Bulletin de liaison et d'information - Institut kurde de Paris

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A Syrian Army officer briefing soldiers on Monday for an offensive in Aleppo. Clashes in Raqqa have shifted attention from Aleppo after,
months of attempts by the insurgents to storm it
city" on Monday and clouds of black
smoke blanketed some neighborhoods.
The Local Coordination Committees
said there had been ' 'fierce and continu¬
ous shelling from heavy artillery and
rocket launchers" directed at insur¬
gents in several areas.
The clashes seemed to shift attention
from Aleppo, where fighting had
swirled for days around the Khan al-As-
al police academy in Aleppo, Syria's
most populous city and once regarded
as its economic heart, after months of
attempts by the insurgents to storm it.
Both sides in the civil war, which star¬
ted as a peaceful uprising almost two
years ago and has now claimed an esti¬
mated 70,000 lives, acknowledged rela¬
tively high death tolls in the fighting for
Khan al-Asal.
On Monday, the U.S. secretary of
state, John Kerry, criticized Russia and
Iran for continuing to ship arms to the
Assad regime.
Mr. Kerry has sought to enlist Rus-
. sia's cooperation for a political solution
to the war and met last week with For¬
eign Minister Sergey V. Lavrov. But Mr.
Kerry said in Riyadh that Russia had
continued to send weapons to forces
loyal to Mr. Assad.
"Believe me, the bad actors, regret¬
tably, have no shortage of their ability to
get arms from Iran, from Hezbollah,
from Russia, unfortunately," Mr. Kerry
said in ajoint news conference with the
Saudi foreign minister, Prince Saud al-
Faisal.
Mr. Kerry attended an international
conference in Rome last week that was
convened to show backing for the Syri¬
an opposition.
He appeared to welcome some out¬
side efforts to provide military support
to rebels in Syria, even though the
Obama administration has decided not
to send arms. Asked if there was a
danger that arms sent by Saudi Arabia
might fall into the wrong hands, Mr.
Kerry said that it was important to put
pressure on the Assad government.
"There is no guarantee that one
weapon or another might not, at some
point in time, flow into the wrong
hands," he said. "But I will tell you
this: there is a very clear ability now in
the Syrian opposition to make certain
that what goes to the moderate, legit¬
imate opposition is in fact getting to
them, and the indication is that they are
increasing their pressure as a result of
that."
Alluding to efforts to provide military
support, the Saudi foreign minister said,
"Morally, we have a duty."
He added that the Assad regime was
firing missiles at population centers in
Syria at times of the day when civilians
were concentrated. "Nobody who has
done that to his citizens can claim a
right to lead a country," he said.
While it has decided not to send arms,
the Obama administration said it would
send food and medical supplies to the
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armed wing of the Syrian opposition.
Britain is expected to soon announce a
package of nonlethal military assist¬
ance, like vehicles.
Mr. Kerry had a working lunch on
Monday with Mahmoud Abbas, the
president of the Palestinian Authority,
who was visiting Riyadh along with
leaders from the Gulf states. The meet¬
ing comes two weeks before President
Barack Obama and Mr. Kerry are plan¬
ning to travel to Israel, Palestinian
areas and Jordan to hear ideas for try¬
ing to revive the Middle East peace ef¬
fort.
On Iran, Mr. Kerry repeated the
American refrain that time was running
out for a diplomatic solution regarding
Iran's refusal to accept internationally
verified limits on its nuclear program.
He reiterated the argument that allow¬
ing Iran to develop nuclear weapons
would encourage nuclear proliferation
and heighten tensions in the region.
"But talks will not go on for the sake
of talks, and talks cannot become an in¬
strument of delay that will make the
situation more dangerous," Mr. Kerry
said. "So there is a finite amount of
time."
Alan Cowell reportedfrom London and
Rick Gladstonefrom New York. Report¬
ing was contributed by Michael R. Gor¬
donfrom Riyadh, an employee of The
New York Timesfrom Baghdad, and an
employee of The Timesfrom Damascus.