Hardly a word.

This was despite the presence of U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, who was expected this weekend to try to persuade her Russian counterpart, Sergey Lavrov, to support more sanctions against the Islamic Republic, but behind the scenes.

But what hit the top of the agenda here was Syria.

In her speech to the conference, Mrs. Clinton said she was trying to win wide support from the international community for the U.N. proposal, initiated by the Arab League, to end the violent crackdown by President Bashar al-Assad’s security forces and arrange a transition of power.

Hours later, Russia and China vetoed that proposal. But before that happened, Mr. Lavrov delivered a rather polemical speech. The question and answer period was dominated by Syria.

Why, asked participants, wouldn’t Russia support the Arab League proposals? Why was Russia still supplying arms to the Syrian regime? Why was Russia supporting President Assad?

Mr. Lavrov took the questions in his stride. The veteran diplomat said from early on Russia had supported calls by the Syrian people for change.

But while it was all very well to ask the security forces to stop the violence and return to their barracks, he said, what about asking the armed groups who were causing mayhem to disarm? They were not being criticized at all, Mr. Lavrov said.

As for Russia supporting the Assad regime, Mr. Lavrov denied that. “We are not friends or allies of Assad,” he said — despite Moscow’s decades-long political and military support of Damascus.

“Whether we sold weapons to Syria did not change the balance in the Middle East. Whatever we sell to Syria does not affect the international balance,” Mr. Lavrov said.

Senator John McCain was having none of it. “It’s time to stop the talking. It’s time to demand Assad’s departure, and now,” he said. The audience applauded.

After the Russian and Chinese veto, Mrs. Clinton held a press conference. She said she had spoken to Mr. Lavrov. Then, she asked, “Are we going to be complicit in the violence and bloodshed in Syria?”

Reports circulated Saturday night that Mr. Lavrov would head to Damascus next week for talks.
IHT

The ship had made an unscheduled stop in Cyprus Tuesday, technically violating an EU embargo on arms shipments to Syria, which has killed thousands in a crackdown on dissent.

Cypriot officials — told by the ship’s owners it was heading for Syria and Turkey — only allowed the ship to leave Wednesday after the owners said it had changed its destination for Turkey only.

But Turkish Foreign Ministry spokesman Selcuk Unal — citing information from the Turkish navy — said the ship had docked Thursday at the Syrian port of Tartus, which Russian warships use as a resupply stop.

The St. Vincent and Grenadines-flagged ship, the Chariot, had apparently turned off its tracking device and the information could not be independently verified.

The vessel, owned by St. Petersburg-based Westberg Ltd, had initially dropped anchor off the southern Cypriot port of Limassol due to high seas, drawing the attention of local officials who boarded to examine its cargo.

They could not open and inspect four containers in the hold because of “the confined space” they were stored in, the Cypriot Foreign Ministry said Wednesday, but officials nevertheless determined they were holding a “dangerous cargo.”

Cyprus state radio said the vessel was carrying “tens of tons of munitions” while Russian state news agency RIA Novosti quoted a Westberg spokesman as saying that the Chariot was ferrying cargo owned by Russia’s state arms trader Rosoboronexport.

The spokesman said the cargo was listed as “dangerous” in the ship’s manifest, but no further details were available.

Turkey, which has become Syrian leader Bashar Assad’s strongest critic, has imposed a trade and arms embargo on its southern neighbor.

ABC

A foreign ministry official told dpa earlier on Wednesday that four Iranian-registered trucks had been impounded late Tuesday on suspicion of carrying ‘military materials’ to Syria.

The official confirmed that materials had been removed from the trucks and sent to the capital Ankara for examination, but was unable to say whether or not they had yet been identified as having a military use.

The trucks were all impounded at the Kilis border crossing between Iran and Turkey. Turkish daily Milliyet reported that the move was prompted by a tip-off and the vehicles contained military materials.

Last year, Turkey joined the US, European Union and Arab League in imposing wide-ranging sanctions against Syria, in response to that country’s crackdown on dissenters in which more than 5,000 have died according to United Nations estimates.

This includes a ban on the supply of materials with military use, the ending of transactions with Syria’s central bank and the suspension of credit agreements.

Dangerous cargo
In a related development Chariot, a St. Vincent and Grenadines-flagged ship, allegedly carrying weapons dropped anchor off the southern Cypriot port of Limassol on Tuesday because of high seas, drawing the attention of Cypriot officials.

Cypriot customs officials boarded the ship to examine its cargo, but couldn’t open and inspect four containers in the hold because of “the confined space” they were stored in, the Cypriot Foreign Ministry said in a statement. Nevertheless, the officials determined they were holding a “dangerous cargo.”

The cargo ship, owned by St. Petersburg-based Westberg Ltd., left the Russian port on Dec. 9 for Turkey and Syria, which is 65 miles east of Cyprus, the officials said.

Russian state news agency RIA Novosti quoted a Westberg spokesman as saying that the Chariot was ferrying cargo owned by Russia’s state arms trader Rosoboronexport. The spokesman said the cargo was listed as “dangerous” in the ship’s manifest, but no further details about it were available.

Cyprus’ foreign ministry said the Russian ship Chariot was allowed to refuel and set sail from the port of Limassol after its Russian owners agreed to change its destination.

Agencies

The sources pointed out that “the leaders of Hezbollah in the southern suburbs of Beirut and the Bekaa, arrested a number of these cadres and seized some of the arms shipments.” According to the sources, the smugglers use the same illegal border crossings used by Hezbollah for the past 10 years to smuggle Iranian arms from the Syrian regime

The sources noted that officers of the regime’s Syrian army have been facilitating the entry of the smuggled arms to the rebels in return bribes by the Hezbollah smugglers.

Lebanese security sources revealed also that “military units loyal to the Syrian government killed over the recent period a number of smugglers trying to deliver arms to the rebels in the town of Zabadani, close to the Syrian Lebanese border. In one case near Lebanon’s northern border, a number of Hezbollah members were arrested and a truck loaded with weapons was seized. In addition, Syrian forces arrested several Syrian officers, including one colonel, who were involved in the operation.

In a related development, a former member of the Amal movement revealed that “there are senior political figures in the Syrian ruling Baath Party who are involved in the arms smuggling to the rebels. The main sources of these illegal weapons are Lebanon, Iraq, Jordan and Turkey. Senior bankers, businessmen and traders contribute to financing the purchase of weapons and smuggling into Syria. They choose to make this in order to secure their future in the event of the success of the revolution and the downfall of the (Syrian President) Bashar al-Assad. ”

Source: Al Bawaba

Procuring sufficient supplies of weapons and ammunition has become a key requirement of rebel groups, including the Free Syrian Army, a military force composed of deserters from the regular army. Syrian opposition activists say they urgently need weapons to fight back against the security forces and hasten the downfall of the Assad regime.

“We are pushing for weapons but no one is listening,” says Ahmad, a Syrian activist living in hiding in north Lebanon. “Even with limited resources we are making painful attacks. Imagine what we could do if we had the weapons.”

The weapons shortage in Syria, the record high prices for arms in Lebanon, and the limited scale of smuggling into Syria suggests that the Syrian opposition has not yet secured the external logistical support that could help them tip the balance against the Assad regime.

The Arab world for now is limiting its involvement to the Arab League observer mission which is monitoring Syria’s compliance with a deal signed last month to end the crackdown which has left more than 5,000 people dead, according to the United Nations.

The international community has slapped sanctions on the Assad regime but so far has shown a reluctance to play a more direct role. On Sunday, Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu urged a delegation from the Syrian National Council, the leading opposition body, to maintain “peaceful means” in pursuing its resistance against the Assad regime.

The prices of black-market weapons have climbed steadily since mid-March 2011, when the uprising began, but arms dealers say there has been a jump lately in the prices of certain armaments.

“There’s a big demand right now for rocket-propelled grenade launchers, hand grenades, and ammunition,” says Abu Rida, a stocky arms dealer in Beirut.

RPG prices double; grenade prices quadruple

The price of a good quality Russian AK-47 assault rifle has almost doubled in the past 10 months from around $1,100 to $2,100. A rocket-propelled grenade (RPG) launcher cost $900 last March and a single grenade was priced at around $100. Today an RPG launcher is worth $2,000 and each grenade $500.

“The prices are crazy. And it’s all going to Syria,” Abu Rida says. “The market is so strong that ordinary people are selling their rifles to make a quick profit.”

Part of the price hike is due to the difficulties in smuggling weapons into Syria on a large scale. While there’s significant smuggling between Syria and Lebanon, activity on Syria’s other borders is not as high. Syria shares borders with Turkey, Iraq, Jordan, Israel, and Lebanon, all of them – barring the frontier with Israel – relatively porous and traditionally susceptible to smuggling.

The border with Iraq, in particular, stretches across 370 miles of mainly stony desert. The Iraqi government of Nouri al-Maliki, the Shiite prime minister, has generally sided with the Assad regime.

But the Sunni inhabitants of Iraq’s Al-Anbar province in the west adjacent to the Syria border share historic family and tribal ties with the Sunnis of western Syria and sympathize with the Syrian opposition. Following the 2003 US-led invasion of Iraq, Washington regularly accused Syria of allowing militants to slip into Iraq to join the growing insurgency.

While it is unclear whether there is a reverse traffic of militants and arms being smuggled into Syria from Iraq, there is certainly a desire among some Sunni Iraqis to assist their brethren across the border. Jihadist websites from Iraq and elsewhere have posted numerous articles and comments calling for armed struggle in Syria against the Assad regime.

The backbone of the Syrian regime is drawn from the minority Alawite sect, an obscure offshoot of Shiite Islam, while the bulk of the opposition protest movement is Sunni, casting an ominous sectarian shadow over the intensifying confrontation.

In November the jihadist website Ansar al-Mujahideen posted a commentary by Sheikh Abu al-Zuhara al-Zubaydi, who gave advice on how the Syrian opposition should organize its struggle against the Assad regime.

“Arm yourselves with live ammunition and embark upon jihad against the Syrian regime,” he wrote. “Peaceful revolution is useless.”

The Syrian authorities have blamed Al Qaeda for three suicide car bombings in the past month in Damascus that killed more than 60 people, the first such attacks since the uprising began. The Syrian opposition, however, has accused the regime of perpetrating the bomb attacks to back the claim it is fighting “armed terrorist gangs” rather than a popular revolt.

Mined border

Security has been tightened along Syria’s southern border with Jordan with land mines reportedly planted along some stretches of the frontier. Many Jordanians support the uprising against the Assad regime and King Abdullah II has recommended that the Syrian leader should step down.

Turkey, the most vocal critic of all Syria’s neighbors, hosts some 7,000 Syrian refugees as well as the leadership of the Free Syrian Army. Some weapons reportedly are being smuggled into Syria from Turkey, but the amount appears to be limited and the Turkish government has attempted to block illegal cross border traffic.

“We thought the Turks would help us,” says Ahmad, the Syrian activist. “There are no weapons being smuggled in from Iraq. I wish there were. We need them.”

The main conduit for arms smuggling from Lebanon occurs in the Wadi Khaled district of north Lebanon, an

area populated by Sunnis who support the uprising against the Assad regime. But Syrian troops have laced much of the border here with land mines, set up small military outposts, and mount regular foot patrols.

On occasions, Syrian troops stage brief cross-border incursions. Three Lebanese from the Wadi Khaled area were shot dead in their car two weeks ago allegedly by Syrian intelligence officers who had slipped over the border.

The smuggling appears to be ad hoc and on an individual basis rather than a more organized transfer of weapons. Last week, the Syrian authorities announced that a consignment of weapons had been seized close to the Lebanese border. The weapons included a light machine gun, rifles, ammunition, and 14 RPG launchers.

The armed opposition is also reportedly having some success buying weapons off members of Syrian military, according to a defector interviewed by Al Jazeera.

Ahmad says that the Free Syrian Army has plans to recruit the civilian population but cannot begin until more armaments become available.

“Either we wait for support from other countries or we will play for time and see how much we can steal from the regime,” he says.

By: Nicholas Blanford , The Christian Science Monitor

Hezbollah personnel reportedly prevented Lebanese security forces from arriving at the scene of the blast.

The explosion took place in an area which is controlled by United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) and where Hezbollah is not allowed to have weapons under the terms of UN Security Council Resolution 1701 which ended the Second Lebanon War in 2006.

UNIFIL said that blast would be investigated.

Last year, there were a number of large explosions at weapons depots in southern Lebanese villages.

A well informed security source told MTV that the explosion could be either the result of a technical error or sabotage related to the recent capture of CIA operatives .

Several ambulances were reportedly scene near the scene of the explosion

They say that those behind the trafficking are smugglers in search of quick profits rather than political parties backing protesters against the Alawite-dominated regime in Syria.

“Smuggling networks that for years have operated along Syria’s borders seem to have turned to weapons trafficking in recent months,” said Peter Harling, a Damascus-based expert with the International Crisis Group.

“It appears that a market has quickly developed in a country which, contrary to Lebanon, Iraq, Yemen or Libya, had few weapons circulating beforehand,” he told AFP.

He said the smugglers were motivated by money, at least for the time being.

“I don’t think that at this point we can say, as the Syrian regime claims, that foreign powers are playing a significant role in this,” Harling said.

“People on both sides in Syria are buying weapons to defend themselves,” he added.

“Residents in Alawite villages are arming themselves for fear of reprisals and the (mainly Sunni Muslim) opposition is increasingly doing the same given the regime’s harsh crackdown against any form of protest.

“So the temptation for people to defend themselves is growing.”

A Western diplomat in Beirut who did not wish to be identified confirmed that weapons smuggling from Lebanon into Syria was on the rise but also stressed he believed this was the work of individuals rather than parties.

“Those sending weapons may sympathise with a certain party but you can’t say that a political faction as such is behind the smuggling,” the diplomat said.

He noted the situation was ironic given that for years weapons had been smuggled from Syria into neighbouring Iraq and Lebanon. “The tables are turned now, and it’s a case of the biter getting bitten,” he said.

Since the outbreak of the Syrian uprising in mid-March, Damascus has accused loyalists of former Lebanese premier Saad Hariri, a Sunni, of sending cash and weapons to the opposition in Syria.

Hariri has denied the allegations.

Lebanese authorities have arrested a number of Lebanese and Syrian nationals on charges of weapons smuggling. A judicial official said the arms seized in those cases were either hunting rifles or light weapons.

The smuggling has led to a hike in prices on the black market, notably for hunting rifles, automatic weapons and grenades.

“The Syrians are raking in all the weapons and driving up prices,” said one licensed weapons dealer who did not wish to be identified.

He added that much of the weapons on the black market in Lebanon date back to the country’s 1975-1990 civil war or were smuggled in from Iraq following the 2003 US-led invasion.

An underground weapons dealer in north Lebanon, also on condition of anonymity, said the price of a used Kalashnikov assault rifle has risen from $800 (S$1,000) to $1500 (1079 euros) since the Syria uprising began.

The price of a grenade has also doubled, from about $5 to more than $10, he added, while rocket-propelled grenades are now fetching $200 a piece as opposed to $70 previously.

“There is high demand for Kalashnikovs and ammunition as well as pump-action shotguns which usually come from Turkey and are sold for $500, compared to $200 normally,” he said.

He said the weapons are smuggled by foot or by car through remote areas along the 330-kilometre (205-mile) border between Lebanon and Syria.

“There are more than 50 illegal crossings between the two countries and there is no way to station enough troops to control them all,” said retired Lebanese army General Elias Hanna.

The Western diplomat said that the militant group Hezbollah, a staunch supporter of Assad and a key player in the Beirut government, had boosted its presence along the border in the eastern Bekaa region to stem the smuggling.

The Syrian army has also stepped up security along the border.

Hanna said that while the arms being smuggled into Syria at this point were light weapons and unlikely to upset the current balance of power, the situation could change if neighbouring countries decided to arm the opposition.

“When countries like Turkey change their stand and allow the transfer of heavy weapons through the border, then the balance of power will change,” he said. “But I don’t think this is going to happen any time soon.”

Asiaone

‘The truck smuggling the arms had an Iraqi license plate No. 0/9073 and was loaded with fruit ,’ the news agency said. ‘Authorities found 125 machine pump-action shotguns and more than 30,000 bullets for pistols secretly hidden in the truck’s floor.’

Earlier Thursday, the Lebanese Army seized five small trucks believed to be smuggling goods into Syria through the eastern Lebanese town of Deir al-Ashaer. The Lebanese command did not say if the smuggled goods included weapons.

The Lebanese daily As Safir quoted a judicial source as saying Thursday that a Lebanese and two Syrians were caught this week trying to smuggle arms into Syria to support anti-regime protesters there.

The newspaper said Lebanese Army intelligence thwarted the plot after raiding a neighbourhood in Beirut’s Sunni Muslim district of Tarik al-Jadideh.

Seized in the raid were rocket-propelled grenades, hand grenades, Kalashnikov rifles, night-vision goggles and Inerga-type RPGs, the daily said.

Since the beginning of the Syrian uprising in mid-March, Syrian officials have accused loyalists of Lebanese former premier Saad Hariri, a Sunni Muslim, of helping the opposition in Syria by giving them money, mobile phones and arms. Hariri has denied the allegations.

DPA./ m&c

He says an investigation has been launched. He did not elaborate.

German daily Sueddeutsche Zeitung on Thursday cited “western diplomatic sources” as saying that Turkey had stopped a weapons delivery from Iran on its way to Syria which was believed to be destined for Lebanon’s Hezbollah militia.

In March, Turkish authorities seized the cargo of an Iranian plane bound for Syria because the shipment violated U.N. sanctions. Turkish media said the aircraft was carrying light weapons, including automatic rifles, rocket launchers and mortars.

Sacramento Bee

Siniora told An-Nahar newspaper that “the dialogue must follow the schedule set by the 2006 national dialogue table; therefore no additional item should be included in the agenda .”

The former PM also voiced the importance of Arab League participation in the national dialogue, adding that Hezbollah should “show a clear will to participate in the government and set a date to implement all the issues that were agreed upon in the previous national dialogues.”

Siniora also said that his meeting with President Michel Suleiman on Saturday addressed many issues related to the dialogue and the elections.

“Personally, I focused on the state, its role and the challenges that are facing it.”

President Michel Suleiman has been calling for a new national dialogue session, while March 14 leaders have said they only want to attend a session that tackles the issue of non-state weapons.