In this Saturday, Nov. 17, 2012 photo, Syrian rebel fighters prepare to fire a homemade rocket as they carry out a coordinated attack by hundreds of rebel fighters on a Syrian air force compound during heavy clashes on the outskirts of Aleppo, Syria. There is a struggle for power among rebel factions in Syria with Islamists rejecting the country's new Western-backed opposition coalition and unilaterally declaring an Islamic state in the key battleground of Aleppo though all of the groups are fighting to topple President Bashar Assad. (AP Photo/Narciso Contreras)
Iran criticizes Turkish request for Patriots
In this Saturday, Nov. 17, 2012 photo, Syrian rebel fighters prepare to fire a homemade rocket as they carry out a coordinated attack by hundreds of rebel fighters on a Syrian air force compound during heavy clashes on the outskirts of Aleppo, Syria. There is a struggle for power among rebel factions in Syria with Islamists rejecting the country's new Western-backed opposition coalition and unilaterally declaring an Islamic state in the key battleground of Aleppo though all of the groups are fighting to topple President Bashar Assad. (AP Photo/Narciso Contreras)
By BASSEM MROUE
Associated Press /
November 23, 2012
Text Size:
- –
- +
Page 2 of 2 --
Speaking in Lebanon a few hours later, Larijani congratulated the Palestinian people for their ‘‘victory’’ in Gaza which he described as a ‘‘tsunami’’ against Israel.
Elsewhere, the Observatory said the body of Syrian novelist Mohammed Rashid Roweily was found late Thursday in the eastern city of Deir el-Zour, nearly two months after he was kidnapped.
State TV said Roweily was ‘‘liquidated by terrorists’’ — a term the government uses for the rebels. Syrian authorities deny there is a popular uprising in the country and say the rebels are backed by foreign powers that seek to destroy the country.
Ruwiely, 65, was once the representative of Arab Writers’ Union in Deir el-Zour and had written several novels. The Observatory said his decomposed body was found along with those of four others, including a retired army officer. All were kidnapped around the same time.
Journalist Bassil Toufic Youssef, who worked for state TV, was shot dead outside his house in the capital on Thursday, the state SANA news agency said.
In other developments, Qatar, which has backed Syria’s rebels in the conflict, invited a newly formed opposition coalition to appoint an ambassador to the Gulf state, the Qatari news agency reported.
The broad coalition — called the National Coalition of the Syrian Revolutionary and Opposition Forces — was formed Nov. 11 in Qatar under pressure from the United States for a stronger, more united opposition body to serve as a counterweight to the more extremist forces fighting Assad’s regime.
The six-national oil-rich Gulf Cooperation Council and the European Union’s 27 foreign ministers recognized the Syrian coalition. Last week, France became the first Western nation to officially recognize the council. President Barack Obama said the U.S. isn’t ready to recognize the group as a ‘‘government in exile’’ or to arm it.
___
Associated Press writer Zeina Karam in Beirut and Albert Aji in Damascus contributed to this report.
© Copyright 2013 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
