Epstein Secrets

nto the city's southern outskirts, paramilitary groups were said to have massed in Alawi-populated northern suburbs. The city centers of Damascus and Aleppo, however, remained relatively quiet, as the government appeared to be organizing rallies of its own supporters, with activists claiming that efforts

ly occasions on which large numbers of people are permitted to assemble-have spread from Deraa to at least a dozen other cities including Baniyas and Latakia on the Mediterranean coast, as well as to the northern city of Homs and some suburbs of Damascus. * With the Alawi-dominated regime under threat, the

ere AI-Asad's father and predecessor, More Video Hafez, killed tens of thousands of citizens in 1982. Protests this weekend continued in Damascus, Aleppo, Latakia and Horns. A statement on Friday by U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton admonishing that time is running out" for AI-Arad to allow re

sad's father and predecessor, More Video Hafez, killed tens of thousands of citizens in 1982. Protests this weekend continued in Damascus, Aleppo, Latakia and Horns. A statement on Friday by U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton admonishing that time is running out" for AI-Arad to allow reforms was

ve, the regime could endure. Although they continue to function, neither appears intact any longer; their control of key areas such as Damascus and Aleppo is in doubt, and the reliability of their personnel, given defections, is no longer certain. We had thought that there was a reasonable chance of t

ages and towns that abut it suggest a process of ethnic cleansing to prepare the way. An Alawite coastal ministate that folds in the port cities of Latakia and Tartus, home to the Russian navy's key warmwater port, may not be viable in the long run, but that doesn't mean the regime's core won't try for

s unusual maneuver. Assad dismissed his cabinet ministers Tuesday, and his backers encouraged massive public demonstrations of support in Damascus, Aleppo and other Syrian cities. Photographs showed huge crowds; a Syrian source claimed that 2 million Assad supporters had assembled in Damascus and I mil

is chief of security. Security forces opened fire on the demonstrators and some were killed. The protests then began to spread, most dangerously to Latakia, a city in the north with a mixed population of Sunni Muslims and Alawite Muslims, the latter a minority sect from which Assad and other members of

But he was then in the midst of a vicious sectarian war against the Muslim Brotherhood, with their power in the souks and the mosques of Hama and Aleppo and Damascus. For the Sunni artisans in the warrens of these old cities, the presidency of a peasant—and an Alawite peasant at that, hailing from a

n my eyes, worth all the palaces in this world." He had pined to leave that poverty; he had come down from his mountain village to the port town of Latakia, on the Mediterranean, to get a secondary-school education; he had made it to the military academy, and the uniform had given him all that was now

l Council. There was the senior diplomat who had grown weary of being a functionary of so sullied a regime. There was a businessman of means, from Aleppo, who was drawn into the opposition by the retrogression of his country. There was a young prayer leader, from Banyas, on the Syrian coast, who had

, banned since 1980. We frighten ourselves with phantoms of our own making. No one is asking or expecting the U.S. Marines to storm the shores of Latakia. This Syrian tyranny is merciless in its battles against the people of Horns and Zabadani, but its army is demoralized and riven with factionalism

fying Industrial Zones. Mahmoud Abbas elected President of the Palestinian Authority. Assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafic Hariri. Aleppo Understandings. UN Security Council Resolution 1595 establishes an International Inde- pendent Inquiry Commission (UNIIC) into the assassination of

4 . Trabzon BARU Lo aoe @ANKARA ise) S . TURKEY AZERBAUJAN 2 lzmir G o} ATHENS Konya Tabriz ° Antalya, Adana, TEHRAN © Rhodes | = NICOSIA: ia rate 5 Latakia | R A N Y, CYPRUS Tripoli ¢ Hamadan Ai te, BEIRUT ¢, 7aneay Spx LEBANON Esfahan® Haifa I R A Q bs, . ISRAEL AlHillah” Al Kut Ports. Tel Aviv o o Ahwa

Lebanon and Iraq. In addition, Gadhafi used heavy weapons from the start, but Assad hasn't. SPIEGEL: Yet tanks have been deployed in Hama, Homs and Latakia for some time. Elaraby: When I flew to Syria 10 days after taking office, they also tried to tell me that there had been no riots in Aleppo or Damas

oms and Latakia for some time. Elaraby: When I flew to Syria 10 days after taking office, they also tried to tell me that there had been no riots in Aleppo or Damascus. I was told that gun battles had only occurred in a few towns near the border, because rebels had fired on security forces there. HOUSE_

e movement toward a breakup of the country, as Alawite supporters of the regime retreat to their ancestral homeland in the northwestern region around Latakia. And there’s no sign that either Assad or his Russian patrons are paying any more than lip service to a political settlement. One potential game-cha

erent battalions that appear to operate with little central command and control. The gains include: e The al-Jarrah air base, about 30 miles east of Aleppo, which appears to have been overrun by fighters from Ahrar al-Sham, a battalion based in Idlib. Videos posted Tuesday by the rebels showed them walki

e movement toward a breakup of the country, as Alawite supporters of the regime retreat to their ancestral homeland in the northwestern region around Latakia. And there's no sign that either Assad or his Russian patrons are paying any more than lip service to a political settlement. One potential game-chan

ferent battalions that appear to operate with little central command and control. The gains include: • The al-Jarrah air base, about 30 miles east of Aleppo, which appears to have been overrun by fighters from Ahrar al-Sham, a battalion based in Idlib. Videos posted Tuesday by the rebels showed them walki