The Syria News Roundup

As I expected a few weeks ago, the heat is now definitely being increased on the Syrian regime. The fall of the Gaddafi regime means that media coverage, especially Arabic, is focused mainly on what's happening in Syria. I won't get into the details that are obsessing people who think there is a conspiracy. Frankly I don't care if there is a conspiracy against the Syrian regime, the regime has been conspiring against its own people for over forty years, and that is unforgivable. That's my opinion about this view.

The ICRC is seeking access to Syrian prisons on its own terms. This is unlikely to be allowed, but it's another way that pressure is being applied:

In an interview with Reuters, Jakob Kellenberger, president of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), said that the independent humanitarian agency would assess its role after an upcoming visit to a detention centre in Aleppo.

In other news, Syria's envoy to the UN has rejected claims that a site bombed by the Israelis was likely the covert site for a nuclear reactor. I shudder to think how untouchable the regime would be if it actually did have nuclear weapons.

As for the Arab League's plan to stop the violence in Syria, it seems that the killing has continued in spite of the regime agreeing to stop the violence:

Syrian tanks mounted with machine-guns fired Thursday on a city at the heart of the country's uprising, killing at least four people one day after Damascus agreed to an Arab League plan calling on the government to pull the military out of cities, activists said.

 So much for that then...in the meantime the regime's mouthpiece, SANA, has stated that 13 of the regime's soldiers were killed by the mysterious 'armed gangs' that they blame for causing instability in the country. The Guardian also reports that there have been more defections from the army. For some time now I have been hearing rumours that the number of defected soldiers from the Syrian army now ranges between 10,000 and 15,000 soldiers from various branches of the security services.

I don't know how true that is, as it could be an exaggeration to win support and gain momentum. Then again, we can't discount it entirely. The Syrian army is composed of Syrians and not, like in Bahrain, from foreigners. This means that it's far more likely that more and more soldiers will become disillusioned with the killing they are being ordered to do. Lots of guessing and lots of confusion, these are the hallmarks of the Syrian revolution.