Wednesday 24th April 2013. The Guardian do an Ian Black Q&A on Syria. Seems Black tripped up over a few questions asked and then someone, likely Black, decided they wanted to erase all record of his responses. Six days after, they removed all comments from the page. And no, this is not usual practice when they've done other Q&As in the past.
Here are some of the comments before they were deleted:
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Pam Dalloul
2I also want to ask about the Red Cross in Syria. As the equivalent is the Red Crescent in Syria , does the Assad regime decide who receives aid ? I have heard that aid is only given to pro regime areas by the Red Crescent , is this correct?
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herogram
4@Pam Dalloul - the Red Crescent in Syria, like all Red Cross and Red Crescent societies worldwide, is independent from the government of the country and operates by the principles of neutrality and impartiality.
This will give you some more information. Key info copied and pasted:
Who is funding Syrian Arab Red Crescent (SARC) operations?
SARC aid work is funded by contributions from the Red Cross Red Crescent Movement, UN-organisations and other international NGOs with funding from governments and other international donors. Red Cross Red Crescent is seeking funding for the ongoing humanitarian assistance to support food and non-food relief items, health care and safe drinking water as priorities.
Can SARC work everywhere? Some media reports suggest otherwise.
SARC is a community based organisation. SARC volunteers are working from branches and sub-branches across the country. They are part of the community who live in the respective area. They are providing lifesaving first aid services where health and medical services no longer function. SARC’s neutrality is key to deliver its humanitarian assistance to almost two million people monthly. SARC provides assistance to IDPs and across conflict lines. SARC volunteers are active in areas like Qaboun, Jobar, Douma, Telbiseh, Tel Kalakh, Al Bokamal and Menbej; to name a few.
SARC volunteers are working under extremely difficult circumstances even putting their own lives at risk. 17 volunteers have lost their lives to date while providing humanitarian assistance, latest on 3 March in Jobar, a suburb to Damascus. Unsubstantiated reports and misinformation are adding to the risks to which SARC volunteers are exposed.
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Jo Blick
0What is the leadership like, of the people fighting Assads regime? are they planning to replace him with anything better? Do they have some sort of published aim? -
PeterSchmidt
5On the BBC's "World have your Say' I heard that more than 5 million Syrians have fled from rebel held areas, into the protection of Assad around Damascus. Have you managed to talk to any of them?-
Guardian staff
IanBlack
3@PeterSchmidt - Standard figure is that about 3.8m Syrians are internally displaced. Plenty of people are critical of the rebels, especially about what happened in Aleppo. In Damascus there is a palpable fear of criticizing the government and a broad sense of weariness about a crisis which is destroying the country. -
plexply
3@IanBlack -
Then how is it that your paper has interviewed Syrian citizens who support the FSA and have their pictures placed on their social networking accounts in government areas?
In Damascus there is a palpable fear of criticizing the government.
When you and other media here were claiming violence in Damascus when nothing was going on (same as you did Tripoli) you later claimed on a visit that eventhough it was peaceful it was 'burning' or something or another. You see what you want to see.
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Mano Buckshi
1I have read recently that communities are increasingly organizing their own local councils to step in and provide basic municipal services given the collapsing infrastructure. Is there an awareness of the efforts outside of Syria to form the transitional and interim government or have they resigned themselves to living through a protracted conflict without end, thus making these types of local organizations that much more important from their perspective? -
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Morpheus71
0Where is the international community on the alleged chem attacks ? I also want to know are the fighters going to have a say in the new government to come ? -
mattinbiglari
1Do we know who was really behind the kidnapping of the two archbishops from Aleppo yet?
Also have you spoken to many rebels about how they feel about Saudi and Qatari-funded elements within the FSA?-
Guardian staff
IanBlack
2@mattinbiglari - Not yet. Government and rebels accuse each other. Kidnapping bishops, several people have pointed out, would serve the regime's interests,
I was in Damascus on a government issued visa. Met people who support opposition. Secular types unhappy with Islamist influence but insist the uprising is non-sectarian and committed to freedom and democracy. Not met anyone who believes post-Assad Syria will be an Islamist state. -
RedOrchestra2
9@IanBlack - No offence Ian, but that short note would indicate balance of probabilities that regime responsible.
Surely the fact the church has said they were taken by Chechens, and more importantly that they were taken in a rebel controlled area - would be salient facts? -
RedOrchestra2
1@IanBlack - Sorry, I should also have said thank you for answering questions.
I appreciate reporting from Syria (or indeed Mid East generally) means you will constantly have your statements questioned. -
Grillo
2@RedOrchestra2 - '...that short note would indicate balance of probabilities that regime responsible.'
Well said. -
lacilir
3@IanBlack -
Government and rebels accuse each other. Kidnapping bishops, several people have pointed out, would serve the regime's interests,
The churches stated it was Chechen jihadis:
Sources in both churches said the kidnappers were believed to be Chechen fighters, who stopped the car in an area outside of Aleppo.
"The news which we have received is that an armed group... (of) Chechens stopped the car and kidnapped the two bishops while the driver was killed," an official from the Syriac Orthodox diocese said in a statement posted online.
A source in the Greek Orthodox church said the kidnappers had described themselves as "Chechen jihadists."
http://www.globalpost.com/dispatch/news/afp/130424/no-news-kidnapped-syria-bishops-aleppo-archdiocese-0. Why are you and the Guardian dancing around this fact ? -
haywales
0@lacilir - Knowing one of the Bishops well, I have been following this story very carefully. And knowing Syria well, I don't believe anything anyone says, and you don't have to believe what I now write, but I am led to believe that the Bab al Hawa area is under government control. The very quick detailed response concerning the kidnappers is typical of the government, which always wants to blame foreign fighters. I think the bishops were kidnapped to scare the hell out of them and prevent them moving to a position less pro-government. They have been consistent in their balanced call for dialogue rather than denouncing the violence of the government, and there may be reasons to suggest that they might be tempted to a less neutral stance. So the govt. decided to scare them. I may be wrong.
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patasola
1What is the mood like among regime loyalists you spoke to? Are they confident they can tough it out, or are they secretly planning to escape?-
Guardian staff
IanBlack
2@patasola - Regime loyalists seem fairly upbeat. They claim that the tide is turning in Assad’s favour. They say the rebels are divided and dominated by jihadis and that these facts are now causing further disarray and confusion internationally. The vice foreign minister told me that there could be reform in Syria but only when hostilities stop. Assad would not step down.
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sjxt
1Ian, thanks for doing this and some absolutely first rate reporting from Damascus over recent days (not to mention your earlier reports from round the region).
Two related questions if I may:
1. Did you find anything that led you to suppose there is any real world prospect of this not being a fight to the bitter end, whether that leads to "victory" of one side or the other or simply total fragmentation?
2. Can the different Syrian communities ever find a way to live together again in the foreseeable future? Or was the Chechen jihadi commander in Aleppo quoted by Anthony Lloyd in the Times a few months back right: "Of course, it would be lovely when all this is over if the Syrians could live peacefully with one another. But with the nature of the fighting as it is now, that is very unlikely."-
Guardian staff
IanBlack
3@sjxt - 1) I didn't find anyone who believes in the prospect of a negotiated end to the fighting. Even the government appears to be paying no more than lip service to the idea.
2) Syrian friends tell me that the country will never be the same again. But opposition supporters insist that theirs is not a sectarian struggle and blame the government for portraying it as such and trying to turn it into one. -
lacilir
2@IanBlack -
But opposition supporters insist that theirs is not a sectarian struggle and blame the government for portraying it as such and trying to turn it into one.
Who then expelled the Christians from Homs and al-Qusayr then ?
“Christians must leave Qusayr within six days, ending Friday.”
http://vaticaninsider.lastampa.it/en/world-news/detail/articolo/siria-syria-15868/
The Syrian Orthodox Church, which represents over half of Syrian Christians, issued a statement saying revolutionary fighters had expelled some 50,000 Christians from the embattled city of Homs. That figure is estimated to account for about 90 percent of the Christian community there. Hundreds more — including women and children — were slaughtered, according to charitable organizations operating in the area.
http://theorthodoxchurch.info/blog/news/2012/04/obama-backed-syrian-rebels-ethnic-cleansing-christians/
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DoreenKhoury
0Dear Ian,
I have 3 questions:
1. What can you tell us about what's going on in the Damascus suburbs (East Ghouta, for example)? Can you gauge the balance of power between the armed rebels and the regime?
2. Are there any opposition activists left in Damascus? What kind of resistance to the regime, if any, is still going on?
3. opposition local councils have been set up in some liberated areas (e.g. in Idlib). Are they having any impact on the ground? Or are the armed groups dominating civilian life?
Thanks!
Doreen
IanBlack
2@DoreenKhoury - Govt seems to have some limited success in the Ghouta area in recent days though it is not accessible and all that is visible from Damascus is the aftermath of shelling or air strikes. YouTube clips tell you more about what is going on. -
Grillo
1A couple of questions:
Does the FSA *really* have widespread popular support amongst Syrians on the ground or did you get the sense that the majority support the government/not inclined one way or the other?
Did you manage to speak to the pro-Govt side at all? If not, why?
Many thanks! -
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Guardian staff
IanBlack
4@cardigansinbound - Occasional protests - flash demos are uploaded to YouTube. But there is very heavy security on streets. Many activists have gone abroad, are in prison or lying low, -
plexply
5@IanBlack -
But there is very heavy security on streets
With the current situation in Syria there's obviously going to be heavy security.
Many activists have gone abroad, are in prison or lying low
How do you know this?
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NegativeCamber
1Hi Ian,
How was it working in Damascus in terms of freedom? Where you monitored or were your movements/communications restricted by the regime?-
Guardian staff
IanBlack
5@NegativeCamber - Very difficult to work there as a journalist. Ministry of Information very controlling; written permission and an officially approved escort required to do almost anything, Independent activity risky but still just about possible. Assume I was monitored. -
lacilir
3@IanBlack -
An officially approved escort ?
How come they didn't give Alex Thomson one ?
3. Do they decide who you work with?
No. We find our own people to work with in terms of local producer and driver. The drivers I have worked with have taken me into rebel-held areas on several occasions. The government knows reporters may go to these areas with a government visa and although I have done this on a number of occasions it has not made any difference to getting my visa both extended and renewed again upon re-application. I sense the government understands there are two basic sides to the war and journalists have the right to report from both.
http://blogs.channel4.com/alex-thomsons-view/qa-foreign-journalists-operate-syria/4592
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PaulLambert
6On April 22nd, U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki Moon released this statement:
'Expressing his deep concern at the ever-deteriorating situation in Syria, and its growing regional impact, the Secretary-General called for stemming the supply of arms to any side in the Syrian conflict. More arms would only mean more deaths and destruction'
http://www.un.org/sg/offthecuff/index.asp?nid=2793
This is a view that is apparently shared by the U.N. Commissioner for Human rights, and the E.U.'s Commissioner for International Cooperation, Humanitarian Aid and Crisis Response. That more weapons will mean more death, destruction and suffering.
In which case, why are Hague and Cameron apparently so keen to get the arms embargo on Syria lifted?
And does this fact - them advocating a course of action that very senior figures within the 'international community' are saying will only exacerbate the suffering of Syrians - not call into serious question their claim to be primarily motivated by humanitarian considerations in their response to the conflict in Syria? -
Guardian staff
IanBlack
2Good afternoon. Happy to answer questions but as there is a good deal of repetition and overlap between them please look at all answers to see if I have addressed the point you raise.
Worth pointing out that I was in Damascus with a Syrian government visa. I met government officials and others who support the government.
I was able to meet people who oppose Assad, but I did not meet anyone who openly identified as a member of the armed opposition. -
PatriceLumumba
2What is the opinion of the Sunnis living in Damascus? Are they loyal to Assad or waiting for a chance to join the opposition?-
Guardian staff
IanBlack
2@PatriceLumumba - Syrian friends of mine estimate 5%-10% loyalty to government plus a lot people who are hedging their bets. Sunnis are far less supportive than the Alawites especially the Damascus business elite. -
plexply
8@IanBlack -
So you went to Damascus to tell us what your Syrian friends estimate. Who exactly are these friends of yours?
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Guardian staff
jameswalsh
0A question from Eric Thomas on Google+:
What's the situation with the chemical attack last month? Has any real leads come out of it? -
Guardian staff
IanBlack
0@jameswalsh - The CW issue is stalemated, though suspicions are growing that such weapons have been used, possibly by both sides. But the Syrian government is unhappy with calls for a UN investigation, saying it fears "Iraqi-style fabrications."
Obama said use of CW would be a "red line." But nervousness over allegations from Israeli intelligence suggests a reluctance to get involved unless weapons are used on a large scale internally or against another country.
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Solidarnosc
8Has there been a tendency in the western media to paint Assad in the conventional mould of ruthless tyrant, while playing down aspects of criminality and terror tactics on the part of the opposition?-
Guardian staff
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Solidarnosc
5@IanBlack - Alright, but perhaps you could help with these?
Is the Pope a Catholic?
Do bears sh*t in the woods?
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Soul_Side
2Hi! Did you meet ordinary citizens who were aware of EU intention to allow sale of Syrian Oil from opposition-occupied oilfields, if sanctioned by the opposition, but not from the Government? What sort of representative opinions do they express about this? -
PaulLambert
5In an answer above, Ian Black states that some within the opposition insist that 'their's is not a sectarian struggle'.
While this is undoubtedly true for many activists, the U.N. CoI of Inquiry have documented how 'As battles between Government forces and anti-Government armed groups approach the end of their second year, the conflict has become overtly sectarian in nature' (p.3). The Commission said they received 'credible reports of anti-Government armed groups attacking Alawites and other pro-Government minority communities' (p.4), and that 'Syria’s Armenian Orthodox, other Christian, and Druze communities have sought protection by aligning themselves with the Government, with the consequence that they have come under attack from anti-Government armed groups' (p.5).
This takes me on to my main question:
While any claim that comes from the Syrian regime and Syrian state media is treated with scepticism, and rightly so, is there an opposite tendency on the part of Western corporate media to treat claims coming from the opposition and opposition media with an almost naive lack of scepticism?-
Guardian staff
IanBlack
3@PaulLambert - No doubt that the conflict has become more sectarian as the Assad regime has shrunk to its loyal Alawite core.
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Interesting though, that the Christians I met in Damascus said that they had not been targeted as Christians. Noteworthy too that the Syrian Opposition Coalition strongly condemned the pledge of allegiance by Jabhat al-Nusra to al-Qaida. Ex NOC leader Moaz al-Khatib denounced jihadis as having non Syrian values. -
lacilir
3@IanBlack -
Did you really speak to Christians ? I doubt it.
NK: Do the militants target Orthodox Churches?
BL: They kill people. They do not care about people, about human lives. And that's more important than churches and cathedrals, because if there are no people, there's no need for cathedrals. They do not care about having killed hundreds of our people, let alone destroying churches or mosques. Our churches have been attacked in all provinces. In Saidnaya the monastery was under fire, but, thank God, a miracle happened - the shell landed in the yard, breaking through the wall, but didn't explode. It broke in two, with all the gunpowder in one half of it. If not for this miracle, the shell would've killed 30 orphan girls. I've been there and saw everything. Everywhere - in Harasta, Arbin, Zabadani, Daraa, Aleppo, and around Damascus - our churches and our people have been attacked. They are suffering. Our cathedral in Raqqa has been severely damaged. These outlaws assault parishioners, kidnap and kill priests. Father Fadi Haddad from Qatana was kidnapped and killed when he attempted to rescue his people. They tortured him and killed him. The same happened in Hama. Currently we're trying to rescue the two priests that remain abducted.
http://rt.com/op-edge/syria-church-luke-attack-868/
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mojolojo
0Hello,
The Syrian opposition named Christian Syrian George Sabra as their interim chief after Khatib's resignation. Do you believe this will motivate Christians in Syria to join the uprising as they seem to be on the fence at the moment. In your opinion does this move by the opposition undermine the argument that Syria wishes to be a Islamic state?-
Guardian staff
IanBlack
0@mojolojo - Sabra is highly-regarded and the fact that he is a Christian does underline the non-sectarian nature of the mainstream Syrian Opposition Coalition. But there are members of other minorities in the opposition too - Michel Kilo for one and activists like the filmmaker Basil Shehadi, who was shot by sniper in Homs. It is also important to watch the position of the Muslim Brotherhood - maybe more than the Salafi or jihadi-type groups.
I haven't met anyone who believes that a post Assad Syria will be an Islamic state. -
Soul_Side
2@IanBlack -
I haven't met anyone who believes that a post Assad Syria will be an Islamic state.
I expect those that do believe this are making their presence felt on the battlefields, or are otherwise making youtube videos, of which there are already hundreds or maybe thousands, featuring vast numbers of believers armed with mortars, RPGs, armoured and otherwise militarized vehicles, G2G missiles, heavy machine guns and tanks. This presumably will be a problem for the Damascenes who might prefer a non-Islamic state but who will be left extremely vulnerable to such a prospect in the absence of a military defence? -
lacilir
4@IanBlack -
Sabra and kilo are highly regarded by whom exactly ?
NK: Are there any Orthodox Christians in the Opposition?
BL:There are two Christians in the National Council in Istanbul, but neither of them has the conscience or moral values of a Christian. One of them, Michel Kilo, has no idea what a church is. Same goes for George Sabra. These are the leaders of the militants who open fire in Christian neighbourhoods and kill priests.
http://rt.com/op-edge/syria-church-luke-attack-868/
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BrownMoses
2What's been the reaction of the government and local people to the supply of Croatian arms to the opposition by Saudi Arabia? I note State TV still refers to them as Israeli weapons when they are featured as part of captured arms caches on State TV.-
Guardian staff
IanBlack
1@BrownMoses - Vice foreign minister Faisal Miqdad attacked "stupid Arabs" - primarily Saudi Arabia and Qatar, but also Jordan, playing an increasingly important role building up a new "southern front."
Assad's recent warning to Jordan was fairly explicit. Syrian officials often try to implicate Israel because it is an easy and familiar target- eg Miqdad spoke of "Mossad agents" killed in the Deraa area but I've not seen any independent confirmation of that.
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haywales
0What is the situation with the Druze and the Orthodox minority in the Jebel Druze/Hauran area?-
Guardian staff
IanBlack
1@haywales - I'm told there are some signs of change in Jebel Druze. People also point to anti-Assad comments from Walid Jumblatt in Lebanon. But I have no first-hand knowledge of the area, which is not accessible to foreign journalists.
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Guardian staff
IanBlack
1@StElme - Likely to be much worse, whatever happens. Virtually everyone I spoke to in Damascus certainly expects that. Many say that if Assad does fall the next stage will be even more violent.
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HaveYouSeenThisMan
0Did you meet any Islamic extremists?
If so, do they have a clear idea of what they want Syria to become?-
StElme
2@HaveYouSeenThisMan - With all due respect, no need to ask Ian; we all know the answer to that one. Look at Egypt, Tunisia and Libya; who is in charge? Yes the same gentlefolk who wish to retreat to the dark ages... -
HaveYouSeenThisMan
0@StElme - are you the opinion the region is less democratic as a result of the Arab Spring?
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BrownMoses
0What's the reaction in Damascus to the changing situation south of Damascus in recent months? Is there a sense that the conflict has moved much closer to the capital?-
Guardian staff
IanBlack
1@BrownMoses - Conflict feels much closer. Damascus is effectively surrounded and parts of the city proper, such as Jobar, are under rebel control. The key front is in the Deraa area.
These pieces give my sense of things:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2013/apr/19/damascus-din-of-war
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2013/apr/14/syrian-crisis-damascus-sound-war-bombs
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Emanuel Stoakes
1In the event of a FSA outright victory, do you foresee tribulation for the country's ethnic and religious minorities? -
Grillo
0Did you get a sense as to how popular the FSA/rebel movement is amongst ordinary Syrians. Would you say that these groups have greater popular support than the government?-
Guardian staff
IanBlack
1@Grillo - Gauging support for rebels or government is the hardest question of all. In Damascus, where the war is now much more palpable, I sense a great weariness and a belief that Assad will not remain in power in the long term. Understandably there is enormous anxiety about the future, especially because the opposition is so divided and so many outside parties are involved.
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ElvisInWales
5Ian, Would it not be fair to say that in this conflict there are more Syrian born Sunni Muslims fighting FOR the regime than the FSA has Syrian born Sunni Muslims fighting for it? Simple question and given the size of the SAA and the fact that defections are nowhere near the scale as we saw in Libya for instance that the only sectarian angle comes from within the FSA itself.
Simple question more Sunni Muslims fighting for and supporting the present regime than those fighting against it.
Also would be nice to know how many peaceful opposition numbers are and how many do NOT want to see the likes of the FSA gaining any foothold inside Syria.
TA. -
plexply
7Why does your paper refuse to publish anything relating to 'activists' being caught out lying, such as the Danny Abdul Dayem incident on CNN? Do you think such fabrication is not noteworthy when you constantly tell us how you have to rely on 'activists' for information?-
Guardian staff
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plexply
6@IanBlack -
Video of Danny before joining CNN
Danny trying to defend himself, or rather CNN trying to defend themselves and let Danny take the fall.
Since, Danny, an activist your own paper has quoted several times, has done a disappearing act.
"I don't know how they got it, this is all private..this should have all been deleted.."
If you're honestly unaware of the incident that speaks volumes about the world you inhabit.
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Soul_Side
0Having been to Damascus and seen the current state of security, are you now more, or less sympathetic to the view that sooner or later the armed rebellion will defeat the SAA?-
Guardian staff
IanBlack
1@Soul_Side - My impression, based on conversations with Syrians, is that Assad cannot survive in the long term even if that means just getting through until the end of his presidential term, as he would like, next year. I guess that armed rebellion and political pressures will continue to go in tandem, though international factors will be important. The SAA looks worn down by two years of war.
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abijoubi
0if u can compare the situation in north Syria to south , do you think in the near future Syria is going to be divided into two countrys one in the north and west with Islamic features and another in west and south as the rest of the regime ? and if so would the conflict last for another few years ?? -
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Guardian staff
IanBlack
1@Christian Brendon McCarthy - Continuing attrition, perhaps a sudden rebel breakthrough in the south followed by political pressure on Assad to go. Maybe an internal coup. Chaos afterwards - any or all of these.
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Guardian staff
IanBlack
2Time's up! Hope I have answered at least the main points raised. Thanks for your questions and contributions. -
Guardian staff
jameswalsh
0Thanks for everyone who took part - we've posted a selection of your questions (along with Ian's answers, of course) above the line. Comments will close here shortly, but you can head over to the MENA blog for the latest Syria discussion and updates. -
JMiller_EA
2Ian, have you had contact with opposition activists associated with the Local Coordination Committees of Syria or the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights? How credible do you find their reports? Are there particular kinds of reports that are typically reliable? Is their information that those groups are consistently ignoring or misrepresenting?
Cheers. -
rdevries
0From a source within the orthodox church I came to know that foreign jihadists were behind the kidnap of Bishops in Aleppo. Can you let us know if this is the case? Also, I was told that numerous churches and many old Christian literature written in Syriac were burned down by FSA and other rebels in Aleppo. Apparently the Syrian government advised many of the church leaders to move to Lebanon to escape persecution. Can you let us know the situation of Christians in north Syria? -
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Prathish K
0If Representatives/Leaders of Both Opposition & Ruling Assad Party are really care about the life of Each Syrians Why Rebels and Syrian Military is Taking arms ? Do syrians thinks that Real freedom will Come to Syria -
TheGriefWell
4What impact is aid from organisations such as the British Red Cross having out there?
Thanks. -
Pam Dalloul
2I also want to ask about the Red Cross in Syria. As the equivalent is the Red Crescent in Syria , does the Assad regime decide who receives aid ? I have heard that aid is only given to pro regime areas by the Red Crescent , is this correct?-
herogram
4@Pam Dalloul - the Red Crescent in Syria, like all Red Cross and Red Crescent societies worldwide, is independent from the government of the country and operates by the principles of neutrality and impartiality.
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Thanks.