Excerpts:Syria's inflatIon rate 31% in April.Syria's continuing gas
shortages.Backgrounder on Syria now.Syria's chemical,missiles, rockets
threat.Lebanese M.P.s 'bickering' threatens country

+++SOURCE: The Syria Report 11 June '12:"Syrian Inflation at 31 Percent in
April "

SUBJECT: Syria's inflation rate 31% in April.

Text:Syria’s annual inflation rate reached 31.45 percent in April, according
to the Central Bureau of Statistics.

+++SOURCE: The Syria Report 11 June '12:"Government Reduces Gas Cylinders
Weight As Shortages Persist"

SUBJECT: Syria's continuing gas shortages.
TEXT:The Ministry of Economy has reduced the average weight of a cooking gas
cylinder to 10 kg but kept its price unchanged, in effect increasing its
cost by some 16 percent, as it battles with continuous shortages.

+++SOURCE: The Independent via Egypt Daily News 11 June '12:"More than a
million need aid in Syria",Reuters,David Randall, Azer Zaida

SUBJECT: Backgrounder on Syria now.

QUOTE: "At least 1.5 million people need urgent humanitarian assistance in
Syria"

BACKGROUNDER: Full Text:

As refugees stream across the border, Jordan issues appeal for international
assistance

At least 1.5 million people need urgent humanitarian assistance in Syria,
aid agencies said yesterday – evidence that the impact of what is now a
civil war goes far beyond the probable 10,000 dead reported since the
insurgency and protests began.
More and more civilians are fleeing their homes on a daily basis to escape
the fighting, and the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) said
that those caught in the violence find getting medical treatment, and basic
food items, increasingly difficult.

An ICRC report stated: "The situation in many parts of Syria is very
tense... The number of displaced people has been growing day by day. Many of
the displaced have seen their assets looted or destroyed. Many are staying
with family members or friends, others in public structures,[which often]
lack basic services such as water and electricity."

The ICRC and the Syrian Arab Red Crescent, the only international aid
agencies with access to many affected areas, have delivered aid to around
300,000-400,000 people since June last year. Kristalina Georgieva, the
European Commissioner for Humanitarian Aid, said on Friday that
"200,000-400,000" people had been displaced internally. The ICRC spokesman,
Hicham Hassan, said many of the displaced were staying in schools, mosques
and churches, and much of the infrastructure needed urgent repairs.

Satellite images obtained by the BBC on Friday showing a dried-up reservoir
and water canal 2kms south-west of Homs, and amateur video footage of
shrapnel-damaged roof-top water tanks, suggest a campaign of sabotage has
accompanied the violence.

With about 95,000 Syrian refugees having found their way to Turkey, Lebanon
and Jordan, the humanitarian crisis could easily spread to other countries
in the region. The largest number are in Jordan, and that country is now
appealing for assistance.

The past 36 hours have seen shelling in the southern city of Daraa, which
has killed at least 15 people, and, in Damascus, a night of shooting and
explosions, described by residents as the worst so far in the capital.
Government troops clashed with rebels from the Free Syrian Army in
Damascus's Kfar Souseh district – a clear sign that the ragtag group has
succeeded in taking its fight to the regime's powerbase. Until now, Damascus
had been relatively quiet.

Maath al-Shami, a Damascus resident and activist, said via Skype: "Yesterday
was a turning point in the conflict. There were clashes in Damascus that
lasted hours." He added that troops shelled the city's Qaboun and Barzeh
districts from tanks until after midnight on Friday, and that at least four
people had been killed. The tanks reportedly withdrew before sunrise on
Saturday, and the area then became relatively quiet.

The nearly 12 hours of fighting in the capital suggests a new boldness among
armed rebels, who previously have kept a low profile there. It also showed a
willingness by the regime to unleash the sort of elevated force against
restive areas which it has used to crush opponents elsewhere. For the first
time in the uprising, witnesses said regime tanks opened fire in the city's
streets, with shells slamming into residential buildings.

The latest escalations in different parts of Syria are another blow to the
peace plan devised by the international envoy, Kofi Annan. Mr Annan brokered
a ceasefire that supposedly came into effect on 12 April, but which in
reality has been violated nearly every day since then. Yesterday, UN
observers, who are in the country ostensibly to monitor the ceasefire,
issued the first independent video images from the scene of a reported
massacre last week in a remote farming village. Activists say up to 78
people, including women and children, were shot, hacked or burned to death
in Mazraat al-Qubair. The video, taken during the UN visit a day earlier,
showed blood splashed on a wall pockmarked with bullet holes and soaking a
nearby mattress.

After the observers' visit, the UN spokeswoman, Sausan Ghosheh, said there
was evidence of a "horrific crime", and the team could smell the stench of
burned corpses and see body parts strewn around the now deserted village.
She said residents' accounts were "conflicting", and the team was still
cross-checking the names of the missing and dead with those supplied by
nearby villagers. Opposition activists and Syrian government officials
blamed each other for the killings.

World opinion seems to be having little effect so far on the brew of
sectarian animosities that complicate the struggle against President Bashar
Assad's repressive regime.

Who are the 'shabiha'? The pro-Assad militia blamed for the worst atrocities

Today's feared death squads came from humble beginnings as a smuggling and
blackmail racket, set up by President Assad's relatives in the coastal city
of Latakia. The present armed insurgency against 42 years of family rule by
Bashar al-Assad and his late father pits a Sunni-led protest movement
against a ruling elite from the country's minority Alawite sect, an offshoot
of Shia Islam. As Mr Assad increasingly turned to his relatives to
strengthen his grip on the country after inheriting power in 2000, the
shabiha began appearing in Latakia and the nearby mountains.

Cousins of Mr Assad drove blacked-out Mercedes S-class cars, nicknamed
"shabbah" – ghosts – forcing their way through traffic with an arsenal of
rifles aboard. The name caught on and was adopted by the gunmen to describe
themselves as they expanded. After the uprising, they swiftly developed with
state support into a fully fledged militia. Directed by the security forces
or ruling Baath party officials, they put down demonstrations in cities
across the country, often by shooting demonstrators dead. At pro-government
rallies in Damascus and other cities earlier this year, shabiha members
carried banners that read: "Assad: We are your shabiha for ever," and
"Assad: Your name is etched on our AK-47s."

At the beginning of the revolt, security forces recruited thousands of Sunni
Muslims to reinforce the shabiha's Alawite core, especially after Mr Assad
released thousands from jail in a general amnesty last year. The shabiha,
however, became more dependent on recruitment from the Alawite community as
the revolt became more militarised and rebels began targeting government
forces The massacres – and the increasing risk of being assassinated by
rebels – have also put off many Sunnis, although their pay at one point
reached $100 a day, a fortune in a country where average salaries are $200
to $300 a month.

Fawaz Tello, a veteran opposition activist who fled Syria last year, said:
"The shabiha are driven by a feeling of impunity – that they can kill as
many Sunnis as they can while Russia's support for the regime removes any
possibility of international intervention." But the militia is taking hits.
Lack of Sunni support has all but forced it out of the city of Deir al-Zor,
where it helped to put down demonstrations against Mr Assad last year.

However, in the Sunni city of Hama, just 12 miles east of the location where
activists reported a massacre on Wednesday, a force of about 3,000 shabiha
remains in position. Reuters

+++SOURCE: Naharnet (Lebanon) 11 June '12:"Israeli Military Official: Syria
Chemical Stocks Threatening Israel" . Associated Press

SUBJECT: Syria's chemical,missiles, rockets threat.
QUOTE:"Syria backs violent anti-Israel groups. Multiple attempts to reach a
peace deal have failed."FULL TEXT:Israel's deputy military chief has warned
that Syria has the biggest chemical weapons stocks in the world and missiles
and rockets that can reach any point in Israel.

Maj. Gen. Yair Naveh also said if Syria had the chance, it would "treat us
the same way it treats its own people."

Israel radio stations carried Naveh's remarks on Monday[11 June]. He made
them the night before at a ceremony in Jerusalem commemorating fallen
soldiers.

Syrian activists estimate more than 14,000 people have died since the
uprising in Syria erupted 15 months ago.

Israel has been watching the carnage in neighboring Syria with increasing
concern.

The two countries have fought major wars and Syria backs violent anti-Israel
groups. Multiple attempts to reach a peace deal have failed

+++SOURCE: Naharnet (Lebanon)11 June '12:"P.M. Migati Advises (Lebanon's)
Leaders to Bridge Their Differences to Salvage Lebanon"

SUBJECT: Lebanese M.P.s 'bickering" threatens country

QUOTE:"(Lebanon's) Prime Minister warned. . .if bickering leaders hold onto
their stances the country's political and security situation would continue
to deteriorate"

FULL TEXT:Prime Minister Najib Miqati warned on Monday[11 June] that if
bickering leaders continue to hold onto their stances the country’s
political and security situation would continue to deteriorate.

In an interview with the Saudi Okaz daily, Miqati said: “We should sit
together to come closer and limit the differences between the viewpoints” of
different leaders.

He said President Michel Suleiman called for Monday’s[11 June] national
dialogue at Baabda palace in an attempt to reach consensus among the
bickering foes.

“Where would we reach if each (person) continues to hold onto his point of
view?” Miqati wondered. “We are aboard a ship so we should seek for the
safety of this ship and avoid punctures in it.”

Asked about Palestinian bases outside refugee camps that are on the agenda
of the all-party talks, the premier hoped the Palestinian authorities would
be responsive to the requests made by the Lebanese leaders.

Stressing that Hizbullah’s arms are aimed at confronting Israel, Miqati told
Okaz that the proliferation of weapons in cities and towns and mainly the
decision of war and peace will be discussed by the conferees.

Questions on how, why and when to use Hizbullah’s arsenal are legitimate, he
said. “Let’s wait and see where the different Lebanese parties would reach”
in that.

Seventeen leaders will gather at Baabda palace on Monday [11 June]to discuss
the national defense strategy, Palestinian bases outside the refugee camps
and the proliferation of arms in Lebanese cities and towns.

The March 14 opposition delivered Suleiman a memo on Saturday[9 June]
reiterating its call for the formation of a national salvation cabinet to
oversee the all-party talks and the parliamentary elections of 2013.

“If we agree at the dialogue (table) to build a true state and the formation
of a new government to facilitate the process, then I don’t think anyone
would fail to change the cabinet,” Miqati said.

“But the change to the unknown is rejected nowadays,” he added.
============
Sue Lerner - Associate, IMRA