Syrian activists yesterday called for nationwide demonstrations in support of the Free Syrian Army (FSA), a day after the main civilian opposition umbrella group agreed to work more closely with the armed rebels.
Syrian National Council leader Burhan Ghaliun met with rebel chief Colonel Riad al-Asaad on Thursday and “extensively discussed the situation on the ground and the organizational capacity of the FSA,” a council statement said.
“The parties agreed to formulate a detailed plan, to include the reorganization of FSA units and brigades, and the creation of a format to accommodate within FSA ranks additional officers and soldiers, especially senior military officials, who side with the revolution,” the statement added.
Formed from deserters from the regular army who mutinied over the regime’s deadly 10-month crackdown on anti-government protests, the Free Syrian Army says it has about 40,000 fighters under its command.
The numbers cannot be independently verified, although the Syrian authorities have acknowledged mounting losses at the hands of the rebels in recent months.
“The SNC proposed a plan of action concerning mechanisms and avenues of support to be offered to pro-revolution sectors of the Syrian military,” the group’s statement said.
“Additionally, a direct channel of communication between the SNC and FSA will be established to ensure effective coordination between the two. The SNC intends to establish a liaison office with the FSA in order to maintain direct communications around the clock,” the statement added.
Meanwhile, the death of a French journalist in Syria brought new calls for an independent investigation of the violence in the country, following a series of mysterious attacks since December that have killed scores of people despite the presence of Arab League monitors.
The prospects for such an independent probe are slim in Syria, where the government has barred access by most foreign media except on escorted trips. The Arab League observer mission has been beset by problems and itself criticized as merely providing cover for the regime’s crackdown on dissent. Help from the UN is unlikely, in part because Syrian allies Russia and China are blocking action against Damascus.
Humanitarian aid has been turned away, as well. On Thursday, Syrian authorities barred hundreds of people from entering the country from Turkey to deliver medicine, food and other aid.
The French government, human rights groups and Syria’s opposition demanded an inquiry into the death on Wednesday of Gilles Jacquier, 43, in a barrage of grenades in the restive city of Homs. The award-winning correspondent for France-2 Television was the first Western journalist killed in the 10-month-old uprising.
“The killing of the French journalist raises a number of questions — who launched the attacks, what was the purpose?” said Nadim Houry, a senior researcher at Human Rights Watch.
“So at this point, what’s important is again to launch a credible investigation,” he added.
The governor of Homs formed a committee to investigate Jacquier’s killing, the state-run news agency said. However, observers say the probe should be international.
Thousands of people, most believed to be unarmed protesters, have been killed in the revolt against Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. Jacquier’s death, along with three suicide bombings in the capital of Damascus since Dec. 23, have added a new dimension to a conflict that already has brought the country to the verge of civil war.
“The journalists were attacked in a heavily militarized regime stronghold. It would be hugely difficult for any armed opposition to penetrate the area and launch such a deadly attack,” said Wissam Tarif, a campaigner for online global activist group Avaaz.
Syria has only recently started issuing short-term visas for a limited number of journalists, who must be accompanied by government minders. Local reporters work under heavy restrictions.
Jacquier was among a group of 15 journalists on the government trip when they were hit by the grenades; up to eight Syrian civilians also were reported killed.
The opposition called for protests in his honor, and activists said hundreds of people demonstrated across the country in cold and rainy weather, demanding al-Assad’s downfall.
ACTIONABLE ADVICE: The majority of chatbots tested provided guidance on weapons, tactics and target selections, with Perplexity and Meta AI deemed to be the least safe From school shootings to synagogue bombings, leading artificial intelligence (AI) chatbots helped researchers plot violent attacks, according to a study published on Wednesday that highlighted the technology’s potential for real-world harm. Researchers from the nonprofit watchdog Center for Countering Digital Hate and CNN posed as 13-year-old boys in the US and Ireland to test 10 chatbots, including ChatGPT, Google Gemini, Perplexity, Deepseek and Meta AI. Eight of the chatbots assisted the make-believe attackers in more than half the responses, providing advice on “locations to target” and “weapons to use” in an attack, the study said. The chatbots had become a “powerful accelerant for
Australians were downloading virtual private networks (VPNs) in droves, while one of the world’s largest porn distributors said it was blocking users from its platforms as the country yesterday rolled out sweeping online age restriction. Australia in December became the first country to impose a nationwide ban on teenagers using social media. A separate law now requires artificial intelligence (AI)-powered chatbot services to keep certain content — including pornography, extreme violence and self-harm and eating disorder material — from minors or face fines of up to A$49.5 million (US$34.6 million). The country also joined Britain, France and dozens of US states requiring
Since the war in the Middle East began nearly two weeks ago, the telephone at Ron Hubbard’s bomb shelter company in Texas has not stopped ringing. Foreign and US clients are rushing to buy his bunkers, seeking refuge in case of air raids, nuclear fallout or apocalypse. With the US and Israel pounding Iran, and Tehran retaliating with strikes across the region, Hubbard has seen demand for his product soar, mostly from Gulf nation customers in Bahrain, Qatar, Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates. “You can imagine how many people are thinking: ‘I wish I had a bomb shelter,’” Hubbard, 63, said in
STILL IN POWER: US intelligence reports showed that the Iranian regime is not in danger of collapse and retains control of the public, casting doubt on Trump’s exit Nearly every US Senate Democrat on Wednesday signed a letter sent to US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth requesting a “swift investigation” of airstrikes on a girls’ school in Iran that killed scores of children and any other potential US military actions causing civilian harm. Reuters reported on Thursday last week that US military investigators believe it is likely that US forces were responsible for the Feb. 28 strike on the school, as US and Israeli forces launched attacks on Iran. “The results of this school attack are horrific. The majority of those killed in the strikes were girls between the ages
RSS