Syria Direct: News Update 11-27-2013
* The Syrian Foreign Ministry declared Wednesday that a government delegation […]
27 November 2013
* The Syrian Foreign Ministry declared Wednesday that a government delegation will attend the Geneva II conference scheduled for January 22nd, but that it will not relinquish power. Citing “the elimination of terrorism” as a goal at the conference, the Foreign Ministry said the Syrian delegation would not go “to hand over the power.”
* The Islamic Front, created by a number of independent powerful brigades Friday, published an eight-page charter on Wednesday describing itself as “comprised of military, political, social and Islamic groups aiming to bring down Assad in Syria and build an Islamic state.” The group says it supports Kurdish rights inside the framework of a united Syrian state. Noting that Syria is a web of different religious and social minorities who have lived together with Muslims for hundreds of years, the charter nonetheless posits that the secular state contradicts the teachings of Islam, which regulates the affairs of the individual, society and nation.
The cover of the Islamic Front’s charter, published Wednesday.
* The Free Syrian Army’s Joint Command General Salim Idriss declared Tuesday that his battalion leaders will not participate in Geneva II, telling an Al Jazeera interviewer that his group is seeking additional weapons for a decisive blow to Assad’s regime.
* On Tuesday, Syrian National Coalition President Ahmad al-Jarba asked Arab League Secretary Nabil al-Arabi to recognize the Syrian National Coalition as the legitimate representative of the Syrian people.
* An estimated 14 citizens were killed and 42 were injured Tuesday after a car bomb detonated in front of a bus in the neighborhood of Sumeria in west Damascus, pro-regime newspaper Tishreen reported.
