U.N. Finds Aid Still Blocked in Syria
The New York Times reports that the U.N. has found that despite small-scale breakthroughs in aid distribution to hard-hit areas of the country, “hundreds of thousands of Syrians have no access to medical supplies because the warring sides in the country’s civil war are blocking humanitarian relief.
“The Syrian government refused to let United Nations workers deliver medicine to Douma, a suburb of the capital, Damascus, in late March, and in early April injectable medicines were prevented from being delivered to another town,” it said in a new report.
“Children remained beyond the reach of health workers administering polio vaccines, it said, and two new cases were confirmed in April.”
The report is part of the U.N.’s “second 30-day assessment of how the Syrian government and rebels fighting to overthrow it have complied with a Security Council resolution ordering them to allow humanitarian aid to enter besieged towns.”
Syria Faces New Chemical Weapons Inquiries
The Telegraph reports that the Syrian government “will not be certified chemical weapons free even if it meets a weekend deadline for handing over its arsenal, according to Western officials who are backing a new investigation into the regime’s use of poison gas.”
Chemical weapons returned to the international spotlight this month; the paper reports that up to 10 incidents involving chlorine bombs in Syria have been blamed on Assad in recent weeks, violating law that bans the use of poison gas on the battlefield.
“Diplomats have demanded a U.N.-led inquiry into the attacks against rebel front lines north of Hama in which at least one child has died and dozens have been hospitalized,” the paper says, while Western officials added that the new attacks “demonstrate the regime’s continued reliance on chemical weapons despite signing up to an international disarmament agreement that should reach completion by the end of this month.”
Even in Victory, Assad Could Face Challenge from Alawite Loyalists
Anne Barnard reports for the New York Times on the potential challenges posted to Assad by an unlikely source: his own sect. She writes that “Syrian loyalists and regional analysts say that his success, if it materializes, could set him up for a new challenge: demands for change from core supporters who believe he owes his survival mainly to them.
“Some loyalists say that the Syrians most responsible for keeping Mr. Assad afloat are newly aware of his dependence on them, and would push for a bigger share of power if they came to feel safe from the threat of insurgent revenge.”
The president is up for re-election on June 3, and is widely expected to declare victory. He has come this far, Barnard writes, off the bat of “the muscle, cohesion and sacrifices of two overlapping groups: fellow members of the minority Alawite sect, who disproportionately lead and serve in the security forces, and key military men from a variety of sects. Reeling from war losses and frustrated in some cases with the president’s policies, some have begun to say that they are entitled to more of the power, wealth and opportunity held close by Mr. Assad and his associates.”
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