Syria wants Golan in return for helping US

[Stephanie]

The Sunday Times November 19, 2006


Syria wants Golan in return for helping US
Hala Jaber and Sarah Baxter



SYRIA is to demand American help in securing the return of the Golan Heights from Israel as the price of co-operation over Iraq. With the White House under pressure to talk to its adversary, President Bashar al-Assad has resolved that his assistance will not be cheap.
Assad has been considering how to respond to an American overture following reports that the Iraq Study Group will recommend that the United States engage Syria and Iran in talks on Iraq, a position backed by Tony Blair last week.



The Syrian president wants America and Britain to use their influence with Israel to raise the return of the Golan Heights, seized by the Israelis in the 1967 war. “It will be the top demand,” said Ayman Abdel Nour, a leading reformer in the ruling Ba’ath party.

Assad has ruled out co-operating with the Americans in return for the promise of unspecified benefits. “The Syrian leadership is fed up with the Americans and does not trust their word when it comes to future aid for Syria,” Abdel Nour said.

“Syria will not do anything unless it has secured guarantees from Washington and London that every action Damascus takes to help them will be reciprocated. It will be a step by step scenario: these actions for those actions,” he added. Assad also insists that any help must be dependent on a timetable for US troop withdrawals, a move resisted by President George W Bush.

Shaul Bakhash, an expert on the Middle East at George Mason University, Washington, said: “Neither Iran nor Syria will do a favour for the US without wanting something back — and what both countries want are things that the US is not willing to give them.”

The Syrians believe they are in a position of strength. “Already there is talk that Syria is the winner and will set the new rules of the game in the region,” Abdel Nour said.

Additional reporting: Peter Hall, Damascus
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,2089-2460033,00.html

 

[akiboy]

Cannot trust either Syria or Iran. Tell the SYrian Pres that Israel will not leave the Golan Heights. ANyways what help can Syria give US on Iraq? Can they stop the car bomb and the terror atacks ? Can they stop the killing of US forces ? Can they assure the States that Sunnis and Shias wont fight ?

And I never knew that America would ever need Iran's help !! I mean why on Earth would Mahmoud help Washington over Iraq? Infact he must be happy that America is losing its troops and equipment in Iraq !

And as your post has pointed out Iran and Syria will want something from U.S in return for their "favours".

Iran will want an assurance from Washington that no one will raise a voice against their nuke program which I am sure Washington cannot give.

End result:- America cannot negotiate favourably with either Damascus or Tehran.


Akshay

 

[rtwngAvngr]

:eating popcorn:

 

[Hobbit]

All I have to say to Syria is...don't hold your breath. The only reason the Israelis have Golan in the first place is because Syria kept putting artillery on it.

 

[Gunny]

The Sunday Times November 19, 2006


Syria wants Golan in return for helping US
Hala Jaber and Sarah Baxter



SYRIA is to demand American help in securing the return of the Golan Heights from Israel as the price of co-operation over Iraq. With the White House under pressure to talk to its adversary, President Bashar al-Assad has resolved that his assistance will not be cheap.
Assad has been considering how to respond to an American overture following reports that the Iraq Study Group will recommend that the United States engage Syria and Iran in talks on Iraq, a position backed by Tony Blair last week.



The Syrian president wants America and Britain to use their influence with Israel to raise the return of the Golan Heights, seized by the Israelis in the 1967 war. “It will be the top demand,” said Ayman Abdel Nour, a leading reformer in the ruling Ba’ath party.

Assad has ruled out co-operating with the Americans in return for the promise of unspecified benefits. “The Syrian leadership is fed up with the Americans and does not trust their word when it comes to future aid for Syria,” Abdel Nour said.

“Syria will not do anything unless it has secured guarantees from Washington and London that every action Damascus takes to help them will be reciprocated. It will be a step by step scenario: these actions for those actions,” he added. Assad also insists that any help must be dependent on a timetable for US troop withdrawals, a move resisted by President George W Bush.

Shaul Bakhash, an expert on the Middle East at George Mason University, Washington, said: “Neither Iran nor Syria will do a favour for the US without wanting something back — and what both countries want are things that the US is not willing to give them.”

The Syrians believe they are in a position of strength. “Already there is talk that Syria is the winner and will set the new rules of the game in the region,” Abdel Nour said.

Additional reporting: Peter Hall, Damascus
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,2089-2460033,00.html

Blackmail to do what's right. Fuck Syria.

 

[dilloduck]

:eating popcorn:

We all may as well be---and watch the big shots figure this all out for us dumb shits.

 

[Gunny]

We all may as well be---and watch the big shots figure this all out for us dumb shits.

Yeah, they always do such a stellar job.

 

[waltky]

Syrian rebels capture UN peacekeepers...

UN says 21 peacekeepers detained on Golan Heights
Mar 6,`13 -- Armed fighters linked to the Syrian opposition detained 21 U.N. peacekeepers from the Philippines on Wednesday in the increasingly volatile zone separating Israeli and Syrian troops on the Golan Heights, a new escalation in the spillover of Syria's civil war.

The U.N. Security Council demanded their immediate and unconditional release. In Manila, Philippine officials that Syrian rebels were holding 21 Filipino peacekeepers "as guests." Early Thursday, Philippine President Benigno Aquino III said the U.N. commander on the ground told him that negotiations were progressing. He said he was told "by tomorrow, they expect all of these 21 to be released."

Philippine military spokesman Col. Arnulfo Marcelo Burgos said the peacekeepers were in a military convoy when they were "suddenly held at one Syrian rebel outpost. They were allowed to go through the first outpost but were stopped at the second outpost." The troops, part of a Philippine contingent of 300 peacekeepers, were taken to a "safe area" after their vehicles were taken, he said.

The capture comes a week after the announcement that a member of the peacekeeping force is missing. The force, known as UNDOF, was established a year after the 1973 Yom Kippur war. It monitors the disengagement of Israeli and Syrian forces and maintains a cease-fire. Israeli officials have grown increasingly jittery as the Syrian war moves closer to Israel. There have been several instances in which stray fire has landed in the Israeli-controlled Golan Heights, and Israel is concerned that Syrian weapons could fall into the hands of hostile groups and be used against Israel.

Israel captured the Golan Heights from Syria in 1967 and Syria wants the land returned in exchange for peace. Russia's U.N. Ambassador Vitaly Churkin, the current Security Council president, said the capture of the peacekeepers "is particularly unacceptable and bizarre" because the UNDOF peacekeepers are unarmed and their mission has nothing to do with Syria's internal conflict. "They are there on a completely different mission so there is no reason at all under any circumstances, any kind of sick imagination to try to harm those people," he said.

MORE

See also:

UN Demands Unconditional Release of Golan Peacekeepers
March 06, 2013 — The U.N. Security Council is demanding the unconditional release of more than 20 peacekeepers stopped and detained by armed elements of the Syrian opposition in the Golan Heights.

The United Nations says a group of peacekeepers from its Disengagement Observer Force, known as UNDOF, in the area of separation between Israel and Syria, was seized by a group of some 30 armed fighters Wednesday. A U.N. spokesman said the unarmed peacekeepers were on a regular supply mission when they were stopped near an observation post which had sustained damage and was evacuated a few days ago, following heavy fighting in the nearby town of Al Jamlah.

Russian Ambassador Vitaly Churkin, who holds the rotating presidency of the 15-nation Security Council this month, read a statement to reporters condemning the detention of the U.N. observers and demanding their release. “The members of the Security Council demanded the unconditional and immediate release of all the detained U.N. peacekeepers and called upon all parties to cooperate with UNDOF in good faith to enable it to operate freely and to ensure full security of its personnel,” he said.

Ambassador Churkin said his understanding of the situation is that no fighting took place between the U.N. observers and their captors, but that the armed men took over the UNDOF vehicles. U.N. Peacekeeping Chief Hervé Ladsous told reporters that it is a “very serious incident” which is “ongoing” and has mobilized all of the U.N.’s teams. Without going into detail, he said negotiations are going on.

He said the incident occurred in the very south of UNDOF’s area of operations. The United Nations has not said what nationalities the peacekeepers are, but troops from Austria, Croatia, India and the Philippines are part of the observer force. There are just over 1,000 U.N. troops in the Golan Heights, where the U.N. has monitored a cease-fire between Israel and Syria since 1974.

Source

 

[SAYIT]

Syrian rebels capture UN peacekeepers...

UN says 21 peacekeepers detained on Golan Heights
Mar 6,`13 -- Armed fighters linked to the Syrian opposition detained 21 U.N. peacekeepers from the Philippines on Wednesday in the increasingly volatile zone separating Israeli and Syrian troops on the Golan Heights, a new escalation in the spillover of Syria's civil war.

The U.N. Security Council demanded their immediate and unconditional release. In Manila, Philippine officials that Syrian rebels were holding 21 Filipino peacekeepers "as guests." Early Thursday, Philippine President Benigno Aquino III said the U.N. commander on the ground told him that negotiations were progressing. He said he was told "by tomorrow, they expect all of these 21 to be released."

Philippine military spokesman Col. Arnulfo Marcelo Burgos said the peacekeepers were in a military convoy when they were "suddenly held at one Syrian rebel outpost. They were allowed to go through the first outpost but were stopped at the second outpost." The troops, part of a Philippine contingent of 300 peacekeepers, were taken to a "safe area" after their vehicles were taken, he said.

The capture comes a week after the announcement that a member of the peacekeeping force is missing. The force, known as UNDOF, was established a year after the 1973 Yom Kippur war. It monitors the disengagement of Israeli and Syrian forces and maintains a cease-fire. Israeli officials have grown increasingly jittery as the Syrian war moves closer to Israel. There have been several instances in which stray fire has landed in the Israeli-controlled Golan Heights, and Israel is concerned that Syrian weapons could fall into the hands of hostile groups and be used against Israel.

Israel captured the Golan Heights from Syria in 1967 and Syria wants the land returned in exchange for peace. Russia's U.N. Ambassador Vitaly Churkin, the current Security Council president, said the capture of the peacekeepers "is particularly unacceptable and bizarre" because the UNDOF peacekeepers are unarmed and their mission has nothing to do with Syria's internal conflict. "They are there on a completely different mission so there is no reason at all under any circumstances, any kind of sick imagination to try to harm those people," he said.

MORE

See also:

UN Demands Unconditional Release of Golan Peacekeepers
March 06, 2013 — The U.N. Security Council is demanding the unconditional release of more than 20 peacekeepers stopped and detained by armed elements of the Syrian opposition in the Golan Heights.

The United Nations says a group of peacekeepers from its Disengagement Observer Force, known as UNDOF, in the area of separation between Israel and Syria, was seized by a group of some 30 armed fighters Wednesday. A U.N. spokesman said the unarmed peacekeepers were on a regular supply mission when they were stopped near an observation post which had sustained damage and was evacuated a few days ago, following heavy fighting in the nearby town of Al Jamlah.

Russian Ambassador Vitaly Churkin, who holds the rotating presidency of the 15-nation Security Council this month, read a statement to reporters condemning the detention of the U.N. observers and demanding their release. “The members of the Security Council demanded the unconditional and immediate release of all the detained U.N. peacekeepers and called upon all parties to cooperate with UNDOF in good faith to enable it to operate freely and to ensure full security of its personnel,” he said.

Ambassador Churkin said his understanding of the situation is that no fighting took place between the U.N. observers and their captors, but that the armed men took over the UNDOF vehicles. U.N. Peacekeeping Chief Hervé Ladsous told reporters that it is a “very serious incident” which is “ongoing” and has mobilized all of the U.N.’s teams. Without going into detail, he said negotiations are going on.

He said the incident occurred in the very south of UNDOF’s area of operations. The United Nations has not said what nationalities the peacekeepers are, but troops from Austria, Croatia, India and the Philippines are part of the observer force. There are just over 1,000 U.N. troops in the Golan Heights, where the U.N. has monitored a cease-fire between Israel and Syria since 1974.

Source

Smooth move, Waltky. The thread and the article are 6+ years old. Not only did Syria not recover the Golan, the country is mired in a vicious civil war which has claimed over 100,000 lives and is likely to topple Assad and end any influence they may have had.
Iran has been marginalized and with the US military so nearby, defanged.
It looks like Israel is the real winner ... again.
Amazing how that is always the result.

 

[irosie91]

its all fall out from the SHALIT thing-----the lesson is

**NEVER GIVE IN TO BLACK-MAILERS"

looking back---Israel should have bombed Gaza until
Shalit was released----and now should bomb Damascus
until the UN peace keepers are released.

based on the vandalism that the ummah has
inflicted on the artifacts of Buddhism,
christianity and judaism in the past 12 years---
another good idea would be pig shit bombs
over mecca until the UN peace-keepers
are released

 

[Hossfly]

its all fall out from the SHALIT thing-----the lesson is

**NEVER GIVE IN TO BLACK-MAILERS"

looking back---Israel should have bombed Gaza until
Shalit was released----and now should bomb Damascus
until the UN peace keepers are released.

based on the vandalism that the ummah has
inflicted on the artifacts of Buddhism,
christianity and judaism in the past 12 years---
another good idea would be pig shit bombs
over mecca until the UN peace-keepers
are released

The pigshit bombs would truly be humane. Good suggestion.

 

[waltky]

New video of captured UN peacekeepers...

Abduction illustrates UN vulnerability in Syria
Mar 7,`13 -- New video Thursday of U.N. peacekeepers held captive by Syrian rebels illustrates the sudden vulnerability of a U.N. force that had patrolled a cease-fire line between Israel and Syria without incident for nearly four decades.

The abduction of the Filipino troops - soft targets in Syria's civil war - also sent a worrisome signal to Israel about the lawlessness it fears along the shared frontier if Syrian President Bashar Assad is ousted. The 21 peacekeepers were seized Wednesday near the Syrian village of Jamlah, just a mile from the Israeli-controlled Golan Heights, a plateau Israel captured from Syria in 1967.

Negotiations were under way Thursday for the release of the men, who said in videos posted online that they were being treated well. "To our family, we hope to see you soon and we are OK here," said a peacekeeper shown in one video. He was one of three troops dressed in camouflage and blue bullet-proof vests emblazoned with the words U.N. and Philippines.

Speaking in Manila, Philippine military spokesman Col. Arnulfo Marcelo Burgos said Friday that the rebels are willing to release the peacekeepers and are asking for the International Committee of the Red Cross to escort them to a safe area. According to Burgos, the rebels said the peacekeepers have to be removed because there is heavy fighting in the area. He said the information came from the U.N. command.

However, a rebel spokesman seemed to suggest the hostages were also serving as human shields. If the U.N. troops are released and leave the area, the regime could kill "as many as 1,000 people," said the spokesman, who spoke via Skype and did not give his name for fear of reprisals. The peacekeepers' abduction highlights the growing risks to U.N. staff in Syria's escalating conflict.

MORE

 

[irosie91]

taking hostages has become too good a business for the islamo nazi dogs ----
it is a simple case of rewarded behavior

 

[waltky]

UN peacekeepers gettin' a Red cross escort...

Red Cross ‘must escort UN peacekeepers’
Sat, Mar 09, 2013 - Syrian rebels who seized 21 Filipino UN peacekeepers in the Golan Heights want the Red Cross to escort them out of the area because of fighting with Syrian government forces, the Philippine military said yesterday.

The 21 peacekeepers were seized on Wednesday near the Syrian village of Jamlah, just 1.6km from the Israeli-controlled Golan Heights in an area where the UN force had patrolled a ceasefire line between Israel and Syria without incident for nearly four decades. Philippine military spokesman Colonel Arnulfo Marcelo Burgos said that the rebels were willing to release the peacekeepers and asked for the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) to escort them to a safe area. According to Burgos, the rebels said the peacekeepers have to be removed because there was heavy fighting in the area.

He said the information came from the UN command in the Golan Heights, which was negotiating for the release of the peacekeepers. “They want the ICRC to pick them up and escort them,” Burgos said. “Hopefully they will really be released and we are also waiting for that.” The peacekeepers said in videos posted online that they were being treated well. “To our family, we hope to see you soon and we are OK here,” a peacekeeper shown in one video said. He was one of three troops dressed in camouflage and blue bullet-proof vests emblazoned with the words “UN” and “Philippines.”

However, a rebel spokesman seemed to suggest the hostages were also serving as human shields. If the UN troops are released and leave the area, the regime could kill “as many as 1,000 people,” the spokesman said via Skype and did not give his name for fear of reprisals.

Meanwhile, the EU was right not to arm anti-government fighters in Syria, because doing so would risk regional “conflagration,” Germany said on Thursday, highlighting divisions in the region over how to handle the Syrian crisis. “The decision of the EU not to lift in total the embargo was wise and was right, but it is necessary to show more flexibility and to understand that we have of course to support the ... opposition in a responsible way,” German Minister of Foreign Affairs Guido Westerwelle told reporters at a briefing in London. “We have to avoid a conflagration in the whole region,” he added.

MORE

See also:

Rebels free 21 UN captives in southern Syria
Mar 9,`13 -- Rebels in southern Syria freed 21 U.N. peacekeepers on Friday after holding them hostage for four days, driving them to the border with Jordan after accusations from Western officials that the little-known group had tarnished the image of those fighting to topple President Bashar Assad.

The abduction and the tortured negotiations that ended it highlight the disorganization of the rebel movement, which has hindered its ability to fight Assad and complicates vows by the U.S. and others to provide assistance. It also has raised concerns about the future of U.N. operations in the area. The Filipino peacekeepers were abducted on Wednesday by one of the rebel groups operating in southern Syria near the Jordanian border and the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights, where a U.N. force has patrolled a cease-fire line between Israel and Syria for nearly four decades.

Activists associated with the group, the Yarmouk Martyrs Brigade, gave different reasons for seizing the 21 men. First they demanded that all government forces leave the area. Then they suggested the peacekeepers were human shields against government attacks. Then they declared them "honored guests" held for their own safety. They also released videos online, including one on Saturday of a bearded rebel commander with his arms around two peacekeepers' shoulders, flashing a V for victory sign.

On Saturday, after negotiations that the top U.N. official in Damascus described as "long and difficult," the rebels changed the plan to deliver the peacekeepers to a U.N. team, instead taking them to the Jordanian border. Video broadcast by Arab satellite channels late Saturday showed them sitting at a round conference table in Amman, their bright blue helmets in front of them. U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon welcomed their release and called on all parties in Syria to respect the peacekeepers' freedom of movement.

It was the first time in nearly two years of violence in Syria that U.N. personnel have been directly caught up in the civil war, which evolved from an uprising against Assad that broke out in March 2011 and has left more than 70,000 people dead.

MORE