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SYRIAN TROOPS RETAKE CHRISTIAN TOWN
Tehran Times
October 28, 2013 Monday
Syrian government forces retook a Christian town north of Damascus on
Monday after a week of fierce clashes with al-Qaeda-linked fighters who
had recently captured key parts of it, state media said. The state-run
SANA news agency said the army "restored security and stability"
to the town of Sadad, 120 kilometers (75 mile) north of Damascus,
early on Monday. It said "a large number of terrorists" were killed
and their weapons seized, adding that the army dismantled scores of
roadside bombs planted by gunmen around the Christian town.
Sadad had been in opposition hands since last week, when
al-Qaeda-linked groups captured a checkpoint that gave them control
of the western part of the town.
The rebels appear to have targeted Sadad because of its strategic
location near the main highway north of Damascus, rather than because
it is Christian. But hard-liners among the rebels are hostile to
Syria's Christian minority, which fears the radicals and tends
to favor Assad. Other al-Qaeda-linked fighters have damaged and
desecrated churches in areas they have seized. SANA said the army was
still pursuing opposition fighters who fled Sadad for surrounding
farms. It also reported that the rebels had vandalized the town's
Saint Theodor Church and much of its infrastructure. Meanwhile,
the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said that
jihadis in Syria torched an Armenian church in the northern town of
Tel Abyad along the border with Turkey late on Sunday. The fighting
came as the UN-Arab League envoy arrived in Syria on his first trip to
the country in almost a year. Lakhdar Brahimi is trying to prepare a
peace conference on Syria supposed to take place in Geneva next month
but the gathering has been increasingly in doubt as Syria's warring
factions refuse to face each other at the negotiating table. The
United States and Russia have been trying for months to convene the
conference to negotiate a political solution to Syria's civil war,
which has killed more than 100,000 people and forced some 2 million
to flee the country since the conflict erupted in March 2011. After
his last trip to Syria in December 2012, Brahimi had angered Syrian
authorities when he said that 40 years of President Bashar Assad
Enhanced Coverage LinkingBashar Assad -Search using:Biographies Plus
NewsNews, Most Recent 60 Daysfamily rule in Syria was "too long."
Syrian officials then accused him of being biased. This time, Brahimi
visited several countries in the region, including Iran, where he said
Saturday that the participation of Iran - a key backer of Assad - at a
Syria peace conference was "necessary." On Monday, Brahimi travelled
from Tehran by private jet to Beirut, then continued by road to
Damascus. In the Lebanese capital, he would not speak to reporters. "I
will speak when I return," he said. Arab League's chief Nabil Elaraby
recently said the Geneva conference would be held on Nov. 23. Brahimi,
however, has stressed that no date has been set but that the United
Nations hopes to organize the gathering in late November. Russia on
Monday issued a stinging rebuke to the rebels' recent threats against
those who are planning to attend the proposed Geneva conference. "It
is outrageous that some of these extremist, terrorist organizations
fighting government forces in Syria are starting to make threats,"
Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said in televised comments. "The
threats are directed at those who have the courage to attend the
proposed Geneva conference being offered by Russia and the United
States with the entire world's support," Lavrov said.
Tehran Times
October 28, 2013 Monday
Syrian government forces retook a Christian town north of Damascus on
Monday after a week of fierce clashes with al-Qaeda-linked fighters who
had recently captured key parts of it, state media said. The state-run
SANA news agency said the army "restored security and stability"
to the town of Sadad, 120 kilometers (75 mile) north of Damascus,
early on Monday. It said "a large number of terrorists" were killed
and their weapons seized, adding that the army dismantled scores of
roadside bombs planted by gunmen around the Christian town.
Sadad had been in opposition hands since last week, when
al-Qaeda-linked groups captured a checkpoint that gave them control
of the western part of the town.
The rebels appear to have targeted Sadad because of its strategic
location near the main highway north of Damascus, rather than because
it is Christian. But hard-liners among the rebels are hostile to
Syria's Christian minority, which fears the radicals and tends
to favor Assad. Other al-Qaeda-linked fighters have damaged and
desecrated churches in areas they have seized. SANA said the army was
still pursuing opposition fighters who fled Sadad for surrounding
farms. It also reported that the rebels had vandalized the town's
Saint Theodor Church and much of its infrastructure. Meanwhile,
the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said that
jihadis in Syria torched an Armenian church in the northern town of
Tel Abyad along the border with Turkey late on Sunday. The fighting
came as the UN-Arab League envoy arrived in Syria on his first trip to
the country in almost a year. Lakhdar Brahimi is trying to prepare a
peace conference on Syria supposed to take place in Geneva next month
but the gathering has been increasingly in doubt as Syria's warring
factions refuse to face each other at the negotiating table. The
United States and Russia have been trying for months to convene the
conference to negotiate a political solution to Syria's civil war,
which has killed more than 100,000 people and forced some 2 million
to flee the country since the conflict erupted in March 2011. After
his last trip to Syria in December 2012, Brahimi had angered Syrian
authorities when he said that 40 years of President Bashar Assad
Enhanced Coverage LinkingBashar Assad -Search using:Biographies Plus
NewsNews, Most Recent 60 Daysfamily rule in Syria was "too long."
Syrian officials then accused him of being biased. This time, Brahimi
visited several countries in the region, including Iran, where he said
Saturday that the participation of Iran - a key backer of Assad - at a
Syria peace conference was "necessary." On Monday, Brahimi travelled
from Tehran by private jet to Beirut, then continued by road to
Damascus. In the Lebanese capital, he would not speak to reporters. "I
will speak when I return," he said. Arab League's chief Nabil Elaraby
recently said the Geneva conference would be held on Nov. 23. Brahimi,
however, has stressed that no date has been set but that the United
Nations hopes to organize the gathering in late November. Russia on
Monday issued a stinging rebuke to the rebels' recent threats against
those who are planning to attend the proposed Geneva conference. "It
is outrageous that some of these extremist, terrorist organizations
fighting government forces in Syria are starting to make threats,"
Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said in televised comments. "The
threats are directed at those who have the courage to attend the
proposed Geneva conference being offered by Russia and the United
States with the entire world's support," Lavrov said.