Top Assad officials 'killed' in Damascus blast

[Le Socialiste]

State media reports deaths of defence and interior chiefs, president's powerful brother-in-law and other key officials.

Syria's defence minister and interior minister are among those killed after an explosion struck the National Security building in Damascus during a meeting of cabinet ministers and senior security officials, state media have reported.

Defence Minister General Rajha and his deputy, Assef Shawkat, the brother-in-law of President Bashar al-Assad, were reportedly killed on Wednesday in the deadliest assault on government officials since the violence began 16 months ago.

Also reported dead were Interior Minister Mohammed Ibrahim al-Shaar and General Hassan Turkmani, a former defence minister and currently Syria's deputy vice president, who later died of his injuries,

The head of the national security office, Hisham Bekhtyar, was among those seriously wounded in the bombing that took place as ministers and security officials were meeting in the district of Rawda, according to state TV.

...

Liwa al-Islam, an Islamist rebel group whose name means "The Brigade of Islam", claimed responsibility for the blast.

The group said in a statement on its Facebook page that it "targeted the cell called the crisis control room in the capital of Damascus". The attack was also claimed by the Free Syrian Army (FSA).

"This is the volcano we talked about. We have just started," FSA spokesman Qassim Saadedine said.


Government forces and tanks were deployed in areas inside and around Damascus following the violence, activists said. Street-to-street battles were taking place across the city, sources told Al Jazeera.

"When you're talking about clashes taking place in at least seven or eight parts of Damascus then they are affecting the entire city," said Al Jazeera's Nisreen el-Shamayleh, reporting from Amman, Jordan.

"Al-Midan is a ver big Sunni neighbourhood in the heart of Damascus. Many of the other areas are also close to security installations and government offices and buildings. so these are very significant clashes taking place in the heart of Damascus," she said.

The SOHR said that more than 60 soldiers had been killed in clashes with the FSA fighters in the past 48 hours, but there was no independent confirmation of the claim as foreign media is barred from reporting inside Syria.

http://www.aljazeera.com/news/middleeast/2012/07/20127189355415804.html

[X5N]

I love the smell of tyrannicide in the morning.

[Lenina Rosenweg]

There are reports that Assad himself was severely wounded in the blast and may be close to death.

http://www.marxmail.org/msg104114.html

[Le Socialiste]

Assad hasn't been seen since the explosion; meanwhile, rebels are closing in:


BEIRUT (Reuters) - Mystery surrounded the whereabouts of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad on Thursday, as battles raged in the center of Damascus a day after a bomber killed his top security chiefs.

The Syrian leader made no public appearance and no statement after a bomb in the heart of the capital killed his powerful brother-in-law, his defense minister and a top general, drawing fierce army retaliation with heavy artillery against the rebels.

On Thursday morning, residents said there was no let-up in the heaviest fighting to hit the city in a 16-month revolt against Assad's rule, now into its fifth day.

The fighting came within sight of the presidential palace, near the security headquarters where the bomber struck a crisis meeting of defense and security chiefs.

http://news.yahoo.com/no-sign-assad-bomb-kills-kin-rebels-close-000219552.html

Obama's currently trying to pressure Putin to drop Russia's support for Assad, saying "the situation is spiraling out of control." Looks like the tide has shifted in the opposition's favor...

[cynicles]

Islamic Emirate of Syria here we come!

[Devrim]

Assad hasn't been seen since the explosion; meanwhile, rebels are closing in:

So he hasn't made a public appearance since...er....yesterday. That really doesn't tell us very much.


Obama's currently trying to pressure Putin to drop Russia's support for Assad, saying "the situation is spiraling out of control." Looks like the tide has shifted in the opposition's favor...

I appears to me that their is currently a major propaganda offensive going on against the Syrian state.

For example news reports are stating that Asma Al-Assad is run off to Russia, but there seem to be no sources for this at all. I think that it is quite probably an attempt to build political momentum via propoganda.

Devrim

[Vladimir Innit Lenin]

I have a feeling that if Mr. Assad doesn't flee/isn't already dead, then he's going to find himself in a messy end a la the Colonel.

[Princess Luna]

Islamic Emirate of Syria here we come!
It's ironic that people said the same thing about Libya, and yet the most recent election results show the Liberals of all people in the lead.

[TheGodlessUtopian]

Thread moved

[Le Socialiste]

Assad, seemingly alive, swears in new defense minister:


BEIRUT (AP) — Bashar Assad attended the swearing-in of his new defense minister Thursday, according to footage shown on Syrian state TV, the first sign of the president since an audacious rebel attack the day before struck at the heart of his regime and killed three senior officials.

Government forces struck back against rebels with attack helicopters and shelling in a fifth straight day of clashes in Damascus. The inability of the military to control the clashes in the capital against lightly armed rebel forces and the deadly bombing of a high-level security meeting a day earlier made Assad's hold on power look increasingly tenuous.

The whereabouts of Assad, his wife and their three young children have been a mystery since the attack that killed his brother-in-law and his defense minister. Assad does not appear in public frequently, and his absence was notable following such a serious blow his inner circle.

The state TV announcement appeared aimed at sending the message that Assad is alive and well. It said Assad, dressed in a blue suit and tie, wished the new defense minister good luck but it did not say where the swearing-in took place.

Thousands of Syrians streamed across the Syrian border into Lebanon, fleeing as fighting in the capital entered its fifth straight day, witnesses said. Residents near the Masnaa crossing point — about 25 miles (40 kilometers) from Damascus — said hundreds of private cars as well as taxis and buses were ferrying people across.

http://news.yahoo.com/first-word-syrias-assad-emerges-attack-151529740.html

[Le Socialiste]

So he hasn't made a public appearance since...er....yesterday. That really doesn't tell us very much.

You're right, it didn't. Usually though, if the leader of a country is suspected dead or wounded, said leader - if alive - would want to publicly state otherwise.

[cynicles]

It's ironic that people said the same thing about Libya, and yet the most recent election results show the Liberals of all people in the lead.
http://angryarab.blogspot.ca/2012/07/mahmud-jibril.html

[Lynx]

How on earth can a coalition of 60 parties be workable?

[Ocean Seal]

It's ironic that people said the same thing about Libya, and yet the most recent election results show the Liberals of all people in the lead.
I mean I'm pretty sure we could have all seen the victory of the NTC leader as predictable. There will be popular Islamist resentment which might turn into a power battle with the NTC though.

[MuscularTophFan]

It's over. Assad is finished and he knows it. He's isolated by the entire world and even his own military can't take the amount of murders and genocide they are doing.

[Comrade Samuel]

It's over. Assad is finished and he knows it. He's isolated by the entire world and even his own military can't take the amount of murders and genocide they are doing.

I wouldn't be so sure, when you face death at the hands of your own people it's not likely that you stop until there's a mob beating you within an inch of your life.

[Lynx]

Assad could have chosen exile before too many people died, but his ego got in the way. His supporters have little choice though, if they can't flee they must fight.

[cynicles]

I mean I'm pretty sure we could have all seen the victory of the NTC leader as predictable. There will be popular Islamist resentment which might turn into a power battle with the NTC though.

The NTC leaders are Islamists, stupid western Qatari press are lying.

[Zannarchy]

dictators will die, whats new

[Sasha]

The NTC leaders are Islamists, stupid western Qatari press are lying.

A. Proof
B. How then would you label the former regime who introduced sharia 4 years after he seized power, who created the "islamic legion", who gave the country to be ruthelessly led for decades by his sons with lovely names as "sword of islam" etc?
Let me guess, socialist? :lol:
I'm more and and more convinced you selfstyled "anti-imperialists" are all schizopheniacs, or a form of religious, or both.

[islandmilitia]

A. Proof

It seems unlikely that an Islamist dictatorship is about to be instituted by the central government, given that the Justice and Construction Party lost the elections, but the more important factor is that there are still substantial numbers of independent militia and other military forces left over from the civil war, and that those forces are not going to willingly surrender their weapons and power to the government in the immediate future - and amongst those forces there are more authoritarian Islamists (as well as Gaddafi loyalists) who have the capability to enforce their understanding of Sharia at a local level. So, don't exclude the possibility of local Islamist fiefdoms, not to mention continuing pogroms against Black Africans. It looks like the future of Libya is going to be a neoliberal central government which will open up the country to Western economic penetration at the same time as experiencing constant clashes with local forces. For those who blindly supported the rebels, I hope they are happy with this outcome!

Worth pointing out as well that there are similar local Islamist militia under the umbrella of the FSA, as if the SNC weren't bad enough. Remains to be seen whether the left will learn the lessons from Libya.


B. How then would you label the former regime who introduced sharia 4 years after he seized power, who created the "islamic legion", who gave the country to be ruthelessly led for decades by his sons with lovely names as "sword of islam" etc?
Let me guess, socialist?

Why does criticizing the rebels (and the NTC in particular) automatically entail, in your mind, giving political support to the Gaddafi government? In any case, Gaddafi's Libya was hardly the model of an Islamist state, its more striking feature was Gaddafi's willingness to cooperate with the West in brutally torturing so-called Islamist terrorists.


I'm more and and more convinced you selfstyled "anti-imperialists" are all schizopheniacs, or a form of religious, or both.

What does this even mean?!

[Sasha]

appologies if i wrongly assumed you to be a knee-jerk anti-imp, when time after time people here post the most far stretched propaganda based conspiracy drivel about the new regimes being both 100% al-qaida and 100% directly puppeteered by NATO while at the same time remaining to paint gadaffi as a pure untainted socialist hero about to deliver communism to the masses if not for that pesky islamist-imperialist-conspiracy, you get some knee-jerk reactions of your own.. my apologies again.

[cynicles]

appologies if i wrongly assumed you to be a knee-jerk anti-imp, when time after time people here post the most far stretched propaganda based conspiracy drivel about the new regimes being both 100% al-qaida and 100% directly puppeteered by NATO while at the same time remaining to paint gadaffi as a pure untainted socialist hero about to deliver communism to the masses if not for that pesky islamist-imperialist-conspiracy, you get some knee-jerk reactions of your own.. my apologies again.

Actually you assumed I was and asked for proof even after I had posted it.

[MuscularTophFan]

The NTC leaders are Islamists, stupid western Qatari press are lying.
Sure is lying pro-Assad propagandists on here.:laugh:

[cynicles]

Sure is lying pro-Assad propagandists on here.:laugh:

I'm not pro-Assad, and what does that have to do with the fact the al jazeera and western media were referring to a guy who already said sharia would be the source for Libyan constitution as a liberal anyways? The only thing liberal about these guys is their economics.

[Sasha]

But the fact that Sharia was already the base of the constitution under gadaffi isn't a relevant fact how?

[cynicles]

But the fact that Sharia was already the base of the constitution under gadaffi isn't a relevant fact how?

What does this even mean? I was calling out the bullshit lies by western and Qatari media that liberals got elected, they aren't liberal, end of story. Whatever stupid shit Qaddafi wrote into his constitution has nothing to do with them.

[The Cheshire Cat]

It's ironic that people said the same thing about Libya, and yet the most recent election results show the Liberals of all people in the lead.

Bullshit. The first thing 'Free' Libya did, was introducing the Sharia law. So it is in fact already a fundamentalist state.

Second, there were 200 seats in the Libyan parlemant. 120 of those were given to tribal leaders and men like (the same men than enforced the Sharia law) that so that they wouldn't resist to the new government. So 120 seats were basically given to friends of America. From the remaining 80 seats, I believe the Liberals (who are not real liberals) got 39 seats. But I have not yet succeeeded in finding the candidates for the election. I have no idea who the Libyans could actually vote for. So I would not be surprised at all if the Libyan elections were one big scam. Besides, and absurd amount of voting stations were closed, and a protesting man even was shot to dead.

As stated above, Gadaffi did have a variation on the Sharia, but it was not sharia. Women, for example, had much more freedom. Gadaffi, for example, had four female guards, who all had very high positions in the army. And women did not have to cover their heads, they received a lot of special help form the state after a divorce, etc.

[Sasha]

Bullshit. The first thing 'Free' Libya did, was introducing the Sharia law. So it is in fact already a fundamentalist state.

Second, there were 200 seats in the Libyan parlemant. 120 of those were given to tribal leaders and men like (the same men than enforced the Sharia law) that so that they wouldn't resist to the new government. So 120 seats were basically given to friends of America. From the remaining 80 seats, I believe the Liberals (who are not real liberals) got 39 seats. But I have not yet succeeeded in finding the candidates for the election. I have no idea who the Libyans could actually vote for. So I would not be surprised at all if the Libyan elections were one big scam. Besides, and absurd amount of voting stations were closed, and a protesting man even was shot to dead.

As stated above, Gadaffi did have a variation on the Sharia, but it was not sharia. Women, for example, had much more freedom. Gadaffi, for example, had four female guards, who all had very high positions in the army. And women did not have to cover their heads, they received a lot of special help form the state after a divorce, etc.

jezus fucking christ on a stick the willful self delusionment of you lot really knows no bounderies right?
you know what i'm only going to give you this one reply; http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/blogpost/post/gaddafis-female-bodyguards-say-they-were-raped-abused-by-the-libyan-leader/2011/08/29/gIQA8TOKnJ_blog.html
what a beacon of feminist progessiveness indeed...

look, no'one is going to deny that the new regime are anyting but nice guys, but the last who should be screaming about "sharia!" and "tribal leaders bought of for their loyality!" are the supporters of the former regime, that yes, introduced sharia and gave insane amounts of power etc to tribal leaders to buy their loyality. either you opose those things outright everywhere no matter who is doing it or the least you can do is give the new regime the benefit of the doubt and give them time to see how these things are (re-)implemented. now it just sounds like islamophobia abusing scaremongering propaganda by sore losers....

[The Cheshire Cat]

Just give me a link that is not from some pro US imperialism site and I might take it seriously. I could give you tens of links from main stream media about Libya containing nothing but propaganda lies. I never stated Gadaffi was a nice guy. He wasn't. I just hate it when people expect the next government to do any better. They won't. And women did have chances in the Libya under Gadaffi then they have know. Everyone did. The current Libya is a mess with tribes fighting eachother everywhere.


I don't quite understand your last sentence, but I why in earth's name would you give the new regime the benefit of the doubt? Do you really expect them to do any better than a random country in Northern Africa?

The people of Libya are going to get into much tougher times than the times under the dictator Gadaffi.


And here are supposedly the former guards of Gadaffi: http://www.chinasmack.com/2011/pictures/gaddafi-female-bodyguards-found-murdered-chinese-reactions.html

Even if they were abused (which they weren't) they would be better of that now, killed by the 'rebels'.


And I am not an islamophobe. Every state based upon no matter what religion would be horrible.


And finally, my comment wasn't about these things, it was about a so called liberal victory. The core of my message was: They aren't liberals and there weren't any democratic elections.

[cynicles]

jezus fucking christ on a stick the willful self delusionment of you lot really knows no bounderies right?
you know what i'm only going to give you this one reply; http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/blogpost/post/gaddafis-female-bodyguards-say-they-were-raped-abused-by-the-libyan-leader/2011/08/29/gIQA8TOKnJ_blog.html
what a beacon of feminist progessiveness indeed...

look, no'one is going to deny that the new regime are anyting but nice guys, but the last who should be screaming about "sharia!" and "tribal leaders bought of for their loyality!" are the supporters of the former regime, that yes, introduced sharia and gave insane amounts of power etc to tribal leaders to buy their loyality. either you opose those things outright everywhere no matter who is doing it or the least you can do is give the new regime the benefit of the doubt and give them time to see how these things are (re-)implemented. now it just sounds like islamophobia abusing scaremongering propaganda by sore losers....
I don't support the old regime, stop saying that I haven't accused you of supporting reactionary Islamists so don't accuse me of supporting something I don't support. It's also naive to think a NATO controlled government should be given a chance.


Give Pinochet a chance! Sure he's a US dictatorial puppet brought to
Power through a military intervention but he still deserve a chance!

No chances! The Libyans will learn to hate him with time but it's silly to see him as any different then any other reactionary.

[Sasha]

i wasnt talking to you you dolt...

[cynicles]

i wasnt talking to you you dolt...

Oh well I apologize then, and fuck you for calling me a dolt, no need to use name calling.