What does the future hold for Syria?

[Nonda]

The US and NATO have launched a war on Syria by funding and training the terrorists who commit Houla-style massacres in the Arab country

Link hii PressTV - Washington funded Houla-style massacres: Analyst

 

[EMT]

NATO's foreign minister meeting in Brussels is to approve deployment of missiles to defend Turkey's border with Syria.

Meanwhile several students have killed in mortal attack on a school near Damascus

 

[EMT]

Chemical weapons used in Syria? If so, by who?

 

[EMT]

Syrian opposition activists say hundreds of people have been killed on the outskirts of the capital, Damascus, after extensive shelling by government forces.

 

[EMT]

The main opposition alliance, the National Coalition, said the number of dead had reached more than 1,000 in what it described as a massacre.

 

[EMT]

Witnesses claim poisonous gas was used, but the Syrian army says the accusations have been fabricated.

 

[EMT]

Video footage and photographs have been posted online appearing to show civilians, including children, suffering the effects of a chemical agent.

 

[EMT]

The head of the United Nations team of chemical weapons inspectors currently in Syria, Ake Sellstrom, says they are ready to investigate the allegations and the Syrian government has now agreed to grant them access.

 

[EMT]

The UK said it would refer the issue to the UN Security Council, while France said the perpetrators of such "intolerable acts" had to be held accountable.

 

[EMT]

The Syrian foreign ministry said the allegations that chemical weapons had been used by government forces were false, and an attempt by the opposition to influence the UN inspectors and prevent them from carrying out their work.

 

[EMT]

Military response to chemical weapons attack from west on table despite decision to allow inspectors in.

Syria has bowed to international pressure to allow UN investigators to travel to the scene of last week's chemical weapons attack in Damascus, allowing a forensic science team to visit the site on Monday. The green light for the UN inspection came almost five days after the attack and was immediately greeted with scepticism by western leaders and chemical weapons experts, who say it may now be too late for inspectors to gather useful scientific results.

A US official told reporters the move was "too late to be credible". This has added impetus to a mounting readiness for a military response to the attack, which is believed to have killed hundreds and has significantly increased the threat of intervention in Syria.

Tehran and Damascus on Sunday warned against any form of western response, which Syrian state television said would turn the region into a "ball of flame".

The US, Britain and France have been warning of a "serious response" to the attack, and steadily sharpened their rhetoric in the latter half of last week. They have been joined by Turkey and some Arab states in demanding access to the affected area in the east of the capital since it was hit with a barrage of rockets apparently containing a neurotoxin in the early hours of Wednesday.

UK was considering a range of military responses, including air strikes, the imposition of a no-fly zone and arming the rebels in Syria. It is understood that David Cameron is pressing for a response within a week or so. While air strikes remain on the table, the use of ground troops – "boots on the ground", has been ruled out by Britain.

Government sources insisted that Britain would only act in a lawful way, but the government does not believe that necessarily requires a UN security council resolution. Intervention could be justified legally on humanitarian grounds, or under international law relating to chemical weapons.

Russia warned the US against repeating past mistakes, saying unilateral military action in Syria would undermine efforts for peace and have a devastating impact on the security situation in the Middle East.

Activists and residents in the three areas targeted by the attack have gathered the remnants of numerous distinctively shaped rockets which are believed to have contained the neurotoxins. Many of the rockets are relatively intact, though their noses were buried deep in soil or bitumen, suggesting that they dispersed the chemicals above ground and did not explode on impact.

The affected areas have been bombed repeatedly over the past three days, with Syrian officials announcing they were continuing an advance into the rebel-held east of Damascus, an assault which started around the same time as residents first complained of exposure to a noxious gas.

De Bretton-Gordon said the large amount of nerve gas dropped and the tactics used pointed to the Syrian regime being responsible. He said scientists could still be able to determine the nerve agent used.

"Realistically, only the regime has access to that amount of agent," he said. "This appears to have been a very well-planned operation, from the conventional bombardment before to break all the doors and windows to allow the gas to move freely, to the use of 20 or so rockets [to deliver the gas] and then the army following up. It is a textbook operation."

Syrian offer on UN team 'too little, too late' | World news | The Guardian

 

[EMT]

Bunge la Uingereza limemaliza kupiga kura na kupinga hoja David Cameron na serikali yake kuivamia Syria kijeshi.

Wabunge 272 walisema ndiyooooooooooo, lakini wabunge wengine 285 wakasema hapanaaaaaa.

Hivyo hoja ya Cameroon imeshindwa kwa kura 13 tuu.

Baada ya hapo kiongozi wa upinzani David Miliband akamtaka Cameron alihakikishie bunge kuwa baada ya kupigwa bao bungeni hatatumia prerogative powers kwenda kuivamia Sysria.

Cameron akajibu: "Clear to me British Parliament and the British people do not wish to see military action; I get that and I will act accordingly".

Hiyo ndiyo faida ya system ya utawala wa bunge. cc Mchambuzi, Nguruvi3, Nonda, JokaKuu, Jasusi

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David Cameron loses Commons vote on Syria action

British MPs have voted to reject possible military action against the Assad regime in Syria to deter the use of chemical weapons. A government motion was defeated 285 to 272, a majority of 13 votes.

Prime Minster David Cameron said it was clear Parliament does not want action and "the government will act accordingly". It effectively rules out British involvement in any US-led strikes against the Assad regime.

And it comes as blow to the authority of David Cameron, who had already watered down a government motion proposing military action, in response to the opposition Labour Party's demands for more evidence of Assad's guilt.

Labour had seen its own amendment - calling for "compelling" evidence - rejected by MPs by 114 votes.

But - in an unexpected turn of events - MPs also rejected the government's motion in support of military action in Syria if it was supported by evidence from United Nations weapons inspectors, who are investigating claims President Bashar al-Assad's regime had used chemical weapons against civilians.

 

[Mchambuzi]

Mkuu EMT,

hizo ni sehemu ya faida za parliamentary system vis a vis presidential system ambazo tumekuwa tunazijadili mara kwa mara; Sina uhakika kama suala hili litapitishwa chini ya katiba mpya kwani wanasiasa (wa ccm) wamefanikiwa sana kushawishi umma juu ya muundo sahihi wa serikali kwa manufaa ya wananchi huku ukweli ukibakia kuwa ni kwa manufaa ya ccm;

Kuhusu suala la Syria, Uingereza hata siku moja haiwezi kumuacha ndugu yake Marekani aingie katika conflicts za aina hii; nachoona mbeleni ni mikakati ya kuja na 'a watered down version' of intervening in Syria ambayo itarudishwa bungeni na kuungwa mkono, kisha mataifa haya (UK na USA) kuja tengeneza justifications for full scale attack baadae;