WHAT'S The Bandar’s Terror Network??? !!! >>> ....Urat Nadi Takfiri dan Saudi ..??>> Global Terrorism and Saudi Arabia..??? !!!>>> ..."Setelah mendengar laporan tersebut, Raja Saudi memanggil Bandar dan menyapanya dengan ucapan kemarahan," Saya tidak merasa optimis tentang penanganan Anda mengenai masalah regional sejak awal, dan kematian sejumlah besar warga negara Saudi (Takfiri di Suriah) sangat disesalkan," kata Raja kepada Bandar, menurut sumber itu...>>>. "Kemarahan Raja Saudi kepada Bandar meningkat setelah Menteri Dalam Negeri Mohammad bin Nayef bin Abdulaziz al-Saud melaporkan bahwa lebih dari 3.000 warga negara Saudi tewas dalam krisis panjang tiga tahun di Suriah," demikian sebuah sumber informasi dekat dengan raja Saudi dengan kondisi anonimitas melaporkan kepada FNA..>>. Raja Saudi Abdullah bin Abdul Aziz murka terhadap kinerja Bandar atas Ketidakmampuan dan kegagalan kepala Intelijen kerajaan itu dalam mengontrol situasi di Suriah, khususnya dalam mencegah tewasnya ribuan Takfiri Saudi di negara itu, demikian sumber informasi mengungkapkan pada Rabu, 22/01/14...>> ...Kepala intelijen Arab Saudi Pangeran Bandar bin Sultan selama ini menjadi dalang di balik merebaknya aksi terorisme di negara-negara kawasan Timur Tengah dan Afrika Utara. Profesor James Petras menyebut Bandar menjadi dalang "Jaringan Teror Saudi" dengan memasuk keuangan, senjata dan pelatihan bagi kelompok takfiri internasional. "..data yang dikumpulkan mengenai asal usul kelompok-kelompok ini dan pembiayaannya, kami sampai pada kesimpulan bahwa Bandar Bin Sultan menjadi dalang dan pemodal utama dari operasi ini, " kata Profesor Binghamton University di New York. Bandar yang pernah menjabat sebagai duta besar Saudi untuk AS dikenal memiliki hubungan dekat dengan mantan Presiden AS George Bush, dan merupakan penganjur invasi pimpinan AS ke Irak pada 2003...>> Peristiwa tragis yang menimpa Suriah, Irak dan Lebanon serta negara-negara Islam lainnya yang dilanda gelombang aksi ekstrimisme, kekerasan dan terorisme menunjukkan fenomena baru meningkatnya aksi takfiri di kawasan Barat dan barat daya Asia. Selama tiga tahun terakhir krisis Suriah menunjukkan bahwa kaum takfiri bukan pengusung Islam sejati, dan hanya menggunakan simbol-simbol agama suci ini sebagai kedok demi mencapai tujuan busuknya. Sebab ajaran Islam menjunjung tinggi keadilan, perdamaian dan menentang cara-cara kekerasan dan aksi terorisme sebagaimana yang ditampilkan secara brutal oleh kelompok-kelompok takfiri seperti Front al-Nusra, Negara Islam Irak dan Syam (DIIS) dan lainnya...>>> Negara-negara Barat dan sekutunya di kawasan menciptakan krisis berdarah di Suriah dan mendukung kelompok-kelompok takfiri demi mencapai berbagai tujuan. Tujuan pertama untuk menggulingkan pemerintahan Suriah dan mengeluarkan negara ini dari front terdepan melawan rezim Zionis Israel. Tujuan kedua memusatkan berbagai kelompok teroris yang berafiliasi dengan al-Qaeda dan kelompok takfiri lainnya di Suriah dalam satu koordinasi dengan target menggulingkan pemerintahan Assad. Namun alih-alih dua tujuan itu tercapai, kelompok-kelompok teroris takfiri itu saat ini telah menjadi ancaman bagi keamanan dan stabilitas kawasan Timur tengah dan Afrika Utara. Tujuan ketiga adalah menggunakan krisis Suriah sebagai cara untuk mengobarkan friksi mazhab dan persengketaan di tubuh umat Islam sendiri. Tapi secara bertahap konspirasi ini mulai terbongkar. ..>> ...Pemerintah Arab Saudi sebagai pendukung utama gerakan takfiri internasional menghadapi jalan buntu atas kebijakannya menyebarluaskan friksi di kawasan dan kini terang-terangan menunjukkan dukungannya terhadap kelompok teroris. Berbagai gerakan takfiri internasional yang melancarkan aksi teror dan kekerasan di Suriah, Irak, Lebanon, Yaman, Afghanistan dan Pakistan mendapat dukungan langsung dari rezim Al-Saud...>>> "Kami ingin memberitahu Anda bahwa ada beberapa perubahan yang akan terjadi di Arab Saudi bulan Maret mendatang," kata Ford dan mencatat, perubahan ini akan mencapai posisi Bandar Bin Sultan dan Saud al-Faissal. Duta Besar AS itu menambahkan, komite Saudi untuk Libanon dan Suriah (didukung oleh Abdulaziz Khoja, Abdulaziz Bin Abdullah al-Saud dan Muqren Bin Abdullah al-Saud) akan diaktifkan dan akan mengambil alih file Libanon dan Suriah dari Bandar...>>>.... Menurut Ford kepada para tokoh SNC seperti Loay Safi, Anass al-Abdeh, Haitham al-Maleh, Burhan Ghalioun, Najeeb al-Ghadban and Maher Noaimi, petualangan Bandar kini telah berakhir dan perannya sebagai penentu kebijakan di Timur Tengah telah diambil alih oleh sebuan panitia kecil beranggotakan 3 anggota kerajaan Saudi, Abdulaziz Khoja, Abdulaziz Bin Abdullah Al Saud dan Muqren Bin Abdullah Al Saud. Bandar dianggap gagal mengendalikan kelompok-kelompok teroris yang kini merajalela di berbagai wilayah konflik di Timur Tengah...>> ..The mastermind of the Saudi terror network is Bandar bin Sultan, who has longstanding and deep ties to high level US political, military and intelligence officials. Bandar was trained and indoctrinated at Maxwell Air Force Base and Johns Hopkins University and served as Saudi Ambassador to the US for over two decades (1983 – 2005). Between 2005 – 2011 he was Secretary of the National Security Council and in 2012 he was appointed as Director General of the Saudi Intelligence Agency. Early on Bandar became deeply immersed in clandestine terror operations working in liaison with the CIA. Among his numerous dirty operations with the CIA during the 1980s, Bandar channeled $32 million dollars to the Nicaragua Contra’s engaged in a terror campaign to overthrow the revolutionary Sandinista government in Nicaragua...>>> ..During his tenure as ambassador he was actively engaged in protecting Saudi royalty with ties to the 9/11/01 bombing of the Triple Towers and the Pentagon. Suspicion that Bandar and his allies in the Royal family had prior knowledge of the bombings by Saudi terrorists (11 of the 19), is suggested by the sudden flight of Saudi Royalty following the terrorist act. US intelligence documents regarding the Saudi-Bandar connection are under Congressional review...>> ...Bandar bin Sultan has transformed Saudi Arabia from an inward-looking, tribal based regime totally dependent on US military power for its survival, to a major regional center of a vast terror network, an active financial backer of rightwing military dictatorships (Egypt) and client regimes (Yemen) and military interventor in the (Persian) Gulf region (Bahrain). Bandar has financed and armed a vast array of clandestine terror operations, utilizing Islamic affiliates of Al-Qaeda, the Saudi controlled Wahhabi sect as well as numerous other Sunni armed groups. Bandar is a pragmatic terrorist operator, repressing Al-Qaeda adversaries in Saudi Arabia and financing Al-Qaeda terrorists in Iraq, Syria, Afghanistan and elsewhere. While Bandar was a long-term asset of the US intelligence services, he has, more recently, taken an independent course where the regional interests of the despotic state diverge from those of the US. In the same vein, while Saudi Arabia has a longstanding enmity toward Israel, Bandar has developed a “covert understanding” and working relation with the Netanyahu regime, around their common enmity toward Iran and more specifically in opposition to the interim agreement between the Obama-Rouhani regime...>>> Bandar has poured billions of dollars to bolster the rightwing pro-Islamic regimes in Tunisia and Morocco, ensuring that the mass pro-democracy movements would be repressed, marginalized and demobilized. Islamic extremists receiving Saudi financial support are encouraged to back the “moderate” Islamists in government by assassinating secular democratic leaders and socialist trade union leaders in opposition. Bandar’s policies largely coincide with those of the US and France in Tunisia and Morocco; but not in Libya and Egypt...>> In Egypt, Bandar developed, in coordination with Israel (but for different reasons), a strategy of undermining the relatively independent, democratically elected Muslim Brotherhood regime of Mohammed Morsi. Bandar and the Saudi dictatorship financially backed the military coup and dictatorship of General Sisi. The US strategy of a power-sharing agreement between the Moslem Brotherhood and the military regime, combining popular electoral legitimacy and the pro-Israel-pro NATO military was sabotaged. With a $15 billion aid package and promises of more to come, Bandar provided the Egyptian military a financial lifeline and economic immunity from any international financial reprisals. None were taken of any consequences. The military crushed the Brotherhood, jailed and threatened to execute its elected leaders. It outlawed sectors of the liberal-left opposition which it had used as cannon fodder to justify its seizure of power. In backing the military coup, Bandar eliminated a rival, democratically elected Islamic regime which stood in contrast to the Saudi despotism. He secured a like-minded dictatorial regime in a key Arab country, even though the military rulers are more secular, pro-Western, pro-Israel and less anti-Assad than the Brotherhood regime. Bandar’s success in greasing the wheels for the Egyptian coup secured a political ally but faces an uncertain future...>> "With Hezbollah supporting Assad," Bandar directed money and arms to the Abdullah Azzam Brigades in Lebanon to bomb South Beirut, the Iranian embassy and Tripoli. Bandar directed $3 billion to the Lebanese military with the idea of fomenting a new civil war between it and Hezbollah. In co-ordination with France and the US, but with far greater funding and greater latitude to recruit Islamic terrorists, Bandar assumed the leading role and became the principle director of a three front military and diplomatic offensive against Syria, Hezbollah and Iran. For Bandar, an Islamic takeover in Syria would lead to an Islamic Syrian invasion in support of Al-Qaeda in Lebanon to defeat Hezbollah in hopes of isolating Iran. Tehran would then become the target of a Saudi-Israeli-US offensive. Bandar’s strategy is more fantasy than reality...>> ..The problem is that Bandar’s “adventurous” large scale overseas operations conflict with some of the ruling Royal family’s “introspective” style of rulership. They want to be left alone to accrue hundreds of billions collecting petrol rents, to invest in high-end properties around the world, and to quietly patronize high end call girls in Washington, London and Beirut –while posing as pious guardians of Medina, Mecca and the Holy sites. So far Bandar has not been challenged, because he has been careful to pay his respects to the ruling monarch and his inner circle. He has bought and brought Western and Eastern prime ministers, presidents and other respectable notable to Riyadh to sign deals and pay compliments to the delight of the reigning despot. Yet his solicitous behavior to overseas Al-Qaeda operations, his encouraging Saudi extremists to go overseas and engage in terrorist wars, disturbs monarchical circles. They worry that Saudis trained, armed and knowledgeable terrorists – dubbed as “holy warriors” – may return from Syria, Russia and Iraq and bomb the King's palaces. Moreover, oversea regimes targeted by Bandar’s terror network may retaliate, Russia or Iran, Syrians, Egyptians, Pakistanis, Iraqis may just sponsor their own instruments of retaliation. Despite the hundreds of billions spent on arms purchases, the Saudi regime is very vulnerable on all levels. Apart from tribal legions, the billionaire elite have little popular support and even less legitimacy. It depends on overseas migrant labor, foreign “experts” and US military forces. The Saudi elite is also despised by the most religious of the Wahhabi clergy for allowing “infidels” on sacred terrain. While Bandar extends Saudi power abroad, the domestic foundations of rule are narrowing. While he defies US policymakers in Syria, Iran and Afghanistan, the regime depends on the US Air Force and Seventh Fleet to protect it from a growing array of adversarial regimes...>>

Perag Suriah
http://www.islamtimes.org/vdciypapzt1a5v2.k8ct.html
 

Bandar Didepak Raja Abdullah dari Kancah Politik di Suriah?

Islam Times- "Kami ingin memberitahu Anda bahwa ada beberapa perubahan yang akan terjadi di Arab Saudi bulan Maret mendatang," kata Ford dan mencatat, perubahan ini akan mencapai posisi Bandar Bin Sultan dan Saud al-Faissal.

Bandar, Abdullah, Bush dan Rice

Raja Saudi Abdullah bin Abdul Aziz murka terhadap kinerja Bandar atas Ketidakmampuan dan kegagalan kepala Intelijen kerajaan itu dalam mengontrol situasi di Suriah, khususnya dalam mencegah tewasnya ribuan Takfiri Saudi di negara itu, demikian sumber informasi mengungkapkan pada Rabu, 22/01/14.

"Kemarahan Raja Saudi kepada Bandar meningkat setelah Menteri Dalam Negeri Mohammad bin Nayef bin Abdulaziz al-Saud melaporkan bahwa lebih dari 3.000 warga negara Saudi tewas dalam krisis panjang tiga tahun di Suriah," demikian sebuah sumber informasi dekat dengan raja Saudi dengan kondisi anonimitas melaporkan kepada FNA.

"Setelah mendengar laporan tersebut, Raja Saudi memanggil Bandar dan menyapanya dengan ucapan kemarahan," Saya tidak merasa optimis tentang penanganan Anda mengenai masalah regional sejak awal, dan kematian sejumlah besar warga negara Saudi (Takfiri di Suriah) sangat disesalkan," kata Raja kepada Bandar, menurut sumber itu.

Laporan sebelumnya mengatakan, Arab Saudi telah mengirim sekitar 20.000 sampai 30.000 Takfiri ke Suriah sejak tahun 2011 dan dipimpin langsung oleh Bandar bin Sultan.

Menurut beberapa sumber itu, Bandar bin Sultan sebelumnya dirawat dan menjalani operasi medis karena kondisinya sensitif. Meski saat ini kondisi Bandar pulih, namun dia tidak mampu memimpin para Takfiri Arab di Suriah secara langsung.

Sumber-sumber di Saudi juga mengatakan Bandar tidak hadir dalam beberapa pertemuan wajib mengenai politik dan menyerahkan kasus Suriah kepada Menteri Luar Negeri Saudi Saud al- Faissal.

Dalam sambutannya yang relevan pada hari Senin kemarin, Duta Besar AS untuk Suriah Robert Ford memerintahkan tokoh-tokoh oposisi dukungan asing untuk ambil bagian dalam konferensi Jenewa II dan mencatat, ada banyak perubahan dalam kebijakan Saudi mengenai krisis Suriah.

Pejabat di komite eksekutif dari Koalisi Nasional Suriah (SNC), Nidal Hamade, mengatakan, Ford menyerukan pertemuan darurat dengan para pejabat SNC di Turki, Istanbul dan menegaskan, utusan AS itu mengancam akan memotong dana bagi siapa saja yang tidak menghadiri pertemuan di Jenewa.

"Selain Ford, semua tokoh SNC yang menentang partisipasi dalam Konferensi Jeneva 2 mendukung pertemuan, yaitu Loay Safi, Anass al-Abdeh, Haitham al-Maleh, Burhan Ghalioun, Najeeb al-Ghadban dan Maher Noaimi," kata Hamade.

Dalam pertemuan tersebut, Ford mengatakan kepada SNC, pangeran Saudi Bandar Bin Sultan sedang berlibur panjang di Amerika Serikat karena sakit dan kelelahan psikologis", tambah Hamade mengutip seorang pejabat oposisi Suriah dekat dengan mantan Perdana Menteri Riyad Hijab.

"Kami ingin memberitahu Anda bahwa ada beberapa perubahan yang akan terjadi di Arab Saudi bulan Maret mendatang," kata Ford dan mencatat, perubahan ini akan mencapai posisi Bandar Bin Sultan dan Saud al-Faissal.

Duta Besar AS itu menambahkan, komite Saudi untuk Libanon dan Suriah (didukung oleh Abdulaziz Khoja, Abdulaziz Bin Abdullah al-Saud dan Muqren Bin Abdullah al-Saud) akan diaktifkan dan akan mengambil alih file Libanon dan Suriah dari Bandar.

Ford lebih lanjut mengatakan kepada tokoh-tokoh oposisi Suriah, rencana Bandar atas konflik Suriah yang dimasukkan pada tahun 2012 memiliki dampak bencana pada Suriah dan wilayah. Dan Ini membuat kuat al-Qaeda Suriah dan AS tidak bisa menghadapinya. Untuk itu, Anda harus pergi ke Jeneva 2, ini adalah kepentingan AS," tambahnya. [IT/Onh/Ass]

Petualangan Pangeran Bandar Sudah Berakhir

 http://cahyono-adi.blogspot.com/2014/01/petualangan-pangeran-bandar-sudah.html#more

 

 

Informasi menarik yang disampaikan oleh Dubes Amerika untuk Suriah John Ford dalam pertemuannya dengan tokoh-tokoh oposisi Suriah dari kelompok Syrian National Coalition (SNC) yang digelar di Istanbul Turki baru-baru ini. Pangeran Bandar bin Sultan, tokoh di balik berbagai aksi kekerasan yang melanda Timur Tengah saat ini, tengah berlibur panjang di Amerika untuk menghilangkan stress. Namun lebih dari itu, Bandar juga sudah disingkirkan dari kekuasaan.

Menurut Ford kepada para tokoh SNC seperti Loay Safi, Anass al-Abdeh, Haitham al-Maleh, Burhan Ghalioun, Najeeb al-Ghadban and Maher Noaimi, petualangan Bandar kini telah berakhir dan perannya sebagai penentu kebijakan di Timur Tengah telah diambil alih oleh sebuan panitia kecil beranggotakan 3 anggota kerajaan Saudi, Abdulaziz Khoja, Abdulaziz Bin Abdullah Al Saud dan Muqren Bin Abdullah Al Saud. Bandar dianggap gagal mengendalikan kelompok-kelompok teroris yang kini merajalela di berbagai wilayah konflik di Timur Tengah.

“Rencana Bandar atas konflik Suriah yang dimulai tahun 2012 telah menciptakan bencana di Suriah dan kawasan. Ia telah menjadikana Suriah sebagai markas kekuatan Al Qaida yang tidak bisa dihadapi Amerika,” kata Ford.

Dengan berakhirnya karier Bandar dan dimulainya pendekatan baru Amerika di kawasan, Ford memerintahkan SNC untuk tidak mengulur-ulur keikutsertaannya dalam konperensi Genewa II.

“Karena itu Anda harus berhenti menolak berpartisipasi dalam Genewa II, ini adalah kepentingan Amerika,” kata Ford.

Lebih jauh Ford juga membuka beberapa informasi penting lainnya yang menjadi dasar perubahan sikap politik beberapa negara dan tokoh politik terkemuka di kawasan. Misalnya saja tentang Saad Hariri dan tokoh-tokoh politik Lebanon pro-Amerika lainnya yang tidak lagi menentang keterlibatan Hizbollah dalam pemerintahan. Juga tentang perubahan besar yang akan terjadi di Saudi Arabia, meski Ford tidak menyebutkan detilnya.

“Kami ingin menginformasikan bahwa akan ada banyak perubahan yang terjadi di Saudi pada bulan Maret mendatang,” kata Ford.

Berbagai sumber tanah air menyebutkan bahwa baru-baru ini Pangeran Bandar "Terorist Godfather" bin Sultan telah berkunjung ke Indonesia dan menemui Presiden SBY serta para pejabat keamanan negeri ini dan juga menteri agama. Tujuan utama kedatangannya adalah melakukan kampanye besar-besaran anti-Shiah di Indonesia yang menghabiskan dana ratusan miliar rupiah.(CA/almanar)


Keterangan: tulisan asli dimuat di situs liputanislam.com tgl 20 Januari 2014

Diposkan oleh cahyono adi di 09.49

Urat Nadi Takfiri dan Saudi

Kamis, 2014 Januari 23 16:32

http://indonesian.irib.ir/hidden-1/-/asset_publisher/m7UK/content/urat-nadi-takfiri-dan-saudi?redirect=http%3A%2F%2Findonesian.irib.ir%2Fhidden-1%3Fp_p_id%3D101_INSTANCE_m7UK%26p_p_lifecycle%3D0%26p_p_state%3Dnormal%26p_p_mode%3Dview%26p_p_col_id%3Dcolumn-2%26p_p_col_count%3D1 

Peristiwa tragis yang menimpa Suriah, Irak dan Lebanon serta negara-negara Islam lainnya yang dilanda gelombang aksi ekstrimisme, kekerasan dan terorisme menunjukkan fenomena baru meningkatnya aksi takfiri di kawasan Barat dan barat daya Asia. Selama tiga tahun terakhir krisis Suriah menunjukkan bahwa kaum takfiri bukan pengusung Islam sejati, dan hanya menggunakan simbol-simbol agama suci ini sebagai kedok demi mencapai tujuan busuknya. Sebab ajaran Islam menjunjung tinggi keadilan, perdamaian dan menentang cara-cara kekerasan dan aksi terorisme sebagaimana yang ditampilkan secara brutal oleh kelompok-kelompok takfiri seperti Front al-Nusra, Negara Islam Irak dan Syam (DIIS) dan lainnya.

Pemerintah Arab Saudi sebagai pendukung utama gerakan takfiri internasional menghadapi jalan buntu atas kebijakannya menyebarluaskan friksi di kawasan dan kini terang-terangan menunjukkan dukungannya terhadap kelompok teroris. Berbagai gerakan takfiri internasional yang melancarkan aksi teror dan kekerasan di Suriah, Irak, Lebanon, Yaman, Afghanistan dan Pakistan mendapat dukungan langsung dari rezim Al-Saud.

Kepala intelijen Arab Saudi Pangeran Bandar bin Sultan selama ini menjadi dalang di balik merebaknya aksi terorisme di negara-negara kawasan Timur Tengah dan Afrika Utara. Profesor James Petras menyebut Bandar menjadi dalang "Jaringan Teror Saudi" dengan memasuk keuangan, senjata dan pelatihan bagi kelompok takfiri internasional. "..data yang dikumpulkan mengenai asal usul kelompok-kelompok ini dan pembiayaannya, kami sampai pada kesimpulan bahwa Bandar Bin Sultan menjadi dalang dan pemodal utama dari operasi ini, " kata Profesor Binghamton University di New York. Bandar yang pernah menjabat sebagai duta besar Saudi untuk AS dikenal memiliki hubungan dekat dengan mantan Presiden AS George Bush, dan merupakan penganjur invasi pimpinan AS ke Irak pada 2003.

Gelontoran dana besar-besaran pemerintah Arab Saudi terhadap kelompok-kelompok teroris takfiri yang tersebar di berbagai negara kawasan Timur Tengah dan Afrika Utara mungkin saja dalam jangka pendek bisa melanjutkan aksi kekerasan dan teroris itu. Tapi dalam jangka panjang kondisi tersebut tidak ada jaminannya akan bertahan lama. Gerakan takfiri yang menyebar ke berbagai negara dunia telah mencapai puncaknya.

Negara-negara Barat dan sekutunya di kawasan menciptakan krisis berdarah di Suriah dan  mendukung kelompok-kelompok takfiri demi mencapai berbagai tujuan. Tujuan pertama untuk menggulingkan pemerintahan Suriah dan mengeluarkan negara ini dari front terdepan melawan rezim Zionis Israel. Tujuan kedua memusatkan berbagai kelompok teroris yang berafiliasi dengan al-Qaeda dan kelompok takfiri lainnya di Suriah dalam satu koordinasi dengan target menggulingkan pemerintahan Assad. Namun alih-alih dua tujuan itu tercapai, kelompok-kelompok teroris takfiri itu saat ini telah menjadi ancaman bagi keamanan dan stabilitas kawasan Timur tengah dan Afrika Utara. Tujuan ketiga adalah menggunakan krisis Suriah sebagai cara untuk mengobarkan friksi mazhab dan persengketaan di tubuh umat Islam sendiri. Tapi secara bertahap konspirasi ini mulai terbongkar.     

Secara pemikiran antarkelompok teroris memiliki warna yang sama  sebagai gerakan takfiri yang mengafirkan kelompok lain dan hanya mengklaim dirinyalah yang benar, kemudian menggunakan segala cara untuk membungkam pihak lain. Meski demikian, mereka sendiri tidak bersatu dan saling bersengketa hingga terjadi pertumpahan darah. Misalnya, Front al-Nusra yang berafiliasi dengan kelompok teroris al-Qaeda bertempur di Suriah dengan Negara Islam Irak dan Syam (DIIS). Kedua kelompok takfiri ini terlibat baku tembak yang menyebabkan puluhan anggota kubu teroris ini tewas dan sejumlah lainnya luka-luka. DIIS yang mendeklarasi khilafah Islam di Irak dan Suriah mengklaim kedua negara itu sebagai "Emirat Islam" yang menjadi bagian dari wilayah kekuasaannya. Sedangkan Front al-Nushra yang juga mengklaim mendirikan Khilafah di Suriah tidak menerima klaim DIIS. Meskipun mengklaim mengusung simbol Islam, tapi sejatinya kedua kelompok teroris ini sangat jauh dan bertentangan dengan nilai-nilai Islam sendiri. Berbagai kejahatan yang dilakukan kedua kelompok teroris tersebut bersama faksi takfiri lainnya yang beroperasi di berbagai negara Muslim seperti Suriah menunjukkan bahwa mereka hanya menjadikan Islam sebagai kedok semata.

DIIS baru-baru ini mengeksekusi ratusan anggota kelompok bersenjata rivalnya sesama teroris dari kelompok lain. Alalam (14/1) melaporkan, anasir DIIS mengeksekusi Abu Saad al-Khadrami, bersama lebih dari 100 anggota kelompok Jabhah Islam. Kelompok-kelompok teroris di Suriah khususnya DIIS, Front al-Nusra dan Jabhah Islam, yang mendapat dukungan dari Arab Saudi dan Amerika Serikat terlibat bentrokan berdarah sejak 3 Januari 2014. Bentrokan dan pertempuran antar kelompok teroris itu dipicu oleh perebutan bantuan finansial dan persenjataan dari Barat. Kelompok-kelompok teroris di Suriah saling berusaha menyingkirkan rival mereka agar mendapat bantuan dana dan senjata  lebih banyak

DIIS yang kalah secara berturut-turut menghadapi pasukan militer Suriah memusatkan operasinya di provinsi al-Anbar, wilayah barat Irak. Sebagaimana yang mereka lakukan di Suriah, DIIS melancarkan berbagai aksi kekerasan di negeri kisah 1001 malam itu. Tapi aksi kelompok teroris ini menghadapi perlawanan dari pasukan militer dan rakyat Irak. Di sisi lain, sepak terjang kelompok teroris menyibak topeng yang selama ini disembunyikan Arab Saudi sebagai pendukung utamanya. Dengan terbongkarnya tujuan di balik gelombang aksi teror yang dilancarkan kelompok takfiri itu, muncul reaksi bersama dari berbagai kelompok agama dan masyarakat serta pemerintah di Suriah,Irak, Lebanon dan negara Islam lainnya menghadapi gelombang serangan kelompok-kelompok takfiri yang mengancam keamanan dan stabilitas kawasan Timur tengah dan Afrika Utara.

Pada saat yang sama, akhir tahun 2013, Majelis Umum PBB akhirnya mengesahkan resolusi usulan Presiden Iran Hassan Rohani untuk Dunia Menentang Kekerasan dan Ekstremisme (WAVE). Anggota Majelis Umum PBB pada hari Rabu (18/12) dengan suara bulat, menyetujui WAVE, yang menyerukan semua negara di dunia untuk mengecam kekerasan dan ekstremisme. Berdasarkan resolusi itu, PBB akan mendesak semua negara anggota untuk bersatu melawan kekerasan dan ekstremisme dalam berbagai bentuk dan kekerasan sektarian.

Resolusi itu diharapkan akan mendorong para pemimpin dunia untuk membahas penyebab ekstremisme dan diskriminasi serta mengembangkan strategi bersama untuk mengatasinya. Dokumen itu juga akan merekomendasikan promosi keterlibatan masyarakat dalam melawan ekstremisme dan kekerasan, termasuk dengan memperkuat hubungan antara masyarakat dan menekankan kepentingan bersama. Sebelumnya, pada tanggal 24 September, Presiden Iran menyerukan Dunia Menentang Kekerasan dan Ekstremisme dalam pidatonya pada sidang ke-68 Majelis Umum PBB di New York.

Pengalaman sejarah menunjukkan bahwa gelombang takfiri dan kekerasan tidak akan bertahan lama, sebab tidak sesuai dengan fitrah manusia yang menghendaki keadilan dan perdamaian. Hidupnya gerakan takfiri hanya bertahan dengan pasokan finansial dan senjata dari sejumlah negara Arab dan Barat. Tanpa gelontoran dukungan tersebut, kelompok takfiri hanya menjadi gerakan lemah yang tidak memiliki akar yang kuat dalam masyarakat.(IRIB Indonesia/PH)

Global Terrorism and Saudi Arabia: Bandar’s Terror Network
Local Editor
http://www.almanar.com.lb/english/adetails.php?eid=131074&frid=31&seccatid=91&cid=31&fromval=1   Saudi Arabia has all the vices and none of the virtues of an oil rich state like Venezuela. The country is governed by a family dictatorship which tolerates no opposition and severely punishes human rights advocates and political dissidents. Hundreds of billions in oil revenues are controlled by the royal despotism and fuel speculative investments the world over.  The ruling elite relies on the purchase of Western arms and US military bases for protection. The wealth of productive nations is siphoned to enrich the conspicuous consumption of the Saudi ruling family. The ruling elite finances the most fanatical, retrograde, misogynist version of Islam, “Wahhabi” a sect of Sunni Islam. Faced with internal dissent from repressed subjects and religious minorities, the Saudi dictatorship perceives threats and dangers from all sides, overseas, secular, nationalists and Shiite ruling governments; internally, moderate Sunni nationalists, democrats and feminists; within the royalist cliques, traditionalists and modernizers. In response it has turned toward financing, training and arming an international network of Islamic terrorists who are directed toward attacking, invading and destroying regimes opposed to the Saudi clerical-dictatorial regime. The mastermind of the Saudi terror network is Bandar bin Sultan, who has longstanding and deep ties to high level US political, military and intelligence officials. Bandar was trained and indoctrinated at Maxwell Air Force Base and Johns Hopkins University and served as Saudi Ambassador to the US for over two decades (1983 – 2005). Between 2005 – 2011 he was Secretary of the National Security Council and in 2012 he was appointed as Director General of the Saudi Intelligence Agency. Early on Bandar became deeply immersed in clandestine terror operations working in liaison with the CIA. Among his numerous dirty operations with the CIA during the 1980s, Bandar channeled $32 million dollars to the Nicaragua Contra’s engaged in a terror campaign to overthrow the revolutionary Sandinista government in Nicaragua. During his tenure as ambassador he was actively engaged in protecting Saudi royalty with ties to the 9/11/01 bombing of the Triple Towers and the Pentagon. Suspicion that Bandar and his allies in the Royal family had prior knowledge of the bombings by Saudi terrorists (11 of the 19), is suggested by the sudden flight of Saudi Royalty following the terrorist act. US intelligence documents regarding the Saudi-Bandar connection are under Congressional review. With a wealth of experience and training in running clandestine terrorist operations, derived from his two decades of collaboration with the US intelligence agencies, Bandar was in a position to organize his own global terror network in defense of the isolated retrograde and vulnerable Saudi despotic monarchy. Bandar’s Terror Network Bandar bin Sultan has transformed Saudi Arabia from an inward-looking, tribal based regime totally dependent on US military power for its survival, to a major regional center of a vast terror network, an active financial backer of rightwing military dictatorships (Egypt) and client regimes (Yemen) and military interventor in the (Persian) Gulf region (Bahrain).  Bandar has financed and armed a vast array of clandestine terror operations, utilizing Islamic affiliates of Al-Qaeda, the Saudi controlled Wahhabi sect as well as numerous other Sunni armed groups. Bandar is a pragmatic terrorist operator,  repressing Al-Qaeda adversaries in Saudi Arabia and financing Al-Qaeda terrorists in Iraq, Syria, Afghanistan and elsewhere.  While Bandar was a long-term asset of the US intelligence services, he has, more recently, taken an independent course where the regional interests of the despotic state diverge  from those of the US. In the same vein, while Saudi Arabia has a longstanding enmity toward Israel, Bandar has developed a “covert understanding” and working relation with the Netanyahu regime, around their common enmity toward Iran and more specifically in opposition to the interim agreement between the Obama-Rouhani regime. Bandar has intervened directly or via proxies in reshaping political alignments, destabilizing adversaries and bolstering and expanding the political reach of the Saudi dictatorship from North Africa to South Asia, from the Russian Caucuses to the Horn of Africa, sometimes in concert with Western imperialism, other times projecting Saudi hegemonic aspirations. North Africa: Tunisia, Morocco, Libya and Egypt Bandar has poured billions of dollars to bolster the rightwing pro-Islamic regimes in Tunisia and Morocco, ensuring that the mass pro-democracy movements would be repressed, marginalized and demobilized. Islamic extremists receiving Saudi financial support are encouraged to back the “moderate” Islamists in government by assassinating secular democratic leaders and socialist trade union leaders in opposition. Bandar’s policies largely coincide with those of the US and France in Tunisia and Morocco; but not in Libya and Egypt. Saudi financial backing for Islamist terrorists and Al-Qaeda affiliates against Libyan President Gadhafi were in-line with the NATO air war. However divergences emerged in the aftermath, the NATO backed client regime made up of neo-liberal ex-pat’s faced off against Saudi backed Al-Qaeda and Islamist terror gangs and assorted tribal gunmen and marauders. Bandar funded Islamic extremists in Libya were bankrolled to extend their military operations to Syria, where the Saudi regime was organizing a vast military operation to overthrow the Assad regime. The internecine conflict between NATO and Saudi armed groups in Libya, spilled over and led to the Islamist murder of the US Ambassador and CIA operatives in Benghazi.  Having overthrown Gadhafi, Bandar virtually abandoned interest in the ensuing blood bath and chaos provoked by his armed assets. They in turn, became self-financing – robbing banks, pilfering oil and emptying local treasuries – relatively “independent” of Bandar’s control. In Egypt, Bandar developed, in coordination with Israel (but for different reasons), a strategy of undermining the relatively independent, democratically elected Muslim Brotherhood regime of Mohammed Morsi. Bandar and the Saudi dictatorship financially backed the military coup and dictatorship of General Sisi. The US strategy of a power-sharing agreement between the Moslem Brotherhood and the military regime, combining popular electoral legitimacy and the pro-Israel-pro NATO military was sabotaged. With a $15 billion aid package and promises of more to come, Bandar provided the Egyptian military a financial lifeline and economic immunity from any international financial reprisals. None were taken of any consequences. The military crushed the Brotherhood, jailed and threatened to execute its elected leaders. It outlawed sectors of the liberal-left opposition which it had used as cannon fodder to justify its seizure of power. In backing the military coup, Bandar eliminated a rival, democratically elected Islamic regime which stood in contrast to the Saudi despotism. He secured a like-minded dictatorial regime in a key Arab country, even though the military rulers are more secular, pro-Western, pro-Israel and less anti-Assad than the Brotherhood regime.  Bandar’s success in greasing the wheels for the Egyptian coup secured a political ally but faces an uncertain future. The revival of a new anti-dictatorial mass movement would also target the Saudi connection. Moreover Bandar undercut and weakened (Persian) Gulf State unity, Qatar had financed the Morsi regime and was out $5 billion dollars it had extended to the previous regime. Bandar’s terror network is most evident in his long-term large scale financing, arming, training and transport of tens of thousands of Islamic terrorist “volunteers” from the US, Europe, the Middle East, the Caucuses, North Africa and elsewhere. Al-Qaeda terrorists in Saudi Arabia became “martyrs of Islam” in Syria. Dozens of Islamic armed gangs in Syria competed for Saudi arms and funds. Training bases with US and European instructors and Saudi financing were established in Jordan, Pakistan and Turkey. Bandar financed the major rebel Islamic terrorist armed group, the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, for cross border operations. "With Hezbollah supporting Assad," Bandar directed money and arms to the Abdullah Azzam Brigades in Lebanon to bomb South Beirut, the Iranian embassy and Tripoli. Bandar directed $3 billion to the Lebanese military with the idea of fomenting a new civil war between it and Hezbollah. In co-ordination with France and the US, but with far greater funding and greater latitude to recruit Islamic terrorists, Bandar assumed the leading role and became the principle director of a three front military and diplomatic offensive against Syria, Hezbollah and Iran. For Bandar, an Islamic takeover in Syria would lead to an Islamic Syrian invasion in support of Al-Qaeda in Lebanon to defeat Hezbollah in hopes of isolating Iran. Tehran would then become the target of a Saudi-Israeli-US offensive. Bandar’s strategy is more fantasy than reality. Bandar Diverges from Washington, the Offensive in Iraq and Iran Saudi Arabia has been an extremely useful but sometimes out of control client of Washington. This is especially the case since Bandar has taken over as Intelligence chief, a long-time asset of the CIA he has also, at times, taken the liberty to extract favors for his services, especially when those favors enhance his upward advance within the Saudi power structure. Hence, for example, his ability to secure AWACs despite AIPAC opposition earned him merit points. As did Bandar’s ability to secure the departure of several hundred Saudi royalty with ties to the 9/11 bombers, despite a high level national security lockdown in the aftermath of the bombing. While there were episodic transgressions in the past, Bandar moved on to more serious divergences from US policy. He went ahead, building his own terror network, directed toward maximizing Saudi hegemony – even where it conflicted with US proxies, clients and clandestine operatives. "While the US is committed to backing the rightwing Maliki regime in Iraq," Bandar is providing political, military and financial backing to the Sunni terrorist “Islamic State of Iraq and Syria”. When the US negotiated the “interim agreement” with Iran Bandar voiced his opposition and “bought” support.  Saudi signed off on a billion dollar arms agreement during French President Hollande’s visit, in exchange for greater sanctions on Iran. Bandar also expressed support for Israel’s use of the Zionist power configuration to influence the Congress, to sabotage US negotiations with Iran. Bandar has moved beyond his original submission to US intelligence handlers. His close ties with past and present US and EU presidents and political influentials have encouraged him to engage in “Big Power adventures”. He met with Russian President Putin to convince him to drop his support for Syria, offering a carrot or a stick, a multi-billion dollar arms sale for compliance and a threat to unleash Chechnyian terrorists to undermine the Sochi Olympics. He has turned Erdogan from a NATO ally supporting moderate armed opponents to Bashar Assad, into embracing the Saudi backed Islamic State of Iraq and Syria, a terrorist Al-Qaeda affiliate. Bandar has “overlooked” Erdogan’s “opportunist” efforts to sign off oil deals with Iran and Iraq, his continuing military arrangements with NATO and his past backing of the defunct Morsi regime in Egypt, in order to secure Erdogan’s support for the easy transit of large numbers of Saudi trained terrorists to Syria and probably Lebanon. Bandar has strengthened ties with the armed Taliban in Afghanistan and Pakistan, arming and financing their armed resistance against the US, as well as offering the US a site for a negotiated departure. Bandar is probably supporting and arming Uighur Muslim terrorists in western China, and Chechens and Caucasian Islamic terrorists in Russia, even as the Saudis expand their oil agreements with China and cooperate with Russia’s Gazprom. The only region where the Saudis have exercised direct military intervention is in the (Persian) Gulf min-state of Bahrain, where Saudi troops crushed the pro-democracy movement challenging the local despot. Bandar: Global Terror on Dubious Domestic Foundations Bandar has embarked on an extraordinary transformation of Saudi foreign policy and enhanced its global influence. All to the worst. Like Israel, when a reactionary ruler comes to power and overturns the democratic order, Saudi arrives on the scene with bags of dollars to buttress the regime. Whenever an Islamic terror network emerges to subvert a nationalist, secular or Shiite regime, it can count on Saudi funds and arms. What some Western scribes euphemistically describe as “tenuous effort to liberalize and modernize” the retrograde Saudi regime, is really a military upgrade of its overseas terrorist activity.  Bandar uses modern techniques of terror to impose the Saudi model of reactionary rule on neighboring and distant regimes with Muslim populations. The problem is that Bandar’s “adventurous” large scale overseas operations conflict with some of the ruling Royal family’s “introspective” style of rulership. They want to be left alone to accrue hundreds of billions collecting petrol rents, to invest in high-end properties around the world, and to quietly patronize high end call girls in Washington, London and Beirut –while posing as pious guardians of Medina, Mecca and the Holy sites. So far Bandar has not been challenged, because he has been careful to pay his respects to the ruling monarch and his inner circle. He has bought and brought Western and Eastern prime ministers, presidents and other respectable notable to Riyadh to sign deals and pay compliments to the delight of the reigning despot. Yet his solicitous behavior to overseas Al-Qaeda operations, his encouraging Saudi extremists to go overseas and engage in terrorist wars, disturbs monarchical circles. They worry that Saudis trained, armed and knowledgeable terrorists – dubbed as “holy warriors” – may return from Syria, Russia and Iraq and bomb the King's palaces. Moreover, oversea regimes targeted by Bandar’s terror network may retaliate, Russia or Iran, Syrians, Egyptians, Pakistanis, Iraqis may just sponsor their own instruments of retaliation. Despite the hundreds of billions spent on arms purchases, the Saudi regime is very vulnerable on all levels. Apart from tribal legions, the billionaire elite have little popular support and even less legitimacy. It depends on overseas migrant labor, foreign “experts” and US military forces. The Saudi elite is also despised by the most religious of the Wahhabi clergy for allowing “infidels” on sacred terrain. While Bandar extends Saudi power abroad, the domestic foundations of rule are narrowing. While he defies US policymakers in Syria, Iran and Afghanistan, the regime depends on the US Air Force and Seventh Fleet to protect it from a growing array of adversarial regimes. Bandar, with his inflated ego, may believe that he is a “Saladin” building a new Islamic empire, but in reality, by waving one finger his patron monarch can lead to his rapid dismissal. One too many provocative civilian bombings by his Islamic terrorist beneficiaries can lead to an international crises leading to Saudi Arabia becoming the target of world opprobrium. In reality, Bandar bin Sultan is the protégé and successor of Bin Laden; he has deepened and systematized global terrorism.  Bandar’s terror network has murdered far more innocent victims than Bin Laden. That, of course, is to be expected; after all he has billions of dollars from the Saudi treasury, training from the CIA and the handshake of Netanyahu! By Prof. James Petras This article has originally appeared on ‘Global Research’. Terrorism in Lebanon Part of Int’l Plot, March 14 Partner of Takfiri Groups Mohamed Salami  http://www.almanar.com.lb/english/adetails.php?eid=131855&cid=23&fromval=1&frid=23&seccatid=14&s1=1 The eruption of the crisis in Syria has affected the security and stability of most of its neighboring countries, including Lebanon. Rockets, car bombs, and other forms of Takfiri assaults have rocked the Lebanese territories. A whole pro-West local, regional and international players and their media machines have falsely accused Hezbollah of being responsible for the recent terrorist attacks that hit Lebanon, claiming that the party's military intervention in Syria caused the militants to carry out their crimes in the different Lebanese areas. The Takfiri attacks against the Lebanese and Syrian towns and launching rockets onto the Lebanese town of Hermel and the southern suburb of Beirut marked the beginning. The Takfiri militants, then, escalated their assaults by sending booby-trapped cars to Bir al-Abed, Ruwais, Bekaa and Haret Hreik.  March 14 Claims Refuted Justifying these terrorist attacks by attributing it to Hezbollah military intervention in Syria dominated over the rhetoric of the Lebanese political team, March 14, which vainly aimed at distorting the party's reputation and at weakening its public's will. March 14 argument, however, missed major facts that directly deny and refute it. As Syria crisis was orchestrated by the West, the Zionist-Western project exploited the extremist armed groups in the world to face the resistance axis in the Middle East, starting with destroying Syria-the nation. The takfiri and foreign militant groups in Syria threatened clearly that it would target Hezbollah and its public long time before the party has even contemplated a military intervention in Syria. As such, Hezbollah as well as its public has been a main target for this Takfiri plot that has been in the making since a long time in Lebanon. March 14 Complete Partner of Takfiri Groups The political analyst, Salem Zahran, argues that March 14 functions as  a complete partner of these Takfiri groups by providing them with all the security and the political cover, thus, justifying their terrorist acts. Zahran referred to the case of Arsal's mayor who obtained full political protection from March 14 after he led a group of militants who killed and wounded a number of the Lebanese army soldiers in the Lebanese town which borders Syria Wahabi-Takfiri Groups: A Glimpse of History In its battle against the Soviet Union, the United States of America has recruited the Wahabi-Takfiri groups in Afghanistan to fight the Russians, what perpetuated these groups. Zahran, claims that "thousands of the Lebanese have joined these groups in Afghanistan," and that the Lebanese security services have lists of their names. "What is taking place now is that these Takfiri tendencies, reflected through the Arab Spring, are being translated in the surrounding countries, including Lebanon," he added.  Zahran pointed out that the US who co-founded Wahabi-Takfiri groups as it benefitted from the British experience in this regard. He also added that Britain has been a stronghold for these groups where their commanders have resided temporarily or permanently since a long time. "The US administration concluded that the Wahabi-Takfiri doctrine best fits fighting Communism." Based on the fact that the US regulations prevent the administration from directly funding and embracing the Takfiri groups, Saudi Arabia was chosen by the US to play this strategic role, according to Zahran. Osama Ben Laden, ex-friend of current Saudi King, led al-Qaeda group against the Russians in Afghanistan.   After the demise of the International Communism, the part of US-made Takfiri groups rebelled against their American master--yet served the American interests by presenting Islam as the religion of terrorism. Being one of the victimized countries, Lebanon has been suffering from this international Takfiri plot since a long time. According to Zahran, these terrorist cells have been formed in Lebanon since a long time and in different geographical areas. In 2000, an al-Qaeda-linked militant group ambushed an army patrol in Dunneyyah,  northern Lebanon, killing and kidnapping a number of soldiers. Zahran added that after the assassination of former PM Rafik Hariri, the sectarian instigations led a Lebanese political milieu to embrace terrorist groups which started to carry out different explosions and assassinations in the different Lebanese areas. In 2007, the Lebanese army had also to face these Takfiri groups as it combated Fateh al-Islam, a terrorist group, in the Palestinian camp of Nahr al Bared, northern Lebanon. The Lebanese political commentator revealed that terrorist Ahmad al-Assir started before the eruption of Syria crisis forming small terrorist groups whose sectarian role appeared clearly in 2013 when they clashed with the Lebanese army that overcame them. Zahran pointed out that the Takfiri groups targeted several countries, including Egypt, Tunisia and Libya although they did not have military intervention in Syria. Takfiri terrorism in Lebanon, directly or indirectly, is acting as a part of an international plot that has aimed at striking the axis of resistance in the Middle East and the military in these countries so that the Zionist project can proceed in the region. It is an international plot that is backed and funded by the United States of America and aided by Britain as well as Saudi Arabia, to serve the imperial policies by sowing the seeds of the sectarian sedition in Lebanon and in the region. Source: Al-Manar Website 22-01-2014 - 20:09 Last updated 23-01-2014 - 15:56 Iran says free elections best solution for Syria, as Geneva II enters second day Iranian president Hassan Rohani listens after his address at the World Economic Forum in Davos on January 23, 2014. (Photo: AFP - Eric Piermont) Published Thursday, January 23, 2014 http://english.al-akhbar.com/content/iran-says-free-elections-best-solution-syria-geneva-ii-enters-second-day Updated at 2:15pm: Iranian President Hassan Rohani said Thursday that fair elections would be the best way of ending Syria's civil war. "The best solution is to organize free and fair elections inside Syria," Rohani told the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. "No outside party or power should decide for the Syrian people and Syria as a country." "No outside party or power should decide for the Syrian people and Syria as a country." Describing a conflict that has been raging for nearly three years as a "major catastrophe", Rohani said Iran was deeply concerned by the influx of foreign fighters he described as "terrorists" into Syria. "Millions of innocent people have been killed, maimed or made homeless - it is a miserable situation and very sad," Rouhani said. "All of us should work together to push terrorists out of Syria and advise the countries who support them that this is not their own best interests - their next stop will be their own countries." The World Economic Forum is taking place only several kilometers away from the “Geneva II” peace talks in Montreux, in which Syrian government and opposition figures meet for the first time since the beginning of the almost three-year old civil war. UN efforts to involve Iran in the Syria peace talks foundered as a result of objections from the United States and the opposition. The Geneva II peace conference opened on Wednesday, with delegations on either side of the conflict exchanging accusations of terrorism and torture. UN mediator Lakhdar Brahimi meets Syria's warring sides behind closed doors Thursday to gauge if they are willing to sit down face-to-face. Brahimi will hold separate meetings with delegations from President Bashar al-Assad's government and the opposition before full talks resume in Geneva on Friday. Expectations are very low for a breakthrough at the conference, but diplomats believe that simply bringing the two sides together for the first time is a mark of some progress and could be an important first step. With no one ready for serious concessions, world powers will be looking for short-term deals to keep the process moving forward, including on localized ceasefires, freer humanitarian access and prisoner exchanges. Brahimi said he "had indications" from both sides that they were willing discuss these issues. The UN humanitarian chief said the international body hoped political talks between the warring sides in Syria would clinch local ceasefires to allow vital food and medicines to reach millions of civilians. "I have discussed this with Mr. Brahimi and he'll continue to push this. Because political negotiations can take a very long time. And as we saw yesterday, there are big differences between the parties," Valerie Amos said in an interview with Reuters on Thursday. "But if we are able to get a major push on getting into these communities, it would make a significant difference." She said it was crucial to gain access to some 250,000 people trapped in besieged communities, many of them in Aleppo, Homs and near Damascus, who have been out of reach for many months. Some say they have been reduced to eating grass in order to avoid starvation. Another 2.5 million people are in "hard-to-reach" areas, having received UN relief supplies just once or so, Amos said. "The key issue for us is that control of communities shifts all the time. We want to really take advantage when there is a sense we can move very quickly to try to do that," she said, adding that she had met with an opposition delegate in Montreux. Amos, who submitted a confidential written brief to the UN Security Council last Friday, said that there had been little improvement since world powers called unanimously in October for both sides to grant greater access for aid workers and convoys. "I indicated to the Security Council, as I have done before, that we have made some modest progress on administrative hurdles that we have faced, things like visas for staff and arrangements in place in terms of clearance (for convoys)," Amos said. "But on the really big-ticket items, like protection of civilians, demilitarization of schools and hospitals, access to besieged and hard-to-reach communities, there has been little or no progress at all," she said. Hadi Al-Bahra, a member of the opposition Syrian National Coalition's delegation, said they would be meeting with Brahimi in Geneva to work out the details of Friday's talks. Bahra told AFP the opposition was feeling confident after the government delegation adopted an aggressive tone for the start of the conference. "What happened yesterday was clearly in our interest. We have heard very positive feedback from inside Syria and it is the first time we've felt so much support from Syrians for the Coalition," Bahra said. UN officials were forced to ask Syrian journalists to calm down during Ban's closing press conference on Wednesday, after they loudly complained of not being allowed to ask questions. The opposition arrived in Switzerland with a sole aim - toppling Assad - while the government says any talk of removing the Syrian leader is a "red line" it will not cross. (AFP, Al-Akhbar)