FP: Secret State Department cable supports claims of chemical weapons use in Syria

A secret cable signed by the US Consulate General in Istanbul, Scott Frederick Kilner, supports claims by the Syrian opposition the regime used chemical weapons against its own people in an attack against Homs last month.

Homs (AJE)

The Consulate's intensive investigation produced a "compelling case" that claims that Syrian President Bashar al-Asad used chemical weapons were true.  The investigation included interviews with activists, doctors, and defectors, including Mustafa al-Sheikh, a former regime major general and WMD official.

Opposition figures published videos and photos of the December 23 attack.

FP spoke with doctors who treated the victims. All were sure victims fell prey to chemical weapons, not tear gas.  The medical officials attributed 5 deaths and around 100 cases of severe respiratory, nervous system, and gastrointestinal pain to the poison.

"The main symptom of the respiratory ailments was bronchial secretions," said Dr. Nashwan Abu Abdo, who spoke to FP from Homs.  "This particular symptom was the cause of death of all the people.  All of them died choking on their own secretions.

Abdo said the chemical weapons were fired by tank shell.  The symptoms of those who were further from the shelling included gastrointestinal pain, nausea, and vomiting.

According to FP, the doctors concluded the weapons where chemical and not tear gas because of three factors: the suddenness of death of those directly exposed, the large number of people affected, and hte fact that many had reoccurring symptoms after treatment, meaning the chemical agent had settled in their nervous system and/or fat.

The State Department would not comment on the contents of the secret cable. If true, the attack means the al-Asad regime crossed the "red line" delineated by President Obama last year.

"We have been very clear to the al-Asad regime, but also to other players on the ground, that a red line for us is we start seeing a whole bunch of chemical weapons moving around or being utilized," said President Obama.  "That would change my calculus.  That would change my equation."

US policy has not yet shifted to reflect the reported use of chemical weapons.

Satellite images showing Syria preparing for the use of chemical weapons in early December 2012 prompted a rare united international push against the regime.  

Women Strip, Beat Politician Accused of Rape in North East India

On the heels of the terrifying death of a young woman gang-raped  in Delhi, a Congress Party politician in Assam, accused of rape, was surrounded, stripped, and beaten by a crowd of women.  Footage of the attack showed several women ripping of Bikram Singh Brahma's shirt and slapping him.  A group of men later joined to hit him.

The aforementioned brutal death of a 23-year-old student sparked protests across India, a country known for delay of justice for rape victims and overall apathy about sexual abuse.  According to the New York Times, gang rapes have become almost routine in India, a country that some surveys suggest has one of the highest rates of sexual violence in the world.

The widespread Indian mentality toward rape is embodied in the son of India's president Pranab Mukhergee, who said those protesting sexual abuse and rape were "middle-aged and caked in make-up," and also "dented and painted" women.  Even his sister, Sharmishtha, condemned the remarks.

"It is definitely something that we as a family definitely don't agree with," she said.  "It's not just one protests, it's accumulated rage over the way women are being treated, raped, molested...My father is absolutely with me on this."

He later apologized for his comments.

In the aftermath of the attack, India set up a special court for cases involving crimes against women.  Under international and domestic pressure, Indian officials fast-tracked the arrest of five men and one juvenile to be charged with more than 50 pages of accusations including rape, murder, kidnapping, robbery, and assault.  The government seems to have been caught off-guard by the public's anger. It's response to protests with water cannons, tear gas, and beatings was widely condemned.

The men are accused of attacking the victim and a male friend on a bus late at night on December 16, 2012, gang raping her for an hour and impaling her with a metal rod so savagely she sustained irreparable organ damage. Her male companion was also beaten and both were thrown out of the moving bus.  She was flown to Singapore for treatment, but died two weeks later.  

UAE "busts" Egyptian Ikhwan cell

Al-Khaleej, a local Emiriti newspaper, is reporting that UAE forces "busted" an Ikhwan "cell" of senior Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood officials. Not for terrorism, as it claimed when it arrested a cell of Gulfie nationals on December 26. But for politically organizing.

Their crime? Holding "secret meetings" and "recruiting Egyptian expats in the UAE to join their ranks" and "continuous coordination" with the Egyptian-based branch.

"Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood had offered [the cell's members] courses...on elections and the means of changing leadership in Arab countries," said a UAE source.

The horror! Elections!

The arrests here have been treated in the expected political manner. Supporters of the Ikhwan rallied in support of those detained and opponents of the Ikhwan saw their political activities as just another step in a wider scheme of Islamicizing the region. Lost in all this is these guys were not arrested for terrorism but for promoting goals similar to those the liberals *should* be supporting. Instead, many are aligning themselves with the autocratic government.

The UAE and Ikhwan have a long history of tense relations.  The Islamists movement's rise has been met in the Gulf state with trepidation and worry similar political forces could result in regime change. Tension erupted in 2012 when an Egyptian Muslim scholar Sheikh Yusuf al-Qaradawi spoke out against the UAE for reportedly revoking visas of Syrians who protested against the regime of al-Assad and UAE officials threatened him with arrest.