Syria rebels clash with Hezbollah in Lebanon | ||
Several killed as Lebanese fighters clash with Syrian rebels in first face-to-face confrontation inside Lebanon. | ||
| At least one member of Lebanon's Hezbollah group has been killed overnight in clashes with Syrian rebels in Lebanon's eastern border region. Lebanese security sources reported the death on Sunday, saying that about 15 rebels had also been killed in the violence, east of Baalbek in the Bekaa Valley. The conflict in Syria has been increasingly spilling over to its smaller neighbour, with deadly fighting shaking the northern Lebanese city of Tripoli, and rockets hitting the Bekaa Valley and Beirut's southern suburbs.  Al Jazeera's Rula Amin, reporting from Beirut, said there were reports that the latest clash started when Hezbollah fighters came across rebels setting up rocket launchers close to Baalbek. "It is the first time we have seen a face-to-face clash between rebels and Hezbollah fighters inside Lebanon," our correspondent said. "There have been rocket attacks on Hezbollah strongholds in that area before, and so it is not a surprising development that rebels are trying to target this town. "It is significant that there has been a clash inside Lebanese territory as it shows how determined the Syrian rebels are to target Hezbollah strongholds. It also shows how vulnerable Lebanon has become that they were able to cross the border." Safe passage Meanwhile, the Syrian government has responded to calls from international aid organisations for civilians trapped in the flashpoint Syrian city of Qusayr to be evacuated, as rebel fighters faced a fresh assault. Syrian state TV reported that the foreign minister has said the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) will be allowed into Qusayr "as soon as military operations are over". UN agencies and the ICRC appealed to both sides in the fighting on Saturday to let the civilians, including an estimated 1,500 wounded, leave the embattled town. Britain circulated a draft declaration at the UN Security Council, voicing "grave concern about the situation in Qusayr".
The government’s military campaign on Qusayr started two weeks ago, in an attempt to regain control of the strategic city bordering Lebanon. It is believed that Hezbollah has sent an estimated 1,700 fighters to support the government's assault. Syrian forces have recently captured the northern district of Arjun in Qusayr, leaving rebels little chance to escape. Activists said that escape routes for civilians have become unsafe. They reported this week that a a convoy of civilians seeking to flee Qusayr was attacked by Syrian forces. Ceasefire needed UN emergency relief coordinator Valerie Amos and High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay said there was "an urgent need of immediate evacuation for emergency medical treatment". But a humanitarian corridor could only be created if both sides agreed, Rupert Colville, a spokesperson for Pillay, told Al Jazeera. "There should be a ceasefire at least and they let the civilians and the wounded get out and also let some aid in as well. Civilians who stay behind will need food and water," Colville said. The control of Qusayr is essential for the rebels as it is their principal transit point for weapons and fighters from across the border in Lebanon. It is also strategic for the government because it is located on the road linking Damascus with the Mediterranean coast, its rear base. | ||
Source:
Al Jazeera and agencies
| ||
dimanche 2 juin 2013
Syria rebels clash with Hezbollah in Lebanon
Crisis in Turkey
What is Happenning in Istanbul?
To my friends who live outside of Turkey:
I am writing to let you know what is going on in Istanbul for the last five days. I personally have to write this because most of the media sources are shut down by the government and the word of mouth and the internet are the only ways left for us to explain ourselves and call for help and support.
Four days ago a group of people who did not belong to any specific organization or ideology got together in Istanbul’s Gezi Park. Among them there were many of my friends and students. Their reason was simple: To prevent and protest the upcoming demolishing of the park for the sake of building yet another shopping mall at very center of the city. There are numerous shopping malls in Istanbul, at least one in every neighborhood! The tearing down of the trees was supposed to begin early Thursday morning. People went to the park with their blankets, books and children. They put their tents down and spent the night under the trees. Early in the morning when the bulldozers started to pull the hundred-year-old trees out of the ground, they stood up against them to stop the operation.
They did nothing other than standing in front of the machines.
No newspaper, no television channel was there to report the protest. It was a complete media black out.
But the police arrived with water cannon vehicles and pepper spray. They chased the crowds out of the park.
In the evening the number of protesters multiplied. So did the number of police forces around the park. Meanwhile local government of Istanbul shut down all the ways leading up to Taksim square where the Gezi Park is located. The metro was shut down, ferries were cancelled, roads were blocked.
Yet more and more people made their way up to the center of the city by walking.
They came from all around Istanbul. They came from all different backgrounds, different ideologies, different religions. They all gathered to prevent the demolition of something bigger than the park:
The right to live as honorable citizens of this country.
They gathered and marched. Police chased them with pepper spray and tear gas and drove their tanks over people who offered the police food in return. Two young people were run over by the tanks and were killed. Another young woman, a friend of mine, was hit in the head by one of the incoming tear gas canisters. The police were shooting them straight into the crowd. After a three hour operation she is still in Intensive Care Unit and in very critical condition. As I write this we don’t know if she is going to make it. This blog is dedicated to her.
These people are my friends. They are my students, my relatives. They have no «hidden agenda» as the state likes to say. Their agenda is out there. It is very clear. The whole country is being sold to corporations by the government, for the construction of malls, luxury condominiums, freeways, dams and nuclear plants. The government is looking for (and creating when necessary) any excuse to attack Syria against its people’s will.
On top of all that, the government control over its people’s personal lives has become unbearable as of late. The state, under its conservative agenda passed many laws and regulations concerning abortion, cesarean birth, sale and use of alcohol and even the color of lipstick worn by the airline stewardesses.
People who are marching to the center of Istanbul are demanding their right to live freely and receive justice, protection and respect from the State. They demand to be involved in the decision-making processes about the city they live in.
What they have received instead is excessive force and enormous amounts of tear gas shot straight into their faces. Three people lost their eyes.
Yet they still march. Hundred of thousands join them. Couple of more thousand passed the Bosporus Bridge on foot to support the people of Taksim.
No newspaper or TV channel was there to report the events. They were busy with broadcasting news about Miss Turkey and “the strangest cat of the world”.
Police kept chasing people and spraying them with pepper spray to an extent that stray dogs and cats were poisoned and died by it.
Schools, hospitals and even 5 star hotels around Taksim Square opened their doors to the injured. Doctors filled the classrooms and hotel rooms to provide first aid. Some police officers refused to spray innocent people with tear gas and quit their jobs. Around the square they placed jammers to prevent internet connection and 3g networks were blocked. Residents and businesses in the area provided free wireless network for the people on the streets. Restaurants offered food and water for free.
People in Ankara and İzmir gathered on the streets to support the resistance in Istanbul.
Mainstream media kept showing Miss Turkey and “the strangest cat of the world”.
***
I am writing this letter so that you know what is going on in Istanbul. Mass media will not tell you any of this. Not in my country at least. Please post as many as articles as you see on the Internet and spread the word.
As I was posting articles that explained what is happening in Istanbul on my Facebook page last night someone asked me the following question:
«What are you hoping to gain by complaining about our country to foreigners?»
This blog is my answer to her.
By so called «complaining» about my country I am hoping to gain:
Freedom of expression and speech,
Respect for human rights,
Control over the decisions I make concerning my on my body,
The right to legally congregate in any part of the city without being considered a terrorist.
But most of all by spreading the word to you, my friends who live in other parts of the world, I am hoping to get your awareness, support and help!
Please spread the word and share this blog.
Thank you!
For futher info and things you can do for help please see Amnesty International’s Call for Urgent Help
Taken from Occupy Gezi Facebook page. Also used by Reuters
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