US Law to Arm Syrian Rebels a Hostile Decision, Directly Threatens Russians in Syria

The latest National Defense Authorization Act signed into law by President Barack Obama is a "threat" to Russians in Syria, Moscow says, as the bill "openly stipulates the possibility" of delivering more weapons which might "soon" end in the hands of terrorists.

Washington's decision to supply weapons, including portable air defense missile systems, to militants in Syria "directly threatens the aircraft of the Russian Aerospace Forces, other Russian military personnel and the Russian Embassy in Syria, which has been shelled more than once," Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova said in a statement on Tuesday.

Inside Syria: Questioning the Assad Régime

Channel 4 News questions the Syrian Foreign Minister Walid al-Moallem about Syrian and Russian plans to recapture East Aleppo from the rebels and fears about civilian casualties.

Syria’s War: Russia Tells Rebels to Withdraw from Aleppo

Russia says it will extend a pause in air strikes on the Syrian city of Aleppo.

Moscow has appealed directly to rebels, telling them to leave through two corridors.

But opposition fighters are refusing to go.

Al Jazeera’s Mohammed Adow reports from Gaziantep near the Turkey-Syria border.

US Scraps Syria Rebels Training Program - Report

The Obama administration is set to overhaul the Defense Department's $500 million program to train and equip Syrian rebels, according to Defense Secretary Ashton Carter. The US president is expected to speak on the matter later on Friday.

Saudis, Qatar, Turkey Supported Syrian Radicals Fearing Democratic Unrest - Ribal al-Assad

WIKI: Ribal al-Assad »

'They Shoved People In Baking Ovens': Syrian Rebels Execute Over 80 Civilians

Over 80 civilians in a town northwest of the Syrian capital of Damascus have been executed by Islamist rebels, sources within the Syrian military told RT. Many others were kidnapped to be used as human shields.

Syrian Rebels Trained to Use Chemical Weapons in Afghanistan – Lavrov

There are reports that some third countries are training Syrian rebels to use chemical weapons in Afghanistan, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said. The intention is to put the skill to use in new false flag actions in Syria, he explained

Syrian Rebels Accused of Massacring Civilians

Armed group committed war crime in August by killing at least 190 Alawite villagers in Latakia, Human Rights Watch says.

Charity Millions 'Going to Syrian Terror Groups'

THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: People giving money to help millions of refugees from the civil war in Syria are inadvertently supporting terrorism, the charity watchdog has warned.

Some of their cash was “undoubtedly” going to extremist groups, said William Shawcross, the chairman of the Charity Commission.

Conditions on the ground in the midst of conflict made it difficult or impossible for charities to know where aid ended up, he said.

The Disasters Emergency Committee, which represents 14 of Britain’s biggest charities, has raised £20 million since the launch of its Syria Crisis Appeal in March. Its members include the British Red Cross, Oxfam and Save the Children.

But it said it was unable to guarantee that no cash was falling into the hands of terrorists. » | Christopher Hope, Senior Political Correspondent | Friday, October 04, 2013

Rebel Infighting: Secular & Extremists Clash as Radicalism Grips Syria

Fresh clashes have erupted in Syria between secular rebels and Al Qaeda-linked extremists. It's the latest spate of infighting among the anti-Assad camp, which has seen a rapid rise of radicals in their numbers. Western analysts put the total number of rebels at around a hundred thousand. They're split into as many as a thousand different groups. Ten thousand fighters are radical jihadists with links to Al Qaeda. Up to 35 thousand others are hardline Islamists, who share many of Al Qaeda's views. That leaves the more moderate rebels vastly outnumbered. Let's get reaction from independent news editor James Corbett.

Syria: West Vows to Increase Backing for Rebels

THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Britain, France and the United States agreed to strengthen the Syrian opposition and increase pressure on President Bashar al-Assad to respect a deal to give up his chemical weapons arsenal to avoid military action.

But Russia warned that talks between the three powers in Paris on a “strong” United Nations resolution on Syria could wreck peace efforts.

Britain, France and the US agreed that Assad would face “serious consequences” if he fails to comply with a UN resolution setting out a timetable for the handover of Syria’s chemical weapons to international control, French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius said at a joint press conference.

John Kerry, the US secretary of state, said the allies were committed to keeping up the pressure on Assad following a deal between the US and Russia on the handover of Syrian chemical weapons reached in Geneva on Saturday.

"If the Assad regime believes that this is not enforceable and we are not serious, they will play games...The military option is still on the table,” he said. » | Henry Samuel, Paris | Monday, September 16, 2013

Syrie : Paris menace Damas »

Syria: Nearly Half Rebel Fighters Are Jihadists or Hardline Islamists, Says IHS Jane's Report

THE SUNDAY TELEGRAPH: Nearly half the rebel fighters in Syria are now aligned to jihadist or hardline Islamist groups according to a new analysis of factions in the country's civil war.

Opposition forces battling Bashar al-Assad's regime in Syria now number around 100,000 fighters, but after more than two years of fighting they are fragmented into as many as 1,000 bands.

The new study by IHS Jane's, a defence consultancy, estimates there are around 10,000 jihadists - who would include foreign fighters - fighting for powerful factions linked to al-Qaeda.

Another 30,000 to 35,000 are hardline Islamists who share much of the outlook of the jihadists, but are focused purely on the Syrian war rather than a wider international struggle.

There are also at least a further 30,000 moderates belonging to groups that have an Islamic character, meaning only a small minority of the rebels are linked to secular or purely nationalist groups. » | Ben Farmer, Defence Correspondent, and Ruth Sherlock in Beirut | Sunday, September 15, 2013

'Rebels Had Motive to Carry Out Chemical Weapon Attack in Syria'

President Assad was not behind a chemical weapon attack last month - the rebels carried it out as a provocation. That's what a letter sent to Barack Obama from former US intelligence and military officials says - citing their own security sources. It was signed by twelve ex-officials. Former US Army Judge Advocate Todd Pierce is one of them and joins RT right now.

Recruited by Al-Qaeda: Foreign Fighters in Damascus Jail Tell Their Stories

Rebels, foreign Jihadists and government troops have been condemned by a UN report - which found them all guilty of war crimes - including civilian massacres and indiscriminate shelling. Meanwhile, international mercenaries and militants continue to flood the country... convinced they're carrying out the will of God. But what forces men to such extremes? RT's Maria Finoshina has been investigating.

Syrian Rebels Plan Chemical Attack on Israel from Government-controlled Lands - RT Sources

A number of anonymous sources close to the Syrian conflict have told RT that rebel forces are planning to launch a 'provocation-attack' using chemical weapons - against Israel. RT's Paula Slier in Tel Aviv reports.

American Threats Widen Fault Lines Among Syria's Rebels

THE GUARDIAN: Martin Chulov writes from a roadhouse near Aleppo where jihadists and al-Qaida affiliates prepare to face the US enemy

When Barack Obama vowed to attack Bashar al-Assad, several thousand jihadists on the plains of northern Syria knew exactly what to do. Ever since, they have been hiding their big guns, evacuating bases, parking cars in cow sheds and spreading themselves thin among farms, factories and the communities that reluctantly host them.

"We have learned the lessons from Iraq," said Abu Ismail, a leader of the main jihadist group in the north-east of the country, known to some now as the Islamic state of Iraq and Syria (ISIS). "Iraq has made us better fighters."

While Syria's mainstream rebels are enthusiastically welcoming talk of an American attack as a chance to break the stalemate, the jihadist groups among them see things through a very different prism, in which my enemy's enemy is not necessarily my friend.

All across the north, al-Qaida and its affiliates are on a war footing; a rank and file convinced that an old foe is coming their way and that if and when the US air force does attack, they will have little trouble staying out of its way.

"There are many among us [who] fought in Iraq and Afghanistan," said a second jihadist, a 26-year-old softly spoken Saudi, who called himself Abu Abid. "Our emir knows how to deal with them. And all know that while the Americans say they want to attack the regime, we are their real enemy." » | Martin Chulov | The Guardian | Sunday, September 08, 2013

Syria Crisis: More Signs US Involvement in Civil War May Be Greater Than First Anticipated as Obama Looks to Boost Rebels

THE INDEPENDENT: Increased support will include sending expert Army personnel

As the Obama administration struggles to convince lawmakers of the case for intervention in Syria, there were signs today that American involvement in the civil war there, if it happens, might be greater in scale than was first anticipated.

US officials are said to be studying a plan to increase support for rebels fighting to remove the Syrian President Bashar al-Assad from power. The new plan would see the military send its own trainers to bolster the capabilities of the rebels, something they have resisted in the past.

The CIA has been training groups of rebels in Jordan. But the involvement of the military could see the number of rebels being trained spiral from dozens to hundreds or even thousands, according to the Associated Press. » | Nikhil Kumar | New York | Saturday, September 07, 2013

China Sends Warships to Coast of Syria

Brutality of Syrian Rebels Posing Dilemma in West

THE NEW YORK TIMES: The Syrian rebels posed casually, standing over their prisoners with firearms pointed down at the shirtless and terrified men.

The prisoners, seven in all, were captured Syrian soldiers. Five were trussed, their backs marked with red welts. They kept their faces pressed to the dirt as the rebels’ commander recited a bitter revolutionary verse.

“For fifty years, they are companions to corruption,” he said. “We swear to the Lord of the Throne, that this is our oath: We will take revenge.”

The moment the poem ended, the commander, known as “the Uncle,” fired a bullet into the back of the first prisoner’s head. His gunmen followed suit, promptly killing all the men at their feet.

This scene, documented in a video smuggled out of Syria a few days ago by a former rebel who grew disgusted by the killings, offers a dark insight into how many rebels have adopted some of the same brutal and ruthless tactics as the regime they are trying to overthrow.

As the United States debates whether to support the Obama administration’s proposal that Syrian forces should be attacked for using chemical weapons against civilians, this video, shot in the spring of 2012, joins a growing body of evidence of an increasingly criminal environment populated by gangs of highwaymen, kidnappers and killers. » | C. J. Chivers | Thursday, September 05, 2013

Watch graphic and brutal video here

First Syria Rebels Armed and Trained by CIA 'On Way to Battlefield'

THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: The first cell of Syrian rebels trained and armed by the CIA is making its way to the battlefield, President Barack Obama has reportedly told senators.

During a meeting at the White House, the president assured Senator John McCain that after months of delay the US was meeting its commitment to back moderate elements of the opposition.

Mr Obama said that a 50-man cell, believed to have been trained by US special forces in Jordan, was making its way across the border into Syria, according to the New York Times.

The deployment of the rebel unit seems to be the first tangible measure of support since Mr Obama announced in June that the US would begin providing the opposition with small arms. » | Raf Sanchez in Washington | Tuesday, September 03, 2013