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Pro-military masses in Cairo wave banners saying "Obama Out! Putin in!"

2013-07-27

It's Debka so salt. Hundreds of thousands of demonstrators filled Cairo's streets and squares Friday, July 26 in rival rallies shortly after deposed president Mohamed Morsi was formally charged and detained for 15 days. Tahrir Square was packed with crowds responding to Defense Minister Gen. Abdel Fattah El-Sisi's call for a mandate to support the military fight on "terrorists." Another huge crowd of Morsi supporters packed the streets around the Rabaa al-Adawiya mosque in Nasser City. Instead of directing their ire at the overthrown Muslim Brotherhood, the pro-military demonstrators shouted "Bye Bye America!" as huge placards waved over their heads depicting as a threesome Gen. El-Sisi, Vladimir Putin and Gemal Abdel Nasser, who ruled Egypt in the 60s in close alliance with the Soviet Union. Their rivals in a separate part of Cairo chanted "Sisi out! Morsi is president! Down with the army!" In Alexandria, five people were killed in clashes between Muslim Brotherhood supporters and opponents. The anti-American banners represented a message: No matter if President Barack Obama denies the Egyptian people US support because of the military's steps against the Muslim Brotherhood, Cairo has an option in Moscow. Reports began appearing Friday morning on the social networks including Facebook from sources close to Putin that Moscow is considering supplying Egypt with advanced fighter bombers to replace the F-16 planes, whose delivery Obama suspended Wednesday, July 24. This was a gesture to show the US President's displeasure over Gen El-Sisi's rejection of the demand to release the ousted president and integrate the Muslim Brotherhood in the interim government. The military gave the Muslim Brotherhood an ultimatum to endorse the new situation by Friday. The Brotherhood, whose supporters have maintained a sit-in in Nasser City for 20 days, did not respond. The military accordingly gave the screw another turn. A Cairo investigating judge Friday ordered deposed president Morsi detained for 15 days pending investigation into charges of plotting with the Palestinian Hamas to orchestrate a jailbreak during the 2011 revolution and conniving with Hamas in killing police officers and soldiers. He has been held at an unknown location since the coup. These charges carry potential death sentences. They relate to the attack by armed men who on Aug. 5, 2012 killed 16 Egyptian border policemen in their camp in northern Sinai near Rafah. The prosecution claims to have evidence that the raid was plotted by Morsi and the Muslim Brotherhood to depict the Egyptian military as a spent force. That attack kicked off the current armed Salafist mutiny against Egyptian military and police targets in Sinai. The other charge relates to the raid on Wadi Natroun prison at the tail end of the 2011 uprising against Hosni Mubarak, which broke out of jail thousands of inmates including Morsi and other Muslim Brotherhood leaders. According to DEBKAfile's intelligence sources, the jailbreak was executed by special networks of Hizballah and Hamas which had been planted in Cairo and Suez Canal cities for subversion and terrorism. The radical Hamas, offspring and ally of the Egyptian Brotherhood, is now solidly in the military regime's sights as a hostile entity. The military takeover of power in July 3 is gaining the aspect of a neo-Nasserist revolution. Many Egyptians are beginning to turn to Moscow in search of their country's primary world ally rather than Washington. They have taken note that Putin has shown himself to be the foe of the Muslim Brotherhood in Syria as well as Egypt.

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Iraq

Syrian Official Considering Baghad Visit

2006-11-01

DAMASCUS, Syria (AP) - Syria's foreign minister is considering a visit to Baghdad in November - the first by a top Syrian official since the fall of Saddam Hussein and a major step toward restoring diplomatic relations, Iraqi and Syrian officials said Tuesday. Foreign Minister Walid al-Moallem is considering traveling to Iraq, said a Syrian Foreign Ministry official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to give statements to the press. In Baghdad, an Iraqi Foreign Ministry official, who spoke on condition of anonymity for the same reason, said the ministries agreed "in principal" that al-Moallem would visit Iraq in November. Both the Syrian and the Iraqi official said no date had been set. Imad Fawzi Shueibi, a Syrian political analyst, said the visit sends a "clear Syrian message that what is happening in Iraq - the sectarian killing and violence - is a red line for Arab national security and Syrian national security that can't be accepted by Damascus." Other than the fact that they aided and abetted the Sunni end of the killing, you mean. It's the Shi'a fighting that bothers them. Damascus broke relations with Baghdad in 1982, accusing Iraq of inciting riots by the banned Muslim Brotherhood in Syria. Damascus also sided with Iran in the 1980-88 Iran-Iraq war. Commercial ties improved during the last few years of Saddam's rule before he was overthrown in 2003, but no Syrian ministers have gone to Baghdad for more than six years. Syrian Deputy Foreign Minister Fayssal Mekdad said in October that al-Moallem would visit Baghdad after the Islamic holy month of Ramadan, which ended Oct. 23-24, and that he would discuss the restoration of diplomatic ties with senior Iraqi officials. Syrian officials had said in February that Syria would exchange ambassadors with Iraq once a new Iraqi government was formed, marking the first time Damascus set a time frame for restoring full diplomatic ties. The new Iraqi government took office in May, but there has been no exchange of ambassadors. They lied but that's not unusual.

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Syria-Lebanon-Iran

Syria Says It Will Send Envoy to Iraq

2006-02-03

DAMASCUS, Syria (AP) - Syria will exchange ambassadors with Iraq after a new Iraqi government is formed, Syria's official news agency reported Thursday, marking the first time Damascus has set a time frame for restoring full diplomatic ties with Baghdad after a 23-year break. Syrian Foreign Minister Farouk al-Sharaa said Syria wished to have "the closest relations with Iraq based on historical and geographical ties," according to SANA. "After the formation of the new Iraqi government, (Syria and Iraq) will exchange ambassadors, and delegations from both countries will make visits to strengthen cooperation in all fields," al-Sharaa told a visiting delegation of Iraqi journalists, according to SANA. "And we hope our Iraqi brothers can restrain those Americans," he added anxiously. Syria broke relations with Baghdad in 1982 after accusing Iraq of inciting riots by the banned Muslim Brotherhood in Syria. Commercial ties improved in the last few years of Saddam Hussein's regime before he was overthrown in 2003. The two countries maintain only interest sections in each other's capitals. There have been talks in the past year between Syria and Iraq on restoring diplomatic ties and exchanging ambassadors but no date has been set for opening embassies and appointing ambassadors. The announcement comes at a time Syria is feeling increasingly frightened isolated, particularly over last year's assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri in Beirut.

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Israel-Palestine-Jordan

Jordanian Security to Question Muslim Brotherhood Official

2005-09-21

"Oh. Almost forgot. One more thing, effendi. I can't believe it slipped my mind..." The Jordanian security services revealed they wanted to question a leading official from the Muslim Brotherhood in Syria to obtain information on Mohammad Hassann Abdallah al Sahli, the leading suspect in the Aqaba bombings last August as part of the ongoing investigation. Asharq al Awsat has learned a high-ranking official in the Muslim Brotherhood had emphasized to the Jordanian authorities the group's desire to maintain its good relations with the regime and ensure the host country remains safe and secure. For their part, the authorities had sought guarantees the Islamic group would not plan or carry out attacks from inside its territories that will weaken the Syrian regime or engage in any political or media activity, which the Brotherhood agreed to abide by. Meanwhile, a member of the Syrian Brotherhood confirmed al Sahli was a member but added that the suspect had not attended any leadership meetings for a several years and was focusing on his commercial activities. He emphasized the group condemned all acts of violence as it focused on religious teaching and a rejection of violence. In the wake of the bombing in the Jordanian port, in which a soldier, Ahmad al Najdawi died, the Syrian Muslim Brotherhood in Syria had publicly denounced the attack and expressed its disappointment one of its own had carried out the attack, emphasizing the man was no longer an active member.

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Syria-Lebanon-Iran

Syrian website tells aspirant jihadis to assemble in Aleppo

2005-07-16

A recent posting on the Syrian mujahid site Minbar Suria al-Islami [www.nnuu.org] gives an insight both into the self-confidence of the Iraqi mujahideen, and the caution to be taken while in Syria. The participant counsels against the further influx of hopeful youths for jihad ("with nothing more than their enthusiasm to offer") and gives detailed advice for those more qualified mujahideen who do choose to get to Iraq via Syria. Given the interesting insight such a posting gives to the internal workings of the mujahid ‘road to Iraq' and the conditions facing the volunteers while in Syria, the posted comment is quoted here at length. ‘Advice to Brothers Seeking Jihad in Iraq' "First of all the brothers should know that the situation of the mujahideen in Iraq is entirely stable, and that they are not suffering at all from any shortfall in mujahideen. After more than two years the mujahideen have passed the preparatory phase and consequently they no longer need more numbers, rather they are in need of clearly defined specializations that will be of use to them 
 and does not constitute a burden upon them. So what is required at present is above all material support, and high military and jihadist expertise. Very young [volunteers] who have no significant material resources are an additional burden on the mujahideen and present good fodder for the Tyrants, either as victims or as prisoners. It is a great regret that many sad incidents have befallen enthusiastic brothers who have fallen into the hands of the Tyrants before entering Iraq, or have been killed in entire groups trying to make entry, without [having the chance of] presenting any danger to the American forces." "So we advise all brothers to keep to the Truth and prepare themselves psychologically and physically for the coming phases of the Crusader enemy agenda against Islam, since the battle is long, and it is not important that you fight but more important that you know how and when [to fight]. For the Islamic Nation has suffered grievous defeats and this time it must triumph since it appears to be entering on to the final campaign whose results will embrace the future of all humanity. It is not a question of enthusiasm, or impetuousness or love of martyrdom 
 any losses that befall Islam and its people in these times is a decisive loss, particularly when this loss is of the cream of Islam's youth which the Nation will lose without their having been able to shore up its position against her enemies. Therefore we see that now is not the time for enthusiastic youths — with nothing more than their enthusiasm to offer — to go [to Iraq]." Having said what he can to dissuade the youthful mujahideen, the participant now turns to those who have experience and who choose to get to Iraq through Syrian territory. He warns these not to be misled by superficial media reports, and to be aware that the Alawi regime is "one of the most Tyrannical regimes against anything connected with Islam, as any mujahid brother who has fallen into their hands has found out. Syria is not the safest route to Iraq, and even if it presents a supportive environment for the mujahideen this does not go beyond the popular level, through its Sunni majority [identity] acting in support of fellow Sunni mujahideen in Iraq." "Consequently any activity in this arena must be conducted in a framework of total secrecy, and you should be aware that any one or any organization that does not observe this level of secrecy 
 you can be sure is connected to the Tyrants' security services, and is nothing other than a trap for the mujahideen." The participant then warns particularly against using the Internet for communications, "and this forum, like the others, is under Alawi surveillance; any information is obviously not secret, so any individuals you meet and correspond with on the forums cannot be trusted at all, since bona fide [mujahid] groups would not conduct their affairs on the Internet. You can be sure that they are agents." Aleppo: the staging-ground of choice for Iraq If the volunteer persists in traveling via Syria, the participant advises him to establish himself first in Aleppo "the country's Sunni stronghold", and a city whose northern location [respective to Damascus] makes for easier access to the Iraqi border. Aleppo, with its Sunni mosques "is the point of departure for all Islamist and jihadist activity," although he warns that "the imams of the mosques are perforce as detached as far as can be from this activity for no other reason than that they are under intense surveillance and forced to co-operate with the security forces." The mention of Aleppo is significant in that it has long been the centre of Muslim activism in Syria. The Muslim Brotherhood, founded in Egypt in 1928, founded its first foreign branch in Aleppo in 1935, and the city later became the HQ of the Muslim Brotherhood in Syria. Following the appointment of Hafez al-Assad, an Alawite, to the Syrian presidency in 1971, the Brotherhood launched the opening salvo of rebellion in 1979 when they killed 83 Alawite cadets in a military school in the city. Aleppo retains its position of Sunni opposition to the regime and appears to act as a staging point for mujahideen. Most importantly, anyone seeking to cross into Iraq "must do so via groups related to the mujahideen in Iraq. There is no possibility for entering the country on an individual or haphazard basis." Getting into contact with these groups is no easy matter, the participant explains, "but it is possible since the old Aleppo mosques (Suq al-Madina, hard by the Castle, and others) house a number of them in their vicinity. So you will have to frequent these mosques for what may be a lengthy period until you find what you are looking for, on condition that it is not done in a blunt and direct manner. The process relies on mutual trust, so you must not place confidence in anyone who advertises this matter openly, since he will certainly be an infiltrator. You have to do things quietly and evaluate individuals." "If you don't manage to do this" the participant concludes, "then you must give up the idea altogether and refrain from searching out any alternative way." [www.nnuu.org]

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Syria-Lebanon-Iran

Syria, Iraq Discuss Restoring Relations

2005-06-29

Iraqi and Syrian officials on Wednesday met to discuss restoring full diplomatic relations and reopening their embassies 23 years after breaking ties, a senior Iraqi Foreign Ministry official said. No date has been set for opening the embassies and appointing ambassadors, deputy Foreign Ministry Labeed Abou said, but Prime Minister Ibrhaim al-Jaafari has said he would soon be visiting Syria and neighboring Iran. The talks come at a time of heightened tension between the two neighbors following allegations that Syria has failed to stem the flow of foreign fighters across the porous border into Iraq. U.S. and Iraqi forces have tried to staunch the infiltration by carrying out counterinsurgency operations, including one that began Tuesday in western Anbar province. Syrian officials have said they would ask the Iraqi government to provide evidence that insurgents have been moving across the border. Damascus has recently taken some steps to prevent infiltration, including increasing border guards and filling wadis — gullies gouged by rainstorms — with cement blocks and barbed wire to block passage. A Syrian delegation was in Baghdad for the meetings. A similar Iraqi delegation was expected to visit Damascus following Syrian approval for the trip. Syria broke relations with Baghdad in 1982 after accusing Saddam Hussein's Iraq of inciting riots by the banned Muslim Brotherhood in Syria. Commercial ties improved in the last few years of Saddam's regime before he was overthrown in 2003. The two countries maintain interest sections in each other's capitals. Syria is represented in Baghdad through the Algerian embassy.

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International

Syria willing to help US against Bad Guys

2002-01-08

Daily Jang reports Syria is willing to come on board with the US. President Bashar al-Assad said after a meeting with a visiting US congressional delegation that "Syria is willing to cooperate with any country in the struggle against terrorism." Assad urged the United States to "take advantage Syria's successful experiences," apparently referring to the bloody repression of the Muslim Brotherhood in Syria at the end of the 1970s and in the early 1980s. The Brotherhood, which had been accused of carrying out terror attacks in Syria, was dissolved, its members jailed or forced into exile. Make friends with them in this case and then get to work on them to wedge them out from under Iran's wing. And as an added bonus, they'd be happy to see Iraq beaten up.

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