Russian official: Assad losing control

 

Russia's top diplomat for the Middle East said Syrian President Bashar Assad's government is losing control and territory to rebels.

Foreign Minister Mikhail Bogdanov, in remarks to Russia's Public Chamber, said it is "impossible to exclude a victory of the Syrian opposition," an indication Russia -- one of Syria's few allies -- sees Assad as headed for defeat, RIA Novosti reported.

"We must look squarely at the facts, and the trend now suggests that the regime and the government in Syria are losing more and more control and more and more territory," said Bogdanov, in remarks to Russia's Public Chamber that were carried by Russian wire services.

Bogdanov said Russia is preparing to evacuate its citizens, the first time a higher-ranking official had announced plans for an evacuation, The New York Times reported.

Syrian officials rejected the U.S. and other nations' recognition of a new opposition coalition as the legitimate representative of the Syrian people.

Syrian Deputy Foreign Minister Faisal al-Miqdad told the British newspaper The Independent the countries were "recognizing an artificial structure, a structure that will help promote the objectives of the U.S. and European countries in Syria.

The Friends of Syria group, representing more than 100 countries and organizations, decided during a meeting in Marrakesh, Morocco, Wednesday to recognize the National Coalition of the Syrian Revolutionary and Opposition Forces.

"What this recognition does, I think, is give the coalition more confidence in its workings," Brookings Institution analyst Salman Sheik, an attendee, told CNN.

U.S. Deputy Secretary of State William Burns, who lead the U.S. delegation in Morocco, told Syrian rebel leaders their recognition carried with it the responsibility of meeting international expectations, CNN said.

Burns said the United States will provide $14 million for emergency medical care and supplies to help Syrians during the coming winter.

In Syria, a U.S. official said forces loyal to Assad fired at least four short-range Scud missiles from Damascus into northern Syria, CNN said. While the missiles didn't land in neighboring Turkey, they "came close."

Analysts said the Assad government has up to 400 of the short- and medium-range Russian-developed Scud missiles.

NATO said Wednesday it has "detected the launch of a number of unguided, short-range ballistic missiles inside Syria this week," with a trajectory and distance indicating they were "Scud-type missiles."

U.S. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta, in Kabul, Afghanistan, said the chemical weapons were a real danger, CNN said.

"I think there's a danger here, based on the intelligence that we got a few weeks ago, that, you know, they were, in fact, beginning to assemble these weapons and put them together," he said in an interview with CNN. "[As] the opposition continues to move against the regime -- particularly as they move toward Damascus -- that if the regime feels it's in danger of collapsing ... it might very well resort to these kinds of weapons. That's what concerns me most."

Syrian rebels threatened to kill Ukrainian journalist Ankhar Kochneva Thursday if their $50 million ransom demand isn't met, RIA Novosti reported.

Kochneva, 40, was kidnapped in October by Syrian rebels while traveling to Homs.

Her captors released a video in which they threatened to target Ukrainian and Russian embassies and their citizens.

"Let not a single Russian, Ukrainian or Iranian come out of Syria alive," the rebels said in a video broadcast by Ukraina TV Wednesday.

Several non-government organizations said Kochneva, an Assad supporter, is being held by the Free Syrian Army.

Syrian Radio reported three bombings in front of the Interior Ministry Wednesday in Damascus killed five people and injured 23. Among the dead was a member of the People's Assembly for the Syrian Social Nationalist Party, the state broadcaster said.

Burns invited Syrian National Coalition President Moaz al-Khatib for the talks during the Friends Syria meeting.

However, after winning international support Khatib criticized the State Department's designation of the jihadi paramilitary group Jabhat al-Nusra, or the al-Nusra Front, as a foreign terrorist organization affiliated with al-Qaida in Iraq, saying the designation hurt the coalition's desire to create unity in Syria.

"I say in all transparency that labeling one of the factions fighting the regime as a terrorist organization should be reconsidered," Khatib said at the conference's opening.

"We love our country," he said. "We can differ with parties that adopt political ideas and visions different from ours. But we ensure that the goal of all rebels is the fall of the regime."

Nusra is an aggressive and successful arm of the rebel forces that helped capture a number of military bases, including a base near Aleppo Monday, opposition forces said.

Concerning the Scud missiles, The Wall Street Journal quoted U.S. officials as playing down the weapons' significance, saying Assad's intent was unclear.

The State Department condemned lethal moves by the Assad regime in general.

"As the regime becomes more and more desperate, we see it resorting to increased lethality and more vicious weapons," spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said.

She also denounced pro-Assad forces for using "barrel bombs," which are large oil drums packed with TNT, oil and chunks of steel shrapnel that are rolled out of the back of regime helicopters.

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