Flotilla group linked to Syria gun-running

[shira]

Last edited Sat Sep 22, 2012, 10:33 AM - Edit history (1)

There is evidence to suggest that IHH, the Islamic charity that helped organise the 2010 flotilla to Gaza, has been involved in gun-running to Syria on behalf of the Muslim Brotherhood.

Free Syrian Army commanders have told The Times that a boat containing weapons that docked in Syria this week was registered to members of the IHH, which has ties to the Muslim Brotherhood.

http://www.thejc.com/news/world-news/81035/flotilla-group-linked-syria-gun-running

How about a peace loving Flotilla with humanitarian aid headed to Syria?



Yeah, right.

[King_David]

1. WOW. nt

[azurnoir]

2. thanks that fills in the gaps about how the Syrian opposition (to Assad/Iran) is operating

more about the Free Syrian Army

Free Syrian Army

The Free Syrian Army (Arabic: الجيش السوري الحر‎, Al-Jayš Al-Suri Al-Ḥurr) is the main armed opposition group operating in Syria that has been active during the Syrian civil war.[6] Composed of defected Syrian Armed Forces personnel and volunteers,[7][8][9] its formation was announced on 29 July 2011 in a video released on the internet by a uniformed group of deserters from the Syrian military who called upon members of the Syrian army to defect and join them.[10] The leader of the group, who identified himself as Colonel Riad al-Asaad, announced that the Free Syrian Army would work with demonstrators to bring down the system, and declared that all security forces attacking civilians are justified targets.[11][12]
..........................................................................

The Libyan National Transitional Council announced in November 2011 that it had been in talks with the Syrian National Council and was considering supplying weapons and volunteer fighters of the National Liberation Army to the Free Syrian Army, and that international intervention may only be weeks away. According to people with links to the National Council, the Libyans were offering money, weapons and training forces loyal to the Syrian National Council.[260] At the end of the month, it was reported that at least 600 fighters of the National Liberation Army from Libya had been dispatched to support the Free Syrian Army and had entered Syria through Turkey.[261]

In February 2012, British foreign secretary William Hague said that Britain was prepared to send advanced communications equipment to the FSA to help them coordinate their forces, but did not mention supplying weapons.[262] A week later the Saudi Gazette reported that the Gulf Cooperation Council was thinking of recognising the Free Syrian Army "as the sole and legitimate representative of the Syrian people", citing an unnamed Bahraini official who requested anonymity.[263]

By the end of February 2012, there was extensive talk by Gulf States of arming the Free Syrian Army. The FSA leadership, however, reported in March that it had not yet received any funds, weapons, or equipment from any government despite recent pledges to help support their armed struggle. In an interview with the Wall Street Journal, FSA leader Riad Asaad said that: "There is no practical support from the international community," and that "It's been all talk."[264] The Free Syrian Army for now planned on relying on itself and raids on arms depots, however, it still hoped for outside arms support.[87]

On 1 March, Kuwait's parliament declared support for the FSA.[265] By mid May, it was reported according to opposition activists and foreign officials that the FSA had started to receive significant financial support from the Persian Gulf nations for the purchase of arms.[266]

In July of 2012, a non-governmental organization based in Washington DC, called Syrian Support Group, has gotten clearance from the U.S. Treasury Department to fund the Free Syrian Army.[267]

This page was last modified on 19 September 2012 at 06:27.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Free_Syrian_Army

[shaayecanaan]

3. I suppose when anyone gives a gun to an Arab its gun running

In the same way that you think whenever a Black or Arab person picks up a gun its automatically terrorism. In both cases it probably says more about your attitudes than theirs.

By way of disclosure, numerous groups here are fundraising for the Free Syrian Army and I have contributed to such groups, back before the Saudis began funding them on a scale that rendered my donations largely immaterial. Nevertheless people remain perfectly entitled to contribute if they so please. The FSA has a number of problems itself, but on balance I would prefer them to succeed in Syria rather than Assad.

[shira]

4. You don't see the contradiction b/w a humanitarian mission....

...and a gun-running mission to arm the MB?

If these flotilla people were consistent, they'd do the same thing they do WRT Gaza. They'd load boats up with goons and a shitload of hearing aids, tattered shoes, and expired meds. They would then make sure their *PEACEFUL AND HUMANITARIAN* mission receives publicity.

It's all about the little people, you know.

[shira]

5. Seems you're now funding folks being attacked by Hezbollah

Hezbollah role in Syria grows more evident

<snip>

Accusations of Hezbollah involvement in Syria have been aired by opponents of the Assad regime since protests erupted in March last year. Many of the early accounts were generally less than convincing. Similarly, YouTube videos purporting to show Hezbollah fighters in Syria were inconclusive and often posted by people politically opposed to the party.

However, in recent months there have been persistent, but anecdotal, reports of Hezbollah fighters being killed in Syria and returned to Lebanon for quiet burial.

Hezbollah is believed to be assisting the Assad regime with combat advice and passing on the group’s formidable guerrilla skills to the pro-regime Alawite-dominated Shabbiha militia with the goal of turning it into an effective paramilitary force.

Last week, Hezbollah held a funeral for Ali Nassif, a senior commander who died “while performing his jihadist duties,” a standard phrase used by the group when announcing deaths of fighters in circumstances other than direct combat with Israel, such as training accidents. The Jusiyah Martyrs’ Brigade militants claimed that Nassif was killed in the border village of Rableh and was deliberately targeted for assassination.

“We waited for him to emerge from a school which they use as a command post. When we saw a black Grand Cherokee with tinted windows leave the school, we guessed it was him and hit it with an RPG [rocket-propelled grenade],” said Hussein.

In a eulogy for Nassif, Sheikh Mohammad Yazbek, a member of Hezbollah’s Shura Council, said that the veteran commander was “martyred among the Lebanese while defending those who were abandoned by their government.” The vague phrase has been interpreted as referring to Lebanese Shiites who populate several villages on the Syrian side of the border adjacent to the northern Bekaa who allegedly have been under threat from neighboring Sunnis and FSA fighters.

Read more: http://www.dailystar.com.lb/News/Politics/2012/Oct-12/191121-hezbollah-role-in-syria-grows-more-evident.ashx#ixzz29SN6IJc3
(The Daily Star :: Lebanon News :: http://www.dailystar.com.lb)

Hezbollah's not looking so great anymore as "defenders" against the bad guys, are they?

[shaayecanaan]

6. Does that mean that you consider "the MB" to be the good guys now?

Not that I care, particularly. You have always struggled to maintain a straight story for any more than a post or two.

Hezbollah have been fairly firm in their support for the Syrian regime ever since the war began, so your article is not exactly news to those of us who understand how the region works. Still, good to see you reading something other than the circle-jerk of right-wing blogs to which you commonly refer.

[shira]

7. No, is that who you're supporting against Assad?

AFAIK, there are Islamist MB forces going against Assad but also non-Islamist forces. It's all one big cluster f--k, AFAIC.