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(Reuters) - Al Qaeda-linked militants have executed the commander of a rival rebel faction and six of his men, an amateur video of the public execution showed, part of their campaign to marginalize other groups.

The Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant, or ISIL, fighting to overthrow President Bashar al-Assad, have taken advantage of a power vacuum in rebel-held areas to assert its authority over more moderate elements of the armed opposition.

The video, posted online by the anti-Assad Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitoring group on Wednesday, shows armed men in black standing below an ISIL banner.

The Observatory said the video was taken in the northern Syrian town of Atarib in Idlib province. Its authenticity could not be independently confirmed.

A masked man on the video identifies seven men kneeling as members of the Ghurabaa al-Sham brigade, a moderate Islamist group that was one of the first to fight Assad. A man who appeared to be Commander Hassan Jazera was among them.

"Hassan Jazera is the most corrupt and the biggest thief," said the man. He spoke into a microphone to a crowd of men, some of whom used their mobile phones to film the killing.

The man, reading from a piece of paper, said Jazera's men were also charged with kidnapping and had been tried in a religious court run by ISIL. They were then shot in the head.

In May, an alliance of Islamist groups moved against Ghurabaa al-Sham following a disagreement over territory and complaints of looting. Jazera's unit of around 100 fighters was all that was left of Ghurabaa al-Sham's roughly 2,000 men, fighters from that group told Reuters this summer.

Jazera and his men were arrested by ISIL a month ago, the UK-based Observatory said.

The rise of al Qaeda in Syria has forced some in the West to temper calls for Assad's removal from power.

In August, ISIL took control of the northern border town of Azaz, expelling western-backed Free Syrian Army units. On Friday, ISIL captured a second border town, ousting a moderate Islamist rebel unit and detaining its leader.

The Syrian uprising against four decades of Assad family rule started in 2011 and erupted into a civil war after Assad's forces shot demonstrators and deployed tanks to crush the protest movement. More than 100,000 people have been killed and millions have been displaced.

(Reporting by Oliver Holmes and Reuters TV, editing by Elizabeth Piper)

[HSMW]

Ainda se lembram? O resultado foi este.

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First Published: 2013-11-28

Assad army takes upper hand in bid to crush rebels north of Damascus
Takeover of strategic town of Deir Attiyeh is important to regime for its proximity to capital Damascus.
Middle East Online


Confidence boost from recent victories


DAMASCUS - The Syrian army recaptured the strategic town of Deir Attiyeh Thursday, less than a week after losing it, taking the advantage in its bid to crush rebels just north of Damascus.

The takeover of Deir Attiyeh, on the Damascus-Homs highway, comes two weeks into an army offensive in the Qalamoun region, important to the regime for its proximity to the capital and the rebels as it serves as their rear base near the border with Lebanon.

It also comes amid intense international efforts to hold a Geneva peace conference aimed at ending the 32-month conflict.

The opposition demands any talks should lead to a transitional period during which President Bashar al-Assad's regime plays no role.

But forces loyal to Assad appear to be pushing for as many battleground victories as possible for leverage at the Geneva talks to be staged on January 22.

"Our heroic army has taken total control of the town of Deir Attiyeh in Damascus province after it crushed the terrorists' last enclaves there," said state television, citing a military source.

A high-ranking security official in Damascus confirmed the report, adding that "operations to expel the terrorists from nearby areas are ongoing".

On Friday last week, hundreds of jihadists from the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) and Al-Nusra Front, as well as other rebels, took control of Deir Attiyeh, according to a monitoring group.

Most of the rebels who had taken up positions in Deir Attiyeh were "crushed" and the town had been "cleansed," the security official said on condition of anonymity.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the army was now in "near-total control" of Deir Attiyeh, though gunfire could still be heard.

A security source said regime loyalists also entered the nearby town of Nabuk.

"If this town is captured, all we'll have left is Yabroud and some other villages to completely block off the border with Lebanon and to stop any entrance or exit of rebels into Lebanon," said the source.

"The next phase will be to retake the south (of Syria). The north and the east are for later," he added.

Different areas of northern and eastern Syria are under control of the rebels, jihadists and Kurds.

Also engaged in the fighting in Qalamoun is the Lebanese Shiite movement Hezbollah, which backs Assad and has sent thousands of fighters into Syria.

On Thursday, a source close to the movement said a nephew of Lebanon's agriculture minister was killed along with three other Hezbollah fighters in Qalamoun.

"Ali Rida Fuad Hajj Hassan, aged 22, was killed along with three other Hezbollah fighters in Qalamoun" north of Damascus on Wednesday, the source said.

"He was the nephew of Hussein Hajj Hassan," Lebanon's agriculture minister and a leading Hezbollah member, he added.

Fighting raged elsewhere on Thursday, a day after Iran said it and Turkey, which support opposing sides in the conflict, would press for a ceasefire ahead of the Geneva 2 peace conference.

Nine rebels were killed around Marj in the Eastern Ghouta region near Damascus, said the Observatory, which also reported fierce clashes around Douma, another rebel bastion nearby.

In the northern city of Raqa, a surface-to-surface missile launched overnight from Damascus province killed at least six people and wounded at least 30 others, including two women, the monitor said.

Raqa is the only provincial capital in Syria to have fallen out of regime hands since the conflict broke out in March 2011.

It is now under jihadist control, but activists have frequently accused the army of targeting only civilian areas of Raqa, rather than parts of the city where the feared Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant is positioned.

In Aleppo province's Atareb, ISIL executed Hassan Jazra and six members of his Ghuraba al-Sham battalion, after it had accused them of theft and looting.

In areas where it is powerful, ISIL has sought to establish itself as the sole power-broker, first by eliminating small rival groups over charges of corruption, then by opening fronts with bigger battalions.

The Syrian conflict has killed more than 120,000 people and forced millions more to flee their homes.

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[Lusitano89]

Al-Qaeda recrutou cerca de 2 mil jovens europeus para combaterem na Síria


Milhares de jovens europeus estão a ser recrutados para combaterem na Síria integrados em organizações próximas da Al-Qaeda, um «perigo potencial» para os países da UE e aliados, referiram hoje em Bruxelas os ministros do Interior francês e belga. Entre 1.500 e 2.000 jovens europeus já partiram para a Síria, de acordo com as estimativas anunciadas em conferência de imprensa pelo ministro francês, Manuel Valls, e da sua homóloga belga Joelle Milquet. Em junho, o número de jovens enviados para a Síria rondava os 600.

«Os belgas são entre 100 e 150», precisou Milquet. «Existem um pouco mais de 400 franceses envolvidos, dos quais 184 estão atualmente na Síria», indicou por sua vez o responsável francês. «14 franceses foram mortos na Síria, 80 regressaram e uma centena pretende partir», acrescentou Valls.

«Quando se iniciou o conflito na Síria, era difícil agir porque se tratava de ir combater um regime condenado por todos, o que tornava difícil as incriminações», recordou o ministro francês.

Hoje, a situação alterou-se. «A maioria dos indivíduos manifestaram o desejo de combater em organizações próximas da Al-Qaeda», explicou.

«O fenómeno é particularmente preocupante», insistiram os dois ministros.

No entanto, «não se registam regressos em massa» destes combatentes estrangeiros, indicou Joelle Milquet. «Hoje, não verificamos a existência de uma ameaça direta ou confirmada contra os nossos países, os nossos interesses ou os nossos cidadãos», reconheceu Valls.

«Mas não devemos baixar os braços, porque os grupos jihadistas reforçaram-se e os nossos cidadãos que partiram tornaram-se perigosos», advertiu.

França e Bélgica coordenam as ações dos países europeus mais preocupados com este problema e já decorreram três reuniões ministeriais com os seus homólogos britânico, alemão, holandês, espanhol, italiano, sueco e dinamarquês.

A última reunião decorreu na noite de quarta-feira em Bruxelas, antes do conselho dos ministros do Interior da União Europeia (UE) e na presença do secretário de Estado do Interior norte-americano, Rand Beers, e de representantes do Canadá e Austrália, precisaram os dois ministros.

A UE está a procurar combater o recrutamento, designadamente através da internet, e pretende desmantelar as redes que encaminham os novos recrutas. «Devemos neutralizar o ciberespaço e neste aspeto os americanos colocam um problema devido à sua primeira emenda que defende a liberdade de expressão», assegurou Valls.

O ministro francês sublinhou ainda a necessidade de mobilização dos europeus contra as redes que encaminham os recrutas desde diversos países da Europa, incluindo a região dos Balcãs, da Turquia e de Marrocos. Valls revelou que em Marrocos foi desmantelada uma rede que encaminhava uma dezena de jovens por semana em direção à Síria.

Lusa

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Assad: Our Battle With Saudi Is Open-Ended

Published Saturday, November 30, 2013
Ten days ago, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad met with a delegation of party leaders and politicians from Arab countries. He said unequivocally: The battle will continue as long as Saudi Arabia continues to “back terrorism,” and the flow of extremist fighters, money, and arms into Syria continues.

Tunisia – Syrian President Bashar al-Assad has proclaimed that Saudi and other countries’ support for terrorist groups will delay any solution to the crisis. He also said that the Syrian government was advancing on more than one front against terror and the war against Syria, stressing that the government would not go to Geneva if it is expected to hand over power.
Assad’s remarks on the situation in Syria came during a meeting on the sidelines of the Arab Parties Conference held in Syria 10 days ago. Al-Akhbar interviewed a party leader from the Maghreb who took part in the meeting.

In response to a question on what is happening in Syria, Assad said, “We have been subjected to a major war. In the first phase, we had to focus on standing our ground, which is what we did in the first year. Then we moved into the stage of triumphing over the enemies. There are experiences in recent history, including what happened with the Resistance in Lebanon, which stood its ground for many long years, and then achieved major victories in 2000 and 2006. We have known from the outset that the battle targeted our independent decision, but this independent decision was a major factor in our steadfastness and our victory, although we appreciate the support Syria has received from its allies, and some allies have had a pivotal role, such as Russia, which stands on our side because its interests, too, are threatened. I heard directly from the Russian leadership that they stand alongside Syria to defend Moscow and not just Damascus.”

Assad continued, “The time required to end the crisis in Syria depends to a large extent on the ongoing support and funding to armed groups provided by the actors in the region.”

He added, “Saudi Arabia and other countries are strong backers of terrorism. They have dispatched tens of thousands of takfiris to the country, and Saudi Arabia is paying up to $2,000 as a monthly salary to all those who take up arms on their side.”

Assad said, “There is another problem, related to al-Qaeda’s infiltration through the border with Iraq. This is something that the authorities in Baghdad are cracking down on but not entirely with success. Consequently, stopping Saudi support would have a decisive impact, especially since the militants and those behind them have been caught by surprise by our army’s capacity to confront them. Now, we know, and the whole world knows that al-Qaeda does not pose a threat to Syria alone. We hope for rational solutions in the coming months, but the issue is also contingent upon our ability to confront those, and we are determined to fight them until the end.”

The Syrian president then told his audience, “In light of the situation on the ground, we do not believe that it is possible to reach a settlement soon. As long as fighters, weapons, and funds continue to be sent across the border into Syria, we will not stop pursuing them. No one in the world can stop us exercising our right to defend our country. Moreover, today, we find little that can be agreed upon in Geneva, especially since some wrongly believe that we are going there to hand over power to them.”
“If this is what they want, then let them come to Syria so we can hand over power to them,” Assad sarcastically added. “If they decide to appoint [leader of the opposition National Coalition Ahmad] al-Jarba as president, do they think he would be able to come to Syria?”

Assad explained that Saudi Arabia “is leading the most extensive operation of direct sabotage against all the Arab world,” adding, “Saudi Arabia led the countries of the Gulf Cooperation Council in the battle against all nations and parties that stand in the face of Israel. The [Saudis] gave cover to the Camp David agreement, supported the war on Lebanon in 1982, and today, they are engaged in an open-ended war against Syria. We are now openly saying that we are at war with them. True, we accommodated them previously, but they want everything to be according to their vision and interests.”

Regarding the position of the Western countries that back the armed Syrian opposition, Assad said, “The colonial West still acts in a vain mentality. They act like the past 20 years did not happen. They ignore the US defeat in Iraq, and they act as though the Soviet Union collapsed only yesterday.”

Concerning the current state of the Arab world and the Arab League, Assad said, “If the league shall remain under the influence and tutelage of backwards regimes like those of the Arab Gulf countries, it will have no role and no value. However, not all the Arab countries have had their independence taken from them.” He then added, “Today, there is a brave man making a stand in Iraq who is Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki. He has important stances, even though his country is torn and many seek to destroy it. Even Algeria, one could consider its stance ahead of others. But most importantly, we must take heed of what is taking place in Egypt today. We see as the rest of the Arabs do that there is in Cairo today someone telling America frankly and sharply, ‘You have no business in Egypt’s internal affairs,’ and this is an important position that must be supported.”

The Syrian leader then spoke about the state of political parties in Syria and the Arab world, and said, “Vacuum is one of the reasons why extremist groups have spread. But another reason has to do with the fact that these parties did not rejuvenate themselves, and they are still weak. We as a state are keen on boosting their work, not as a party. We have also been observing the reflection of Syria’s steadfastness on Arab reality in general, and especially in the Maghreb, which we fear could be subjected to the rule of NATO.”

Assad then warned against the spread of Wahhabi ideology in the Arab world, and said, “This requires a new approach to religious institutions, but first and foremost, it requires supporting a civil state based on co-citizenship.”

Assad added, “Today’s generation has been subjected to a large-scale process of spreading ignorance. The generation that preceded us had more awareness, and this process of spreading ignorance is aimed at keeping the Arab world in a state of backwardness. I want to remind you that the West does not want us to ever evolve. I remember when the US Secretary of State Colin Powell visited us in 2003 and conveyed his country’s demands from Syria after the occupation of Iraq, he especially wanted us not to host any Iraqi scientists. We rejected his demand, so the US and Israeli intelligence liquidated quite a few of those scientists. Today, they want to eliminate scientists in Iran.”

But Assad noted that, by contrast, awareness among Arab peoples is reemerging, saying that raising the picture of the late Egyptian President Gamal Abdul-Nasser in many Arab demonstrations is a sign of this.

He said, “We are not against religion, but we are against invoking religion in all aspects of people’s daily lives. Even us, who are secular, gave religion a role in our constitution, which states explicitly that Sharia is a source of legislation. However, we refuse any politicization of religion in the sense that leads to negative results. As an example that our stance is not against religion, consider Hezbollah’s case in Lebanon. This is an ideological party that derives its ideas from religion. But we do not disagree with Hezbollah politically. This is proof that we don’t have an absolute stance against religions, but we refuse any religious force that operates in accordance with takfiri or Wahhabi ideology.

“For this reason, we say that we do not deal with the Muslim Brotherhood in this way. I believe that Syria cannot tolerate this faction. They did not give us a positive model in all stages. They operate on the basis of a sectarian position; otherwise, how can one explain their stance opposed to Hezbollah? They accept politicization in all issues, and use sectarian discourse to inflame Sunni-Shia strife.”

He then said, “Syria, like Iran and Hezbollah, tolerate many things to prevent sedition. Even the approach in dealing with the situation in Bahrain is very cautious for this reason.”

(Al-Akhbar)

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um pouco de historia

http://www.lesclesdumoyenorient.com/Syrie.html

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LA SITUATION EN SYRIE. QUATRIÈME PARTIE : LA PROBLÉMATIQUE DU GAZ INTERFÈRE-T-ELLE DANS LA SITUATION SYRIENNE ?
ARTICLE PUBLIÉ LE 03/05/2013
Par David Rigoulet-Roze

Si elle n’en constitue pas nécessairement le facteur nécessaire et suffisant pour expliquer l’évolution, sinon l’origine, de la crise syrienne, elle n’en demeure pas moins une variable importante qui ne saurait être sous-estimée dans le « nouveau Grand jeu énergétique » du début du XXIème siècle.

On peut d’abord relever que la Syrie de Bachar al-Assad n’a pas toujours été vouée aux gémonies, y compris par ceux-là mêmes - comme la Turquie, le Qatar et l’Arabie saoudite - qui semblent aujourd’hui les plus empressés à hâter sa chute. Elle fut même un partenaire économique courtisé par le fait que le pays constitue, à bien des égards, une sorte de hub entre le Machrek et l’Europe, en termes énergétiques notamment. Le fait est que le Qatar, qui partage avec l’Iran l’un des plus grands champs du monde - appelé North Dome du côté qatari et South Pars du côté iranien - n’était pas satisfait de se trouver a priori plus ou moins contraint, pour exporter son gaz [1], de passer par le détroit ultra-sensible d’Ormuz largement sous la surveillance de l’Iran. Doha avait donc éprouvé la tentation de trouver une autre voie moins soumise aux aléas géopolitiques induits par la crise sur le nucléaire iranien. Sans parler des tensions existant entre les deux pays relatives au partage parfois inéquitable de cette manne gazière, le Qatar pompant le champ commun au détriment de l’Iran qui se trouve pénalisé par les sanctions internationales pour exploiter ce qui lui revient [2]. En 2009, le Qatar avait, de fait, envisagé le tracé d’un gazoduc « sunnite » terrestre courant du Golfe Persique jusqu’à la Turquie et susceptible de se raccorder in fine au projet du Nabucco afin d’exporter ce gaz vers l’Europe [3], un tracé transitant d’abord par l’Arabie saoudite, puis par la Jordanie, enfin par la Syrie. C’est sans doute d’ailleurs une des raisons qui avaient conduit Doha à se rapprocher du régime de Damas avec lequel les relations n’avaient pas toujours été aisées [4]. Rappelons qu’en février 2010, le Qatar avait même été jusqu’à signer un éphémère pacte de défense avec la Syrie.

Or, Bachar al-Assad avait finalement refusé de signer ce projet, privilégiant un accord avec son allié régional iranien, et aussi pour ménager les intérêts, entre autres énergétiques, de son vieil allié russe, premier fournisseur gazier de l’Europe qui se trouve, de fait, en situation de dépendance prononcée en cas de crise comme en janvier 2009 avec l’interruption des livraisons de gaz à l’Ukraine, qui sert depuis l’époque soviétique de hub continental de redistribution pour le compte de Gazprom à destination de nombreux pays européens [5]. Toujours est-il qu’en juillet 2011, était formalisé un contrat entre l’Iran perse chiite, l’Irak post-Saddam et la Syrie alaouite en vue d’établir un gazoduc « chiite » ou IGS (Islamic Gas Pipeline) à horizon de 2016 [6].

Cela ne saurait faire les affaires du Qatar. Et ce, d’autant moins que les Saoudiens n’ont pas validé le projet qatari de transit via l’Arabie saoudite pour rejoindre le Nabucco qui avait pourtant été mis à l’étude. Riyad en effet, irritée par son turbulent voisin, a finalement fait obstruction à tout développement terrestre du pipeline envisagé [7].

Le Qatar a donc sans doute son propre agenda qui converge peut-être avec celui de la Turquie sur cette question. On comprend alors peut-être mieux les soutiens affirmés à l’option « frériste » sur l’échiquier syrien dans la perspective de l’après-Bachar. Et aussi peut-être le positionnement de certains acteurs européens, dont la France, d’autant plus en pointe sur le dossier syrien que les relations avec le Qatar sont relativement étroites depuis l’« affaire libyenne ».

[1] L’actuel émir du Qatar a compris très tôt que le Gaz naturel liquéfié (GNL) était un produit d’avenir. Le Qatar est ainsi devenu le 1er exportateur de GNL (Gaz naturel liquéfié). Extrait du gisement off-shore de North Dome, le plus vaste du monde, situé à quelque 80 kilomètres au large des côtes qatariennes, l’émirat produit 77 millions de tonnes de GNL par an via 14 trains de production.

[2] Comme le soulignent Christophe Ayad et Benjamin Barthe dans leur périple autour des frontières iraniennes : « Il est notoire que, du fait de ses capacités d’extraction et de transformation largement supérieures, le Qatar empiète plus ou moins volontairement sur les réserves de son voisin. ‘C’est comme si deux hommes se partageaient un verre de Coca-Cola, chacun avec sa paille, et que l’un d’eux rigolait en son fort intérieur parce qu’il s’est aperçu que la paille de l’autre est percée’ sourit un diplomate en poste à Doha. Mais ‘comme l’homme avec la bonne paille n’est pas le plus fort des deux, poursuit-il, il doit faire gaffe à ne pas aspirer trop vite’. La métaphore résume bien la nature des relations qataro-iraniennes, tout en calculs et en contorsions », « Autour du pays mystérieux. 3. Riches et rusés face à l’Iran », Le Monde, 26 juillet 2012, p. 14. En 2004, des forces spéciales iraniennes avaient déjà détruit une plate-forme de forage qatari parce que l’Emirat puisait de manière excessive dans le champ gazier. Cf. Mehdi Lazar, « Axe sunnite et gazoduc : quand les Qataris interviennent en Syrie pour le plus grand bonheur des Occidentaux », Atlantico.fr, 26 août 2012 (http://www.atlantico.fr/decryptage/axe- ... l?page=0,1).

[3] Le projet Nabucco est censé concurrencer les projets russes de South Stream via la Mer Noire. Initialement prévu pour 2014, il a dû être repoussé à 2017 du fait de « difficultés techniques ». Le consortium Nabucco est constitué de plusieurs sociétés : la RWE allemande (Rheinisch-Westfälisches Elektrizitätswerk AG), l’OML autrichienne, la Botas Petroleum Pipeline Corporation turque, l’Energy Company Holding, la Transgaz roumaine. Les coûts initiaux du projet étaient estimés à 11,2 milliards de dollars, mais ces coûts ont été réévalués à hauteur de 21,4 milliards de dollars d’ici 2017. Ce projet Nabucco a été conçu pour transporter 31 milliards de m3 de gaz par an sur 3 900 kilomètres à partir du Moyen-Orient et la Caspienne vers les marchés européens via la Turquie. Cf. Imad Fawzi Shueibi, « Gas Ranks First in Middle East Struggles », on dissidentvoice.org, 30 avril 2012 (http://dissidentvoice.org/2012/04/gas-r ... struggles/). Trad. par Mouna Alno-Nakhal, « Syrie : la guerre du gaz », Mondialisation.ca, 30 avril 2012 (http://www.mondialisation.ca/syrie-la-g ... -gaz/30652).

[4] Il faut préciser que les relations entre Damas et Doha ont souvent été chaotiques. On peut rappeler à cet égard l’altercation violente entre Walid al-Mouallem, l’inamovible ministre des Affaires étrangères syrien et Cheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al-Thani lors d’une audience à Washington en juin 1997. Cf. « Menaces syriennes contre le Qatar », Le Monde du Renseignement, n°314, 26 juin 1997.

[5] Cf. Roland Lombardi, « Guerre en Syrie et géopolitique du gaz », blog de la Chaire de Mangement des Risques Energétiques de l’ESG Management School, 5 mars 2013 (http://www.riskenergy.fr/2013/03/guerre ... u-gaz.html).

[6] Ce gazoduc « chiite », d’un coût prévu de quelque 10 milliards de dollars, a l’ambition de fournir l’Europe en gaz liquéfié via les ports méditerranéens de Syrie (Lattaquié et Tartous). Long de 5 600 kilomètres, il devrait transporter 35 milliards de m3 de gaz par an une fois sa mise en service effective.

[7] On peut souligner que le marché du gaz risque d’arriver peu ou prou à saturation avec la mise en service de huit nouvelles infrastructures australiennes entre 2014 et 2020 dont la production est surtout destinée au marché asiatique. Avec un marché américain lui-même déjà saturé - du fait de l’explosion de la production de gaz de schiste - le Qatar n’a plus réellement que l’Europe comme débouché. La découverte de nouveaux champs d’hydrocarbures off-shore en Méditerranée ouvre de nouvelles perspectives pour contourner l’Arabie saoudite et ouvrir de nouvelles opportunités commerciales. Les tronçons des gazoducs sont déjà dessinés. Le dernier obstacle à leur réalisation demeure le régime de Bachar al-Assad. Cf. Felix Imonti, « Qatar : Rich and Dangerous », Oilprice.com, 17 septembre 2012 (http://oilprice.com/Energy/Energy-Gener ... erous.html). Cf. pour la traduction « Pour quelques centaines de milliards », Le Courrier international, n° 1172, 18-24 avril 2013, p. 28.

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Le président Bachar al-Assad et le président Vladimir Poutine le 19 décembre 2006
KLIMENTYEV MIKHAIL, AFP

SYRIE ET RUSSIE : HISTORIQUE DES RELATIONS DE 1946 À 2012
ARTICLE PUBLIÉ LE 16/02/2012
Par Lisa Romeo

Le 4 février dernier, la Russie et la Chine opposaient leur véto au Conseil de sécurité de l’ONU à un projet de résolution dénonçant la violence de la répression du régime de Bachar al-Assad, président de la République arabe syrienne depuis 2000, à sa population [1]. C’est la deuxième fois que la Russie bloque la mise en place de sanction contre le régime dans le cadre de l’ONU. Cette fidélité affichée, envers et contre tous, dans le plus grand mépris des droits de l’homme, ne manque pas d’attiser la colère des Occidentaux et des pays arabes et laisse perplexe de nombreux observateurs. Les intérêts russes en Syrie sont multiples : accords commerciaux et militaires (les investissements russes en Syrie seraient de 19 milliards de dollars en 2009) ; accès à la Méditerranée ; port de Tartous, seule base navale russe en Méditerranée. Il s’agit alors de revenir sur la nature des liens qui unissent ces deux pays en s’intéressant à leur relation depuis l’indépendance de la Syrie en 1946.

Le rapprochement entre Syrie et Russie dans les années 1950

Depuis la Première Guerre mondiale, l’URSS connaît une grande popularité auprès des nationalistes arabes et peut largement compter sur le soutien des populations chrétiennes orthodoxes qui représentent 6 % de la population syrienne. Les relations entre la Syrie nouvellement indépendante et l’Union soviétique ne sont cependant pas immédiates. L’approbation par l’URSS du plan de partage de la Palestine de 1947 à l’ONU puis la reconnaissance quasi-immédiate de l’Etat d’Israël en mai 1948 engendrent rapidement la méfiance des pays arabes. L’URSS permet même au jeune Etat hébreu de s’imposer sur ses voisins arabes en lui fournissant d’importants armements durant la guerre de 1948-1949. Le rapprochement d’Israël et des Etats-Unis et la dégradation des rapports entre soviétiques et Israéliens poussent finalement Moscou, quelques années plus tard, à repenser profondément sa politique moyen-orientale en établissant des liens avec les régimes nationalistes arabes. Dans les années 1950, la Syrie est marquée par un fort sentiment anti-colonialiste et vit des heures de grande instabilité politique. Elle affiche par ailleurs une ambition neutraliste lors de la conférence de Bandung d’avril 1955 face aux deux blocs de l’Ouest et de l’Est qui s’affrontent en pleine Guerre Froide et de nombreux dirigeants syriens nourrissent une certaine méfiance envers l’idéologie communiste. Toutefois, l’attitude des Etats-Unis et les refus multipliés de l’Occident d’aider militairement et financièrement les projets arabes, poussent le gouvernement syrien dominé alors par la gauche à se tourner vers l’URSS. Un premier contrat d’armement est signé avec la puissance russe en 1956. Un an plus tard, les liens entre Damas et Moscou sont réaffirmés par une coopération économique destinée à développer l’industrie, les infrastructures (L’URSS finance notamment la construction d’un chemin de fer reliant Alep à Lattaquié) et l’irrigation de la Syrie. La formation de la République arabe unie (1958-1961) réunissant l’Egypte et la Syrie renforce toujours plus les relations avec l’URSS.

L’assistance économique de l’URSS se poursuit d’autant plus avec l’arrivée du parti Baath au pouvoir en 1963. Le nouveau régime instaure alors le « socialisme arabe » et se lance dans une importante réforme agraire et une lourde politique de nationalisation. Le nouveau refus des puissances occidentales de participer aux nombreux projets du régime fait de l’URSS le partenaire privilégié de la Syrie. Le coup d’Etat du 23 février 1966 porte au pouvoir une fraction plus radicale du Baath qui se réclame d’un socialisme pur. Un mois plus tard, une délégation soviétique arrive à Damas. Le nouveau régime signe alors un accord d’assistance technique et se voit octroyer un prêt de 450 millions de dollars, remboursable sur 12 ans. D’importants travaux sont alors réalisés dans le pays : aménagement des ports de Tartous et de Lattaquié, développement des réseaux ferroviaires, construction du barrage de Tabqa sur l’Euphrate (inauguré en 1973)… Le soutien soviétique permet ainsi à la Syrie d’augmenter sa croissance économique et de consolider son régime.

L’arrivée au pouvoir de Hafez al-Assad et les relations avec l’URSS

Le 13 novembre 1970, Hafez al-Assad (1930-2000) prend le pouvoir en Syrie. Le nouvel homme fort du pays s’appuie également sur l’URSS pour asseoir son pouvoir et contrôler les fractions socialistes et communistes syriennes mais refuse toute forme d’ingérence dans les affaires internes du pays. Il ne souhaite pas non plus, dans un premier temps, signer le « traité de fraternité et de coopération » que lui réclame Moscou. Il démontre l’indépendance de son régime en engageant son armée dans la guerre israélo-arabe de 1973 puis au Liban en 1976 sans tenir compte du point de vue russe qui s’oppose à la poursuite par la Syrie d’une guerre d’usure dans le Golan.

Malgré ces divergences, l’alliance entre les deux Etats n’est pas remise en cause et les fournitures militaires se multiplient. La Syrie reçoit des Mig-23 et obtient même un report de sa dette. L’URSS soutient ainsi la politique d’équilibre des forces avec Israël prônée par Hafez al Assad et obtient, en contre partie, un accès maritime et aérien facilité, s’assurant une place importante dans la région et dans le processus de paix israélo-arabe. Le traité de paix signé par l’Egypte de Sadate (1970-1981) avec Israël en 1979 accélère alors les liens entre Damas et Moscou qui cherchent à rééquilibrer les rapports de forces dans la région. Hafez al-Assad se rend alors en URSS et signe finalement le traité d’amitié et de coopération pour vingt ans, le 8 octobre 1980.

Le nombre des conseillers militaires soviétiques augmente alors de 1 000 à 1 500 en 1980 et à 6 000 en 1983, et des bases de missiles SAM-5 très modernes sont implantées à Homs et à Dmeir. La Syrie cherche alors à défier Israël, qui a envahi le Sud Liban en 1982 (opération paix en Galilée), les Etats-Unis ainsi que l’OLP avec qui les tensions sont vives. L’alliance entre l’URSS et la Syrie ne doit cependant pas être exagérée et les liens entre les deux pays restent essentiellement guidés par les intérêts de chacun : Moscou n’a, par exemple, aucune intention d’intervenir directement au Liban ou en Israël et critique fortement la politique de Hafez al-Assad vis-à-vis de l’OLP qu’ils soutiennent. Le raïs voit quant à lui d’un mauvais œil le soutien soviétique à son ennemi irakien et a une vision très réaliste des capacités de l’URSS dans la région. L’arrivée au pouvoir de Mikhaïl Gorbatchev en 1986 et sa volonté de normaliser les relations avec l’Etat hébreu s’accompagnent alors d’une certaine prise de distance de Damas envers son allié traditionnel.

Vers l’effondrement de l’URSS et ses conséquences sur la Syrie

Mikhaïl Gorbatchev fait rapidement comprendre au Raïs, en visite à Moscou en 1985, 1987 et 1990, que son pays n’a plus les moyens de mener une politique aussi active dans la région et contre Israël. Il ne remet pas en cause les contrats d’armement et la coopération économique mais les fait dorénavant dépendre de la capacité de la Syrie à rembourser sa dette. Gorbatchev choisit par ailleurs d’autoriser l’immigration juive vers Israël, permettant à plus cent mille personnes de s’y installer en 1990. Devant de telles mesures, Hafez al-Assad décide de se tourner vers les Etats-Unis qui se montrent prêts à réintégrer la Syrie sur la scène internationale. La Syrie participe même à la coalition dirigée par les Etats-Unis contre l’Irak, qui vient d’envahir le Koweït, en 1990. Le pays va également chercher à diversifier ses fournisseurs d’armement en se tournant vers l’Europe centrale, la Chine et la Corée du Nord. Les dépenses militaires vont cependant considérablement diminuer, passant de près de 20% du PNB au début des années 1980 à 10% en 1990. En 1999, à la suite d’une visite en Russie, le raïs revient malgré tout avec un contrat d’achat du système anti-missile S-300.

La reprise des relations syro-russes

Après la période d’incertitude qui suit l’éclatement de l’Union soviétique, le président russe Vladimir Poutine ambitionne à partir de 2003 de réaffirmer la présence de son pays au Moyen-Orient. Il cherche alors à renouer avec la Syrie et à s’assurer l’accès à ses ports. Bachar al-Assad, qui succède à son père en 2000, essaye pour sa part de rompre avec l’isolement de la nation. Poutine parvient à réintégrer la Syrie dans les négociations de paix israélo-arabe du Quartet (composé des Etats-Unis, de l’ONU, de la Russie et de l’Union européenne) et invite le président syrien à Moscou en 2005 et 2006. Des contrats d’armement sont une nouvelle fois signés et la Russie s’engage à effacer la majeure partie de la dette syrienne.

En 2010, la Russie aurait vendu à la Syrie l’équivalent de 529 millions d’euros d’armement. Avec la visite de Dimitri Medvedev, président de la Russie depuis 2008, à Damas en mai 2010, la coopération économique s’élargit aux domaines de la communication, de l’aérien, du tourisme, des technologies, de l’énergie et de l’écologie. Plus récemment, fin janvier 2012, un accord d’armement est signé, qui s’élèverait à 550 millions de dollars, portant sur la livraison de 36 avions Iak-130.

Les révoltes populaires de 2011 qui ont mis fin au régime de Hosni Moubarak, en Egypte, et de Mouammar Kadhafi, en Libye, bouleversent les rapports régionaux de la Russie et font de la Syrie son dernier allié et principal client dans la région. Les liens qu’entretiennent par ailleurs la Syrie avec l’Iran, le Hamas et le Hezbollah, rendent d’autant plus nécessaire aux yeux de Moscou la protection de son allié syrien, même dans les heures les plus sombres de son histoire.

Bibliographie
- Hélène Carrère d’Encausse, La Russie entre deux mondes, Paris, Fayard, 2010.
- Jean Chaudouet, La Syrie, Paris, Editions Karthala, 1997.
- Caroline Donati, L’exception syrienne, entre modernisation et résistance, Paris, Editions La Découverte, 2009.
- Pierre Guingamp, Hafez el Assad et le parti Baath en Syrie, Paris, L’Harmattan, 1996.
- Richard Labévière, Talal el-Atrache, Quand la Syrie s’éveillera…, Paris, Perrin, 2011
- Zaki Laïdi (dir.), L’URSS vue du Tiers Monde, Paris, Editions Karthala, 1984.
- Daniel Le Gac, La Syrie du général Assad, Bruxelles, Editions Complexe, 1991.

[1] Selon l’ONU, depuis le début de la contestation en mars 2011, près de 6 000 personnes auraient été tuées.

[HSMW]

[listadecompras]

http://www.lrb.co.uk/2013/12/08/seymour ... hose-sarin

[listadecompras]

The West's Alliance with «Jihad Warriors» in Syria: Sinister Fruits
Dmitry MININ | 13.12.2013 | 00:00
 

After suffering one military defeat after another, the Syrian radical opposition, backed by the support of the West and the monarchies of the Persian Gulf, are increasingly retaliating cruelly against the civilian population. The jihadists seize towns and cultural and religious sites which up to that point had remained outside the combat zone, loudly proclaiming their victories.

For example, in response to the advance of the government army into the Qalamoun mountains between Damascus and Homs, where a powerful group of rebels had gathered for a sudden advance on the capital from the north (this group grew from 5,000 men a year ago to 20,000 in November of this year), the jihadists once again rushed into the nearby Christian town of Maaloula. After vandalizing and desecrating the ancient churches, on December 2 they took 12 nuns from the Orthodox convent of St. Thecla hostage, hiding them in the city of Yabrud, which is held by the rebels. The rebels stated that they would burn the convent and kill the hostages, including the abbess, Mother Pelagia Sayyaf, after which the army retreated. The Free Qalamoun Brigades, which are part of the Army of Islam (Jeysh al-Islam), took responsibility for these barbarous acts.  News agencies reported only an offer to exchange the kidnapped sisters for a thousand female prisoners accused of aiding terrorists, but in fact the rebels demanded that the government forces stop their attack on Yabrud and lift the siege against the rebels in East Ghouta in exchange for the lives of the unfortunate nuns, in other words, encourage their barbarism by handing them the victory. The Qatari television channel Al-Jazeera broadcast video meant to show that the sisters «are being treated well in captivity» (as if they can be considered prisoners of war!). However, it is clear from the broadcast that the nuns were forced to remove their crosses, which is an insult to the symbol of their faith.  At the same time, hundreds of rebels from the groups Jabhat al-Nusra and Ahrar ash-Sham Al Islami were redeployed from Yabrud to Rankous in an attempt to occupy the nearby Christian city of Saidnaya. During the attack on the city they used grenade launchers, from which they shelled the local churches and convent. In eastern Syria, in the city of Ar-Raqqah, the group called the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) destroyed all Christian symbols in one of the city's churches and established its headquarters there.

In a conversation with the Antiochian patriarch John X, Syrian Prime Minister Najib Mika promised to do everything possible to free the kidnapped nuns, as well as two metropolitans of the Orthodox and Syrian Jacobite churches who have been abducted by rebels. He emphasized the government's dedication to keeping sacred sites of all religions out of combat zones. The widespread desecration of Christian churches by the rebels is only one side of the coin; the other is their sacrileges against Shiite shrines, including those connected with the veneration of the direct descendants of the founder of Islam, as well as turning mosques into fortified posts and military supply depots.  

The British Independent reports that the terrorist threat to Europe and the United States from the «jihad warriors» in Syria is growing rapidly. MI5 and Scotland Yard have detected the first case of rebels sent from Syria to London for the purpose of carrying out terrorist attacks there «when needed». In June of this year the number of jihadists from Europe who were «broken in» in Syria was estimated at 600; since then this figure has almost tripled. «With regards to the European figures, we estimate it’s between 1500 and 2000», says Belgian Interior Minister Joelle Milquet. «It’s a phenomenon which is very generalized».

Intelligence analysts in the West are already making recommendations to preserve the Syrian government army after the «overthrow of Assad's regime» for the fight against the Islamic radicals in order not to repeat the mistakes made in Iraq and Libya. Salim Idris, the commander of the pro-Western Free Syrian Army (FSA), has supposedly already agreed to this. But will the Syrian army itself agree? Idris is seen more often in Paris and London than on the battlefield, and his intention to lead a united «opposition-government» army against al-Qaeda evokes nothing but sarcasm.

Currently the Islamists have total control over the FSA. According to the Independent, there are 22,500 fighters in ISIS alone. This organization is especially active in taking hostages. For example, they have abducted and detained 35 foreign journalists, as well as 60 various political and public figures. According to U.S. intelligence, over half of the 17,000 foreign insurgents fighting in Syria against the government are part of the Islamic State of Iran and Syria group.  The Russian-speaking wing of this group, which numbers several hundred fighters, is led by a Chechen from the Pankisi Gorge in Georgia, Tarkhan Batirashvili, also known as Sheikh Omar al-Shishani... As the Wall Street Journal reports, Batirashvili received his military training in the American-backed Georgian army. His troops include not only emigrants from former Soviet republics, but Europeans who are notable for their «unusual violence...even by the gruesome standards of the war in Syria». Although those close to Batirashvili say that he is trying to strike a blow against one of the Kremlin's allies, he also does not hide his hatred for America, writes the Wall Street Journal. In 2008 he fought against Russia in a Georgian military intelligence unit. It is worth noting that in September 2010 the restless Batirashvili was arrested in Georgia for illegally harboring weapons and sentenced to three years in prison. However, in early 2012 he was released from prison and immediately left for Syria. One could assume that this turn of fate took place with the participation of then-president of Georgia M. Saakashvili. Threats from Syrian jihadists toward the Sochi Olympic Games are also linked with Batirashvili's name.

In late November the majority of organizations on which the FSA has been counting declared their commitment to «Islamic values and sharia». They united to form the Islamic Front (IF), announcing their closeness to the «brethren from Jabhat al-Nusra». The total number of fighters in the newly-created front is estimated at 45,000-60,000 men. Western governments, which are rapidly losing control over events in Syria, have already hastened to declare the IF «a force with which it is possible to have a dialog», and even started preliminary negotiations with them. In fact, the IF is a cover and a means of political legalization for the same uncompromising «jihad warriors». Suffice it to say that those who abducted the 12 Orthodox nuns in Maaloula belong to the Islamic Front.

At the same time that ancient Christian Maaloula was being vandalized, representatives of Western countries, including the U.S. and Great Britain, were meeting with the leaders of the IF in Ankara through the efforts of mediators from Qatar. The fate of the nun martyrs was not discussed at this meeting. According to information in the press, during the negotiations in Ankara the Western allies tried to convince the Islamists to moderate their criticism of the Supreme Military Council of the Free Syrian Army and its leader Salim Idris. For their part, those who were uncompromising before the meeting demanded that the Military Council show them more active support, particularly with regard to weapons. And apparently they received this support. One of the British participants in the negotiations admitted to The Daily Telegraph that there are «sinister» elements in the Front.

In making contact with the Islamic Front, Western diplomats are hoping to prevent it from joining the even more radical groups Jabhat al-Nusra and ISIS, which unlike the IF openly declare their ties with al-Qaeda. However, these hopes are not likely to be justified. Just a few days after the meeting in Ankara, the IF began pushing the Free Syrian Army out of Syria. Fighters from the Islamic Front  have begun seizing bases and weapons depots from the FSA along the Turkish border in the Idlib Governorate. They have already occupied the largest weapons storage facilities in Bab al-Hawa.

In late November at hearings in the U.S. Congress, leading expert Andrew J. Tabler from the Washington Institute acknowledged that the processes taking place in Syria are not going to stay there, but will inevitably spill out into the entire region. And the abrupt increase in extremist elements among the Syrian opposition makes the possibility of helping its pro-Western parts while bypassing the jihadists unlikely.

«We need to start talking to the Assad regime again about counterterrorism and other issues of shared concern,» stated Ryan Crocker, an experienced diplomat who has served in Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan, to The New York Times. «It will have to be done very, very quietly. But bad as Assad is, he is not as bad as the jihadis who would take over in his absence». Even Z. Brzezinski, not known for his sympathies toward Russia, states that the threat of an explosion in the Middle East, and in Syria in particular, means that the U.S. needs to work closely with Russia and China «to some extent more than...[with] Britain or France». And cold war paladin Brzezinski knows what he's talking about here.

[Lusitano89]

Vitória de Al-Assad seria o melhor de 3 "horríveis cenários" diz ex-diretor da CIA


O ex-diretor da CIA Michael Hayden considerou que Uma vitória do Presidente sírio no conflito no país poderia ser "o melhor de três muito, muito horríveis cenários", em que a vitória dos rebeldes não é contemplado em nenhum.

Michael Hayden, que dirigiu a agência de informação norte-americana entre 2006 e 2009, e a tão falada agora NSA, entre 1999 e 2005, fez a declaração ao intervir na sétima conferência anual sobre o terrorismo, organizada pelo grupo de reflexão Jamestown Foundation.

Depois de considerar os três cenários "incrivelmente horríveis", Hayden detalhou-os, começando com o da vitória de Bashar Al-Assad: "Devo dizer-vos que, neste momento, por muito horrível que pareça, estou inclinado a admitir que esta opção seria a melhor destas três muito, muito horríveis saídas eventuais do conflito. A situação torna-se cada minuto mais atroz."

Mas acrescentou que a saída que vê agora como mais provável é a dissolução do país entre fações rivais. "Isto significa também o fim [das fronteiras desenhadas em 1916 nos acordos franco-britânicos] de Sykes-Picot e conduziria à dissolução dos estados artificialmente criados na região depois da Primeira Guerra Mundial."

Acentuando esta possibilidade, Hayden acrescentou: "Receio muito a dissolução do Estado sírio. Isso provocaria o nascimento de uma nova zona sem governação, na encruzilhada da civilização". Previu que todos os Estados da região, designadamente Líbano, Jordânia e Iraque, seriam afetados.

"A narrativa, a história dominante do que se passa na Síria, é a tomada de controlo pelos fundamentalistas sunitas de uma parte significativa do Médio Oriente", acrescentou.

Esta evolução "significa a explosão do Estado sírio e do Levante como o conhecemos", adiantou.

Um terceiro cenário apontado foi o da continuação indefinida dos combates, "com os fanáticos sunitas a combaterem os fanáticos xiitas e vice-versa", hipótese em que "o custo moral e humano seria absolutamente proibitivo".

Lusa

[HSMW]

Vitória de Al-Assad seria o melhor de 3 "horríveis cenários" diz ex-diretor da CIA


O ex-diretor da CIA Michael Hayden considerou que Uma vitória do Presidente sírio no conflito no país poderia ser "o melhor de três muito, muito horríveis cenários", em que a vitória dos rebeldes não é contemplado em nenhum.

Sim e já começou...

[HSMW]

Offensive to the north. Part 4.4 Counterattack

Jaysh al-Islam

Mig-23