Berri Calls on Amal Supporters to ‘Remain on Alert’ in Case of War with Israel

Lebanese Speaker Nabih Berri. (NNA file photo)
Lebanese Speaker Nabih Berri. (NNA file photo)
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Berri Calls on Amal Supporters to ‘Remain on Alert’ in Case of War with Israel

Lebanese Speaker Nabih Berri. (NNA file photo)
Lebanese Speaker Nabih Berri. (NNA file photo)

Lebanese Speaker and head of the Amal Movement, Nabih Berri, called Saturday on his party’s supporters to remain on alert against any possible aggression launched by Israel against Lebanon.

“I call on the Amal Movement to maintain a state of alert to show the enemy that every inch of Lebanon is part of the resistance,” he said.

He accused Tel Aviv of seeking to “settle its scores” in the region through Lebanon.

“There is no American war on Iran, and negotiations with Tehran occur through French channels. Hence, Israel was only left with the Lebanese arena to adjust the balance of power, and accordingly breached the rules of engagement in place since August 14, 2006," the speaker added.

Berri was speaking during a ceremony organized by the Amal Movement in the southern city of Nabatiyeh to mark the 41st commemoration of the disappearance of Imam Moussa al-Sadr and his two companions. 


He denounced "the Israeli attack against the Beirut suburb region" while praising the "national unity, which has emerged against this aggression."

A week ago, an Israeli drone crashed and another exploded shortly after, causing damage to Hezbollah’s media offices its stronghold in Beirut's southern suburbs.

Berri reiterated that the "army, people and resistance" is a tripartite equation that unites the Lebanese.

He also revealed that "negotiations have been ongoing for five years, in the presence of the United Nations, to demarcate the land and sea borders, but the Israelis continue to evade them.”



Syria Rescuers, Activist Say Site outside Damascus Believed to Be Mass Grave

 This aerial view shows a site believed to be a mass grave near Baghdad Bridge in Adra, about 35 kilometers east of Damascus, on December 25, 2024. (AFP)
This aerial view shows a site believed to be a mass grave near Baghdad Bridge in Adra, about 35 kilometers east of Damascus, on December 25, 2024. (AFP)
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Syria Rescuers, Activist Say Site outside Damascus Believed to Be Mass Grave

 This aerial view shows a site believed to be a mass grave near Baghdad Bridge in Adra, about 35 kilometers east of Damascus, on December 25, 2024. (AFP)
This aerial view shows a site believed to be a mass grave near Baghdad Bridge in Adra, about 35 kilometers east of Damascus, on December 25, 2024. (AFP)

A key Syrian rescue group and an activist told AFP on Wednesday a burial site outside Damascus was likely a mass grave for detainees held under former president Bashar al-Assad and fighters killed in the civil war.

In a vast walled area located near the Baghdad Bridge, some 35 kilometers (22 miles) from the capital, AFP journalists visiting the site saw a long row of graves more than one meter deep, mostly covered with cement slabs.

Several of the slabs had been moved and inside, white bags could be seen stacked over each other with names and numbers written on them. One of the bags contained a human skull and bones.

"We think this is a mass grave -- we found an open grave with seven bags filled with bones," said Abdel Rahman Mawas from the White Helmets rescue group, which visited the site several days earlier.

He told AFP by telephone that the bags, six of which bore names, were "taken to a secure location", adding that "necessary procedures were begun for DNA testing".

He said if additional graves had been exposed it meant other people may have been searching the site, warning people to "stay away from graves and let the relevant authorities handle them".

The site, near the Adra industrial area northeast of the capital, is less than 20 kilometers from the Saydnaya prison.

Diab Serriya, from the Association of Detainees and Missing Persons of Sednaya Prison, said the site was first identified in 2019 through "testimony of an intelligence personnel member who had deserted".

Satellite imagery suggests the site was in use from 2014, he said.

"Probably this grave contains detainees but also former regime or opposition fighters killed in battle," he told AFP by telephone.

The notorious Saydnaya complex, the site of extrajudicial executions, torture and forced disappearances, epitomized the atrocities committed against Assad's opponents.

Serriya said "the bags of bones were probably brought from other graves", adding that "the road to discovering who is buried here will be long".

The doors of Syria's prisons were flung open after an opposition alliance ousted Assad this month, more than 13 years after his brutal repression of anti-government protests triggered a war that would kill more than 500,000 people.

The fate of tens of thousands of prisoners and missing people remains one of the most harrowing legacies of the conflict.

Mohammed Ali from the Adra municipal council denied residents were aware of the site, which is located near a Syrian army facility.

"It was forbidden to approach it or take photos as it was a military zone," he told AFP.