Russian Foreign Ministry makes public four out of the five documents that are part of Russia's agreement with US on Syria

Russian Foreign Ministry makes public four out of the five documents that are part of Russia's agreement with US on Syria

    Wednesday, September 28, 2016   No comments

Syria's control map as of 08/2016: Grey: ISIL, G: other Nusra; R: Gov; B: Turkey+FSA, Y: Kurds

Text of 4/5 documents, part of the ceasefire agreement signed between Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and his US counterpart, John Kerry, on September 9 in Geneva were published yesterday, a week after after U.S. State Department leaked parts of the documents to Associated Press.

The documents included details of the initial two-day ceasefire, which came into effect on September 12. Key elements of the document described the steps for humanitarian aid deliveries in Syria. The papers also stressed the need for the US-backed rebels to swiftly separate themselves from terrorist groups such as Al-Nusra.

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Documents leaked in U.S. to AP:

Documents released by Russia's Foreign Ministry:

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Unofficial Translation of the Documents released by the Russian FM:

According to UN, Saudi Arabia is responsible for killing 60% of children and use of white phosphorus yet the media ignore its war on Yemen

According to UN, Saudi Arabia is responsible for killing 60% of children and use of white phosphorus yet the media ignore its war on Yemen

    Tuesday, September 20, 2016   No comments

ISR review comment: Media bias: Saudi Arabia is responsible for killing 60% of the children killed in Yemen and using illegal weapons. Yet, media outlets ignores the Saudi crimes in Yemen but report on the horrors of war in Syria, which was made worse by militant groups ideologically inspired and politically and militarily assisted by Saudi Arabia. it is this bias that allow the bloodshed to continue.

Yemeni children who survive Saudi bombs may not survive siege-caused famine

Saudi Arabia appears to be using U.S.-supplied white phosphorus in its war in Yemen

Saudi Arabia appears to be using U.S.-supplied white phosphorus munitions in its war in Yemen, based on images and videos posted to social media, raising concerns among human rights groups that the highly incendiary material could be used against civilians.

Under U.S. regulations, white phosphorus sold to other countries is to be used only for signaling to other troops and creating smoke screens. When the munition explodes, it releases white phosphorus that automatically ignites in the air and creates a thick white smoke. When used against soldiers or civilians, it can maim and kill by burning to the bone.

It is unclear exactly how the Saudis are using the munitions, but the government has already received widespread condemnation for its indiscriminate bombing in civilian areas since its campaign against rebel forces in Yemen began in 2015.

U.S. officials confirmed that the American government has supplied the Saudis white phosphorus in the past but declined to say how much had been transferred or when. After reviewing a social media image taken from the battlefield that showed a white phosphorus mortar shell, a U.S. official said it appeared to be American in origin but could not trace it to a particular sale because some of the markings were obscured.

“The United States expects any recipient of U.S. military assistance to use those items in accordance with international law and under the terms and conditions of any U.S. transfer or sale,” said a State Department official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss politically sensitive issues. SOURCE

Media bias sample: WashPost coverage of ME ignores the Saudi war on Yemen as if Syria is the only war zone in the region.

ISIL calls ISIS calls Erdoğan, beheads one of his alleged spies

ISIL calls ISIS calls Erdoğan, beheads one of his alleged spies

    Monday, September 19, 2016   No comments

Screen-grab of ISIL's video

ISIL (ISIS, IS) issued a gruesome declaration against Erdogan calling him, tyrant and a slave of the crusaders. The group released another grisly video condemning Erdogan and the Syrian opposition forces collaborating with him, including al-Nusra and Jaysh al-Fath. The video, entitled fa-`tabiru [be forewarned], included statements by an individual accused of being one of Erdogan’s followers and spies. He was tied to pole, shot by firing multiple shots at him with machine gun, and then beheaded.

Screen-grab of ISIL's video showing the shooting and beheading of what ISIL says is a Syrian spy for Erdogan

170 new prisons will be built in Turkey to accommodate more than 100,000 inmates

170 new prisons will be built in Turkey to accommodate more than 100,000 inmates

    Thursday, September 15, 2016   No comments

Erdogan claims high-ground  when questioned about his support for armed groups fighting to overthrow the Syrian government: It is shameful to negotiate with the Syrian president who is responsible for hundreds of thousands of lives lost, he argues. But he shrugs off any criticism that he is authoritarian or dictator. Yet, the numbers that his own ministers are making public proves that he is just as cruel: since the failed coup, thousands of soldiers, teachers, professors, doctors, lawyers, students, and anyone suspected of being a follower of Gulen were arrested. It is estimated that nearly 200,000 people were arrested. To accommodate this large number of inmates, the government released thousands of criminals. Signaling the large number of arrests, the government revealed that it will build new prisons, not schools or research centers, prisons, 170 of them, in the next five years. 
 

More than 170 jails will be built over the next five years in Turkey, according to a statement from the Justice Ministry. The ministry’s move comes after the overcrowding in jails caused by the arrests linked to the July 15 failed coup attempt, believed to have been masterminded by the Fethullahist Terror Organization (FETÖ). Source

One could understand that soldiers who take part in a coup to overthrow an elected government should be arrested and punished. But arresting teachers, professionals, and ordinary citizens because they are suspected of being follower of Gulen is what dictators so. When these hundreds of thousands of inmates are added to tens of thousands of Kurdish people killed and tens of thousands imprisoned, Erdogan will be indistinguishable from the dictators he likes to criticizes.

"Islamic State" (ISIL. ISIS, IS) terrorists release sickening video depicting the slaughtering of people accused of spying in Deir al-Zour

"Islamic State" (ISIL. ISIS, IS) terrorists release sickening video depicting the slaughtering of people accused of spying in Deir al-Zour

    Tuesday, September 13, 2016   No comments

ISIL is desperately attempting to mask its losses with cruelty and depravity. 

On the day when Muslims around the world celebrate a religious holiday, ISIL, now self-named Islamic State, released its most despicable yet propaganda video depicting its members slaughtering people the terrorist group accused of being spies. In the 12:35 minute long clip entitled “the manufacturing of illusion”, the group claims that it identified individuals working for anti-ISIL coalition and released abhorrent footage depicting its fighters slaughtering these individuals—some of whom appear to be underage.

Mocking foreign intelligence agencies while singing the praise of the success of its own intelligence bureau named, Rasid, the group produced yet another piece of sickening propaganda that is self-incriminating. The video was released by the group's Alkhayr media, named after the province of Deir al-Zour, Syria.

Grozny Conference: The First International Conference Dedicated To Answering The Question: Who Are The Sunnis?

Grozny Conference: The First International Conference Dedicated To Answering The Question: Who Are The Sunnis?

    Sunday, September 11, 2016   No comments

On August 25-17, more than 200 Sunni Muslim scholars from around the world convened in Grozny, Chechnya, to answer the question: who are the Sunnis? Representing the most prominent Sunni institution of learning and religious guidance, al-Azhar, the Grand Imam, Ahmed al-Tayeb, opened the international conference with a statement stressing the importance of reclaiming the true teachings of Sunni Muslims (Ahl al-Sunna wa-‘l-jama`a), which, he argued, have been corrupted by extremists and terrorists. This important event did not receive wide coverage because of the coordinated attack by religious and political leaders of Saudi Arabia who contended that the conference was meant to exclude Wahhabi Salafism. 

Read the news story on Grozny Conference

Isis fighter reveals group's plan to spread even after defeat in Iraq and Syria and claims collusion with Turkey

Isis fighter reveals group's plan to spread even after defeat in Iraq and Syria and claims collusion with Turkey

    Saturday, September 10, 2016   No comments

Isis will flourish and survive even if it is defeated in the present battle for Syria and Iraq an Isis militant has told The Independent.

In an exclusive interview, Faraj, a 30-year-old veteran fighter from north east Syria, says that “when we say that the Islamic State [Isis] is everlasting and expanding, it is not a mere poetic or propaganda phrase”. He says the group intends to rebuild its strength in Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Libya and Tunisia, adding that “Isis has sleeper agents all over the world and their numbers are increasing”.

In his account of his life in Isis, Faraj makes plain that only a year after the caliphate was declared in the wake of the capture of Mosul in 2014, its leaders could foresee that it might be overrun militarily. He reveals hitherto unknown details of the apparent close cooperation between Isis and Turkey and the degree to which foreign fighters who flooded into Syria to fight for Isis alienated local people from the movement by ordering them about and interfering in their lives.  source