1000 factories in Aleppo robbed as Britain warns of more violence

AP news agency reported on Thursday that in northern Syria, rebels linked to the al-Qaeda terrorist network battled army troops inside a military helicopter base in the Idlib province.

This as the Syrian Foreign Ministry referred two letters to the President of the Security Council and the UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon, in which the ministry revealed that more than 1000 factories were robbed in Aleppo with their equipment transferred to Turkey, stressing that the Turkish government facilitated the transfer.

The letter added that such acts are illegal and target the Syrian people, sources of their livelihood and their economy, emphasizing that the international community must interfere to stop this piracy and violation of sovereignty.

Meanwhile, the Syrian newspapers harshly criticized International peace envoy to Syria Lakhdar Brahimi after the latter had dismissed a speech by President Bashar al-Assad. According to the dailies, Brahimi’s position revealed his true colors and proved his political bias.

In this context. a Foreign Ministry statement quoted on state news said Syria was "very surprised" by Brahimi's comments and said it showed "he is fragrantly biased for those who are conspiring against Syria and its people."

Separately, the Syrian opposition Coalition said that the swap deal on Wednesday that resulted in the released of 48 Iranian nationals in exchange for more than 2,000 prisoners held by Syrian authorities, proves that Assad is affiliated with Iran.

Earlier, a short-range ballistic missile was fired inside Syria on Wednesday, following similar launches last week, a NATO official said on Thursday.    "We detected the launch of an unguided, short-range ballistic missile inside Syria yesterday. This follows similar launches on January 2 and 3," the official said. "All missiles were fired from inside Syria and they impacted in northern Syria."   

The description of the missiles would cover Scuds that are in the Syrian military's armoury, but the official said NATO could not confirm the type of missile used.

International positions

British Foreign Secretary William Hague said on Thursday that Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's intransigence and brutality mean there is a serious risk violence in Syria will worsen, and if so the international community must "step up" its response. "President Assad's speech last week urged the Syrian people to unite in a war against his opponents.

Given the regime's intransigence and brutality, there is a serious risk that the violence will indeed worsen in the coming months," Hague told parliament.   

"If that happens the international community's response will have to be stepped up. So we will not rule out options to save lives and protect civilians," he added.