Syria’s military remains loyal to Assad

As part of a U.N.-Arab cheap oakley sunglasses League peace plan that failed to take hold in Syria, U.N. observers were sent to the country, but they suspended their work earlier this month after coming under fire. The U.N.’s peacekeeping chief, Herve Ladsous, told the Security Council on Tuesday that it is too dangerous for the observers to resume their mission, although it could restart at some point, according to a diplomat who spoke on condition of anonymity because the session was closed. Assad blames the violence gripping his country on foreign terrorists and armed gangs. In the early months of the uprising, he acknowledged a need for political reforms, but his opponents have dismissed his gestures as a facade. Tuesday’s fighting near Republican Guard compounds and bases in the suburbs of Damascus killed at least six people, according to the oakley sunglass coupons Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. The Republican Guard, which is commanded by Assad’s younger brother, Maher, has the task of protecting the capital, the seat of the regime’s power. The fighting suggested growing boldness by the rebels. Clashes erupt regularly in the suburbs between troops and rebels, but Assad’s forces have firm control of Damascus and it is very rare for fighting to take place near the Republican Guard bases. It was unclear what prompted the clashes or how close they were to the heavily guarded compounds. Syria’s military remains loyal to Assad despite some recent high-profile defections, and the opposition is fragmented and unable to attack as a unified force, according to U.S. intelligence officials who briefed reporters in Washington on the 2012 most popular sunglasses Syrian conflict.