Syria rebels gain foothold in Damascus

BBC ^ | 01/28/12 | Jeremy Bowen

[TigerLikesRooster]

Syria rebels gain foothold in Damascus

By Jeremy Bowen BBC Middle East editor, Damascus

When the BBC team approached a checkpoint set up by the rebel Free Syria Army in the suburbs of Damascus, masked men with Kalashnikov assault rifles and hand grenades moved towards us - a few of them offering dates and biscuits.

It is customary to give mourners something sweet, and a funeral was about to start that they said they were protecting.

I had no idea before I saw them with my own eyes that the Free Syria Army was so active in and around Damascus.

The first time, in a small town called Zabadani, about half an hour from Damascus, it took a while for my brain to catch up with what I was seeing.

We went in there with an official from the ministry of information, who got us through the army cordon that surrounded the town.

[TigerLikesRooster]

P!

[Jet Jaguar]

Bump

[nuconvert]

Thanks for the ping

[elhombrelibre]

This is amazing. I've read that the Free Syrian Army is in favor of a democratic country. Let's hope so. The squeeze is finally starting to pay off and may bring Assad down, which could do real harm to the terrorist infrastructure supported by Iran. Also, I saw a report of one group of the FSA that is holding seven Iranian thugs they've captured, including a sniper sent there to shoot protesters. It's in the Washington Post below.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/surge-in-violence-killings-across-syria-un-security-council-set-to-meet/2012/01/27/gIQAKiVJVQ_story.html

[TigerLikesRooster]

http://www.dp-news.com/en/detail.aspx?articleid=109872

Iranians abducted were moved out from Syria to Lebanon

(DP-News - agencies)

SYRIA\IRAN- IRNA reported on Thursday that 11 Iranian citizens were kidnapped while on a pilgrimage in Syria.

11 Iranian pilgrims were kidnapped by armed gangs in Syria while en route from the capital Damascus to the Northwestern city of Aleppo. The incident occurred on Thursday when the bus carrying Iranian pilgrims was stormed by unidentified gunmen.

The gunmen have contacted the relatives of one abducted passenger in Tehran, confirming the abduction of the Iranian nationals and demanding an unspecified ransom.

Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Ramin Mehmanparast has called on the Syrian government to make sure that the Iranian pilgrims who have recently been abducted in Syria are in good health and make every effort to obtain the immediate release of them.

According to the Associated Press, a bus with 49 Iranians was stopped after leaving the town of Halab on Thursday and the gunmen abducted 11 young men from the group but let go the other passengers, who included women, elderly men and three children.

While the whereabouts of some 11 Iranian nationals abducted in Syria on January 26 still remains unknown, a new video released on the internet shows five of the seven Iranian engineers and technicians kidnapped last month in the troubled city of Homs are still alive. The video attempts to show the men making confessions claiming that they were members of Iran's revolutionary guard’s corp. the IRGC and that they were involved in military operations in Syria.

The latest video claims that the five hostages in the picture were IRGC members by simply referring to one of their ID cards. The spokesman for the abductors has recently claimed that the Iranian abductees are linked to Iranian armed forces, saying that two of them will be released in the near future.

According to Iran's embassy in Damascus the al-Farouq has announced that it would soon release two of the seven hostages. This is while Iran's foreign ministry has condemned the kidnappings and has called for the safe and secure release of all the hostages including the seven engineers and the 11 pilgrims kidnapped last Thursday.

The press attaché at the Iranian Embassy in Damascus has expressed satisfaction with abductors’ decision to release two Iranian engineers.

The press attaché also denied the claim that the abducted engineers and technicians are affiliated with Iranian armed forces.

In December 2011, unidentified gunmen also abducted seven Iranian engineers and technicians in the restive Syrian city of Homs.

In January, a previously unheard of group, called “movement against the Shiite tide in Syria,” claimed responsibility for the abduction of Iranian engineers and technicians and warned Iran of the consequences of supporting the Syrian government.

[elhombrelibre]

I can see where the loons who run Iran would be able to take the high ground about hostage taking.

[bert]

-——11 Iranian citizens were kidnapped while on a pilgrimage——

The same ruse of soldier/pilgrims was used earlier by Iran to attempt capture of the Holy Shrines in Mecca. The armed Iranian were dispatched by the Saudi National guard.

The event was in 1987 and is the reason Saudi Arabia is as likely to be involved in covert events in Iran as Israel

Damascus is on the road from Iran to Saudi Arabia

[TigerLikesRooster]

Damascus is on the road from Iran to Saudi Arabia.

Increasingly, it becomes that Damascus is on the road from Saudi Arabia to Iran.

[bert]

yes...... :)

[AdmSmith]

Updates are posted here http://www.enduringamerica.com/home/2012/1/26/syria-video-special-free-syrian-army-captures-iranian-soldie.html

[SunkenCiv]

Of course, these rebels have raped journalists covering the uprising, so Zero’s continued lack of any real support for their movement is justified.

Wait, that was Egypt.

Wait, that was Zero.

Thanks TigerLikesRooster.