It has acquired sectarian overtones, pitching the country's Sunni majority against the president's Shia Alawite sect,
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Terrorists' supply routes from Turkey cut off during army offensive in northern Syria -... - 0 views
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This is an article from Russia today that talks about supposed gains that the Syrian government has made with the support of Russian air power. It has an accompanying video of the Syrian Armed Forces fighting against rebels. Overall a piece of propaganda, but interesting footage nonetheless of Syrian Armed Forces using a variety of US and Russian-made weapons.
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German World War II Era Wehrmacht Howitzer Used By Syrian Rebels On The Battlefield In ... - 0 views
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A video from YouTube showing Syrian rebels using a German 10.5 cm LeFH 18 which is a 105 mm howitzer from the 1930s. The info section of the video claims that the Syrian army supposedly operated a few of these so the rebels most likely captured it from a base. I tagged this because it ties into my question from last week of where did Syria get all of these formerly Nazi made weapons.
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Israel claims Syria used chemical weapons during cease-fire | Fox News - 0 views
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Iranian support seen crucial for Yemen's Houthis - 0 views
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Syria: The story of the conflict - BBC News - 0 views
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both sides of the conflict have committed war crimes - including murder, torture, rape and enforced disappearances.
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A further 6.5 million people, 50% of them children, are believed to be internally displaced within Syria,
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Iran and Russia have propped up the Alawite-led government of President Assad and gradually increased their support,
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rise of radical Islamist militia in rebel ranks and the arrival of Sunni jihadists from across the world has led to a marked cooling of international and regional backing.
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This article delves into the issues of war crimes, chemical weapons, humanitarian issues, and the rise if islamist groups interventions
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This website offers eight steps to understanding the Syrian conflict. The sections include: uprising turns violent, descent into civil war, war crimes, chemical weapons, humanitarian crisis, Syrian refugees in the region, rebels and the rise of the jihadists, peace efforts, & proxy war
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More than 250,000 Syrians have lost their lives in four-and-a-half years of armed conflict, which began with anti-government protests before escalating into a full-scale civil war. More than 11 million others have been forced from their homes as forces loyal to President Bashar al-Assad and those opposed to his rule battle each other - as well as jihadist militants from so-called Islamic State.
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In Libya, you can buy an anti-aircraft gun on Facebook - 0 views
UNRWA Strongly Condemns Placement of Rockets in School | UNRWA - 0 views
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Egypt women: Rights on paper, not yet on ground - Yahoo News - 0 views
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Men hold an overwhelming near-lock on decision-making in politics, and activists say they are doing little to bring about equality.
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saying the student was "dressed like a belly dancer." She was wearing black pants, a long-sleeved pink shirt and a head-scarf.
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security forces dragged a female protester to the ground, pulled up her top to reveal her blue bra and stomped on her chest.
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female protesters at the time were forced to undergo humiliating "virginity tests" when detained by the military.
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"If there is no democratic climate, how would you benefit from these beautiful laws?" said Abdel-Hameed. "It will be the same as under Mubarak: you have a beautiful law but it's not implemented."
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The document explicitly enshrines equality between the sexes and women's rights to education, work and high political office.
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"It's not just more progressive than the 2012 constitution, it's more progressive than the 1971 constitution . from the gender perspective,
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2010 court decision barred women judges from the State Council, a powerful judicial body that regulates disputes between individuals and the state and reviews legislation.
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January she wrote to the State Council demanding it take on women judges in light of the constitution.
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activate a unit specialized in fighting violence against women and "the health sector should take into account reproductive rights.
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Inside The Chilling Online World Of The Women Of ISIS - 0 views
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women of ISIS appear to have established networks across social media platforms, which they use to connect with one another and recruit other women.
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Interested parties are directed to online guides with step-by-step instructions on how to get to ISIS-controlled territory — including advice on how to deceive Turkish customs agents.
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I am more then confident that no one in dawlah fears US invasion in fact we are all pretty excited more shuhadah and more slaying kuffar
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Libya: Where are the dividing lines? - Middle East - Al Jazeera English - 0 views
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The House moved to Tobruk after armed groups supportive of the General National Congress began to overrun the capital.
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Libya's new parliament, dominated by self-styled secular and nationalist candidates, was formed after the heavy defeat of Islamist candidates in June elections.
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In the House of Representatives camp, many figures have come together in opposition to the contentious political isolation law, which banned anyone involved with the former regime from political participation.
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Errishi told Al Jazeera that oil revenues pass through the country's central bank. With members of Libya Dawn guarding the gates to the central bank, Errishi added that "the central bank is controlled by whomever is controlling Tripoli".
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The UAE, which is home to Mahmoud Jibril, a leading politician opposed to Libya's Islamist groups, has been accused by the US of bombing sites held by Misrata forces with the help of Egypt.
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t has also been alleged that Qatar, which plays host to Ali Salabi, a leading spiritual figure with close ties to the Muslim Brotherhood, has provided weapons and support to Brotherhood-affiliated groups battling former general Haftar.
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With the displacement of 100,000 people due to fighting in Tripoli and Benghazi, however, the Libya crisis may not yet have taken its worst turn. "If we see more brigades going to one side over the other," said researcher Hamedi, "this will lead to civil war. The role of the regional environment is to help the domestic equation reach a deal."
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Due to Libya's lack of institutional structure and weak centralized government, rival militia violence and clashes have created constant chaos leading the country towards another civil war. After the fall of Qaddafi, who obliterated institutions necessary for a functional government, Libya has been unable to manage the state. The National Transitional Council, which replaced the Qaddafi Regime, turned into the General National Congress and was given 18 months to form a democratic constitution. When the deadline passed the constitution was incomplete, which forced Congress to organize elections to a new House of Representatives. The former GNC members declared a new self proclaimed GNC, electing Omar al-Hasi as their prime minister. The new GNC is not recognized by Libya's parliament nor is it by the international community. Al Jazeera says the country literally has two parliaments and two governments, creating inconceivable instability throughout the state. The newly elected House has moved to Tobruk after armed islamic GNC militia groups overran the capital, seizing control over the major institutions in Tripoli. Due to this lack of a functional government, the rest of the state has turned to chaos. After the civil war, anti and pro Qaddafi forces branched into militias striving for power. Without a working state and government, militias had to rely on themselves to provide security, and really have no incentive to give up arms and no true government to be a part of. General Khalifa Hifter, a former Qaddafi general who later joined the Libyan rebel army in 2011, formed an anti-militia militia, targeting islamist militias like Ansar al-Sharia. Hifter is not affiliated with either of the governments, but rather strives for a military government, and supreme control of the armed forces.
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Syria keen on Russian expansion in Middle East - Al-Monitor: the Pulse of the Middle East - 0 views
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Syria has called on its Russian ally to expand in the Middle East, by expanding its small pier in the city of Tartus and turning it into a base
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This has coincided with Saudi Arabia leading a coalition against Ansar Allah in Yemen, with a cover by the United States
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meeting with a group of Russian journalists March 27, and in response to a question on Damascus’ desire to see a wider Russian activity in the Middle East, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad said he certainly welcomes “any expansion of Russian presence in the Eastern Mediterranean, precisely on the Syrian shores and ports.
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Assad said: “The Russian presence in different parts of the world, including the Eastern Mediterranean and the Syrian port of Tartus, is very necessary, in order to create a sort of balance, which the world has lost after the dissolution of the Soviet Union more than 20 years ago.
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Syrian president welcomed the Russian presence in his country and the region. “For us, the stronger this presence is in our region, the better it is for stability [in the region], because Russia is assuming an important role in world stability,”
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Syrian nod is only a repetition of a former call made under the rule of late Syrian President Hafez al-Assad, who saw that the presence of a Russian military representation in Syria in the Mediterranean region contributes to the promotion of the idea of “the balance of terror” against Israel and the United States
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The talk was, however, halted, until the last two years, when an actual need to promote Russian presence in the Mediterranean emerged in light of the reignition of the Cold War.
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deployment of missile systems on the Mediterranean coast, as a sort of “symbolic deterrence.” The rumors were repeated as the NATO missile defense project was announced, which was supposed to be deployed in different countries, including Turkey and other countries bordering Russia
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e US invasion of Iraq, as the US desire to change the face of the Middle East seemed free of any rational considerations. Assad made several visits to Moscow, and although this has not been publicly mentioned, Syrian diplomats and officials stressed to As-Safir that Syria expressed its desire to expand the Russian presence in the Eastern Mediterranean, particularly through Tartus, so that it turns into a military presence with limited standards
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, Russia and Syria signed the biggest deal of its kind to explore oil in the Syrian waters, which covers a 2,190 square-kilometer surface area, and to achieve economic ambitions, namely extracting 2.5 billion barrels of oil and 8.5 trillion cubic feet of proven gas reserves, the oil and gas magazine said back then
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“any decision to modernize the infrastructure of the Russian Material-Technical Support Point in Tartus can only be made after a political decision is taken in this regard, in coordination with the Syrian side.” He explained that any modernization should “take into account the political and military situation in the Mediterranean region,” and therefore “it will include the promotion of all sorts of protection in the facility, including surface-to-air missiles and anti-riots weapons, and will be in coordination with the Syrian side.”
Security Council, Adopting Resolution 2174 (2014), Calls for Immediate Ceasefire in Lib... - 0 views
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shared by fcastro2 on 04 Feb 15
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Putin brings China into Middle East strategy - Al-Monitor: the Pulse of the Middle East - 0 views
www.al-monitor.com/...-consequences-middle-east.html
putin china middle east syria strategy politics
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one of China’s main strategic regional projects was the economic region (or belt) of the 21st century Great Silk Road and the Maritime Silk Road, which intends to create a wide area of Chinese economic presence from China’s western borders to Europe
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Chinese leader opened the Sixth Ministerial Meeting of the China-Arab Cooperation Forum on June 5 in Beijing
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energy cooperation; infrastructure construction and creation of favorable conditions for trade and investment; and high-tech domains of nuclear energy, the space rocket sector and new energy sources
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suggested that the creation of a free trade zone between China and the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) be accelerated
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China supports the peace process and the establishment of an independent Palestinian state within the borders of June 4, 1967, with East Jerusalem as its capital, "enjoying full sovereignty."
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, why shouldn’t Russia and China in the current situation — given the proximity of their interests and positions — undertake joint initiatives to unblock the peace process, while initiating steps to "introduce this activity within an institutional framework?
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, the unilateral efforts by US Secretary of State John Kerry to promote the Israeli-Palestinian peace process are not bearing fruit
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Russia is interested in using this unprecedented convergence with China in its operations on the Middle East arena, where Moscow has in many ways already been acting in unison with Beijing
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, the Middle East Quartet is one of few international platforms where Russia can constructively engage with the United States and the EU
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China's growing economic cooperation with Arab countries not a cause for concern in Moscow, but it is also viewed in a very favorable light
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will not one day replace the United States as the security guarantor for the transportation routes of these resources
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Moscow’s and Beijing’s interests converge in the joint countering of terrorism, extremism and separatism
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. Among the militants from radical groups fighting against government troops in Syria, there are people hailing not only from Russia and Central Asia (fewer in numbers to those coming from Arab and Islamic as well as Western countries), but also from the Uighur minority in China.
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recently, Beijing came under harsh criticism from Ankara for its actions in the Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region against the Uighur population, which the Turks believe to be their next of kin
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. Disappointed by the failure of EU accession, the Turkish leadership has even started talking about the desire to join the SCO as an observer
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Ankara expresses its willingness to cooperate with China in the fight against terrorists and condemns the separatism coming from some groups in Xinjiang
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There is no doubt that a comprehensive strategic partnership, in which Russia and China would act in concert along the political consensus reached by their two leaders, would in the short term
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According to both, this convergence is neither a union nor a tournament of predators, but a very pragmatic integrationist instrument of protection and projection of interests by the two powers, including in the Middle East.
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roughly 50 agreements ushering in a period of unprecedented convergence between the two countries
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Such consensus includes Syria, despite Beijing’s lesser involvement on this issue, relative to Moscow; Iran, within the P5+1 (the five permanent UN Security Council members plus Germany) negotiations with Tehran over its nuclear program; the fight against terrorism and extremism; the creation of a weapons of mass destruction-free Middle East; the condemnation of external intervention and the strategy of "regime change" as well as the push for "color revolutions;" the policy to reach a settlement in the Middle East; and relations with the new Egyptian regime and with respect to the Sudanese issues.
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Saving Syria: International law is not the answer - Al Jazeera English - 0 views
www.aljazeera.com/...2013827123244943321.html
syria international law Geneva Convention legal rights chemical weapons
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Geneva Protocol - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia - 0 views
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