Assad Makes Rare Visit to Front-Line Area
President Bashar al-Assad made a rare visit to displaced civilians on the front line Wednesday in Adra, a suburb northeast of Damascus.
The visit “was Assad’s first public appearance outside the capital since August. It comes nearly four months before his seven-year term as president officially expires. Syrian officials say the presidential elections will be held on time,” reports the AP, citing state media.
“Assad has suggested he would run again but hasn’t confirmed whether he’ll seek re-election. The poll must be held between 60 and 90 days before Assad’s term ends on July 17.
“‘The state will continue to fight terrorism and terrorists who displace people from their homes and commit ugly crimes against them,’ Assad said in a television report. His government refers to rebels as terrorists. Photos released by the president’s office showed Assad speaking to women, several of whom were carrying children. State television quoted Assad as vowing to care for the displaced.
“Also Wednesday, the Syrian parliament met to discuss a new election law that allows candidates to run for president and allows, at least in theory, a multiparty political system in Syria. It was not immediately clear when the lawmakers would vote on the bill.”
U.N. Urges Halt to Attacks on Syria’s Cultural Sites
The U.N. said Wednesday that Syria’s ancient sites are under attack and demanded a halt to what it called the destruction of the country’s cultural heritage.
Top officials cited “alarming reports that Syria’s heritage is being deliberately targeted for ideological reasons. ‘Human representations in art are being destroyed by extremist groups intent on eradicating unique testimonies of Syria’s rich cultural diversity,’ [they] said. ‘Archaeological sites are being systematically looted and the illicit trafficking of cultural objects has reached unprecedented levels.’
“They said four World Heritage sites are being used for military purposes or have been transformed into battlefields: the desert oasis of Palmyra, a cultural center of the ancient world; the Crac des Chevaliers near the Lebanese border, one of the most important military castles in history, dating between the 11th and 13th century; the Saint Simeon Church in the Ancient Villages of Northern Syria; and Aleppo, one of the world’s oldest continuously inhabited cities, and its citadel.”
Iran-Controlled Militia Recruits Fighters for Syria
Martin Chulov of the Guardian reports from Najaf on the surging popularity of Asa’ib Ahl al-Haq (League of the Righteous), which he calls the Middle East’s most potent new Shia Islamic political force and which is now, he says, actively fighting in Syria.
“Since the U.S. military left Iraq in December 2011, and within two months of the first national election since then, Asa’ib Ahl al-Haq has quietly emerged as one of the most powerful players in the country’s political and public life. Through a mix of strategic diplomacy, aggressive military operations and intimidation – signature methods of its main patron, the Iranian general Qassem Suleimani – the group is increasingly calling the shots in two countries,” Chulov writes.
“Now, as Iraq approaches parliamentary elections on 30 April, the group is stepping up its political activism in Baghdad and its support for the regime of Bashar al-Assad in Syria. In speeches and interviews in the past two years, [leader] Qais al-Khazali has claimed a role for the group based on its military ‘defeat’ of the U.S. His message has galvanized thousands of Iraqi Shias who have volunteered to fight for the Assad regime in Syria.
“In the Najaf cemetery, gravediggers say they can barely distinguish between the end of one war and the start of the next. ‘No sooner had the Americans gone than Syria exploded,’ said one worker, standing against a newly built shrine. ‘There have been more of their bodies coming back from Syria than ever before. There are easily around 500 of them buried here. We have been getting around three each day for the past month alone. They get driven to us from across the border in Iran. When they are killed in Syria, they are flown there.’”
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