[jolepp]

At least 40 people have been killed and more than 100 injured in two suicide car bombings in Syria's capital, Damascus, officials say.

State TV said suspected al-Qaeda militants had targeted a General Security Directorate base and another security agency in the Kafr Sousa area.

But opposition activists said the government had staged the attacks to influence an Arab League observer team.

The observers are part of a plan to end the deadly crackdown on dissent.

The UN says more than 5,000 people have been killed and thousands more detained since anti-government protests erupted in March.
...

BBC News - Syria says twin suicide bombings in Damascus kill 40

edit:

NYT: http://www.nytimes.com/2011/12/24/world/middleeast/syria-says-suicide-bomber...-damascus.html

---

Last edited by jolepp; 12-23-2011 at 11:22 AM.

[jolepp]

SPECIAL REPORT | Trouble in Syria - World - CBC News

[jolepp]

Foreign ministers from the Arab League are meeting in Cairo to assess the progress of their mission in Syria and to discuss whether to ask for UN help.

An observer mission sent by the League to assess a peace plan has been criticised as toothless, as bloodshed continues despite its presence.
...

BBC News - Syria unrest: Arab League discusses observer mission

edit:

CBC: Arab League demands Syrians end violence (AP)

[jolepp]

Syria's President Bashar Assad again blamed a "foreign conspiracy" for causing unrest in his country, but he told the nation they are failing.

Assad was giving his first speech Tuesday since agreeing last month to an Arab League plan to halt the government's crackdown on dissent.

He repeated his past claims that a foreign conspiracy is behind the unrest and said: "Nobody is deceived anymore."

As well, the president denied that any order had been given to fire on protesters other than in self-defence. He said there was no "coverup" of any killing, and claimed that some people had been arrested by the state where there was overwhelming evidence.

Assad said he will not step down, insisting that he still has his people's support.
...

Syria's Assad blames foreign plotters for unrest - World - CBC News

[jolepp]

BBC News - Syria crisis: Qatar calls for Arabs to send in troops

[jolepp]

NYT: Fear of Civil War Mounts in Syria as Crisis Deepens

[jolepp]

Two days of bloody turmoil in Syria killed at least 74 people, including small children, as forces loyal to President Bashar Assad shelled residential buildings and fired on crowds in a dramatic escalation of violence, activists said Friday.

Video posted online showed the bodies of five small children, five women and a man, all bloodied and piled on beds in what appeared to be an apartment after a building was hit in the city of Homs. A narrator said an entire family had been "slaughtered."

Much of the violence was focused in Homs, where heavy gunfire hammered the city Friday in a second day of chaos. A day earlier, the city saw a flare-up of sectarian kidnappings and killings between its Sunni and Alawite communities, and pro-regime forces blasted residential buildings with mortars and gunfire, according to activists.
...

Syrian violence escalates, death toll rises - World - CBC News

[jolepp]

The Western-Arab drive to adopt a UN resolution on Syria is a "path to civil war", Russian deputy foreign minister Gennady Gatilov has warned.

He told Interfax news agency it would "not lead to a search for compromise".

The resolution is set to be discussed at a UN Security Council meeting on the deepening Syrian crisis.
Arab League Secretary General Nabil al-Arabi will be asking the council to back the league's new plan calling on President Bashar al-Assad to resign.

But Russia had already threatened to veto any such resolution.
...

BBC News - UN resolution could spur Syria civil war, Russia warns

[jolepp]

Diplomats failed Thursday to reach agreement on a UN resolution aimed at ending the bloodshed in Syria, leaving discussions in limbo pending consultations with their home governments.
...
Diplomats speaking on condition of anonymity because the talks were private said that the sticking point continued to be language that western envoys interpret as support for an Arab League peace plan calling for Syrian President Bashar Assad to relinquish power, while Russia has said it will reject any resolution that can be interpreted as calling for regime change.
...

Syria draft resolution fails at UN - World - CBC News

[jolepp]

Russia and China have vetoed a UN Security Council resolution calling for Syrian president Bashar Assad to step down.
...
Opposition groups and activists say more than 200 people were killed by artillery and mortars fired by Syrian forces in the city of Homs overnight.
...
The UN has said that more than 5,400 people have been killed in violence since March. Hundreds more have been killed since that tally was announced, ...

Russia, China veto UN Syria resolution - World - CBC News

[pickles]

jolepp....I am not a "Political Expert".
So, as you seem to have an interest in what's going on in Syria, in "layman's terms", could you please give me your opinion of what's going on there....what is the problem/the issues etc etc, & what do you feel will be the eventual outcome?
Thank You, Pickles.

[jolepp]

jolepp....I am not a "Political Expert".
So, as you seem to have an interest in what's going on in Syria, in "layman's terms", could you please give me your opinion of what's going on there....what is the problem/the issues etc etc, & what do you feel will be the eventual outcome?
Thank You, Pickles.

Well, I'm no expert either. I've been interested enough to follow what goes on in Syria; I suppose it is the most active current scene of the 'Arab spring', inspiring both hope and grave concern. As a part of that I have been posting links to stories about the developments figuring others might be interested (or that any rate it would not be too much of a disturbance ).

The (very brief) history of it is that of a country ruled by an iron-fisted autocratic regime. When the former top man, Hafez al-Assad died and was replaced by his son Bashar in 2000, there was a period of 'Damascus spring', when it seemed that the system might be headed towards reform, but in the end the regime chose to resume repression. Despite this, the 'Arab spring' apparently re-kindled the Damascus one and this time the regime has been unable to stamp this out, instead it seems that the opposition has slowly but steadily been getting more organized and powerful. Currently the country appears to be in a state between civil unrest and civil war, very close to the latter; it is difficult to say exactly where the line gets crossed, this is not helped by the regime restricting the operation of foreign press (and controlling the domestic one as well as access to the Internet within the country).

My guess is that the situation continues to develop towards an actual civil war. The UN plan (blocked by Russia and China) sought to prevent this by having Bashar al-Assad to step down. This would have implied the rest of the regime carrying on and implementing reforms, which further implied the current regime giving up power down the line (which seldom happens, but at least that could have softened the transition).

A problem with predicting what might happen is that it is not as clear who actually is in power as it was when Hafez al-Assad was the de-facto dictator. Actually, the contenders may not know themselves: e.g. accepting the Arab League plan which called for an immediate end of violence against the civilians and then carrying on with that in front of the Arab League observers could simply mean the younger al-Assad does not fully control the army / security services.

[pickles]

That is a great summation...Thank You.
Cheers, Pickles.