Qatar Emir Visits Gaza in Nod to Hamas

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Scores of Terrorists Eliminated in Several Provinces The Armed Forces continued on Tuesday pursuing the armed terrorist groups in Deir Ezzor province. In this context, a unit of the Armed Forces eliminated a number of terrorists and injured others  in Cinema Fouad Street and al-Jbeileh neighborhood. Another unit of the Armed Forces clashed with an armed terrorist group in Jneineh town and eliminated a number of terrorists. Authorities Arrest a Terrorist in Hama countryside The authorities arrested a terrorist in the town of Seijar in Mihardeh district in Hama countryside and seized his advanced communication device. A source on the province told SANA reporter that the terrorist was coordinating among the armed terrorist groups inside and outside the province. Large Number of Terrorists Killed in Aleppo A unit of the Armed Forces eliminated one of the most dangerous armed terrorist groups which terrified the citizens and attacked the private and public properties in Bab Qinnasrin area in the old city of Aleppo. An official source  in the province told SANA reporter that the leader of the armed group was killed in the operation. Armed Forces Eliminate Armed Terrorist Group, Seize Weapons in Damascus Countryside In a qualitative operation, a unit of the Armed Forces eliminated an armed terrorist group which was terrifying citizens and sabotaging public and private properties in the city of Harasta in Damascus Countryside. A source in the province told SANA reporter that the operation was carried out near al-Thanawiya Square in Harasta and resulted in eliminating all members of the armed terrorist group and seizing their weapons. President al-Assad Grants General Amnesty for Crimes Committed before October 23, 2012 President Bashar al-Assad on Tuesday issued legislative decree No. 71 for 2012 stipulating a general amnesty for crimes committed before October 23, 2012. The decree replaces the death penalty with a life sentence of hard labor or long imprisonment sentence in accordance with crimes so delineated while reducing a life sentence to 20 years imprisonment at hard labor, again as accordingly the particular crime is so deemed punishable. Crimes of smuggling weapons and drug trafficking are excluded from the provision of this decree. Brahimi Meets National Democratic Bloc Where Exerting Pressure on Countries that Support Terrorists Is Discussed UN envoy to Syria, Lakhdar Brahimi, met on Monday the National Democratic Bloc delegation at Dama Rose Hotel in Damascus. Secretary-General of the National Youth for Justice and Development Party, Barwin Ibrahim, pointed out in a statement to journalists after the meeting that the National Democratic Bloc presented its point of view on the crisis in Syria and the vision of its parties for dealing with the crisis. Ibrahim said that the bloc criticized the international community for not listening to the voice of the opposition inside Syria and adopting the point of view of the outside opposition which does not represent the Syrian people and calls for foreign intervention. She said that the international community considers the political solution of the crisis in Syria as a compromise and reconciliation among the superpowers. For his part, Secretary-General of the National Democratic Solidarity Party, Salim Abdul-Wahab al-Kharat, said that the bloc is searching for a roadmap to deal with all national opposition powers inside Syria, calling for halting violence by all sides. Secretary-General of the Syrian Democratic Party, Firas Nadim, stressed the importance of lifting the suffering of the Syrian people because of the oppressive economic sanctions, calling on the UN envoy to Syria to play a bigger role in exerting pressure on the countries which are supporting the armed terrorist groups to end bloodshed in Syria DAMASCUS— Pro-government community defense groups are springing up in Damascus, as areas with large populations of religious or other minorities seek to repel a conflict lapping ever closer to them. A bomb attack Sunday on the mainly Christian old city neighborhood of Bab Touma hammered home the threat in the capital’s historic heart, where residents say local vigilantes now work in tandem with government forces. The accumulation in civilian hands of guns, ranging from hunting rifles to assault weapons from official stocks, shows the potential for the battle between President Bashar al-Assad’s government and opposition groups to degenerate further into a militia-based war. “Because there is no army here, we are keeping the place safe,” said Abu Nasif, leader of a community defense group stationed on a street corner in the old city – a walkie-talkie beside him. One of his comrades, known as Ammar, added: “Whoever is not from this street and causes trouble will be punished.” Thirteen people died in Sunday’s car bombing outside Bab Touma police station, the first large-scale assault in the capital’s renowned old city, according to Syrian state media. The attack followed violence in other Damascus areas with large minority populations. In the Druze and Christian-dominated district of Jaramana, tit-for-tat killings in recent months between local vigilantes and raiders from elsewhere have left residents braced to defend themselves by any means necessary. “What hunts a bird can hunt a man,” said a young Jaramana man named Wasim, brandishing a hunting rifle. “In 10 years, we are going to be like Sierra Leone – a country with armed conflict and forgotten from the map.” While the shabbiha civilian militias have long worked alongside official security forces, the armed community protection groups in the capital are comprised in good part of ordinary citizens aware they could be targeted or embroiled in violence by default. Much of Syria is a political and religious patchwork in which anti-Assad locales populated mainly by members of the country’s Sunni Muslim majority lie next to communities of other faiths, such as Shia, Christians and Druze. Many of these support Assad, because they see his membership of the minority Alawite Shia sect as a sign that he is a protector of all religious minorities. In Bab Touma, soldiers have been posted next to the ruined old stone gate in the area’s historic square, but rely on vigilantes to patrol inside, say residents. “I am very happy that these groups did a deal with the government,” said one local businessman. “Nearby there are a lot of rebels and they could be here in 10 minutes if they wanted to cause trouble.” A short walk away, through the old city’s cramped thoroughfares, community defense posses could be seen gathered on street corners not far from the city’s Bab Sharqi gateway. Nasif’s group was stationed next to a doorway topped by a statue of the Virgin Mary, where a man toyed with a rifle, as friends seated around him laughed. His men insisted they had no guns apart from the one for emergencies, owned by a soldier who lived locally. The group presented their protection work as an extension of the nightly gatherings they had held as old friends for years. “Though the other media are telling of killing, dying and blood in Syria, here you can see us drinking tea and enjoying life,” Nasif said. But one Damascene Christian who has relatives in the old city suggested that local defense there was more organized and better armed than Nasif described. Her family said government forces had offered residents rifles and a handful of bullets each, on condition they signed for the weapons and reported back when and how they used them. “A lot of people refused them, but some people said yes,” she said. While Nasif and his comrades say they are not warriors for Assad or sectarianism, they – like a growing number of Syrians on both sides – now see this conflict as existential, and are primed to defend their place, whatever it takes. As Nasif put it: “We want to live here - and we want to die here, too.”

Big surprise. And Qatar is our butt buddy in the region.

what a bunch of pr crap! all abu arab has to do is spend some of their oil money in the area and take care of the people but than the area would lose its value as a big time pr site! abu arab sucks! potus=fubo!