Hala Gorani's interview with U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay. Hala asked Pillay about the difficulty in tracking the number of dead in Syria.

Filed under: Syria

During the best of times, reporting from Syria is a challenge.  Today, reporting from Syria means risking your life.  Even on government sanctioned trips, journalists are now facing the possibility of death. Syria may not be a warzone yet, but it’s turning into one quickly.

The UN believes more than 5,000 people have been killed since protests against President Assad began 10 months ago.  On Wednesday January 11, French television journalist Gilles Jacquier was killed in an apparent mortar attack while covering pro-government demonstrations in Homs, the city at the epicenter of the anti-Assad movement. Jacquier was invited into Syria.  He was there officially.  He died in Syria doing his job.

This is a worrying development in Syria.  What started with a small demonstration in the southern city of Daraa, when parents of children detained and tortured by authorities for writing anti-regime graffiti protested in the streets, has now turned into a complex and multi-layered nationwide crisis.

There are anti-regime protesters who remain unarmed.  But there are also army defectors who've formed the "Free Syrian Army", and who are vowing to defeat the oppressive regime by force.  Meanwhile, the country's president, Bashar al-Assad, continues to blame outside instigators for the unrest.  He promises to defeat "terrorists" with an "iron fist", while promising reforms critics say are toothless and cosmetic.

Each Arab Spring uprising has followed its own distinct scenario.  In Tunisia, the authoritarian rule of the president has been replaced by what looks like a functioning political process.  In Egypt, the army is still in charge, and many say the head of the dictatorship was eliminated, but the regime remains – imprisoning critics and cracking down on street protests.

As for Syria, a minority regime is fighting for its survival. It won't go down without a fight. A change of regime in Syria means the minority Alawite clan ruling the country for over 40 years will be stripped of its powers and privileges.  What replaces it, no one dares to predict.  Not even the most seasoned Arab world observers predicted Tunisia, Egypt, Yemen, Bahrain. Libya. In 2012, in this time of change, anything can happen.

When I reported from Syria last July, the government prevented us from traveling to the hotspot city of Homs because, they argued, they couldn’t keep us safe from “terrorists” and “armed gangs”.  No doubt the regime will blame the attack that killed Gilles Jacquier on them. It has been the Assad government’s narrative from the beginning. Many are more than a little skeptical.

For other journalists, trying to get the story means entering Syria in secret – and trusting rebel contacts enough to be led through the darkness and into cities under siege.  Away from the prying eyes of government minders, they risk imprisonment, torture, even death to cover the rebels.

That is exactly what one freelance journalist has done.  He got into Homs with the help of a rebel network and captured some of the most dramatic images of the uprising so far. We've aired his exclusive material on CNN over the last few weeks.

One part of Homs, Baba Amr, is now virtually under the control of the Free Syrian Army. The journalist, whom we are not naming for his own safety, spent several days capturing their fight and the struggle of ordinary Homsis in the neighborhood.  An island of rebel control in a city under siege.  The kind of story the regime and its supporters don’t want you to see.  Those who risk their lives to bring us the truth deserve our respect and admiration.

Homs has become a microcosm of what Syria one day might look like: certain areas will become battlegrounds between armed defectors and regular troops, others will be gripped by fear and concern for the future; some will continue to support the regime for sectarian reasons or because they dread the uncertainty of what might replace Bashar al-Assad.

I've been traveling to Syria my whole life.  It was one of the most beautiful and colorful countries in the world.  To see it like this, as it struggles towards what lies ahead, is sometimes difficult.  But the Arab world as a whole is changing after years of paralysis.  Nothing will ever be the same again.

Hala Gorani is an anchor and reporter for CNN International's iDesk

Posted by: CNN International, Hala Gorani
Filed under: Journalists •Middle East •Syria

Nic Robertson talks to Hala Gorani about his reporting from inside Syria with the Arab League monitors. Nic just returned from Syria and joined the International Desk from London.

Filed under: Uncategorized

Hala Gorani speaks to E.U. Foreign Policy chief Catherine Ashton about the European Union's new and unprecedented sanctions against Iran. Ashton tells CNN this is to pressure Iran into restarting talks about its controversial nuclear program.

Filed under: European Union •Iran

Hala and Wolf Blitzer discuss what to expect Saturday in the South Carolina Primary. Click here to see their conversation.

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Damascus, Syria (CNN) - Syria smoldered Friday as anti-government demonstrators poured into the streets and the Arab League mulled an extension of its monitoring mission.

Protesters focused their attention on political prisoners and demanded the release of detainees. At least 10 people were slain in clashes Friday, according to the Local Coordination Committees of Syria, an opposition activist group.

For more than 10 months, Syria has been in the throes of an anti-government public uprising and a brutal security crackdown against protesters. The United Nations last month estimated well over 5,000 deaths since mid-March. Opposition groups estimate more than 6,000 people have died.

The Arab League has called on President Bashar al-Assad's regime to stop violence against civilians, free political detainees, remove tanks and weapons from cities and allow outsiders, including the international news media, to travel freely around Syria.

A handful of Arab League members will meet Saturday, led by Qatar, before the full body meets Sunday in Cairo to discuss the monitors' final findings.

Human Rights Watch urged the Arab League to publicly release its final report about the group's monitoring mission.

"The Arab League should make its monitors' report public to address increasing concerns that its monitoring mission is being manipulated by the Syrian authorities," Sarah Leah Whitson, Middle East director at Human Rights Watch said on Friday. "Only a transparent assessment of the monitoring mission can determine whether the monitors should stay in the country."

Human Rights Watch has questioned the mission's "lack of transparency and independence."

"The criteria for selecting the monitors have not been made available nor has any information about their monitoring experience. The mission has relied on the Syrian government for security and to transport monitors around the country, compromising the mission's ability to access victims and witnesses safely. The mission's interim report on January 8 has not been made public, and the Arab League has not shared information about the mission's methodology," the group said.

Opposition activists and human rights monitors say the Syrian government has not stopped its aggressive actions against protesters since the mission began December 26.

Human Rights Watch said it has "documented daily violations by security forces against protesters and steps by the Syrian government to interfere with the work of the mission."

Citing local activists, it says 506 civilians have been killed by security forces since the Arab League monitors started the mission. It said "attacks against security forces have also intensified in certain parts of the country."

The al-Assad government says it is fighting "armed terrorist groups," which it blames for the violence.

The opposition Syrian National Council sent a delegation to meet with Arab League officials about the report.

"The report must document the atrocities committed by the Syrian regime against civilians in all cities and towns," the group said in a statement. "Ongoing human rights violations include direct orders by the regime to kill civilians using snipers, and executions by firing squad, in public squares. The SNC delegation will stress that the report must contain clear language indicating genocide, crimes against humanity, and war crimes committed by the regime against unarmed civilians."

Thousands of people have been detained since mid-March. Activist groups on Friday issued statements about one man, Hossam Ahmed Naboulsy - detained in Baniyas several weeks ago.

A video purporting to show a badly beaten and dazed Naboulsy surfaced, and it has prompted stern reaction from activists. The man in the video has a bruised and swollen face

The LCC has urged his release. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, another activist group, says it is "extremely concerned" for his life.

Human Rights Watch is also urging the U.N. Security Council "to impose targeted sanctions to halt the ongoing killings."

"The Arab League should publicly recognize that Syria has not respected the League's plan and work with the Security Council to increase pressure on the authorities and effectively curtail the use of firepower," Whitson said.

The SNC delegation also said it plans to demand that the issue be referred to the Security Council "for a resolution to establish a safe zone and impose a no-fly zone in Syria. The resolution must also call for the establishment of an oversight body empowered to use force to prevent the Syrian regime from continuing to kill and torture its civilian population."

While Western powers have imposed sanctions on Syria during the government crackdown, opposition by Russia and China has kept the U.N. Security Council from following suit.

Syria said U.S. and EU sanctions on its oil sector have led to a $2 billion loss, the state-run Syrian Arab News Agency said, citing the country's oil minister. The government blames oil and gas pipeline sabotage on the terrorist groups.

CNN's Salma Abdelaziz and Joe Sterling contributed to this report

Filed under: Uncategorized

From Ivan Watson and Yesim Comert

Guvecci, Turkey (CNN) - About 100 Syrian refugees clustered Wednesday, chanting and holding a Syrian flag, next to a border fence with Turkey, watched closely by several Turkish soldiers pacing in front of them.

During the course of the day, more than 400 others crossed into Turkish territory near the village of Karbeyaz, even though this is not an official border gate, the semi-official Anatolia news agency said.

They were housed in a tent city near Yayladagi, along the border, where nearly 700 people were sheltered in 100 tents, the agency said.

Many of the refugees are from the Syrian border town of Jisr Al-Shugur, from which they say tens of thousands of residents have fled over the past week after scores of people were killed in fighting.

The Syrian government said more than 80 security forces were killed in an ambush by "armed groups" in Jisr Al-Shugur. But residents of the town say those people died after fighting broke out among Syrian soldiers, some of whom mutinied after Syrian troops fired on anti-government demonstrators at the funeral of a slain protester.

"My friend was shot next to me when we were at a funeral for a martyr," said one Syrian refugee, speaking by telephone to CNN from a stand of trees on the Syrian side of the hilly border area. "There is no milk for children, no water" in Jisr Al-Shugur, he said. "They poisoned the water and there is no more bread."

The refugee, who asked not to be identified, said he did not plan to flee into Turkey unless Syrian troops threatened him and his family at this makeshift frontier haven.

Activist Fadi Mustafa Soufi, speaking via Skype with CNN from the cluster of refugees along the frontier, said shortly after noon that two women wounded in fighting in Jisr Al-Shugur had arrived in a vehicle. "One woman was shot in the face, but she's not dead yet," Soufi said.

Several dozen soldiers who had defected and changed into civilian clothes were among the refugees, Soufi said.

On Tuesday night, a refugee woman named Um Ahmed told CNN she had fled to the border with her daughters to escape what she expected would be a Syrian government attack on Jisr Al-Shugur.

A growing number of Syrian refugees have fled to Turkey over the past month and a half, raising the possibility of a refugee exodus.

In late April, about 250 Syrian civilians fled across the border to the Turkish village of Guvecci. There, they have been housed in tents and fed by the Turkish Red Crescent at an old tobacco factory. Turkish authorities have denied journalists permission to speak with the refugees and have refused to allow the refugees to leave the compound.

Turkish officials speaking on condition of anonymity told CNN that 41 Syrians - several of them wounded - crossed the border Saturday.

A doctor, also speaking on condition of anonymity, told CNN that more than 30 Syrians with gunshot and shrapnel wounds had been treated at a hospital in Turkey in recent days.

Meanwhile, Soufi, the activist from Jisr Al-Shugur, said he saw the bodies of two wounded Syrian men who died while being driven to the Turkish border.

In the past, the Turkish government has made a show of evacuating wounded civilians from Iraq and Libya. But Ankara has taken a different approach with dozens of wounded civilians fleeing Syria.

Turkey fears a repeat of the 1991 exodus of large numbers of Kurdish refugees from Northern Iraq. Ankara has also spent the past decade promoting cozy relations and lucrative economic ties with Syria's 45-year-old president, Bashar al-Assad.

The United Nations reports more than 1,000 people have been killed during anti-regime protests in Syria in less than three months. Over the past month, the government of Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan has begun calling for reform in Damascus in a bid to curb the escalating violence.

"It is out of (the) question that we close the border at this point. The developments in Syria are saddening. We are watching in worry," Erdogan said Wednesday.

"We hope that Syria changes its attitude towards the civilians to a more tolerant one and realizes its steps for reform in a more convincing way for the civilians."

Erdogan has been furiously campaigning ahead of Turkish parliamentary elections scheduled to take place on June 12.

(Photo of Syrian women at a Red Crescent center in Turkey – Getty Images)

Filed under: Uncategorized

Filed under: Israel-West Bank •Jerusalem •Mideast

The French first lady is one of the most talked about women in the world. Her past as a supermodel, her reputation as a man-eater and now, reincarnated as the demure third wife of French president Nicolas Sarkozy, she has become the subject of intense global media fascination.

We waited for Mrs Sarkozy at the French United Nations mission in New York City. She appeared on the threshold of the interview room – on time – in a black Audrey Hepburn style dress, walked briskly toward me and, wide-eyed, introduced herself.

“Hello, I’m Carla!”

Mr and Mrs Sarkozy are in town on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly. The French president gave a speech and Carla Bruni spent some time speaking in her role as ambassador to the Global Fund to fight AIDS.

We would speak about her humanitarian work and, of course, bring up the controversy stirred up by two explosive biographies published in France last week. But seconds before sitting down, and to our surprise, she insisted on being interviewed with the Fund’s head, Michel Kazatchkine.

“It either happens with him,” she tells me with a smile, “or it doesn’t happen.”

As our team hurriedly reorganized chairs and lighting to accommodate a second interviewee, Bruni’s mobile phone rings.

“Oui mon amour,” she answers in a velvety voice. “I’m just doing CNN and I’m done.”

I’ve seen images and heard Carla Bruni’s voice for two decades. (Full disclosure: I love her songs, music and lyrics and listen to her albums regularly). So it wasn’t without great curiosity that I prepared for our interview.

Why is the fight against AIDS and malaria dear to her?

“To me, it’s important to do something while I stand by my husband while he’s the president of France,” she tells me, “Little by little I thought maybe I could bring some attention to the work that the Global Fund does.”

And boy does attention follow Carla Bruni wherever she goes.

The two Carla Bruni books have only added to the worldwide interest in the former model.

In “Carla And The Ambitious” (the title makes much more sense in French, to be fair), Carla Bruni allegedly said U.S. First lady Michelle Obama told her White House life was “hell.”

Is it true?

“Of course Michelle Obama never said such a thing,” Bruni answers. “Not one book that has come out about me was authorized. But of course, I live in France and France is a free country where anyone can fantasize and publish it.”

What about those much more damaging allegations in the book that Carla Bruni-Sarkozy used secret French police files to uncover a plot to oust her or to find out who was leaking damaging rumors about her?

“I’m happy to disassociate myself not only form this book but from all books,” she says. Bruni added said she could technically take legal action, but that she considers that an “undemocratic” move and that she never does it “by principle.”

Before the interview, the New York bureau called me to say there was new video of Carla and Nicolas Sarkozy cuddling and hugging on a United Nations escalator.

I asked her about her very public display of affection for her husband, whose popularity in France has plummeted and who’s facing ferocious criticism for his pension reform plans and France’s expulsion of Roma gypsies.

Bruni puts her index finger on her lips, as if to say “Shhh, I’m embarrassed!” but then readily answers:

“We just met! We are brand new spouses. It’s been three years. And of course all this pressure that he has on his shoulders brings us even closer.”

Posted by: CNN Anchor, Hala Gorani
Filed under: Carla Bruni

If this summer’s surge in anti-Muslim rhetoric in America has highlighted one thing, it’s that nine years after the horrific events of 9/11, the clear and unequivocal distinction between Islam and Al Qaeda has not been made in this country.

This summer, a vast majority of Americans (more than 70%) said they oppose the building of an Islamic center in lower Manhattan, two blocks from Ground Zero.

And like dominos falling across the country, the New York Islamic center controversy has stirred frenzied anti-Islam: from the opposition of a Mosque expansion in Tennessee to the Islamophobic rants of a Florida preacher who captured the attention of the world by calling for a Koran-burning event on the anniversary of 9/11.

The New York Islamic Center project, Park 51, has become a political hot topic as the country approaches important midterm elections. The U.S. president and the New York mayor have been among those who support the building of the center because, they say, it is within the organizers’ constitutional rights to do so.

But others, including former presidential candidate Senator John McCain, have opposed the project. Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich said that the Islamic Center was “not about religion, and is clearly an aggressive act that is offensive."

Building the center is legal, they say, but that doesn’t make it right.

And that nuance has been at the crux of the opposition to the project: this isn’t about what is legal, critics say, but what is “right,” what is “sensitive” and what honors the memories of the victims of the 9/11.

In other words, some Muslims in America say that even though they had nothing to do with the attacks, they are somehow complicit with the terrorists simply by virtue of their faith. And they should know better than to practice that faith so close to where thousands of innocents were murdered by a band of lunatics, because that band of lunatics did it all in the name of Islam.

And they say that if almost three quarter of Americans say they don’t want a Mosque a couple of blocks from Ground Zero, it’s that the majority, on some level, equates Islam with terrorism. Perhaps it even means that the majority feels American Muslims’ allegiance is to Islam first and to America second.

This has led to vivid and fascinating debate in America. And some of the most vocal and passionate advocates of warning Americans against the dangers of anti-Muslim bigotry have been non-Muslims.

In his column on Saturday, the New York Times’ Nick Kristof wrote: “This is one of those times that test our values, a bit like the shameful interning of Japanese-Americans during World War II, or the disgraceful refusal to accept Jewish refugees from Nazi Europe.”

But here’s what’s interesting (and rarely discussed): there is debate even among Muslims themselves. Ibrahim Hooper, of the Council on American-Islamic relations told me that the Park 51 controversy was “manufactured” for political gain. CNN host and Newsweek columnist Fareed Zakaria famously returned an Anti-Defamation League award because of the organization’s opposition to the location of the Islamic Center.

Others, however, including Akbar Ahmed, chair of Islamic studies at American University, said of the center near Ground Zero, “When wounds are raw, an episode like constructing a house of worship—even one protected by the Constitution, protected by law—becomes like salt in the wounds.”

As for Feisal Abdul Rauf, the Imam behind the Park 51 project, he said last week on CNN that he never would have chosen that location had he known it would provoke controversy.

His major concern now? Not that Muslims (like anyone else) should be allowed to worship freely in America on private land, as is guaranteed by the Constitution, but that moving it will mean that “the headline in the Muslim world will be Islam is under attack in America, this will strengthen the radicals in the Muslim world.”

So there are multiple voices in American Islam (pluralism is good) but not a single message. The end result is that American Muslims themselves come off as ambiguous when asked about their rights in the United States, so perhaps they shouldn’t be surprised that the country is too.

Posted by: CNN Anchor, Hala Gorani
Filed under: Uncategorized