Syria News

Absurdly - Despite Reports of Brutality Toward Civilians, Syria to Join U.N.'s Human Rights Council.

The brutal crackdown by Syrian President Bashar Assad may finally be getting the attention of world leaders - but apparently not enough to stop Syria from becoming the newest member of the U.N. Human Rights Council.

And despite calling for an independent investigation into the crackdown, which has left hundreds dead, U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon apparently won’t do much about blocking Syria’s path to the human rights group.

Another absurdity: Hugo Chavez has come out in favor of another dictator - Bashar al-Assad.

On Monday, President Chavez expressed his support for Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad, blaming "terrorists" for the protests in the town of Deraa.

The protests have been met with deadly force by the Syrian security forces.

Syrian human rights organisation Sawasiah says more than 400 civilians have been shot dead in the government's campaign to crush the month-long pro-democracy protests.

Bur Mr Chavez accused the international media of jumping to conclusions.

"Terrorists are being infiltrated into Syria and producing violence and death -- and once again, the guilty one is the president, without anyone investigating anything," the Venezuelan president said.

Sources of information on Syria

Syrian Revolution Digest of Ammar Abdulhamid, a "liberal democracy activist" who has been forced into exile from Syria.

Syria Comment, by Joshua Landis, Director of the Center for Middle East Studies at the University of Oklahoma.

The Syrian Days of Rage, on Facebook. Written by free Syria activists outside the country.

Syria Unrest on Al Jazeera English. (I'd like to insert here that though I've found their coverage of the Arab revolutions very informative, and their straight news on Israel seems reliable, I get tired of their one-note editorial stance on Israel/Palestine).

New York Times - Lede blog has had a lot of great coverage on the Arab revolts in general, and is also covering Syria.