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Saudi Arabia: Iran ‘not eligible’ to attend Syria talks

Around Geneva 2, the fate of Prince Bandar and the fate of Saudi

23/01/2014 - News Crisis


The Geneva conference-2 has started in the general confusion, finally "according to plan" ( ditto , confusion) ...On 17 January 2014 , Fyodor Lukyanov wrote: " . The Geneva Conference to be Held II next week May be The Most intriguing event in diplomacy since the Cold War [...] Even the process is unpredictable Itself - A Few days before the conference . is set to begin, it is still unclear Who Will Participate "Yesterday, January 22, 2014 , confirmation McClatrchy. News : " Delegates from around the world have arrived in Switzerland for the Beginning of a conference ... [...] Yet What Exactly Their role will be at the talks WAS unclear. "

The last column Pepe Escobar (in Russia Today on January 22, 2014 ), actually devoted to Geneva-2 reflects this disorder. With his taste for description intrigues, Escobar leads us in exotic labyrinth but certainly where you can hardly find a way, let alone a door. As we stop, we at this particular passage is anecdotal:

" The notoriously shady U.S. Ambassador to Syria Robert Ford - who always pops up whenever will the U.S. is destabilizing something - this time an urgent meeting called Expired year in Istanbul, supported by Turkey and Qatar, and pulled a 'go to Montreux Because I Said So' shtick . [...] What's odd is more farcical what Ford May Have Told the SNC stalwarts - still subject to much debate across the Middle East. If Ford really Said That Bandar Bush's strategy has-been a total failure (in fact turning Syria into an Al-Qaeda hub) then this point to the Obama administration, for all practical in purposes, sharing the same objective as Assad's: fighting 'terror'. "

This site is al-Manar (the 19 January 2014 ), that comes close to Hizbullah information - challenged here and there, of course, by other hostile sources - this interview would have had the Ambassador Ford with Syrian opposition, including the CNS, to force them to go to Montreux (they did finally order significantly dispersed, or not at all for some groups who can find a funding source other than the USA in other countries). The new quotes journalist Nidil Hamade and sources among the participants of the conference SNC. Ford would actually "ordered", actually bluntly, the Syrian opponents to go to Montreux, but it would also talked at length about Bandar, as casually mentions Escobar. Details are interesting.

" During the meeting, the SNC figures Ford Told That Saudi Prince Bandar Bin Sultan is one long vacation in the United States, "Because of sickness and psychological fatigue," Hamade added, Citing the Syrian opposition official aussi Have you form close to Prime Minister Riyad Hijab. "We would like to inform you That There are Some Changes That Will take up in Saudi Arabia next March," Said Ford, noting That thesis exchange Bandar Bin Sultan Will reach Saud al-Faisal and. [...]

" The U.S. ambassador added That The Saudi committee for Lebanon and Syria (All which compromised Abdulaziz Khoja, Abdullah Bin Abdulaziz Al Saud and Bin Abdullah Al Saud Muqren) is to be activated and Will take over the Lebanese and Syrian file from Bandar. Ford Told the Syrian opposition figures, "Bandar's Plan for the Syrian conflict, could in 2012 HAD catastrophic repercussions on Syria and the area. It Had Made of Syria A Powerful hub for al-Qaeda U.S. That cannot confront. For That, you-have to stop objecting to go to Geneva and 2, this is the U.S. 'interest. " "

Whatever the truth of these various remarks, meetings, orders, etc.., Especially the fate of Prince Bandar, the various rumors and information of this kind substantivent an idea floating around Geneva-2. This idea is one of the hidden treasures of this conference issues, which accompanies and what follows is the development of Saudi Arabia (Prince Bandar and with). Prospects considered radical and closely changes in the direction of the country, even in its orientation, are perhaps, after all, more important than what emerges from Geneva 2 Syria.



Posted January 23, 2014 at 5:55


It is not an assumption. Its real. Not, KSA government, but Saudi banks and influent Saudi are still funneling funds to radicals.

Lone-wolf terror financing is impossible nowadays not only in KSA, but in most parts of the world due to the strict surveillance. I'm willing to resign if such thing could ever happened in KSA with the Gov't intentionally knowing about it.

And again, I urge you not to jump into conclusion. These articles have no origins, unlike the official document I submitted.

At any rate, the issue appears to be turning from a subjective view point into an objective with yourself.

Oh, and another thing, if it were said that Bandar is residing in the US, Robert Ford would have known without being told by a Syrian national or whoever.
 
Yep, if Iran wants to be "eligible" it should support Al-Qaeda affiliates like Saudi and the rest :)

Both are protecting own killers so yes both are not suitable to be part of the talks.

They should fight their stupid rivalry at own home grounds
 
Nothing happened at Geneva, they will announce Geneva 3 in 6 month with their blabbering rants because they don't have any control in the country and couldn't even do anything with takfiris killing their ally FSA.

This happens like that in Lebanese civil war with many peace conference but nothing happened for 15 years so Assad made the real Geneva by invading Lebanon and problem solved.

Let alone Assad and his allies handle FSA and their militants with their takfir ideology.
 
Lone-wolf terror financing is impossible nowadays not only in KSA, but in most parts of the world due to the strict surveillance. I'm willing to resign if such thing could ever happened in KSA with the Gov't intentionally knowing about it.

When there is a will , there is a way..Yzd, you have to understand, my friend, djihadist are not driven by ideology, they are fueled by money...To give you an example, most of the djihadist in my area back home, I know most of their families, and some of them, I went to school with them, religion was the last thing in their mind, by the time they got enough money from kidnapping, post office holdup, drug dealing they surrendered to the Government to hide behind the "Reconciliation law", a dear Bouteflika's project, without paying a debt toward the society they martyrised!

And again, I urge you not to jump into conclusion. These articles have no origins, unlike the official document I submitted.
I am not jumping to conclusion...I followed Bandar's carrier in the US...

Geneva II – Syrian Foreign Minister: “The West Publicly Claims to Be Fighting Terrorism, Whilst It Is Covertly Nourishing It.”
By Global Research News

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Montreux, (SANA) - The international conference on Syria, Geneva2, kicked off on Wednesday morning with the participation of Syria’s official delegation, headed by Deputy Premier, Foreign and Expatriates Minister, Walid al-Moallem.

Minister al-Moallem said at the opening session of the conference:

Ladies and Gentlemen, On behalf of the Syrian Arab Republic, SYRIAN – steeped in history for seven thousand years. ARAB – proud of its steadfast pan-Arab heritage despite the deliberate acts of aggression of supposed brotherly Arabs. REPUBLIC – a civil state that some, sitting in this room, have tried to return to medieval times. Never have I been in a more difficult position; my delegation and I carry the weight of three years of hardship endured by my fellow countrymen – the blood of our martyrs, the tears of our bereaved, the anguish of families waiting for news of a loved one – kidnapped or missing, the cries of our children whose tender fingers were the targets of mortar shelling into their classrooms, the hopes of an entire generation destroyed before their very eyes, the courage of mothers and fathers who have sent all their sons to defend our country, the heartbreak of families whose homes have been destroyed and are now displaced or refugees.

My delegation and I also carry the hope of a nation for the years to come – the right of every child to safely go to school again, the right of women to leave their homes without fear of being kidnapped, killed or raped; the dream of our youth to fulfill their vast potential; the return of security so that every man can leave his family safe in the knowledge that he will return.

Finally, today, the moment of truth; the truth that many have systematically tried to bury in a series of campaigns of misinformation, deception and fabrication leading to killing and terror. A truth that refused to be buried, a truth clear for all to see – the delegation of the Syrian Arab Republic representing the Syrian people, the government, the state, the Army and the President – Bashar al-Assad.

It is regrettable, Ladies and Gentlemen, that seated amongst us today in this room, are representatives of countries that have the blood of Syrians on their hands, countries that have exported terrorism along with clemency for the perpetrators, as if it was their God given right to determine who will go to heaven and who will go to hell. Countries that have prevented believers from visiting holy places of worship whilst abetting, financing and supporting terrorists. Countries that gave themselves the authority to grant and deny legitimacy to others as they saw fit, never looking at their own archaic glasshouses before throwing stones at acclaimed fortified towers. Countries that shamelessly lecture us in democracy, in development and in progress whilst drowning in their own ignorance and medieval norms. Countries that have become accustomed to being entirely owned by kings and princes who have the sole right to distribute their national wealth granting their associates whilst denying those who fall out of favor.

They lectured Syria – a distinguished, virtuous, sovereign state, they lectured her on honour whilst they themselves were immersed in the mud of enslavement, infanticide and other medieval practices. After all their efforts and subsequent failures, their masks fell from their quivering faces, to reveal their perverse ambitions. A desire to destabilize and destroy Syria by exporting their national product: terrorism. They used their petrodollars to buy weapons, recruit mercenaries and saturate airtime covering up their mindless brutality with lies under the guise of the so-called “ Syrian revolution that will fulfill the aspirations of the Syrian people.”

Ladies and Gentlemen, how is what has happened and continues to plague Syria, meeting these aspirations? How can a Chechen, Afghani, Saudi, Turkish or even French and English terrorists deliver on the aspirations of the Syrian people, and with what? An Islamic state that knows nothing of Islam except perverse Wahhabism? Who declared anyway that the Syrian people aspire to live thousands of years in the past?

In Syria, Ladies and Gentlemen, the wombs of pregnant women are butchered and their foetuses killed; women are raped, dead or alive, in practices so heinous, so vile and repulsive that they can only be attributed to their perverse doctrine. In Syria, Ladies and Gentlemen, men are slaughtered in front of their children in the name of this revolution; worse still, this is done whilst the children of these foreign perpetrators sing and dance. In Syria, how can so-called revolutionaries cannibalize a man’s heart and claim to promote freedom, democracy and a better life?

Under the pretext of the “Great Syrian Revolution,” civilians, clergymen, women and children are killed, victims are indiscriminately blown up in streets and buildings regardless of their political views or ideologies; books and libraries are burned, graves are dug up and artifacts stolen. In the name of the revolution, children are killed in their schools and students in their universities, women are extorted in the name of jihad al-nikah and other forms, mosques are shelled whilst worshipers kneel at prayer, heads are severed and hung in the streets, people are burned alive in a true holocaust that history and many countries will deny without being accused of anti-Semitism.

In the name of a revolution, “to free the oppressed Syrian people from the regime and to spread democracy,” does a father blow himself up with his wife and children to prevent foreign intruders from entering his home? Most of us in this room are fathers – I ask you then, what would compel a man to kill his own family to protect them from freedom fighting monsters. This is what happened in Adra, a place that most of you have not heard of but where the same alien monsters attacked: killing, looting, beheading, slaughtering, raping and burning people alive. You have heard nothing of this brutality for sure, yet you have heard of other places where the same heinous crimes were committed and where the same blood soaked finger was pointed at the Syrian Army and government. And when these flagrant lies were no longer credible, they stopped spinning their web of deceit.

This is what their masters ordered them to do, these countries that spearheaded the war against Syria, trying to increase their influence in the region with bribes and money, exporting human monsters fully soaked in abhorrent Wahabi ideology, all at the expense of Syrian blood. From this stage, loud and clear, you know as well as I do that they will not stop in Syria, even if some sitting in this room refuse to acknowledge or consider themselves immune.

Ladies and Gentlemen, everything you have heard would not have been possible, had our border sharing countries been good neighbours during these challenging years. Unfortunately they were far from it; with backstabbers to the North, silent bystanders to the truth in the West, a weak South accustomed to doing the bidding of others, or the tired and exhausted East still reeling from the plots to destroy it along with Syria.

Indeed, this misery and destruction, wich has engulfed Syria, has been made possible by the decision of Erdogan’s government to invite and host these criminal terrorists before they entered into Syria. Clearly, oblivious to the fact that magic eventually turns on the magician, it is now beginning to taste the sour seed it has sown. For terrorism knows no religion, and is loyal only unto itself. Erdogan’s government has recklessly morphed from a zero problems with its neighbours policy to zero foreign policy and international diplomacy altogether, crucially leaving it with zero credibility.

Nevertheless, it continued on the same atrocious path falsely believing that the dream of Sayyid Qutb and Mohammad Abdel Wahab before him was finally being realized. They wreaked havoc from Tunisia, to Libya, to Egypt and then to Syria, determined to achieve an illusion that only exists in their sick minds. Despite the fact that it has proven to be a failure, they nevertheless are still determined to pursue it. Logically speaking, this can only be described as stupidity, because if you don’t learn from history, you will lose sight of the present; and history tells us: if your neighbor’s house is on fire, it is impossible for you to remain safe.

Some neighbours started fires within Syria whilst others recruited terrorists from around the globe – and here we are confronted with shockingly farcical double standards: 83 nationalities are fighting in Syria – nobody denounces this, nobody condemns it, nobody reconsiders their position – and they impertinently continue to call it a glorious SYRIAN Revolution! While when a few scores of young resistant fighters supported the Syrian Army in a few places, all hell broke loose and it suddenly became foreign intervention! Demands were made for the departure of foreign troops and the protection of Syrian sovereignty and for it not to be violated. Here I affirm, Syria – the sovereign and independent state, will continue to do whatever it takes to defend herself with whatever means it deems necessary, without paying the least bit of attention to any uproar, denunciations, statements or positions expressed by others. These have been and always will be Syria’s sovereign decisions.

Despite all of this, the Syrian people remained steadfast; and the response was to impose sanctions on our food, our bread and our children’s milk. To starve the population, pushing them into sickness and death under the injustice of these sanctions. At the same time, factories were looted and burned, crippling our food and pharmaceutical industries; hospitals and healthcare centers were destroyed; our railroads and electricity lines sabotaged, and even our places of worship – Christian and Muslim – were not spared their terrorism.

When all of this failed, America threatened to strike Syria, fabricating with her allies, Western and Arab, the story about the use of chemical weapons, which failed to convince even their own public, let alone ours. Countries that celebrate democracy, freedom and human rights regrettably only choose to speak the language of blood, war, colonialism and hegemony. Democracy is imposed with fire, freedom with warplanes and human rights by human killing, because they have become accustomed to the world doing their bidding: if they want something, it will happen; if they don’t, it won’t. They have heedlessly forgotten that the perpetrators who blew themselves up in New York follow the same doctrine and come from the same source as those blowing themselves up in Syria. They have heedlessly forgotten that the terrorist that was in America yesterday is in Syria today, and who knows where he will be tomorrow. What is certain, however, is that he will not stop here. Afghanistan is an ideal lesson for anyone who wants to learn – anyone! Unfortunately, most do not want to learn; neither America nor some of the ‘civilized’ western countries that follow its lead, starting from the city of lights to the kingdom over which “the sun never set,” in the past; despite the fact that they have all felt the bitter taste of terrorism in the past.

And then suddenly they became “Friends of Syria.” Four of these ‘friends’ are autocratic, oppressive monarchies that know nothing of a civil state or democracy, whilst others are the same colonial powers which occupied, pillaged and partitioned Syria less than one hundred years ago. These so called ‘friends’ are now convening conferences to publicly declare their friendship with the Syrian people, whilst covertly facilitating their hardship and destroying their livelihoods. They openly express their outrage over the humanitarian plight of Syrians whilst deceiving the international community of their complicity. If you were truly concerned about the humanitarian situation in Syria, you would remove your strangle hold on her economy by lifting the sanctions and the embargo, and by partnering with her government in tightening security by fighting the influx of weapons and terrorists. Only then can we assure you that we will be well as we once were, without your deep concern for our wellbeing.

Some of you may be asking yourselves: Are foreigners the sole manufacturers of the happenings in Syria? No Ladies and Gentlemen, Syrians amongst us here, having been legitimized by foreign agendas, have played a contributing role as facilitators and implementers. They did this at the expense of Syrian blood and the people whose aspirations they claim to represent, whilst they themselves were divided hundreds of times and their leaders on the ground were fleeing far and wide. They sold themselves to Israel becoming her eyes on the ground, and her fingers on the trigger for Syria’s destruction; and when they failed, Israel intervened directly to reduce the capabilities of the Syrian Army and thus ensuring the continued implementation of her decades old plan for Syria.

Our people were being slaughtered while they were living in five star hotels; they opposed from abroad, met abroad betraying Syria and selling themselves to the highest foreign bidder. And yet, they still claim to speak in the name of the Syrian people! No, Ladies and Gentlemen, anyone wishing to speak on behalf of the Syrian people cannot be a traitor to their cause and an agent for their enemies. Those wishing to speak on behalf of the people of Syria should do so from within her borders: living in her destroyed houses, sending their children to her schools in the morning not knowing if they will return safe from mortar shelling, tolerating the freezing cold winters because of the shortage in heating oil and queuing for hours to buy bread for their families because sanctions have prevented us from importing wheat when we were once exporters. Anyone wanting to speak in the name of the Syrian people should first endure three years of terrorism, confronting it head on, and then come here and speak on behalf of the Syrian people.

Ladies and gentlemen,

the Syrian Arab Republic – people and state, has fulfilled its duties. It has welcomed hundreds of international journalists and facilitated their mobility, security and access; and they in turn have reflected the stark and horrific realities they witnessed to their audiences, realities that have perplexed many Western media organisations who couldn’t bear their propaganda and narrative being exposed and contradicted. The examples are too many to count. We allowed international aid and relief organizations into the country, but the clandestine agents of certain parties sitting here, obstructed them from reaching those in dire need of aid. They came under terrorist attack several times, whilst we, as a state, did our duty in protecting them and facilitating their work. We issued numerous amnesties and released thousands of prisoners, some even members of armed groups, at the anger and dismay of their victim’s families; these families though, like the rest of us, ultimately accepted that Syria’s interests come before anything else, and hence we must conceal our wounds and rise above hatred and rancor.

What have you done, you who claim to speak on behalf of the Syrian people. Where is your vision for this great country? Where are your ideas or your political manifesto? Who are your agents of change on the ground other than your armed criminal gangs? I am certain that you have nothing and this is only too apparent in the areas that your mercenaries have occupied or to use your words “liberated.”

In these areas, have you freed the population or have you hijacked their moderate culture to enforce your radical and oppressive practices? Have you implemented your development agenda by building schools and health centres? No, you have destroyed them and allowed polio to return after it had previously been eradicated in Syria. Have you protected Syria’s artifacts and museums? No, you have looted our national sites for your personal profit. Have you demonstrated your commitment to justice and human rights? No, you have enforced public executions and beheadings. In short, you have done nothing at all except muster the disgrace and shame of begging America to strike Syria. Even the opposition, over which you are the self-appointed masters and guardians, do not acknowledge you or the methods in which you manage your own affairs, let alone the affairs of a country.

A country they want to homogenize; not in the sectarian, ethnic or religious sense, but rather in a warped ideological sense. Anyone against them, whether Christian or Muslim, is an infidel; they killed Muslims of all sects and targeted Syrian Christians with severity. Even nuns and bishops were targeted, kidnapping them after they attacked Ma’loula, the last community that still speaks the language of Jesus Christ. They did all this to force Syrian Christians to flee their country. But little did they know, that in Syria we are one. When Christianity is attacked all Syrians are Christians, when mosques are targeted all Syrians are Muslims. Every Syrian is from Raqqa, Lattakia, Sweida, Homs or the bleeding Aleppo when any one of these places is targeted. Their abhorrent attempts to sow sectarian and religious sedition will never be embraced by any levelheaded Syrian. In short, Ladies and Gentlemen, your “glorious Syrian revolution” has left no mortal sin uncommitted.

There is another side to this dark gloomy picture. A light at the end of the tunnel shinning through the Syrian people’s determination and steadfastness, the Syrian Army’s courage in protecting our citizens and the Syrian state’s resilience and perseverance. During everything that has happened, there are states that have shown us true friendship, honest states that stood on the side of right against wrong, even when the wrong was clear for all to see. On behalf of the Syrian people and state, I would like to thank Russia and China for respecting Syria’s sovereignty and independence. Russia has been a true champion on the international stage strongly defending, not only with words but also with deeds, the founding principles of the United Nations of respecting the sovereignty of states. Similarly China, the BRICS countries, Iran, Iraq and other Arab and Muslim countries, in addition to African and Latin American countries, have also genuinely safeguarded the aspirations of the Syrian people and not the ambitions of other governments for Syria.

Yes, Ladies and Gentlemen, the Syrian people, like other people of the region, aspire to more freedom, justice and human rights; they aspire to more plurality and democracy, to a better Syria, a safe, prosperous and healthy Syria. They aspire to building strong institutions not destroying them, to safeguarding our national artifacts and heritage sites not looting and demolishing them. They aspire to a strong national army, which protects our honour, our people and our national wealth, an army that defends Syria’s borders, her sovereignty and independence. They do not, Ladies and Gentlemen, aspire to a mercenary army ‘Free’ to kidnap civilians for ransom or to use them as human shields, ‘Free’ to steal humanitarian aid, extort the poor and illegally trade in the organs of living women and children, ‘Free’ to canibalise human hearts and livers, barbequing heads, recruiting child soldiers and raping women. All of this is done with the might of arms; arms provided by countries, represented here, who claim to be championing “moderate groups”. Tell us, for God’s sake, where is the moderation in everything I have described?

Where are these vague moderate groups that you are hiding behind? Are they the same old groups that continue to be supported militarily and publicly by the West, that have undergone an even uglier face-lift in the hope of convincing us that they are fighting terrorism? We all know that no matter how hard their propaganda machine tries to polish their image under the name of moderation, their extremism and terrorism is one and the same. They know, as we all do, that under the pretext of supporting these groups, al-Qaeda and its affiliates are being armed in Syria, Iraq and other countries in the region.

This is the reality, Ladies and Gentlemen, so wake up to the undeniable reality that the West is supporting some Arab countries to supply lethal weapons to al-Qaeda. The West publically claims to be fighting terrorism, whilst in fact it is covertly nourishing it. Anyone who cannot see this truth is either ignorantly blind or willfully so in order to finish what they have begun.

Is this the Syria that you want? The loss of thousands of martyrs and our once cherished safety and national security replaced with apocalyptic devastation. Are these the aspirations of the Syrian people that you wanted to fulfill? No, Ladies and Gentlemen, Syria will not remain so, and that is why we are here. Despite all that has been done by some, we have come to save Syria: to stop the beheadings, to stop the cannibalizing and the butchering. We have come to help mothers and children return to the homes they were driven out of by terrorists. We have come to protect the civil and open-minded nature of the state, to stop the march of the Tatars and the Mongols across our region. We have come to prevent the collapse of the entire Middle East, to protect civilization, culture and diversity, and to preserve the dialogue of civilizations in the birthplace of religions. We have come to protect tolerant Islam that has been distorted, and to protect the Christians of the Levant. We are here to tell our Syrian expatriates, to return to their home country because they will always be foreigners anywhere else, and regardless of our differences we are all still brothers and sisters.

We have come to stop terrorism as other countries that have experienced its bitter taste have done, whilst affirming loudly and consistently that a dialogue between Syrians is the only solution; but as with other countries that have been struck by terrorism, we have a constitutional duty to defend our citizens and we shall continue to strike terrorism that attacks Syrians regardless of their political affiliations. We have come to hold those accountable, for as long as particular countries continue to support terrorism, this conference will bear no fruit. Political pluralism and terrorism cannot coexist in the same landscape. Politics can only prosper by fighting terrorism; it cannot grow in its shadow.

We are here as representatives of the Syrian people and the state; but let it be clear to all, – and experience is the best proof – that nobody has the authority to grant or withdraw legitimacy from a president, a government, a constitution, a law or anything else in Syria except Syrians themselves; this is their constitutional right and duty. Therefore, whatever agreement is reached here will be subject to a national referendum. We are tasked with conveying our people’s desires, not with determining their destiny; those who want to listen to the will of the Syrian people should not appoint themselves as their spokesperson. Syrians alone have the right to choose their government, their parliament and their constitution; everything else is just talk and has no significance.

Finally, to all those here and everyone watching around the world: in Syria we are fighting terrorism, terrorism which has destroyed and continues to destroy; terrorism which since the 1980’s Syria has been calling, on deaf ears, for a unified front to defeat it. Terrorism has struck in America, France, Britain, Russia, Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan; the list goes on and it continues to spread. Let us all cooperate to fight it, let’s work hand in hand to stop its black, horrifying and obscurantist ideology. Then, let us as Syrians stand united to focus on Syria and start rebuilding its social fabric and material structures. As I said, dialogue is the foundation to this process, and despite our gratitude to the host country, we affirm that the real dialogue between Syrians should in fact be on Syrian soil and under Syrian skies. Exactly one year ago, the Syrian government put forward its vision for a political solution; think of how much innocent blood we would have saved had some countries resorted to reason instead of terrorism and destruction. For a whole year, we have been calling for dialogue, but terrorism continued to strike at the Syrian state, her people and institutions.

Today, in this gathering of Arab and Western powers, we are presented with a simple choice: we can choose to fight terrorism and extremism together and to start a new political process, or you can continue to support terrorism in Syria. Let us reject and isolate the black hands and the false faces, which publicly smile but covertly feed terrorist ideology, striking Syria today, but ultimately spreading to infect us all. This is the moment of truth and destiny; let us rise to the challenge.

Thank you .
 
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Why Iran is Needed for the Syria Peace Talks
By Dr. Ismail Salami

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That Iran can play an instrumental role in helping stymie the Syrian crisis is an irrefutable reality and every politically-minded person owns to the fact but what seems bizarrely inacceptable is the UN’s decision to disinvite Iran to the Geneva-II talks.

Apparently, pressure was piling up from every corner on UN secretary general Ban Ki-moon to rescind the Iran invitation. Earlier, the National Coalition had said it would pull out if the invitation to Iran was not rescinded.

Monzer Akbik, the National Coalition’s chief of staff, told the BBC’s Newshour program that Iran’s inclusion was against the promises his group had received. On the other hand, Washington manifestly had a substantial part to play in retracting the invitation. So, Ban Ki-moon eventually proved to be pathetically obsequious. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov had earlier supported the UN decision to invite Iran, saying the talks would be “profane” without Iran.

“Around 40 countries have been invited to the conference, including Australia, Mexico, Korea, Brazil, India and Indonesia,” Lavrov told a media conference in Moscow. “If Iran were not on the list, that would seem profane.”

Later on, he described the exclusion of Iran from the talks as a mistake.

Speaking at a press briefing at the UN headquarters in New York on Monday, UN spokesman Martin Nesirky said Ban is “deeply disappointed” at Iran’s statements rejecting the June 2012 Geneva communiqué.

”Given that it has chosen to remain outside that basic understanding, he has decided that the one-day Montreux gathering will proceed without Iran’s participation,” Nesirky added.

There are a couple of questions in this regard which deserve due attention: Is there any political solution to Syria crisis without the presence of Iran as a potential gear changer in Syria talks? Is Washington seeking a political solution to the Syria crisis? Will the upcoming talks lead to any solution at all? These are good questions and they deserve good answers. However, the situation is so complicated and the political scale is so tilted in favor of the West and the powers that secretly seek to overthrow Assad and install a US-friendly puppet regime in the region that there seems to be no flicker of light at the end of this tunnel.

In fact, the talks will lead nowhere and the purported intention of the talks is only to politically disarm the government of Assad and force the Syrian President to step down. Time and again, Bashar al-Assad has reiterated that a transition of power is possible in the country and that he won’t step down unless people vote him out of office. However, what the West craves for is an Assad-free Syria, a Syria in control by and for the West and its allies.

In the midst of this nonsensical travesty comes a preposterous Qatar-funded fabrication, accusing the Syrian government of large-scale killing and torture. This trumped-up story is based on photographic evidence provided by an unnamed informant, a photographer who claims to have defected from the Syrian military police and calls himself Caesar. He claims he has smuggled the photographs and files out of Syria on memory sticks to a contact in the Syrian National Movement and that “the smuggled data, which includes some 55,000 digital images, documents the deaths of 11,000 detainees in custody at the hands of the Syrian government from March 2011 until August 2013.”

These photographs show emaciated, bloodstained corpses bearing signs of torture and others showing bodies with eyes missing and signs of strangulation or electrocution on others.

The purpose for conjuring up these photographs at this juncture in time just prior to the peace talks seems to instill the notion that the regime of Assad has not withstood the test of time and that it is high time it be uprooted.

The peace talks which are slated to be held in Montreux, Switzerland on Wednesday and then continue for two days are being billed as the biggest effort aimed at resolving Syria’s crisis. After all, the realities on the ground are too bitter to mull over. Over 100,000 people have lost their lives and millions of others have been displaced and the infrastructure of the country has been severely damaged or demolished. In other words, a human catastrophe of biblical proportions has taken place the memory of which will rankle for all the time to come. On the one hand, the West and its allies insist that their goal is to resolve the crisis in Syria but what is seen in the world of realities stands in stark contradiction with what is being claimed.

The role of Iran is not only important but also essential and it should not and cannot be ignored. And those who rigorously do so, actually harbor other intentions than safeguarding the interests of the Syrian people.

In the final analysis, the key to foreign-fermented Syria crisis lies in the hands of Iran and the exclusion of the Islamic Republic from the Geneva peace talks is only to be seen as a bad omen and a sign that the West is no well-wisher for Syria and the region.

Ismail Salami is the webpage manager of Press TV.
 
Syria: Geneva II delayed even before you start
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Nearly three years after the beginning of a conflict that has killed more than 130,000 people, opponents and representatives of the Syrian regime were to start today their first real negotiations under the UN arbitration. First quack has already delayed the opening of the trial.




Special envoy to Geneva

They were to be reunited in the same room to talk about a solution to the war in Syria. At 11 am this morning, nine opponents and nine representatives of the regime were to begin their first real negotiations in Geneva under the arbitration of the United Nations. But half an hour just before the appointment, we learned that the scenario painfully developed Thursday was already messed up. The opposition refuses to sit at the same table that the system as it will not accept the statement said Geneva 1 adopted in June 2012, which provides for the establishment of a transitional governing body and departure Bashar al-Assad from power in Damascus. This setback is not surprising given the war of words that persisted between the protagonists of a particularly bloody conflict. "We're still escalating tensions between them", said Thursday night at Figaro a UN diplomat heart preparations.

This first session was scheduled as follows. Both sides should be face-to-face around a U-shaped table in a building of the Palais des Nations in Geneva. Syrian official delegation is chaired by the Foreign Minister, Walid Moallem , the opponents by Haitham Maleh . At the end of the table, Lakhdar Brahimi and two members of his team will play mediators on behalf of the UN . Algerian diplomat must begin with a reminder of the rules of procedure (avoid insults, one or two meetings each day, etc ...).

Then, the two delegations were supposed to leave the room to be alone in the building with their respective advisors. U.S. diplomats - they are twenty - assist the opposition leaders and those Russians regime, Moscow and Washington are the sponsors of this first peace conference on Syria, three years soon after the beginning of a conflict has more than 130,000 dead.

Each firmly sticking to his guns
Brahimi was then shuttle between delegations and "feel when there was an opening, it reconvenes opponents and representatives of the regime," the diplomat added. This can be this Friday night, Saturday, or in a few days, no one knows.

Thursday late afternoon, Brahimi and his team met separately with the two delegations to prepare this first face-to-face. Observation: each firmly sticking to his guns. "The regime has said that his priority was the fight against terrorism, we are not even sure he wants to discuss confidence-building measures such as cease-fire premises or humanitarian corridors," says the diplomat. As for the opposition, "it remains obsessed with the departure of Bashar al-Assad, the rapid establishment of a transitional governance body with full powers, and we Jarba reiterated that al Qaeda was a creation of the plan This has not convinced us, "lamented the source.

Certainly, Lakhdar Brahimi has obtained two delegations that there is no "walk out", that is to say sensational interruption discussions during this week's talks. But he had already obtained such a promise before, which did not stop opponents and plan to continue to insult the last two days the conference was launched . "We were disappointed with the press conference Ahmed Jarba Thursday night in which he used the word to describe the criminal regime, laments a source close to the UN.This is not how we approach the negotiations, although it is understood he was trying to meet the aggressive tone Moallem on Wednesday at the opening of the conference. "

Compounding the confusion among the opposition delegation. Thursday night around midnight, the UN had not received the list of opponents who would sit a few hours later meet Syrian officials. One thing is certain: Jarba Ahmed, head of the National Coalition, supported by the West, has decided not to include face Walid Moallem. "Desire to separate the presidential office talks," says a diplomat close to the Coalition. "Jarba as president thinks Moallem, a minister, not the height," believes his side a member of the Brahimi team.

Moments after the announcement of the quack, Faysal Moqdad, Syrian Deputy Foreign Minister told the BBC : "We will stay in Geneva. Let them leave "the table. As if Damascus was preparing to charge his opponents start failure of the negotiations.


SYRIAGeneva 2 raises sarcasm and black humor
In Damascus, the man in the street does not seem to believe that the Geneva Conference 2, which began on January 22, will bring peace.Some are fun to meet a minister fell asleep during the session, others laughed at at bandaged member of the opposition.
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Lakhdar Brahimi, the UN envoy and the Arab League for Syria, Ban Ki-Moon, Secretary General of the UN at the Geneva Conference II, January 22 -AFP/Philippe Desmazes
While the Geneva Conference 2 began on January 22 in Montreux, Switzerland, life follows its normal course in Damascus, punctuated by rocket fire. Syrian official media cover the news conference, but the TVs in [cafes and] stores downtown Damascus are connected to soap operas and variety shows.

Certainly there processions 4 x 4 Humer and cars bristling with megaphones that invade the streets of the Syrian capital to sing their songs and slogans in support of President Bashar Assad. But apart from that, there is no evidence that the Syrian street is concerned about the conference.

A sexagenarian invokes God to "put everyone on the road to peace. Syria does not deserve all this destruction." According to a university professor, an opponent, "Geneva 2 does not guarantee the departure of the regime, but only triggers a process to change the form of government."

"Nothing polishing Geneva!"

Those who support the Assad regime will repeat, but they are more worried than they appear. The statement of Foreign Minister Walid Al-Moallem [and head of the Syrian delegation], on the eve of the opening of the conference, saying that Assad's departure was out of the question was a "red line" them morale. The are reassured there will be no concessions. Nirmine, a nurse of 40 years, exclaims: "Nothing polishing Geneva Syria is ours and the traitors go to hell!"

The official television broadcast the first full day of the conference, as directed by the Minister of Information, who said: "We have nothing to fear, even when riding the tone and we exchange insults. .. "

Television, however, has not mentioned the name of Ahmed Jarba, head of the Syrian National Coalition (CNS), which represents the opposition.And, during his speech, the screen was divided into two. Right, his image with the subtitle: "Montreux, Switzerland". Left, images of death and destruction, with the subtitle: "Terrorist Crimes in Syria."

BBC paid the price of his error

Similarly, the Syrians have noted the presence of a man of Christian religion in the official Syrian delegation. Some accuse the regime and want to pass the message to the West that it protects minorities. What irritates a young Alawite [community which includes the Assad dynasty]. "Christians are not the only minority that should have its representative" Another young mocks "the secular regime that said while inviting a man of religion to a political conference."

More generally, the conference has attracted a wave of sarcasm among Syrians. Many comment on the spat between the Foreign Minister Walid Al-Moallem Syrian and UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, the second jingling his bell to remind the first he had exceeded his time. Or inquisitors [Councillor Assad] Al-Chibl Luna, who looked looks to have been responsible for "monitoring everything to report to his boss," according to a comment posted on social networks. Syrians also commented the image of a member of the Syrian official delegation Hussam Eddin Alaa, who seemed to be asleep during the speech of the Minister. As for the BBC, she charges her mistake for speaking "the Syrian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov" [Russian reality].

The side of the opposition, especially Haitham Al-Maleh has been discussed. He was wounded in the forehead in a fall on the eve of the conference. So he had his head bandaged at the time to appear on the small screen behind the head of the CNS, making the Syrians say that he had been "touched by the evil eye."
 
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Something else happening while the talk are going on..
Russian aircraft carrier in the Mediterranean: first flights hunter board

Aircraft carrier Admiral Kuznetsov


MURMANSK, January 24 - RIA Novosti
Russian Sukhoi Su-33 began Friday operate flights from the Russian heavy Admiral Kuznetsov aircraft carrier south of the Balearic Islands in the Mediterranean, said the head of the press service of the Russian Northern Fleet Vadim Serga.

"The fighter pilots onboard train to conduct a dogfight, intercept targets flying at high speed and perform aerobatic exercises," said the spokesman.

Command of the Northern Fleet is planning more than 20 outlets hunters from the aircraft carrier Admiral Kuznetsov. According to the spokesman, the drivers spend about 24 hours in the air.

The mission of the battle group of the Russian Northern Fleet began on 17 December 2013. The group includes the Admiral Kuznetsov, the only aircraft carrier of the Russian Navy, Admiral Levchenko destroyer, the large landing ship Olenegorski Gorniak and several support vessels. The battle group is in the Mediterranean since January 15.


 
Syria: UN mediator wins a face-to-face between regime and opposition


Br
ahimi announced a meeting Saturday morning at the Geneva Conference II.


Both Syrian delegations, and the official end of the rebellion, will meet Saturday in the same room of the Palace of Nations in Geneva. It's shock announcement made Friday by Lakhdar Brahimi, the UN envoy to the Syrian conflict. So far, the so-called Geneva II conference, which began with a preamble Wednesday in the nearby town of Montreux, sounded like an impossible challenge: how to discuss peace enemies who do not want to talk together and seem to be come on site to continue the war? Aware of the difficulties of the operation, Lakhdar Brahimi had hoped the two delegations sit at a table U for him to explain the rules of the conference. But at the last minute, the opposition had argued that the Syrian government had to accept the principle of a transitional government without Assad before direct negotiations. On the other side, the head of the Syrian diplomacy, Walid Muallem had informed the UN mediator that his delegation "will leave Geneva if serious work sessions are held on Saturday." "The problem with these people is that they do not want peace, they come here with preconditions, " had added the Syrian Deputy Foreign Minister Faisal Moqdad, calling the claim a starting Assad "illusion." Lakhdar Brahimi therefore met Friday with the two delegations separately. In the evening, however, the special UN envoy announced that direct talks would be held Saturday "in the same room."

First meeting between the Syrian regime and the opposition in Geneva[/paste:font]
Warrior. Both parties "will be there and will meet. Nobody will leave Sunday, " he has said, calling for help "all countries that have influence," in reference to Russia, the United States, the Europeans and the Gulf monarchies to "advance the process" to find a solution to the conflict that has claimed more than 130,000 lives since March 2011. Following this announcement, the opposition voice delegate Anas al-Abdah, hastened to qualify by saying that the joint meeting would be "short" and that " only Brahimi speak. " In making this concession, which is a recognition the Geneva Declaration I - the previous conference in June 2012, which established the principle of a political transition - Damascus a point. And forget a little warrior tone of speech Walid Moallem on Wednesday in Montreux, where he violently attacked the delegation of opponents, accusing them of having " betrayed Syria " and having " sold to the highest bidder " which earned him criticism from UN chief Ban Ki-moon (read Liberation Thursday).

Present behind the scenes, Washington and Moscow have probably increased the pressures, a delegation from the opposition, the other on the plan, to encourage them to move forward. But it is difficult peace process go much further. "Context is really not conducive to the engagement of a virtuous process," stressed Friday a EU diplomat. Already because the game seems pipé. Thus, the main external actors Syrian or are not invited tragedy is the case of Iran, an ally of Damascus, nothing suggests that the Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, is ready to accommodate a possible departure of al-Assad. either play an ambiguous role as Riyadh and Doha "Iran is not participating in the conference, the risk is that nothing changes. As for Saudi Arabia and Qatar, they push the opposition delegation to yield nothing. Certainly, it is Washington that the sponsors, but these are the two countries that hold the cord from her purse. Flexibility Western countries is very limited, " acknowledged on Friday a EU diplomat.

Shadow. But if the plan has won a point, the opposition, she has lost. It became even more divided and heterogeneous, so that the list of the delegation was not known Thursday night. There is also the problem of legitimacy as not participating in Geneva II the Syrian National Council (the main opposition party), the legitimate representatives of the Kurds and radical formations met within the Islamic Front, not to mention those related Al-Qaeda whose influence on areas "liberated"continues to expand. Moreover, it is also under the shade of Al-Qaeda and radical Islamist groups that the conference is held.

Now, Russians and Americans have a point of agreement: to prevent the emergence of an Islamic power in Syria. "We try to reconcile our claim on the departure of Bashar al-Assad, and the need to prevent the development establishment of an Islamic state on the other, " acknowledged a U.S. diplomat, present in Geneva, quoted Friday by the daily Al-Akhbar, close to Hezbollah .

By Jean-Pierre Perrin Special Envoy to Geneva
 
I'm just joking with you, 68 years old is not old. ;) You are just middle-aged :)

My mother died last year at age 98 1/2. She drove her car up until age 94 when she decided she was finally too old to drive safely. I am now retired and can buy senior discount coffee at McDonald's for $0.50, so I guess I have to concede that I have passed over some line into decrepitude.
 
Geneva 2: Brahimi put the political transition on the table


Posted on 28-01-2014


After the first Monday's talk failure leading to a discussions stalemate on Syria , the UN mediator Lakhdar Brahimi wants to put on the table of negotiations,Tuesday, Jan. 28, the crucial question of the political transition, "red line" for delegations regime and the opposition met in Geneva.

"Tomorrow (Tuesday), we will put on the table the Geneva Declaration itself," said Lakhdar Brahimi after a difficult day when negotiations between the two enemy camps broke down early in the morning on the menu of the talks.

A "transitional government with full powers"
The Geneva Declaration I, adopted in June 2012 by the great powers, causing controversy between supporters and opponents of President Bashar al-Assad since the start.

The opposition believes that it provides a "transitional government with full powers" which involves the departure of President al-Assad, in power since 2000. The regime views, meanwhile, it opens the way for a unity government expanded but he dismisses the scenario of a departure of al-Assad.

The third day of negotiations in Geneva was just devoted to this statement in Geneva after a weekend devoted to humanitarian issues such as the situation in Homs and the problem of thousands of prisoners of war and missing. On all these issues, the negotiations have allowed any progress.

But Monday morning, Lakhdar Brahimi had to quickly adjourn after the refusal of the delegations to go further. The opposition has indeed reacted violently when the regime submitted a "worksheet" five points, including a call to countries that finance "terrorist" groups (rebels) to cease their support, referring to Saudi Arabia , Qatar and Turkey, the main support of the rebellion.

"The discussions were not meaningful today because of the attitude of the regime wanted to divert discussions should focus on the application of Geneva I", accused Rima Fleyhan, member of the delegation of the opposition.

However delegations said they would not leave Geneva.

Blocked negotiations on humanitarian convoys
Meanwhile, Lakhdar Brahimi has admitted that the situation had not changed in sending humanitarian convoys in the besieged central Homs Saturday as promised by the regime. "There was no decision to let them," said he said.

He also obtained the Syrian regime's promise to let the women and children besieged for 600 days in the rebellious districts of Homs.

But on Monday, the head of operations in the Middle East International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), Robert Mardini, told AFP that no "concrete measures" had been taken so far by Damascus.

The announcement of Lakhdar Brahimi had already been met with skepticism in the rebel areas of the third largest city in Syria , the opposition calling for "guarantees" that civilians are not arrested by the regime out of the city.

Often seen as the home of the dispute, Homs has paid a high price its opposition to Bashar al-Assad . The rebels besieged neighborhoods since June 2012 by the regular army bombarded regularly and thousands of people live in appalling conditions, lacking food and medicine.

The influence of Moscow and Washington
Sunday, negotiators had addressed the issue of prisoners and missing, a phenomenon that has grown since the uprising in March 2011 has turned into a civil war, killing more than 130,000 dead and millions of refugees and displaced persons.

The opposition claims to have a list of 47,000 people held in prisons of the regime and presented to Geneva a first list with the names of 2,300 women and children. The plan calls on his side to the opposition to inquire about the missing rebels, soldiers and civilians, but did not make the list.

Since Saturday, the two delegations always speak with mediator interposed.And multiply very undiplomatic statements to the press. Lakhdar Brahimi wanted to remind everyone of his duties and urged delegates to be "responsible" and to respect "the confidentiality of the discussions."

He also called for "those who have influence to use their influence to help us move forward." Behind the scenes, U.S. and Russian diplomats to provide advice and support to effect their protégés for negotiations.

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On the web: Syria opposition wants to "be patient" in Geneva
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My mother died last year at age 98 1/2. She drove her car up until age 94 when she decided she was finally too old to drive safely. I am now retired and can buy senior discount coffee at McDonald's for $0.50, so I guess I have to concede that I have passed over some line into decrepitude.

Few years back driving through Wyoming , was hungry stop at restaurant around 10.30 middle of nowhere. Friendly people eating a lunch an old lady with her shot sit next to me ,ask me few question, may be around 80. She took few shot ,start her F250 ( park next to my car) and left for home 10 miles away in dark roads....a little bit drunk,80 year old and roads of Wyoming .
 
She took few shot ,start her F250 ( park next to my car) and left for home 10 miles away in dark roads....a little bit drunk,80 year old and roads of Wyoming .
I think people in Wyoming (the natives not the eastern transplants) think that Wyoming roads are so open and empty, they won't hit anything even if they are weaving all over the road.
 
I wonder what the countries who are eligible for this conference achieved after several day of wasting time and turning the peace conference into a mockery
 
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