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UN blames Assad, Assad blames opposition for violence ahead of ceasefire

Published time: April 07, 2012 15:37
Edited time: April 08, 2012 00:32
Supporters of President Bashar al-Assad during a march in Damacus on April 7, 2012 (AFP Photo / Louai Beshara)
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Thousands of people have taken into the streets of Damascus in a massive pro-government rally. Syrian President Assad, meanwhile, has sent a message to the UN blaming the opposition for the recent spate of violence ahead of the ceasefire deadline.

­In the message to the UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon and the president of the Security Council, Assad said that "terrorist acts" have increased in the past few days.

"The terrorist acts committed by the armed terrorist groups in Syria have increased during the last few days, particularly after reaching an understanding on Kofi Annan's plan," said the letter.

These armed groups, Assad wrote, have been  funded and armed by countries such as Turkey, Saudi Arabia and Qatar and now they are interested only in violence, despite the April 10 ceasefire deadline.

Damascus is concerned that there is no indication from the opposition as to whether or not they are fully committed to the peace plan developed by UN-Arab League envoy Kofi Annan and and was agreed by Assad.

Meanwhile, thousands of Syrians have taken to the streets of Damascus on Saturday to commemorate the 65th anniversary of the creation of President Bashar al-Assad's ruling Baath party.


Supporters gathered in the central Sabaa Bahrat Square, waving the red, black and green national flag and portraits of Assad as patriotic music blared from loudspeakers, AFP reports.


People, all against international interference in Syria, are showing support for the reform program Assad promised to implement.

The rally comes as UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon accused Syrian authorities of not doing enough to show their commitment to Annan’s plan to stop the conflict. But Assad has denied these accusations, saying that for days now he has been withdrawing his tanks and troops from populated areas, just as the six-point peace plan requires.

At the same time there is a UN team in Damascus preparing the groundwork for next week’s ceasefire deadline. If the April 10 timeframe earlier adopted by the Syrian government is met, then all opposition fighters should stop their operations within 48 hours of the deadline – by 6 am local time on April 12.

Comments (28)

New World Order 08.04.2012 22:17

Neptune, the Jews are clearly at the heart of what is happening in Syria. They started the Arab spring. Their goal is to topple all regimes in the Middle East and get to Iran. It's so simple that even a child can see it.

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Parbes 08.04.2012 11:29

Russia needs to be on the side of the Syrian government, not "on the U.N.'s side". The U.N. today is a corrupt, degenerate organization which has morphed into a tool of the major Western powers; it is NOT after truth, fairness, objectivity, and justice. And even if it were not so, STILL, the dictates of the U.N. should never be allowed to override national sovereignty anyway. The U.N. should not interfere in the internal affairs of any nation, EVEN IN CASE OF INTERNAL CONFLICT; it should ONLY help regulate international relations between sovereign states, in accordance with generally accepted common-sense tenets of international law. Otherwise, it means that no national government anywhere in the world will have any real sovereignty anymore, or be able to put down a rebellion or deal with internal enemies. It means that disgruntled or opportunistic groups in any country (and ESPECIALLY in those countries disli ked by the U.S. and Western governments, aided, of course, by the propagandistic information warfare of the Western "mainstream media") will be greatly encouraged to start massive violence and bloodshed in the hope of getting the U.N. to endorse international military intervention in the name of "protecting human rights". This is a recipe for unending upheaval and destruction everywhere, except for the U.S. and a few of its "favored allies". And Russia should not fool herself - if she now allows the Syrian government to be trampled by its enemies using the U.N. and the selectively and dishonestly-applied excuses of "preventing civilian deaths", etc., as a cover, then this will set a precedent which will be used ruthlessly against Russia herself, a few years down the road.  &nb sp;    ;

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Socialism2011 08.04.2012 11:20

More proof of the widespread support the Syrian government has. The 'uprising' is an orchestratred false flag operation planned by the US  nearly a decade ago. The initial protests,which have been over exaggerated by the main stream media, were used as an opportunity to begin their plans to destroy Syria.

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