LATEST: 2 Italian Aid Workers Freed After Five Months

THURSDAY FEATURE

Does Turkey’s Threat to Twitter/Facebook Expose Its Arms Supply to Insurgents?
Full Assad Interview With Czech Newspaper

President Assad has used his latest interview to repeat that he will not leave power, as well as to blame “terrorism” — including the mass killings in Paris last week — on European intervention in Syria.

Syria Feature: Full Assad Interview With Czech Newspaper

Asked by the Czech newspaper Literarni Noviny about the allegation that he was a “mass killer of [his] own people”, Assad explained that this must not be true because he is still President:

How can a President kill his people, and consequently his people become against him, and the whole world against him; and nevertheless he remains in his position? What is the power that keeps the President in this position?….

The issue has nothing to do with stepping down. We are defending our people. I enjoy the support of the Syrian people because I defend this country. No president can kill his people, fight terrorists, fight the world, and yet remain in his position. This is unrealistic.

The President used much of the interview to label support of the Syrian opposition and insurgency as “terrorism”, aiming at European countries in light of the killings in France, including at the Charlie Hebdo magazine: “This incident brought European policies to account, because they are responsible for what happened in our region, for what happened in France, and maybe what happened earlier in other European countries.”

Assad also promoted — despite Syria’s serious economic problems and the ongoing conflict — “reconstruction” and “reconciliation”: “[In] time, more Syrians will join the reconciliation and more Syrians will realize that they cannot go on in the same direction, unless we want to destroy our society, ourselves, and our country completely.”

However, he was notably cool towards the efforts of his ally Russia for political talks with a nominal opposition by the end of January:

We are talking about different personalities, some of them are patriotic, some do not have any influence and do not represent an important part of the Syrian people, and some are puppets in the hands of Saudi Arabia, Qatar, France, or the United States, and consequently they do not act in the best interest of their country. There are other personalities which represent an extremist ideology.

Consequently, it is too early to judge the potential for the success of failure of this step.

2 Italian Aid Workers Freed After Five Months

Italian aid workers Vanessa Marzullo and Greta Ramelli, kidnapped in northwest Syria five months ago have been released and will soon return home.

“Vanessa Marzullo and Greta Ramelli are free and will soon return to Italy,” Prime Minister Matteo Renzi’s office announced.

No details about the release were provided.

The two women were taken hostage in August as they were providing health care in the divided city of Aleppo.

Last month, they appeared in a video appealing for their freedom, “We are in big danger and we could be killed. The government and its militaries are responsible [for] our lives.”

Video: Report on Syrian Refugees and Recent Snowfall Takes Unexpected Turn

UN: 2/3rd of Syrian Refugees in Jordan Below Poverty Line

The UN reports that 2/3rds of Syrian refugees in Jordan are living below the national poverty line.

The study by the UN High Commission for Refugees found that 84% of the 620,000 refugees live outside main camps of Zaatari and Azraq. It concludes:

Income and expenditure for the majority of refugee households are now below the level needed to meet their most basic needs, leaving them increasingly reliant on humanitarian assistance….

Funding is running out for the Government of Jordan to sustain free access to health services across the country, the World Food Program is finding it difficult to raise sufficient funds for food assistance, even though the vulnerability of refugees is likely to be even more severe in coming months.

The report was compiled from questionnaires covering almost 150,000 refugees between January and June 2014.

US Officials Meet Syrian Opposition Leaders Over Train-and-Equip Program for Insurgents

An interesting announcement from the US military:

As part of U.S. Central Command’s efforts to implement the congressionally-approved train and equip program for the moderate Syrian opposition forces, U.S. Army Maj. Gen. Michael K. Nagata, Combined Joint Interagency Task Force-Syria Director, and U.S. Special Envoy for Syria Daniel Rubinstein met Jan. 12-13 with a broad spectrum of Syrian opposition and civil society leaders in Istanbul, Turkey.

These meetings provided an important opportunity to introduce and discuss the U.S. train and equip program with members of the moderate political and armed opposition and to gain a better understanding of conditions on the ground in Syria. All participants recognized the need for continued focus on this important program and the need for further discussions.

The Obama Administration authorized $500 million last autumn for the training and equipping of a “moderate” Syrian insurgency, with the priority of fighting the Islamic State. The program has still not begun, with reports indicating that the first insurgents will be trained in late March, after vetting for their reliability and fighting potential.

Jabhat al-Nusra Withdraws from Southern Suburbs of Damascus After Local Protests

The Islamist faction Jabhat al-Nusra withdrew on Wednesday from the Damascus suburbs of Beit Sahem and Babbila after demonstrations by local people calling for their departure, according to activists.

The protests by residents complained about Jabhat al-Nusra’s “excesses” against civilians, including arrests for “insulting God”:

The withdrawal came as the regime, which has besieged the area for years, allowed the entry of trucks loaded with food parcels, under the auspices of the Syrian Red Crescent.

A truce was agreed in February 2014 between insurgents and Syrian forces.

Report: “Ceasefire” in the Al-Waer Section of Homs Breaks Down

Reports indicate that a “ceasefire” in the insurgent-held al-Waer section of Homs, long under siege by regime forces, has broken down soon after it was agreed.

UN and Red Crescent personnel were in the area — with estimates of a population of 90,000 to more than 200,000 people, many of them displaced from other parts of Syria — on Thursday:

However, soon after their departure, regime attacks were reported:

Claims circulated earlier this week that a halt to fighting had finally been agreed after several aborted attempts.

While acknowledging a ceasefire, insurgents denied assertions in pro-regime media that they had agreed to leave the district.

“No settlement has been concluded, rather the negotiations are entering a trust-building phase between the two sides,” a source close to the insurgent negotiating committee told Syria Direct on Thursday. “Meetings were limited to the two sides getting to know each other, and breaking the caution between the negotiating parties.”

Al-Waer is the last location of insurgents in Homs, after the opposition left other sections in the spring. Since then, Al-Waer has been subjected to siege and bombardment to try to break the last vestiges of insurgent resistance.