Elite troops in pivotal battle for Syria’s Qusayr
(AFP) – Syrian elite troops rushed to bolster a Hezbollah-led offensive against rebels in Qusayr as the UN Human Rights Council condemned the use of foreign fighters in the strategic town.
Russia warned a European Union decision to lift its arms embargo on rebels fighting to oust its ally, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, harmed its joint efforts with the United States to end the conflict.
Hopes are building for a US-Russian initiative for a peace conference to be held in Geneva next month, but serious obstacles could still scupper the talks — not least divisions within Syria’s opposition.
Syrian army in control of Qusayr and Dabaa military airfield
On the ground, elite Syrian Republican Guards and Hezbollah fighters rushed to Qusayr as government fighter jets pounded rebel areas, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.
The Syrian army said it had seized the disused Dabaa military airfield north of Qusayr which had been in rebel hands and that fierce fighting was raging in the area. A military source told AFP the battle for the airfield was fierce and lasted several hours. “The operation led to the liberation of the airport and the deaths of several men who were inside.
“There are bodies littering the ground, rebels have been captured and others surrendered. The army is now advancing on the town of Dabaa,” the source added. The capture of the airfield means that the Syrian army now controls all the roads leading out of Qusayr — a serious setback for rebels still entrenched in the north and west of the town.
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Control of Qusayr is essential for the rebels as it is their principal transit point for weapons and fighters from Lebanon while it helps the army consolidate its grip on a key road from Damascus to the coast — the heartland of Assad’s Alawite community.
National Coalition may fall apart
Meanwhile, his divided opponents in the National Coalition were meeting in Istanbul for an unscheduled seventh day under pressure from Turkey and the US to thrash out a common position on the planned Geneva talks. A string of top diplomats arrived Wednesday at the meeting in what looked like a last-ditch effort to break a deadlock in the Coalition.
Dissidents say the chaotic meeting has been deadlocked by internal bickering as well as conflicting pressures from key backers of the revolt, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, France, Turkey and the United States. Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu, US ambassador to Syria Robert Ford and a top French diplomat on Syria were at the meeting along with a Saudi intelligence official and a top Qatari diplomat.
Syria: is a war of words turning into an arms race?
May 29, 2013 – International papers focus on a war of words over selling arms to Syria. The Guardian say Russia, Britain and France aren’t paving the way to a ceasefire like they say they are. Also, L’Orient le Jour says Hezbollah leader Nasrallah is playing with fire by intervening in the Syrian conflict. Asharq al-Awsat says he has ignited a sectarian fire in the region.
France24: Crossing into Syria with Lebanese pro-Assad militia
