July 26, 2012

The Syrian government continues to muster soldiers outside the strategic city of Aleppo, and a large convoy of tanks and military vehicles carrying soldiers waits on the southern outskirts of the city. Rebel forces are also pouring into Aleppo from surrounding areas in anticipation of the battle to come.

“People know there is going to be chaos, fighting, shelling, so people are frightened,” an activist in Aleppo told a foreign correspondent by cell phone. “They have stocked up on canned goods and are not venturing out.” Public transportation has been shut down, and hospitals are appealing for blood donations, he reported. People are fleeing the neighborhoods where rebels have established a toehold, under the assumption that they will be pounded by government artillery.

People shop for vegetables at an outdoor market in Aleppo, one of Syria’s largest cities. Aleppo, in northwestern Syria, is an important agricultural, industrial, and education center. (© Tibor Bognar, Corbis Stock Market)

Aleppo–Syria’s largest city and commercial capital–is key to the battle to control the north of the country. Strategists note that it is almost inconceivable that President Bashar al-Assad would allow his government to lose control of Aleppo, and it is likely that he will throw everything he has into the battle to hold the city.

The rebellion against the Assad regime began in March 2011. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights estimates that the death toll from the uprising now exceeds 19,000.

Additional World Book articles:

• Arab Spring
• Middle East: From Fall to Spring (a special report)
• Syria 2011 (a Back in Time article)

July 19, 2012

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad has reportedly left Damascus, the capital, for the coastal city of Latakia to direct the defense of his regime. Latakia is the heartland of his minority Alawite sect, an offshoot of Shi`ite Islam. Alawites dominate the Syrian government, military, and business community.

In Damascus, government troops remain in a standoff against armed rebels. Artillery, helicopter gunships, and tanks are being deployed in the southwest and northeast sections of the city, and civilians are being ordered out of these neighborhoods. In an announcement issued by the Syrian state news agency, the armed forces stated that it would “decisively” eliminate “the criminal and murder gangs, chasing them out of their rotten hide-outs wherever they are until clearing the homeland of their evils.” Fighting began in Damascus on July 15, one day after the Geneva, Switzerland-based International Committee of the Red Cross declared that it viewed the conflict in Syria as a full-blown civil war.

Yesterday, three high-ranking Syrian officials–the defense minister, the deputy chief of staff of the Syrian military, and the head of the crisis management office–were killed in a massive bomb attack at National Security Headquarters in Damascus. The deputy chief of staff, General Assef Shawkat, was President Assad’s brother-in-law. The rebel Free Syrian Army claimed responsibility.

Bashar al-Assad became president of Syria in July 2000. AP/Wide World

In Washington, D.C., U.S. Defense Secretary Leon E. Panetta described the situation in Syria as “rapidly spinning out of control,” and he warned Assad’s government to safeguard its large stockpile of chemical weapons. At the United Nations (UN) in New York City, Russia and China for a third time vetoed a UN Security Council resolution calling for tougher sanctions on Syria. More than 16,000 people are believed to have been killed since the uprising in Syria began in March 2011.

Additional World Book articles:

• Middle East: From Fall to Spring (a special report)
• Syria 2011 (a Back in Time article)

Feb. 8, 2012

France, Italy, Germany, and Spain yesterday followed the lead of the United Kingdom and the United States in recalling their ambassadors from Syria.The six Gulf Cooperation Council states–Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirate–also announced that that they were withdrawing their envoys as well as expelling the Syrian ambassadors from their capitals. The United Nations (UN) estimates that at least 7,200 people have died in the government crackdown on the 11-month-old rebellion against the regime of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. His father, Hafez al-Assad, a member of the Baath Party and commander of the air force, took power in Syria in 1970. He ruled until his death in 2000. Bashar al-Assad succeeded him as president.

The United Kingdom and the United States recalled their ambassadors on February 6. Speaking in the House of Commons, British Foreign Secretary William Hague labeled Assad’s regime “murderous” and stated: “There is no way it [the Assad regime] can recover its credibility internationally or with its own people.” After the U.S. Department of State issued a statement announcing the closure of the U.S. embassy in Damascus, international affairs experts suggested that it sent a strong signal that the administration of President Barack Obama believed there is nothing left to discuss with Assad.

The government of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad continues to kill civilians opposed to his regime despite international condemnation. AP/Wide World

On February 4, Russia and China vetoed a UN Security Council resolution (a formal expression of opinion) calling for Assad to step down. All 13 other members of the council, including France, the United Kingdom, and the United States, voted for the resolution, which backed an Arab League plan to halt the violence. After the vote, Secretary Hague noted, “More than 2,000 people have died since Russia and China vetoed the last draft resolution in October 2011. How many more need to die before Russia and China allow the UN Security Council to act?” Government forces in Syria renewed the shelling of the city Homs, the epicenter of the 11-month-old rebellion, as the UN vote took place.

Additional World Book articles

• Diplomacy
• Foreign policy
• Lebanon