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Executive Summary for February 4th

To give you an overview of the latest news, we’ve organized the latest Syrian developments in a curated summary.

Published on Feb. 4, 2014 Read time Approx. 4 minutes

Kerry Admits Failure in Syria

The Washington Post reports that Secretary of State John Kerry has admitted that the Obama administration’s Syria policy is failing.

“Now the man with the unenviable task of implementing that policy, John F. Kerry, has acknowledged as much, according to two U.S. senators who spoke with him Sunday, John McCain (R-Ariz.) and Lindsey O. Graham (R-S.C.),” writes Fred Hiatt.

“Kerry said that the Geneva negotiating process hasn’t delivered, they said, and that new approaches are needed. ‘He acknowledged that the chemical weapons [removal] is being slow-rolled, the Russians continue to supply arms, [and] we are at a point now where we are going to have to change our strategy,’ Graham said. The secretary spoke favorably about arming and training the rebels, Graham added.

“Both senators are longtime critics of the administration’s Syria policy. Presented with a summary of Kerry’s reported statements to them and about a dozen other members of Congress, Kerry’s spokeswoman, Jennifer Psaki, called it a ‘mischaracterization.’

“’No one in this administration thinks we’re doing enough until the humanitarian crisis has been solved and the civil war ended,’ she said. ‘That is no different from the message Secretary Kerry conveyed during the private meeting.’”

Clashes Edge Closer to Krak des Chevaliers

The Independent reports on fighting inching closer to the centuries-old Crusader castle Krak des Chevaliers, arguably Syria’s most famous historical landmark.

“The massive walls and towers of the great fortress on its hilltop glistened white in the sunshine yesterday, as the Syrian army fought rebels in the valleys below,” Patrick Cockburn writes from Homs.

“The rebels hold the castle and the two nearby villages of al-Zara and al-Hosn while much of the rest of this area, 25 miles west of Homs city and just north of the Lebanese border, is inhabited by Christians who support the government. The 13th century castle was damaged by a Syrian air force attack and mortars last year, and the Syrian government says it is eager to prevent further damage.

“’We launched an operation to retake this area last week,’ the governor of Homs, Talal al-Barazi, told the Independent. He said that so far the army had taken 50 percent of al-Zara ‘and we think the rest of it will be in our hands within a week.’ Syrian army officers on the spot were more cautious on how long the fighting was going to last, saying it might be a week or two.”

Russia Says Syrian Chemical Weapons Will be Removed by March 1

The Guardian reports that Syria will destroy its chemical weapons cache by March 1, after missing the original Dec. 31deadline. Deputy foreign minister Gennady Gatilov blamed security concerns for the delay.

“‘Literally yesterday the Syrians announced that the removal of a large shipment of chemical substances is planned in February. They are ready to complete this process by March 1,’ the state-run Russian news agency RIA quoted Gatilov as saying.

“The operation to dispose of Syria’s chemical stockpile under a deal brokered by Russia and the United States is far behind schedule, and a deadline for sending all toxic agents out of Syria this week is predicted to be missed. U.S. officials have accused Damascus of dragging its feet and John Kerry, the U.S. secretary of state, asked his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov last Friday to put pressure on Assad’s government to accelerate the operation.”

Syrian Christians Fight Islamist Rebels

VICE has a piece from Hassakeh province about the current state of Syria’s Christians and the Sutoro, its unofficial fighting force.

“Syria’s Christians – many of whom are richer and more comfortable than the country’s mostly poor Sunni majority – have mostly featured in the news as victims of the country’s civil war. The fighting between Islamist rebels and government forces in Maaloula, a Christian town north of Damascus where Aramaic – the language of Christ – is still spoken, has been widely reported and seen as another ominous development for a community that was, until a few years ago, thriving not just in Syria but also in Iraq. Since the conflict began, 450,000 Christians are thought to have left the country, more than a quarter of the original total. But some are now resisting,” the magazine reports.

“‘We started this group to allow our people to defend themselves, and to assure them that they don’t have to leave their land. The jihadis are targeting us,’ says the Sutoro’s commander in Qahtaniya. Like most Syrian Christians – organised or not – he is fearful enough of publicity to ask me not to print his name. The Sutoro doesn’t operate independently, but in cooperation with Kurdish security forces, the northeast’s dominant power. Patrolling and manning checkpoints, they are mostly busy with town security, deterring crime and solving smaller local problems. One group said to be active on the front line that divides the region declared an autonomous Kurdish territory at the beginning of this year from the areas controlled by the mainly Arab rebels.”

Suggested Reads from Our Editorial Team:

Time: Why al-Qaeda Kicked Out its Deadly Syria Franchise

Reuters: Kurds From Iraq Wage Holy War in Syria With One Eye on Home

NY Times: Al Qaeda Breaks With Jihadist Group in Syria Involved in Infighting

AFP: Toll Rises as Syria Regime Bombs Aleppo

Time: Syria’s Health Crisis Spirals as Doctors Flee

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