Car bomb explosion in Syria's Idlib leaves several casualties

   
SANA News Agency reported a car bomb explosion in Syria’s Western Idlib Wednesday afternoon, which caused "several casualties".

This as G8 foreign ministers are set to meet in London, where host Britain will press its case for doing more to help the Syrian opposition against President Bashar al-Assad and end a devastating civil war.         

Responding to threats from North Korea of an imminent conflict with its southern neighbor will also be high on the agenda of the Group of Eight leading industrialized nations - the United States, Britain, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Canada and Russia - gathered in Britain's capital till Thursday.         

Leaders of the Syrian National Coalition will be present on the sidelines of the G8 and hold talks with those foreign ministers willing to meet them, British Foreign Secretary William Hague told reporters on Tuesday.        

Hague, his French counterpart Laurent Fabius and U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry are expected to hold talks with the civilian opposition figures.        

France and Britain are expected once again to press the case for amending or lifting an arms embargo on Syria to support the outgunned rebels.       

This as the Syrian Foreign Ministry sent two letters to the UN Security Council and the United Nations, stressing that “the success of any political settlement for the Syrian crisis requires of some States to stop providing the terrorist groups with weapons”.        

In this context, SANA News Agency disclosed a UN report that says “Lybia has become a key source of weapons in the region, with arms shipments toward Syria well underway in numerous areas in Lybia, and transported via Turkey and Northern Lebanon.”      

On another note, Syria's al-Nusra Front formally pledged allegiance to al Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahri, according to an audio tape posted online on Wednesday.       

Abu Mohammad al-Golani, leader of the Syrian group, said: "The sons of Nusra Front renew their pledge (of allegiance) to the Sheikh of Jihad Ayman al-Zawahri and declare obedience."        

Positions:         

A spokesman of the Israeli Army denied rumors about the establishment of a hospital in the Golan Heights that aims at providing treatment to injured members of the Syrian opposition, noting that his country is keen not to intervene in the Syrian conflict unless Weapons of Mass Destruction are being used.            

On the field:         

Violent shells were fired into the areas of Deir al-Zour and Daraya, adding that the city of al-Sanmin has been subject to heavy missiles, according to the Syrian revolution page on Youtube.          

On another note, the Syrian Television stressed that the Army undertook numerous military operations in Hama and Homs, noting that the army also killed gunmen and confiscated their weapons.     

This as Iraqi Shi'ite militias have begun openly acknowledging they are fighting in Syria, in what they see as a worthy battle against rebels seeking to topple President Bashar al-Assad, especially his hardline Sunni opponents.
   
By recognizing their role in Syria's war, Iraqi Shi'ite fighters may gain recruitment momentum to help Assad, whose Alawite sect is an offshoot of Shi'ite Islam, in a war that is splitting the region along sectarian lines.
   
The war has already pulled in Sunni Islamists from outside Syria to join rebel ranks. Syria, for its part, has begun sending militias loyal to Assad for training at a base in Shi'ite Iran, Assad's key ally, fighters say.
   
In recent months, Iraqi Shi'ite militants have said volunteers are crossing into Syria to fight, often alongside Assad's troops, or to protect the Sayyida Zeinab shrine on the outskirts of Damascus, a particularly holy place for Shi'ites.

Refugees Crisis:

Turkey is building two camps along its far southeastern border with Syria to house a growing number of refugees from Syrian minority groups, mainly Assyrian Christians as well as ethnic Kurds, a government official said on Wednesday.
   
More 250,000 Syrians fleeing civil war in their homeland have registered in Turkey, most of whom stay in 17 camps along the 900-km (560-mile) border, although Turkish leaders say the total number of refugees is closer to 400,000.
   
Those who have fled are predominantly ethnic Arabs from Syria's Sunni Muslim majority, most of whom largely support the rebels fighting to overthrow President Bashar al-Assad, who himself belongs to the Alawite minority of Shi'ite Islam.
   
Apart from housing refugees, Turkey, which also has a Sunni majority, has thrown its weight behind the rebels, giving them sanctuary, although it denies arming them. This has drawn accusations of sectarianism levelled at the government from Assad as well as Turkish minority groups and opposition parties.
   
Ankara strongly denies a sectarian or ethnic agenda.


REUTERS/LBCI

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