Russia has delivered to Syria promised air defense missiles, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad implied in an interview aired yesterday, in a move that could complicate any foreign intervention in his war-torn country.
Moscow, the al-Assad regime’s most powerful ally, announced this week it intends to honor its contract to supply Syria with the S-300 missiles, prompting fears of the country’s more than two-year conflict spreading.
Meanwhile, the opposition National Coalition launched an urgent appeal for the rescue of 1,000 wounded civilians in the central-west town of al-Qusayr, which al-Assad’s forces and Lebanese Hezbollah fighters are battling to recapture from rebels.
Photo: AFP
The developments come against a backdrop of concerns the opposition will fail to agree to attend a peace conference that the US and Russia have been jointly pushing for in a bid to end a war estimated to have killed more than 90,000 people.
The al-Assad interview was scheduled to be broadcast on al-Manar, the channel of the Lebanese Shiite movement Hezbollah, his close regional ally, yesterday evening.
In it, the embattled Syrian leader implicitly acknowledged that Russia had already delivered some of the S-300 missiles.
Al-Manar said in a statement that when asked about the delivery of the surface-to-air missiles, al-Assad replied: “All the agreements with Russia will be honored and some already have been recently.”
The S-300s are capable of shooting down warplanes and guided missiles, and are similar to Patriots, which NATO has deployed on the Turkish border with war-torn Syria.
On the ground, fighting has centered around al-Qusayr, the town al-Assad’s forces have been trying to seize back from rebels in an all-out offensive since May 19, backed by Hezbollah fighters.
The National Coalition warned yesterday that the fierce battle for the town, strategic to both sides for its links to Lebanon and the Mediterranean, has left 1,000 wounded civilians stranded.
“Al-Qusayr has been under constant bombardment,” a coalition statement said. “[A] large number of civilians living in the area have been injured due to the assault launched over two weeks ago on the city.”
It cited an “acute shortage of doctors, paramedics and first aid kits,” and said this “must trigger international relief organizations to respond immediately and save the wounded civilians.”
The National Coalition has been recognized by many Western and Arab states as the sole legitimate representative of the Syrian people.
It insists any negotiations with the regime must lead to al-Assad’s resignation, a position Russian Minister of Foreign Affairs Sergei Lavrov criticized yesterday as unrealistic.
“We are under the impression that the National Coalition and its regional sponsors are doing everything so as not to allow the start of the political process and achieve military intervention in Syria through any means possible,” Lavrov said. “These demands are impossible to fulfill. The only thing that unites them is a demand of Bashar al-Assad’s immediate departure.”
Meanwhile, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported that at least 140 people were killed in fighting across Syria on Wednesday.
DEFENDING DEMOCRACY: Taiwan shares the same values as those that fought in WWII, and nations must unite to halt the expansion of a new authoritarian bloc, Lai said The government yesterday held a commemoration ceremony for Victory in Europe (V-E) Day, joining the rest of the world for the first time to mark the anniversary of the end of World War II in Europe. Taiwan honoring V-E Day signifies “our growing connections with the international community,” President William Lai (賴清德) said at a reception in Taipei on the 80th anniversary of V-E Day. One of the major lessons of World War II is that “authoritarianism and aggression lead only to slaughter, tragedy and greater inequality,” Lai said. Even more importantly, the war also taught people that “those who cherish peace cannot
STEADFAST FRIEND: The bills encourage increased Taiwan-US engagement and address China’s distortion of UN Resolution 2758 to isolate Taiwan internationally The Presidential Office yesterday thanked the US House of Representatives for unanimously passing two Taiwan-related bills highlighting its solid support for Taiwan’s democracy and global participation, and for deepening bilateral relations. One of the bills, the Taiwan Assurance Implementation Act, requires the US Department of State to periodically review its guidelines for engagement with Taiwan, and report to the US Congress on the guidelines and plans to lift self-imposed limitations on US-Taiwan engagement. The other bill is the Taiwan International Solidarity Act, which clarifies that UN Resolution 2758 does not address the issue of the representation of Taiwan or its people in
The Philippines yesterday criticized a “high-risk” maneuver by a Chinese vessel near the disputed Scarborough Shoal (Huangyan Island, 黃岩島) in a rare incident involving warships from the two navies. The Scarborough Shoal — a triangular chain of reefs and rocks in the contested South China Sea — has been a flash point between the countries since China seized it from the Philippines in 2012. Taiwan also claims the shoal. Monday’s encounter took place approximately 11.8 nautical miles (22km) southeast” of the Scarborough Shoal, the Philippine military said, during ongoing US-Philippine military exercises that Beijing has criticized as destabilizing. “The Chinese frigate BN 554 was
Taiwanese Olympic badminton men’s doubles gold medalist Wang Chi-lin (王齊麟) and his new partner, Chiu Hsiang-chieh (邱相榤), clinched the men’s doubles title at the Yonex Taipei Open yesterday, becoming the second Taiwanese team to win a title in the tournament. Ranked 19th in the world, the Taiwanese duo defeated Kang Min-hyuk and Ki Dong-ju of South Korea 21-18, 21-15 in a pulsating 43-minute final to clinch their first doubles title after teaming up last year. Wang, the men’s doubles gold medalist at the 2020 and 2024 Olympics, partnered with Chiu in August last year after the retirement of his teammate Lee Yang
RSS