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Members of the Syrian cabinet meet in Damasus, capital of the country, Jan. 8, 2013. (Xinhua/Zhang Naijie)
As Turkey is completing preparations to deploy NATO's Patriot missiles along its borders with Syria, Syrian cabinet met here Tuesday to find mechanisms to put into effect the fresh vision of President Bashar al-Assad on a political solution to the country's 22-month crisis.
Germany began sending Patriot missiles to Turkey Tuesday, with a ship carrying the equipment leaving the northeastern German seaport Lubeck-Travemunde for Turkey.
The ship, named "Suecia Seaways" and loaded with 300 vehicles and over 130 containers, will arrive at Turkey's Iskenderun Port on Jan. 21, according to a German statement issued Monday.
The two Patriot batteries will be deployed about 100 km from the Turkish-Syrian border. Together with another four batteries from the United States and the Netherlands, the Patriots deployment is in response to Turkey's request to NATO against possible missile threats from Syria.
All six batteries will be under NATO's command and scheduled to be operational by the end of January. The Patriots are able to intercept missiles or aircraft.
The Turkish government requested in November that its national air defense be reinforced with the support of NATO air defense elements, after several artillery shells from Syria struck a Turkish border town and killed five civilians one month before.
The missiles' pending deployment has raised the ire of the Syrian government and its allies, despite the reparative statements by NATO members that the measure is "purely defensive."
In Damascus, meanwhile, Information Minister Omran al-Zoubi said Tuesday that the cabinet is meeting in the framework of implementing the presidential commissioning toward finding mechanisms and putting into effect the ideas and the national program which were included in Assad's speech for solving the crisis in Syria.
In a press statement, al-Zoubi said the discussions going on at the cabinet session deal with all the details of the crisis the country is going through, adding that the internal and external political situation, the current challenges and the capabilities available are all on the table.
He affirmed that "all opposition forces are invited to participate in a national dialogue that is based on respecting national sovereignty and the rejection of foreign interference in all its forms as well as the acts of domination and guardianship over the national decision."
He reiterated that the discussion is addressing all aspects, ranging from stopping violence and terrorism to issues concerning economy, public freedom, human rights and detainees, as well as the details and essence of the national dialogue and how and with whom it should be conducted.
The minister described the discussion as "long, comprehensive and difficult as there are many views, suggestions and concepts," pointing out that there will be a cabinet committee to start contacting all political and societal forces and figures so as to pave the way for holding the national dialogue conference.
He said the president's speech "is not connected to any dates except for the Syrian timing as it came after the situation has become mature to deliver this national program, which aims at overcoming the crisis."
In his first address to the nation since June 2012, al-Assad proposed Sunday a three-point vision for a political solution to end the Syrian crisis. The new initiative includes a cease-fire, followed by a comprehensive national dialogue conference, and the establishment of a broad-based government and parliament.
The speech was rejected by the opposition, which said Assad has sidestepped a point the opposition deemed crucial, which was to relinquish power. Also, the United States and its allies dismissed the speech as "disconnected from reality."
While the Syrian government seems pushing to materialize Assad' s vision, the military showdown continued Tuesday on the ground, paying no heed to the political endeavors.
Activists said five people were killed in the Yarmouk camp for Palestinian refugees Tuesday by a shell bomb that struck their street. The incident came as the Damascus-based Palestinian factions called for a halt of violence in the camp.
The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said violent clashes were still taking place on the edges of the Hajar al-Aswad neighborhood and the Yarmouk camp.
The violence in al-Yarmouk has become increasingly common recently after clashes between the Syrian army and the armed rebels in nearby districts overshadowed the camp and sucked it into the whirlpool of violence.
A couple of weeks ago, hundreds of Yarmouk residents rallied at the entrance of the camp after the intense violence forced them to flee from the camp.
In a meeting in Damascus on Tuesday, the Palestinian groups called for stopping violence in the Yarmouk camp and facilitating the entry of food and medical items to the camp.
In a statement at the end of the meeting, the participants underlined the necessity that all residents of the camp should return immediately to their homes, stressing that the Palestinians should keep away from the simmering violence in Syria.
They also called on the rebels to withdraw from the camp.
Khaled Abdul-Majid, secretary of the follow-up committee of the Damascus-based allied Palestinian factions, told reporters that clashes are still continuing in the surroundings of the camp and they are working for ending those clashes.
For his side, Hossam Arafat, a member of the politburo of the Popular Front of the Liberation of Palestine-General Command (PFLP- GC), held the rebels' Free Syrian Army responsible for what he said was "the displacement of 70 percent" of the Yarmouk residents.
In a statement, Arafat said the Palestinian factions discussed an integral initiative offered by the Islamic Jihad movement to the Syrian leadership, adding that the Syrian government has initially approved the initiative and demanded minor amendments.
He said that the Free Syrian Army, which previously agreed on the initiative, backtracked on its position on Monday and put forward impossible demands.
"I believe that the Free (Syrian) Army wants to use the camp as a hostage in the current conflict in Syria and insist to thrust the camp into this conflict," he said.
He added that the Syrian leadership has informed the Palestinian factions that it would not interfere in the camp, demanding in exchange that the Free Syrian Army would not use the camp as a starting point for any attack on the Syrian army.
Aside from the camp incidents, fighting and violence continued in several Syrian cities as the oppositional Local Coordination Committees placed the death toll on Tuesday at 111 people.
According to the UN estimates, more than 60,000 people have been killed in Syria since the unrest erupted in 2011. Also, the World Food Program (WFP) said that around 2.5 million people in Syria are in need of food assistance, but only 1.5 million can receive supplies from the agency.
