SYRIEN - En sammanställning av konflikten

Assads soldater förtjänar att dö då dem ämnar krossa ett folkligt uppror. Ju mer som dör desto bättre.

"---A car bomb exploded Saturday in the southern Syrian city where the revolt against President Bashar Assad began almost a year ago, authorities said, the latest in a string of mysterious blasts that have added a disturbing element to the nation’s already violent rebellion.

A "terrorist suicide bomber" detonated the payload at a traffic circle in Dara, killing three civilians and wounding 20 others, including law enforcement personnel, the official Syrian Arab News Agency reported.

The recent bombings have rattled Syrians and evoked memories of the carnage in neighboring Iraq that followed the U.S.-led overthrow of Saddam Hussein.

Syrian authorities have blamed the suicide attacks on "terrorists" and Islamic militants linked to Al Qaeda. The Syrian opposition has said the car bombs are the handiwork of security services seeking to discredit the uprising.

The car bomb in Dara was the first reported since Feb. 10, when twin explosions at state security buildings killed more than two dozen people in the commercial hub of Aleppo. The northern city had previously been relatively free of the violence sweeping much of the country.

Three other car bombs, also targeting security posts, exploded in Damascus in December and January, killing dozens and stunning the capital. Damascus, like Aleppo, mostly had been spared violent unrest and is viewed as a bastion of support for Assad.---"

"---China offered a proposal Sunday to end the violence in Syria, calling for an immediate cease-fire and talks by all parties but standing firm against any intervention by outside forces.

The proposal, released by China’s Foreign Ministry, comes as U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon is calling on Syrian President Bashar Assad’s government to allow immediate access to humanitarian workers as Syria presses a military crackdown against anti-government groups.

Beijing’s plan is part of renewed efforts by Beijing to seize the diplomatic initiative in an increasingly vital part of the world for China after being roundly criticized by the U.S. and others for joining Russia in vetoing a U.N. resolution. That plan similarly called for an end to hostilities, but Beijing feared it would open the door to intervention against Assad’s authoritarian government, as it had in Libya.

The proposal reflects those concerns. Saying “the situation in Syria remains grave,” the proposal calls for an immediate end to all violence, as well as humanitarian relief and negotiations among all parties mediated by the U.N. and the Arab League. At the same time, it rejects any outside interference, sanctions and attempts to replace the Syrian government.

“We oppose anyone interfering in Syria’s internal affairs under the pretext of ‘humanitarian’ issues,” said the proposal from an unnamed “leading official” and posted on the Foreign Ministry’s website. It later said: “China does not approve of armed interference or pushing for ‘regime change’ in Syria and believes that use or threat of sanctions does not help to resolve the issue.”---"

Frustrated by a diplomatic logjam and a bloody Syrian offensive, Republican Sen. John McCain on Monday urged the United States to launch airstrikes against President Bashar Assad's regime to force him out of power -- a call for dramatic military intervention that wasn't supported by the Obama administration or its European or Arab partners.
McCain's statement on the Senate floor came as the U.S. and European governments pleaded for Russia's Vladimir Putin to rethink his anti-interventionist stance on Syria---"

"---Just two weeks ago McCain was on TV calling for the US to start providing arms to Syria’s rebel faction, in particular the Free Syrian Army (FSA). In today’s speech he insisted that the “only realistic way” to aid the FSA was a war.

McCain claimed to be in contact with the Syrian National Council (SNC), a Turkish-based faction that styles itself the leaders of the rebel movement, and said that a US bombing campaign would give rebel forces a chance to plan new military advances against the Assad regime.---"