Assad regime an 'enemy of God'

The Syrian government has agreed to the proposal of Algerian diplomat Lakhdar Brahimi replacing Kofi Annan as the UN Arab League mediator in the Syria conflict.

Brahimi has yet to accept or reject the post, Annan's spokesman said.

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U.S sanctions on Syria have unintentionally undermined the activist movements they intend to help, according to activists and security experts speaking to the Washington Post.

We are fighting on two sides: the side of the regime, and the side of the sanctions.

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Switzerland has increased its sanctions on Syria and imposed asset freezes on 25 more Syrians.

Syrian companies subject to asset freezes now includes Syrian Arab Airlines, the Cotton Marketing Organisation and Drex Technologies, SECO said in a statement.

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United Nations humanitarian chief Baroness Amos has arrived in Syria at the start of a three day trip to discuss aid for civilians caught up in the ongoing conflict.

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The United States has lifted financial sanctions against former Syrian Prime Minister Riyad Hijab after his decision to leave Bashar al-Assad's government.

The US Treasury is ending its freeze on assets Hijab may have held under US jurisdiction, the department said in a statement.

Nearly 30 senior officials in Assad's government are on the US Treasury's list of people targeted with asset freezes, including Syria's new prime minister, Wael Nader Al-Halqi.

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Oh devoted revolutionaries, your revolution has become a model of effort and sacrifice for the sake of freedom and dignity.

I assure you, from my experience and former position, that the regime is collapsing, spiritually and financially, as it escalates militarily.

It no longer controls more than 30 percent of Syrian territory... So let the shining revolution be completed by preserving the unity of the country.

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Former Syrian Prime Minister Riyad Hijab referred to President Bashar al-Assad's regime as an "enemy of God", in his first public appearance since defecting from the government.

He told a news conference in Amman that he defected and joined the 17-month-old revolt against Assad of his own will, and was not dismissed as reported by Syrian authorities.

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United Nations humanitarian chief Baroness Amos has arrived in Syria at the start of a three-day regional trip to discuss aid for civilians caught up in the ongoing conflict.

Amos, who entered Syria on a land convoy from Lebanon, is scheduled to meet Syrian authorities including deputy foreign minister Faisal Mekdad, as well as officials from the Syrian Arab Red Crescent.

Spokesman Jens Laerke said: "They crossed the border and were welcomed by officials from the ministry of foreign affairs".

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Fighters from last year's civil war in Libya have joined the frontline in Syria, helping to train and organise rebels, a Libyan-Irish fighter has told Reuters.

Trained sniper Hussam Najjar, from Dublin, was part of the unit that stormed Muammar Gaddafi's compound in Tripoli a year ago, ledby Mahdi al-Harati, a powerful militia chief from Libya's western mountains. Harati now leads a unit in Syria.

Najjar said he was surprised to find how poorly armed and disorganised the Syrian rebels were:

I was shocked. There is nothing you are told that can prepare you for what you see. The state of the Sunni Muslims there - their state of mind, their fate - all of those things have been slowly corroded over time by the regime.

I nearly cried for them when I saw the weapons. The guns are absolutely useless. We are being sold leftovers from the Iraqi war, leftovers from this and that. Luckily these are things that we can do for them: we know how to fix weapons, how to maintain them, find problems and fix them.

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