OFF THE WIRE
According to The New York
Times, the CIA is helping to vet Syrian rebel groups for arms shipments
paid for by Turkey, Saudi Arabia, and Qatar.
The Syrian conflict is becoming more intractable as rebels, bolstered by weapons from Turkey, Qatar, and Saudi Arabia, are turning into a more effective adversary against President Bashar al-Assad's regime.
According to a report today by The New York Times, the CIA is helping to funnel the arms to rebel groups, vetting potential recipients to avoid arming Al Qaeda-affiliated
groups. The weapons include automatic rifles, rocket-propelled
grenades, ammunition, and some antitank weapons, according to the
report, which cited unnamed American officials and Arab intelligence
officials.
Meanwhile, Russia has been accused of arming Syria, heightening concerns that the conflict could become a proxy war with each side armed by outside powers.
Nearly 100 people were killed across Syria yesterday alone – 35 of them Syrian Army soldiers, showing that rebel forces are becoming a fighting force to rival the actual military, according to data from the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights cited by Agence France-Presse.
The Army has staged an assault on Qusayr, a town outside Homs,
after being dealt losses by rebel fighters. Heavy fighting also erupted
in Arman Az in Idlib Province after rebels attacked Army barracks. The
town of Inkhel in Deraa Province was also shelled.
The International Committee of the Red Cross
and its partner Syria Red Crescent are on standby outside Homs today,
waiting for a temporary truce so that they can evacuate the wounded from
the beleaguered city.
Homs has been under siege for two weeks,
but government and rebel forces agreed yesterday to a two-hour pause in
fighting to allow the humanitarian groups access to hundreds of
civilians who have been caught in the crossfire. The shelling has
continued, however, according to several news reports.The BBC reports that logistics such as how many aid vehicles will be allowed into the city and where the wounded will be taken could also hold up the evacuation process and could take days or weeks to resolve. Hundreds of civilians are believed to have died during the assault on the city.he Guardian reports that Christians trapped in the city – of which
there are about 90 – are particularly vulnerable and they are concerned
about being caught between rival Muslim groups, as Christians were in Iraq.
There were three separate attempts to evacuate them from Homs, all of
which failed. A local priest told the Guardian that he believes they are
being kept in the city to use as a bargaining chip.
Syrian Ambassador to the UN
Bashar Jaafari said that the government has tried unilateral
cease-fires, but that the rebels used the lulls in fighting to gather
more arms. He also accused Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and Turkey of
intentionally undermining the observer mission.
"They are
providing weapons, sending in al-Qaeda, giving them haven, allowing them
to cross the border with Syria and then run back to neighboring
countries, " Mr. Jaafari said, according to The Wall Street Journal. "This is becoming so blatant and flagrant, it is too much."
Indeed,
violence appears to be continuing unrestrained since the UN observer
mission was suspended last week. WSJ reports that a UN diplomat said
that the observers had taken "direct fire" at least 10 times and were caught in the crossfire of fighting many more times.
The head of UN peacekeeping, Hervé Ladsous, delivered a sobering assessment of the Syrian conflict yesterday, telling the UN Security Council
that "there were no good options" for the UN to bring an end to the
fighting, WSJ reports. Deploying peacekeepers was not possible because
such a mission needs the Syrian governments' approval, requires more
troops, and risks upsetting the opposition for seeming to protect the
"status quo," Mr. Ladsous said.
Maj. Gen. Robert Mood,
the head of the observer mission, said that his campaign could only be
restarted if there was a "significant reduction in violence."
