Syria conference: Gulf countries to fund rebels

[maddezmom]

Source: AP

By CHRISTOPHER TORCHIA and BRADLEY KLAPPER Associated PressAssociated Press

April 1, 2012 11:43 AM GMT Updated: 04/01/2012 04:43:38 AM PDT


ISTANBUL—Participants at a conference on Syria say Saudi Arabia and other Gulf countries are creating a multimillion-dollar fund to pay salaries to members of the rebel Free Syrian Army and soldiers who defect from the regime and join opposition ranks.

The plan is the first formal support, though only financial, for Syria's badly overmatched rebels, and offers a solution to the international divide over whether to arm the rebels or support them through only non-lethal or humanitarian means.

Conference participants confirmed the plan on condition of anonymity because details were still being worked out. It was unclear how the fund would be set up and monitored.



Read more: http://www.mercurynews.com/news/ci_20302341/turkey-nations-meet-plan-new-syria

---

Syria blasts international conference on crisis


BEIRUT (AP) — Syria blasted an international conference on the country's spreading crisis before it even started Sunday, calling it part of an international conspiracy to kill Syrians and weaken the country.

Dozens of countries are attending the "Friends of the Syrian People" conference in Istanbul to try to further isolate Syrian President Bashar Assad, unite the Syrian opposition and bring aid to civilians caught in the regime's ongoing crackdown on dissent.

A front-page editorial in the official Al-Baath newspaper called the conference a "regional and international scramble to search for ways to kill more Syrians, sabotage their society and state and move toward the broad objective of weakening Syria."

Damascus has consistently dismissed the country's yearlong uprising as a foreign-engineered plot.

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton is attending the one-day conference, as are leaders from Europe, Turkey and Arab countries. All have emerged as harsh critics of Assad's crackdown on dissent.



Read more: http://www.seattlepi.com/news/article/Syria-blasts-international-conference-on-crisis-3439868.php#ixzz1qmyjwKfE

[leveymg]

1. Oh, great. Saudis openly funding Sunni Jihadis, again. What could go wrong?

[riderinthestorm]

3. +10000. I agree completely. nt

[dipsydoodle]

5. ditto

[nanabugg]

10. This will turn out to big the biggest international mistake since Iraq and will cost

much more in lives and resources. Why? Because the Gulf states will now become targets and the flow of oil will, in time, blow up in their collective faces. Just wait. Hezbollah and other Shia militants will not stand by a let this happen without a huge fight.

[Fool Count]

2. Look out now for everyone and his donkey scrambling to get on the "registered rebels" list

to get that Saudi salary. Pretty soon half-the-Syria will be gainfully employed by the Gulf Arabs.
It is going to be a sweet gig to be in charge of assembling those rolls - a place on it will be
going for thousands of dollars. The Saudis certainly came up with the best way to guarantee
a perpetual "civil war". Is Syrian economy ready for such massive stimulus?

[Comrade Grumpy]

4. Well, this ought to work out well.

Can you say "foreign-funded terrorists"? Assad certainly can.

Unless the Saudis and their buddies are going to create a whole new army, I don't see this accomplishing anything but more dead people.

Though it'll probably be pretty sweet to be sitting in Istanbul and getting a salary.

[schmice]

6. They're going to fund the rebels...April Fool's Day? They're spineless.

[Ruby the Liberal]

7. Why are they so worried.

After all, they "took down" the uprising and its all over, right?

http://www.democraticunderground.com/101487154

Assad government talking out of both sides of its mouth this weekend...

[Fool Count]

8. They are worried about inflation and overheated economy

with all that money flowing in.

[tabatha]

9. So, I guess these people should starve and die.

Mouhanad Abdulhamid ‏ @MouhanadSYR Reply Retweet Favorite · Open
UN estimates 16 thousand #Syria'n refugees #Lebanon. Now, many are facing the danger of homelessness due to high rent prices & no donations.

And why are they fleeing - Assad bombed their homes to bits, the Assad thugs looted their homes, and killed their children.

Graphic warning for video:

EDIT

Michael Nahum ‏ @usgrant63 · Open
For @Ibishblog, everyone's favorite Syrian Kurd. RT @abuhatem: "Israel treats Palestinians better than Kurds were ever treated in Syria ..."