Terrorism & Security

Turkey's Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan shakes hands with U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton during the "Friends of Syria" conference in Istanbul April 1. (Yasin Bulbul/Prime Minister's Press Office/REUTERS)

Syria 'friends' to pay salaries of rebels fighting Assad

By Tom A. Peter, Correspondent / 04.02.12

The Syrian opposition received one of its biggest boosts yet when the US, Britain, and several Arab nations pledged millions of dollars in support and equipment at a meeting of international supporters in Istanbul yesterday.

One pledge that may prove particularly significant comes from Saudi Arabia and other Gulf nations that have agreed to set up a fund to pay salaries to the rebel Free Syria Army, Al Jazeera reports. The fund is seen as a means of encouraging more soldiers to defect from government forces and join the rebels.

The fund pushes the international community closer to an intervention in Syria, but it has stopped short of providing direct military assistance. Rebels say the additional funding and supplies will no doubt help, but they have also been outspoken in their need for more weapons and ammunition, without which they say they cannot topple the Syrian regime.

“What is clear to us is that only fighting can make this regime leave,” said Mohammed al-Said, a Syrian activist in Douma, northwest of Damascus in an interview with Al Jazeera.

Aside from salaries for rebel soldiers, the opposition will also receive humanitarian assistance and communications equipment to help them coordinate their actions and evade government attacks. Russia and China have blocked United Nations measures that would create the potential for a military intervention. The New York Times reports that there is also some concern among neighboring Arab countries and Western politicians about who exactly would receive arms if international donors began supplying the rebels.

The increased support by international donors has sparked concerns in Iran, where there is mounting concern there that Syria could become a proxy war in which Iranian rivals like Saudi Arabia strengthen the opposition against Iran's close ally, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. A news article in Iran’s PressTV described the international pledges with grave suspicion. “Analysts believe Washington’s insistence on funding the rebels signals American blessing for a bid by the Saudi Arabian dictatorship to arm the Syrian opposition, which White House has so far publicly opposed,” wrote PressTV.

So far international efforts have focused primarily on sanctions with additional limited support to Syria. It remains difficult to tell just how such efforts have affected Mr. Assad’s government. US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has said that sanctions are beginning to have an effect, but in an interview with CNN Rep. Mike Rogers, the head of the House Intelligence Committee, cited US intelligence reports that he said shows Assad’s regime is not “crumbling.”

“Remember, they're having a lot of victory supported by external forces like Iran, like Russia. So they, in their minds, they – this is all a zero-sum game for them. They realize that,” said Rep. Rogers on CNN. “They believe that they're winning ... we certainly believe that, through intelligence collection, they believe they're winning this.”

The Syrian government has publicly taken a confident stance about their progress against rebel fighters. Al Arabiya reports that Jihad al Makdissi, foreign ministry spokesman, announced on Syrian state TV that, “The battle to topple the state is over.” 

As for the recent meeting and international pledges of support, the Syrian government has largely ignored them, calling the meeting a failure, reports Agence France-Presse. On Monday, government troops continued their military assault on rebels in the north of Syria.

The Wall Street Journal reports that Assad's failure to comply with the cease-fire could impel the West to take stronger action.

"Nobody wants to let Bashar al-Assad use any kind of diplomatic initiative to basically run the clock out and let him continue to butcher his own people," said a senior US official. "At some point, we're going to have to talk about the other steps if he doesn't do what he says he's going to do."

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Palestinian protesters shout during a protest marking Land Day, near the border between Israel and the northern Gaza Strip on March 30. Israeli security forces fired rubber bullets, tear gas and stun grenades to break up groups of Palestinian stone-throwers on Friday as annual Land Day rallies turned violent. (Suhaib Salem/Reuters)

Israeli efforts to defuse 'Land Day' tensions fail as clashes erupt at checkpoint

By Ariel Zirulnick, Staff writer / 03.30.12

• A daily summary of global reports on security issues.

 Despite Israeli efforts to block unrest, soldiers clashed with Palestinian protesters at a key checkpoint between Israel and the West Bank today as Palestinians turned out en masse in Israel and the West Bank to mark Land Day.

The day commemorates the 1976 killing of six Palestinian citizens of Israel by Israeli soldiers as they protested against expropriation of their land in northern Israel. To mark Land Day this year, Palestinian activists called for a “Global March to Jerusalem.”

The Israeli newspaper Haaretz reports Israeli forces were put on high alert early today. All checkpoints between Israel and the West Bank were closed for 24 hours and additional troops were deployed along the borders with Gaza, Lebanon, and Syria. Protesters at the Qalandia checkpoint threw rocks at soldiers stationed there, who responded with stun grenades and tear gas.

Lebanon announced it was ratcheting up its security in its south, setting up checkpoints in the area and blocking efforts to march to the border. The protest has been rerouted to end elsewhere, Haaretz reports.

Last May, thousands of Palestinians gathered in the West Bank, Gaza, and along the borders with Lebanon and Syria – with some of them attempting to cross into Israel – to commemorate Nakba Day, which marks Israel’s creation in 1948. Several were killed as they tried to cross the border. Israel’s precautions today are an attempt to avert the bloody clashes that left 12 dead and hundreds injured, Agence France-Presse reports.

By midday, Israeli forces had released tear gas into the crowds at Qalandia checkpoint, according to a Guardian correspondent on site who has been providing regular updates to a liveblog. She writes:

Palestinian boys have started arriving at the blockades. Jabai, 19, has come from Nablus to join the protest. "Today is different than any other Friday demonstration," he says. "Many more people are coming.”

And what of organisers' hopes that the demonstrations will be peaceful? "No, we want to throw stones and break things", says Jabai, highlighting the difference between Palestinian activists and the frustrated youth who come to demonstrate anger. The first rocks are already being thrown at the Israeli watchtower.

And later:

A procession of hundreds of Palestinians bearing orange flags, drumming and whistling, is pouring down the Jerusalem road from Ramallah towards Qalandiya. They have been met by armoured Israeli vehicles blasting high-pitch sirens.

Jawaal, the Palestinian mobile network provider, has pitched a tent a few hundred metres up the road from Qalandiya giving away branded baseball caps and water to protesters.

Palestinians have commemorated Land Day every year since 1976, when, defying a curfew, residents of several Arab villages in Israel turned out in protest. In the ensuing clashes, about 100 were wounded and hundreds arrested, according to an opinion article in Haaretz by Palestinians Sam Bahour, a West Bank resident, and Fida Jiryis, who lives in an Arab village in the Galilee.

Thirty-six years later, the situation is as dire as ever. Racism and discrimination, in their rawest forms, are rampant in Israel, and are often more insidious than physical violence. Legislation aimed at ethnically cleansing Palestinians from Israel is part of public discourse. Israeli ministers do not shy away from promoting “population transfers” of Palestinian citizens − code for forced displacement.

…

The message is clear: Israel has failed, abysmally, in realizing its oft-cried role as “the only democracy in the Middle East,” with such discriminatory policies, and a culture of antagonism and neglect vis-a-vis a fifth of its citizens. The original Land Day marked a pivotal point in terms of how Palestinians in Israel − living victims of Israel’s violent establishment − viewed their relations with the state. Today, with no resolution in sight to the historic injustices inflicted upon them, Palestinians in Israel and elsewhere use this day to remember and redouble their efforts for emancipation.

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In this March 20 file satellite image taken and provided by GeoEye, a satellite launch pad in Tongchang-ri, Cholsan County, North Pyongan Province, North Korea, is shown. The Tongchang-ri site is about 35 miles from the Chinese border city of Dandong, across the Yalu River from North Korea. (GeoEye/AP)

Report: North Korea gassing up rocket, imperiling diplomacy

By Ariel Zirulnick, Staff writer / 03.29.12

• A daily summary of global reports on security issues.

 A Japanese newspaper report that North Korea has begun fueling a rocket for a launch next month boosts multiple reports that North Korea is moving ahead on plans to launch what it says is a weather satellite, despite protests from the international community.

Citing a report from Tokyo Shimbun, The Telegraph reports that the launch has been set for April 12 or 13 and that the government had started fueling the rocket. A US official told Reuters yesterday that the US had “detected activity that looked like launch preparations” near the country's border with China.

The West and some of North Korea’s neighbors have asked Pyongyang to abandon its plans for the launch, which they consider a violation of a United Nations ban on testing ballistic missiles. Earlier this week, the US announced it would halt food aid to the country.

The Telegraph reports that Pyongyang said the satellite, which will be launched via a missile, will estimate crop yields, collect weather data, and assess forest coverage and natural resources. The international community sees it as an attempt to test its long-range missile capability.

Pyongyang said earlier this week that Obama’s warning against the launch “reflects his wrong conception” of North Korea’s intentions, CNN reports.

The US believes that North Korea now has cyber-warfare capabilities as well. Army Gen. James Thurman, who commands US Forces Korea, told the House of Representatives Armed Services Committee earlier this week that Pyongyang now has a skilled team of hackers, in addition to chemical and biological weapons, Reuters reports.

"Such attacks are ideal for North Korea, providing the regime a means to attack [South Korean] and US interests without attribution, and have been increasingly employed against a variety of targets including military, governmental, educational, and commercial institutions," Thurman said.

Japan announced earlier this week that it was preparing interceptor missiles ahead of the launch and South Korea warned that it would shoot down any parts of a North Korean rocket that ended up over its territory, the Associated Press reports.

In an editorial, The Independent notes that progress on rapprochement between the West, North Korea, and its neighbors is evaporating, and relations look likely to deteriorate further.

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In this Tuesday, March 27, citizen journalism image, black smoke rises from buildings in Homs, Syria. Three Syrian soldiers died in clashes with rebels in the central province of Homs on Wednesday, an activist group said, just a day after President Bashar al-Assad said he has accepted a UN peace plan to resolve the country's crisis. (Local Coordination Committees in Syria/AP)

Syria violence raises concerns Assad is only buying time with UN cease-fire deal

By Ariel Zirulnick, Staff writer / 03.28.12

• A daily summary of global reports on security issues.

The day after Syrian President Bashar al-Assad agreed to a cease-fire plan proposed by UN envoy Kofi Annan, violence continued in key flashpoint cities, raising concerns that this could become yet another agreement that serves only to buy the regime time.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported military action in several cities, including Hama and Deraa, where the uprising began more than a year ago, Reuters reports. It also said there was shelling in the city of Homs, which Mr. Assad toured yesterday after his regime's brutal assault of the rebel stronghold last month.

In addition, three Syrian soldiers were killed in clashes with the opposition today in the province of Homs, according to the Associated Press, which cited the same human rights organization. The fighting broke out when the government troops tried to enter the opposition-controlled town of Rastan, it said.

Even before the violence, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton expressed skepticism that the Assad regime would abide by the cease-fire agreement. "Given al-Assad's history of overpromising and underdelivering, that commitment must now be matched by immediate actions," Mrs. Clinton said, according to CNN. "We will judge Assad's sincerity and seriousness by what he does, not what he says."

Mr. Annan acknowledged that while getting Assad’s agreement was an “important first step,” implementation would be “a long and difficult task,” according to Reuters.

His plan has six points: the withdrawal of heavy weapons and troops from populated areas, unimpeded access for humanitarian aid workers, the release of prisoners jailed during the uprising, freedom of movement and access for journalists, a political process between the government and opposition, and allowance of peaceful demonstrations.

Robert Grenier, former director of the CIA counterterrorism center, writes in a commentary for Al Jazeera that Annan’s plan merely helps Assad by buying him time to continue the crackdown.

... does anyone honestly think that the Syrian regime, committed as it is to a programme of violent intimidation and collective punishment, will provide "full humanitarian access", or a daily "humanitarian pause" for those whom it suspects of aiding its adversaries? What are the chances that the tender Mr Assad will release detainees who may promptly rejoin the struggle against him, or that he will permit foreign journalists to freely document his atrocities? Who would want to bet his life, or the lives of those dear to him, that Bashar and his generals will honour a ceasefire, or engage in good faith in a "political dialogue" with those who are challenging their power?

Pursuing such "solutions" is worse than feckless, for it forestalls other, potentially effective actions. By permitting the Syrian regime added time, it is morally equivalent to aiding and abetting Bashar al-Assad.

…

Such good as can be done in these circumstances will only be done by those who are willing to climb metaphorically into the ring, and to dirty themselves in the process of providing such assistance as is possible to the oppressed of Syria as they struggle to liberate themselves from an unspeakable regime. It will mean taking sides.

The Arab League, which is meeting in Baghdad this week, is expected to discuss a similar resolution urging the Syrian government to end its brutal crackdown, release prisoners, withdraw troops from cities, and allow humanitarian aid groups into the country. Syria’s membership was suspended earlier this year.

Some members of the League support arming the Syrian opposition, which is vastly outmatched by the government troops, but there is little consensus among the members about the best way to assist.

Iraq’s foreign minister said at today’s meeting that his country does not support foreign intervention there, AP reports. But some of the Gulf countries, particularly Saudi Arabia and Qatar, have pushed for more assertive action from Arab states. According to AP, they “privately” favor a small group of countries working together, independent of the League, perhaps arming the rebels and creating a safe haven along the Turkish border for both humanitarian needs and to serve as a staging group for anti-Assad forces.

They hope that bringing about Assad’s downfall will break Syria’s alliance with Iran, giving Sunni Arab states, particularly the Gulf states, a “significant victory in their long-running power struggle with non-Arab, mainly Shiite Iran,” AP reports.

The West has, from the start, rejected a Libya-style intervention in Syria, which is a far more central player in the region – not least of all because of its alliance with Iran and the Shiite militant organization Hezbollah, which could be used as a proxy for attacks against Israel.

But Richard Cohen, in a column for The Washington Post, argues that there is still a way to intervene in Syria without getting dragged into a regional quagmire. He also argues that it's the morally right thing to do, even though – as in the 1990s Balkan wars – the US has "no dog in the fight."

U.S. air power can make the difference in Syria. It can limit or eliminate the damage being done by Assad’s helicopters and tanks — although the regime’s reported practice of using human shields and placing children on tanks makes this a bit harder. Nonetheless, this is a regime that in a year has not been able to dispatch a divided and disparate opposition. It can be defeated, maybe easily.

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The argument against the United States taking action — arming the rebels, establishing a no-fly zone or even bombings — is that the slippery slope looms. But Bill Clinton did not slip on that slope in the Balkans — no boots on the ground there — nor did President Obama in Libya. These operations can be contained.

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Afghan policemen guard near the main gate of a joint civilian-military base where two British soldiers, part of the NATO forces, were killed in Lashkar Gah, Helmand province, south of Kabul, Afghanistan, Monday. Concerns about disloyal Afghan security forces are deepening after an Afghan soldier and local police officer Monday killed three members of the international coalition that is seeking to build up the Afghan security forces. (Abdul Khaleq/AP)

Reports: Afghan soldiers complicit in a suicide plot against their own government

By Ariel Zirulnick, Staff writer / 03.27.12

• A daily summary of global reports on security issues.

Concerns about disloyal Afghan security forces are deepening after an Afghan soldier and local police officer yesterday killed three members of the international coalition, known as ISAF, that is seeking to build up the Afghan security forces.

The head of ISAF sought to ease pessimism about the ability of Afghan forces to take over from coalition troops as they prepare to withdraw by 2014, saying that while such attacks are upsetting, they are typical in a conflict like this and do not indicate failure.

There are also signs, however, that Afghan soldiers are not only a threat to coalition troops, but also to their own government. The New York Times reports that nearly a dozen suicide vests were found at the Afghan Ministry of Defense yesterday, in what Afghan and Western officials believe was a plot to bomb buses carrying employees home.

The ministry flatly denied the reports of a foiled suicide plot, describing it as a false leak.

"This is completely inaccurate and we deny all the information and details regarding this suicide plot. None of the suicide vests were found, no one was arrested, and the ministry did not shut down," Dawlat Waziri, deputy for the spokesman of the Ministry of Defense, told the Monitor.

The Times notes concerns that the alleged plot may have been intended as the opening volley in a new season of Taliban attacks.

The security breach took place in one of the most fortified parts of Kabul, less than a mile from the presidential palace and the headquarters of the American-led coalition. It raised the prospect that the Taliban, which launched a series of high-profile attacks inside Kabul last year, plans to pick up where it left off as winter snows give way to spring, clearing the high mountain passes and opening the annual fighting season.

Compounding the fears of renewed violence in Kabul was the apparent complicity of Afghan soldiers in the plot. Afghan soldiers and police have been killing their colleagues from the American-led coalition at an alarming rate in recent months – only hidden bombs, the so-called improvised explosive devices, have killed more coalition service members this year.

The Wall Street Journal reports that 16 coalition members have been killed so far this year in such incidents, and 80 total since 2007.

Nine of those deaths came after last month’s burning of Qurans – said to include notes between prisoners – on an American base. After the incident, the Taliban urged Afghan forces to focus their anger on their coalition counterparts. Coalition commander Gen. John Allen acknowledged that the Quran burning was a factor in a recent slew of such attacks, the WSJ reports.

General Allen said yesterday that while such incidents are tragic, they are to be expected and do not mean the whole operation is flawed, The Telegraph reports.

"I'm not saying things are perfect, and much work remains to be done. But for every bribe accepted, and for every insider threat or what is known as a green-on-blue incident – and I think you're aware that, tragically, we had one overnight, as two young British soldiers were killed in the Helmand province – for every one Afghan soldier that doesn't return from leave, I can cite hundreds of other examples where they do perform their duties, where the partnership is strong," General Allen said.

…

"We should expect that this will occur in counter-insurgency operations, and as we saw it in Iraq and as we've seen it historically in counter-insurgencies, but also in Vietnam. It is a characteristic of this kind of warfare," General Allen said.

Western military officials had heralded the Afghan local police as a success story, and a group that had not participated in the so-called “green on blue” attacks. The police force, recruited locally and trained by US Special Operations forces, is seen as the “cornerstone” of the US exit strategy, according to the WSJ. The Afghan who attacked an American unit in Paktika province yesterday is believed to be a member of the local police force. 

Bloomberg Businessweek reports that the governor of Kandahar, the province where a US soldier allegedly killed 17 Afghan civilians earlier this month, said that despite coalition efforts to soothe tensions, public anger is still high. There may yet be a backlash, although reaction has so far been muted.

Zubair Babakarkhail in Kabul, Afghanistan, contributed to this report.

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A Syrian refugee boy gives a victory sign at Reyhanli refugee camp in Hatay province on the Turkish-Syrian border March 25. (Osman Orsal/REUTERS)

Turkey closes its Syria embassy, boosts aid to opposition

By Tom A. Peter, Correspondent / 03.26.12

Turkey closed its embassy in Syria today, and announced it was suspending all activities in the capital, Damascus, due to deteriorating security conditions there.

Turkey is not the first to shutter its embassy; the United States and several European and Arab nations have shut down operations as well. But the closure by Turkey – a key regional player and, until last year, a close ally of Syria – is likely to put increased pressure on the Syrian government. It could also boost opposition groups.

While the capital has remained relatively calm during much of Syria’s uprising over the past year, in the last week it has seen several car bombings and major gun battles.

“Activities at the Turkish embassy have been suspended from this morning,” said one Turkish official speaking anonymously to Al Jazeera.

Turkey remains closely involved with events in Syria, however. Aside from sharing a border, the nation is now home to at least 16,000 Syrian refugees who fled the fighting. Additionally, many of the Syrian opposition groups are based in Turkey. One major meeting of opposition groups will take place in Istanbul today, reports Al Jazeera.

The Turkish government has strongly condemned the Syrian regime’s crackdown on protesters, which has left more then 8,500 people dead, according to United Nations estimates. Aside form hosting opposition groups, the Turkish government has also called on Syrian President Bashar al-Assad to step down and targeted the regime with a number of sanctions, reports Al Arabiya.

“The closure of our embassy is obviously a strong political message [to the Damascus regime],” a source close to the Turkish government told Britain’s Telegraph.

News of the closure comes as the US and Turkey announced that they will increase the amount of “non-lethal” aid they give to opposition groups inside Syria. The aid will include items such as communications equipment and medical supplies, reports The New York Times. American officials have already confirmed that they have begun supplying members of the rebel Free Syria Army with communications equipment and other aid. The new agreement will formalize assistance and lay the groundwork for increased support. Officials have said that no weapons will be sent at this time.

So far, the Syrian opposition has struggled to unify and form cohesive goals. The meeting taking place in Istanbul today will serve preparations for a larger gathering scheduled to take place on April 1. The goal of today's meeting is “for all forces and parties of the opposition not to be a union, but at least to have a united purpose,” Amar Qurabi, leader of the National Change Current opposition group told CNN.

The main opposition group, the Syrian National Council, has said it wants to gather all the anti-Assad groups together in Istanbul to form a unified plan for how to remove Assad from power. In-fighting among the opposition has weakened those groups who oppose the regime, reports the BBC. Several opposition groups have recently split from the SNC over disagreements. Though the US and the EU support the SNC, the group’s failure to maintain a cohesive front is one of the main reasons foreign countries are hesitant to start providing arms to the opposition.

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Syria's President Bashar al-Assad and his wife Asma vote during a referendum on a new constitution at a polling station in a Syrian TV station building in Damascus, last month. The European Union announced Friday that it would impose sanctions on four members of Assad's family, including his fashionable British wife Asma. (SANA/Reuters)

EU expands Syrian sanctions to include Assad's fashionable British wife

By Tom A. Peter, Correspondent / 03.23.12

In an effort to increase pressure on the Syrian regime, the European Union announced today that it would impose sanctions on four members of President Bashar al-Assad’s family, including his British wife Asma. Others targeted are said to include the president’s mother and sister-in-law.

The EU will officially announce everyone targeted by the sanctions on Saturday, when they come into effect. This marks the 12th round of EU sanctions against the Syrian regime, and will freeze any assets currently being held in banks of the 27 EU nations and impose a travel ban in the EU. Previous sanctions have targeted about 150 firms and individuals, reports Al Arabiya. Mr. Assad has been targeted by sanctions since May last year.

Today's expansion of the sanctions is designed to further isolate those in the Syrian regime responsible for the bloody crackdown that the UN estimates has cost the lives of at least 8,000 people. In addition to targeting family members, this latest round of sanctions is expected to also go after eight Syrian ministers and two oil groups.

Mrs. Assad, a former investment banker and a British citizen, drew harsh criticisms recently when the Guardian revealed that while her husband was involved in a brutal crackdown against Syrian dissidents, she was going on lavish shopping sprees. Her purchases includes thousands of dollars of jewels, shoes, furniture from Harrods – and even Harry Potter books for her children.

“[The] behavior [of the Assad regime] continues to be murdering and totally unacceptable in the eyes of the world,” said William Hague, Britain's foreign secretary, in an article by the Financial Times.

But despite the travel ban, British officials report that they will not be able go prevent Mrs. Assad from entering the United Kingdom.

“British citizens subject to EU travel bans cannot be refused entry to the UK," said a UK Border Agency spokesperson in an article by Al Jazeera.

Since the uprising began one year ago, Mrs. Assad – the subject of a Vogue profile last year – has seen a marked fall in popularity. The BBC reports that many observers thought her Western background and upbringing would lead to reforms in Syria. During the course of the Syrian revolt, she has stood by her husband, even writing a letter to the UK’s Times saying that she still felt her husband was the right man to lead Syria.

Meanwhile, it remains unclear how much help such sanctions will provide for Syrian opposition forces. Despite increased international pressure on Assad’s regime, the rebels say they have yet to see the promises of foreign support materialize. Additionally, with neighboring countries increasing the border restrictions, rebels report that they are having a difficult time resupplying.

“Day after day, the Free Syrian Army keeps fighting and fighting, but day after day, we are running out of ammunition, and, eventually, we just have to leave our area,” said Abu Yazen, a soldier who defected from the Syrian Army to join the rebel forces this summer in an article by the Washington Post. He fled to Turkey this month with five other fighters when they ran out of ammunition fighting in the northern region of Syria along the Turkish border.

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Joint special envoy on Syria for the United Nations and the Arab League Kofi Annan, gives a statement after his address to the Security Council in New York by videolink at the United Nations headquarters in Geneva, Friday. (Denis Balibouse/Reuters)

UN Security Council poised to threaten Syria's Assad - with Russia's blessing

By Ariel Zirulnick, Staff writer / 03.21.12

• A daily summary of global reports on security issues.

After months of inaction on Syria because of the opposition of veto-wielding members Russia and China, the United Nations Security Council is poised to approve a draft statement backing a new peacemaking effort to end the violence.

The draft expresses “full support” for special envoy Kofi Annan’s peacemaking efforts and warns Damascus of “further steps” by the UN if it doesn’t meet UN demands “in a timely manner,” Reuters reports. Mr. Annan, former secretary-general of the United Nations, is acting as envoy for both the UN and the Arab League.

The Security Council members spent Tuesday negotiating the text of the draft, easing the demands on the Syrian government to secure Russia’s approval. A previous version that threatened further UN action if Damascus did not comply within seven days was rejected by Russia as an ultimatum, according to Reuters.

If no one on the council raises further objections before 9 a.m. EST today, the draft will be automatically adopted, Voice of America reports. China has indicated its support, reports Xinhua. The draft includes a call for a cease-fire, dialogue between the government and opposition, and total access for humanitarian work.

Russia has steadfastly stood between the UN and Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's regime since the uprising began a year ago, vetoing along with China two previous resolutions. If Moscow goes along with this draft statement, it will be a “diplomatic blow” to Russia's ally Assad, according to Reuters.

Yesterday Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said in a pre-recorded interview for Russian radio station Kommersant FM that the Assad regime has made many mistakes. "We believe that the Syrian leadership responded incorrectly to the very first manifestations of the peaceful protests. The Syrian leadership – despite the numerous promises it has made in response to our calls – is making a lot of mistakes. Unfortunately this is why the conflict is so acute," Mr. Lavrov said, according to RTT, which characterized his remarks as representing a "distinct shift" in Russia's position.

Meanwhile, the Syrian opposition has faced several setbacks in the last month, with government troops wresting control of the cities of Homs and Idlib, two rebel strongholds. Yesterday, the Free Syrian Army, an armed wing of the opposition, had to flee the city of Deir al-Zour amid a government assault, Bloomberg reports.

The Associated Press reports that the opposition is critically low on weapons and is struggling to pose a challenge to the regime’s professional army. Illicit arms supply lines are drying up because of both rising gun prices and increased security at borders and the weapons they do have – mostly light ones, such as Kalashnikov assault rifles and rocket-propelled grenades – are no match for the regime’s tanks and more substantial weapons.

The opposition says it will be unable to stop Assad’s forces from crushing the uprising unless it gets more outside military aid; Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and Libya all express support for the move, but no country has publicly said it is supplying them with arms. The US and much of Europe have rejected the idea of sending weapons, fearing it will “fuel a civil war,” according to AP. In the meantime, rebels are getting much of their supplies by looting government troops’ weapon caches.

In a letter made public yesterday, Human Rights Watch accused the opposition of committing “serious human rights abuses,” citing evidence of kidnappings, torture, and executions, CNN reports.

"The Syrian government's brutal tactics cannot justify abuses by armed opposition groups," said Sarah Leah Whitson, Middle East director at Human Rights Watch. "Opposition leaders should make it clear to their followers that they must not torture, kidnap or execute under any circumstances."

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Free Syrian Army Lt. Riad Ahmed said a "few incidents are a drop in a bucket in comparison to what the regime is committing."

Speaking in Indonesia, UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said that world leaders could not guess at what would happen in Syria, but that the events have “potentially massive repercussions for the region and the world,” The New York Times reports.

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People inspect the scene of a car bomb attack in Kirkuk, 180 miles north of Baghdad, Iraq, Tuesday. Officials say attacks across Iraq have killed and wounded scores of people in a spate of violence that was dreaded in the days before Baghdad hosts the Arab world's top leaders. (Emad Matti/AP)

Spate of bombings in Iraq undermines stability ahead of Arab summit

By Ariel Zirulnick, Staff writer / 03.20.12

• A daily summary of global reports on security issues.

Bomb blasts rocked cities across Iraq today, a week before it hosts the annual Arab League summit for the first time in more than 20 years. Its role as host is intended to showcase Iraq’s stability after the US withdrawal late last year and its return to a leadership role in the Arab world at a critical time, as leaders weigh the next steps in the Syria conflict.

Among the cities targeted by today's bombings were Baghdad, the northern oil-rich city of Kirkuk, the Shiite holy city of Karbala, the former Sunni insurgent hotbed of Fallujah, and Saddam Hussein’s hometown of Tikrit. The bombings killed at least 36 people, according to the lowest estimates. More than 200 were wounded.

The Associated Press reports that Iraqi officials have been “bracing” for violence as the Arab League summit approaches. The government announced last week that it would deploy an “unprecedented” number of security forces in Baghdad during the meeting: 26,000 police and soldiers.

The Arab League summit has not been held in Iraq since 1990, according to Reuters. Last year’s summit was slated for Baghdad, but was relocated because of security concerns, AP reports.

The Washington Post reports that Shiite Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki and his government have worked hard to encourage Arab leaders to come for the meeting, “seeing it as a symbolic of Iraq’s return to sovereignty and normalcy in the wake of the American withdrawal” in December.

The Shiite-led government hopes to put on display a much more stable and secure country than was seen at the height of sectarian fighting a few years ago, but insurgents seek to undermine that portrayal. AP reports that two of today’s attacks were right outside Baghdad’s Green Zone, where the summit will be held, and most of the 16 attacks nationwide targeted police checkpoints and patrols, according to Reuters.

The New York Times reports that amid the heightened security, violence has at least fallen in Baghdad in recent weeks and that “if there is any silver lining for Iraqi officials, it was that the worst of the day’s attacks were outside Baghdad.” Hundreds of foreign officials will be arriving in the capital next week.

No insurgent group has claimed responsibility for the attacks, but both the Washington Post and Wall Street Journal report that they bear the “hallmarks” of the Islamic State of Iraq, an Al Qaeda affiliate. According to the Wall Street Journal, the group claimed responsibility for a similar series of bombings in February that killed 70 people and wounded 374 – after which it promised future attacks against security forces, Shiites, and the “illegitimate” government.

The spate of attacks since the US troop withdrawal in December has Iraqi and US officials concerned. One US official told The Washington Post, “I would classify what we are seeing as a resurgent Al Qaeda,” calling the group “tremendously resilient.” The unnamed official made the comments earlier this month.

Under US tutelage, Iraqi security forces’ capabilities have improved significantly, but they still lack critical intelligence-gathering capabilities and forensic expertise necessary to prevent and investigate attacks, according to the Post.

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