Epstein Secrets

cluded that some of the spectacular suicide bombings early on in Damascus were the work of such groups. And in response to a question in the German Parliament last week, it was revealed that Germany's intelligence service estimates that about 90 bombings in Syria over the past six months were the work of

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

. Abolition of Article 8 of the constitution, which stipulates that the Baath Party is by law the ruling party in Syria. President Assad's speech to Parliament on March 31st was disappointing to many, who were expecting the speech to be a declaration of a new era of genuine reforms. His promise of new elect

a predominantly Sunni city, protesters have accused Iran and the Lebanese party Hizbullah of participating in the suppression of demonstrations. In Latakia, clashes have also erupted along sectarian lines. Lebanese and Iranian involvement, however, seems improbable; the rising tensions are likely an exp

oglu also suggested that the President undertake significant legal reforms, based on a draft that Turkey would provide; conduct elections for a new Parliament that would draft a new constitution. At the end of the process, a referendum would be held. Assad would need to be ready to leave power. He also rei

led him to make a positive statement. However, since then, there had been reports of tanks being deployed to llama again, and of a new operation in Latakia that was even worse than the one in Hama. Secretary Clinton and President Obama had been in contact with the Turkish Government to inform them that

gents for the bloodshed -- anyone but its own forces. Civilian deaths at the hands of security forces there, and more recently in the coastal city of Latakia, have outraged opinion across the country, setting alight long pent-up anger at the denial of basic freedoms, the monopolistic rule of the Baath part

nded. Egypt's military rulers have suggested that they will very shortly issue a declaration indicating how authority will be exercised while Egypt's Parliament and president are elected, which parts of the 1971 Constitution will be brought back into effect, and what their own role will be. The committee that

form a government. Articles 56 and 61 stipulate that the SCAF will retain a broad range of executive powers until a president is elected. Instead of Parliament acting as the sovereign body that will write a constitution, Article 60 mandates that it is to "elect a 100-member constituent assembly." The big que

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