Putin Defies Obama in Syria, as Arms Fuel Assad Resurgence

Bloomberg News reports on Vladimir Putin’s “defiance” of the U.S. in providing Syria with more weapons, which it says is fueling Assad’s resurgence.

“Russia is now doing everything to ensure that Assad wins convincingly,” Alexei Malashenko, a Middle East analyst at the Moscow Carnegie Center, tells the wire. “If Russia can show it’s capable of carrying out its own foreign policy, regardless of America’s wishes, it will be a major achievement for Putin.”

Russia “is supplying a ‘lifeline’ of ammunition and spare parts for tanks, armored vehicles and helicopters, said Ruslan Pukhov, an adviser to the Defense Ministry in Moscow and head of the Center of Analysis of Strategies and Technologies. Pukhov declined to comment on the rockets and upgraded jets, as did Vyacheslav Davidenko, a spokesman for Russian state arms exporter Rosoboron export. The Syrian embassy in Moscow didn’t respond to a request for comment.”

Syrian Refugees in Lebanon Pass 1 Million

The BBC reports that the number of registered refugees in Lebanon has now topped the 1 million milestone. More than one in four people in the country is now a Syrian refugee. With refugee numbers and sectarian tensions on the rise, the Lebanese foreign minister said last month that the Syrian conflict was threatening the existence of his country.

Lebanon now has “the highest per capita concentration of refugees worldwide,” said the head of the U.N. refugee agency. “For Lebanon, a small nation beset by internal difficulties, the impact is staggering.”

“About 9.5 million people, almost half of Syria’s population, have fled their homes since the start of the conflict. More than 2.5 million have fled the country, with large numbers being taken in by Turkey, Jordan, Iraq, Egypt and others. However Lebanon is bearing the biggest burden of all, with one in four people there a Syrian refugee.”

Syria Accuses Rebels of Planning Gas Attack

Reuters reports that the Syrian government, in a letter to the United Nations, has accused opposition groups of planning a gas attack on a rebel-held area near Damascus “so they can then blame it on government security forces.”

In the letter, dated March 25, Bashar Ja’afari, Syria’s envoy to the U.N., “said his government had intercepted communications between ‘terrorists’ that showed a man named Abu Nadir was secretly distributing gas masks in the rebel-held Jobar area. ‘The authorities also intercepted another communication between two other terrorists, one of whom is named Abu Jihad,’ Ja’afari said. ‘In that communication, Abu Jihad indicates that toxic gas will be used and asked those who are working with him to supply protective masks.’”

Ja’afari added that this information “confirms that armed terrorist groups are preparing to use toxic gas in Jobar quarter and other areas, in order to accuse the Syrian government of having committed such an act of terrorism.”

Suggested Reads from Our Editorial Team

Reuters: Syrian War Wreaks Overwhelming Damage on Cities

Al Monitor: Syria: From Revolution to Civil War

Washington Post: On Syria, U.S. and U.N. are all Talk and No Action

Reuters: Iran Says Does Not Seek Indefinite Power for Assad