Syrian rebels prepare for push on eastern oil city

[No Elephants]

Syrian rebels prepare for push on eastern oil city

By Mariam Karouny

BEIRUT | Tue Feb 12, 2013 4:45am EST

(Reuters) - Syrian rebels are launching a major operation to take control of the strategic eastern city of Deir al-Zor after pushing out government forces from oil-producing areas around it, a rebel commander said.

If they seize the city, the rebels will control a whole province for the first time in the 22-month-old Syrian uprising against President Bashar al-Assad.

Ibrahim Abu Baker, leader of the powerful Al-Qadisiyah Brigade, said his rebel force, along with Islamists from Jabhat al-Nusra and Arab fighters, had surrounded Deir al-Zor on four sides in the build-up to the operation.

"The countryside is liberated, what is left of the province (of Deir al-Zor) is the city itself," he told Reuters from the province via Skype. "All brigades are taking part in this... We are in charge of the eastern side of the city."

http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/02/12/us-syria-crisis-idUSBRE91A0MU20130212

[Enthusiast]

1. Yay, rebels!

I think.

[No Elephants]

2. I know. i wish the bad guys would wear a black hat, like in the old Westerns.

Then, we'd all know for whom to cheer.