WarSclerotic

Assad is confined to palace by his Republican Guard.

DEBKAfile Exclusive Report June 28, 2012, 11:13 AM (GMT+02:00)

A virtual prisoner in his own palace

debkafile, citing Western intelligence sources, reports Thursday, June 28, that the Republican Guard battalion commander charged with the Syrian president’s security is keeping Bashar Assad shut away in his “Unity” palace.

Assad and his family may not leave the building without the commander’s permission under an order current since the second half of last week. It is not clear to whom the commander defers in this case and who in fact actually determines whether Assad can come or go.

Asked by debkafile if an element in the Republican Guard ordered the palace placed under siege to prevent the president and his family fleeing, those Western sources replied that the situation could be described as a “partial siege” which is constantly expanding. They added, in response to another question about the Syrian ruler’s freedom of movement, that neither Assad nor members of his family are able to leave the palace to go anywhere and they are aware of the restrictions placed on their movements.

“Because of the partial siege and these restrictions,” said those intelligence sources, “Assad and his wife are both in very low spirits and the atmosphere inside the palace is very bleak.”
The video clips showing the Syrian president and his wife Asma happily playing badminton in the palace grounds were released this week by the regime’s propaganda arm – apparently to belie the rumors spreading in Damascus about the first family’s virtual imprisonment in their own palace.
In fact, say the sources, “”Inside the palace, Assad and his family are so mistrustful of their immediate circle that food tasters are on hand in to partake in advance of all the food and drink served them.” The tasters belong to the elite unit of Syrian military intelligence. They were brought in after at least two attempts by Syrian rebel associates to sneak poisoned food into the palace. It was discovered before causing harm or even death.

“Bashar Assad won’t even drink a glass of water unless his personal food taster first swallows at least a quarter of its contents.”
It is important to note, said the Western sources, that access to the Assad palace on Mt. Qaisoun on the outskirts of Damascus is gained only through two underground roads which are fortified against aerial bombardment and invisible to spies in the sky. The two roads serve the separate entrance and exit from the palace.
All vehicles using the roads, including supply trucks, belong to Syrian intelligence services. The drivers and porters unloading the vehicles – although intelligence personnel – are all closely watched at all times, starting with detailed inspections when they arrive at the entrance to one of the roads.

The rebels’ success in planting poison in one of those closely vetted supply trucks attests to their success in penetrating some of the layers of security protecting the persons of the president and his family.

Kofi Annan calls for Syrian interim government, gains Russian support.

Thursday, 28 June 2012

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov will attend an international meeting in Geneva on the Syria crisis with international peace envoy Kofi Annan. (Reuters)

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International peace envoy Kofi Annan is proposing a transitional government for Syria including members from both sides of the country’s war, diplomats said Wednesday.

Russia, a long-time ally of the embattled Syrian regime of President Bashar al-Assad, and other big powers have told Annan that they support his idea of a new Syrian cabinet.

Britain, France, China and the United States all voiced their backing of Annan’s plan after U.N. investigators reported on atrocities committed inside the country, where rights groups say more than 15,000 people have been killed since an uprising began against Assad in March 2011.

At least 82 more people were killed inside Syria Wednesday, including the victims of the attack on the television station and 40 other civilians, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported.

Annan made acceptance of his guidelines for a political transition for Syria a condition for organizing Saturday’s meeting in Geneva on the Syrian crisis, which has confirmed to include the United States, Britain, France, Russia, China, Turkey, Iraq, Kuwait and Qatar.

Russia has repeatedly said its supports Annan’s idea of creating a “contact group” of powerful nations and regional players with influence on the Syrian government or the opposition to push for an end to the violence in Syria.

Several diplomats said Russia’s acceptance of Annan’s proposal appeared to signal a shift in its stance on Syria. But it was not immediately clear if Moscow’s support for the idea of a national unity government in principle meant that it was now abandoning Assad, a staunch ally and key Russian arms purchaser.

Russia has repeatedly said it is not insisting that Assad must remain in power at all costs, but that any decision on whether or not he should step down should come from the Syrian people, not from outside pressure or military intervention, as happened last year in Libya.

Saturday’s meeting, which Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton will attend, will have to agree on the details of the political transition and the mechanisms for implementing it, diplomats said.

Annan, a former U.N. secretary-general, also wants Saturday’s meeting to revive his moribund six-point peace plan that has failed to end the fighting between Assad’s forces and an increasingly militarized opposition. The conflict has escalated in recent weeks.

Annan said the aim of the one-day talks was to identify measures to secure full implementation of his stalled peace plan and Security Council resolutions, including an immediate halt to all violence.

Turkey deploys anti-aircraft guns at Syria border | azfamily.com Phoenix.

ANKARA, Turkey (AP) — Turkey’s state television says the country is deploying anti-aircraft weapons along the Syrian border, days after a Turkish military jet was shot down by Syrian forces.

TRT television says several anti-aircraft guns have been positioned the border on Thursday.

Turkey has warned Damascus that it would not tolerate any violation of the border by Syrian forces.

Private Dogan news agency also showed footage of a military convoy, including one multiple rocket launcher, heading toward the Syrian border.

Report: Turkish military convoys head for Syrian border | Maan News Agency.

ANKARA (Reuters) — A convoy of about 30 military vehicles, including trucks loaded with missile batteries, set off from Turkey’s coastal town of Iskenderun in Hatay province, headed for the Syrian border 50 km away, Turkish media reported on Thursday.

State-run Anatolia news agency said armored military vehicles were also being transported to military installations in Sanliurfa, in the middle of Turkey’s border with Syria and Hatay, a panhandle province that juts down into Syria.

Anatolia said there were reports the vehicles were to be deployed along the border. It said several military vehicles had traveled separately to a military garrison in the border town of Reyhanli in Hatay.

The reports come less than a week after Syria shot down a Turkish reconnaissance jet over the Mediterranean prompting a sharp rebuke from Ankara which said the act would not go unpunished.

Saudi king puts military on state of high alert.

 (Ahlul Bayt News Agency) – Saudi King Abdullah has reportedly ordered the security forces to be on a state of high alert due to what Riyadh considers the tense situation in the Middle East.

Reports say King Abdullah has issued the order over what he claims to be “foreign or terrorist attacks.”

The decree also warns Saudi security forces against any negligence in following the order.

Saudi Arabia is one of the authoritarian states in the Middle East.

The country has witnessed anti-regime demonstrations over the past months.

Since February 2011, Saudi protesters have held demonstrations on an almost regular basis in the oil-rich Eastern Province, mainly in the Qatif region and the town of Awamiyah, calling for the release of all political prisoners, freedom of expression and assembly, and an end to widespread discrimination.

However, the demonstrations have turned into protests against the Al Saud regime, especially since November 2011, when Saudi security forces killed five protesters and injured many others in the Eastern Province.

According to Human Rights Watch, the Saudi regime “routinely represses expression critical of the government.”

Gulf sources report US, Gulf armies on high alert pending Syria action.

DEBKAfile June 28, 2012, 10:17 AM (GMT+02:00)

Jerusalem Post – Breaking News.

@High&Mighty (mohammedkayani) on Twitter.

@High&Mighty ‏@MohammedKayani

Saudi Forces on full mobilization after Turkish Pres tel call to King Abdulla of imminent strike on Syria. All leave canceled.

Four other sources from Saudi Arabia report forces on the move.

Could be bull, but too many reports now to ignore….

Syria: We thought downed Turkish plane was Israeli – Israel News, Ynetnews.

 (The best possible excuse.  “Sorry.  We thought it was Jews.  You would have done the same.” – JW)

Information minister says Syrian forces may have mistaken Turkish jet they shot down for Israeli plane. Adds: We don’t want crisis

Associated Press

A Syrian minister is quoted as saying his country’s forces may have mistaken the Turkish plane they shot down for an Israeli one.

Syrian Information Minister Omran al-Zoebi was quoted as telling Turkish news channel A Haber in a telephone interview Wednesday that his country did “not want a crisis between Turkey and Syria.”

Turkish jet’s flight path (Photo: EPA) 

Al-Zoebi said Turkish and Israeli fighter jets were mostly US-made, which may have led the Syrian forces to mistake it for an Israeli jet.

Turkey warned Syria on Tuesday to keep its troops away from the countries’ troubled border or risk an armed response, an angry reply to the downing of the Turkish reconnaissance plane last week.

Syrian news outlets quoted a military expert as saying that the anti-aircraft weapons used to down the Turkish fighter jet last weekend were made in Iran, Al-Quds al-Arabi reported Wednesday.

According to the Arabic newspaper, the Syrian expert said Damascus purchased an Iranian-made anti-aircraft gun two years ago. He said the gun can be mounted on armored vehicles.

The expert said the downed Turkish jet flew at a low altitude so as not to be detected by the Syrian radar. However, the expert said, the Turkish crew was not aware that the Syrian air force was in possession of a weapon capable of intercepting planes flying at such a low altitude.

.:Middle East Online::’No’ exceptions to EU’s July 1 oil sanctions on Iran:..