Syria Daily, April 18: Rebel Leader Alloush Visits Turkey
PHOTO: Rebel leader Zahra Alloush (third from left) is greeted after crossing into Turkey on Friday
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In a sign of expanding Turkish support for Syrian rebels, insurgent leader Zahran Alloush crossed Syria to visit Turkey on Friday.
The trip also shows the growing importance of Alloush in the armed opposition to President Assad. He is the leader of the Jaish al-Islam faction, based outside Damascus, and the head of military operations for the Islamic Front rebel bloc.
Photographs showed Alloush being greeted after he crossed into Turkey at the Bab al-Hawa post, controlled by rebels. He reportedly met Syrian Islamic scholars.
Turkey and Saudi Arabia have both stepped up arms supplies and intelligence support for the rebels this year, as the opposition has made significant gains. The rebels took the provincial capital of Idlib in northwest Syria last month, and they have steadily advanced through the south, including the recent takeover of the historic town of Busra al-Sham and the Nassib crossing, the last held by the regime on the border with Jordan.
Claims are also circulating — albeit without verification so far — that the Turks are considering further support on the ground for the rebels, with air cover from the Saudis.
The US has long held back from links with the Islamic Front. The former US Ambassador to Syria, Robert Ford, had tentative meeting swith Front representatives in Turkey soon after the bloc’s formation in November 2013. However, the talks quickly stalled, with the Front refusing the US demand that it acknowledge the supremacy of the Turkish-based Supreme Military Council.
The Council has since collapsed, as rebels inside Syria have re-organized their control of battlefield operations.
Video: Anti-Regime Demonstration in Haritan in Aleppo Province
An anti-regime rally in Haritan, northwest of Aleppo city:
Prominent in the demonstrations are the flags of the foreign fighters Jaish al-Muhajireen wal Ansar, who are based in Haritan.
Leading Faction Ahrar al-Sham Criticizes Jabhat al-Nusra’s Relationship with Al Qa’eda
The head of the prominent rebel faction Ahrar al-Sham, Sheikh Hashim al Sheikh (Abu Jaber), says in an interview that Jabhat al-Nusra’s relationship with Al Qa’eda endangers Syria’s people:
The statement marks another political distancing by rebels from Jabhat al-Nusra, even as they often cooperate on the battlefield. Element in the Southern Front said earlier this week that they would not work with al-Nusra unless the Islamist faction moved away from its hardline ideology.
Ahrar al-Sham, part of the Islamic Front bloc, was the largest faction in last month’s rebel takeover of Idlib city, in which Jabhat al-Nusra also participated.
Idlib’s Christians pray for return of Syrian armyhttp://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/culture/2015/04/syria-idlib-christians-jabhat-alnusra-.html#
Christians flee persecution from the terror group that is supported by this site.
Shall I tell readers of this “site” first-hand accounts about the situation of Christians in Iran?
As Safir, the original source of that article is notoriously pro-Assad.
Ian,
Thanks — I was about to mention that this is standard fare for the pro-regime as-Safir. The article is a concoction of rumor, the specific event of the killing of two Christians — the rebel administration in Idlib says it is punishing the fighters responsible — and exaggeration. It ignores the statements of the new administration that it will not impose a tax on Christians to claim exactly the opposite.
S.
Razmoo , you might also want ot note that this site is hardly monolithic. There’s a variety of views here regarding JAN.
seems that the ghouta siege, is just good so rebels can cry about starving civilians, bringing out people (to Turkey) isnt a problem, bringing in weapons isnt a problem, but bringing in food is a major problem.
P.S. Scott i cant wait for your on the ground report from christian loving Idlib, but i guess we will have to wait for that for a while.
Wrong place. Here it is again.
Food enough to feed a population is larger, bulkier and harder to conceal than a single person or a handful of weapons.
@Woody exactly hit the nail on the head , but these imbecilic assheadists always want to see a conspiracy. The rebels are starving their own brothers sisters mothers fathers and children to get attention from the west.
And food is coming into Ghouta, just not enough of it. If it didn’t, everyone in there would of starved to death already.
Scott you are a bread and butter Lair and an apologist for Terrorists, now your masters in Doha and White hall have asked you to improve the image of Ahrar Rats ? Surely, English are the most despicable and cunning race on earth. Do you even know that most Ahrar leaders are former AQ villains ? ever heard of Abu Khalid Suri ? yeah you never would write such connections, lest it angers your masters the English Establishment. Do you know these Rats nourished in Al-Ghab ? we gave them the lands there to live and grow crops on, but they are utterly thankful like snakes. Do you know how many canals, barrages, hydraulic structures we build in Al-Ghab for these Rodents to be civilized and counted amongst men ? Do you know Al-Ghab was a wetpool and a Marsh, and the corrective Revolution (Hafez Al-Assad) got the project to fruition ? You don’t know a Damn thing. You Scott are a shum. I have serious reservations about your true ancestry.
Many times i refuse to read your Journals, never doubting, it will make me as wicked as those in sodom & gomorrah, because your journals are packed with praise for JN Sodomites. I’m an old man, i’m not the same man i was, but i feel that i must respond, although i appreciate my unsullied son Leith, has been at you with great zeal and desire.
Ziad Fadel.
“Do you know how many canals, barrages, hydraulic structures we build …”
What have the Romans ever done for us?
Ziad is Professor Moriarty, Scott´s nemesis.
Uncle Ziad, seems unduly fixated on catamites and Sodomites.
1. THE IRONY OF ALLOUSH: HOW ASSAD & OBAMA OUTFOXED THEMSELVES
Alloush and most members of the Islamic Alliance were among those Assad released from his jails in 2011 while simultaneously killing off unarmed pro-democracy demonstrators. The goal was to divide and taint the opposition. What Assad never counted on would be that Alloush would become so powerful and is now tailored made to bring support from Turkey, the Saudis and other Sunnis–support that would not be forthcoming had Obama not screwed all the rebels repeatedly.
2. RUSSIA SAYS PUTIN READY TO WORK WITH THE USA
Onserving what a bonanza the Appeasement President has been for Iran, Putin hopes to grab a bit of the same in the remaining time the Great Appeaser occupies the White House. As in Iran’s case, Obama will ignore any contradictions in Russia’s behave on the gounds that “Putin doesn’t mean what he says and it’s all for show.” (Standard White House reasoning).
Another reason for this sudden change in tone is that Putin is counting on Obama to “preserve the interests” of the two nations that supported four plus years of Sunni genocide there. Why should we do that? Three problems Obama and Ben Rhodes will face as they fall their knees at a nice word from Putin:
–Rebels won’t play along with any “interest preserving deal.
–Nor will Turkey, the Saudis and other Sunnis. None of them trusts any guarantees from President Red Line. (This means Obama can’t pull his usual pressure technique of “shutting the faucet” on the rebels.
–Congress and the press have seen enough giveaways in Iran’s case and hardly likely to tolerate an attempt at another one.
http://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/russias-putin-says-ready-to-work-with-united-states-tv/ar-AAbeLX3?ocid=HPCDHP
3. ‘Jaws dropped’ around the studio
ISRAEL ANALYSTS SHOCKED BY OBAMA’S COMMENTS ON SANCTIONS, S-300 SUPPLY
‘This is the new America. We had better get used to it,’ says TV commentator after president leaves door open to Iran’s sanctions demand, defends Putin’s missile sale.
Why Jaws should drop at any further giveaways from Obama at this point I cannot understand. Obama lives and breathes to give away the store to America’s enemies, to screw America’s allies and to maximize opportunities for Sunni genocide.
http://www.timesofisrael.com/israel-analysts-shocked-by-obamas-comments-on-sanctions-s-300-supply/
4. ALEPPO RESIDENTS “LEFT TO FEND FOR THEMSELVES
Noteworthy excerpt:
The rebels have also adopted a strategy they learned from their enemies. Assad’s regime has long implemented a similar war strategy throughout the country: bomb rebel-held areas to force civilians to flee, then lay siege to the area, often using hunger as a weapon of war.
“The rocket attacks push people living in the pro-regime neighborhoods to leave, and then [rebels] cut the water to these districts. Aleppo’s water distribution station is located in rebel-held territory,” GREMMO’s Balanche said, noting electricity has also been cut, sometimes for dozens of days.
As the rebel offensive intensifies, a rumour has been spreading in Aleppo: The regime has decided to forego Syria’s former commercial powerhouse.
“Residents of areas controlled by the regime really do feel like they have been left to fend for themselves,” Balanche said. “Especially because many thought Assad’s forces would quickly take back the eastern half of Aleppo the way they did in Homs [in May 2014].”
(In other words: the residents were fully ready to support all barrel bombing of Sunni areas, but now they are crying)
http://www.france24.com/en/20150417-syria-aleppo-abandoned-assad-rebels-siege-christian-neighbourhoods/?utm_medium=facebook&utm_source=twitterfeed
5. THE F-35 MAY BE THE LAST MANNED FIGHTER THE US EVER FLIES
http://finance.yahoo.com/news/f-35-may-last-manned-131500266.html
Why are we wasting taxpayers dollars and this piece of crap anyway? Partly as a boondoggle for the defense industry and partly to satisfy the Air Force’s desire to keep manned fighters going a bit longer–the kind of nonsense President Eisenhower had in mind when he warned of the military-industrial complex.
The concept is as outdated as investing in battleships after the age of air power. As for the Russian T-50, don’t let it scare you. It’s having problems of its own and Putin won’t be able to afford scheduled production.
instead of wasting money on the sure-to-be-obsolete, we need to leave that to the Russians and let them waste their cash on the T-50 while we jump ahead to the future. The F-22 can fill in in the meantime.
6. As Everyone Predicted!! OBAMA OPEN TO “CREARTIVE NEGOTIATIONS” ON SANCTIONS
This turkey is as predictable as clockwork. President Bend Over is already Bending Over. You could see this coming. Congress and out allies are right not to trust a man who has perpetually behaved more like an Iranian mole than a man looking out for America’s interests and that of our allies.
http://news.yahoo.com/obama-surprised-russian-missile-ban-iran-held-long-174150560.html
7. PUTIN UPBEAT ON RUSSIAN RECOVERY BUT DOTH HE PROTEST TOO MUCH?
http://news.yahoo.com/putin-upbeat-russian-recovery-doth-protest-too-much-183419294.html
8. PUTIN SAYS HE’ll CONSIDER RECOGNIZING DONESK AN LUGANSK PEOPLE’S REPUBLICS
If the Ukraine can tolerate giving up these two provinces, it would be dump a useless burden and passing the same on Russia.
If the latter doesn’t want to absorb them for that reason, then they can remain a Poorhouse Example to other states where Russian minorities might be tempted to serve as proxies in Putin’s schemes.
If the Ukraine attempts to keep these two sites, another disadvantage is they’d always be a military burden as well, pollute with Russian proximes and nationalists. Let ’em go. Let ’em be a poorhouse like Russian-coccupied Crimea and the Ukraine will be so much better off.
IDLIB
Resistance forces thwart another Iranian-Assad attack in Idlib province
#Idlib province, 18-04-2015: Resistance forces ambushed a group of Iranian mercenaries and Assad regime troops as they were attempting to enter a village near Al-Mastoumah in Idlib province last night, killing or injuring them all, capturing some and seizing a quantity of light and medium weapons.
From: Syrian Network
With Obama’s tacit approval, the Assad-Iran Regime dropped 700 barrel bombs on Idlib in 20 days.
IDLIB DEVELOPMENTS
–FSA Liwa Fursan al-Haqq destroy a regime 122 mm Howitzer in Matrim with a tow missile
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DC_Vi1IfrqM&feature=youtu.be
–Someone got a taste of their own medicine, 11 regime forces reported killed by own airstrike.–Sami
–An Obama-enabled barrel bombing destroyed Ihsan Hospital in Sraqb in Idlib what destroyed the hospital building
–Update from Syrian Rebellion Obs.
No clashes in Qmenas. No clashes in Kurin. Stop Tweet’rumors. Regime forces still in Qarmid and Mastumah areas.
SAA CUT OFF IN ALEPPO
The only remaining access for SAA to Aleppo (khanaser) is blocked by ISIS.
TERRIFIC REPORT ON THE INSIDE WORKINGS OF ISIS FROM CAPTURED DOCUMENTS
It contains info on how ISIS was founded (by Saddam’s officers, how it took over by starting a base first in Syria and how closely the Assad Regime and ISIS collaborated against the rebels until ISIS backstabbed its long time ally of convenience.
http://www.spiegel.de/international/world/islamic-state-files-show-structure-of-islamist-terror-group-a-1029274.html
BEFORE FINAL TREATY IS FINISHED, OBAMA HAS CAVED IN TO IRAN ON SANCTIONS RELIEF
http://m.washingtonexaminer.com/obama-caves-on-timing-of-sanctions-relief-critics-say/article/2563256
Al Masdar is reporting the SAA repelled a Daesh attack on Kuweires airbase.
Since its al Masdar, it is of course an open question whether the attackers were Daesh and whether they were repelled or not.
Anyone got any more accurate details?
Also is Kuweires still in operation as an airbase or have the proximity of Daesh and rebels stopped aircraft flying from there?
Kuweires is completely surrounded by Daesh, receiving all supplies by air. From what I know, it’s been out of operation for about two years. Working planes evacuated, runway unusable due to enemy proximity etc.
Better question though, was there an attack in the first place?
Al Masdar is heavily biased towards the government, if they admit to an attack I’m inclined to think it happened.
Ah, but they “admit” to an attack that was “repelled”.
Lords of the Blog @lordsoftheblog
https://twitter.com/lordsoftheblog/status/514338012936024064 9/23/2014
Lord Hylton: #Rojava is an eg. of minority communities co-existing peacefully. So should we arm their defence forces? lordsoftheblog.net/2014/09/18/who…
http://lordsoftheblog.net/2014/09/18/who-and-what-is-rojava/
People often gloss over the Arab minority that once existed in Kurdistan, and now does not.
Derek Wall @Anothergreen
https://twitter.com/Anothergreen/status/589372596891836416 4/18/2015
Dr Derek Wall #GreenParty candidate #Windsor endorsed by Dr Alan Semo, UK rep. of Democratic Union Party #PYD peaceinkurdistancampaign.com/2015/04/13/pre… #GE2015
http://peaceinkurdistancampaign.com/2015/04/13/press-release-windsor-general-election-candidate-endorsed-by-syrian-political-party/
David Cameron needs to do more in fight against Isis, says British volunteer fighting Islamists
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/david-cameron-needs-to-do-more-in-fight-against-isis-says-british-volunteer-fighting-islamists-10186144.html 4/17/2015