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Container Ship Carrying Weapons for Syrian Rebels Splits in Half/Sinks

2013-06-23T05:34:36.404Z

Entire Generation Of Syrian Children Could Be Lost: UN

2013-03-22T11:32:51.727Z

A whole generation of Syrian children risks being lost amid the country's spiralling civil war, the UN children's agency cautioned Tuesday, saying it was in urgent need of funds to address the crisis.
"As the crisis in Syria enters its third, tragic year without any end in sight, the risk of a lost generation grows every hour, every day and every month," UNICEF spokesman Patrick McCormick told reporters.
"We cannot afford to lose any more time. We certainly cannot afford to lose another year. We risk creating a generation of children who have seen, or know, only fighting, and may well end up perpetuating that cycle of violence," he warned.
The scarring of an entire generation could have dire consequences beyond Syria's borders, in a fragile region prone to violence and civil strife, McCormick said as UNICEF published a report two years to the day after the conflict began.
The Geneva-based agency pointed out that nearly half of the four million in dire need of aid inside Syria are under the age of 18, and 536,000 of them are children below the age of five.
Some 800,000 children under the age of 14 have meanwhile been internally displaced by the conflict, representing a sizable number of the estimated two million displaced Syrians.
Children also represent over half of the one million Syrian refugees, most of whom have fled to neighbouring Jordan, Lebanon, Turkey and Iraq.
"Millions of children inside Syria and across the region are witnessing their past and their futures disappear amidst the rubble and destruction of this prolonged conflict," UNICEF chief Anthony Lake said in the report.
The agency stressed that it was severely underfunded to help all the children in need.
"UNICEF is committed to keeping Syria's children from becoming a lost generation. None of us can afford that to happen. But they are on a precipice right now," said McCormick.
"UNICEF needs urgent funding" to continue its work, he said. "The funding has been extremely disappointing on Syria compared to other emergencies," he added.
UNICEF said it so far had received only 20 percent of the $195 million it had appealed for to help children and women affected by the crisis in Syria and in neighbouring countries through the end of June.
The agency warned that without more funds, it would soon need to scale back things like providing clean water, measles and polio vaccination campaigns, life-saving neo-natal care and emergency medical care.
Children, it cautioned, were especially vulnerable in the midst of an ever more ruthless civil war, that began with a brutal crackdown by the Bashar al-Assad regime on protests that erupted in March 2011.
Children inside the country are among 70,000 people the UN estimates have been killed there during the past two years of escalating violence, UNICEF pointed out, adding that children have also been maimed, exposed to sexual violence, torture, arbitrary detention and recruitment as soldiers.
"Countless children suffer from the psychological trauma of seeing family members killed, of being separated from their parents and being terrified by the constant thunder of shelling," Lake said, adding that access to clean water, adequate sanitation and health care is becoming increasingly scarce.
One in five schools in the country have been destroyed, the report showed.
"All around them, their dreams and opportunities for the future are being lost," Lake said.

Official: 'Something went down' in Syria, but it was short of chemical weapons

2013-03-22T11:29:30.241Z

The United Nations will investigate claims by the government and rebels that either side used chemical weapons against each other in the Syrian conflict.
The United Kingdom and France have also put in requests with the U.N. to investigate the alleged use of such weapons in three cases.
U.S. President Barack Obama and other American officials have said in recent days there was no intelligence to substantiate reports that rebels used chemical weapons against government troops.

Tunisian Ex-Jihadist Tells Tunisian TV Why he Stopped Fighting Alongside the FSA in Syria

2013-03-01T07:18:44.495Z

This mini-report from Tunisian TV station, Delta TV, shows an interview with a 29-year old Tunisian man who traveled to Syria and fought alongside the "Free Syrian Army" (FSA) against the Syrian Army. He explains why he stayed there for slightly over a month and decided to return back to his home country instead of remaining there for Jihad, as is the case with other young Tunisians who were sent to Syria mainly by their imams (clerics).

The interview corroborates some of other eyewitness accounts that accuse the FSA of committing massacres in order to frame the Syrian Army. He also states that no medical treatment was given to any foreign (Arab) Jihadist, which meant that any injury could end up in death. He also acknowledges that these Jihadis are being used as cannon fodder to fight a war by proxy.

'Al-Qaeda threat NATO's smoke screen for re-colonization of Northern Africa'

2013-02-02T13:24:13.336Z

Several foreign civilians were among dozens killed when Algerian forces stormed the site, taken by militants in revenge for the French intervention in neighboring Mali. Britain has stepped forward to help the French intervention, by providing cargo planes to transfer supplies to the war zone. But journalist and broadcaster Neil Clark says the European stance against Islamists is inconsistent - READ FULL SCRIPT BELOW....

NATO War On Africa
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With more western countries getting indirectly involved in the conflict in Mali, there’s increasing speculation about their motives. Journalist and broadcaster Neil Clark told RT, that the intervention has ‘only economic reasons’.

Several western countries have already offered France, which is to boost its force to 2,500 soldiers next week, aid in Mali.

The UK is providing logistical air assistance, while the United States is providing surveillance and other intelligence help.

Washington also announced it will supply transport planes for French forces and consider sending refueling tankers for French warplanes.

Canada has joined with the allies to support the on-going military intervention by dispatching a heavy-lift military transport. The country is also making an indirect contribution by training counter-terrorism operatives in neighboring Niger.

Italy is ready to offer logistical support for air operations, but it will not be joining French troops on the ground. The country’s defense Minister Giampaolo Di Paola told the Senate on Wednesday that Italy’s offer was confined to air operations only.

RT: The UK is helping this French campaign in Mali with supplies and several British hostages have now been killed in Algeria. How concerned do you think the British public and politicians are about getting involved?

Neil Clark: I think the public is very concerned, because what’s happened here is David Cameron, who spent most of last year cheering on Islamist rebels in Syria, has now taken the line that Islamist rebels in Mali are the biggest danger to the world and we must intervene, Britain must help France regardless of the consequences for Britain. And I think it’s a very misguided policy. Unfortunately the political elite in Britain seem to be all behind his policy, which is very disturbing, but I think the public is very concerned about what’s going on.

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RT: What's in this for the UK – what's London looking to gain from supporting France?

NC: It’s very interesting, because if we think back to 2011, it was David Cameron and William Hague people like this, who were the loudest and most aggressive cheerleaders for the deposing of Colonel Gaddafi. And now the very same people – Cameron and Hague are the ones saying we’ve got to get involved in Mali operation to put down Al-Qaeda groups there. And so there’s a real inconsistency here, real hypocrisy. Why is fighting Al-Qaeda in Africa the biggest task? Why do we play such an active role in toppling leaders? And what’s in it for Britain? I think that what’s happening is that this Al-Qaeda threat is being used as a smoke screen for the re-colonization of Northern Africa by NATO forces, by France, Britain and the US.

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RT: Do you think that’s why we they are ignoring of the rise of Al-Qaeda in Syria?

NC: Absolutely! Because, of course, one of the biggest myths in international relations is that western powers are implacably opposed Al-Qaeda for the last 20-30 years. They are not. They will use the Al-Qaeda threat in some circumstances to invade certain countries like Afghanistan. But elsewhere they would actually back Al-Qaeda militants to topple secular regimes, like in Syria and Libya. It’s going to a Frankenstein’s monster, and of course it all dates back to Afghanistan in the 1980s. And Al-Qaeda and radical Islamic groups were used by the West to help topple the Red Army. And that’s all part of the policy.