Foreign Office confirms Iranian support for Syria
Iran is helping the Syrian regime in its crackdown on pro-democracy protests, according to British intelligence reports revealed to The Daily Telegraph. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/middleeast/syria/8558066/Foreign-O ffice-confirms-Iranian-support-for-Syria.html Foreign Office confirms Iranian support for Syria Iran is helping the Syrian regime in its crackdown on pro-democracy protests, according to British intelligence reports revealed to The Daily Telegraph. A Syrian human rights group said 38 people had been killed in the northern town of Jisr al-Shughour, 10 on Saturday and 28 on Sunday Photo: EPA By James Kirkup <http://www.telegraph.co.uk/journalists/james-kirkup/> , and Richard Spencer 12:01AM BST 06 Jun 2011 Senior Foreign Office sources said that there is "credible information" that Tehran is providing riot control gear and paramilitary training to Syrian security forces. Moreover, members of Iran's Revolutionary Guard have been providing technical advice and equipment to forces loyal to President Bashar al-Assad, the sources said. The accusation comes as the Assad regime's policy of shooting down protesters on the streets of Syria's major cities shows no sign of let-up. A Syrian human rights group said 38 people had been killed in the northern town of Jisr al-Shughour, 10 on Saturday and 28 on Sunday. With 65 people also reported killed in the town of Hama on Friday, the number of dead since the uprising began in March is now estimated at 1,200. A video leaked to a Syrian news website based in Dubai showed soldiers standing among the corpses of their victims. As the "Arab Spring" has developed, Iran has accused the United States and Britain of backing dictators such as President Hosni Mubarak of Egypt and of turning a blind eye to the killing of demonstrators in Bahrain. But Iran has also offered clear support to Mr Assad. "This is a hypocritical action by Iran," said a senior Foreign Office Source. It is not clear if Iranian personnel have travelled to Syria to help Mr Assad, but members of the militant group Hizbollah, which is backed by Tehran, are said to be in Syria fighting alongside Assad forces. The Iranians are also reported to have supplied specialist electronic equipment to Damascus to shut down internet access and prevent the spread of news about attacks on civilians. In response, the UK is expected to push for new EU sanctions on members of the Revolutionary Guard. William Hague, the Foreign Secretary, said Iran's behaviour was "unacceptable". He said: "As elsewhere in the region, protesters in Syria must be allowed to express their legitimate aspirations and peacefully call for change without fear of brutal repression. "Iran's actions are in stark contrast with the will of the Syrian people." Iran's support for Mr Assad is well known, and Britain's decision to make its allegations public now is part of a wider attempt to discredit the Islamic among the young supporters of the Arab Spring movements. [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] ------------------------------------ -------------------------- Want to discuss this topic? Head on over to our discussion list, discuss-os...@yahoogroups.com. -------------------------- Brooks Isoldi, editor biso...@intellnet.org http://www.intellnet.org Post message: osint@yahoogroups.com Subscribe: osint-subscr...@yahoogroups.com Unsubscribe: osint-unsubscr...@yahoogroups.com *** FAIR USE NOTICE. This message contains copyrighted material whose use has not been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. OSINT, as a part of The Intelligence Network, is making it available without profit to OSINT YahooGroups members who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information in their efforts to advance the understanding of intelligence and law enforcement organizations, their activities, methods, techniques, human rights, civil liberties, social justice and other intelligence related issues, for non-profit research and educational purposes only. We believe that this constitutes a 'fair use' of the copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the U.S. Copyright Law. If you wish to use this copyrighted material for purposes of your own that go beyond 'fair use,' you must obtain permission from the copyright owner. For more information go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtmlYahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/osint/ <*> Your email settings: Individual Email | Traditional <*> To change settings online go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/osint/join (Yahoo! ID required) <*> To change settings via email: osint-dig...@yahoogroups.com osint-fullfeatu...@yahoogroups.com <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: osint-unsubscr...@yahoogroups.com <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
