| New York Times | - |
MOSCOW
- Russia announced Monday that it was sending two airplanes from its
emergency services fleet to Beirut, Lebanon, to evacuate around 100
Russian citizens leaving Syria, reflecting Moscow's assessment that President Bashar al-Assad's forces ...
Moscow Is Sending Planes to Lebanon for 100 Russians Leaving Syria
Goran Tomasevic/Reuters
Free Syrian Army fighters in a Damascus suburb Monday. The government accused rebels of attacking an important power line.
By ELLEN BARRY and HANIA MOURTADA
Published: January 21, 2013
MOSCOW — Russia
announced Monday that it was sending two airplanes from its emergency
services fleet to Beirut, Lebanon, to evacuate around 100 Russian
citizens leaving Syria, reflecting Moscow’s assessment that President Bashar al-Assad’s forces are losing control of the country after nearly two years of fighting.
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It was not clear whether the news signaled the beginning of a
large-scale evacuation. Russia has an estimated 30,000 citizens in
Syria, including government and military personnel, private contractors,
and tens of thousands of women married to Syrian men. Around a dozen
Russian ships are in the Mediterranean off the coast of Syria for naval
exercises and could, officials have said, be used to evacuate Russian
citizens.
Irina Rossius, a spokeswoman for Russia’s Emergency Services Ministry,
said two airplanes would fly to Beirut on Tuesday “so that all Russians
who wish to can leave Syria,” Interfax reported. She said more than 100
Russians expected to leave. If they can afford to do so, it is now
common for people leaving Damascus, the Syrian capital, to avoid the
contested route to the city’s airport by driving to Beirut and flying
out from there.
Ms. Rossius did not say which group was evacuating, but conditions have
been deteriorating for diplomats. Last week, Russia announced that it
was closing its consulate in Aleppo in the wake of a double bombing that killed 82 people,
and security officials told the newspaper Kommersant last month that
the authorities were prepared to send 100 armed intelligence officers to
help Russian diplomats leave Damascus if necessary. Russian arms
manufacturers also have military advisers in place to assist the Syrian
military with air-defense systems purchased from Russia.
Russia first formulated plans for an evacuation seven months ago, but
delayed putting them into action — in part, analysts said, because it
would send a political message that Moscow no longer considered it
likely that Mr. Assad would prevail. But Foreign Ministry officials are
increasingly concerned about security and have been quietly trying to
negotiate the release of two Russian steel workers who were kidnapped
last month.
The conflict continued to rage on Monday, with the Syrian government
accusing rebels of attacking an important power line, causing a blackout
in Damascus, areas to the north and a swath of territory reaching south
to the Jordanian border. Power failures have been frequent reminders of
the conflict that has engulfed Syria, but the latest one appeared to be
the first to affect the entire capital, where Mr. Assad’s forces are
still largely in control. The Associated Press reported that power was
restored in parts of Damascus on Monday.
The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights,
which receives reports from a network of sources inside the country,
reported that more than 50 people had been killed when a booby-trapped
car exploded near the headquarters of a pro-government militia in the
eastern suburbs of the northern city of Hama, where the Ismaili minority
sect predominates.
In Istanbul, the main exile opposition group once again failed to form a
transitional government, deciding instead to postpone the step while
new proposals are drawn up. The delay was a setback to the opposition’s
plans to fill the power vacuum created by the ever bloodier civil war.
The opposition group, the National Coalition of Syrian Revolutionary and
Opposition Forces, has won recognition from a number of foreign
countries as the sole legitimate representative of the Syrian people,
but it has not yet solidified support among rebels fighting on the
ground. Nor has it begun planning for a post-Assad future.
The Western and Arab nations that pressed Mr. Assad’s adversaries to
reorganize last year have been urging the new coalition to select a
prime minister, but no candidate has won a consensus.
A statement by the National Coalition on Monday said that it had formed a
five-member committee to “lead consultations” with rebel commanders,
foreign backers and others seeking Mr. Assad’s ouster, and to draw up
proposals for a transitional government within 10 days. The statement
was similar to one the coalition made last month, after failing to form a
government at a meeting in Cairo.
The talks over a transitional government were bogged down by a heated
debate over a provision in the coalition’s bylaws barring its members
from assuming ministerial posts in any future interim government, in an
effort to protect the coalition from accusations that its members are
merely seeking personal power. Some opposition leaders want to scrap
that provision, arguing that it will deny the interim government the
benefit of including experienced and respected senior figures, but they
met with strong resistance.
“The idea faced an immediate storm of objections and criticism,” said
Samir Nachar, a member of the coalition. “We saw that during the
meeting, and decided not to change anything.”
Mr. Nachar said the main reason the opposition has failed to shape a
transitional government so far is that it is not sure such a government
would receive the international recognition and support it would need to
function.
“Falling into the trap of forming a paralyzed government will not just
be useless, it will be a huge disappointment to Syrians,” he said. “The
coalition was promised a lot when it was formed, and none of that
materialized.”
The coalition announced that it was sending $250,000 in emergency aid to
Daraya, a Damascus suburb that has been hit hard recently with
artillery and airstrikes, and forming committees to aid refugees and the
wounded and to coordinate with armed opposition groups inside Syria.
The coalition has been under pressure to show that it can offer real
help to Syrians inside the country.
But providing aid is complicated, as the government still plays a role
in coordinating international aid. The coalition also said it was
forming a committee to pressure the United Nations to stop all aid to
official Syrian institutions, a move that could further hamper the
delivery of aid that is already challenged by the dangers of moving
around the country. Syrian employees of quasi-official agencies
currently transport much of the United Nations’ food aid
to displaced citizens, John Ging, the head of the United Nations Office
for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, noted in a news
conference in Damascus by a high-level United Nations delegation. Mr.
Ging thanked the Syrian Arab Red Crescent for its bravery, Syria’s state
news agency reported.
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