Saudi Arabian Telethon Raises $32 Million for Syria
A fundraising campaign launched by the Saudi royal family on behalf of the people of Syria generated more than $32 million worth of donations in one day. The nationwide show of support has been extended for another week and could raise millions more by Friday.
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As no other countries have demonstrated a willingness to intervene militarily, many nations are now focusing on the refugee and humanitarian problems caused by the Syrian crisis. The Arab League has just offered more than $100 million in refugee aid and the European Union is calling on more help for those who have been displaced by the fighting. According the United Nations, the number of refugees that have fled Syria for neighboring countries like Turkey, Jordan, and Iraq has passed 115,000 with more leaving everyday. The EU also passed another round of sanctions that includes increased searches of any cargo shipments that might contains weapons destined for the Syrian army.
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Other nations are also continuing to back the rebel fighters financially, even if they can't supply weapons or people. A story in The Washington Post on Tuesday outlined the difficulties that U.S. intelligence agents have had infiltrating Syria and monitoring the situation on the ground The report says that the CIA has no agents in the country and is relying on other nations' intelligence agencies and communications that have to be intercepted from afar.
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Despite hopes that the deaths of several top Syria officials might turn the tide against the regime — several world leaders have expressed the opinion that Bashar al-Assad's reign is near an end — the Syrian government continues to project an air of being in total control. The government announced today that it had arrested the person responsible for last week's bombing that killed Assad's brother-in-law and the Syrian defense minister, even though they had previously reported that it was a suicide attack. Their statement ominously announced that "the arrested individual is a staff member of that same building ... Probably in the near future this person's confession will be broadcast."
