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A Mediterranean Battlefield - Syria
Adele, I don't think Al Qaeda is playing a major role in Syria.

Here's some deep background on Assad's tribe, the Alawites. - BK


Dissent Among the Alawites: Syria'sRuling Sect Does Not Speak with One Voice


Revolutionary Program: Dissent Among the Alawites

Considered heretics by many mainstream Sunnis, the Alawiteshave long been perceived as a solid bloc of support for their co-religionistsin the Assad dynasty. Not so now


http://world.time.com/2012/09/10/dissent...one-voice/

The Alawites emerged in the 9th century. Led by Muhammad ibnNusayr, they broke with the Shiites, who now form majorities in Bahrain,Lebanon and Iran,embracing doctrines that remain largely obscure to this day. For centuries theAlawites were marginalized, deemed heretics by the larger Islamic community. Toavoid persecution, they established villages in the remote mountain chains of Lebanon,Syria and Turkey,far from the coastal areas and plains dominated by Sunnis. When the Frenchmoved to give Syriaindependence, some Alawites agitated for their own state in vain. However, in1963, Hafez Assad, an Alawite, along with two other military officers, broughtthe sect to power in Syria.

The Alawites, also known as the Alawis, appeared to coalescearound the new regime, which promoted members of the sect to positions ofinfluence and power in the government and, more importantly, the military. WhenHafez Assad died in 2000, his son Bashar Assad succeeded him as President.Since March 2011, Bashar Assad has been trying to suppress an uprising that hasbecome a civil war. For the most part, his fellow Alawites have stuck by him inthe increasingly bloody fighting. But not all.

(PHOTOS: Chaosand Killing in Syria: Photos of a Slow-Motion Civil War)
Sect members are increasingly breaking rank, as defectionsswell along with mounting uneasiness about the government's crackdown againstwhat started as a peaceful protest movement.

Captain Umar in Syriais a rebel fighter and an Alawite, and he considers Assad a "butcher." Theofficer no longer believes the regime's propaganda and says he abandoned hisunit after the government began shelling civilian neighborhoods in hishometown. But Umar says it is Assad who is injecting the conflict with asectarian hue.

"Bashar is telling us the Sunnis will slaughter us," he saysvia Skype from Syria."He is scaring Alawis and pushing them to the edge. This is why the army is killingthe people in the street. They are scared the Sunnis will massacre us."

Umar says that it was the military's daily shelling ofcivilian areas that pushed him to defect. "I just couldn't see Syrians dyinganymore." He refuses to reveal how many Alawite officers have defected, but hedoes say the "number is significant."

Others with ties to the security forces have also turnedtheir back on the Alawite leadership. Luban Mrai's father is a senior leader inthe paramilitary organization known as the shabiha that targetscivilians. She recently left the country after experiencing "serious moral andethical dilemmas" stemming from the targeting of civilians. Today she residesin Istanbul, trying to mobilizesupport for the rebels. "The regime is using our religion for political ends,"she explains in a phone conversation. "Alawis are killing Syrians for noreason. This is wrong."

(VIDEO: ASyrian Soldier Claims to Have Witnessed Atrocities)

Leading Alawite intellectuals have abandoned the regime aswell. Rasha Omran is one of Syria'sbetter-known poets and has been invited to read her poetry at literaturefestivals throughout Europe. Since the beginning of theuprising, she has lent her voice and pen to the cause. Omran announced hersupport of the revolution within days of its eruption on her Facebook page. Shemarched in protests and spoke out against Assad. "This is a dictatorialregime," she said in a phone call from Egypt."How can I support a government that kills its citizens?"

Omran sees herself as a Syrian rather than as an Alawite.She emphasizes that the country is composed of a number of minorities whoseidentity is shaped by the larger Syrian state. She believes Assad and his innercircle are destroying this delicate mosaic by stirring up ethnic hatreds. "Weare all Syrians. But Assad is working to demolish our country."

Omran wanted to support the revolution by remaining in Syria.But her vocal protests embarrassed a regime trying to project sectarian unity.Because she belongs to a respected Alawite family, the government risked anAlawite backlash if it arrested her. Instead, she says, intelligence agentspressured her to leave the country in a series of visits to her house. Shefinally left Syriaat the beginning of the year.



Syriadefector Manaf Tlas hints at French intelligence aid

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-19549304

Key Syrian defector Gen Manaf Tlas has hinted that Frenchsecret agents helped him flee Syriain early July.

He said French "services" had helped him escapebut refused to be drawn on how, only thanking the French government.

He warned that if the Damascusregime was subjected to more pressure, it could resort to using chemicalweapons.

Gen Tlas was speaking from his refuge in Paristo interviewers from BBC Arabic and Frenchnews channel BFMTV.

His defection was seen as a major blow to the Damascusgovernment.

Not only did he command the elite 10th Brigade of theRepublican Guard, but his father Mustafa Tlas served as defence minister for 30years and was a confidant of Hafez al-Assad, the president's father andpredecessor.

Gen Tlas has been touted as a potential figurehead for theopposition but many reject him as too deeply compromised, reports the BBC'sArab affairs editor Sebastian Usher.
'Dangerous crossroads'

Gen Tlas would not specify exactly which French organisationhad assisted his escape, saying he feared he could endanger those who hadhelped him.

[IMG]file:///C:/Users/Owner/AppData/Local/Temp/msohtml1/01/clip_image001.jpg[/IMG]

New UN-Arab League envoy to Syria,Lakhdar Brahimi, admits his task is a daunting one

As well as French groups, Gen Tlas said the Free Syrian Armyhad helped him escape "from a distance".

He warned the regime - under pressure - could resort tousing chemical weapons "in limited areas", adding: "If they usedtanks and warplanes against civilians what would keep them from using anythingelse?"

Syriais at a "dangerous crossroads", Gen Tlas warned, and he urged theinternational community to "focus all its efforts to draft a real road mapto get Syriaout of this crisis".
But he said he was "of course against foreignintervention of any shape or form in Syria",saying the Syrian people had to "achieve their own victory" and theinternational community could only help by "putting a new strategy for therevolution".

The question of foreign intervention has divided the UN overSyria, with Russiaand Chinarefusing to back UN sanctions against their ally.

The new UN-Arab League envoy to Syria,Lakhdar Brahimi, began his first mission on Monday with a visit to Cairo,and is due to visit Damascus in thecoming days. But he has acknowledged the difficulty of the mission whichdefeated his predecessor, Kofi Annan.
Gen Tlas suggested that his "defection" from thegovernment had begun long before he physically fled his country when hewithdrew to his office, alienated by the authorities' violent response toprotests.
"On the third month of the revolution, I defected fromthe regime," he said.

"I met demonstrators and rebels, listened to theirdemands and felt that the regime is not willing to change.

"I felt that the regime was lying to the rebels and wassearching for shortcuts. I withdrew to my office, did not listen to anyone anddecided to defect and help the rebels."
Conference proposal

Gen Tlas said many of the rebels he had met had been"imprisoned, murdered or tortured as a result of making real humanitariandemands".

He urged his former friend, President Bashar al-Assad, togive up power not just for Syria'ssake, but for that of his family.

On Monday, it emerged that Russiawas proposing organising a conference bringing together "all theplayers" of the deadly Syriaconflict, including opposition groups, ordinary citizens and the ruling regime.

In an interview scheduled to be published by leading Frenchdaily Le Figaro on Wednesday, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Bogdanovreportedly said the conference would be organised along the lines of the Taifconference that ended Lebanon'scivil war in 1990.

According to the UN, more than 18,000 people have beenkilled since the conflict began in March 2011. Activists put the death toll at23,000.
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Messages In This Thread
A Mediterranean Battlefield - Syria - by Bill Kelly - 12-09-2012, 01:34 AM

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