Syriens Herrscher-Clique / Assad, seine Sippe und ihre Milliarden
NEU : Arabische Welt ist zornig auf Russland und China
Handelsblatt – vor 1 Stunde 26 Minuten
ASSAD DER „REFORMER“ (lt. Junge welt, Berlin)
Von Ulrike Putz, Beirut – DER SPIEGEL ONLINE, 6.2.2012 : Familie Assad: Kleptokratie im großen Stil: Seit mehr als 40 Jahren herrschen die Assads über Syrien. Die Familie soll in dieser Zeit ein Vermögen in Milliardenhöhe auf die Seite geschafft haben. Vermögensverwalter des Clans ist Rami Makhluf, ein Cousin von Diktator Assad.
Wie reich sind die Assads? Angaben dazu, wie groß das Vermögen der syrischen Herrscherfamilie ist, klaffen himmelweit auseinander. Sie besitze etwa drei Millionen Dollar, schätzte der israelische Syrien-Experte Schmuel Bar 2006. Die jordanische Nachrichtenseite Albawaba veranschlagte die Summe jüngst bei 40 Milliarden Dollar, das wäre knapp das Dreifache des jährlichen Exportvolumens des Landes.
Noch weiter ging Canadian Business Online: 122 Milliarden Dollar seien die Assads schwer, so die Wirtschaftseite im vergangenen Jahr. Zum Vergleich: Der Facebook-Gründer Mark Zuckerberg wird derzeit auf 18 Milliarden Dollar geschätzt.
Demography Is Destiny in Syria
by Aymenn Jawad Al-Tamimi and Oskar Svadkovsky
The American Spectator – February 6, 2012 – Among the second wave of Arab Spring uprisings that followed Tunisia, Syria was the most spectacular “out of the blue” that suddenly arose in the face of the media and analytic community. Just days before Deraa exploded with protests last March, some analysts were still scrutinizing Syria’s circumstances and declaring the country to be immune from the Arab Spring. Nor did reporters who visited the country spot signs of a brewing storm.
ERBIL/HEWLER CONFERENCE ON WEST KURDISTAN BOYCOTTED BY PYD
Syrian Kurdish Leader Claims Western Powers Will Support Kurds
06/02/2012 RUDAW – ERBIL, Iraqi Kurdistan — Abdulhakim Bashar, the head of the Kurdish National Council (KNC), said he has obtained international guarantees for the rights of Kurds in Syria after the fall of Bashar Assad’s regime.
Bashar told Rudaw that his council has the support of America, Britian and France. His claims were not independently verified.Bashar said the KNC has had talks with the British, French and American foreign ministries last month.“Officials at the British foreign ministry said that they would support the demands of the Kurds in Syria and that they would try to organize the KNC like the SNC.” Bashar said.
EXCLUSIV : Syrian Muslim Brotherhood Secretary General Al-Shaqfa
Friday, 3 February 2012 – Interview: Ali Hussein Bakeer – JTW – The Syrian issue entered a critical juncture after the Syrian government refused the solution offered by the Arab League in order to put an end to the killing machine and stop the situation from moving further toward a full scale war. This development came along with the regional and international efforts to convince Russia to change its position on Syria after the failure of all previous initiatives to contain the situation under the Arab League umbrella.
FLASH NEWS : A breakthrough or more weapons? / Russian officials to meet Assad next week in Syria
Ynet – 6.2.2012 – Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and foreign intelligence service chief Mikhail Fradkov will travel to Syria on Tuesday to meet President Bashar Assad, Russian news agencies quoted Lavrov as saying in Munich on Saturday. Lavrov, who said President Dmitry Medvedev had instructed him and Fradkov to make the trip, gave no details about its specific purpose, the reports said.
SYRIA: KURDS DEMONSTRATE IN AFRIN
Syrian Revolution News Round-p – Day 326 (SNC News)
New Massacre in Homs Claims 220 Lives / Demonstrations of Kurds in Afrin
Assad’s forces killed at least 220 and injured 550 in the neighbourhood of Khaldiya in Homs as it continuously shelled its residential areas with tanks, heavy artillery, and missiles. Demonstrations downtown Damascus in Kafarsouseh and Mazzeh were faced with heavy gunfire. Syrian refugees in Turkey went out on massive demonstrations in response to the massacres in Homs.
Top Videos : Marjeh, Aleppo: Assad’s forces open fire at protesters killing and injuring many, P2, P3
Afrin, Aleppo: Severe injuries among protesters after Assad’s forces open fire at them, P2, P3
KURDISH CONFERENCE IN ERBIL / HEWLER – SYRIA THIS WEEK
Saeed also said, “Since the Syrian opposition — SNC — is supported by Turkey and some Arab countries, we wanted to convey a message that we also have the support of the government of Iraqi Kurdistan.”
04/02/2012 RUDAW – By ADIB ABDULMAJID – Amsterdam – Arab League Secretary-General Nabil el-Araby and Qatar’s Prime Minister Hamad Bin Jasem al-Thani urged the UN Security Council last week to take decisive action to end the violence in Syria and to support an Arab initiative for embattled Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad to relinquish power. Elaraby urged the council to take “rapid and decisive action,” adding that Arab nations are attempting to avoid foreign military intervention in the 11-month-old Syrian uprising. Qatar Prime Minister Sheikh Hamad Bin Jassim al-Thani warned the 15-nation body that Syria’s “killing machine is still at work.” “Our efforts and initiatives to seek a solution with Assad have all been useless because the Syrian government failed to make any sincere effort to cooperate with us and the only solution available to it was to kill its own people.”
Damascus Is Shaking (SNC News)
Residents of the Damascus suburb of Zabadani celebrate the absence of regime forces – Regime brought in more reinforcements to the Eastern Ghouta area in the suburbs of Damascus, as dozens of tanks, armoured units, and APCs were seen heading to the cities of Saqba, Hamouriya, and Kafarbatna. Meanwhile, the regime continued to shell residential areas in those cities with heavy artillery, AA guns, and tanks during a curfew imposed by snipers, while cutting off electricity, water, and communications.
The Divisions Between the FSA and the SNC Widen
A report published by Elaph http://www.elaph.com/Web/news/2012/1/713106.html yesterday noted, for the first time, the deep divisions between the SNC and the FSA that many within the Syrian opposition are familiar with. Given how the Assad regime operates, these divisions, in my opinion, are due to two factors.
One factor, of course, is the result of the elements planted by the Assad regime in the SNC leadership ranks. Their role is to wreak havoc, question others, start spreading misinformation, and the most important tactic is to get the insiders to fight amongst each other by questioning each other’s decisions.
Conference Aims To Unite Fractured Syrian Kurds
31/01/2012 RUDAW - ERBIL, Iraqi Kurdistan – For two days last week, Kurdish political and opposition leaders held a conference in Erbil to press for the right to self-determination if the Syrian regime falls. “This meeting is a message to the world that the Kurds of Syria are not alone,” one participant at the conference told Rudaw.
More than 250 Kurdish representatives and political observers, mostly from Europe, attended the conference titled “The Right to Self-Determination and a Democratic Syria.” Syrian Kurds have been divided over whether to participate in anti-government protests in Syria and over what role they should play in the opposition, which is primarily based outside of the country. Syrian Kurdish leaders have also walked out of several opposition conferences over concerns that Kurdish rights are not being recognized by the Arab- and Islamist-dominated opposition.