LATEST: Report — Insurgents Have Control Of Daraa-Ramtha Border Crossing
SATURDAY FEATURES
SUMMARY: As expected, the United Nations Security Council passed a resolution on Friday night for the inspection and handover of Syria’s chemical weapons.
The vote, with most of the 15 members represented by their Foreign Ministers, was unanimous after the US and Russia agreed on Thursday on the wording of the resolution.
The text demands assurances that all parties in Syria — insurgents as well as the Assad regime — have no chemical weapons. It does not have a reference to Chapter 7 for enforcement if Damascus fails to comply; however, there is general wording about “consequences”, provided the Council passes another resolution.
Russia had held out against any explicit reference to Chapter 7. However, after the vote, Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said, “The United Nations Security Council…will stand ready to take action under Chapter VII of the charter, quite
clearly”, if the Assad regime did not co-operate with the inspection and handover of its arsenal.
Earlier in the day, the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons adopted a plan for the inspection and confiscation of the chemical weapons, with a timetable for their destruction by mid-2014. Inspections are to by next Tuesday.
UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon told the council immediately after the vote he aimed for a Syria peace conference in November.
Report: Insurgents Have Control Of Daraa-Ramtha Border Crossing
Jordan’s Assabeel newspaper has more information on the reports that insurgents have succeeded in capturing the Daraa-Ramtha border crossing.
Assabeel cites a telephone conversation between Turkey’s Anatolia news agency and a Free Syrian Army commander, Yasser Aboud, who told the agency that the crossing fell to the insurgency after a battle involving FSA brigades and two Islamist brigades.
EA has more on this story: Syria Spotlight: FSA Cooperate With Islamist Factions To Capture Old Customs Area, Daraa
Syrian Coalition Slams ISIS For Targeting Churches, Assad For Targeting Mosques
The Syrian National Coalition (SNC) on Saturday blamed the Assad regime for targeting a mosque in the town of Rankos, north of Damascus, with a car bomb.
The SNC said in a statement that “Assad forces” were responsible for the attack near the Khalid Bin al-Walid mosque, which took place Friday as worshippers were leaving the mosque after Friday prayers. According to the SNC, 37 people have died and more than 100 were injured.
The SNC also criticized Islamist faction the Islamic State of Iraq and Ash Sham for targeting a church in Raqqa, saying that the move — ISIS removed a cross from the church and tried to make it into a military headquarters — “mimics Assad’s targeting of churches”.
The SNC added, “What ISIS is doing goes against the holy teachings of Islam. It goes against all codes of ethics and against the right to equal citizenship. It infringes upon the basic human right of freely practicing religious rites. It is a complete disregard to holy sites and religious and cultural heritage.”
Video: Al Jazeera Report On Humanitarian Crisis In Moadamiyyat Ash Sham
Al Jazeera video report on the humanitarian situation in the West Ghouta town of Moadamiyyat Ash Sham, where a months-long regime siege is resulting in deaths from malnutrition. The town was also the site of one of the August 21 chemical weapons attacks.
The report is in Arabic but has English subtitles (they begin after the anchor introduces the report).
Insurgents Capture Old Customs Area In Daraa After 4-Day Battle
Activists are reporting that insurgents have managed to capture the Daraa Custom border crossing in Daraa town, following a four-day long fight against the regime. Reports from Daraa on Friday said that Islamist factions Jabhat Al Nusra and Ahrar Ash Sham had joined the battle, and that Jabhat Al Nusra were responsible for a car bombing at the entrance to the Old Customs Area.
More on this story as it develops.
Fursan As-Sunnah Join Coalition Rejecting National Coalition
The Aleppo-based Islamist faction Fursan As-Sunnah, part of the Syrian Islamic Liberation Front (SILF), has joined the coalition rejecting the authority of the Supreme Military Council and Syrian National Coalition.
The group issued a statement, posted on its Facebook page on Saturday.
Claim: Jabhat al-Nusra Pulls Out of New Insurgent Coalition
Claims are circulating that the Islamist faction Jabhat al-Nusra has pulled out of the new coalition of insurgent groups declared on Tuesday.
At least 11 groups issued a statement rejecting the authority of the Supreme Military Council and Syrian National Coalition.
However, on Friday, a Twitter account claiming to represent Jabhat al-Nusra said it would not be involved in a coalition that was directed at another faction, the Islamic State of Iraq and as-Sham.
ISIS has been involved in a series of clashes with other insurgent brigades across northern Iraq this month.
Casualties
The Local Coordination Committees claim 113 people were killed on Friday, including 70 in Damascus and it suburbs, 27 in Aleppo Province, and 12 in Daraa Province.
The Violations Documentation Center puts the number of dead at 74,221 since the conflict began in March 2011, an increase of 131 from Friday. Of the dead, 55,549 are civilians, a rise of 76 from yesterday.
