Video - Children Eating from the Streets of Hajr al Aswad in Damascus

The video shows children being interviewed whilst they eat from scraps on the ground due to shortage of food in the Hajr al Aswad area of Damascus.

This video is hereby translated under full responsibility of ANA PRESS

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Iran receives verbal proposal to take part in int’l conference on Syria.

Iran receives verbal proposal to take part in int’l conference on Syria.(TI).

Iran received a verbal proposal to take part in the international conference on Syria just over a week ago, Iran's Deputy Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian said at a press conference in RIA Novosti today. "We received a verbal proposal to participate in this conference 10 days ago," he said.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry voiced the idea of holding "Geneva-2" international conference on Syria during a meeting in Moscow on May 7.Read the full story here.

Video - Syrian rebels open fire on convoy carrying Russian journalists.

Video - Syrian rebels open fire on convoy carrying Russian journalists.HT: RussiaToday.

The convoy shelled on Saturday was led by a Syrian army military vehicle, and consisted of several cars occupied by civilians, including one with Russian TV journalists. 

The shelling started when the cars were about 5 kilometers away from their destination – ‘Checkpoint Charlie’ – the only crossing between Syria and the Golan Heights, disputed territory claimed by both Syria and Israel.  

“The Syrian troops started to fight the rebels back, but the insurgents targeted the civilian cars,” said Evgeny Poddubny, the head of the Russian TV crew and special correspondent for Rossiya TV channel.

Throughout the fighting, a Russian cameraman kept filming; gunshots can be heard on the video for 15 minutes. The footage also features a Syrian army officer reporting to command that armed militants attacked first, that shelling was coming from both sides of the road.

“The convoy could not make it to the checkpoint, the rebels set an ambush on the road, fighting broke out, the military responded with heavy fire to cover the retreat of our TV crew, and then they retreated themselves. The militants were further confronted by the field artillery, which is deployed in the area,” Poddubny said.

No one was injured in the attack. A similar incident occurred recently in the Golan Heights buffer zone when Checkpoint Charlie was attacked and seized by rebels on Thursday, and quickly recaptured by government troops.

"The militants use the status of the territory; they hide in the buffer zone and are carrying out attacks like the one you’ve just witnessed. Then they retreat. And we cannot carry out special operations here – as that would be a breach of international agreements. Besides, the rebels are getting help from Israel – it supplies them with ammunition and even provides medical aid to terrorists in mobile hospitals,” Syrian army General Nasr Haidar, whose regiment is deployed in the area, told Rossiya.

Provocations by the insurgents are seen as major reason why international peacekeepers have been withdrawing from the area. Austrian troops, which accounted for 40 percent of the UN peacekeepers in the Golan Heights, have announced their withdrawal. Read the full story here.

Unconfirmed rumors that Syrian Pres. Bashir Al-Assad was Shot By Iranian Bodyguard.

http://www.alarab.net/Article/522715

Unconfirmed rumors that Syrian Pres. Bashir Al-Assad was Shot By Iranian Bodyguard.(BIN).

The sources said that President Assad was transferred to Shami Hospital in Damascus, suffering from wounds and described it as very serious, and he is fighting for his life there, while the Syrian army has closed all roads leading to the hospital. Even the meantime there has been no official statement by the system, while sources close to him denied what was in the news altogether, noting that the president was in good health and high spirits, and will deliver a keynote speech in the coming days.

According to Arab media www.eltira.org , Bashar al-Assad would have been seriously wounded by gunfire last night Saturday, March 23 by his Iranian bodyguard but is not dead. He is currently hospitalized, between life and death, Shami Hospital in Damascus which the streets were closed.

Proprietary information (in France): According to reports in the Arab press (and then republished in the Israeli press ), information that journalists say they have "verified" the Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad was killed this morning by one of his bodyguards. An important safety device has been set up at the hospital in Damascus.The assassin would be his Iranian bodyguard, a military officer named Mehdi Jakoby. He was in charge of presidential security and was "offered" by Tehran's ally to Syria.

According to various sources, there are reports of heavy fighting in any armed Damascus. The roads leading to the hospital would be closed.

Syrian TV premises have been abandoned.

If this information had to be officially confirmed, it would be a victory for the Islamists who are fighting for the seizure of power in Syria. No one really knows what will happen tomorrow if Assad is actually dead. Will Iran take a step back?Will Russia evacuate their nationals?

More rumors here @inagist.