Konflikten i Syrien

Iraks försvarsdepartement uppgav på lördagen att en terrorcell med kopplingar till al-Qaida har avslöjats i Irak. Gruppen var sysselsatt med att tillverka giftgas som sarin och senapsgas på tre olika platser i Bagdad.

Gruppen med fem medlemmar hade byggt produktionsenheterna efter instruktioner från andra al-Qaidagrupper. Cellen förberedde attacker i Irak, i grannländer och i Västeuropa och USA genom olika nätverk, hävdade al-Askari.

Turkey arrests 12 in raids on "terrorist" organisation
Source: Reuters - Thu, 30 May 2013 07:56 PM

Earlier, several Turkish newspapers had reported that 12 people from Syria's al Qaeda-linked al-Nusra Front who allegedly had been planning an attack inside Turkey and were in possession of 2 kg (4.5 pounds) of sarin, had been detained in Adana.

Nusra is one of the most effective forces fighting President Bashar al-Assad and last month pledged allegiance to al Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahri.

Experts have long said Nusra is receiving support from al Qaeda-linked militants in neighbouring Iraq.

Iraq opposes use of airspace
to strike Syria



Iraq said Monday it opposes the use of its airspace or territory in any attack on Syria, as Western powers warn of possible military action against Damascus.



"We do not agree to any use of our airspace ... to attack any neighboring country through our land," Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki's spokesperson told AFP, asked if Baghdad would authorize the use of its airspace in any action against Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's regime.


"Our position is fixed on this subject."

Syria-based al Qaeda group issues threat to Western aid workers

Al Qaeda's affiliate in Syria - the Islamic State of Iraq and Al-Sham, or ISIS - warned Western aid workers that they are at risk of kidnapping or death if they enter Syria. The directive from the terror group now officially makes many U.S.-funded organizations targets.


A State Department official told CBS News that "some of our partners" have reported receiving a warning from ISIS that Western aid workers would be in danger. The official said that so far the threat is "not yet impacting our programs given the breadth and depth of local staff and partners we have on the ground."


The United States is the largest aid donor to the refugee crisis in Syria and the surrounding countries affected by what the United Nations refers to as the worst humanitarian disaster of this century. More than a billion dollars in U.S. aid has been provided during the more than two-year war.

American Tells of Odyssey as Prisoner of Syrian Rebels


Matthew Schrier was helpless. An American photographer held in a rebel-controlled prison in the Syrian city of Aleppo, he and a fellow prisoner had been caught trying to gouge a hole in their cell’s wooden door. The captors took his cellmate, he said, beat him, and brought him back with blood-streaked ankles and feet.



Mr. Schrier was held for seven months by jihadi rebels.




Now was Mr. Schrier’s turn.

Wearing masks, his jailers led him out, sat him down and forced a car tire over his knees. They slid a wooden rod behind his legs, locking the tire in place. Then they rolled him over. Mr. Schrier was face down on a basement floor, he said, legs immobilized, bare feet facing up.

Former Jabhat al-Nusrah Member admits Chemical Weapons Use

Abdola Al-Jaledi, a former high-ranking member of the Jabhat al-Nusrah front has revealed on his Twitter account @abo_almonthir, that his Jabhat al-Nusrah colleagues are in possession of chemical weapons, reports the independent Syrian Dampress Online Journal.

Jag spekulerar inte hejvilt, det är du som gör det. [...][...] Idag har det varit tyst om inspektionerna och det beror antagligen på att misstankarna riktas mot rebellsidan