Syria Direct: News Update: 11-04-2013
* An average of 250 people are wounded per day […]
4 November 2013
* An average of 250 people are wounded per day in bombardments on the Damascus suburbs of East Ghouta, reported the Violation Documentation Center in Syria on Monday. Clashes continue between Free Syrian Army units and Assad regime forces in the embattled district that is the eastern gateway to Damascus.
* The Syrian pound’s value rose against the US dollar on Monday to its highest price in six months, 150 SYP to 1 US$, after two weeks of government intervention to stabilize the pound’s value, which had been falling. Syrian economist Rami al-Attar attributed the rise to the flooding of northern Syria with American dollars following a prisoner exchange, al-Attar said in an interview with the website B2B-Sy.
The Syrian Pound appreciated against the U.S. dollar Monday.
* The Arab League called on the opposition Syrian National Coalition to attend the Geneva II conference, while calling on its member states to support the Coalition leadership. In a statement posted on the SNC’s website Sunday, the President of the SNC, Ahmad Jarba, confirmed the opposition would not attend the conference without a pre-determined time frame for the departure of Bashar al-Assad.
* Jordan’s King Abdullah addressed the Syria crisis and the refugee influx in a speech to parliament on Sunday. The king called for “a transitional process involving all Syrians and preserving the unity of the Syrian people” and demanded the international community meet its obligations to refugees. Failure to do so would require Jordan to take unspecified “necessary measures” to protect its economy and polity.
* The Syrian Observatory of Human Rights announced Sunday it had documented the deaths of 2,829 Syrians as a result of the nation’s civil war in October. The number averages to four Syrians killed per hour throughout the month.
Like Syria Direct on Facebook or follow us on Twitter.