Showing posts with label Reuters. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Reuters. Show all posts

Sunday, July 21, 2013

Islamist rebels would gain sway in long Syrian war: U.S. official


(Reuters) - - Radical Islamist rebels will gain sway over the many disparate factions opposing Syrian President Bashar al-Assad unless they are checked, and the country's civil war could last years, a top Pentagon intelligence official said on Saturday.
David Shedd, the deputy director of the U.S. Defense Intelligence Agency, did not advocate any form of intervention by the United States or its allies, saying that was up to policymakers.
But his bleak assessment of the dangers posed by the Islamist al-Nusra Front and al Qaeda's Iraq-based wing, as well as the prospects for a prolonged conflict, could bolster advocates of greater involvement by the United States and its allies.
Addressing the Aspen Security Forum in Colorado, Shedd said he counted at least 1,200 groups in the opposition. He said many of the groups were preoccupied with strictly local grievances, like a lack of potable water in their villages.
"Left unchecked, I'm very concerned that the most radical elements will take over larger segments" of the opposition groups, Shedd said, strongly hinting at the need for some kind of outside intervention.
He said the conflict could drag on anywhere "from many, many months to multiple years," and that a prolonged stalemate could leave open parts of Syria to potential control by radical fighters.
"They will not go home when it's over," Shedd said, envisioning one scenario where Assad retreats to an enclave and other parts of the country are up for grabs. "They will fight for that space, and they're there for the long haul."
Shedd added he and the DIA never thought Assad's regime would fall quickly - comments that appeared to stand in contrast to predictions by U.S. officials a year ago that Assad's days were numbered.
"DIA's position was that (Assad's fall) was no earlier than the start of this year. And it's obviously not happened," he said.
ARMING THE REBELS
U.S. plans to ship weapons to some rebels have been caught in a Washington impasse, after some members of Congress feared they would end up in the hands of Islamist militants.
Asked whether he thought more secular opposition fighters should be strengthened, or whether more radical rebel groups need somehow to be confronted, Shedd said: "I think it's too simple to say it's one or the other."
"Because it's the reality that left unchecked they will become bigger," he said, cautioning that the al-Nusra Front was gaining in strength and was "a case of serious concern."
Rivalries have been growing between the Free Syrian Army(FSA) and Islamists, whose smaller but more effective forces control most of the rebel-held parts of northern Syria more than two years after pro-democracy protests became an uprising. The conflict has killed more than 100,000 people.
The two sides previously fought together from time to time, but the Western and Arab-backed FSA, desperate for greater firepower, has tried to distance itself from the Islamists to allay U.S. fears any arms it might supply could reach al Qaeda.
Shedd's comments came as FSA rebels vent frustration at what they see as the slow pace of Western support. Britain, for example, has abandoned plans to arm rebels.
Shedd acknowledged identifying "good" versus "bad" rebels was very difficult.
"But I think (it is) a challenge that is well worth pursuing," he said.
Asked how the United States could avoid getting sucked into the conflict, Shedd said: "I believe relying on allies in the region is our best solution."
"We know that a number of the Gulf states have great concerns with the Bashar al-Assad regime. And I think that there are a number, and a sizeable number, of allies that would be prepared to work even more closely with us," he said.
(Reporting by Phil Stewart; Editing by Eric Beech)

Thursday, July 18, 2013

Syrian refugees demand help from Kerry at Jordan camp


(This story contains material from a member of the pool of State Department correspondents in Jordan, of which Arshad Mohammed of Reuters is a member.)
By Arshad Mohammed
(Reuters) - Syrian refugees angrily told U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry on Thursday that the United States should set up a no-fly zone and safe havens in Syria to protect them.
Visiting a camp that holds roughly 115,000 Syrian refugees in Jordan about 12 km (eight miles) from the Syrian border, Kerry spent about 40 minutes with half a dozen refugees who vented their frustration at the international community's failure to end Syria's more than two-year-old civil war.
He told them Washington was considering various options, including buffer zones for their protection, but that the situation was complex and much was still under consideration.
"Where is the international community? What are you waiting for?" a Syrian woman, who did not give her name, told Kerry at the United Nations' Zaatari refugee camp. "We hope that you will not go back to the States before you find a solution to the crisis. At least impose a no-fly zone or an embargo."
Waving a pen in the air and tapping it on the table, the woman referred to the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan, which ends in three weeks. She said: "Mr. Secretary, if the situation remains unchanged until the end of Ramadan this camp will become empty. We will return to Syria and we will fight with knives.
"You, as the U.S. government look to Israel with respect. Cannot you do the same with the children of Syria?"
NOT "CUT AND DRY"
Kerry made an aerial tour of the tents and pre-fabricated, container-like homes that form by far the biggest camp for Syrians in Jordan. Meeting refugees afterward in a fenced-off administrative section, he acknowledged the anger.
"They are frustrated and angry at the world for not stepping in and helping," Kerry told reporters.
"I explained to them I don't think it's as cut and dry and as simple as some of them look at it. But if I were in their shoes I would be looking for help from wherever I could find it."
Kerry did not enter the area of the vast camp where the refugees live, but kept to the adjacent, fenced-off administrative area where humanitarian officials work and live. The half dozen refugees came to meet Kerry in a conference room within the administrative zone.
"We are not satisfied with the American answer. We never were. We just need ... action," a second woman told reporters after meeting Kerry.
During the meeting, Kerry told the refugees that many young Americans had died or lost their limbs "fighting for the freedom of Iraq" and "fighting for the freedom of Afghanistan".
After the request for buffer and no-fly zones, Kerry said: "A lot of different options are under consideration. I wish it was very simple. As you know, we've been fighting two wars for 12 years. We are trying to help in various ways, including helping Syrian opposition fighters have weapons.
"We are doing new things. There is consideration of buffer zones and other things but it is not as simple as it sounds."
(Editing by Alastair MacDonald)