Epstein Secrets

office. Prince Nayif ascended to become Crown Prince last October when his brother Prince EFTA00712527 Sultan passed away. Now Nayif has died in Geneva after months of ill health. The good news for Saudis is that his successor is all but certain to be Prince Salman, a more pragmatic and progressive

sition, rather than Assad's forces, that was responsible for the massacre at Houla. On this reading, it wasn't Sunnis who were killed en masse, but Alawites and other minorities. The facts are otherwise. As this list of casualties from the Houla killings shows, the dead were Sunnis, with the majority of

cluding elements of al Qaeda. Subsequently, there's worry that the Sunnis will target the Christian community and take their vengeance against the Alawites, from whom the ruling Assad regime is drawn. The idea then, EFTA00712537 now corroborated by this Syrian disinformation campaign, is that the opp

ll stop it. Once again the French had the feeling of being presented by the Obama administration with a wobbly fait accompli. For weeks before the Geneva meeting at which hopes for an accord first soared and then sank, the United States and Iran had opened a quiet two- way negotiation on a six-month i

ity to remain, even if Syria has already been carved up into enclaves - Sunni rebels in the north and east, secessionist Kurds in the northeast and Alawites and others in the capital and north-western coastal area. According to these sources, U.S. and Russian officials have privately been discussing wh

eir master. Jalili, an ill-tempered, narrow-minded, one-legged veteran of the EFTA00660164 Iran-Iraq war, lost face after a disastrous meeting in Geneva in October 2009, when he tentatively agreed to a nuclear-fuel swap, only to see the supreme leader, Ali Khamenei, bat the deal down from Tehran. So

re not welcome in communities that have long prided themselves on their tolerance of the religious minorities in their midst, including Christians, Alawites, Druze, Kurds and Ismaili Shiites. A rebel leader in northern Syria who asked to be identified by his nom de guerre, Abu Mustafa, described how he

it may provide a last opportunity for the United States and Russia to agree on the framework for the negotiations to end the war that were begun in Geneva last year. New statements of support for a diplomatic solution have come this week from President Obama, Secretary of State John Kerry and, perhaps

acuum in case of a sudden Assad collapse." The plan includes steps for securing the chemical facilities; providing security in the city; protecting Alawites from reprisals; and working with the Syrian army. "The Syrian army is essential to have stability in the capital," notes the opposition memorandum.

y Kerry, shows no sign of being pursued, EFTA00707181 much less fulfilled, notwithstanding administration pronouncements that the eleven-country "Geneva process" will effect a governmental transition in Damascus. The Atlantic Council's Fred Hof has posed asuestion that many Syrians are surely askin

t they continue to say, 'We are afraid these weapons will fall in the wrong hands.' Do you see Syria splitting up? I hope it doesn't split up. The Alawites are not confined to Syria. You have Kurds in Turkey, Iran and Iraq. ... There will be this incentive to reach out to fellow ethnics — and then it w