Syria Ambassador to Iraq says he's joining the Revolution
Source: BI-ME with Bloomberg , Author: Posted by BI-ME staff
Posted: Thu July 12, 2012 11:54 am



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SYRIA. Syria's ambassador to Iraq, who defected yesterday, said the government of President Bashar al- Assad has turned the ruling Baath party into “an instrument to kill people.”

Nawaf al-Fares is the first Syrian ambassador to abandon the government since the uprising against Assad began in March 2011. Mohammed Bassam Imadi, a former Syrian ambassador to Sweden, defected a few months ago and is now a member of the Syrian National Council, the main opposition group. Last month, a Syrian air force colonel flew a fighter jet into neighboring Jordan, where he was granted political asylum.

Al-Fares’s resignation came less than a week after the announcement that Brigadier-General Manaf Tlas, a childhood friend of Assad’s and part of his inner circle, had fled. Unlike Tlas, who has remained silent and hasn’t openly announced his defection, al-Fares said he’s “joining the revolution.”

“I resign from my mission as the ambassador of the Syrian Arab Republic to Iraq,” al-Fares said in a statement to Al- Jazeera television. “I call upon the honorable members of the party to follow my lead. I also call on all the honorable and free Syrians, especially military personnel, to immediately join the revolution.”

Assad’s government is fighting an insurrection that has killed at least 17,000 people, including more than 4,000 members of the Syrian military, according to Rami Abdel Rahman, head of the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. At least 78 people were killed yesterday, the Local Coordination Committees in Syria said in an e-mail. Authorities have portrayed the unrest as a conspiracy and the protesters as radical Islamists.

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MIDDLE EAST BUSINESS COMMENT & ANALYSIS

date:Posted: May 22, 2013
iNTERNATIONAL. Control over Homs will enable al Assad to rapidly move forces from the north to the south to meet emerging rebel threats. It will also provide a key avenue of retreat to the Alawite coast in the event that he needs to flee Damascus.
date:Posted: May 22, 2013
INTERNATIONAL. A government that slaughters its people and maims a whole generation is not a government with whom to negotiate. It is nothing short of travesty that the Obama administration is still mired in the illusion that a political solution is possible.
date:Posted: May 22, 2013
UAE. MENA accounts for 6% of global smartphone shipments but less than 0.1% of mobile advertising; Regional companies are behind global trends allocating only 6%-7% of advertising on digital; Only 2%-3% of digital budget is allocated to mobile and tablet advertising.
UAE. MENA accounts for 6% of global smartphone shipments but less than 0.1% of mobile advertising; Regional companies are behind global trends allocating only 6%-7% of advertising on digital; Only 2%-3% of digital budget is allocated to mobile and tablet advertising.



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