[This video shows] a harrowing series of photographs of Islamic militants publicly executing, by decapitation, a young Syrian in the town of Keferghan, near Aleppo, on August 31, 2013. ● I don’t know how old the victim was but he was young. He was forced to his knees. The rebels around him read out his crimes from a sheet of paper. They stood around him. The young man was on his knees on the ground, his hands tied. He seemed frozen. Two rebels whispered something into his ear and the young man replied in an innocent and sad manner, but I couldn’t understand what he said because I don’t speak Arabic. At the moment of execution the rebels grasped his throat. The young man put up a struggle. Three or four rebels pinned him down. The man tried to protect his throat with his hands, which were still tied together. He tried to resist but they were stronger than he was and they cut his throat. They raised his head into the air. People waved their guns and cheered. Everyone was happy that the execution had gone ahead.

The US terror drone campaign has displaced thousands of civilians in the troubled southern and eastern regions of war-ravaged Afghanistan, Press TV reports. ● Thousands of people fled their homes in Helmand, Kandahar, Kapisa and several other provinces after the US escalated drone strikes across the troubled regions. The Afghan government plans to relocate thousands of internally displaced persons (IDPs) currently living in camps on the outskirts of Kabul. The latest US-led airstrike killed a young girl and injured three other civilians in the east of Afghanistan. The attack took place on September 11 in Nejrab district in the northeastern province of Kapisa. Thousands of people have died in US-led airstrikes and drone attacks in Afghanistan since the 2001 invasion of the country.

Taliban militants attacked a US consulate in western Afghanistan Friday, killing an Afghan guard and injuring six others, police said. ● "Two attackers detonated their explosives-laden truck at the first entrance of the US consulate at 5:30 am (0100 GMT) in Herat city, injuring four guards of a private security company and two policemen," Rahmatullah Safi, police chief for Herat province said. "Following the explosion, three others who were in another vehicle opened fire on the guards," Safi told dpa. "One of the injured guards died due to bleeding," he said.The three remaining assailants were killed when the police returned fire, he said. Another police officer said consulate staff were evacuated by helicopter, but Safi denied this, saying the diplomats were safe inside the compound. Earlier news reports said three security personnel were killed. The US State Department confirmed the attack, but not the casualties.

● Following hot on the heels of comments by President Bashar Assad backing the idea, the Syrian government has formally ratified the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC), obliging them to end production of chemical weapons and move toward their eventual destruction.
● Syria was one of seven remaining nations on the planet that haven’t ratified the treaty, and the list will now only include six: Israel, Myanmar, Angola, Egypt, North Korea, and South Sudan.
● The United Nations has confirmed receipt of the documents verifying Syria’s ratification of the CWC, and Assad has indicated that he intends to have a full list of his nation’s arsenal available for the UN within 30 days.

Xinhuanet.com: Israel not to ratify chemical arms treaty before Arab neighbors

Syria will start handing over information on its chemical weapons to international groups a month after it signs the Chemical Weapons Convention, President Bashar Assad has told a Russian TV channel. Damascus has agreed to a Russia proposal to put its chemical weapons stockpiles under international control. “Syria is handing over its chemical weapons under international supervision because of Russia,” Assad said in an interview with state-run news channel Rossiya-24. “The US threats did not influence the decision.” Within days Damascus promises to submit to the United Nations all documents required for joining the chemical weapons ban treaty. A month after Syria signs the Chemical Weapons Convention it will start handing over information on chemical weapons to international organizations. “I believe the agreement will come into force a month after the signing and Syria will start submitting data on its chemical weapons stockpile to international organizations. These are standard procedures and we are going to stick to them,” he said.

Syrian Arab News Agency: President al-Assad's interview with American CBS news
Syrian Arab News Agency: President al-Assad: Syria will never become a western puppet state

Russian President Vladimir Putin used a New York Times opinion piece to take a swipe at Americans' notion that the world's oldest constitutional democracy has a special responsibilities on the global stage. While urging President Barack Obama not to strike Syria over alleged use of chemical weapons, Putin questioned what he called "American exceptionalism." In his Times piece, the Russian president said he disagreed with US President Barack Obama's assertion, in a closely watched speech Tuesday, that US policy toward Syria was a manifestation of America's special role. "It is extremely dangerous to encourage people to see themselves as exceptional, whatever the motivation," Putin wrote.

Paul Craig Roberts: Putin established as the leader of the free world and the defender of the rule of law

Alex Lantier ■ As US and Russian negotiators arrived in Geneva yesterday for talks ostensibly aimed at forestalling war against Syria, US officials announced that they were beginning to directly arm and supply the Islamist opposition inside Syria. Over the last two years, the CIA has overseen the arming of the opposition militias with weapons paid for by Saudi Arabia and other Persian Gulf oil sheikdoms like Qatar and transferred clandestinely via a network of bases in Turkey, Eastern Europe, and the Arab countries. Now, however, US taxpayer funds will go to arming opposition fighters allied or directly affiliated to Al Qaeda.