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WAR REPORT
Assad moving troops from Golan to Damascus: Israel
by Staff Writers
Jerusalem (AFP) July 17, 2012


18th Syrian general defects to Turkey: diplomat
Ankara (AFP) July 17, 2012 - A Syrian general and several soldiers crossed into Turkey on Monday, a Turkish diplomat told AFP, bringing the number of defections by generals from Bashar al-Assad's embattled regime to at least 18.

Turkey has become home to dozens of defectors who have crossed the border and formed the Free Syrian Army in opposition to Assad's regime.

The latest defection brings to 18 the number of generals who have fled into Turkey since the conflict in Syria erupted in March last year.

The Turkish diplomat, who also spoke to AFP on condition of anonymity, said Tuesday that almost 42,700 Syrian refugees are now living in camps near the border with Syria.

"We are seeing an increase in the number of Syrians arriving in Turkey, whether they are civilians or military," the diplomat said.

In Washington, a US State Department official who asked not to be named said a total of 1,280 Syrians had fled to Turkey overnight, including the general and other soldiers.

"Clearly the regime is panicking at this point," the US official added.

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad has moved army forces from the Golan Heights area next to Israel toward Damascus and other internal conflict zones, the Israeli army intelligence chief said on Tuesday.

As fighting rages between Assad's forces and rebels trying to oust his government, he has moved troops from the Syrian side of the disengagement line that divides the Golan Heights between Syria and Israeli-held territory, he said.

"Assad has removed many of his forces that were in the Golan Heights to the areas of (internal) conflict," Major General Aviv Kochavi told MPs.

"He's not afraid of Israel at this point, but mainly wants to augment his forces around Damascus," Kochavi said in remarks relayed by a Knesset spokesman.

Fighting between Assad's forces and rebels trying to oust his government has raged in Damascus since Sunday, with some activists saying it marked a "turning point" in the 16-month revolt against the regime.

Syria remains formally at war with Israel, which captured part of the Golan Heights in the 1967 Middle East war and annexed it in 1981 in a move which the international community does not recognise.

But Kochavi said "the probability of a conflict between Israel and Syria as a last resort for Assad is low."

He warned that "radical Islam" was gaining ground in Syria, saying the country was undergoing a process of "Iraqisation," with militant and tribal factions controlling different sectors of the country.

"We can see an ongoing flow of Al-Qaeda and global jihad activists into Syria," he said.

And with the Assad regime weakening, "the Golan Heights could become an arena of activity against Israel, similar to the situation in Sinai, as a result of growing jihad movement in Syria."

Without committing to a time framework, Kochavi predicted that Assad "won't survive the upheaval," and said "Hezbollah and Iran are preparing for the day after Assad's fall."

Kochavi also said Israel was closely monitoring the "possibility that advanced and unconventional arms would reach terror groups."

Last month, Israel's deputy chief of the general staff, Major General Yair Naveh, said that Syria holds the "biggest chemical weapons arsenal in the world."

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Assad will use chemical weapons: top defector
London (AFP) July 17, 2012
Syrian President Bashar al-Assad will use chemical weapons against opposition forces and may have already deployed them, Nawaf Fares, the first Syrian ambassador to defect, told the BBC on Monday. Fares, the most prominent politician to defect since the uprising against Assad began, insisted that the president's days were numbered but warned he would be prepared "to eradicate the entire Syri ... read more


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