This Google analytics chart shows a sharp drop in Syria’s Internet traffic to nearly zero on November 29 2011.

Syrian minister blames “terrorists” for Internet blackout
29 November, 2012 – Al Akhbar

Syria’s Information Minister Omran al-Zoabi claims “terrorists” attacked Syria’s Internet network causing the nation-wide web blackout Thursday. The statement was made to Syria’s Al-Ikhbariyya al-Souriyya TV channel.

A Syrian State TV report said the Internet blackout was brought on by a fault in the technical cable, according to Reuters, contradicting Zoabi’s claims of a militant attack.

State-owned Syrian Telecommunications Establishment controls all of the country’s Internet networks, making Zoabi’s allegations less than credible among Internet activists on social networks.

Seventy-seven Internet networks went offline throughout Syria all day Thursday and phone lines appear to be severely disrupted prompting speculation about significantly escalated fighting in the crisis-ridden country.

Two Austrian peacekeepers were wounded near Damascus airport as their convoy came under fire this evening, according to Reuters, while some media report that rebels started shelling the capital’s airport on Thursday. Previously, several reports said Damascus-bound flights were being rerouted, sparking speculation that the airport was closed.

Internet Intelligence Authority Renesys reported that affected Internet networks, which represent 92 percent of the country’s routed networks, have sporadically experienced outages since this morning at 10:26:30 GMT.

Various Twitter sources said phone lines were also faltering. Al-Akhbar was able to get through to contacts in Damascus, but not in the Tartous area. Attempted communications also show that phone lines in the outskirts of Damascus appear to be down. …source

Tunisia sends in army to quell protests
29 November, 2012 – Al Akhbar

Army forces were dispatched to rein in protests in the impoverished Tunisian town of Siliana as clashes between security forces and demonstrators continued for a third day, leaving hundreds wounded.

According to an Al-Akhbar correspondent in Tunisia, health officials confirmed that more than 200 people have been wounded so far as demonstrations over lack of jobs turned violent.

Stone-throwing protesters clashed with police using shotguns and tear gas on Tuesday and Wednesday in the central Tunisian town. The army was sent in to replace police forces.

Marches in solidarity with the Siliana protesters have sprouted across the country, including the capital, Tunis, to denounce police violence, Al-Akhbar’s correspondent said.

News channel France 24 reported that its Tunisia correspondent David Thomson and his driver Hamdi Tlili were fired on by riot police in Siliana during clashes Wednesday.

In an interview with Radio Express, Thomson confirmed that he was shot in the back by police officers with birdshots, a type of multiple-projectile ammunition typically used for hunting. …more

Exclusive: Inside Future Movement’s Syria Arms Trade
By: Radwan Mortada – 29 November, 2012 – Al Akhbar

Al-Akhbar has obtained recordings of Future Movement MP Okab Sakr organizing weapons transfers to the armed Syrian opposition at the behest of Future leader Saad Hariri.

The phone call is the first hard evidence of the role Sakr and his backers in Future were playing in providing arms and logistical support to the Syrian rebels.

In a three-part series built on documents, audio recordings, and interviews with sources close to Sakr, Al-Akhbar will shed light on Sakr’s attempts to hijack the Syrian uprising for his own means while running the armed opposition into the ground.

A few weeks ago, Al-Akhbar’s offices in Beirut received an anonymous phone call. The caller claimed he was in possession of “audio recordings which will expose MP Okab Sakr and his role is destroying the [Syrian] revolution.”

The news did not come as a surprise. Sakr’s connection to the Syrian opposition was well-known, and his role as an arms dealer to the rebels had been documented in the press.

Neither was it the first time that information about the existence of audio recordings of Sakr’s conversations had circulated.

Al-Akhbar initially doubted the caller and his motivations, but he promptly sent the first recording. It sounded a lot like Sakr’s voice, which was later confirmed by audio experts.

A few days later, the anonymous caller made another phone call to Al-Akhbar and gave his email address. Further communications were carried out over email and phone to identify the extent of the recorded material and its importance.

The source did not reveal the number of recordings in his possession, saying only that there were dozens. For further confirmation, he sent an excerpt from a second recording.

It was Sakr’s voice again and the voice experts were also inclined to believe so. Yet the recordings raised more questions about the identity of the source, including how the recordings came into his possession and what he hoped to gain by leaking them to the press.

It was soon revealed that the source had been working with Sakr for more than a year as part of an operations room established to support the Syrian uprising.

As for his motivation to provide the recordings, the source said that “Sakr ruined the revolution with his crazy dealings.”
According to the source, there are several operations centers: one in Antakya, one in Adana, and one in Istanbul. He mentioned that Sakr had his own building in the Floriya neighborhood in Istanbul where meetings are held from time to time.

He also said that around 20 young men from various Syrian regions are charged with running military operations from the rooms. They coordinate with commanders of armed opposition groups to provide needed funding and hardware, and then they direct fighters toward areas under attack or siege, all under the supervision of Turkish and Qatari intelligence officers. …more

U.S. Weighs Bolder Effort to Intervene in Syria’s Conflict
By DAVID E. SANGER and ERIC SCHMITT – 28 November, 2012 – NYT

WASHINGTON — The Obama administration, hoping that the conflict in Syria has reached a turning point, is considering deeper intervention to help push President Bashar al-Assad from power, according to government officials involved in the discussions.

While no decisions have been made, the administration is considering several alternatives, including directly providing arms to some opposition fighters.

The most urgent decision, likely to come next week, is whether NATO should deploy surface-to-air missiles in Turkey, ostensibly to protect that country from Syrian missiles that could carry chemical weapons. The State Department spokeswoman, Victoria Nuland, said Wednesday that the Patriot missile system would not be “for use beyond the Turkish border.”

But some strategists and administration officials believe that Syrian Air Force pilots might fear how else the missile batteries could be used. If so, they could be intimidated from bombing the northern Syrian border towns where the rebels control considerable territory. A NATO survey team is in Turkey, examining possible sites for the batteries.

Other, more distant options include directly providing arms to opposition fighters rather than only continuing to use other countries, especially Qatar, to do so. A riskier course would be to insert C.I.A. officers or allied intelligence services on the ground in Syria, to work more closely with opposition fighters in areas that they now largely control.

Administration officials discussed all of these steps before the presidential election. But the combination of President Obama’s re-election, which has made the White House more willing to take risks, and a series of recent tactical successes by rebel forces, one senior administration official said, “has given this debate a new urgency, and a new focus.”

The outcome of the broader debate about how heavily America should intervene in another Middle Eastern conflict remains uncertain. Mr. Obama’s record in intervening in the Arab Spring has been cautious: While he joined in what began as a humanitarian effort in Libya, he refused to put American military forces on the ground and, with the exception of a C.I.A. and diplomatic presence, ended the American role as soon as Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi was toppled.

In the case of Syria, a far more complex conflict than Libya’s, some officials continue to worry that the risks of intervention — both in American lives and in setting off a broader conflict, potentially involving Turkey — are too great to justify action. Others argue that more aggressive steps are justified in Syria by the loss in life there, the risks that its chemical weapons could get loose, and the opportunity to deal a blow to Iran’s only ally in the region. The debate now coursing through the White House, the Pentagon, the State Department and the C.I.A. resembles a similar one among America’s main allies.

“Look, let’s be frank, what we’ve done over the last 18 months hasn’t been enough,” Britain’s prime minister, David Cameron, said three weeks ago after visiting a Syrian refugee camp in Jordan. “The slaughter continues, the bloodshed is appalling, the bad effects it’s having on the region, the radicalization, but also the humanitarian crisis that is engulfing Syria. So let’s work together on really pushing what more we can do.” Mr. Cameron has discussed those options directly with Mr. Obama, White House officials say. …more

Foreign Officer Minister meets Bahraini opposition
29 November, 2012

Foreign Office Minister Alistair Burt: “The UK will continue to engage with all sides and help wherever we can to bring about the peace and stability Bahrain deserve.”

Speaking today, Foreign Office Minister Alistair Burt said: “I was pleased to speak with members from Al Wefaq and the National Unity Assembly this week.

“We discussed the current situation in Bahrain one year on from the Independent Commission of Inquiry’s report and our shared concern at the recent bombings. I reiterated the UK’s support for the Declaration of Non-Violence that was launched earlier this month by Al Wefaq and five other political societies. It is an important confidence-building measure and I encourage other leaders in Bahrain to declare publicly their support for this initiative. Violent protests are unacceptable and we condemn them unequivocally.

“We also discussed recent actions taken by the authorities, such as the ban on protests and the withdrawal of citizenship from 31 individuals. I made clear that the UK is concerned about such steps which undermine potential reconciliation and that the UK is urging the Government of Bahrain to do more to create the right environment for meaningful political dialogue. I therefore welcome the Government’s acceptance of a needs assessment team from the office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights next week to discuss this alongside follow-up to the recent Universal Periodic Review of Bahrain by the Human Rights Council in Geneva.

“The UK will continue to engage with all sides and help wherever we can to bring about the peace and stability Bahrain deserve.”
…source

Bahrain Prisoners of Conscience Coalition under threats and intimidation
EA World View – 29 November, 2012

Bahrain. On Tuesday, political prisoners in Bahrain released a statement announcing the formation of a the Prisoners of Conscience Coalition, a new movement to demand rights from behind bars. The statement was shared online by leading activist Zainab AlKhawaja.

Alkhawaja alleges today that, shortly after the statement’s release, authorities reacted with hostility towards the prisoners:

angry arabiya @angryarabiya Less than 15 mins after the statement was released police attacked bldg 3, ransacking cells beating some prisoners #bahrain #HeroesinChains 29 Nov 12 [twitter]

angry arabiya @angryarabiya The prisoners stood strong, hand in hand, chanting, their voices could be heard outside the prison walls #bahrain #HeroesinChains 29 Nov 12 [twitter]

According to Zainab, this morning “an officer from public prosecution met with the prisoners”, asking for their demands. However, when the officer left, Zainab claims that “riot police surrounded the building, preparing to attack”. Some prisoners in building 3, where inmates were reportedly threatened two days ago, have allegedly been taken to solitary confinement. Families of prisoners in the building have also not had any contact with them. …source

Amal Society Members’ Sentences Reduced, One Acquitted
29 November, 2012 – POMED

Several members of Amal Society, a party that was dissolved by the Bahraini government in June 2012, had their sentences reduced in a trial held on November 28. Ali Al Mahfoud, Jassim Al Dimistani, Sayed Mahdi Hadi, and Talal Al Jamri had their sentences decreased from ten to five years. Yasser Ebrahim, Idris Al Ekri, Ali Mashallah, Jaffer Hassan, and Mohammed Abdullah, who were initially sentenced to five years, were released for time served after having their terms reduced to a range of one to twelve months. …source

Syrian rebels using children in war: HRW
29 November, 2012 – Reuters – The Daily Star

BEIRUT: Syrian rebels fighting to overthrow President Bashar al-Assad have sent children into combat and used boys as young as 14 to transport weapons and supplies, Human Rights Watch said on Thursday.

The New York-based group said it had interviewed five boys aged between 14 and 16 who said they worked with rebels in the southern province of Deraa, the central Homs region and on the northern border with Turkey.

Three of them, all aged 16, said they carried weapons and one said he participated in attack missions. Two others, aged 14 and 15, said they supported fighter brigades by conducting reconnaissance or transporting weapons and supplies.

The International Criminal Court says that conscripting or enlisting children under the age of 15 or using them to participate in hostilities is a war crime. The United Nations convention on child rights urges states to ensure that people under 18 are not recruited or used in hostilities.

“All eyes are on the Syrian opposition to prove they’re trying to protect children from bullets and bombs, rather than placing them in danger,” said Priyanka Motaparthy, children’s rights researcher at Human Rights Watch.

She urged rebel commanders “to make a strong, public commitment against use of children in their forces, and to verify boys’ ages before allowing them to enlist.”

A 16-year-old boy from the Khalidiyeh district of Homs city told HRW he participated in combat missions.

“I used to carry a Kalashnikov… I used to shoot checkpoints … to capture (them) and take the weapons,” he said, adding that his 2,000-strong battalion gave him combat training.

“They taught us how to shoot, how to dismantle and put together a weapon,” he told Human Rights Watch. He volunteered along with his older brother and other relatives.

Another boy, from Homs, said children took on various roles. “The job you have depends on you,” he said. “If you have a brave heart, they’ll send you to (attack) checkpoints.”

He said that after several months in a combat post, his commanders told him to leave the unit because of his age.

“They said we need older guys – you’re too young,” he said.

The youngest boy quoted by the rights group was a 14-year-old who said he transported weapons, food and other supplies for fighters near the Turkish border.

“We would bring bullets and Russiyets (Kalashnikovs). All of the kids were helping like this. We were 10 boys between 14 and 18 years old,” he said.

The Centre for Documentation of Violations in Syria, an opposition monitoring group, has documented the deaths of at least 17 children who fought with the FSA. Many others have been severely wounded, and some permanently disabled, HRW said.

Rights groups say both government forces and rebels may have committed war crimes during the 20-month-old uprising against Assad, including torture and summary executions. Most of the accusations have been levelled against pro-Assad forces.
…source

Al Qaeda “Virtue Police” Show up Along NATO Protected Turkish-Syrian Border
By Tony Cartalucci – Global Research – 28 November, 2012

NATO-backed terrorists along Turkish-Syrian border establish Al Qaeda-style “Virtue & Vice Police,” heralding the West’s true designs for Syria.

An obscure, unreported pair of Getty images created on November 21, 2012 depict masked, armed terrorists atop a building with the words “Committee for Promotion of Virtues and Prevention of Vice” scrawled across its facade. The images were taken in al-Bab, northern Syria.

While the establishment of Al Qaeda-style “virtue police” along Syria’s borders is troubling enough, what is perhaps even more disturbing is the AFP caption that accompanied the images. The caption reads:

Syrian members of the Committee for Promotion of Virtues and Prevention of Vice stand guard on top of a building with a freshly painted wall with the name of the committee in Arabic at their headquarters in al-Bab, northern Syria, on November 21, 2012. The committee was created to fight abuses and crimes committed by members of the Free Syrian Army (FSA) only, and has 80 elements recruited outside the FSA. The rebels faced growing criticism, particularly after a video was posted on YouTube earlier in November, appearing to show opposition fighters beating and executing soldiers after attacks.

The caption presumes absolute ignorance on behalf of potential readers as to what “Committee for Promotion of Virtues and Prevention of Vice” actually means in the context of sectarian extremism linked to groups such as Al Qaeda, leading US-backed efforts to topple the Syrian government. Not only do the committees have nothing to do with fighting “abuses and crimes committed by members of the Free Syrian Army,” but to suggest that the “committee” is only policing fellow terrorists betrays the last 2 years of documented evidence regarding the so-called “FSA” and its members who hail from Al Qaeda linked groups both inside Syria and beyond, including the notorious Libyan Islamic Fighting Group (LIFG) hailing from Benghazi, Darnah, and Tobruk, Libya.

“Virtue Police” Simply a Manifestation of NATO-backed Terrorist Flooding over Turkish Border.

It was exposed at length that many of the so-called “Free Syrian Army’s” fighters were in fact foreign terrorists imported into Syria via long-established Al Qaeda networks used to feed fighters first into Afghanistan during the 1980′s, then into Afghanistan and Iraq during America’s occupation of both nations over the past decade.

The documented details of this network were exposed in the extensive academic efforts of the US Army’s own West Point Combating Terrorism Center (CTC). Two reports were published between 2007 and 2008 revealing a global network of Al Qaeda affiliated terror organizations, and how they mobilized to send a large influx of foreign fighters into Iraq.

Image: Cover of the US Army’s West Point Combating Terrorism Center report, “Al-Qa’ida’s Foreign Fighters in Iraq.” The report definitively exposed a regional network used by Al Qaeda to send fighters into Iraq to sow sectarian violence during the US occupation. This exact network can now be seen demonstrably at work with NATO support, overrunning Libya and now Syria. The terrorists in the eastern Libyan city of Benghazi that US Ambassador Stevens was arming, is described by the 2007 West Point report as one of the most prolific and notorious Al Qaeda subsidiaries in the world.

The first report, “Al-Qa’ida’s Foreign Fighters in Iraq,” was extensively cited by historian and geopolitical analyst Dr. Webster Tarpley in March of 2011, exposing that NATO-backed “pro-democracy” rebels in Libya were in fact Al Qaeda’s Libyan Islamic Fighting Group (LIFG), listed by the US State Department, United Nations, and the UK Home Office as an international terrorist organization.

The West Point report exposed Libya as a global epicenter for Al Qaeda training and recruitment, producing more fighters per capita than even Saudi Arabia, and producing more foreign fighters than any other nation that sent militants to Iraq, except Saudi Arabia itself. …more

What do they want from Syria?
29 November, 2012 – By Finian Cunningham – PressTV

The terrorist war on Syria, which the Western media trumpet as a ‘pro-democracy uprising,’ is aimed at precisely the opposite of pluralist coexistence. What the terrorists want is to tear the tolerant soul out of the country and plunge its people into an internecine, hate-filled sectarian bloodbath.”
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“What do they want from Jaramana? The town brings together people from all over Syria and welcomes everybody.” These were the anguished words of one distraught resident in the Syrian town of Jaramana that was devastated by multiple deadly explosions this week.

The death toll has yet to be confirmed. Early reports on the blasts said 34 were killed. Later, the toll was put at more than 50, with over 120 injured, many critical. All of the victims were civilian.

Over the past 20 months, Syria has witnessed dozens of massacres and horrific car bombings in its capital Damascus and in other cities and countless villages across the country. But the latest atrocity in Jaramana, located close to the capital, is distinguishable perhaps because it most clearly shows the vile Machiavellian mentality of the perpetrators in their broader strategy towards the Middle Eastern country.

As the words of the shell-shocked resident above indicate, Jaramana can be seen as an exemplar of the pluralist nature of the Syrian society, “welcoming everybody”. The town is particularly known for its Christian and Druze Muslim communities, who by all accounts have coexisted peacefully for centuries. The populace is also largely supportive of the Syrian government of President Bashar al-Assad.

This Wednesday morning, as workers, mothers and school children were going about their usual daily routine, two massive no-warning explosions ripped through the heart of Jaramana. The second blast was detonated minutes after the first one when bystanders were rushing to the scene to aid the wounded. The heinous calculation of the perpetrators was to maximise the killing and suffering.

“What do they want from Jaramana?” The answer is revealed in the resident’s subsequent words: “The town brings together people from all over Syria and welcomes everybody.”

The terrorist war on Syria, which the Western media trumpet as a “pro-democracy uprising”, is aimed at precisely the opposite of pluralist coexistence. What the terrorists want is to tear the tolerant soul out of the country and plunge its people into an internecine, hate-filled sectarian bloodbath.

The targeting of Jaramana is a deliberate, brutal calculation to precipitate such a bloodbath. The town has been inflicted with several similar, although less deadly, bombings in recent months. On 29 October, a car bomb killed 11 people.

There are no military or state security installations in Jaramana. As noted, it is a urban district known for its tolerance towards mixed religions and cultural heritage. But, for the terrorists and their fiendish mentality, that civic virtue made Jaramana a prime target.

The armed militants in Syria are driven by Sunni extremists of Wahhabist or Salafist tendencies, who see pluralist coexistence of Sunni, Shia, Alawite, Druze, Christian, Jews and non-believers as anathema to their demented puritanical ideology.

Other elements within the Syrian armed militant groups would appear to be simply “soldiers of fortune” – mercenaries and criminal opportunists who have no particular religious affiliation. …more