Are Syrian Refugees In Germany Taking Vacations In Syria?

DW: Germany's Seehofer warns refugees who take Syria vacations

Refugees who return to Syria for holidays might lose their refugee status in Germany, German Interior Minister Horst Seehofer told the Bild newspaper. Some newcomers simultaneously claim to be fleeing persecution there.

German Interior Minister Horst Seehofer announced a tough response to Syrian refugees who leave Germany for holidays in their home country.

"If somebody, a Syrian refugee, regularly takes holidays in Syria, he cannot honestly claim to be persecuted in Syria," Seehofer told Bild am Sonntag weekly.

"We would have to strip him of his refugee status," he added.

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Update: German Interior Minister floats evicting refugees who practice holidaymaking at home -- RT

WNU editor: The German Interior Minister does not provide any numbers, but I suspect that the numbers are small. And of those who have gone to Syria, I suspect that it is because of personal reasons and not because they want to take a vacation.

U.S. Wants German Ground Troops In Syria

DW: US calls for German ground troops in Syria

A top US diplomat has formally asked Germany to send troops to Syria to help fight the terrorist militia Islamic State. James Jeffrey said allies needed to provide technical support for the Kurdish-led opposition.

US Special Representative for Syria Engagement James Jeffrey has called on Germany to send military trainers, logistics specialists and technicians to help the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) in the fight against the Islamic State (IS) terrorist group.

"We want ground troops from Germany to partially replace our soldiers," Jeffrey said in an interview with the German Deutsche Presse-Agentur news agency and the weekly Welt am Sonntag newspaper, before adding that he expected an answer from the German government this month.

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Update #1: Washington wants German troops in Syria to help fill gap left by departing Americans -- RT
Update #2: US Pressures Germany to Send Ground Troops to Syria to 'Partially Replace' American Forces -- Sputnik

WNU Editor: The Germans are divided on what to do .... US call for Syria troops divides German coalition (AFP).

German Bundestag-Parliament Committee Claim Russia's Syria Campaign Is Legal, But The U.S. Presence Is Not

German Bundestag

Sputnik: German Bundestag Committee: Russia's Syria Campaign is Legal, US Should Leave

The US-led coalition’s military intervention in Syria is under increasing levels of scrutiny, with critics arguing that the coalition has no mandate to conduct military operations in the Arab Republic as it doesn’t have Damascus’ approval to do so.

A committee of the German Bundestag headed by Die Linke politician Alexander Neu found Russia’s military presence in Syria to be “considered permissible in international law” as the Syrian government requested assistance from Moscow, the ARD public broadcaster’s Tagesschau news service reported on Tuesday.

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WNU editor: I read the German report on this story as best as I could .... and it says the same as the above Sputnik report. But what I found even more interesting about this news story is that no one else outside of Germany is covering it. On the day that President Trump is calling out German - Russian cooperation energy deals, this report on a committee in the German Bundestag supprting the Russian presence in Syria but criticising the U.S. presence is being ignored by the mainstream media.

Damascus Accuses France And Germany Of Deploying Special Forces Into Syria

German Bundeswehr army soldiers. © Michaela Rehle / Reuters

Al Jazeera: Syria: Presence of foreign troops is overt aggression

Damascus says French and German special forces are active in its territory but Germany's defence ministry rejects claim.

The Syrian government has accused Germany and France of "blatant interference" in its affairs by allegedly deploying special forces in its territory.

The German defence ministry immediately issued a rebuke of the Syrian claim on Tuesday, denying its troops were in the country.

"There are no German special forces in Syria. The accusation is false," a ministry spokesman said

An earlier report carried by the state-owned Syrian Arab News Agency said French and German troops were operating in the "Ain al-Arab and Manbij areas".

Officials at the Syrian foreign ministry called the presence an "overt unjustified aggression" on Syria, according to the report.

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WNU Editor: Germany is denying these reports.

More News On Reports That French And German Special Forces Are In Syria

Syria Condemns Presence of German, French Special Forces: Sana -- Bloomberg
'Overt Aggression': Syria Blasts Presence of French, German Special Forces -- Sputnik
Syrian regime: German, French forces fighting militants in Kobani -- Al Bawaba
Damascus says German special forces present in Syria, Berlin denies claim -- RT
Damascus says German special forces in Syria, Germany denies -- Reuters

Who Is To Blame For The Deaths Of 470,000 Syrians?

President Obama and Chancellor Merkel during their press conference in the Chancellery. Photo: Bundesregierung/Denzel

Anshel Pfeffer, Haaretz: Obama and Merkel Should Hang Their Heads in Shame as Syrian Tragedy Enters Sixth Year

While Western leaders are not criminally responsible for the deaths of 470,000 Syrians, it has happened on their watch and to a large degree through their inaction.

In June 2009, writer Elie Wiesel visited the site of the Buchenwald concentration camp in Germany, along with Chancellor Angela Merkel and President Barack Obama. Sixty-four years earlier, he had been liberated there by the American Army, only a few weeks after his father was murdered. Buchenwald was, according to Holocaust historian Raul Hilberg, the first place where survivors erected a sign saying “Never Again.”

In his speech in Buchenwald, Wiesel said that at the time of liberation, “Paradoxically, I was so hopeful then. Many of us were, although we had the right to give up on humanity, to give up on culture, to give up on education, to give up on the possibility of living one’s life with dignity in a world that has no place for dignity. We rejected that possibility and we said, no, we must continue believing in a future, because the world has learned. But again, the world hasn’t. Had the world learned, there would have been no Cambodia and no Rwanda and no Darfur and no Bosnia.”

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WNU editor: A few years ago I posted a commentary that made the prediction that the Syrian war would be the first major war chronicled and exposed on YouTube. That prediction has proven itself to be spectacular accurate. Everyone knows what is happening in Syria, and while different factions and media outlets have their own spin, all the information is there .... and for all sides. And while it is probably easy to blame leaders like Obama and Merkel for this carnage .... truth be told .... there is more than enough blame to spread around. But it should also be pointed out that Western leaders do respond to public pressure, and for as long as this war has been raging, public support for a Western military intervention has been luke-warm at best .... even though everyone knows what is happening.

Germany Calls For A 'No-Fly Zone' In Northern Syria. Russia Says No

RT: Merkel calls for ‘no-fly zone’ in Syria

German Chancellor Angela Merkel has backed the controversial idea of imposing a no-fly zone over northern Syria to alleviate the refugee crisis as the country plays along with Ankara’s demands for the creation of a “buffer area” along its border.

“In the current situation it would be helpful, if there could be such an area, where none of the parties are allowed to launch aerial attacks, that is to say, a kind of no-fly zone,” Merkel told the daily Stuttgarter Zeitung, when asked by the publication about opening up areas to host refugees.

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Update: German Leader Renews Call for Syria No-Fly Zone (AP)

WNU Editor: The Russian response to this German proposal was quick .... Russia dismisses new call for a Syria no-fly zone (CBS/AP)

Germany's Chief Foreign-Affairs Lawmaker: Russia Has The Upper Hand In Syria

German Chairman of the parliamentary subcommittee for foreign affairs Norbert Roettgen holds a news conference at the German Embassy in Washington July 9, 2014. REUTERS/GARY CAMERON/FILES

Reuters: Russia has gained upper hand in Syria, Merkel ally says

Russia had gained the upper hand in Syria and the surrounding region through armed force, a senior conservative ally of German Chancellor Angela Merkel said on Sunday, and he voiced doubts that Moscow would respect a truce plan for the war-torn country.

"I think Russia has gained the upper hand in the region and this is by historical measures a novelty. And they have done so by the use of armed force," said Norbert Roettgen, head of the foreign affairs committee in the German parliament and a member of Merkel's conservative party.

Speaking at a security conference in Munich, he said he was sceptical about how Russia would behave in the days and weeks ahead, despite agreeing to a "cessation of hostilities" which is due to begin in a week's time.

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Update: Merkel Ally Says Russia Has Gained Upper Hand in Syria Region

WNU Editor: Besides stating the obvious from the German lawmaker, Russia does not only have the upper hand in Syria, but its influence is also growing in Iraq .... Russia is making a huge effort to challenge US influence in Iraq (Business Insider/Reuters). But as I tell my Russian friends and audience .... this upper hand is only for the moment, the Middle East has shown the world more than once that countries that may have the "upper hand" today will have that hand "cut-off" tomorrow.

Report: German Intelligence Is Working With Syrian Intelligence

'German spies cooperating with Assad,' Bild reports https://t.co/7TWlZ6cTkp pic.twitter.com/oFB5HEAlNr

— dwnews (@dwnews) December 18, 2015

DW: 'German spies cooperating with Assad,' Bild reports

Germany's foreign intelligence service, the BND, has begun cooperating with the Syrian secret police, a German paper has said. The two agencies reportedly share intelligence on Islamist extremists.

he German Intelligence Service (BND) did not immediately comment on Friday's 'Bild' article, which came as Berlin and other Western governments shun official cooperation with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad over human rights abuses.

"I can't comment on operative details of the BND's work," German government spokeswoman Christiane Wirtz told reporters.

The BND has not commented on the report.

More News On Reports That German Intelligence Is Working With Syrian Intelligence

German spies 'rebuild ties with Syrian dictator' -- The Local
German Spies Battle ISIS In Syria: Assad Working With Berlin Foreign Intelligence Agency To Fight Islamic State Group -- IBTimes
German secret service said in talks with Syrian regime -- Times of Israel/AFP
German, Syrian intelligence fighting Sunni jihadists together -- Arutz Sheva
German Intelligence Resumes Cooperation With Syrian Security Services -- Sputnik
Germany Set to Cooperate With Assad, Set Up Intel Agency in Damascus -- Sputnik
Report: German spies again cooperating with Syrian secret service -- Jerusalem Post