海角大神

鈥� A daily summary of global reports on security issues.

As the ongoing violence in聽Syria聽nears its 21st month, the United Nations warns that by early 2013 some 4 million people in Syria will be in need of humanitarian aid.聽But as international organizations, world leaders, and Syria鈥檚 opposition groups point urgently to the bloodshed and rising death toll in Syria, President Bashar al-Assad is ignoring calls for him to step down.

In an interview with Russia鈥檚 RT TV, Mr. Assad said Syria isn鈥檛 facing a civil war, but 鈥渢errorism by proxy.鈥�

鈥淚t is not about reconciling with the people and it is not about reconciliation between the Syrians and the Syrians; we do not have a civil war. It is about terrorism and the support coming from abroad to terrorists to destabilize Syria. This is our war,鈥� Assad said in the interview, which aired in full today.

There have been reports of Al Qaeda affiliates 聽joining in to fight聽the regime聽in Syria, reports 海角大神, something that has raised concerns about offering arms to those battling Assad. 聽

The Syrian conflict has claimed an estimated 36,000 lives, according to activists, and displaced some 1.2 million people, according to the UN. A failure to end the fighting there could mean 700,000 Syrian refugees fleeing into neighboring countries by early 2013, reports the Associated Press.聽As many as 9,000 Syrians crossed into Turkey overnight to flee the violence in their country, a United Nations official told the AP, citing officials in Turkey where footage showed refugees climbing through the barbed-wire fence separating the two countries. More than 11,000 fled overall, flowing into Jordan and Lebanon as well as Turkey.

International intervention, Assad warned in his RT TV interview, however, would lead to global catastrophe.

鈥淚 think the price of this invasion, if it happened, is going to be more than the whole world can afford,鈥� Assad said. The Assad family has ruled in Syria for the past 40 years, and Assad has often cited the fragility of the region and the role of Syria in balancing disparate religious minorities as key factors in maintaining regional stability, reports the Los Angeles Times.聽聽聽 聽

鈥淸W]e are the last stronghold of secularism and stability in the region and coexistence, let鈥檚 say. It will have a domino effect that will affect the world from the Atlantic to the Pacific, and you know the implication on the rest of the world,鈥� Assad told RT TV.

He said he didn鈥檛 believe the West would invade Syria, a sentiment reflected in editorials across the US, such as one entitled 鈥淭he sensible course on Syria鈥� published in the Los Angeles Times. 聽

However, in his interview, Assad noted that if the West did militarily intervene, 鈥渘obody can tell what is next.鈥�

Many are looking to Syrian opposition groups to take on a more unified role in the face of Syria鈥檚 devastating violence, and help to play an active role in resolving the conflict.

Opposition leaders have been meeting in Qatar this week to bring together Syria鈥檚 internal and exiled opposition. The Syrian National Council (SNC) has been the most prominent opposition group, but has come under fire because of both its fractured state and the fact that most of its leaders are located outside of the violence-torn country.

The SNC is expected to elect new leadership today, before taking into consideration a role in the proposed Syrian National Initiative, in which it would have a minority role, reports the BBC.

"We hope we can reach an agreement [on Friday] after the Syrian National Council has succeeded in selecting a new leadership," opposition figure Haytham al-Maleh told Agence France-Presse.

Earlier this week the US State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said that Washington wants "an opposition that represents more of the groups, more of the geographic representation, more of those who have been involved on the ground with local coordinating councils, with revolution councils," reports 海角大神.

Despite the fractured opposition, some say it is in fact Washington that is unprepared for what could come from a post-Assad Syria, the Monitor reports.

"Deep inside, I think it's like the US wishes Assad to stay," says Nadim Shehadi, a Middle East expert at the Chatham House think tank in London. "The challenge is not with the opposition unifying. The challenge is that they're knocking at a door that won't open, which is American support."

Today marks the fifth Syria Humanitarian Forum in Geneva, where close to 400 international organizations, governments, and aid organizations will convene to discuss the humanitarian situation in Syria.

鈥淧eople need to be aware of just how desperate the situation is inside Syria for the people there, how unbearable it is, and how they are suffering and falling into ever deeper despair and humanitarian need,鈥� said the operations director for the UN humanitarian office, John Ging, according to the Associated Press.

鈥淚t鈥檚 just getting a lot worse very rapidly for the ordinary people.鈥�

The head of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) announced the organization is struggling to cope with the needs in Syria, according to the Times.

"The humanitarian situation is getting worse despite the scope of the operation increasing," Peter Maurer, president of the ICRC told reporters. "We can't cope with the worsening of the situation."