Syrian state-run television reported Thursday that forces loyal to President Bashar al-Assad killed three Westerners, including an American woman and a British citizen, who it claims were fighting with the rebels and were found with weapons.
Syrian TV identified the woman, releasing what it claimed were images of her Michigan driver's license and U.S. passport. It also released what is said was the name and passport of a British citizen. It did not identify a third person who it claimed was a Westerner.
The report said the three were ambushed in their car in the flashpoint
province of Idlib in northwestern Syria, where government forces have been
battling rebels for control.
TV footage showed a bullet-riddled car and three bodies laid out. It also showed weapons, a computer, a hand-drawn map of a government military facility and a flag belonging to the al Qaeda-affiliated al-Nusra Front.
The United States is aware of the claim that an American woman was killed
and is working through the Czech Republic mission in Syria to obtain more
information, a State Department official, speaking on condition of anonymity,
told CNN.
Citing privacy concerns, "we are unable to comment further,"
the official said.
A family member of the American woman told CNN on Thursday she was
informed by the FBI about the death. The family member said the FBI did not
provide any details about how the woman died.
CNN is not identifying the family member, who lives in Michigan, until
next of kin notifications have been completed.
The UK Foreign Office said it was aware of the claims, but is not able
to verify them without further information.
Al-Nusra Front
If the Syrian state TV report is true, it will not be the first time an
American has been accused of fighting with rebel groups to overthrow al-Assad.
In March, a former U.S. soldier was arrested and charged by the U.S.
government with illegally using a weapon on behalf of the al-Nusra Front.
Eric Harroun, 30,
of Phoenix, was arrested by the FBI after returning to the United States from
Syria, where authorities allege he fought with the militant group. He was
charged with the alleged use of a rocket-propelled grenade.
The organization he allegedly fought with, al-Nusra Front, is linked to al
Qaeda in Iraq. Al-Nusra has claimed responsibility for more than 600 attacks in
Syria, the Justice Department said.
An FBI affidavit says Harroun crossed into Syria in January 2013 and
fought against al-Assad's forces. He posted photos and videos of himself on the
Internet handling RPGs and other weapons, it said.
Harroun served with the U.S. Army from 2000 to 2003.
Troubled talks
The report by Syrian state TV came on the same day that a leader of
Syria's main rebel coalition said the group may not participate in a conference
aimed at brokering an end to the civil war.
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"It
is difficult to continue when Syrians are constantly being hammered by the
Assad regime with the help of outside forces," said George Sabra, acting
chairman of the National Coalition, in a statement.
He cited the siege of Qusayr and attacks on Eastern Gouta, a suburb of
Damascus, as well as what he said was an "invasion" by Iranian
militia members in support of al-Assad.
Russia, which supports Damascus, expressed its own reservations.
Conditions on the peace talks demanded by the National Coalition are too
restrictive, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov told reporters, state news
agency ITAR-Tass reported.
"One
has the impression that the National Coalition and its regional sponsors are
doing their utmost in a bid to prevent the beginning of a political process and
resort to all means, including brainwashing in the West, to induce military
intervention," Lavrov is quoted as saying. "We regard such approaches
as impermissible."
In addition, the coalition "is not the sole representative of the
Syrian people," Lavrov said. "The coalition has no constructive
platform."
The National Coalition has demanded that al-Assad step aside as a
condition for its participation in the talks, which were originally scheduled
to be held this month in Geneva, Switzerland, but have been delayed.
The Syrian government has insisted that any talks be held without
preconditions and has said that al-Assad will finish his term and must be
qualified to run again in the 2014 elections.
Fighting rages on
Some 3,000
to 4,000
Lebanese Hezbollah fighters have been deployed to Syria, where they are
fighting alongside government forces, French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius
told the Foreign Affairs Committee of France's National Assembly.
The Lebanese fighters have been involved in a battle for Qusayr, a town
of about 20,000 that
sits astride one route to the Syrian coast and another to the Lebanese border.
For the rebels, holding Qusayr represents a way of limiting the regime's
ability to sustain itself.
On Thursday, the media office of the Syrian Coalition in Istanbul,
Turkey, said in an appeal for help that the number of wounded citizens in
Qusayr had exceeded 1,000.
The state-run Syrian Arab News Agency said the fighting was part of its
mission "to pursue terrorists in Qusayr and its countryside."
'One axis'
In an interview broadcast Thursday night by the Hezbollah television
station Al-Manar, al-Assad was quoted by Lebanese media as saying, "Syria
and Hezbollah are one axis."
Hezbollah forces "are in Lebanon and Syria, on the border
area," al-Assad said.
According to the pro-Hezbollah Al-Akhbar newspaper, he said, "There
are groups of (Hezbollah) party fighters in the border areas with Lebanon. But
the Syrian army is the one fighting and running battles against the armed
groups, and will continue in this battle in order to eliminate" what he
described as "terrorists."
The president expressed skepticism that the talks proposed for Geneva
would prove fruitful, the newspaper reported.
Al-Assad is further quoted as saying that "Syria received the first
batch of the Russian S-300 missiles, antiaircraft
systems" and that "the rest of the shipment will arrive soon."
"The
contracts are not related to the conflict," he said. "We negotiate
with them for various kinds of weapons for years. And Russia is fulfilling
these contracts."
Russia has been criticized by the West for reported sales of six S-300 air
defense systems to Syria under a 2010 contract.
Moscow, however, has said such deliveries would conform with international law and has denied supplying Syria with weapons that can be used against civilian
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