LATEST: Domestic Opposition Supports Delivery of Russian MiG Fighters
UPDATE 1000 GMT: Anne Barnard of The New York Times reports little control over the voting in Lebanon:
We could easily have voted ourselves. No check on who got them or how many times. Ppl filled them out in public, no closed booths.
— Anne Barnard (@ABarnardNYT) May 28, 2014
Syrians living abroad have begun voting for President Assad’s re-election, as the regime promises it will “teach the world democracy”.
Balloting is being held on Wednesday at several Syrian Embassies, including in Lebanon, Cyprus, Venezuela, and Senegal. Voting within Syria is on June 3, with Assad facing two nominal challengers.
#Syrians in #Lebanon flock to cast votes at Syrian embassy. pic.twitter.com/JQ919INEkk
— Hala Jaber (@HalaJaber) May 28, 2014
Young #Syria'n man kisses picture of Bashar #Assad as he makes his way to embassy in #Lebanon #sawa #bloodelections pic.twitter.com/30M2nQRmep
— Maya Gebeily (@GebeilyM) May 28, 2014
Countries such as France, Germany, and Belgium have refused to allow the Syrian Embassies to hold the vote, and no voting is possible where embassies have been closed, such as in the US and Saudi Arabia.
Many Syrians at home will also be unable to cast ballots because of the 39-month conflict. Opposition to Assad has been limited by a new election law which barred any candidate who has not lived in the country for the last 10 years or who did not get written support from 35 MPs.
Nevertheless, a senior official of the ruling Ba’ath Party promised, “Honest sons of Syria who carried weapons in one hand to fight criminal terrorists and their supporters will hold in the other hand their elections card to take part in the Presidential elections and teach the whole world the meaning of steadfastness and democracy.”
And Presidential advisor Bouthaina Shaaban said the restrictions on voting in some countries “is a continuation of the aggressive campaign against Syria through which the West sent weapons, money and mercenaries to kill the Syrian people”.
Domestic Opposition Supports Delivery of Russian MiG Fighters
Leaders of the Popular Front for Change and Liberation, a domestic Syrian opposition group, have supported the delivery of Russian MiG fighters to Damascus.
Speaking during discussions in Moscow, Qadri Jamil told RIA Novosti, “The Soviet Union has always supplied weapons to Syria. Thus, some balance in the region was maintained to help us keep the peace, so I think that the contract is part of this historical strategy.”
Jamil said that any attempt to disrupt the contract “will be unclear, illogical and unpersuasive because the transaction is not related to the internal events”.
Last weekend, MiG CEO Sergei Korotkov said the company is planning to supply 12 MiG-29M/M2 fighters to Syria in 2016-2017 under a contract concluded in 2007, although there may be problems with the deliveries because of the ongoing conflict.
US Denies Report That It Lifted Ban on Anti-Aircraft Missiles to Insurgents
An unnamed State Department official Tuesday has denied a newspaper report that the White House has “lifted its veto” on deliveries of shoulder-fired anti-aircraft missiles, known as MANPADS, to Syrian insurgents.
“We have not changed our position on providing MANPADS to the Syrian opposition,” the official said. “We have made very clear publicly our concerns about this particular system because it has a proliferation risk that does not serve our interest.”
The newspaper Al-Hayat claimed Tuesday that President Obama had lifted the ban as part of a strategy of “gradual escalation” against the Assad regime, followed a visit by Syrian National Coalition head Ahmad Jarba to Washington.
In a related development, The Wall Street Journal claimed from unnamed US officials that President Obama will announce the training of limited number of “moderate” insurgents by US forces.
The Americans have covertly trained groups of insurgents since last year, but Obama’s statement on Wednesday would be the first public confirmation.
US officials have periodically said, amid divisions within the Administration over support for the insurgency, that the White House would authorize the training to ensure that a “moderate” force would lead the fight against the Assad regime.
Islamic Front Claims Ambush of Regime Forces Near Aleppo Central Prison
The insurgents of the Islamic Front claim they have successfully ambushed Syrian forces en route to Aleppo Central Prison:
Destroying regime two tanks and several vehicles loaded with soldiers on their way to #Aleppo Prison, killing and injuring large numbers
— Islamic Front En (@IslamicFront_En) May 28, 2014
Last week, regime troops broke a months-long insurgent siege on the Prison complex.
Iranian Brigadier General Killed in Syria
Iranian news agency ABNA reports that Brigadier General Abdollah Eskandari has been killed in fighting in Syria.
ABNA says Eskandari died while protecting the “protecting the Sayyeda Zeinab shrine” in southern Damascus, the standard phrase for any Iranian killed in the Syrian conflict.
The general managed the Fars Province Foundation for Martyrs and Self-Sacrifice Affairs until he went to Syria last year.
(Cross-posted from Iran Daily)
Car Bomb Hits Islamic State of Iraq Headquarters in Raqqa
A car bomb hit a building of the Islamic State of Iraq and as-Sham’s headquarters in Raqqa in northern Syria on Tuesday, causing casualties.
ISIS, which has been fighting Syrian insurgents since January, blamed the Islamist faction Jabhat al-Nusra for the blast and said dozens of people, including women and children, had been killed or injured.
ISIS has been dominant in Raqqa, the largest city outside the Assad regime’s control, since last year. It split with Jabhat al-Nusra in April 2013 when the latter refused ISIS’s leadership of the jihadist movement inside Syria.
Video of the aftermath:
