Syrian Refugees 'Horrified' at Possible US Strike, Just Want to Be Left Alone, Says Christian Relief Agency Head
Syrian refugees have said that they are "horrified" at the prospect of a U.S. military attack on the government to take down President Bashar al-Assad, while Muslims have shared their amazement at a Christian missionary group providing relief in the region.
"It is about divided, the opinion. Some believe the rebels did it, but the majority of the people I talked to believe that Assad gassed his own people. That's the general feeling in the camps," Dr. Terry Law, the founder and president of World Compassion Ministries, shared with The Christian Post in a phone interview on Monday.
"They are horrified by it. Anybody in the camps says 'no more bombing, no more violence, our homes are destroyed already' and they are begging 'please let there be no response from the U.S. Just leave us alone,'" Law added of what refugees think of President Barack Obama's warnings of a military strike on Syria to punish Assad for using chemical weapons to kill 1,429 people in August. Keep reading
Syria Churches, Monasteries Abandoned in Small Christian Town Following Rebel Fighting
The fate of the small, predominantly Christian town of Maaloula, Syria, remains uncertain after remaining rebel factions continued to clash with the occupying Syrian army over the weekend. Reports from the area indicate that most of the village's cathedrals and worshipping spaces were abandoned Sunday due to the threat of a continued rebel presence linked to al-Qaeda.
Although Syria's army, loyal to President Bashar Assad, claims to have re-taken control of the small town north of Damascus at the beginning of the weekend, reporters visiting the war-torn region have said that in the past few days, rebel fighters have remained on the fringes of the town, firing at army forces from nearby caves that overlook the small mountain city. Keep reading
Syrian army accuses Turkey of escalating tensions
The Syrian military on Tuesday accused Turkey of seeking to escalate tensions along the two nations' already volatile border by shooting down a Syrian military helicopter there the day before.
In a statement issued Tuesday, the Syrian military said the helicopter was on a mission to monitor for cross-border infiltration of rebels when it "mistakenly" entered Turkish airspace.
Turkey's deputy prime minister Bulent Arinc told reporters in Ankara Monday that the Syrian helicopter was shot down by a fighter jet after it entered Turkish airspace and ignored repeated warnings to leave.
He said the helicopter strayed 2 kilometers (more than 1 mile) inside Turkey, but crashed inside Syria after being hit by missiles fired from the jet. Keep reading
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Turkey downs Syrian helicopter in tense border region
Russia against use of force in Syria resolution
Moscow insisted on Tuesday that a new Security Council resolution on Syria not allow the use of force, while the Arab country's main opposition group demanded a swift international response following the U.N. report that confirmed chemical weapons were used outside Damascus last month.
Meanwhile, a car bomb exploded at a crossing point along Syria's volatile border with Turkey, Syrian activist groups said. At least 15 people were wounded in the explosion at the rebel-controlled Bab al-Hawa crossing, they said.
In Moscow, Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said Russia "spoke clearly" about rejecting the use of force when the agreement on Syria abandoning its chemical weapons was worked out in Geneva between U.S. and Russian envoys. Keep reading
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Russia says no proof Assad was behind chemical attack
Russia says may be time to force Assad's foes to talk peace
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Monday it may be time to consider efforts to force foes of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad to attend an international peace conference instead of just urging them to do so.
Lavrov also accused European countries of trying to reinterpret the agreement he reached with U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry over the weekend under which Syria is to give up its chemical weapons arsenal and avoid U.S. strikes.
Lavrov's remarks suggested Russia will resist any rush to threaten military intervention if Assad fails to implement the deal and that it will blame the rebels - and the West - if the agreement does not lead to a wider push to end Syria's conflict. Keep reading
China says will give U.N. Syria report 'thorough review'
China said on Tuesday that it would take a serious look at a report by U.N. investigators which confirmed the use of sarin nerve agent in an August 21 gas attack outside the Syrian capital.
The long-awaited U.N. report did not say who launched the attack, though U.S., British and French envoys said technical details in it pointed to Syrian government culpability.
"China attaches great importance to the contents of the relevant report and will give it a thorough review," Foreign Ministry spokesman Hong Lei said at a daily news briefing in Beijing.
"At the same time, we consistently advocate that the relevant investigation should be carried out by the U.N. investigation team in an impartial, objective and professional manner." Keep reading
UN report 'abundantly clear' that Syria carried out gas attack: Britain
Britain welcomed Monday's United Nations report into last month's chemical weapons attack in Syria and said it was "abundantly clear" from the findings that Bashar al-Assad's regime was to blame.
"We welcome this objective and unequivocal report which confirms that chemical weapons were used on a large scale in the 21 August attack in Ghouta," Foreign Secretary William Hague said in a statement.
"From the wealth of technical detail in the report... it is abundantly clear that the Syrian regime is the only party that could have been responsible."
He urged all concerned parties to ensure that Syria's chemical weapons were secured and destroyed "in a verifiable manner without further delay." Keep reading
In public shift, Israel calls for Assad's fall
Israel wants to see Syrian President Bashar al-Assad toppled, its ambassador to the United States said on Tuesday, in a shift from its non-committal public stance on its neighbor's civil war.
Even Assad's defeat by al Qaeda-aligned rebels would be preferable to Damascus's current alliance with Israel's arch-foe Iran, Ambassador Michael Oren said in an interview with the Jerusalem Post.
His comments marked a move in Israel's public position on Syria's two-and-1/2-year-old war. Keep reading
Syrian rebels demand response after UN report
Syria's main opposition group on Tuesday demanded a swift international response following the U.N. report confirming the use of chemical weapons in Syria, while Damascus slammed the U.S., British and French foreign ministers, accusing them of trying to impose their agenda on the Syrian people.
The Foreign Ministry statement appeared to be in response to demands by foreign ministers of France, Britain and the U.S. that Syrian President Bashar Assad step down even as the West increases efforts to bring the warring sides to an international peace conference.
"Assad is the legitimate president chosen by the Syrian people and will remain so as long as the Syrian people want this," the ministry said. Keep reading
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Assad Regime Hails 'Victory' After US-Russia Deal, While Rebels Say He Goes Unpunished
UN confirms chemical weapons used in Syria
Careful not to blame either side for a deadly chemical weapon attack, U.N. inspectors reported Monday that rockets loaded with the nerve agent sarin had been fired from an area where Syria's military has bases, but said the evidence could have been manipulated in the rebel-controlled stricken neighborhoods.
The U.S., Britain and France jumped on evidence in the report — especially the type of rockets, the composition of the sarin agent, and trajectory of the missiles — to declare that President Bashar Assad's government was responsible.
Russia, Syria's closest ally, called the investigators' findings "deeply disturbing," but said it was too early to draw conclusions. The Syrian government's claims that opposition forces were responsible for the attack "cannot be simply shrugged off," Russian Ambassador Vitaly Churkin insisted. Keep reading
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UN team finds sarin gas used in Syrian attack
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