Tomb of Bashar al-Assad’s father set on fire – reports
The tomb of Bashar al-Assad’s father has been set on fire in Syria, according to a breaking news line from AFP.
More details soon …
Key events
Tomb of Assad’s father set on fire in Syria hometown: AFP
The tomb of ousted Syrian president Bashar al-Assad’s father Hafez was torched in his home town of Qardaha, accoding to AFP footage taken on Wednesday. AFP said it showed rebel fighters in fatigues and young men watching it burn.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights war monitor told AFP the rebels had set fire to the mausoleum, located in the Latakia heartland of Assad’s Alawite community. AFP footage showed parts of the mausoleum ablaze and damaged.
Greece suspends examination of Syrian asylum requests, says migration minister
Greece on Wednesday suspended all decisions on asylum applications by Syrians after the fall of Bashar al-Assad, the migration minister announced.
Greece, the entry point for many of the hundreds of thousands of Syrians in Europe, is the latest European country to take the action, reports AFP.
“We are temporarily freezing … all procedures (for Syrians) until we have evaluated the new data,” migration minister, Nikos Panagiotopoulos, told Real FM radio.
Tomb of Bashar al-Assad’s father set on fire – reports
The tomb of Bashar al-Assad’s father has been set on fire in Syria, according to a breaking news line from AFP.
More details soon …
The Kremlin on Wednesday played down the damage to Russian influence in the Middle East from the fall of Syrian ally Bashar al-Assad, saying that its focus was on Ukraine and that Moscow was in contact with Syria’s new rulers, reports AFP.
“You know, of course, that we are in contact with those who are currently in control of the situation in Syria,” Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov told reporters.
Asked how much the fall of Assad had weakened Russia’s influence in the Middle East, Peskov said that Moscow maintained contacts with all countries in the region and would continue to do so. Moscow’s priority, Peskov said, was the war in Ukraine.
On the topic of Syria, the Kremlin said its focus now was to ensure the security of its military bases in the country and of its diplomatic missions.
Russia, the Kremlin said, had helped Assad during the civil war but the situation had then deteriorated. “Russia helped the Syrian Arab Republic at one time to cope with the terrorists and to stabilise the situation after this situation threatened the entire region, and spent a lot of effort for this,” Peskov said.
He added:
Russia fulfilled its mission, and then the Assad leadership worked in their country, engaged in the development of their country. But unfortunately, the development has led to the situation that is now. And now we need to proceed from the realities that exist on the ground.”
Agence France-Presse (AFP) have some more detail on the news that Qatar will soon reopen its embassy in Damascus, Syria.
Qatar “will soon reopen its embassy in the sisterly Syrian Arab Republic after completing the necessary arrangements”, foreign ministry spokesperson Majed al-Ansari said in a statement, reports AFP.
The move aimed to “strengthen the close historical fraternal ties between the two countries”, said the statement. It also sought to “enhance coordination with relevant authorities to facilitate the flow of humanitarian aid currently provided by Qatar to the Syrian people” via an air bridge, it added.
Doha closed its diplomatic mission in Damascus and recalled its ambassador in July 2011 after an uprising against the Assad government turned into a civil war.
Syria’s transitional prime minister: priorities are security, stability and the return of refugees
Italy’s Corriere della Sera is carrying an interview with Mohammed al-Bashir, Syria’s transitional prime minister.
In it he says the top three priorities of the government are “to restore security and stability in all Syrian cities”, “to bring back the millions of Syrian refugees who are scattered around the world” and “strategic planning” to end the “precariousness of essential services like electricity, food, and water.”
He tells reporter Andrea Nicastro that “People are exhausted by injustice and tyranny. The authority of the state must be reestablished to allow people to return to work and resume their normal lives.”
He also warns that the financial situation of the state is dire, saying “In the vaults, there are only Syrian pounds, which are worth next to nothing. Financially, we are in a very bad state.”
Asked about his militant group’s jihadist past, Bashir told the newspaper:
The wrongful actions of certain Islamist groups have led many people, especially in the west, to associate Muslims with terrorism and Islam with extremism. There were mistakes and misunderstandings that distorted the true meaning of Islam, which is ‘the religion of justice.’ Precisely because we are Islamic, we will guarantee the rights of all people and all communities in Syria.
He said the transitional government was open to dialogue with any foreign state “that has distanced itself from Assad’s bloodthirsty regime.”
There is a full English translation of the interview on the Corriere Della Sera website here.
Russia warns citizens in Syria to take precautions amid security threats
Russia has told its citizens in Syria to take maximum precautions and avoid crowded places.
In a press briefing, Russia’s foreign ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova issued the warning, and said her country’s embassy was operating in Syria “under conditions of extremely high security threats.”
Tass reports she called on the international community to refrain from what she described as provocative rhetoric that can negatively affect the situation in Syria, and said “We call on all parties involved to take a responsible approach and contribute to the speedy restoration of security and stability in the country.”
Reuters reports, citing the RIA news agency, that deputy foreign minister Sergei Ryabkov warned on Wednesday that there was a risk that Islamic State could become resurgent in Syria.
Earlier today the Kremlin criticised Israeli actions in the region, with spokesperson Dmitry Peskov saying Israel’s actions in the occupied Golan Heights and the buffer zone are unlikely to contribute to the stabilisation of the situation in Syria.
During his regular press briefing he told journalists that Russia had achieved its aims when it intervened in the Syrian civil war on behalf of the deposed Assad regime.
Russia helped the Syrian Arab Republic to deal with terrorists at one time and helped to stabilise the situation after this situation threatened the entire region. And it spent a lot of effort for this. Then Russia fulfilled its mission.
And then the leadership of Assad worked in their country, was engaged in development in their country, but, unfortunately, [it] led to the situation that exists now.
Now we need to proceed from the realities that currently exist on the ground.
Paraguay’s president Santiago Peña is visiting Jerusalem today. He met with his Israeli counterpart Isaac Herzog, who said:
It means a lot to the people of Israel, the fact that you’re coming here after a year when the Israeli public, the Israeli people, the Israeli nation has gone through a most challenging time, painful, agonising.
While he is in Israel, Peña is inaugurating a new embassy, situated in Jerusalem. Herzog said:
We are very excited that you will inaugurate the Paraguayan embassy in Jerusalem, our holy city, united city, the eternal capital of the state of Israel and the Jewish people.
Here are some of the latest images sent to us over the news wires from the region.
Qatar’s foreign ministry has said it will shortly reopen its embassy in Syria.
Russia has said the security of its bases in Syria is of paramount importance, and criticised Israeli actions in the region.
Tass reports Dmitry Peskov, during his regular daily media briefing, said “We, of course, are closely monitoring everything that is happening in Syria, and we maintain contacts with those who are currently controlling the situation. This is necessary because our bases are there, our diplomatic missions are there.”
Peskov declined to say how many Russian troops were in Syria, insisting that was a matter for Russia’s ministry of defence. He also declined to say how relations with the rebel leadership in Syria were developing, telling journalists “too little time has passed so far … therefore, I cannot say anything in more detail.”
Russia has a major air base in Latakia province and a naval facility at Tartous, which Reuters reports is Russia’s only Mediterranean repair and replenishment hub.
The Kremlin spokesperson said Israel’s actions in the occupied Golan Heights and the buffer zone are unlikely to contribute to the stabilisation of the situation in Syria.
Israel has launched a ground invasion into the UN-patrolled buffer zone that separates Syria from the Israeli-controlled Golan Heights, territory that Israel seized from Syria in 1967 and unilaterally annexed in 1981.
Pope Francis on Wednesday called on Syria’s new leadership to stabilise the country, and govern in a way that promotes national unity.
In his first public remarks about Syria since the ending of Bashar al-Assad’s rule, Reuters reports the pope called on the country’s diverse religious groups to “walk together in friendship and mutual respect for the good of the nation”.
He said:
I hope they find political solutions that, without other conflicts or divisions, responsibly promote the stability and unity of the country
“Relentless” Israeli airstrikes on Syria are hampering attempts to carry out a smooth transition of power from the collapsed Bashar al-Assad regime, Al Jazeera reports.
Writing from Damascus, Resul Serdar Atas says:
Israel is destroying strategic military infrastructure of Syria. By doing so, they are making sure Syria’s new administration does not have the capability of defending itself.
Israel is reducing Syria into Lebanon, into Gaza. That is a huge challenge to the new administration which is trying to preserve the state apparatus … making sure that there is a smooth political transition.
The relentless Israeli air strikes across the country and, in particular, in the capital, Damascus, are definitely disrupting this process.
At least 31 Palestinians killed by Israeli airstrikes on Gaza
Israeli strikes in the northern and central Gaza Strip on Wednesday killed at least 31 Palestinians, most of them in Beit Lahia in the north, Reuters reports, citing local medics.
Health officials said an Israeli airstrike on a house in Beit Lahiya killed at least 22 people, including women and children.
Palestinian news agency WAFA said at least 30 people were living in the multi-storey building before it was struck, adding that several members of the family remained missing as rescue operations continued.
Earlier on Wednesday, at least seven Palestinians were killed and several others wounded in an Israeli airstrike on a house in the Nuseirat camp
Palestinian news agency Wafa reports that Israeli security forces have detained three men in Qalqilya in the Israeli-occupied West Bank.
Israel’s military has reported that four rockets were fired towards Israel from inside the Gaza Strip in the early hours of the morning. In a statement on its official Telegram channel, the IDF said the rockets were intercepted and there were no reports of casualties.
The IRNA news agency is carrying further quotes from Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei talking about Syria and conflict in the region. It quotes him saying:
You must understand that the more pressure you put on the resistance front [to Israel], the stronger it becomes. The more crimes you commit, the more motivated it becomes. The more you fight it, the more it will expand. By the grace of God, the resistance will expand more than before to cover the entire region.