*Most of the many different Syrian opposition groups will boycott so called Peace Conference, even the ones have meetings in Turkey the last 4 days*.
[image: Another excellent poster from Kafranbel, Idleb (Syria). Nasrallah & Assad are determined to take Lebanon back to the dark days of the Civil War that ravaged the country. ]<http://www.therevoltingsyrian.com/image/51404254498> Another excellent poster from Kafranbel, Idleb (Syria). Nasrallah & Assad are determined to take Lebanon back to the dark days of the Civil War that ravaged the country. *laim: 22 Hezbollah Fighters Killed in Battle for Qusayr* AFP claims, from a "source close to" Hezbollah, that 22 members of the Lebanese organisation were killed<http://blogs.aljazeera.com/liveblog/topic/syria-153> fighting on Saturday alongside Syrian regime forces for control of the town of Qusayr. The source said the group has now lost a total of almost 110 fighters since it joined the battle in Syria several months ago, with most of the deaths in and around Qusayr. Regime troops have been trying for the last two weeks to claim the town near the Lebanese border and 18 miles from Homs, Syria's third-largest city. *Regime Says It Will Join International "Peace Conference"* Foreign Minister Walid Muallem has said that the regime has agreed<http://www.aljazeera.com/news/middleeast/2013/05/201352611647333319.html> "in principle to participate in the international conference which is supposed to be convened in Geneva" in June: "We think...that the international conference represents a good opportunity for a political solution to the crisis in Syria." Muallem, during a sudden visit to Iraq, criticised foreign actors supporting the insurgency: "The regional countries that conspire against Syria are the same that support terrorism in Iraq." Russian officials said earlier in the week that the Assad regime had agreed to take part in the conference. However, the opposition Syrian National Coalition has said that it wants guarantees that President Assad will step down during a transitional government. >From Enduring America. Syria opposition says only way for regime is out Syria's opposition spokesman lashed out Sunday against a statement that President Bashar al-Assad's is ready to take part in a Geneva peace conference, reiterating the National Coalition's position that any settlement must exclude the embattled leader. "We are ready to enter into negotiations that are aimed towards transferring power to the people, towards a democratic transition. And that of course means Assad cannot be a part of Syria in the future," Louay Safi told reporters. Earlier Sunday, Syrian Foreign minister Walid Muallem said his government will take part in a US-Russian peace initiative dubbed Geneva 2, terming it a "good opportunity for a political solution" to the civil war in Syria, which in two years has left more than 90,000 people dead. Meeting in Istanbul since Thursday, the deeply divided Coalition has yet to reach an official position on Geneva 2. "In principle, our position was to welcome the international [peace] initiative," Safi said. But "the regime has yet to state a position on its willingness to leave" power, he added. "We want the regime to be willing to accept Geneva as a framework for negotiations aimed at a transition of power and democratic change." The opposition entered Sunday an unscheduled fourth day of meetings, with four difficult agenda items still on its plate. Among them were choosing a new president to replace Ahmad Moaz al-Khatib, discussing a new interim government under rebel prime minister Ghassan Hitto, expanding the Coalition to include new members, and making a decision on Geneva 2. *Four days into the meetings, the opposition was still divided over how to expand, with some opponents blaming regional powerhouse Saudi Arabia for trying to take control of the Coalition.* ------------------------- http://enpassant.com.au/2013/05/26/imperialist-powers-go-in-to-battle-for-spoils-of-syrias-revolution/ Imperialist powers go in to battle for spoils of Syrias revolution *Posted* by John <http://enpassant.com.au/author/john/>, May 26th, 2013 - under Socialist Worker UK<http://enpassant.com.au/category/socialist-worker-uk/> , Syria <http://enpassant.com.au/category/syria/>. The chaos of the Syrian revolution marks a shift in the balance of power in the Middle East writes Simon Assaf in Socialist Worker UK<http://www.socialistworker.co.uk/art/33357/Imperialist+powers+go+into+battle+for+spoils+of+Syrias+revolution>. It is not certain which competing imperial and regional powers will win. But it is clear that the Syrian revolution could end up being the loser. The Arab revolutions exposed the deep crisis of Western and Russian imperialism in the region. The West lost its strongmen allies Zine El Abidine Ben Ali in Tunisia and Hosni Mubarak in Egypt. This came on top of the Iraqi-Afghan syndrome and its legacy of defeat and failed occupations. At stake for Russia is the potential loss of Bashar al-Assads regime. Syria is Russias last ally in the Arab world and home to its only Mediterranean naval base. The top priority for the US remains what is now termed the permanent war on terror. The killing of a US ambassador last September by an Islamist brigade in Benghazi, Libya, was a reminder that the US has many enemies in the Arab world. As one of Barack Obamas senior officials told the US Senate recently, this war on terror is going to go on quite a while, at least ten to 20 years. The West wants to tame the Syrian revolution, or at least make it serve Western interests. These interests include extending the war on terror to northern Syria and securing the Golan frontier with Israel. The US military is keeping a close eye on the Syrian opposition, and wants to entice the rebels to attack their Islamist allies. For this to succeed it needs to manoeuvre the opposition and the regime into a peace deal, the so-called Geneva Process. US secretary of state John Kerry reassured Russia that the Geneva Process will guarantee Russias interests in Syria. For his part, Russian foreign minister Sergey V Lavrov announced his countrys willingness to drop Assad. He told a joint news conference, I would like to emphasise we do not, we are not interested in the fate of certain persons. But Assads recent military success, and rebels refusal to attack the Islamists, leaves the Geneva Process dead in the water. Fecklessness Events in Syria are running out of control. In a hard hitting editorial, the Financial Times warned that, Western policy [in Syria] looks stranded between understandable caution and wilful fecklessness that risks turning it into a failed state overrun by jihadis. Turkey, which is fast becoming an economic and political powerhouse in the Middle East, is poised to gain most from this paralysis. It has reached a peace deal with the Kurdish PKK guerrilla movement in the south east of the country. This removes the last major obstacle to deepening economic ties with the oil-rich Kurdish regions of northern Iraq. The deal makes safe the Kurdish areas of northern Syria, which are dependent on their brethren across the Turkish and Iraqi borders. Turkeys support for the uprising, even if limited, leaves it in a strong position. In contrast, Iran is set to be the biggest loser. It has sacrificed its cherished crescent of resistancethat stretched from Tehran to south Lebanonby defending Assad. And it has lost the opportunity to break international isolation by fostering closer ties with post-Mubarak Egypt. Iran itself is entering fractious presidential elections at a time of deepening economic crisis brought on by international sanctions and its own neoliberal policies. Meanwhile its greatest moral and political asset, the Lebanese resistance party Hizbollah, is in the process of destroying itself. Hizbollah has decided to spearhead the Syrian regime offensive on Qusair, the rebel city near the northern border with Lebanon. It is transforming itself from a resistance organisation into an army of occupation. The Syrian revolution has few friends. Western powers want to tame it, Russia wants it crushed, and none of them want it to succeed. But despite recent defeats, it remains resilient. There are few illusions left in Syria. The revolution is learning the bitter lesson that it can only rely on itself. 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