The Pakistan Daily Times & Ha’aretz – 2008-11-01 10:03:45
http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2008/10/31/story_31-10-2008_pg4_5
Thousands of Syrians Protest against US Raid
Pakistan Daily Times
DAMASCUS (October 31, 2008) — Thousands of Syrians held a government-backed demonstration in Damascus on Thursday to protest against a US military raid in the east of the country that has put a further strain on US-Syrian ties.
The US embassy in Damascus had closed for the day due to security concerns. Syria says the raid killed eight civilians. A US official said it was believed to have killed a smuggler of foreign fighters into Iraq. The crowd, mostly state workers and students of government schools, gathered in a central Damascus square a few kilometres (miles) from the US embassy. Riot police surrounded the embassy, which was pelted with stones during a protest in 1998 over US-led airstrikes on Iraq.
Some demonstrators carried banners denouncing the United States and Israel and praising Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. “We sacrifice our blood for you, Bashar. Down with America,” some members of the crowd shouted.
The raid undermined US-Syrian ties which were already strained by other disputes, including US accusations that Damascus has not stopped foreign fighters crossing into Iraq. Syria, listed as a state sponsor of terrorism by Washington, has been under US sanctions since 2004 for supporting Lebanese political and guerrilla movement Hezbollah and other groups including the Palestinian Hamas.
Washington recalled its ambassador to Syria following the assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik al-Hariri in February 2005, which many Lebanese blame on Syria. Damascus denies any involvement. Outraged by the raid, Syria ordered the closure of an American school and an American cultural centre in Damascus. The two institutions must close by November 6.
US embassy: The US embassy in Damascus said it will be closed on Thursday because of the threat of demonstrations over a deadly American helicopter raid on a village near the Iraqi border at the weekend. “Due to increased security concerns, the US embassy will be closed on Thursday” it said on its website. Agencies.
Report: Ahmadinejad Calls US Syria Raid “A Blind and Savage Act”
Yoav Stern / Haaretz
(October 31, 2008) — Iran’s official news agency says President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has condemned a recent US raid inside Syria near its border with Iraq as a savage act.
IRNA says Ahmadinejad called his Syrian counterpart, Bashar Assad, Friday to express Iranian support. The report quotes Ahmadinejad as calling Sunday’s raid a blind and savage act.
Washington has not formally acknowledged the raid but US officials, speaking to the media on condition of anonymity, have said the target of the raid was Badran Turki al-Mazidih, a top al-Qaida in Iraq figure who operated a network of smuggling fighters into the war-torn country. The Iraqi national also goes by the name Abu Ghadiyah.
Syria has said the raid only killed eight civilians and has challenged the US to prove it targeted an extremist. Damascus has decided to cut off its diplomatic relations with Iraq in response to the raid, Al-Arabiya reported on Thursday. Syria has also decided to reduce its troops on the border with Iraq, according to a report from Syrian television.
The Syrian government has demanded Washington apologize for the strike of the Abu Kamal border community and earlier this weeek threatened to cut off cooperation on Iraqi border security if there are more American raids on Syria territory.
Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari called his Syrian counterpart late Wednesday to express Iraq’s rejection of the attack and stress his government’s keenness to avoid any political escalation that would damage relations between the two countries.
Meanwhile, hundreds of Syrian riot police ringed the shuttered and closed US Embassy in Damascus on Thursday, as tens of thousands of Syrians converged on a central square for a government-orchestrated protest to denounce the raid.
The embassy was closed because of security concerns related to the protest, and the American school was also shut for the day. The Syrian government has ordered the closure of the school, expected within a week, and the immediate closing of the American cultural center linked to the embassy.
Though Syria has long been viewed by the US as a destabilizing country in the Middle East, in recent months, Damascus has been trying to change its image and end years of global seclusion.
But American accusations that Syria wasn’t doing enough to prevent foreign fighters from crossing its borders into Iraq remains a sore point in relations. Syria says it is doing all it can to safeguard its long, porous border.
Syrian Riot Police Encircle US Embassy as Thousands Protest Raid
The Associated Press
Hundreds of Syrian riot police ringed the shuttered and closed US Embassy in Damascus on Thursday, as tens of thousands of Syrians converged on a central square for a government-orchestrated protest to denounce a deadly US raid near the Iraqi border.
The troops, wearing helmets and armed with batons and shields, took up positions around the embassy and the adjacent US residence building. Two fire engines were parked nearby although the massive anti-American rally was to take place at a square about 1.6 kilometers away.
The Syrian government has demanded that Washington apologize for Sunday’s cross-border helicopter strike by American special forces that killed eight people.
The embassy was closed because of security concerns related to the protest, and the American school was also shut for the day. The Syrian government has ordered the closure of the school, expected within a week, and the immediate closing of the American cultural center linked to the embassy.
As the protesters filled the Youssef al-Azmi square and surrounding streets in the upscale al-Maliki neighborhood, some Syrians formed circles and danced traditional dances while women and students joined the peaceful crowds.
America the sponsor of destruction and wars, read one of the banners carried by the protesters, who waved national flags and totted pictures of Syrian President Bashar Assad.
We will not submit to terrorism, read another.
Although authorities usually keep Syria under tight control and Americans have generally felt welcome in the country, violence against US and European interests at protests has erupted in the past.
Thursday’s protest came as Syria hardened its stance against the US, demanding a formal apology for Sunday’s attack in the eastern border community of Abu Kamal that Damascus says killed eight civilians. It threatened to cut off cooperation on Iraqi border security if there are more American raids on Syria territory.
There has been no formal acknowledgment of the raid from Washington. But US officials, speaking to the media on condition of anonymity, have said the target of the raid was Badran Turki al-Mazidih, a top al-Qaida in Iraq figure who operated a network of smuggling fighters into the war-torn country. The Iraqi national also goes by the name Abu Ghadiyah.
In announcing its closure Thursday, the US Embassy also warned Americans to be vigilant – raising concerns about the safety of US citizens in Syria.
In Washington, State Department deputy spokesman Robert Wood said Wednesday that Syria had formally notified the US of the closure order for the cultural center, effective immediately, and the school by November 6.
Wood said Washington was considering how to respond and stressed the US expects the Syrian government to provide adequate security for the buildings housing the cultural center and the Damascus Community School.
Though Syria has long been viewed by the US as a destabilizing country in the Middle East, in recent months, Damascus has been trying to change its image and end years of global seclusion.
But American accusations that Syria wasn’t doing enough to prevent foreign fighters from crossing its borders into Iraq remains a sore point in relations. Syria says it is doing all it can to safeguard its long, porous border.
Syrian Diplomat: Syria Reserves Right to Respond to US Attack
Yoav Stern / Ha’aretz and News Agencies
(October 27, 2008) — A Syrian diplomat called a US helicopter strike on a Syrian village near the border with Iraq on Sunday an “outrageous crime,” adding that Syria reserves the right to respond accordingly. Eight civilians were killed in the strike, which Syria said targeted a civilian building under construction.
“This administration … has proved to be irrational and they have no respect for international law or human rights. We expect a clarification, and of course Syria reserves the right to respond accordingly in the proper way,” Syria’s press attache in London, Jihad Makdissi, told the BBC.
The raid indicated the desert frontier between the two countries remains a key battleground, more than five years into the Iraq war. A US military official, who confirmed the strike, said Sunday that the attack targeted elements of a robust foreign fighter logistics network and that due to Syrian inaction the US was now “taking matters into our own hands.”
Makdissi condemned the attack, saying “if they (the US) have any proof of any insurgency, instead of applying the law of the jungle and penetrating, unprovoked, a sovereign country, they should come to the Syrians first and share this information,” the BBC reported.
The Syrian state-run news agency SANA reported that Syria has also called on the Iraqi government to carry out an immediate inquiry into the attack and to ensure that Iraq was not used for “aggression against Syria.”
A government statement carried by the official Syrian Arab News Agency said Sunday that the attack occurred at the Sukkariyeh Farm near the town of Abu Kamal, five miles (eight kilometers) inside the Syrian border. Four helicopters attacked a civilian building under construction, firing at the workers inside shortly before sundown, the statement said.
Syria’s Foreign Ministry said it summoned the charges d’affaires of the United States and Iraq to protest the strike.
A resident of the nearby village of Hwijeh, speaking on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the information, said the aircraft flew along the Euphrates River into the area of farms and several brick factories.
Some of the helicopters landed and troops exiting the aircraft fired on a building, he said, adding that at least one of the dead was a construction worker. Iraqi travelers making their way home across the border reported hearing many explosions, said Farhan al-Mahalawi, mayor of the Iraqi border town of Qaim. The Syrian government said there were civilians among the dead, including four children.
“Syria condemns this aggression and holds the American forces responsible for this aggression and all its repercussions. Syria also calls on the Iraqi government to shoulder its responsibilities and launch and immediate investigation into this serious violation and prevent the use of Iraqi territory for aggression against Syria,” the statement said.
A resident of the nearby village of Hwijeh said some of the helicopters landed and troops exited the aircraft and fired on a building. He said the aircraft flew along the Euphrates River into the area of farms and several brick factories. The witness spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the information.
Syrian state television late Sunday aired footage that showed blood stains on the floor of a site under construction, the wooden beams used to mold concrete strewn on the ground. Akram Hameed, one of the injured who said he was fishing in the Euphrates, told Syrian television he saw four helicopters coming from the border area under a heavy blanket of fire.
“One of the helicopters landed in an agricultural area and eight members
disembarked,” the man in his 40s said. “The firing lasted about 15 minutes and when I tried to leave the area on my motorcycle, I was hit by a bullet in the right arm about 20 meters (yards) away,” he said.
The injured wife of the building’s guard, in bed in hospital with a tube in her nose, told Syria TV that two helicopters landed and two remained in the air during the attack. The TV did not identify her by name.
Syria’s Foreign Ministry said it summoned the charges d’affaires of the United States and Iraq to protest against the strike.
Qaim, across the border in Iraq, had been a major crossing point for fighters, weapons and money coming into Iraq to fuel the Sunni insurgency.
Iraqi insurgents seized Qaim in April 2005, forcing US Marines to recapture the town the following month in heavy fighting. The area became more secure only after Sunni tribes in western Iraq turned against al-Qaida in late 2006 and joined forces with the Americans.
On Thursday, the commander of US forces in western Iraq said in a briefing with Pentagon reporters that American troops were redoubling efforts to secure the Syrian border, from where some fighters were continuing to enter Iraq.
Maj. Gen. John Kelly said in last week’s briefing that Iraq’s western borders with Saudi Arabia and Jordan were fairly tight as a result of good policing by security forces in those countries but that Syria was a different story.
“The Syrian side is, I guess, uncontrolled by their side,” Kelly said. “We still have a certain level of foreign fighter movement.” “There hasn’t been much, in the way of a physical barrier, along that border for years,” Kelly said.
Syrian Foreign Minister Walid Moallem accused the United States earlier this year of not giving his country the equipment needed to prevent foreign fighters from crossing into Iraq. He said Washington feared Syria could use such equipment against Israel.
Though Syria has long been viewed by the US as a destabilizing country in the Middle East, in recent months, Damascus has been trying to change its image and end years of global seclusion.
Syrian President Bashar Assad has pursued indirect peace talks with Israel, mediated by Turkey, and says he wants direct talks next year. Syria also has agreed to establish diplomatic ties with Lebanon, a country it used to dominate both politically and militarily, and has worked harder at stemming the flow of militants into Iraq.
European, American and Arab officials also have increased their visits to the country after years of avoiding it. Most recently, French President Nicolas Sarkozy joined the leaders of Turkey and Qatar in a summit with Assad in Damascus.
US Embassy Closed
The Daily News (Pakistan)
DAMASCUS (October 31, 2008) — The US embassy in Syria shut its doors on Thursday as thousands marched through Damascus to protest at a deadly American raid on a village near the Iraqi border that Syria branded a barbaric act.
Security was boosted around the area housing the US embassy, which decided to close because of the potential threat of violence, although demonstrators stayed away from the mission.
“Colonialists, listen, the people of Syria will never be brought to their knees,” cried youths as they massed in the city centre, waving Syrian flags and pictures of President Bashar al-Assad.
Demonstrators, including civil servants and students, waved Syrian flags and banners reading “No to American terrorism” and “American democracy—the killing of civilians at Abu Kamal,” the area targeted in Sunday’s US raid.
“I want to denounce this act of American terrorism. We are going to liberate Palestine, and Syria will liberate its occupied land,” said a Palestinian woman named Shaimaa. The protest wound down after several hours with no reports of violence, with security tight in the Abu Rumaneh area where the US embassy as well as the Saudi and Iraqi missions are located.
The US embassy announced on its website it had closed on Thursday because of a possible demonstration and warned American citizens to stay away from the area.
It said the decision was made “due to past demonstrations which resulted in violence and significant damage to US facilities and other embassies,” adding that the American school would also be temporarily shut.
In September 2006, a failed attack on the US embassy left four attackers and one Syrian security agent dead.
Damascus says eight civilians, including children, were killed in a helicopter assault on Sunday launched by US troops from Iraq on a Syrian village, which has provoked condemnation from a number of foreign governments.
A US official in Washington has said the operation targeted a top militant who smuggled arms and fighters into Iraq but officially the State Department and Pentagon have declined to comment.
On Tuesday, Syria protested to the UN Security Council over what it branded a barbaric action, with the official press calling it a “cold-blooded war crime”.
US commanders say Syria is the main transit point for foreign jihadists crossing into Iraq and have blamed Damascus for turning a blind eye to the problem.
However, Iraqi national security adviser Mowaffak al-Rubaie said a controversial security pact being negotiated Washington would prevent the US military from launching attacks on Iraq’s neighbours. “There is a very clear article in the SOFA (Status of Forces Agreement) draft that says the US cannot, should not, launch any operation from Iraqi soil against other countries,” Rubaie said on Wednesday.
Syrian Deputy Foreign Minister Faisal Meqdad said his government—which has already demanded the closure of the American school and the US cultural centre—is awaiting an explanation from Washington and Baghdad before deciding whether to take further retaliatory steps. Syria and the United States have long had a rocky relationship. In 2004, Washington imposed sanctions against Syria, accusing it of helping ‘insurgents’ in Iraq and the Hizbullah group in Lebanon.
It recalled its ambassador to Damascus after the 2005 assassination of Lebanon’s former Premier Rafiq Hariri, reducing US diplomatic representation to charge d’affaires level. On Thursday, North Korea—accused by Washington of helping build a nuclear reactor in Syria—condemned Sunday’s raid as an “unpardonable, inhuman” act.
Parliament in neighbouring Jordan demanded that the international community take measures to stop such acts which MPs said “entrench violence and hatred” in the region.
Analysis: US Takes Page from Israel’s Book in Syria Strike
Amos Harel / Haaretz t
(October 27, 2008) — Those who anticipated an American bombing of Iran on the eve of the presidential elections or immediately after must for the moment be satisfied with a somewhat lesser replacement: the helicopter attack Sunday night in north-eastern Syria.
The central target of the attack, according to initial reports overnight, was a senior operative in the “global jihad” – the web of organizations connected to al-Qaida.
The context, from an American perspective, is mainly Iraqi. This was a strike on those who have been causing them problems in their backyard and an attempt to gain stability in Iraq. But there are also consequences for Israel.
The readiness of Bashar Assad to renew diplomatic negotiations with Israel a year ago with the help of Turkish mediators can be explained to a large extent by the hope in Damascus that it would enable them to become closer to Washington.
This didn’t really happen (although Assad did derive an immediate dividend with his improved image in the Arabic world and a warming of relations with Europe.)
Although President Bush did not veto the Israel-Syria discussions, his administration remained very skeptical of the Syrian regime and continued to see Damascus as a part of the axis of evil.
The US also refused to implement practical actions that would encourage the Syrians to make progress in negotiations.
Now it has become clear that the US will not hesitate to attack terrorist targets within Syrian territory.
In this regard the Americans are not alone. Israel preceded them with the attack on the Dir a-Zour nuclear facility in September last year, not to mention a succession of mysterious incidents on Syrian soil, from the assassination of Imad Mughniyeh last February to the assassination of Brigadier General Mohammad Suleiman around two months ago.
The common denominator to all these operations is that nobody takes the Syrians seriously anymore, given the repeated violations of their sovereignty. It is doubtful the domestic security situation there has ever been this unstable.
The lack of stability in Syria adds to the already-tense situation between Israel and Lebanon. Military Intelligence chief Amos Yadlin said Sunday that weapons-smuggling from Syria to Hezbollah is continuing across the country.
Defense Minister Ehud Barak warned that Israel is prepared to attack weapons convoys, on a background of Hezbollah efforts to equip itself with anti-aircraft missiles.
Before the attack the US issued a warning. At a press conference last week a senior American commander in western Iraq warned that the situation is worsening on the Syrian border, while at the same time Saudi Arabia and Jordan did as the Americans asked and closed their borders with Iraq. This modus operandi is reminiscent of Israeli “targeted killings”: an effective combination of intelligence and operation, with the use of aerial strikes accompanied by a commando force to confirm the operation’s success.
However, it appears that the success of Sunday’s operation will not cancel out the continued frustration of the US in its struggle with al-Qaida and its allies. It’s not just that the Taliban and its partners are retaking control in Afghanistan, but that the pursuit of Osama bin Laden remains crowned by failure, more than seven years after 9/11.
It is a sore point for the Bush administration. In the opening sketch of “Saturday Night Live” last week, George W. Bush (portrayed by comedian Will Ferrell) proudly exclaimed: “George Bush always gets his man”, before adding, “save for one huge exception.”
Posted in accordance with Title 17, Section 107, US Code, for noncommercial, educational purposes.
