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March 1st, 2012 
FAKE NEWS for the Zionist agenda
Opposition activists feared a campaign of retribution against the 4,000
civilians thought to be inside Baba Amr. Tens of thousands living in
districts nearby were also thought to be vulnerable.
The area has had no electricity and little food or medicine since the
offensive began and freezing weather has worsened conditions. Some of the
rare video footage to emerge from the area, where communication links were
all but severed, showed residents crouching on a road as they tried to
collect falling snow in buckets to serve as drinking water.
A daily ceasefire lasting two hours is needed to allow the delivery of
humanitarian supplies to areas torn by fighting, according to the
International Committee of the Red Cross. Yesterday, an ICRC spokesman said
the organisation had received “positive indicators from the Syrian
authorities” that this demand would be accepted.
The United States said it would be a “good step forward” if the
Assad regime allowed aid into the besieged neighborhood, but voiced
scepticism.
“Virtually the entire international community has been clamoring for
humanitarian access for a long, long time, and particularly into Homs,”
said state department spokesmen Victoria Nuland.
Any such move could come too late for the residents of Baba Amr. Most of the
7,000 pro-regime forces that marched into the largely Sunni district were
members of Mr Assad’s Alawite minority, a sect of Shia Islam. They have
already been accused of atrocities against the Sunni majority, from whose
ranks the opposition is largely drawn.
French journalist Edith Bouvier arrived in Lebanon along with French
photographer William Daniels, Nicolas Sarkozy announced. They had been
trapped in Baba Amr since the same attack that killed Marie Colvin and Remi
Ochlik, on February 22. Miss Bouvier’s leg was broken in the incident.
While Mr Assad may believe he has turned the tide of the uprising, it is not
the first time the rebels have been forced to flee Baba Amr. They last
withdrew after being defeated in November, but were able to return as
government forces were deployed to counter unrest elsewhere in the country.
Previous experience suggests that, although Mr Assad retains the upper hand
thanks to the loyalty of the Alawite-dominated officer ranks, he does not
have enough reliable soldiers to defeat the rebels completely.
Even so, the insurgents were thought to have suffered heavier losses than
before during the latest offensive in Homs. There were fears that infighting
and the lack of a proper command structure were hampering the FSA’s ability
to challenge the government.
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