Syrian rebels beheaded a Christian man and fed his body to dogs, according to a nun who says the West is ignoring atrocities committed by Islamic extremists.
The nun said taxi driver Andrei Arbashe, 38, was kidnapped after his brother was heard complaining that fighters against the ruling regime behaved like bandits.
She said his headless corpse was found by the side of the road, surrounded by hungry dogs. He had recently married and was soon to be a father.
Tag Archives: Syria
Syria rebels ‘beheaded a Christian and fed him to the dogs’ as fears grow over Islamist atrocities | Mail Online
Posted by Matt
on June 19, 2013
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Syrian civil war ‘dress rehearsal’ for world war? – Israel Today | Israel News
Posted by Matt
on June 18, 2013
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A leading Israeli expert on the Middle East suggested last week that with all the foreign involvement in the ongoing Syrian civil war, that conflict could be the harbinger of a much wider conflagration.
Prof. Itamar Rabinovich, a former Israeli ambassador to Egypt, told those attending a symposium at Tel Aviv University that in the eyes of the Arab world, the final outcome of the Arab Spring hinges on the results of the struggle in Syria.
According to Prof. Rabinovich, the Syrian conflict is a Middle Eastern version of the Spanish Civil War, which was itself a dress rehearsal for World War II.
Syrian civil war ‘dress rehearsal’ for world war? – Israel Today | Israel News
The internationalization of the Syrian civil war
Posted by Matt
on June 16, 2013
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World powers and regional actors are increasingly converging on Syria, a development which threatens to mesh the civil war between pro- and anti-Syrian regime forces into the wider regional conflict between Sunnis and Shiites, as well as the global tussle between the U.S. and Russia over spheres of influence.
As the Obama administration announced it would begin sending aid in the form of light arms and ammunition to the Syrian opposition via the CIA, Iran has taken the decision to send some 4,000 of its elite Republican Guard fighters to aid the regime of Syrian President Bashar Assad, the British Independent reported on Sunday. The Iranian deployment, if and when it happens, comes after the Iranian-backed Hezbollah terrorist group sent thousands of its fighters to bolster Assad’s forces. Hezbollah has effectively gone “all in” in support of Assad’s regime.
Israel Hayom | Analysis: The internationalization of the Syrian civil war
In Golan Heights, Druze villagers are bracing for a Syria-Israel war | Toronto Star
Posted by Matt
on June 16, 2013
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In this crowded hillside village that straddles Israel’s border with Syria, everyone seems certain that war is on the way. The village, which faces Syria to the northeast and Israel to the southwest, has watched with nervous anticipation as Israel’s military has heightened preparations along the border and Syrian tanks can be seen manoeuvring in the distance. Residents have cleaned out bomb shelters and hospitals have run emergency drills.
“You don’t witness as many wars as we do without getting a sense when one is about to land on your doorstep,” said Maryam al-Din, a 78-year-old resident of Majdal Shams. “Ask anyone in the village, anyone in the villages around, and they will tell you that if you put your ear to the ground, you will clearly hear that war is coming to this place.”
In Golan Heights, Druze villagers are bracing for a Syria-Israel war | Toronto Star
Was civil war predictable in Syria?
Posted by Matt
on June 16, 2013
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The current civil war in Syria is, however, highly internationalised. Further, the foreign role in sprinkling legitimacy and providing arms to the armed opposition facilitated the start of the war. Regional actors such as Turkey, Iran, Iraq, Saudi Arabia and Qatar, along with international actors such as Russia, China, the US and UK, played and still play a significant role in inflaming the conflict but such factors play a more significant role in expanding and escalating it rather than causing it. Professor Mohammed Ayoob argues that the states which experienced foreign occupation in the past, including colonialism, are prone to civil wars primarily due to domestic reasons. Thus, in this paper I will study two of the domestic conditions that made the eruption of the war in Syria likely and therefore predictable. The role of the foreign actors will be downplayed but not annulled altogether. The findings of “Civil War in the Post-Colonial World 1946-92″ (Henderson and Singer) will be the bases of the analysis.
Lebanese cleric: War is coming to Lebanon – Alarabiya.net English | Front Page
Posted by Matt
on June 16, 2013
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Hardline Lebanese Sunni Muslim cleric Sheikh Ahmad al-Assir warned on Friday that “a war is coming to Lebanon” as Syrian rebels and their Lebanese supporters prepare to launch attacks against Hezbollah “everywhere.”
Sheikh Assir said in a Friday sermon that a response to Hezbollah’s intervention in Syria could happen in a “few days” and will take place “anywhere” including Lebanon.
In April Sheikh Assir urged his followers to join Syrian rebels fighting troops loyal to President Bashar al-Assad and the Lebanese Shiite movement Hezbollah.
Lebanese cleric: War is coming to Lebanon – Alarabiya.net English | Front Page
Could Syria be the spark that causes the Middle East to explode? – Bill Neely – Mirror Online
Posted by Matt
on June 16, 2013
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Into this bloodbath, the West is about to send planeloads of weapons.
Syria’s rebels, a loose alliance of army deserters, Sunni civilians and al-Qaeda-linked fanatics, are now to be armed to the teeth by the world’s only superpower.
It’s one thing for a few thousand fighters from Hezbollah to join the war, or for the Gulf state of Qatar to supply weapons… It’s quite another for the world’s strongest power to back Sunni rebels against Shia forces in a civil war.
America has a poor record in the Middle East. It may be about to get worse. And the war threatens to get worse, too.
Already the danger is not just deadlier fighting within Syria. That’s already happening.
Government forces are beginning a new offensive against rebels who control half of the second city, Aleppo.
Fresh from victory in the strategic town of Qusair, the army is turning to the city of Homs, the cockpit of the revolution.
Could Syria be the spark that causes the Middle East to explode? – Bill Neely – Mirror Online
Could Syria ignite World War 3? That’s the terrifying question as the hatred between two Muslim ideologies sucks in the world’s superpowers | Mail Online
Posted by Matt
on June 14, 2013
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Syrian conflict could engulf region in struggle between Sunni and Shia
Already claimed 93,000 lives and made 1.6million people refugees UK, France and U.S. taken different side to China and Russia The crisis in Syria may appear to be no more or less than a civil war in a country many people would struggle to place on a map.
But it’s much more than that: it is rapidly becoming a sectarian struggle for power that is bleeding across the Middle East, with the potential to engulf the entire region in a deadly power struggle between two bitterly opposed Muslim ideologies, Sunni and Shia.
Already, the war inside Syria has resulted in 93,000 dead and 1.6 million refugees, with millions more displaced internally. And those figures are escalating rapidly amid reports of appalling atrocities on both sides.
Lebanon threatens retaliation against future Syrian attacks | The Times of Israel
Posted by Matt
on June 13, 2013
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Lebanese army officials issued a stark warning to the Syrian government Wednesday, stating that any further attack by Syrian forces on sites across the border will be immediately met with a forceful response. The comments came after a Syrian government helicopter fired three missiles on the northern Lebanese border town of Arsal earlier Wednesday.
“Army units deployed in the [Arsal] area took the necessary defensive measures to respond immediately to any similar violations,” read the Lebanese army’s official statement.
Lebanon threatens retaliation against future Syrian attacks | The Times of Israel
It looks like Lebanon has some stability issues. Shiite Muslims (Hezbollah) are helping Syria, and Sunni Muslims are helping the rebels.
