ALSO IN MONDAY FORECAST

Kurdish Party Claims 8 Killed, 23 Wounded in Attack on Red Crescent Office in Ras al-Ain

MONDAY FEATURE

Spotlight: At Least 56 Incendiary Attacks by Regime Since November 2012

The opposition Syrian National Coalition, following a two-day meeting in Istanbul, has repeated its pre-conditions for participation in international “peace” talks in Geneva.

The Coalition insisted that President Assad must step aside. It also called for a guarantee of access by relief agencies to besieged areas and the release of political prisoners.

The 108-member body also said it had appointed a committee to talks with insurgents inside and outside Syria.

The Coalition has faced strong criticism from a number of insurgent factions this autumn, with complaints that the opposition is detached from the situation inside Syria and is not providing necessary support.

The US and Russia have pressed for the “peace” conference since April, only to delay it repeatedly with the inability of the regime and opposition to agree on conditions for attendance. In recent weeks, former US Ambassador to Syria Robert Ford has based himself in Turkey in an attempt to get a resolution.

Kurdish Party Claims 8 Killed, 23 Wounded in Attack on Red Crescent Office in Ras al-Ain

The Kurdish political movement PYD claims that at least eight people have died and 23 have been injured in an attack on a Syrian Red Crescent office in Ras al-Ain (Kobanê).

Kurdish forces took Ras al-Ain, near the Turkish border, earlier this year from insurgents:

Syrian Military: “Now Possible” to Reopen Aleppo International Airport After Recent Advances

A “military source” told AFP on Monday that it is “now possible” for the Syrian army to re-open Aleppo International Airport, closed at the start of 2013.

“All of the area southeast of the airport is in the hands of the army,” the source said.

The Syrian army is again claiming that it took the “Brigade 80” base from insurgents, an air defense facility protecting the airport.

The base, taken by insurgents in February, changed hands twice last week amid a Syrian ground assault including Hezbollah forces.

State media also says Tal Arn has fallen to the military.

Earlier this month, regime forces broke through the insurgent belt around Aleppo with the capture of the town of as-Safira, to the east of the city.

“After several days of fighting, the army controls the portion of the highway between Safira and Aleppo,” the source said.

“The recent military operations have allowed the army to cut the supply lines of the armed men [insurgents] from Aleppo to the north and east,” the pro-regime Al-Watan newspaper reported.