Siriska vlast pozvala UN da istrazi navodni napad hemiskim oruzjem
http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/worl ... k/2002075/
U sred rata buznis zna da cveta onima koji su snalazljivi ili bezskrupulozni. Jedna luka je oaza mira gde mnogi trgovci (Alawiti, Hriscani, Suniti i.t.d.) mlate dobar profit
http://sg.news.yahoo.com/amid-civil-war ... iness.html
Tartous is not only a haven for thousands of civilians fleeing violence, but a magnet for merchants who want to keep business flowing in what they view as only a temporary home.
"Tartous is living its golden days in terms of business, and if a merchant is clever he has an opportunity he can exploit," says Samer, a shoe salesman who closed up shop in the central city of Homs a year ago and moved his family to Tartous.
While many worry about the port's long-term future, they are eager to do business now while they plan a more permanent move.
"I will not stay here too long. I am just trying to sell off the goods I have and then leave, probably to Egypt," said Abu Ahmed, a Sunni importer of Chinese school supplies.
The Mediterranean city has swelled to around 1.6 million from an original population of 938,000, according to residents' estimates.
Assad's portraits hang in the streets and there are few signs of the rebellion that is tearing the rest of the country apart, other than pictures of young men who have died fighting for the Syrian leader.
FUEL STOP
Locals say the influx of businesses to Tartous soared after August 2012, when rebels moved into Aleppo, Syria's largest city, and opened up a new battlefront that is now mired in a bloody stalemate.
Aleppo has a large population of wealthy Sunni merchants, such as Abu Ahmed, who moved here soon after the fighting began.
Local tradesmen say some recently enacted laws have made it easier for shop and factory owners to move their equipment to safer cities. They believe the measures were meant to channel business to Tartous and encourage Sunni merchants to move there.
"It seems as if the government is saying to the rich Sunnis, come to the coast. But to the poor Sunnis, get out of Syria and go be a refugee," said Amir, a Christian salesman from Tartous.
Northern Aleppo, Syria's business hub, has been paralysed by devastating street battles and air raids. Much of central Homs, once a regional centre of commerce, has been flattened by more than a year of fighting. And Hama, another centre of industry, is isolated by the turmoil.
"One man's misfortune is another man's gain," Amir joked. "There is no other area to buy fuel than Tartous ... So the car owners come to fill their tanks, and since they've come all this way, they might as well buy all their other needs."