Excerpts: Turkey says 'no' to U.S. re combat missions against IS.Syria
Islamist Ahrar al Sham anti Assad and Islamic State.10 Arab states commit to
'share 'U.S. led fight.10 Arab states commit to 'share 'U.S. led fight
September 11, 2014
+++SOURCE: Saudi Gazette 11 Sept.’14:”Turkey refuses U.S. permission for
combat missions against IS:Official”,Agence France Presse
SUBJECT: Turkey says ‘no’ to U.S. re combat missions against IS
FULL TEXT:ANKARA — Turkey will refuse to allow a US-led coalition to attack
extremists in neighboring Iraq and Syria from its air bases, nor will it
take part in combat operations against militants, a government official told
AFP Thursday[11 Sept.].
"Turkey will not be involved in any armed operation but will entirely
concentrate on humanitarian operations," the official said on condition of
anonymity.
The decision echoes the country's refusal to allow the US to station 60,000
troops in Turkey in 2003 to invade Iraq from the north, which triggered a
crisis between the two allies.
Ankara then also refused Washington permission to use its air bases to
attack Saddam Hussein's regime.
Turkey has come under fire by some critics for indirectly encouraging the
formation of the Islamic State because of its support of Islamist opponents
of Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad, and its loose control of its borders.
But Ankara vehemently denies its strategy has backfired.
After a lightning advance, IS militants now control swathes of Iraq and much
of northern Syria along the Turkish border.
Turkey now sees itself a victim of the IS with Islamist militants holding 49
Turks hostage, including diplomats and children, abducted from the Turkish
consulate in Mosul in Iraq on June 11.
Ankara is therefore reluctant to take a stronger role in the coalition
against IS militants in apparent fear of aggravating the hostage situation.
"Our hands and arms are tied because of the hostages," the official told
AFP.
Turkey can open Incirlik Air Base in the south for logistical and
humanitarian operations in any US-led operation, according to the official
who stressed that the base would not be used for lethal air strikes.
"Turkey will not take part in any combat mission, nor supply weapons," he
said.
Turkey is the only Muslim country in a coalition of 10 countries who agreed
to fight IS at the NATO summit in Newport.
Kerry is due to stop over in Turkey on Friday[12 Sept. according to the
official, although the US embassy in Ankara declined to confirm the visit
that comes as part of a regional tour. — AFP
+++SOURCE: Jordan Times 11 Sept.’14:”Syria rebel group names new chiefs
after blast kills leaders”, Agence France Presse
SUBJECT: Syria’s Islamist Ahrar Al Sham. anti Assad and jihadistIslamic
State, rebel group
QUOTE:”Ahrar al Sham rebel group names new chiefs after blast kills leaders
“
FULL TEXT:BEIRUT — Syria's Islamist Ahrar Al Sham rebel brigade named new
chiefs on Wednesday [10 Sept.] after a devastating blast killed nearly 50
members of its leadership in a northwestern province largely under rebel
control.
The blast in Idlib province on Tuesday[9 Sept.] evening killed the key rebel
group's leader Hassan Abboud, known by the name Abu Abdullah Al Hamawi,
along with 46 other top members.
The attack targeted a meeting of around 50 military and religious leaders in
the basement of a house at Ram Hamdan, northeast of Idlib city.
The initial death toll in the attack was 28, but it rose to 47 on
Wednesday[10 Sept.] morning, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.
On Wednesday[10 Sept.] morning, in a video posted on YouTube, Ahrar Al Sham
announced that Hashem Al Sheikh, known as Abu Jaber, would replace Abboud as
head of the group, with Abu Saleh Tahhan as military commander.
"A group of the best chiefs of Ahrar Al Sham have been martyred. But Ahrar
Al Sham is more determined than ever to continue on the path to liberating
our country from dictators," the video statement said.
Ahrar Al Sham is a key component in the Islamic Front rebel coalition, which
has been battling both President Bashar Assad's regime and jihadists of the
Islamic State group.
No group has claimed the attack on Ahrar Al Sham's leadership and the rebel
brigade has not officially pointed the finger at any organisation.
It was also unclear what caused the blast, whether a planted bomb, an
attacker wearing explosives or even an air strike.
But the observatory said it believed the blast had been caused by a bomb
planted in the entrance to an underground bunker where the leadership was
meeting.
The blast blocked the only route out of the bunker and many of those killed
died from asphyxiation, the Britain-based group's director Rami Abdel Rahman
told AFP.
All of Idlib province is under rebel control apart from Idlib city. IS
fighters were pushed out of the province earlier this year.
Elsewhere in Syria, the observatory said the toll in two regime air raids on
the town of Douma in Damascus province on Tuesday[9 Sept.] rose to 25,
including 10 children.
In Quneitra province, meanwhile, rebel forces continued to advance, with the
observatory saying opposition forces were now in control of 70 per cent of
the region.
Last week, rebel forces seized the Syrian side of the province's crossing
with the Israeli-occupied portion of the Golan Heights plateau.
In eastern Deir Ezzor province, the observatory said Syrian warplanes
continued aerial raids against the provincial capital.
Three jihadists from the Islamic State group were killed in the raids on
Deir Ezzor city, along with nine civilians, three of them children, the
group said.
Three other civilians were killed in an air raid elsewhere in the province,
the Observatory added.
More than 180,000 people have been killed in Syria since an uprising against
Assad's rule erupted in March 2011.
+++SOURCE: Naharnet (Lebanon) 11 Sept.’14:”!0 Arab States Commit to ‘Share’
U.S. led Fight against IS at Jeddah Talks”, Agence France Presse
SUBJECT: 10 Arab states commit to ‘share’ U.S led fight
SULL TEXTTen Arab states, including heavyweight Saudi Arabia, agreed
Thursday[11 Sept.] in Jeddah to rally behind Washington in the fight against
Islamic State jihadists, as it vies to build an international coalition.
In the final statement, the 10 countries and Washington declared their
"shared commitment to stand united against the threat posed by all
terrorism, including the so-called Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant."
Participation in the fight will include "as appropriate, joining in the many
aspects of a coordinated military campaign against ISIL", said the
statement.
The fight will include "stopping the flow of foreign fighters through
neighboring countries, countering financing of ISIL and other violent
extremists, repudiating their hateful ideology, ending impunity and bringing
perpetrators to justice."
It will also include "contributing to humanitarian relief efforts, assisting
with the reconstruction and rehabilitation of communities brutalized by
ISIL, supporting states that face the most acute ISIL threat."
Kerry will visit Cairo Saturday[13 Sept.] as part of efforts to build the
international coalition, an Arab League official said Thursday[11 Sept.].
The U.S. top diplomat will meet League chief Nabil al-Arabi "to brief the
secretary general on the results of the Jeddah conference", a senior League
official said, speaking on condition of anonymity.
Egypt's state news agency MENA confirmed the meeting would take place, and a
senior Egyptian official also speaking on condition of anonymity confirmed
Kerry would visit, without divulging details about his program.
Before the Jeddah meeting started, Kerry met his Saudi counterpart Prince
Saud al-Faisal and Bahraini Foreign Minister Sheikh Khaled al-Khalifa.
In a televised address late Wednesday, President Barack Obama pledged to
expand U.S. military operations against IS, a radical Islamist group that
has seized a swathe of Iraq and Syria and committed horrifying atrocities.
+++SOURCE: Naharnet (Lebanon) 11 Sept.’14:”!0 Arab States Commit to ‘Share’
U.S. led Fight against IS at Jeddah Talks”, Agence France Presse
SUBJECT: 10 Arab states commit to ‘share’ U.S led fight
FULL TEXT: Ten Arab states, including heavyweight Saudi Arabia, agreed
Thursday[11 Sept.] in Jeddah to rally behind Washington in the fight against
Islamic State jihadists, as it vies to build an international coalition.
In the final statement, the 10 countries and Washington declared their
"shared commitment to stand united against the threat posed by all
terrorism, including the so-called Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant."
Participation in the fight will include "as appropriate, joining in the many
aspects of a coordinated military campaign against ISIL", said the
statement.
The fight will include "stopping the flow of foreign fighters through
neighboring countries, countering financing of ISIL and other violent
extremists, repudiating their hateful ideology, ending impunity and bringing
perpetrators to justice."
It will also include "contributing to humanitarian relief efforts, assisting
with the reconstruction and rehabilitation of communities brutalized by
ISIL, supporting states that face the most acute ISIL threat."
Kerry will visit Cairo Saturday[13 Sept.] as part of efforts to build the
international coalition, an Arab League official said Thursday[11 Sept.].
The U.S. top diplomat will meet League chief Nabil al-Arabi "to brief the
secretary general on the results of the Jeddah conference", a senior League
official said, speaking on condition of anonymity.
Egypt's state news agency MENA confirmed the meeting would take place, and a
senior Egyptian official also speaking on condition of anonymity confirmed
Kerry would visit, without divulging details about his program.
Before the Jeddah meeting started, Kerry met his Saudi counterpart Prince
Saud al-Faisal and Bahraini Foreign Minister Sheikh Khaled al-Khalifa.
In a televised address late Wednesday, President Barack Obama pledged to
expand U.S. military operations against IS, a radical Islamist group that
has seized a swathe of Iraq and Syria and committed horrifying atrocities.
Sue Lerner - Associate, IMRA
|
