Highlights: Iran ready to hold talks with Syrian opposition as Damascus struck by 'most intense' clashes yet. Major General Adnan Salo, who is a former head of the chemical weapons unit in the Syrian army, told Asharq al-Awsat "All we need from NATO are two air attacks on the presidential palace to topple the regime and we will be able to control all the Syrian cities," Last night, heavy fighting raged in the heart of Damascus, hitherto regarded as an impregnable bastion of power. The rebels claim control of two districts: Midane and Tadamoun, in the south and east of the Syrian capital. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) reported Monday that tanks and troop carriers were deployed for the first time in Midane. Local residents reported the presence of snipers on the roofs.
Several family members of Syrian General Rustom Ghazaleh, the security chief in the province of Damascus, fled to Jordan, said the pan-Arab TV channel al-Arabiya , quoting sources in the Syrian opposition. They are now in a Syrian refugee camp near the Jordanian capital, Amman, the source said.
In a video posted on YouTube, Mohamad Sillu, a defected general who is now part of the leadership of the rebel Free Syrian Army said: “I say to the regime, Damascus we are coming, and we will relegate Bashar and his regime to the dustbin of history.
In a further twist in the battle for the capital, al-Arabiya television reported the defection of a man claiming to be the brother in law of Rustom Ghazale, a powerful regime figure who is the head of military intelligence for Damascus and its suburbs. Mr Ghazale, who was effectively the governor of Lebanon until Syrian troops were forced out in 2005, denied members of his family had defected.
Several family members of Syrian General Rustom Ghazaleh, the security chief in the province of Damascus, fled to Jordan, said the pan-Arab TV channel al-Arabiya , quoting sources in the Syrian opposition. They are now in a Syrian refugee camp near the Jordanian capital, Amman, the source said.
Last night, heavy fighting raged in the heart of Damascus, hitherto regarded as an impregnable bastion of power. The rebels claim control of two districts: Midane and Tadamoun, in the south and east of the Syrian capital.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) reported Monday that tanks and troop carriers were deployed for the first time in Midane. Local residents reported the presence of snipers on the roofs.In London, the former Syrian ambassador to Iraq, Nawaf Fares, who defected on July 11, warned that President Assad could use chemical weapons against opposition forces to stay in power.
Heavy clashes hit Syrian Capital:The scenes from the second straight day of fierce clashes in Damascus, unfolding in amateur videos posted online, were the latest evidence that Syria's conflict is fast devolving into a civil war that is moving ever closer to the seat of President Bashar Assad's power.
Plumes of black smoke drifted over the city skyline and gunfire could be heard throughout the capital, even in the upscale cafes in downtown frequented by members of Assad's regime. The fighting left many streets deserted in a string of neighborhoods on the city's southwest corner where the fighting was focused. Many families have fled, and fear grips many who remain behind."It is a war here, a war," said a woman reached by phone in the Midan neighborhood
As Damascus battle rages, Syria army defector urges limited NATO intervention: A Syrian army defector said that the rebels controlled 60 per cent of the country and that all they needed was limited military intervention from NATO to help them topple President Bashar Assad, a pan-Arab daily newspaper reported on Monday.
"All we need from NATO are two air attacks on the presidential palace to topple the regime and we will be able to control all the Syrian cities," Major General Adnan Salo, who is a former head of the chemical weapons unit in the Syrian army, told Asharq al-Awsat. Meanwhile, Syrian rebels on Monday fought fierce battles with government forces in Damascus, including in an area close to President Bashar Assad's residence, activists said. Videos posted on opposition websites showed fighting allegedly taking place in Kfar Soussa, an area in the capital close to the presidential palace.
Iran ready to hold talks with Syrian opposition: The Iranian Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi said Sunday that Tehran was ready to meet with Syrian opposition groups in order to promote dialogue between them and the Syrian government. "The Islamic Republic of Iran is ready to have meetings with Syrian dissidents in order to facilitate talks between government and Syrian dissidents," said Salehi, was quoted as saying by Fars News Agency.
He told reporters in Tehran that it was very important to find a solution to the Syrian crisis. In addition, Iran's top diplomat expressed the hope that this crisis could be resolved through cooperation between the countries of the region.
Damascus struck by 'most intense' clashes yet: Heavy clashes between rebels and regular troops have erupted in Damascus in the "most intense" fighting in the capital since the start of the anti-regime revolt in Syria 16 months ago, a monitoring group has said. "The regular army fired mortar rounds into several suburbs" where fighters of the Free Syrian Army are entrenched, said Rami Abdel Rahman, head of the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights on Sunday.
"They have never been this intense," Abdel Rahman told the AFP news agency. He said the fighting was heaviest in the Tadamon, Kfar Sousa, Nahr Aisha and Sidi Qadad neighbourhoods. "The security forces are attempting to take control of these neighborhoods, but so far they have not succeeded," he added. The Local Co-ordination Committees, which organizes anti-regime protests in Syria, said plumes of black smoke were Sunday night billowing out of Tadamon and that loud explosions were heard in Nahr Aisha.
We can still be guaranteed the United States is going to be dragged into this one way or the other, you know along with the rest of the world we are already there clandestinely. This is looking good but the US can not be foolish enough to believe that one strategic bombing will make the Government fall. I absolutely believe Assad will use those chemical weapons on his own supporters and people as all he sees is his regime in trouble and a last chance to kill the vermin "terrorist" protesters.
* Assad kept saying that Syria is no Libya but it is in the respect that all the fears we had in Libya essentially did not come true but heretofore have come true in Syria. This includes the fear of chemical weapons being used on the protesters. You better absolutely believe that fear will become real if Assad feels the Alawite's are in danger of losing their control over Syria.
*You also really have to wonder now about that large Russian Naval force that arrived over there recently supposedly to guard the Russian submarine base in Tartus "complete with landing marines.
* We now know Iran and probably Russia are preparing for Syria to fall to the protesters or at the very least into total disarray for years. Russia and China let alone Iran are not going to let this go down. I see their Vietnam. They will keep installing "their leaders" until they are overwhelmed and they are forced out. The entire middle east will be in this if not the world. The future direction of the middle east and the world is at stake and nothing less.
* High ranking Government officials have started defecting along with high ranking military officials. I am hoping they do so en masse because I fear they will be fighting at least Iran and Russia for total control of their beloved Syria.
James Joiner
Gardner, Ma
http://anaverageamericanpatriot.blogspot.com
