan Druze mark anniversary of Israeli annexation

Members of the Druze community holds Syrian and Druze flags as they sit facing Syria, during a rally marking the anniversary of Israel's annexation of the Golan Heights in the Druze village of Majdal Shams, in the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights February 14, 2019. REUTERS/Ammar Awad

Dressed in traditional black garb and white hats, the protesters chanted, pledging loyalty to Syria.

“This land is the land of our fathers and grandfathers, the land is ours. No one has the right to it other than the Syrians,” said Qasem Mahmoud al-Safadi from the village of Majdal Shams.

The Golan was part of Syria until Israel captured it in the 1967 Middle East war. Israel annexed the territory in 1981 in a move not recognized internationally.

The Druze are an Arab minority who practice an offshoot of Islam and whose adherents in Syria have long been loyal to its ruling Assad family.

Around 22,000 Druze live on the Israeli-held Golan. Israel, seeking to further integrate them, has offered citizenship but most Druze rejected it.

Another 120,000 Druze living in Israel make up about two percent of the population and are one of the country’s most integrated minorities.

Once willing to consider returning the Golan for peace with Syria, the Israelis have in recent years argued that the war in Syria and the presence there of an Iranian garrison backing Damascus show they need to keep the strategic plateau.

 

[angelburst29]

The guarantor states of Astana process (Russia, Iran and Turkey )reaffirmed their firm commitment to the unity, sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity of Syria and to continue combating terrorism in it.

14 February، 2019 - Guarantor states renew commitment to Syria’s sovereignty, territorial integrity
Guarantor states renew commitment to Syria’s sovereignty, territorial integrity

The guarantor states of Astana process (Russia, Iran and Turkey )reaffirmed their firm commitment to the unity, sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity of Syria and to continue combating terrorism in it.

The final statement of Sochi summit, which brought together the Presidents of the three guarantor states on Thursday stressed the importance of adherence to the sovereignty, independence, unity and territorial integrity of the Syrian Arab Republic and the principles of the United Nations Charter, stressing that these principles shouldn’t be undermined by any action by any side.

The statement renewed the three states rejection of “all attempts to establish new facts on the ground under the pretext of combating terrorism” and their determination to confront plans aim to undermine Syria’s sovereignty and territorial integrity.

[...] They renewed that there is no military solution to the crisis in Syria, stressing that a solution to the crisis in Syria should be through a process led by Syrians themselves with the help of the United Nations according to the UN resolution 2254.

The guarantor states’ upcoming meeting would be held in Turkey, according to the statement.

The guarantor states agreed to hold next Astana meeting on the crisis in Syria next April.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov stated that some Western countries wish to preserve an enclave that is a terrorist hotbed in Syria’s Idlib province.

Wed Feb 13, 2019 - Russia: Some Western Countries Want to Preserve Terrorist Enclave in Syria's Idlib
Farsnews

“There’s been news that some Western countries wish to do precisely that. They want this enclave where Jabhat al-Nusra controls more than 90% of the territory to become a participant in the future political process,” Lavrov said at a news conference on Wednesday,

“It is clear that there can be no talks with terrorists. Our Western counterparts have repeatedly demonstrated double standards, so I cannot rule out that the information I’ve mentioned is well-founded,” he added.

The top Russian diplomat recalled the gist of the agreements between the Russian and Turkish presidents on the de-escalation zone in Idlib.

“The agreement requires separating the opposition interested in a normal dialogue with the government of Syria from the terrorists, thus isolating them and continuing their elimination. No agreements envisage the indefinite preservation of this hotbed of terrorism on Syrian soil,” Lavrov said.

Washington intends to set up a large military base equipped with advanced weapons near the triangle of Iraq-Syria-Jordan, Iraqi sources said, referring to the deployment of a US military convoy, sent from Jordan, in Iraq.

Thu Feb 14, 2019 - US after Establishment of Large Military Base Near Jordan-Syria-Iraq Triangle
Farsnews

The Arabic-language al-Ma'aloumeh news agency quoted an informed source in al-Anbar province as saying on Wednesday that the US forces want to establish a permanent military base near the Syrian-Iraqi-Jordanian triangle in the Western parts of al-Anbar in Iraq.

He added that a military convoy of vehicles, carrying weapons and equipment, has been transferred to Iraq from Jordan, noting that the US wants to set up a large military base equipped with state-of-the-art equipment in the region.

The US is attempting to increase the number of its military bases in Iraq as calls are growing to expel the American forces from the country.

A senior Iraqi legislator underlined on Wednesday that his country had not signed any agreement with Washington which included contents to justify the US military presence in Iraq.

A security agreement was inked between Baghdad and Washington in 2008 and it requires the US forces to leave Iraq and only render logistical support to the Iraqi security forces like equipping them with weapons and training them," Mozar Khaz'al, a representative of Islah coalition in the Iraqi parliament, told al-Ma'aloumeh news website.

 

[angelburst29]

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov will lead the Russian delegation at the Munich Security Conference, Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said. Over 35 heads of states and governments, about 50 foreign ministers and 30 defense ministers are expected to attend.

15 February، 2019 - 55th Munich Security Conference expected to become world’s biggest
55th Munich Security Conference expected to become world’s biggest

© AP Photo/Luca Bruno

The future of the European security architecture and the situation surrounding the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) treaty will dominate the agenda of the 55th Munich Security Conference to begin on Friday. "On February 15-16, Lavrov will take part in the work of the next meeting of the Munich Security Conference as head of the Russian delegation," the diplomat said.

Organizers expect it to gather the record number of participants - about 600 politicians, experts, businessmen and human rights activists from all over the world are expected to join the debate. Over 35 heads of states and governments, about 50 foreign ministers and 30 defense ministers are expected to attend.

Russia has been taking part in the forum since late 1990s. From 2010, the Russian delegation is led by Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov. The only exception was in 2016, when Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev participated in the event.

The conference will be officially opened at 16:00 Moscow time by German Defense Minister Ursula von der Leyen and her UK counterpart Gavin Williamson.

The event will be held in the luxury Bayerischer Hof hotel amid unprecedented security measures. The adjacent city districts will be cordoned off by police. Some 4,400 police officers will be on duty in the city to ensure public security as various anti-globalist and pacifist organizations have already scheduled their rallies.

During the next three days, the participants of the forum will discuss a wide range of issues that includes future of Europe’s defense policy, West-Russia relations, Ukrainian crisis, conflicts in the Middle East and Venezuela, the role of China in the world and many other matters.

Munich Security Conference Chairman Wolfgang Ischinger said a meeting on Ukrainian reconciliation may be held on the sidelines of the event - either between Russia and Ukraine or in the Normandy Format (comprising Russia, Ukraine, Germany and France).

The Nord Stream-2 pipeline project, which has been a source of heated debates in Europe, is also likely to be discussed.

Russian Defense Ministry criticized the US and Western countries for trying to avoid responsibility for striking Syria last April over false evidence of an alleged chemical weapons attack in Douma after disclosure of the truth about fabricated allegations.

15 February، 2019 - Moscow: US and EU try to avoid responsibility for striking Syria over disclosed fabrications
Moscow: US and EU try to avoid responsibility for striking Syria over disclosed fabrications

15 February، 2019
Russian Defense Ministry spokesman, Maj. Gen. Igor Konashenkov said Over the past few years, the Russian Defense Ministry has repeatedly stressed that sooner or later, the truth about these fabrications of Western countries would make its way to the light. And many current high-level policymakers in the United States and Europe, who then called for the ‘protection of peaceful Syrians from the regime’s terrible chemical attacks’ and authorized missile and air strikes on Syria, will try to ‘forget’ this issue to avoid moral, political and criminal responsibility.”

He indicated that the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW)’s decision regarding Douma incident also had been made on the basis of the fabricated footage of the alleged chemical weapons attack in the Syrian city, located in Eastern Ghouta.

On Wednesday, BBC producer Riam Dalati said in tweets that he could “prove without a doubt”, based on his personal investigations, that the Douma hospital footage had been staged and that no one had died in the hospital.

On April 14, 2018, a tripartite US-British-French aggression was launched using missiles strikes on a number of Syrian sites in the surroundings of Damascus and Homs.

Syria and Iraq discussed ongoing preparations to reopen al-Bukamal-Husseibeh border crossing, during a meeting on Thursday.

15 February، 2019 - Syria and Iraq discuss reopening border crossings
Syria and Iraq discuss reopening border crossings

15 February، 2019
The meeting took place between Syria’s Ambassador in Baghdad Sattam Jadaan al-Dandah and Iraqi Assistant Chief of Staff, Deputy Commander of Joint Operations Lt. Gen. Abdul Amir Yarallah.

In addition to discussing the reopening of the crossing, both sides also discussed means of enhancing bilateral relations and joint coordination between Syria and Iraq.

The US-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) are going to declare end of the ISIL in Eastern Euphrates after the latter retreated from areas under its control in the region, media sources said.

15 February، 2019 - US-Led SDF About to Declare End of ISIL in Eastern Euphrates
Farsnews

"After ISIL's foreign terrorists left the Eastern Euphrates and tens of them surrendered, the SDF took control of the al-Khanafera and Sheikh Mohammad regions in Baghouz town in Eastern part of Deir Ezzur," sources in Eastern Euphrates said.

They reiterated that the ISIL is only in control of several houses and a camp South of the Baghouz town in an area covering less than 1 square kilometers.

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani slammed the US for protecting terrorists in Syria and Iraq, and warned that Washington is relocating the ISIL (known as ISIS and Daesh) terrorists to Afghanistan.

Thu Feb 14, 2019 - Rouhani: US Supports Terror Groups in Syria, Iraq, Transfers Militants to Afghanistan
Farsnews

Addressing a tripartite summit on Syria that was also attended by his Russian and Turkish counterparts in Sochi on Thursday, Rouhani stated, "Unfortunately, the US government is sponsoring terrorists in Iraq and Syria in pursuit of their illegal moves to take advantage of them to its own benefit."

"There are credible reports showing that the US is helping ISIL terrorists transport inside Syria and moving some of them to Afghanistan," he added.

“Syrian-Syrian dialogue should continue with the aim of establishing sustainable peace in Syria. Independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity of the country, and non-interference in Syria's internal affairs must be respected in any circumstances,” the Iranian president stressed.

The Iranian president further noted Israel's antagonistic efforts, troubling the war on terrorist groups, and complained, "The Zionist Regime is also active in helping terrorist groups in Syria and recently, some of the authorities of this regime have admitted to these heinous acts."

"The Zionist Regime's arbitrary actions in conducting acts of aggression the Syrian territory have jeopardized international peace and security."

"The international community is responsible to confront these acts, particularly the continuation of occupation by the regime against the land and existence of the Syrian nation and government," he continued.

A large number of former rebels have joined the Syrian Arab Army’s (SAA) ranks in the Daraa and Al-Quneitra governorates this week, a military communique read on Thursday.

2019-02-15 - Thousands of former rebels join Syrian Army ranks in Daraa
https://www.almasdarnews.com/article/thousands-of-former-rebels-join-syrian-army-ranks-in-daraa/


According to the report, approximately 7,000 men, many former rebels, were inducted into the Syrian Arab Army (SAA) recently as the military wraps up their winter recruitment class.

With these 7,000 new recruits from Daraa, the Syrian Arab Army has effectively inducted more than 20,000 soldiers into this winter class.