LATEST: Assad to US Interviewer — “I Had Nothing to Do With Chemical Weapons Attacks”
Appearing at a press conference on Saturday with French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius, US Secretary of State John Kerry (pictured) said, “There are a number of countries, in the double digits, who are prepared to take military action” in Syria in response to last month’s chemical weapons attacks by the Assad regime.
“We have more countries prepared to take military action than we actually could use in the kind of military action being contemplated,” Kerry asserted.
Kerry then invoked Hitler’s Germany and the 1930s, “This is our Munich moment, this is our chance to join together and pursue accountability over appeasement. This is not the time to be silent spectators to slaughter.”
With France offering the most public support for the Americans, Fabius claimed, “Right now, seven of the eight countries in the G8 share our opinion on a strong reaction and 12 countries of the G20 also share this opinion.”
The European Union, however, stopped short of full backing for military action on Saturday. Its 28 Foreign Ministers urged “a clear and strong response”, but did not endorse any specific intervention.
Similiarly, the Gulf Cooperation Council, meeting in Saudi Arabia, urged the international community to intervene immediately to “rescue” the Syrian people from “oppression”.
Meanwhile, as Kerry tried to rally international support, President Obama faces a domestic challenge: reports on Saturday indicated he may struggle to win the vote in the House of Representatives for his proposed “limited” strikes.
Obama will appear on six prime-time news programs on Monday night to press his case before the House decision.
Latest Updates, From Top to Bottom
Russia’s Emergencies Ministry Evacuates 70 More Russians From Syria
The Russian Emergencies Ministry on Sunday evacuated 70 Russians and CIS citizens from Latakia to Moscow, Interfax reports.
Earlier this week, the Russian Foreign Ministry said that in recent days, a total of 755 Russians have left Syria.
Assad to US Interviewer: “I Had Nothing to Do With Chemical Weapons Attacks”
Speaking to an American interviewer, President Assad has “denied that he had anything to do” with the chemical weapons attack of August 21 near Damascus that killed at least 1,360 people.
Assad said he felt remorse over the loss of life, but — according to interviewer Charlie Rose, “It did not come in a way that was sort of deeply felt inside. It was much more of a calm recitation of anybody who’s a leader of a country would feel terrible about what’s happened to its citizens.”
Assad said he was not necessarily expecting the United States to intervene, but he “suggested that there would be, among people that are aligned with him, some kind of retaliation if a strike was made”, although he “would not even talk about the nature of the response”.
Bringing up the example of Iraq, Assad “had a message to the American people that it had not been a good experience for them to get involved in the Middle East in wars and conflicts…that the results had not been good.
Excerpts of the interview will air on Monday morning in the US and will be broadcast in its entirety on Monday night on the US Public Broadcasting System.
Videos: Fierce Clashes In Deir Ez Zor, As Civilians Complain Of Water Pollution, Disease
Fierce clashes continue on Sunday in Deir Ez Zor city, with insurgents targeting regime snipers in the Jebaylah neighborhood.
Activists report fierce regime heavy artillery and mortar shelling has targeted the of Alhamidiyyah and Shaikh Yassin neighborhoods.
As the fighting rages on, civilians in Deir Ez Zor city and the surrounding area report that a number of people have been poisoned, likely from water pollution. In this video from Saturday, taken just outside the city, an activist explains that the Euphrates river is extremely polluted with an oil spill that has resulted from the fighting.
This video from Sunday shows large clouds of smoke rising from an area close to Deir Ez Zor, a result of burning oil:
Footage from June shows “DIY” oil pumping in Deir Ez Zor’s abandoned oil fields, and this report from April by Hassan Hassan explains more about the fight over oil in Deir Ez Zor.
In this video from Sunday, children describe the suffering caused by the oil pollution in the Euphrates River, and blame Assad:
Video: Clashes Between FSA, Regime Forces On Outskirts Of Jobar, Damascus
The fight for the Jobar neighborhood in Damascus continues on Sunday, with heavy regime artillery shelling and fierce clashes between Free Syrian Army insurgents and regime forces on the outskirts of the neighborhood. This footage from Sunday shows smoke rising from the shelled areas:
Resident: Insurgents Return to Center of Maaloula
A resident claims that insurgents, who were briefly in the historic town of Maaloula on Thursday, have returned to the center.
“The rebels are inside Maalula, all of Maalula. The government troops have pulled out of Maalula,” the resident said.
Last week, insurgents — including Free Syrian Army and “independent” brigades and the Islamist faction Jabhat al-Nusra — overran a checkpoint on the outskirt of the town, renowned as a site of ancient Christianity. They were in the center for a short time before withdrawing, as regime forces shelled the area.
Earlier, Christian Patriarch Yazji dismissed reports that insurgents had attacked churches on Thursday.
Video: FSA Capture Police Station At Syrian-Jordanian Border in Daraa
This video, posted on Sunday, is a declaration that insurgents from several Free Syrian Army brigades have captured the Number 64 Police Station on the Syrian-Jordanian border in Daraa Province, killing five regime soldiers and capturing regime weapons and ammunition.
Insurgents In Muadamiyyah Ash Sham Fire Homemade Bombs At Regime Forces
Regime troops are at the northern front of Muadamiyyah Ash Sham in West Ghouta, one of the towns hit by the August 21 chemical weapons attacks. In this footage from Sunday, Free Syrian Army insurgents are launching home made bombs at the regime forces to try to drive them back. Assad’s forces have been pounding the town with air and mortar attacks since August 21.
Footage from inside the town shows that entire neighborhoods have been destroyed by regime air, surface to surface and artillery shelling:
US Senate Committee Releases “Intelligence” from 13 Chemical Weapons Videos
The Senate Intelligence Committee has put out a YouTube playlist of 13 videos which it has seen about the August 21 chemical weapons attacks:
Casualties
The Local Coordination Committees claim 111 people were killed on Saturday, including 34 in Idlib Province, 33 in Damascus and its suburbs, 15 in Aleppo Province, and 12 in Daraa Province.
The Violations Documentation Center put the number of dead at 72,454 since the conflict began in March 2011, an increase of 70 from Saturday. Of the dead, 54,615 are civilians, a rise of 24 from yesterday.
