LATEST: Russia Makes Diplomatic Move on Aid, Blames West and Insurgents for Problems
MONDAY FEATURE
How Chemical Weapons “Journalism” Supports Assad’s War
On the eve of the Presidential election, officials and State media are proclaiming the triumph of the regime.
President Assad faces two nominal challengers, businessman Hassan al-Nouri and MP Maher Hajjar.
State news agency SANA has six articles on its homepage celebrating the vote, including purported statements by Islamic scholars, the Speaker of Parliament, the Information Minister, the Ambassador to the United Nations, and the “Popular Reconciliations Forum“.
Highlighting a rally in a Damascus sports hall, festooned by large portraits of President Assad and his father and predecessor Hafez, SANA announces, “Syrians Drive Home a Message of Defiance Ahead of Presidential Vote“.
An activist on social media pays a less charitable tribute to the President:
Resemblance of Orwell's big brother; The one & only leader in different attires & postures. Al-Mazzeh #Damascus: pic.twitter.com/r2yeww7Eb2
— Majd Arar (@MajdArar) June 1, 2014
Russia Makes Diplomatic Move on Aid, Blames West and Insurgents for Problems
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Monday that Moscow “is now ready to discuss additional measures” on provision of humanitarian aid inside Syria.
Russia supported the United Nations Security Council resolution of February 22 calling on all parties to allow aid into the country, but refused to accept any measures for enforcement.
The Assad regime has warned NGOs not to deliver aid to insurgent-held areas without its permission, as the Syrian military has maintained sieges on many locations. As a result, 75% of food and 85% of medicine delivered this area has gone to regime-controlled neighborhoods.
Lavrov indicated that past Western resolutions for unrestricted aid had been vehicles for military action against the Assad regime.
#Lavrov: The main thing is to prevent these issues from being used to mobilise public support for the idea of foreign intervention in #Syria
— MFA Russia (@mfa_russia) June 2, 2014
#Lavrov: Our Western partners are pressuring the #Syria government to create conditions for foreign intervention, not for a settlement
— MFA Russia (@mfa_russia) June 2, 2014
The Foreign Minister claimed that a “High-Level Group” had found that insurgents were to blame for blockages of assistance.
#Lavrov: According to the HLG, problems with delivering humanitarian aid are very large in the regions controlled by militants #Syria
— MFA Russia (@mfa_russia) June 2, 2014
Assad Campaign Videos Use Chess and Boardgames to Show President’s Defense Against US-Zionists-Saudis-Opposition
President Assad’s re-election campaign uses chess and a Risk-type game to show how the President and Syrian nation are resisting the plotters of the US, Israel, Saudi Arabia, and the Syrian opposition:
State Media: Insurgent Bomb in Homs Province Kills 10
State news agency SANA is running a newsflash, “Terrorist Bombing in Homs Province Claims Several Lives“.
SANA says the blast in al-Haraki was carried out by a tractor pulling a tanker, with 10 people dying in the explosion.
Activists claim some of the dead are pro-Assad militia.
Iran: 9 Countries Will Send Observers to Tuesday’s Election
Iranian officials said on Sunday that nine countries will send observers to Tuesday’s Presidential election, with Bolivia, Venezuela, Philippines, Tajikistan, Zimbabwe and Uganda joining Iran, Russia, and Lebanon.
The officials made the statement at Tehran’s second “Friends of Syria” conference, with Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif addressing MPs from a number of countries:
The foreign powers should give up the illusion of attaining their own strategic wishes and aspirations in Syria through military means and accept that the Syrian crisis has no way but a political solution based on the resolve and will of the Syrian people which will be shown through the ballot box.
