Greek Orthodox priest abducted in Syria is found dead

BEIRUT -- A Greek Orthodox priest has been found slain after being kidnapped near the Syrian capital of Damascus, the Syrian government and the Vatican news service reported Thursday.

The body of the Rev. Fadi Jamil Haddad, pastor of St. Elias Church in Qatana, outside Damascus, was discovered  in the Jaramana district  of the capital, reported Agenzia Fides, the Vatican news service. The site was not far from the area where he was kidnapped by an “unidentified armed group" last Friday, the agency said.

The Vatican agency quoted a colleague saying the priest had been “horribly tortured.”

The official Syrian news service said the priest was found with a gunshot wound to his head. The government news agency blamed the crime on “terrorists,” its usual characterization of the armed opposition fighting to oust President Bashar Assad.

According to the official  account, the priest was abducted while seeking the release of another person who had been kidnapped by militants.

But it was not clear if the priest’s slaying was political, sectarian or criminal in nature. Many Syrians have complained of a breakdown in law and order and a spike in kidnapping for ransom and other crimes as security has deteriorated. Opportunistic criminals have moved to take advantage of the nation's security void.

U.N. war crimes panel seeks access to Syria

BEIRUT -– A United Nations-backed panel investigating alleged war crimes in Syria says it has asked to meet with President Bashar Assad soon in order for its team to gain access inside the country.

Members of the panel are seeking the meeting with Assad "without any conditions," said Brazilian diplomat Sergio Pinheiro, who is heading the panel, according to the Associated Press.

The four-member panel, which includes former U.N. war crimes prosecutor Carla Del Ponte, has been asked to continue its investigation until at least March. Del Ponte said the probe is looking into suspected "crimes against humanity and war crimes" during Syria's increasingly bloody conflict, which has left more than 30,000 dead, the AP reported.

The request from the panel comes a day after U.N. and Arab League envoy to Syria Lakhdar Brahimi announced that the Syrian government and some rebel forces had agreed to a cease-fire for the Eid Al-Adha holiday, which begins on Friday. The U.N. Security Council unanimously backed the proposed temporary truce.

"We hope to build on it and aim for a lasting and solid cease-fire," Brahimi said.

But amid already existing doubts over the likelihood of the cease-fire going into effect, the government and rebel groups further put the possible truce into question Wednesday. Syria's Foreign Ministry said military commanders were still studying the proposal, and the Free Syrian Army's fragmented armed groups have expressed different positions on the cease-fire.

"We will observe it as long as the regime does," said Col. Qassim Saad Eddine, spokesman for the Free Syrian Army, adding, "we don't expect them to observe it for even one minute."

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Photo: Sergio Pinheiro, chairman of the commission looking into war crimes in Syria, and commission member Carla del Ponte hold a news conference Thursday at the European headquarters of the United Nations in Geneva. Credit: Martial Trezzini / Keystone

Syrian regime, rebels agree to cease-fire for holiday, envoy says

BEIRUT -- The Syrian government has agreed to a cease-fire for the upcoming Muslim holiday of Eid al-Adha, international envoy Lakhdar Brahimi said Wednesday.

Brahimi, the United Nations and the Arab League envoy to Syria, said most of the rebel groups battling President Bashar Assad's regime also have agreed to observe a temporary truce. Some rebel commanders said they would welcome a brief cease-fire for the civilian population on the holiday.

However, even if both sides agree, the implementation of a cease-fire remains in doubt. The fragmented opposition forces are not unified under one leadership, and it is unclear whether rebel commanders could enforce such a break in the hostilities.

A previous truce brokered by Brahimi's predecessor, Kofi Annan, fell apart almost immediately. Since then, the conflict has only grown more violent, with daily death tolls topping 150, many of them civilians.

Brahimi met with Assad on Sunday and had spent the previous week meeting with regional leaders to gather support for the cease-fire, which is anticipated to begin Friday and last four days.

Brahimi said the Syrian government planned to follow the cease-fire announcement with a statement later Wednesday or on Thursday.

"We hope to build on it and aim for a lasting and solid cease-fire," he said.

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Photo: Lakhdar Brahimi, the United Nations and Arab League envoy to Syria, speaks Wednesday during a news conference following a meeting at the Arab League headquarters in Cairo. Credit: Nasser Nasser / Associated Press

 

Wounded Syrian rebel leader refutes reports of his death

 

BEIRUT -- The leader of the Tawheed division, one of the largest rebel factions fighting in the northern Syrian city of Aleppo, has survived an assassination attempt while visiting the front lines, according to an oppositon video posted on YouTube.

The video appears to show Abdel Qader Saleh, the Tawheed chief, recuperating in bed with a bandaged left arm and torso.

The video posting was apparently meant in part to refute reports on pro-government social media sites that a military sniper had killed Saleh, one of the best-known rebel figures in Aleppo, with a loyal following among various brigades in the disparate opposition forces. The government labels the opposition fighters "terrorists" and "mercenaries," but the rebels call themselves revolutionaries.

"I'm in good health and God willing, I will be among them [rebel fighters] in few days," Saleh says in the video. Directly addressing Syrian President Bashar Assad, the wounded commander sends a message:  "We are coming to your presidential palace."

Syrian refugees in Lebanon top 100,000

BEIRUT -- The number of Syrian refugees has now exceeded 100,000 in Lebanon, the third country in the region to pass that mark, the United Nations refugee agency said Tuesday.

Thousands of Syrians continue to flee into neighboring countries as daily death tolls from the 19-month uprising often top 150 amid no prospects for an end to the conflict. An attempt by Lakhdar Brahimi, the U.N. and Arab League envoy to Syria, to broker a cease-fire for the upcoming Muslim holiday of Eid al-Adha is widely viewed as unlikely to succeed.

More than 100,000 Syrians have registered or are waiting for registration with the U.N. in Lebanon, but the actual number on the ground is likely much higher.

Activists in Lebanon say that some Syrians, most of whom are Sunni Muslims, have been wary of making their presence known in a country with ongoing Sunni-Shiite tensions. In August, a powerful Shiite Muslim family in the Bekaa Valley kidnapped dozens of Syrians in response to the abduction of a family member in nearby Syria.

Jordanian soldier killed in clash on border with Syria

BEIRUT -- A Jordanian soldier was killed Sunday night in clashes with an armed group on the Syrian border, according to Jordan's official Petra news agency.

Eight armed people were attempting to illegally cross into Jordan from Syria when fighting broke out between them and members of the Jordanian armed forces, the news agency reported, quoting an anonymous official from the military.

One member of the armed group was critically injured, and all eight were arrested.

"Another armed Takfiri group using Kalashnikov rifles and guns tried to cross the border," the official told the news agency, using a term that refers to an extremist Muslim ideology that accuses others of being infidels.

Lebanese army warns against violence amid tensions

This post has been updated. See the notes below.

BEIRUT — The Lebanese army moved Monday to quell unrest following an outbreak of clashes in the aftermath of the politically charged funeral of a police official assassinated in a car bomb attack.

The army vowed to use “decisive measures" to insure stability and warned that security was a “red line” not to be breached. The military urged all parties to exercise restraint.

The armed forces generally command respect across Lebanon’s sectarian fault lines. But the nation is also home to sundry armed militias allied with political and religious factions.

Overnight clashes were reported in Beirut and the northern city of Tripoli, which has become a battleground for armed groups on opposing sides of the conflict in neighboring Syria. At least three people were killed in Tripoli, the national news service reported. The army said it shot and killed a man who opened fire on a patrol in the capital.

[Updated Oct. 22, 2:20 p.m.: Sniper fire reportedly continued in Tripoli during the day, raising the death toll to four. In Beirut, troops in armored vehicles were taking up positions at some strategic intersections and roads in districts where rival gunmen have engaged in skirmishes.]

The situation remained tense and some parents were said to have kept their children home from school, fearing more violence.

Bomb rocks Damascus as peace envoy meets with Assad

BEIRUT -- A car bomb exploded Sunday at one of the entrances to Damascus’ Old City, killing 13 people and injuring 29, as an international peace envoy seeking a cease-fire in the Syrian conflict met with President Bashar Assad, state media reported.

Authorities said the bomb detonated in Bab Touma Square, a historic Old City district that has mostly been spared the violence raging across much of Syria.

Bab Touma — or Thomas’s Gate, after the apostle Thomas — is considered an important landmark of early Christianity. The ancient district remains home to many members of Syria’s Christian minority.

Scenes on state television showed burned-out cars as body bags lay in the vicinity of Bab Touma, with the signature arched stone entrance to the Old City in the background.

No group took immediate responsibility for the blast. The government blamed the bombing on an “armed terrorist group,” its customary description of rebels seeking to oust Assad. 

Clashes in Beirut follow funeral for slain police official

BEIRUT -- A politically charged funeral for a slain police intelligence chief devolved into clashes in the heart of the Lebanese capital Sunday as angry mourners tried to storm the prime minister’s office but were pushed back by troops.

Soldiers used tear gas and fired shots in the air to disperse the enraged crowd of several hundred -- mostly young men, some wielding sticks.

The clashes followed a somber and peaceful funeral for Gen. Wissam Hassan, the police intelligence chief assassinated Friday in a car bomb in a upscale Beirut neighborhood.

Authorities initially said eight people were killed in Friday's explosion, but have since reduced the death toll to three, including the police official and a bodyguard.

The car bombing — the first significant attack in the Lebanese capital in four years — has outraged opponents of Lebanon’s government and resulted in calls for the nation's ruling coalition to resign. The incident has also raised tensions in a nation with deep religious and political divides and a history of sectarian conflict.

Lebanese PM won't resign after assassination of intelligence chief

BEIRUT –- Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati said he would not resign Saturday, a day after a car bomb killed the country’s intelligence chief and raised fears that Syria’s conflict was spilling into Lebanon.

Mikati in a televised news conference said he was willing to step down and feared for the safety of his family but that President Michel Sleiman asked him to stay on. The March 14 coalition, made up of several anti-Syria political parties, blamed the assassination of Col. Wissam Al-Hassan, intelligence chief for the Internal Security Forces, on Syrian President Bashar Assad.

The coalition, with which Al-Hassan was affiliated, said it holds Mikati personally responsible for the killing and called for his immediate resignation.

PHOTOS: Bombing in Beirut

Several government ministers also rejected the call for Mikati to step down, saying it was not the solution to the problem, the official NNA news agency reported.

Instead, Mikati asked for national unity as Lebanon remained on edge Saturday with roads and highways around Beirut blocked by piles of burning tires, while gunmen roamed some streets of the northern city of Tripoli, where Sunni-Shiite tensions have regularly flared up in the past.

“We need to keep the nation unified, we need to keep the nation stable,” Mikati said in remarks that followed an emergency Cabinet meeting to discuss the nation’s security. Hassan, along with seven others, was killed when a car bomb went off in the busy, Christian neighborhood of Achrafiyeh. Scores were left injured.

In the northern region of Wadi Khaled, near the Syrian border, protesters at an anti-Assad and Anti-Hezbollah rally condemned the assassination, according to NNA. Hezbollah has remained a staunch ally of Assad's and has been accused of aiding Assad in the conflict.

The protesters burned Hezbollah flags and an effigy of Assad. Syrian soldiers opened fire on the demonstrators but no one was injured, according to NNA.

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Photo: Lebanese army soldiers, rescue workers and civilians gather at the site of an explosion in Beirut, Lebanon, Oct. 19, 2012. Credit: Bilal Hussein / Associated Press.