Britain asks airlines to block U.S. NSA leaker Snowden - report

(Reuters) - Britain has asked airlines worldwide to block American Edward Snowden, who leaked details of U.S. government telephone and internet surveillance programs, from boarding any plane headed for the United Kingdom, the Associated Press reported on Friday.

The Associated Press, in a report out of Bangkok, said British officials confirmed a travel alert from its Home Office issued on Monday telling airlines to deny Snowden from boarding because "the individual is highly likely to be refused entry to the UK."

Snowden, a former U.S. National Security Agency (NSA) contractor who travelled to Hong Kong before the programs were made public, revealed on Sunday that he was behind leaked information describing the American government's surveillance efforts.

Various airlines in Thailand, Malaysia and Singapore confirmed the alert, according to the AP, which said it learned of the British letter to airlines from a photograph of the request seen at an airport in Thailand.

A spokeswoman for the Hong Kong Airport Authority said it has not received any notice from British authorities requesting that airlines block Snowden.

Snowden has said he plans to stay in Hong Kong to fight any effort to bring him back to the United States to face charges.

A spokesman for Britain's Home Office declined to comment on the AP report as did a spokesman for British Prime Minister David Cameron. U.S. officials could not be immediately reached for comment.

Cathay Pacific Airways Ltd declined to confirm the British request or the AP report, saying it was "inappropriate" to discuss government communications. Other airlines could not be immediately reached or had no immediate comment.

The British alert was issued by the UK Border Agency's Risk and Liaison Overseas Network, the AP report said.

(Reporting by Susan Heavey in Washington; Additional reporting by Clare Baldwin in Hong Kong and Guy Faulconbridge and Jason Neely in London; Editing by Will Dunham)

Dozens of Syrian Officers Have Reportedly Defected to Turkey

Dozens of Syrian Officers Have Reportedly Defected to Turkey

Less than a day after being accused of war crimes by the U.S. government, Syria's military got some more bad news as it seems dozens of high-ranking officers have taken their families and fled the country. Turkish media reports that 73 officers, including seven generals, have crossed the border with their families and have requested refuge. In all 202, people made the escape on Friday.

RELATED: Is a Top Syrian Defector Hiding in the United States?

In truth, the mass defection is probably unrelated to the news that the Americans are planning to get more involved in their war. (You don't pull off something like this overnight.) However, the timing could not be much worse for the regime. After a week when it seemed like the whole war was turning in their favor, with major strategic victories on the ground, ugly charges leveled at their opponents, and a peace movement in chaos, suddenly it's the Assad army that is reeling and facing the prospect of international intervention.

RELATED: Syria's Top London Diplomat Has Finally Had It

As the world nervously waits to see what exactly the United States is willing to do, the news of the defections will certainly give the opposition new hope. The trick now is to turn that hope into victories.

Egypt's Brotherhood joins Sunni front over Syria

By Alastair Macdonald and Maggie Fick

CAIRO (Reuters) - Syria's president and his Shi'ite allies were denounced by leading Sunni Arab voices on Friday, including Egypt's ruling Muslim Brotherhood, which had reached out across Islam's sectarian divide but has now called for jihad.

The Brotherhood accused Shi'ites of being at the root of sectarian conflicts throughout history and threw its weight behind holy war - just months after a high-profile rapprochement with Iran, which backs Bashar al-Assad and Lebanon's Hezbollah.

"Throughout history, Sunnis have never been involved in starting a sectarian war," spokesman Ahmed Aref said, adding that Hezbollah provoked the new sectarian conflict in Syria.

As the United States swung the force of its arms behind the mainly Sunni rebels, calls to jihad from the mosques of Mecca and Cairo could speed weapons, and fighters, into Syria.

And, with anger flaring across the Sunni-Shi'ite faultline that divides the Middle East, a conflict that has also split world powers along Cold War lines risks spilling over elsewhere.

The Muslim Brotherhood had been "vague" on Syria, said Khalil al-Anani, an expert on Islamist movements at Washington's Middle East Institute: "But now they have decided to join the kind of sectarian war against Hezbollah, Syria and Iran."

Assad, whose dominant Alawite minority is an offshoot of Shi'ite Islam, says he is fighting to preserve Syria's once tolerant patchwork of faiths; but after two years of fighting an uprising inspired by Egyptians' overthrow of military rule, his forces and their foes are both accused of sectarian atrocities.

Disparate rebel groups, broadly backed by U.S. ally Saudi Arabia, are fighting alongside radical Sunni Islamists, some linked to al Qaeda; but Hezbollah's dispatch of militiamen to help Syrian troops retake a strategic town has electrified broader Sunni opinion against Iran and Shi'ites this month.

Many saw it as proof of an Iranian drive for regional power.

Representatives of dozens of Sunni religious organizations met in Cairo this week to issue a call to jihad in Syria - a call endorsed by the Brotherhood, whose spokesman Aref said on Friday the gathering had "awakened the conscience of the world".

President Mohamed Mursi, who hosted his Iranian counterpart in Cairo in February, will make a speech to the conference on Saturday, Aref said, in which he may clarify Egypt's position on whether to encourage the faithful to go to Syria to fight.

MECCA CONDEMNATION

Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah said in a speech his men would battle on in Syria against what he called a threat from the United States, Israel and "takfiri" - hardline Sunnis.

In another mark of how high sectarian feeling is running, Friday's televised sermon for weekly prayers at the Grand Mosque in the holy city of Mecca included an outspoken personal attack on Assad - a tyrant whose troops he said had raped women, killed children and destroyed homes over the past two years.

Sheikh Saoud al-Shuraym said: "All of that puts on the shoulders of each one of us a share of responsibility before God ... to take a unified and conscious stand.

"Our brothers need more efforts and determination to be exerted to remove the merciless injustice and aggression through all means and with no exceptions," he told worshippers.

Saudi clerics usually reflect a government line and the comments were unusually explicit in their political nature.

Since the 7th-century schism between Sunni and Shi'ite Islam, relations have been punctuated by conflict. In modern times, the strict Wahhabi school of Sunni Islam adopted by the Saudi monarchy has generally been more hostile to Shi'ites than has the Brotherhood, a movement founded in Egypt in the 1920s.

That the Brotherhood now echoes Saudi hostility underlines a hardening of attitudes which could fuel unrest that has already troubled Lebanon, Iraq and some Gulf states, as well as Syria.

CALL TO ARMS

One Egyptian government newspaper published a plea from an Iranian cleric for understanding between the faiths.

But state television broadcast a sermon in Cairo by a leading Saudi cleric, Mohammed al-Arifi, who called for jihad in Syria "in every way possible"; some worshippers waved Syrian rebel flags and dozens of Egyptians gathered outside afterward to chant their support for bringing down Assad.

Some young men said they were ready to go and fight: "We see children dying every day," said Ahmed Fouad. "We will fight for the sake of God, God willing."

Another would-be volunteer, Hassan Mohamed Hassan, said: "The Egyptians will not hesitate and stand idly by in the face of these actions by Hezbollah and Hassan Nasrallah."

The scholars meeting in Cairo stopped short of echoing an explicit call by Egyptian scholar Youssef al-Qaradawi, a Qatari-based television preacher linked to the Brotherhood, for able-bodied Muslims to travel to the battlefields and fight.

An aide to Mursi said on Thursday that Egypt disapproved of external intervention in Syria, notably that by Hezbollah. It was not sending fighters but the government could not stop Egyptians from travelling and would not penalize any who went.

The aide played down fears Egyptians might return as militants from Syria. The Brotherhood disavowed violence in the 1970s but other militants did not. Mursi also faces a political challenge from ultra-conservative Salafi Islamist parties.

Khalil al-Anani suggested that Mursi's administration may see domestic policy benefits from a harder line toward Assad.

Rallying Egyptian opinion over Syria could, he said, deflect attention from discontent that is driving plans for street protests on June 30, the first anniversary of Mursi's election.

And it could also dampen criticism from Salafists who were incensed when Mursi welcomed President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad for the first such visit since Iran's Islamic revolution of 1979.

(Additional reporting by Tarek Fahmy in Cairo, Sami Aboudi in Dubai and Dominic Evans in Beirut; Writing by Alastair Macdonald; editing by Mike Collett-White)

Syria: US chemical weapons charges 'full of lies'

FILE - This Wednesday, April 17, 2013 file citizen journalism image provided by Aleppo Media Center AMC which has been authenticated based on its contents and other AP reporting, shows a mass burial of people allegedly killed by Syrian Army snipers, in Aleppo, Syria. Syria's upwardly spiraling violence has resulted in the confirmed killings of almost 93,000 people, the United Nations' human rights office said Thursday but acknowledged the real number is likely to be far higher. (AP Photo/Aleppo Media Center AMC, File)

In this citizen journalism image provided by Edlib News Network, ENN, which has been authenticated based on its contents and other AP reporting, anti-Syrian regime protesters hold a banner and flash the victory sign during a demonstration in Hass town, Idlib province, northern Syria, Friday, June 14, 2013. The Syrian government on Friday dismissed U.S. charges that it used chemical weapons as "full of lies," accusing President Barack Obama of resorting to fabrications to justify his decision to arm Syrian rebels. The commander of the main rebel umbrella group welcomed the U.S. move. (AP Photo/Edlib News Network ENN)

BEIRUT (AP) — The Syrian government on Friday dismissed U.S. charges that it used chemical weapons as "full of lies," accusing President Barack Obama of resorting to fabrications to justify his decision to arm Syrian rebels. The commander of the main rebel umbrella group welcomed the U.S. move, saying it would lift his fighters' morale.

The U.S. decision to begin arming the rebels, though details have not been completed, marks a deepening of U.S. involvement in Syria's two-year civil war. It comes as President Bashar Assad's forces have been scoring victories, driving rebels out of a key town near the Lebanese border and launching offensives in the center and north, targeting Aleppo, the nation's largest city.

U.S. officials said the administration could provide the rebel fighters with a range of weapons, including small arms, ammunition, assault rifles and a variety of anti-tank weaponry such as shoulder-fired rocket-propelled grenades and other missiles. However, no final decisions have been made on the type of weaponry or when it would reach the rebels, according to the officials, who insisted on anonymity in order to discuss internal administration discussions with reporters.

In addition to the increased military aid, the U.S. also announced Thursday it had conclusive evidence that Assad's regime has used chemical weapons, including the nerve agent sarin, on a small scale against opposition forces. The White House said multiple chemical attacks last year killed up to 150 people.

Obama has said the use of chemical weapons cross a "red line," triggering greater U.S involvement in the crisis.

"The White House has issued a statement full of lies about the use of chemical weapons in Syria, based on fabricated information," a statement issued Friday by the Syrian Foreign Ministry said. "The United States is using cheap tactics to justify President Barack Obama's decision to arm the Syrian opposition," it said.

The statement also accused the U.S. of "double standards," saying America claims to combat terrorism while providing support for "terrorist" groups in Syria, such as Jabhat al-Nusra, with arms and money. The group, also known as the Nusra Front, is an al-Qaida affiliate that has emerged as one of the most effective rebel factions in Syria.

The commander of the main Western-backed rebel group fighting in Syria said he hoped that U.S. weapons will be in the hands of rebels in the near future, noting it would boost the spirits of the fighters on the ground.

"We hope to have the weapons and ammunition that we need in the near future," Gen. Salim Idris told Al-Arabiya TV.

"This will surely reflect positively on the rebels' morale, which is high despite attempts by the regime, Hezbollah and Iran to show that their morale after the fall of Qusair deteriorated," he said, referring to the town near the border with Lebanon.

Loay AlMikdad, a spokesman for the Free Syrian Army, said Idris will be meeting with international players in the coming days, starting Saturday, to work out the details of what is to be delivered and how.

"We encourage them to take a decision in this relation, by establishing a no-fly zone either all over Syriaor areas they choose based on their technical or military considerations on the ground," he said, to ensure safe areas for civilians.

"We hope they start arming immediately. Any delay costs blood of Syrians. It is not water, it is blood of the Syrians, women and children and its future."

AlMikdad said the rebels have asked for shoulder propelled rockets, thermal anti-tank missiles, anti-aircrafts missiles, surface to surface missiles and armored vehicles.

Assad's forces, aided by fighters from Lebanon's militant group Hezbollah, captured Qusair on June 5, dealing a heavy blow to rebels who had been entrenched in the strategic town for over a year.

Since then, the regime has shifted its attention to recapture other areas in the central Homs province and Aleppo to the north.

The regime's advances have added urgency to U.S. discussions on whether to provide the rebels with weapons.

The decision came a day after the United Nations said nearly 93,000 people have been confirmed dead in Syria's civil war, but the actual number is believed to be much higher.

Russia, a staunch ally of Assad, on Friday disputed the U.S. charge that Syria used chemical weapons against the rebels.

President Vladimir Putin's foreign affairs adviser, Yuri Ushakov, told reporters that the information provided by U.S. officials to Russia "didn't look convincing."

Asked if Russia could retaliate to the U.S. move to supply weapons to the Syrian rebels by delivering the S-300 air defense missile systems to the regime, Ushakov said "there is no talk about it yet."

"We aren't competing over Syria, we are trying to settle the issue in a constructive way," he said.

Alexey Pushkov, chairman of Russia's parliamentary foreign affairs committee, wrote on his Twitter account Friday that "the data on Assad's use of chemical weapons were faked in the same place as the lie about (Saddam) Hussein's weapons of mass destruction," referring to the deposed Iraqi dictator.

"Obama is going down the route of G. Bush," he added, in reference to former President George W. Bush's assertion — never proven, but used to justify the invasion of Iraq — that Saddam Hussein possessed weapons of mass destruction.

The Russian comments were echoed by a lawmaker in Damascus.

"This reminds us of what America did in the prelude to the invasion of Iraq by releasing fabrications and lies to the international community that Iraq had weapons of mass destruction," said Issam Khalil, a member of Assad's Baath party.

Obama's deputy national security adviser, Ben Rhodes, said Obama was planning to step up military assistance to Syrian rebels.

Ushakov warned that providing such assistance could derail efforts to convene a Syria peace conference. The main opposition coalition has already said it would not attend, all but scuttling the initiative.

In Friday's violence, Syrian troops and rebels fought some of the heaviest battles in months in Aleppo, Syria's largest city, activists said.

The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the clashes were concentrated in the city's eastern rebel-held neighborhood of Sakhour, calling the fighting "the most violent in months." It said regime troops attacked the neighborhood from two directions but failed to advance, suffering casualties.

The fight for Aleppo, a city of 3 million that was once a bastion of support for Assad, is critical for both the regime and the opposition. If it were to fall completely into opposition hands, the rebels would score a major victory and acquire a stronghold in the north near the Turkish border. A rebel defeat would buy Assad more time, at the very least, and even possibly turn the tide of the civil war against the opposition.

___

Associated Press writers Albert Aji in Damascus and Vladimir Isachenkov contributed to this report from Moscow.

Activists: Clashes in Aleppo, Syria's largest city

FILE - This Wednesday, April 17, 2013 file citizen journalism image provided by Aleppo Media Center AMC which has been authenticated based on its contents and other AP reporting, shows a mass burial of people allegedly killed by Syrian Army snipers, in Aleppo, Syria. Syria's upwardly spiraling violence has resulted in the confirmed killings of almost 93,000 people, the United Nations' human rights office said Thursday but acknowledged the real number is likely to be far higher. (AP Photo/Aleppo Media Center AMC, File)

BEIRUT (AP) — Syrian troops and rebels fought the heaviest battles in months Friday Aleppo, Syria's largest city, a day after U.S. officials said Washington has authorized sending weapons to opposition fighters for the first time.

The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the clashes concentrated in the eastern rebel-held neighborhood of Sakhour, calling the fighting "the most violent in months." It said troops attacked the neighborhood from two directions but failed to advance, suffering casualties.

Aleppo, Syria's commercial hub before the civil war, is near the Turkish border.

The opposition's Aleppo Media Center said troops bombarded Sakhour with tank shells and rockets before sending in troops. The fighting lasted about four hours, and then warplanes raided rebel positions in Sakhour.

The intensified fighting coincided with President Barack Obama's decision to authorize sending weapons to Syrian rebels, marking a deepening of U.S. involvement in Syria's two-year civil war.

U.S. officials said the administration could provide the rebels with a range of weapons, including small arms, ammunition, assault rifles and a variety of anti-tank weaponry such as shoulder-fired rocket-propelled grenades and other missiles. However, no final decisions have been made on the type of weaponry or when it would reach the rebels, according to the officials, who insisted on anonymity in order to discuss internal administration discussions with reporters.

The United States also announced Thursday it had conclusive evidence that President Bashar Assad's regime has used chemical weapons, including the nerve agent sarin, on a small scale against opposition forces. The White House said multiple chemical attacks last year killed up to 150 people.

Obama has said the use of chemical weapons cross a "red line" triggering greater U.S involvement in the crisis.

Rami Abdul-Rahman who heads the Observatory says troops were trying to capture a major intersection in Sakhour that links several major roads in Aleppo including one leading to the city's airport and another to the north.

"It is a strategic area," said Abdul-Rahman. He said large numbers of rebels took part in the fighting.

The attack on Sakhour comes a week after Syrian government forces backed by Hezbollah fighters captured the town of Qusair near the Lebanon border.

Regime forces now appear set on securing control of the central provinces of Homs and Hama, a linchpin area linking Damascus with regime strongholds on the Mediterranean coast, and Aleppo to the north.

The fight for Aleppo, a city of 3 million that was once a bastion of support for Assad, is critical for both the regime and the opposition. Its fall would give the opposition a major strategic victory with a stronghold in the north near the Turkish border. A rebel defeat would buy Assad more time, at the very least. It could also turn the tide of the civil war against the rebels.

Opposition fighters have managed to seize control of several neighborhoods in Aleppo since storming the city last summer.

The conflict started with largely peaceful protests against Assad's regime in March 2011 but turned into a civil war. About 93,000 people have been killed in the war, according to the United Nations.