August 17, 2011 – Syria News Blog: A Roundup of International Reportage

On Saturday August 13, international media reported that the Syrian army had stormed the coastal city of Lattakia following mass protests in the city the day before. Reports suggest that at least two people were killed amid the crackdown. Gunfire and explosions could reportedly be heard around the city during the morning and afternoon. 

 

The military crackdown in Qusair also continued. State media reported that funerals were held for eight security and army officers killed the day before in Damascus and Homs. The officers were said to have been killed by armed terrorists. 

 

On Sunday, the Syrian military escalated its crackdown against protestors in Lattakia. Some international sources reported that naval warships had been deployed to shell certain districts of the city. However, a number of other news agencies did not confer such information, suggesting the possibility of false reportage. The Syrian government adamantly denies that any such means were used. However, military forces and tanks were sent into the city. Reports also indicated that armed groups were indeed engaged in violent activity in some city districts.  

 

According to international media, some 23 people in residential neighborhoods were killed over the course of the day. The district of Ramleh, an opposition stronghold, reportedly bore the brunt of the security crackdown. 

 

SANA reported that two members of Syrian law enforcement were killed during the operations in Lattakia while another 41 were injured.

 

In the capital, security forces also carried out operations in the suburbs of Saqba and Hamriya, making arrests and cutting of communications. Residents reported that gunfire could be heard scattered throughout the day.

 

On Monday, troubling reports continued to emerge from Lattakia, indicating that the military siege of certain parts of the city remained well underway with tanks shelling largely Sunni districts of the city. International media reported that an estimated 5,000 Palestinian refugees had fled a UN refugee camp in the city after it came under fire by the country’s security forces. 

 

According to Christopher Gunness, a spokesman for the UN Relief and Works Agency, the refugees had left in part because some were ordered to do so by Syrian authorities and in part because of the violence. The refugees live in the Ramleh area, one of the biggest neighborhoods in Lattakia. The area has seen considerable unrest since March with many asserting that its lack of basic services is a key factor behind its residents’ participation in the unrest. (For a short backgrounder on the history of Lattakia, see here.)

 

The same reports suggest that 15 people were killed in violence across the country on Monday.

 

On Tuesday, international media reported that unrest in Lattakia had declined, as troops and security forces maintained a firm grip on the city’s flash points. At the same time, foreign media reported that Syrian security forces had put thousands of Lattakia residents in a local soccer stadium also taking aways their IDs and cellphones. Residents were told they were being sent there as their neighborhoods were about to undergo military operations. Needless to say, the move heightened international concerns, particularly as the area is now largely cut off from communications. 

 

Today, Wednesday August 17, the Syrian government announced that it had largely withdrawn its forces from Lattakia as well as Deir ez-Zor. According to foreign reportage, activists assert such claims are untrue and that security operations in both locations continue. 

 

At the same time, mass arrests were carried out in a number of locations in and around the capital Damascus, including Rukn Eddin (a predominantly Kurdish neighborhood in Damascus) and the suburb of Ein Tarma. Security crackdowns in the central city of Homs reportedly resulted in the deaths of another ten people and live ammunition was allegedly used amid crackdowns in Aleppo, Hama and Lattakia. 

 

Activists state that more than 2,400 people have been killed amid the unrest that began in Syria some 23 weeks ago.

 

On Thursday August 11, the head of the Syrian League for the Defense of Human Rights, Abdel Karim Rihawi, was arrested in Damascus. The French foreign ministry responded immediately with a statement saying that, “The arrest of Mr. Abdel Karim Rihawi… constitutes another unacceptable decision by the authorities in Damascus and goes directly against the expectations of the international community. Mr. Abdel Karim Rihawi must be released immediately.” 

 

On Monday August 15, Amnesty International released a report indicating that three young Syrian activists and organizers in and around Damascus had been arrested and held incommunicado in unknown locations. The families of the arrested activists, Islam al-Dabbas, Majd al-Din Kholani, Hanadi Zahlout  and Shadi Abu Fakher, all have heard no word of the whereabouts of the detainees. 

 

 

On August 12, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton used a State Department press conference to urge other countries to end arms sales and trade with the Syrian government. Specifically, Clinton stated that “We urge those countries still buying Syrian oil and gas, those countries still sending Assad weapons, those countries whose political and economic support give him comfort in his brutality, to get on the right side of history.” In her statement, Clinton singled out China, Russia and India, urging both to reduce their ties to Damascus.

 

The following day, US President Barack Obama also reportedly spoke on the telephone with Saudi Arabia’s King Abdullah and British Prime Minister David Cameron regarding the situation in Syria. The leaders issued a public statement following the conversation, again urging the Syrian government to halt its “brutal campaign of violence” against Syrian civilians. According to a White House official statement, President Obama and King Abdullah “expressed their shared, deep concerns” and PM Cameron and Obama both agreed on “the Syrian people’s legitimate demands for a transition to democracy”. 

 

On Monday August 15, White House spokesman Jay Carney said during an official press conference that the US was working with “a broad array” of countries to put pressure on President Assad to end the violent crackdown against the Syrian opposition. Carney said that President Assad must “cease the systematic violence, mass arrests, and the outright murder of his own people”.  He went on to state that “by his actions” President Assad “has demonstrated that he has lost legitimacy to lead, and the president has no doubt that Syria will be better off without him“. The people of Syria “deserve a peaceful transition to democracy; they deserve a government that doesn’t torture them, arrest them and kill them. And we are looking, together with a broad array of international partners, to increase pressure on President Assad,” Carney continued.

 

The following day, in the company of Defense Secretary Leon E. Panetta at a national security forum held at the National Defense University in Southwest Washington, Clinton responded to criticisms of Washington’s limited response to the Syrian crisis, noting that in the case of Libya, the Obama Administration used “smart power” by acting as part of collective engagement with broad international support. With regard to the Syria case, Clinton stated that the US has limited ability to respond to the situation, noting that “It’s not going to be any news if the United States says, ‘Assad needs to go.’ Okay, fine, what’s next?” she asked. 

 

In a statement publicly marking a clear shift in US foreign policy under President Obama, Clinton said, “We [the Obama Administration] have a very clear view that others need to be taking the same steps to enforce a universal set of values and interests.” 

 

On Saturday August 13, Canada’s Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird announced that Canada is expanding its sanctions against Syria by prohibiting further members of the Syrian government from traveling to Canada and freezing more financial assets linked to the Syrian government. In a statement regarding the Canadian government’s decision, Baird stated that “There’s been significant movement in the Arab world in condemnations from a number of not just Arab leaders but others in the Arab world so the chorus is getting louder.” 

 

Baird went on to concede that the sanctions recently imposed against the current government have yet to influence its behavior. “We’re very committed to this and we’ll continue to work with our allies and reach out to others to take more significant action,” he said. In response to inquiries regarding whether or not the Canadian ambassador to Syria would remain in Damascus, Baird said, “I think we’ll leave our ambassador in Damascus as long as we think there’s a value to doing that.” 

 

On August 17, Switzerland announced that it was also adding another 12 names to its Syrian sanctions list. The announcement came from the State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (Seco). Four companies accused of bankrolling the Syrian government were added to the list. Syrian Defense Minister, Ali Habib Mahmoud, is also now under Swiss sanctions. 

 

On August 13, the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) offered to mediate a dialogue between the Syrian government and the opposition, calling on the “Syrian leadership to exercise utmost restraint” and to “engage in dialogue with all parties in Syria in order to agree on acceptable reform measures and to expedite their implementation.”  The OIC’s leader, Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu, issued a statement indicating the OIC’s stance that dialogue is the “only secure option through which this crisis could be contained.”

 

In response to recent US sanctions against the Syrian Lebanese Commercial Bank (SLCB) as well as the Commercial Bank of Syria, its primary shareholder, SLCB chairman Doureid Ahmed Dergham issued a statement on Wednesday saying that the Bank had done nothing outside of the law. Dergham stated that  “SLCB is a Lebanese institution fully governed and controlled by the Central Bank of Lebanon and subject to supervision of the regulatory authorities.” Dergham denied US allegations of having operations with North Korea and Iran and went on to assert that he was confident that the bank’s clients would disregard the “unfair sanctions”.

 

On Monday August 15, Jordanian Prime Minister Marouf al-Bakhit had a telephone conversation with his Syrian counterpart Adel Safar, during which he reportedly told Safar to “immediately halt military operations, implement speedy reform and spare the blood of the Syrian people“. He went on to state that, “We in Jordan await tangible and urgent measures in the near future”. 

 

A few days later while at a press conference following a meeting with Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu on the situation in Syria, Jordanian Foreign Minister Nasser Judeh issued a joint statement with his Turkish counterpart urging Damascus to immediately proceed with the implementation of serious reforms and calling for an end to the bloodshed. 

 

The alliance between Syria and Iran is the oldest and strongest of those in the region, with Iran relying on Syria’s role as the central component of the region’s ‘resistance axis’ to Israel. However, as the crisis in Syria deepens and its effects ripple out across the Middle East, many in Iran are calling into question the Iranian regime’s overall lack of strategic nuance with regard to Syria-Iran relations. Indeed, if the government of Syria collapses, and many speculate that this indeed will come to fruition, Iran has made no overtures to the Syrian opposition. It seems at present that the Iranian government believes that the current Syrian government will survive the tumult – an assumption that could prove strategically costly in the future.

 

On August 16, the Philippine government raised the crisis alert level for Syria to Alert Level 3 for the entire country and urged its citizens to depart from Syria immediately. The highest alert level, Alert Level 4, requires forced evacuation. The Philippine government is shouldering the cost evacuations. Some 17,000 Filipinos reside in Syria.

 

On Wednesday August 17, the government of Tunisia recalled its ambassador from Syria in response to the worsening security situation. An unnamed Tunisian official said in a statement to TAP new agency that the Tunisian Ambassador to Syria, Mohamed Laouiti, was withdrawn “given the dangerous situation in Syria“.

 

On August 17, the United Nations announced that it had pulled all of its non-essential employees from Syria, with some 20 personnel withdrawn from the country. The move was made in response to the country’s rapidly deteriorating security environment.

 

 

On August 12, international media reported that Iran has agreed to fund a new military base near the Lattakia airport. The multi-million dollar deal was agreed upon following a vist by a high-level Syrian delegation to Tehran. The construction of the base is expected to finish at the end of 2012 and will allow Iran to transfer military equipment and arms directly from Iran to Syria. Syrian deputy vice-president for security affairs, Muhammad Nasif Kheirbek, is said to have negotiated the deal during a meeting eight Ghasem Suleimani, commander of the Quds Force of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards.

 

Turkish officials have intercepted and seized a large number of weapons shipments from Iran to Syria in recent months, likely furthering the appeal of establishing a direct transport connection between the two countries.

 

On August 17, Russia announced that regardless of growing pressure from both the US and the international community, it would not forgo its arms deals with Syria. Anatoly Isaikin, Rosoboronexport director told reporters at the MAKS international airshow just outside of Moscow that, “While no sanctions are announced, while there are no orders or directions from the government, we are obliged to fulfill our contractual obligations, which we are now doing.” 

 

The unrest that has swept across the Middle East has come at a huge financial loss for Russia, as its has been forced to comply with international sanctions which in the case of Libya, for example, resulted in the loss of USD 4 billion in arms deals. Syria and Russia have been close allies for five decades and Russia remains one of Syria’s most significant weapons suppliers. 

 

Though relations between Iraq and Syria were deeply strained for years, the recalibration of relations between Iran and Iraq following the 2003 Iraq war compelled Damascus to throw its support behind Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri Kamal al-Maliki. 

 

During the 2003 Iraq war, the Iraqi government accused Damascus of allowing armed militants and suicide bombers to slip from Syria into Iraq. Nevertheless at present, Maliki is quite reliant on Iranian backing, development assistance and trade, and a deepening of relations between the two has resulted in growing ties between the current Syrian government and that of Iraq – largely in the form of investments and trade deals.

 

The revolution in Syria has intensified sectarian tensions in Iraq, however, as Maliki, loyal to Tehran and Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, has urged members of Syria’s opposition not to “sabotage” the Syrian government. Maliki represents the Shiite majority of the country. At the same time, key Sunni members of the Iraqi parliament have condemned the violence in Syria and thrown their support behind Syria’s revolutionaries.

 

Iraqi speaker of Parliament, Osama al-Najafi, said in an official statement last week, “For the sake of the Syrian people we demand the government, out of its responsibility to safeguard the lives of its people and their property, take the bold and courageous steps to stop the bleeding.” 

 

Meanwhile, Maliki continues to urge Syrian protestors to stop demonstrating and use alternative and less conflictual means to express their desires – in stark contrast to the harsh stand he took against the use of violence against protestors in Bahrain (indeed, he reportedly sent supplies to Bahraini demonstrators in a show of support). 

 

The concern is that after years of deep political disorder in Iraq, the country’s political leaders have just recently begun to cooperate. Though disputes over the appropriate response to the crisis in Syria have not brought an end to such cooperation, there is much concern that the rift between the country’s Sunni and Shia leaders over the Syria issue will become increasingly schismatic. 

 

Shaker Darraji, a member of the State of Law bloc lead by Maliki, attributes the violence in Syria to protestors who he claims are members of Al Qaeda while members of Iraqiya, the Sunni-dominated bloc argue such claims are outlandish.

 

Meanwhile, a number of policymakers in the US have used Maliki’s backing of Assad as further evidence of the shortsightedness of the US’s decision to invade Iraq in 2003, noting that post-Saddam Iraq has simply realigned itself with Iran.

 

On Sunday, international media reported that the Israeli army was busy planting new land mines along the Golan Heights, allegedly in an attempt to prevent further protestors from rushing from into the area. A number of Palestinian demonstrations are planned for September and the move is allegedly part of a broader effort by Israel to prepare for expected tumult.

 

 

Bilateral trade between Syria and Turkey has fallen between 30 and 40 percent since the start of the revolution in Syria mid-March. At the same time, trade contracts that have since lapsed have yet to be renewed as all sides wait to see how the crisis unfolds. In 2010, Syrian exports to Turkey totaled some USD 1.6 billion, while Syrian imports from Turkey amounted to USD 630 million. Turkey is also one of Syria’s largest foreign investors, with investments totaling some USD 260 million. At the same time, the unrest in Syria has also come at a further cost to Turkey, as thousands of Syrian refugees have fled across the border to Turkish refugee camps. Turkish-Syrian joint infrastructure and water projects have all also been postponed.

 

Trade relations between Syria and Lebanon were valued at USD 1.3 billion in 2010 and there is also significant labor movement between the two countries. Syrian laborers are both skilled and inexpensive, thus making a significant contribution to the Lebanese economy. Now that traveling between the two countries is more cumbersome, labor costs have risen in Lebanon – a trend likely to continue in the coming months. 

 

At the same time, Lebanon’s tourism industry is deeply intertwined with that of Syria’s and indeed that of the region at large, and has steadily declined since the start of the region-wide protests. 

 

Iraq will also be affected by Syria’s tumult as some 18.8% of all of Syria’s exports end up in Iraq – totaling some USD 2.5 billion. Trade between the two countries has also reportedly declined since March. Iraqi exports to Syria, mostly in the form of energy, however, are not expected to decline significantly.

 

Finally, Jordan has a number of key bilateral agreements with Syria, including in the trading of Jordanian cement for Syrian wheat. The impact of the Syrian revolution on these agreements remains to be seen. However, the local economies of Jordan’s towns along the Syrian border have been hit hard – as most thrive on catering to the needs of those crossing between the two countries – movement that has all but stopped since March 15. 

 

Further, Jordanian traders largely rely upon the Syrian port of Lattakia to import their goods, however, security issues at the port since the start of the unrest have brought such activity to an end; importers are no longer able to insure their goods with international insurance providers. 

 

As the revolution in Syria progress and the violence worsens, the economic ripple effects of the crisis will spread wider, impacting Russia, China and Iran and even to a lesser extent, the European Union. Importantly, regional gas projects also rely upon stability in Syria to continue in their development – something that also could be compromised amid a deepening of the unrest. 

 

 

“The Syrian “Common”: The Uprising of the Working Society” – Jadaliyya – Yassin Al Haj Saleh evaluates the benefits of the Syrian uprising as well the looming problem of orchestrating national reconciliation. Saleh argues that the crisis has functioned as a formative experience for young Syrians, serving as a “great collective rehearsal on politics and on developing a concern for common interests,” whilst bringing together the country’s poor and middle classes. Seeing the revolt as a popular one seeking to completely reshape Syrian society, Saleh argues that the current government prized loyalty and power over all else, leading to the collapse of the “value of work.” Saleh argues that the current government used economic development policies to reinforce its own power, namely in city centers, thus leading millions of Syrians to feel that as implemented in their own country, “development and modernization” are nothing but the ideology that legitimizes the wealth” of the ruling elite. Saleh concludes with remarks on the issue of national reconciliation, noting that the process of seeking justice for the dead, tortured and missing is essential, but could come at the cost of undermining national reconciliation. According to Saleh, the “only thing that justifies sacrificing judicial justice for the sake of national interest and reconciliation is changing the regime and building a new and better Syria”.  A significant read.

 

“A Syrian Drama: A Taxonomy of a Revolution” – Syria Comment – Omar Dahi offers up one of the best assessments of the Syrian revolution to-date. Based on firsthand experiences and worth reading in its entirety

 

“Blueprint For NATO Attack On Syria Revealed” – Global Research – Andrew Rettman explores NATO’s likely military strategy were it to decide to wage attacks against Syrian targets. The end of the article offers up brief analysis of the complexity and problems associated with any such attack, likewise noting that the prospects of success for a foreign military assault on Syria are low at best. 

 

“Even Former Friends Abandon Syria’s Regime” – Bloomberg – A good recap of how regional sentiments have shifted against the current Syrian government. 

 

“Syria’s Silent Majority Finds Ways to Protest” – Financial Times – Though the majority of residents of the country’s two largest cities of Aleppo and Damascus have yet to take to the streets, more and more are finding covert but significant ways to support the opposition and express their grievances. 

 

“Syria Left Vulnerable by State Violence” – Al Jazeera – Veteran British diplomat George Galloway, known for his opposition to the 2003 invasion of Iraq, argues that the ongoing violence in Syria and deepening unrest leave the country vulnerable to outside interests and foreign invasion. 

 

“Iran Banks all on Assad’s Survival” – Asia Times – A comprehensive and well-written assessment of the alliance between Syria and Iran by Mahan Abedin. Abedin looks at the weaknesses of Iran’s foreign policy strategy and the risks it has taken by offering the current Syrian government unwavering support. 

 

“Iran is using the PKK to trap Turkey” – Today’s Zaman – An interesting assessment of how Iran might play the Kurdish issue to spark anxieties in Turkey and perhaps corresponding Turkish military operations against the PKK – which in turn would detract from its efforts to cozy up to the West. As the author sees it, Iran’s fears regarding the crisis in Syria are myriad, but two key issues are: 1) if the current Syrian government falls, the regional revolts will most definitely make their way to Tehran, and; 2) Turkey is using the situation in Syria to make inroads in its relations with the West – a troublesome move for Iran as it view Turkey as the “gateway to the rest of the world”. 

 

“Saudi Arabia Moves to Take Down Syria, Iran and Hezbollah” – The National Interest – Another article detailing the manner in which a regional player, this time Saudi Arabia, is using the crisis in Syria to advance its own strategic interests – namely, the destabilization of the Hezbollah-dominated government in Beirut, thereby undermining Iran’s influence in the region.

 

“Emboldened by Uprising, Syrian Clerics Speak Out” – Reuters – Suleiman al-Khalidi writes about the linkage between the Syrian religious establishment and the state and the Sheiks who choose to defy state-sanctioned sermons by encouraging the protestors and condemning the Syrian government’s use of violence against them. A well-written window into the complex relationship between religion and politics in Syria.

 

“Syria Threatens Dissidents Around the Globe, US Says” – The Wall Street Journal – Jay Solomon and Nour Malas cover widespread allegations that Syrian officials, in association with the country’s embassies around the world, monitor Syrians engaged in opposition activities overseas and provide information to security forces back home for the purposes of intimidating and detaining their family members.