Vehicles and containers of the German Army division “Patriot” are loaded onto the ferry boat in the port of Lubeck-Travemunde in northern Germany yesterday as part of a Nato mission. Germany deploys Patriot missiles about 120km from the Syrian border to help Turkey defend its border.
LONDON/damascus: Britain will host an international meeting to plan for the period after Syrian President Bashar Al Assad’s “inevitable” departure, the Foreign Office said yesterday. The meeting will take place today and tomorrow, and delegates will include Syria experts, academics in post-conflict stabilisation, representatives of the Syrian National Coalition (SNC) opposition group and other agencies.
The gathering highlights jitters over the shape of a post-Assad Syria, and experts fear regional and sectarian rivalries could extend the bloodshed and destabilise other countries in the strategically sensitive and volatile region. “Aim is to galvanise planning for political transition in Syria,” Foreign Secretary William Hague said on Twitter.
“Assad’s departure from power is inevitable. Vital that international community plans ahead for the day after in Syria,” he said.
Hague, along with other Western leaders, dismissed a defiant speech by Assad on Sunday, which the Syrian president billed as peace plan but in which he rejected talks with his opponents. Rebels described the speech as a renewed declaration of war. While many experts say Assad’s ousting is all but certain, there is no sign his rule will end soon. Rebels are edging closer to the centre of the capital Damascus, but Assad still has backing from powerful allies Russia, China and Iran. More than 60,000 people have died in the uprising which has developed into a civil war since it erupted in March 2011, the United Nations said last week. Foreign ministers and SNC chief Mouaz Alkhatib are not expected to attend the talks. The meeting is not open to reporters, and the conclusions are expected to be published in a closing communique.
Five civilians were killed in heavy fighting around a Palestinian refugee camp in the Syrian capital yesterday as rebels withdrew from a northwestern town after a night of clashes, a watchdog said. Four of the civilians were killed in shelling and the fifth by a sniper as battles raged between troops and rebels near the Yarmuk refugee camp in south Damascus, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.Agencies
