SYRIA LIVE BLOG
The UN says more than 100,000 people have died since the Syrian uprising began in March 2011. More than 2 million people have fled the country. Now, after months of inconclusive fighting between government forces and rebels, an alleged chemical weapons attack in Damascus suburbs has escalated diplomatic tensions and fuelled talk of US-led military intervention.
Syria
A UN weapons inspectors' report on chemical arms use in Syria is likely to be handed in at the end of next week, French President Francois Hollande said on Saturday.
"When the (US) Congress will have voted on Thursday or Friday and when we will have the inspectors' report, likely at the end of the week, a decision will have to be made," Hollande said, speaking from the southeastern city of Nice.
[Reuters]
Syria
Sweden and Poland warned against knee-jerk reactions to the crisis in Syria, saying that any international effort to solve it will require a commitment "for decades to come".
Speaking at a regional NATO conference in the Latvian capital, Riga on Saturday, Swedish Foreign Minister Carl Bildt said the West was being short-sighted regarding the instability sweeping the Middle East.
"The only thing I can say that would have a reasonable chance of success would be to go in with armies and stay there for 30 years and try to do some real nation building. Appetite for that? Non existent," Bildt said.
Polish Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski pointed to previous Western interventions in Libya and Iraq as a reason for caution.
"Do you really want us to do another Iraq? Was that really such a good idea? Was it worth the [spoils of war] and the blood that was expended there?" Sikorski asked an audience consisting chiefly of foreign policy experts, urging them to "think about the consequences before we plunge in".
Sikorski said US President Barack Obama had "done the right thing" in referring the matter of military action against the Assad regime to Congress, but had strong words for the United Nations Security Council, accusing it of failing its obligation to act as "the voice of all humanity".
"I can't think of a better case where the voice of humanity should be heard other than to protest against the use of these (chemical) weapons," Sikorski said.
[AFP]
Syria
US Secretary of State John Kerry said he was encouraged by a European Union statement calling for a "strong" response to the alleged Syrian chemical attack.
"I was encouraged by the statement the EU gave," Kerry said at a joint press conference with French counterpart Laurent Fabius on Saturday.
"It's a very powerful statement, this is growing, not receding, in terms of the global sense of outrage."
US President Barack Obama has made no decisions about waiting for a UN weapons inspectors'report on chemical arms use in Syria and he is keeping all his options open, Kerry said.
Syria
French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius and US Secretary of State John Kerry held a news conference in Paris.
Fabius said that military action against Assad “is not contradictory with the political solution. It is a precondition, Mr Assad will not take part in any negotiation as long as he believes himself to be invincible.”
He also said military action was getting support from a majority of the G20, “and this morning the 28 countries of the European Union have given their support on basic points: the massacre of August 21 is a war crime and a crime against humanity. Everything shows that the Assad regime is responsible.
“This message is also that of the Arab League and this morning the GCC. There exists therefore a wide and widening coalition. With John Kerry we are in line with the nature of the reply. It must be short, targeted, of a nature to prevent Mr Assad to repeat a massacre.
“I'd like to end by saying that France and the US are side by side.”
Syria
French Foreign Ministry Laurent Fabius says support growing for a 'strong' response to Syria as everything shows that Assad regime is responsible.
“It is an illusion to believe that there will be a political solution to this crime” he said adding that they would wait for the UN report.
Sepaking in the new conference after Fabius, US Secretary of State John Kerry says Obama has made no decision on waiting for UN inspectors report on Syria and reserves all his options.
Syria
Hundreds of pilgrims have arrived in St Peter's Square in the Vatican to join Pope Francis in prayer for Syria. The pope has invited people of all faiths to join a day of fasting and prayer to call for an end to the conflict in Syria on Saturday.
He denounced what he called "atrocious acts" in Syria following a suspected chemical weapons attack and called on the international community to do more to help find a solution to the two-and-a-half year conflict.
[Reuters]
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Philippine's capital Manila was another address for anti-intervention protests on Saturday.
Demonstrators display a placard with a peace sign during the protest by about 100 activists against possible US strikes against Syria, in Quezon city. [Reuters]
Syria
Another demonstration against US military action was held in New Delhi.
Protesters held placards, banners and Syria's national flag during the protest outside the US embassy. [Reuters]
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Lebanese demonstrators shout slogans during a protest near the US embassy, east of Beirut against a possible US military strike on Syria on Saturday. [AFP]
Syria
The European Union's foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton has said the world cannot remain idle to prevent any future use of chemical weapons in Syria.
The message received a warm welcome from US Secretary of State John Kerry, as he embarked on a busy round of shuttle diplomacy to drum up support for a military strike against Syria.
Al Jazeera's Neave Barker reports.
Syria
The Turkish government supports an American-led missile strike against Syria. But opinion polls have consistently shown that a majority of people do not want to see the country involved in the civil war across its southern border.
Residents of Antakya staged a demonstration to express their position on the matter.
Al Jazeera's Anita McNaught reports from Antakya. Follow McNaught's tweets @anitamcnaught)
Syria
Christians have gathered for a service on Saturday at a Damascus cathedral to pray for peace in their country ahead of vigil to be held by Pope Francis at the Vatican, reported AP news agency.
Francis will host the peace vigil in St. Peter's Square later on Saturday, a test of whether his immense popular appeal will translate into popular support for his peace message.
It's the first time any such peace rally has been held at the Vatican, though Holy See officials have stressed it's a religious event, not a political protest.
Christians account for only five percent of the population in Syria and many back the Assad regime.
Syria
The European Union agreed on Saturday that the August 21 chemical attack outside Damascus appears to have been the work of Syria's regime, but that any potential military attack against it should wait for a UN inspectors' report.
Meanwhile The German newspaper Frankfurter Allgemeine Sonntagszeitung reported on Saturday that the UN chemical weapons inspectors could submit initial findings from their tests of samples collected in Syria by the end of next week.
[AP]
Syria
London based Syrian Observatory For Human Rights says former Syrian defense minister Ali Habib is still in Syria at his home in the Tartous province.
Reuters news agency previously reported that Habib, a prominent member of President Bashar al-Assad's Alawite sect, had defected and moved to Turkey.
Syria
US Secretary of State John Kerry has welcomed a European Union statement on Saturday that said there appeared to be strong evidence that the Syrian government carried out a chemical attack on civilians in August.
"We are very grateful for the statement that came out of the meeting today with respect to Syria -- a strong statement about the need for accountability," Kerry said after meeting EU foreign ministers in the Lithuanian capital Vilnius.
[Reuters]
Syria
As US President Barack Obama asks Congress to authorize the use of military force against Syria, residents in a government-controlled part of Damascus tell the Reuters news agency they do not want foreign intervention.
Damascus resident, Saker Douba: "I call the world from the West to the far East to view this act as an aggression. It would not be an American aggression but an Israeli one."
Damascus shopkeeper, Niuha: "The conditions that we are living in are tough enough. We do not need America to come and hit us. By God's will and the Syrian army no one will hit us. We are not scared"
[RTV]
Syria
The European Union's foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton said on Saturday the EU's 28 nations agreed that available information seemed to show strong evidence that the Syrian government perpetrated a chemical attack in August.
Ashton was speaking at the end of a meeting of EU foreign ministers in the Lithuanian capital Vilnius, where they discussed the situation in Syria and Europe's response.
- Reuters
Catherine Ashton, EU, damascus, europe,Bashar al Assad
Syria
Germany has signed on to a global statement urging "a strong response" to a deadly chemical weapons attack blamed on Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's regime, Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle said Saturday.
Germany was the fifth European Union member to sign the statement issued at a G20 summit in Saint Petersburg where it was signed by 11 countries, including the US, Britain, France, Italy and Spain.
- Agence France Presse
Guido Westerwelle, G20, EU, St Petersburg, US, britain, France, Italy, Spain, damascus,Russia
Syria
Inaction is not an option for the United States in Syria after a horrendous chemical attack, President Barack Obama said Saturday as he urged holdout lawmakers to back a military strike.
"We cannot turn a blind eye to images like the ones we've seen out of Syria," Obama said in his weekly address. "That's why I call on Members of Congress, from both parties, to come together and stand up for the kind of world we want to live in; the kind of world we want to leave our children and future generations."
- Agence France Presse
Barack Obama, Congress,Bashar al Assad
Syria
Syrian anti-regime activists say government shelling has killed 16 people, mostly rebels, near Damascus.
The attack near the Syrian capital comes as Secretary of State John Kerry lobbies European allies to back Washington's proposed military action against the Syrian regime.
The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights says President Bashar Assad's troops fired mortars and artillery early Saturday at opposition fighters' positions near Moldokhiya, an agricultural area south of Damascus, killing 14 rebels.
Two civilians also died in the shelling, The Observatory said.
The groups also reported heavy fighting between rebels and Assad troops around the Christian village of Maaloula. The attack, which started Monday, was reportedly spearheaded by al-Qaeda-linked fighters and has added to fears of Syrian religious minorities over the role of Islamic extremists in the rebel ranks.
- Associated Press
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