18th/May/2012

Umayya for Researches and Strategic Studies

The Daily Monitoring Report

The Field Situation
- Massive demonstrations are being staged countrywide in a Friday entitled "Heroes of Aleppo University".(1) - Hundreds of students organized a demonstration at the University of Aleppo in the presence of the UN observers, who prevented security forces and Shabiha (militia affiliated to Syrian regime) from attacking protesters. The security forces kept besieging the campus amid a state of high alert.
(9)(12) (1)(3)(8)

Statistics

- Explosions were heard in coastal city of Latakia.

(16)

17th/May death toll: 37

The Political Mobility

- Burhan Ghalioun, head of the Syrian National Council (SNC), announced his intention to resign his post immediately after a new SNC head is chosen through consensus among the SNC members of via elections.(1)(2)(3)(4)(9)(10)(12)(14)(15)(16)(17) - The Local Coordination Committees, which have previously threatened to withdraw from the SNC, described Ghalioun's step as positive.(1)(2)(3)(4)(8)(9)(14)
(15)(16)

- An all-out strike is staged in the neighborhoods of Daraa Al-Mahata in solidarity with the detained 16-year-old schoolgirl Rita Jahamani.(9) - Students at the University of Damascus staged a sit-in to demand the release of their female colleague. During the sit-in, the protesters clashed with pro-regime supporters before the arrival of security forces in the place of the sit-in to arrest a big number of students.(1)

- Rima Fuleihan, spokeswoman for the Local Coordination Committees, says, "The Syrian National Council (SNC) did not meet aspirations of the Syrian people, nor did it serve the revolution because of flabbiness of its work mechanisms and weakness of its head.(1) - Samir Nashar, member of the Syrian National Council (SNC)'s executive bureau, said that the nomination of George Sabra as the SNC head was meant to promote the principle of rotation of power, as Sabar enjoys certain abilities and has a record of positive political stances, which make him more qualified to be at the top of the SNC. Nashar pointed out that chief blocs in the SNC have made up their minds concerning the election of the new SNC head.
(1)(3)(8)(12)

The Military Situation

- The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights calls on the UN observers to visit Homs's Al-Rastan, which is bombed at rate of three shells per minute by Al-Assad's forces. The Observatory said the Syrian Army is trying to gradually destroy AlRastan to frustrate its inhabitants, as well as the revolutionaries.
(1)(2)(3)(4)(8)(10)(16)

- For the first time, Al-Assad's forces bombed the village of Al-Damina, which have Christian majority, in Homs's countryside.
(9)

- Commenting on current differences inside the Syrian National Council (SNC), the Syrian Revolution General Commission said that it is not concerned with the SNC, and respect all Syrian political forces.(9) - Melhem Al-Droubi, the Syrian Muslim Brotherhood member of the SNC, calls for restructuring of the SNC so as to ensure it contains all parties of the Syrian opposition.(12) - Abu Amjad Al-Sori, member of the Syrian Parliament established by the revolution councils, pointed out that consultations and discussions would continue over the establishment of a "National Liberation Army" within what he called "Project of building the Second Independent State".(1)

- Security forces stormed the state-run Daraa National Hospital, and made off with the bodies of martyrs killed in the bombing of a refugee camp in the same city.(9) - The Free Syrian Army (FSA) repelled an attack by Al-Assad's forces, which tried to storm a refugee camp in Daraa Al-Mahata. During the clash, the FSA managed to damage an Assad tank.
(1)

- Two blasts rocked the neighborhoods of AlJamila and Al-Furqan in Aleppo, while other explosions were heard the Aleppo neighborhoods of AlSukari, Al-Sakhour, Al-Kalasa and Bab Al-Nairab.
(3)

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18th/May/2012
The Internal Situation
- A UN observer said that the Al-Assad's forces opened fire on the civilians, who were mourning the martyrs in Khan Shaykhoun two days ago, killing over thirty people and sabotaging a UN vehicle.
(9)

Umayya for Researches and Strategic Studies

interest of the Lebanese people to side with neither the Syrian regime nor the revolution.(5) - An Iraqi informed source uncover that the Prime Minister Nuri Al-Maliki has held an urgent meeting last Monday with military and security officials to discuss precautionary measures to confront the implications of the fall of the Assad regime.(3)

- The Local Coordination Committees expressed their concerns about the fate of the detained journalist Jihad Jamal, amid reports about deterioration in his health conditions due to his continuation in the hunger strike.
(1)

International
- The US Ambassador to Lebanon Maura Connelly expresses its country's concern that developments in Syria might destabilize Lebanon.(5) - In his last statements on Syria late April, France's new Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius expressed his hope that a change might occur in stances of Russia and China towards the Syrian crisis, adding that Bashar al-Assad has been killing his people over a year ago, which is totally unacceptable and very repugnant.(5) - A European high-ranking diplomatic source said that the Russian leadership admitted, during closed meetings with European officials, that Al-Assad has committed several mistakes, which cannot be rectified, for the forefront of which is excessive use of military force against civilians. This is in spite of the fact that Russia refused to publicly abandon Al-Assad.(3) - Ban Ki-moon, the UN secretary-general, has said that he believes al-Qaeda was responsible for last weeks bombings in Damascus, saying that at least 10,000 people had been killed in the Syrian conflict.(7)
(9)

- The state-run Syrian Arab News Agency (SANA) reported that the UN observers have visited the Damascus countryside towns of Al-Zabadani, Darya and Douma, Homs's Al-Khalidiya, Ikrimah and Al-Hadara St., as well as Janub Al-Malaab, Dawar Al-Jub and the National Hospital in Hama, in addition to the University of Aleppo.(1)(6)(9)

Sources:
(1) (2) (3) (4) (5) (6) (7) (8) (9) (10) (11) (12) (13) (14) (15) (16) Asharq Al-Awsat The London-based Al-Hayat The Kuwaiti Al-Watan Al-Quds Al-Arabi The Lebanese Al-Mustaqbal The Syrian Al-Baath Reuters AFP The Qatari Al-Jazeera The Israeli Haaretz Washington Post wall Street Journal The Israeli Yedioth Ahronoth The Guardian The Telegraph Russia Today

Political Stances Syria

- Bashar Al-Assad issued a decree on names of new members of the Syrian People's Council, who won the recent legislative elections.(2)

Arab
- Qatar's foreign minister Sheikh Hamad bin Jassim Al Thani calls on the Assad regime to stop the bloodshed, demanding the UN-Arabi envoy Kofi Annan's plan be carried out.(8) - Mazen Shahud, one of the Lebanese Bab AlTabana's senior inhabitants, said that the number of people, who were injured during the clashes erupted between the pro-Syrian regime Alawites and Sunnis, reached 70.(1) - The Alawite Rifaat Ali Eid, leader of the Lebanese Arab Democratic Party, calls on the Syrian army to enter Lebanon to calm down situation!(1) - MP Mohammed Kabbara, member of the Future Movement's bloc in the Lebanese parliament, believes that there is a Syrian-Lebanese conspiracy against Tripoli, which was clearly shown in the recent clashes in Bab Al-Tabana.(17) - Mufti of Tripoli and North Lebanon Sheikh Malek Al-Shaar calls on the Lebanese people to "content themselves with the humanitarian aid they offer to our Syrian refugee people," adding that it is not in the

- Ahmad Fawzi, spokesman for the United Nations (UN) and Arab League's Joint Special Envoy for Syria Kofi Annan, expressed his concern over the problems faced by the Syrian opposition.(12) - An expert panel monitoring the UN sanctions on Iran has reported that Syria continues to be the main destination of illicit Iranian weapons, but Security Council sources ruled out imposing new punitive sanctions against it.(2) - Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev warned on Thursday that military action against sovereign states could lead to a regional nuclear war, starkly voicing Moscow's opposition to Western intervention ahead of a G8 summit at which Syria and Iran will be discussed.(3)(16)

This Report was issued by Umayya for Researches and Strategic Studies, and it contains pure news that do not reflect an opinion. Page 2