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Foreign Office confirms Iranian support for Syria
6/6/2011
Senior Foreign Office sources said that there is "credible information" that Tehran is providing riot control gear and paramilitary training to Syrian security forces. Moreover, members of Iran's Revolutionary Guard have been providing technical...
 
U.S. Slaps Syria's Assad With Sanctions for Human Rights Abuses
6/2/2011
The Obama administration on Wednesday announced sanctions against Syrian President Bashar Assad and six other senior Syrian officials, taking an unprecedented step to isolate the regime over its brutal crackdown on protesters. The sanctions mark...
 
Rudd wants court action against al-Assad
6/1/2011
Foreign Minister Kevin Rudd has called on the United Nations to refer Syrian President Bashar al-Assad to the International Criminal Court. Mr Rudd on Wednesday announced he had widened Australia's sanctions against Mr Assad's regime as Syria...
 
Teenage victim becomes a symbol for Syria's revolution
6/1/2011
The new face of the Syrian revolution is chubby, has a winning smile and belongs to a 13-year-old named Hamza al-Khatib. The boy, from a village called al-Jizah near the southern city of Deraa, has become the most famous victim yet of Syria's...
 
Resolution on Syrian crackdown submitted to UN
5/26/2011
European states have submitted a draft resolution to the United Nations security council condemning Syria for its deadly crackdown on pro-democracy protesters, diplomats said. Britain, France, Germany and Portugal circulated the resolution to...
 
Syria mourners 'attacked by security forces'
5/22/2011
At least 11 mourners have been killed and at least 27 wounded in Homs after security forces opened fire on a massive funeral procession, according to human rights activists. More than 40,000 people gathered in Homs on Saturday for the funerals...
 
Syria Troops Kill 21 Protesters
5/20/2011
Syria's security forces opened fire on demonstrators in a Damascus suburb and at least two other cities Friday, killing 21 people, according to a human rights group, as President Bashar al-Assad continues to defy U.S. pressure to stop the violent...
 
Syria Intensifies Crackdown on Protesters With Assaults in Damascus, Daraa
5/18/2011
.Syria intensified a crackdown on anti-government protesters with a coordinated attack on several suburbs of the capital, Damascus, and on a city in the southern governorate of Daraa, where the unrest began two months ago. The suburbs of Kanakir,...
 
Syria unrest: Clinton and Ashton in new call for reform
5/18/2011
We will be taking additional steps in the days ahead," US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said after talks with EU top diplomat Catherine Ashton. The US and EU have already imposed sanctions on some members of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's...
 
5 killed in Syria despite dialogue offer
5/14/2011
DAMASCUS : At least five people were killed in Syria, activists said, despite an order from President Bashar al-Assad for security forces not to open fire on protesters and an offer of dialogue. Friday's bloodshed cast a pall over the government's...
 
Syrian soldier pictured stamping on handcuffed protesters as international pressure on Middle Eastern regime grows
5/11/2011
This is the moment a Syrian soldier stamps on the bodies of handcuffed residents who were laid out on the ground during a brutal military crackdown on protests. Thousands of people had gathered across the Middle Eastern country to voice their anger...
 
Syria unrest: Crackdown continues in Homs
5/11/2011
Syrian security forces are continuing their crackdown on anti-government protests across the country, with army tanks shelling the third city of Homs. Several reports say the residential district of Bab Amro came under attack in the early hours...
 
Royal wedding: Syrian ambassador embarrassed at being disinvited
4/29/2011
Sami Khiyami’s invitation to the royal wedding was rescinded yesterday morning amid mounting criticism of the Syrian regime’s killing of hundreds of civilian protesters in recent weeks. The Foreign Office had originally defended his invitation...
 
Royal wedding: Syrian ambassador embarrassed at being disinvited
Sami Khiyami’s invitation to the royal wedding was rescinded yesterday morning amid mounting criticism of the Syrian regime’s killing of hundreds of civilian protesters in recent weeks. The Foreign Office had originally defended his invitation...
 
Syria braces for 'day of rage' protests
4/29/2011
DAMASCUS — Activists called for "day of rage" protests across Syria after the Friday weekly Muslim prayers, piling pressure on President Bashar al-Assad as his regime pressed a violent crackdown on dissent. The looming showdown comes as the UN...
 
Syria experiences 'Good Friday massacre'
4/23/2011
Mr Assad responded to growing popular pressure by lifting Syria’s draconian 1962 emergency laws. But the president’s apparently conciliatory gesture failed to signal a softening of the regime’s determination to crush dissent. Across the country,...
 
Security Forces Fire on Protesters in Restive Syrian City
4/19/2011
CAIRO — Weeks of clashes in Syria between protesters and the government intensified on Monday and early Tuesday as security forces fired on a crowd of thousands of demonstrators in the central square of the city of Homs, witnesses said. The crowd...
 
Thousands demand Syria reforms
4/15/2011
Tens of thousands of people chanting "Freedom!" have held protests in several Syrian cities to demand greater reforms than the limited concessions offered by president Bashar Assad. The largest protests were on the outskirts of the capital, Damascus,...
 
Syria's Crackdown Playbook: Fighting Public Anger with Increasing Brutality
4/14/2011
A man in a white shirt lies motionless, apparently dead, on an otherwise empty road, his arms and legs splayed at awkward angles. Intense gunfire crackles as four black-clad anti-riot policemen in helmets and shields run up to the body, several beat...
 
Democracy's price may be too high for Syria
4/14/2011
Syria is in its fourth week of unrest as anti-government protests persist, and the death toll climbs with 171 killed thus far according to Amnesty International. Conflicting reports emanating from Syria provide an unclear picture as to who is...
 
Syrian women protest
4/13/2011
THOUSANDS of women staged a sit-in yesterday on a main highway in north-eastern Syria to demand the release of hundreds of people arrested in protests in the region. ''More than 5000 women are gathered on the main road linking the towns of Tartus...
 
March 14 coalition supporters gather at Martyrs' Square
3/13/2011
Dubai: Supporters of the March 14 coalition gathered at Beirut's Martyrs' Square Sunday morning, to attend a rally to mark the sixth anniversary of the founding of the alliance. The rally is aimed at sending a message to the Hezbollah alliance...
 
Syria Rejects Any Foreign Intervention in Libya
3/13/2011
Cairo (Ahlul Bayt News Agency) - Syria's Permanent Representative to the Arab League (AL), Yousef Ahmad, on Saturday stressed that any resolution adopted by the League should take into consideration, in a practical, clear-cut, and methodological...
 
Will Syria Be the First Arab Nation to Develop a Nuclear Weapon?
3/13/2011
Syria has been enigmatic about its nuclear program ever since Israeli air force jets destroyed a reactor in the middle of the night in September 2007. Mystery surrounded the incident. Even the U.S. took weeks to confirm that what had been hit was...
 
U.S. threatenhs Syria with isolation
The United States has threatened Syria with an international isolation similar to that of Iran and North Korea. Washington and the International nuclear watchdog IAEA have demanded that Damascus should allow IAEA inspectors visit sites which intelligence...
 
12 rights groups in Syria demand end to emergency
3/9/2011
DAMASCUS — Twelve Syrian human rights organisations called on the government on Tuesday to scrap the state of emergency which has stifled civil society for almost 50 years. "The state of emergency affects human rights and public freedoms which are...
 
Syria releases leading human rights activist
3/9/2011
DAMASCUS, Syria -- Syria released a leading lawyer and human rights activist who was imprisoned since 2009 for "spreading false information" after giving a television interview that criticized excessive government security and corruption, human rights...
 
Syria agrees to IAEA inspection of nuclear site
3/3/2011
VIENNA — Syria has agreed to a vist by inspectors from the Vienna-based International Atomic Energy Agency to a nuclear site for the first time since June 2008, diplomats said Wednesday. The site, at Homs in the west of the country, is known to...
 
Lieberman: Assad's only goal is to stay in power
3/3/2011
Following developments in the Middle East, Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman said he is willing to open peace negotiations with Syria but that ceding the Golan Heights is not an option. In closed talks with senior officials in the international...
 
Calls on Facebook to oust Syria's Assad
2/27/2011
NICOSIA — A Facebook page has called for mass protests in Syria and in several Western countries against the rule of President Bashar al-Assad. The organisers of the page, which had 25,000 fans early on Saturday, said the date for demonstrations...
 
Syria clamps down on dissent with beatings and arrests
2/25/2011
Tensions are mounting in the Syrian capital, Damascus, after the third peaceful demonstration in three weeks was violently dispersed on Wednesday. There are increasing reports of intimidation and blocking of communications by secret services in the...
 
4 nuclear sites found in Syria
2/24/2011
WASHINGTON – Syria established four additional nuclear facilities aside from the one bombed by Israel in 2007, the US Institute for Science and International Security (ISIS) reported late Wednesday. The report, which was published alongside a report...
 
Netanyahu Blasts Iran For Sending Ships Through Suez
2/21/2011
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu accuses Iran of exploiting Egypt's political crisis by sending two warships through the Suez Canal. Suez Canal officials in Egypt identify the ships as a frigate and a supply ship on their way to Syria....
 
Syrian government gives money to poor
2/21/2011
Phone from a mobile or landline International calls for less www.DialToSave.co.uk/Syria Damascus, Feb 20 (IANS) The Syrian government has started giving out cash payments to thousands of poor people in an effort to tackle the high levels of...
 
Syria Protest Video Shows Unprecedented Crowd of 1,500 in Damascus
2/19/2011
It was a small protest by Tunisian or Egyptian standards, only 1,500 people, but the spontaneous gathering in Damascus on Thursday may turn out to be the spark that ignites mass demonstrations in Syria. It began with a Syrian man and traffic police...
 
Israel Official Says Iran Ship Is 'Provocation'
2/17/2011
JERUSALEM—Israel's foreign minister on Wednesday accused Iran of staging a "provocation" by sending a warship on a course to sail through the Suez Canal and past Israel's Mediterranean coast to Syria. Israel's defense minister and U.S. officials,...
 
Syria rejects atomic watchdog's inspection request
2/17/2011
DAMASCUS // Syria has rebuffed an unprecedented personal request from the director general of the United Nations' nuclear watchdog for more cooperation in an ongoing investigation. A series of news reports this week revealed that Yukiya Amano,...
 
Rights groups say Syrian authorities release activist who called for anti-government protests
2/16/2011
DAMASCUS, Syria — Human rights groups say a Syrian activist arrested earlier this month for calling for anti-government protests has been released because of health problems. In a statement, nine local rights group said Wednesday that Ghassan...
 
Rights groups warn of jailed Syrian activist's deteriorating health
2/14/2011
DAMASCUS, Syria — Human rights groups have expressed deep concern over the deteriorating health of a Syrian activist who was arrested earlier this month after he urged his fellow countrymen to stage protests. In a statement issued Sunday, nine...
 
US urges Syria to release young blogger
2/14/2011
WASHINGTON — Washington on Saturday called on Damascus to release Tal Al-Mallouhi, a young female blogger US officials say was prosecuted in a "secret trial" on accusations that she spied for the United States. "The United States strongly condemns...
 
Syria appears to lift ban on Facebook and YouTube
2/9/2011
BEIRUT – Internet users in Syria say Facebook and YouTube are available for the first time in three years amid signs Damascus may be lifting its ban on the websites. The Syrian government does not comment on its Internet restrictions. But several...
 
Calls for weekend protests in Syria
2/3/2011
Calls for protests in Syria are spreading on social media websites, following popular uprisings in Tunisia and Egypt. Organisers say protests will be staged in front of the parliament in the capital, Damascus, on Friday and Saturday, and at Syrian...
 
U.S. Needs an Ambassador in Syria
1/23/2011
The political quarreling over President Obama’s appointment of Robert Ford as U.S. Ambassador to Syria distracts from the original reason for the decision. Rather than focus on the process of Ford’s appointment, the debate should center on the strategic...
 
Desperately Seeking Syria at Lebanon's Expense
1/20/2011
It has been almost six years since a brutal bombing in Beirut killed Lebanon's Prime Minister Rafiq Hariri and 22 others on Valentine's Day 2005. This week, the UN prosecutor overseeing the investigation finally submitted sealed indictments to the...
 
Syria hikes key price subsidy after Tunisia events
1/16/2011
Damacus raises heating oil allowance by 72 percent * Gov't hitherto had been slashing subsidies * Syrian media blame Tunisia disorder on closeness to West By Khaled Yacoub Oweis DAMASCUS, Jan 16 (Reuters) - Syrian authorities sharply...
 
New Change of Power Raises Questions in Tunisia
1/15/2011
TUNIS — Power in Tunisia changed hands again Saturday morning in the aftermath of President Zine El-Abidine Ben Ali’s flight from the country as soldiers kept the city under a tight lockdown, sporadic nighttime riots simmered down and clouds of smoke...
 
Syria welcomes new US ambassador to Damascus
1/15/2011
A senior Syrian source told Ahram Online that the newly appointed US Ambassador to Damascus Robert Ford is already in Syria and will begin his work officially on Saturday. The source said that Syria considers Ford’s appointment “a very positive step...
 
Syrian PM arrives in Baghdad in bid to improve ties after new Iraq government formed
1/15/2011
BAGHDAD — Syria's prime minister arrived Saturday in Baghdad for a two-day visit — a major step toward improving relations that were strained by Iraqi allegations that the Syrians were harbouring Iraqi insurgents. Government spokesman Ali al-Dabbagh...
 
Lebanon's Jumblatt in Syria for crisis talks
1/15/2011
DAMASCUS — Lebanese Druze leader Walid Jumblatt was in Damascus on Saturday for talks with President Bashar al-Assad on the political crisis sparked by the collapse of Saad Hariri's government in Lebanon, state news agency SANA reported. Political...
 
Syria increases punishment for honor killing
1/11/2011
DAMASCUS, Syria — Syria has ordered the sentence for those convicted of honor killings tripled to between five and seven years. The local press reported Monday that President Bashar Assad amended the current law which stipulated a jail sentence...
 
American Jewish leader makes secret trip to Syria
1/7/2011
Malcolm Hoenlein, a prominent U.S. Jewish leader, secretly visited Damascus about two weeks ago and met with Syrian President Bashar Assad and Foreign Minister Walid Moallem, the Israeli daily Yediot Achronot reported. Hoenlein, the executive...
 
Syria makes low-key opening of casino
1/3/2011
DAMASCUS - A casino opened without fanfare near the Syrian capital on Christmas Eve, in a bending of the rules in a secular country seeking to lure tourists but where gambling is banned out of respect for Islam. "The casino was packed, the money...
 
Hoenlein: I visited Syria to promote humanitarian agenda
1/3/2011
Jewish American leader says during Damascus meeting with Assad he requested information on missing Sultan Yacoub soldiers, asked that Syria allow Eli Cohen's bones to be brought to Israel Senior US Jewish leader Malcolm Hoenlein secretly visited...
 
Barack Obama appoints first US ambassador to Syria since 2005
1/1/2011
The Republicans claimed the appointment of Robert Ford, a career diplomat, would inappropriately reward Damascus while it still has strong ties to Hizbollah, the paramilitary group. Mr Obama used the opportunity of a Congress in recess to appoint...
 
'US secretly talking to Damascus about Israel-Syria peace'
1/1/2011
Kuwaiti paper 'Al-Rai' reports Syrian officials told Dennis Ross they are prepared to distance themselves from Iran, Hizbullah and Hamas and cooperate with the war on terrorism; US pressuring Israel to make concessions. The US has been secretly...
 
Fifth dry season has Syria facing 'disaster'
12/30/2010
DAMASCUS // More than a million Syrians enduring the driest winter in decades are facing "disaster", a United Nations agriculture official has warned. Syria's eastern "breadbasket" region has already suffered four consecutive years of drought...
 
WikiLeaks: Syria Encouraged Anti-Cartoon Protest
12/30/2010
A U.S. diplomatic cable appearing on the Wikileaks website says Syria promoted violent protests against controversial cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad four years ago in which European embassies in Damascus were attacked. The cable quotes the U.S....
 
Obama names ambassador to Syria
12/30/2010
President Obama on Wednesday appointed the first U.S. ambassador to Syria since 2005, using a recess appointment to bypass opposition from Senate Republicans. Because he was appointed while the Senate is in recess, Robert Ford, a career diplomat,...
 
'Saudis, Syria proposed Hariri-Hezbollah compromise'
12/29/2010
Media outlets in Beirut reported that Syria and Saudi Arabia are formulating a compromise offer in an attempt to prevent unrest in Lebanon following the publication of the indictments against those involved in the 2005 assassination of former Lebanese...
 
Report: Syria has Killed More Than 30 Lebanese Leaders and No One Dared to Say Anything
12/28/2010
Since the early 1980s, the Syrian regime murdered, methodically, more than 30 Lebanese leaders and public figures, and nobody dared to say anything, The Israeli website Ynet News has said. Under the headline "Everyone scared of Syria," Ynet said...
 
Cable: Syria backed embassy attacks
12/28/2010
Newly-leaked US government cables are showing that Syria supported the attacks on the Scandinavian embassies in its capital four years ago. The attacks on the embassies of Denmark and Norway in early 2006 came amid violent protests over the publication...
 
Israel bombed Syria nuclear reactor: cable
12/25/2010
Israel destroyed a secret Syrian nuclear reactor in September 2007, according to a US diplomatic cable cited Friday in the Israeli Yediot Ahronoth daily. The cable, which the Israeli paper said it had obtained ahead of its publication by WikiLeaks,...
 
Security Council extends mandate of UN observer force in Golan Heights
12/23/2010
22 December 2010 – The Security Council today extended the mandate of the United Nations force observing the ceasefire between Israel and Syria on the Golan Heights for a further six months, until 30 June 2011. The 15-member body took that action...
 
US appeals to India over Syria ties
12/19/2010
A WikiLeaks document released Thursday night reveals that the United States had asked the Indian government to intervene in a potential deal between local companies and the Syrian Scientific Research Council, a body directly involved in the country's...
 
HRW urges Syria to free critic of Iran poll
12/19/2010
NEW YORK — Human Rights Watch called on Friday for Syrian authorities to release an opposition activist who criticised last year's presidential poll in Iran, an ally of Damascus. "Syrian authorities should not prosecute a political activist for...
 
US embassy cables: US works to block Syrian bid to obtain chemical warfare components
12/17/2010
Tuesday, 30 December 2008, 14:27 S E C R E T STATE 135048 SENSITIVE SIPDIS EO 12958 DECL: 12/23/2033 TAGS PARM, ETTC, SY, IN, PREL SUBJECT: SHIELD S04B-08: SYRIA ARRANGING TO ACQUIRE CW EQUIPMENT FROM TWO INDIAN COMPANIES Classified...
 
Storms hit drought-gripped Syria
12/13/2010
DAMASCUS – Syria's capital was on Sunday lashed by a snowstorm which disrupted traffic but brought some relief from a drought which has gripped the country for the past four years. Mount Qassioun, on the edge of Damascus, was covered in a light...
 
Wikileaks: Syria refused to help Iran in retaliatory strike against Israel
12/13/2010
Another leaked U.S. diplomatic cable reveals that Damascus told a senior Iranian delegation to Damascus that it would not assist Iran in retaliating for an Israeli strike against Iranian nuclear facilities. The cable, dated December 20, 2009,...
 
Syria to Iran: We won’t attack Israel in retaliatory strike
12/9/2010
The Syrian leadership in Damascus told a senior Iranian delegation to Damascus last year that it would not assist Iran in retaliating for an Israeli strike against Iranian nuclear facilities, according to an American diplomatic cable published...
 
U.S. scrambled to stop Israel-Syria flare-up over Scuds to Hezbollah
12/8/2010
American diplomatic cables released on the WikiLeaks site reveal diplomatic efforts to prevent a flare-up between Israel and Syria last February due to the movement of long-range Scud D missiles from Syria to Hezbollah. The secret cables reveal...
 
US embassy cables: Lebanese leader worries about Syrian role
12/6/2010
Thursday, 01 May 2008, 12:17 S E C R E T SECTION 01 OF 03 BEIRUT 000586 SIPDIS SIPDIS NSC FOR ABRAMS/SINGH/YERGER/GAVITO USUN FOR WOLFF/PHEE/KUMAR EO 12958 DECL: 04/30/2018 TAGS PGOV, PREL, KJUS, UNGA, SY, LE SUBJECT: LEBANON: JUMBLATT...
 
Syria's renewed influence raises alarms in U.S., Israel
12/4/2010
IN BEIRUT Syria's fresh interference in Lebanon and its increasingly sophisticated weapons shipments to Hezbollah have alarmed American officials and prompted Israel's military to consider a strike against a Syrian weapons depot that supplies the...
 
Wikileaks: Assad - Iran not pursuing nuclear weapons
12/1/2010
In a February meeting with US Senators, Syrian President Bashar Assad maintained that IAEA monitoring of Iran's nuclear program would ensure that the Islamic Republic's pursuit of nuclear power was for civilian purposes only. The comments were revealed...
 
Wikileaks: Kerry said Israel should return Golan to Syria
12/1/2010
US Senator John Kerry said he believed Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu needs to compromise and work the return of the Golan Heights to Syria into a formula for peace. Kerry made the statement to the Amir of Qatar in a February meeting between the...
 
Blogger Tal Al Mallouhi awaits an official charge
11/28/2010
A source has reported that young blogger Tal Al Mallouhi has been transferred to the state security court in Damascus, and that "she has been interrogated a week ago in court." The source added, youngest conscience prisoner in the world "is now awaiting...
 
MESS Report / Intel sources implicate Syria in Hariri assassination
11/4/2010
Syria played a major role in the assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri in February 2005, and the UN probe into the murder is wrongly absolving it of guilt, Western intelligence sources familiar with the probe told Haaretz. The...
 
U.N. nuclear agency makes little progress in Syria
11/26/2010
The United States is about to push for so-called special inspections in Syria by the U.N. nuclear watchdog, a rarely used tool to seek access in a country that otherwise denies entry to sensitive sites, diplomats familiar with the issue say. After...
 
Environmental disaster hits eastern Syria
11/18/2010
(Reuters) - The ancient Inezi tribe of Syria reared camels in the sandswept lands north of the Euphrates river from the time of the Prophet Mohammad. Now water shortages have consigned that way of life to distant memory. Drought in the past five...
 
UN nuclear watchdog could ask for special Syria inspection
11/10/2010
The head of the UN nuclear watchdog said he could demand intrusive inspections of Syria's atomic activities because of its refusal to give access. The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) wants access to get to the Dair Alzour desert site that...
 
Iran Intel. minister arrives in Syria
10/31/2010
The Iranian intelligence minister has arrived in the Syrian capital of Damascus to hold talks with the country's officials on bilateral relations. "Iran and Syria have achieved success in their cooperation and relations in the past…and we hope...
 
U.S. Accuses Syria of Destabilizing Lebanon
10/31/2010
The United States unleashed a unusually brusque diplomatic fusillade at Syria on Thursday, with Susan E. Rice, the American ambassador to the United Nations, accusing Damascus of working in cahoots with Iran to destabilize Lebanon by arming Hezbollah...
 
Obama's reset button not working for Syria
10/28/2010
The Obama administration is justifiably proud of how it has managed to "reset" relations with Russia, and how it has managed to build international pressure against Iran after its efforts at engagement were spurned. But the reset button for Syria...
 
French paper tracks Hezbollah arms trail
10/26/2010
French newspaper Le Figaro published a special in-depth report Tuesday, revealing how Syria and Lebanon are both allowing and aiding Hezbollah in building up its arsenal. The report unveils three Hezbollah logistical units based in Syria and Lebanon,...
 
Motlanthe concludes Syria visit
10/23/2010
Deputy President Kgalema Motlanthe on Friday concluded a two-day visit to Syria where he focused on strengthening ties between the two countries, the presidency said. He signed two deals to improve investment ventures Ä the Agreement on Economic...
 
Saudi Informs Syria that Indictment Postponed Until March
10/23/2010
Semi-official Saudi Arabian sources recently informed Syria that Prosecutor in the Special Tribunal for Lebanon, Daniel Bellemare, is expected to postpone issuing the indictment in the investigation into the assassination of former Prime Minister...
 
Hugo Chávez embraces Iran and Syria, wins Russian support for nuclear program
10/23/2010
Mexico City Yesterday he was in Syria. Wednesday he was in Iran. That was after visiting Russia, Belarus, and Ukraine. Now he is off to Libya and Portugal. And all within 10 days. Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez's world tours, often...
 
Turkey, Syria talk about Iraq's stability and agree on security cooperation
10/13/2010
Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Syrian President Bashar al-Assad met yesterday in Damascus. During the meeting the two countries agreed to co-operate in the campaign against terrorist activities staged by the outlawed Kurdistan...
 
Al Maliki in Syria 1st time after diplomatic crisis
10/13/2010
Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri Al Maliki headed to Syria in his first visit to the Syrian capital since the years long diplomatic crisis with Damascus. Prime Minister Al Maliki is due to meet Syrian President Bashar Al Asad and Prime Minister Mohammed...
 
Assad: Chances of renewing peace talks are unclear
10/7/2010
Syrian president says envoys from two countries trying to accommodate Syria's demands for Golan Heights return and Israel's security objectives. Syrian President Bashar Assad said Thursday that the chances of renewing peace talks with Israel are...
 
Syria, via its Ambassador, Calls for Dialogue to Solve Crisis over Tribunal Indictment
10/1/2010
Syrian ambassador Ali Abdul Karim Ali called for dialogue among the various Lebanese political leaders to find a way out of the crisis that is looming over the possible indictment by the International Tribunal of Hizbullah members in the murder of...
 
Report: Bahia Hariri Met Syrian First Lady in Damascus
9/26/2010
MP Bahia Hariri and Syrian First Lady Asma Assad have held talks on the sidelines of the yearly consultative council meeting of World Links organization in Damascus on Friday, pan-Arab daily Asharq al-Awsat reported. The newspaper quoted sources...
 
U.S.: Syria is essential to achieving Mideast peace
9/26/2010
A senior U.S. official said Friday that the United States saw Syria as an essential component in the path to achieving a comprehensive Middle East peace, ahead of a meeting between the U.S. and Syria, scheduled for Monday. Syria's President...
 
Clinton set to meet with Syrian FM in New York
9/24/2010
US Secretary of State will hold rare meeting with Syrian counterpart, in sign of increasing US interest in reviving Israeli-Syrian peace efforts. Talkbacks (1) WASHINGTON – US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton will hold a rare meeting with her...
 
Motor Insurance Evasion Mongers… Ministry of Transport Lease Roads... Insurances Secures Dodgers!
9/24/2010
A comparative survey conducted by Nidaasyria correspondent in Damascus showed that General Institution for Social Insurances has recently committed another crime against workers by covering up again for insurance evaders. From the latest releases,...
 
Iran seeks to expand cooperation with Syria in education sector
9/23/2010
The Syrians 'accepted the idea, but said they need to study the issue carefully,' the Iranian source told the German Press Agency dpa. The university, which was established after Iran's Islamic Revolution, has around 50 offices around the world,...
 
Seized explosives were Syria-bound
9/23/2010
from Iran to Syria, police said yesterday. Anti-mafia police found the cargo, hidden in a consignment of powdered milk, in a container on a Liberian-registered ship that docked in Gioia Tauro in southern Italy last month and said it was enough...
 
Russia May Sell More Weapons to Syria as U.S., Israel Protest
9/22/2010
Russia will complete the delivery of anti-ship missiles to Syria this year and may sell more arms to the Mideast nation after assessing the impact on the regional balance of power, Defense Minister Anatoly Serdyukov said. The U.S. and Israel...
 
President al-Assad Meets Ruprecht Polenz
9/20/2010
During meeting with Chairman of the German Bundestag's Committee on Foreign Affairs Ruprecht Polenz on Monday, President Bashar al-Assad stressed the necessity for Europe in general and Germany in particular to play a more prominent and effective...
 
Citizens from Occupied Syrian Golan Arrive into Homeland Syria
9/18/2010
A delegation of 697 people of the occupied Syrian Golan including 200 women on Thursday arrived in Quneitra city for a 5-day visit to their home country. In a speech on behalf of the delegation, Sheikh Sakr abu Saleh stressed commitment to the...
 
Ahmadinejad meets Syrian, Algerian leaders, heads to NY
9/18/2010
TEHRAN – President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad made short stops in Damascus and Algiers on Saturday for talks with his Syrian and Algerian counterparts before flying to New York for the UN summit. Ahmadinejad discussed the latest regional and international...
 
U.S. envoy tells Syria: Israel-Palestinian talks could yield comprehensive Mideast peace
9/16/2010
The United States assured Syria on Thursday that its focus on a securing a peace deal between the Palestinians and Israel would not deflect Washington from pushing for an Israeli-Syrian agreement. "Our effort to resolve the Palestinian-Israeli...
 
Lebanese prime minister confirms Syria's renewed influence
9/14/2010
The Lebanese prime minister, Saad al-Hariri, created a stir with a forthright interview published on 6 September by Asharq Al-Awsat, the London-based Saudi daily. "At a certain point we made a mistake in accusing Syria of assassinating the martyred...
 
Effective Campaign calling and petitioning for the immediate release of the 19 years old Syrian student blogger Tal Almlouhi
9/13/2010
Syrian President Bashar al-Assad said on Monday that coordination with Turkey was the key to help relaunch peace talks with Israel, the official SANA news agency reported. Assad made the comments in talks with French presidential envoy Jean-Claude...
 
UN Atomic Watchdog Meets To Discuss Iran, Syria Probes
9/13/2010
VIENNA (AFP)--The United Nations atomic watchdog convened Monday to discuss the latest developments in its long-running probes of disputed nuclear drives in Iran and Syria, with chief Yukiya Amano set to address the closed-door assembly. The...
 
Hariri exonerates Syria over father's murder
9/9/2010
DAMASCUS - Lebanese Prime Minister Saad al-Hariri this week put an end to an ongoing saga in his country's relationship with Syria, saying that the Syrians had not killed his father, Rafik al-Hariri, on that fateful day on February 14, 2005. Those...
 
Jordan king briefs Syria's Assad on peace talks
9/7/2010
DAMASCUS — President Bashar al-Assad and Jordan's King Abdullah II met in Syria on Monday for talks on the resumption of direct peace talks between Israel and the Palestinians, SANA news agency reported. The king -- who attended Thursday's US-brokered...
 
Lebanon PM: accusations against Syria were mistake
9/6/2010
BEIRUT — Lebanon's prime minister says it was a mistake to accuse Syria of being behind the 2005 assassination of his father. The statement is a major turnaround for Saad Hariri, who for years has blamed Damascus for his father's death in a massive...
 
The best successor of the best predecessor! Political Security relays Internet flag to its military counterpart and the latter does not recognize its predecessor’s legitimacy
9/5/2010
The Nidaasyria correspondent in the Syrian capital Damascus reported that the responsibility of licensing Internet cafés had been shifted to the Military Security after being assumed by the Political Security over the past decade. According to...
 
Feltman: The U.S. Wants Peace that Would Include Lebanon and Syria
9/4/2010
U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for Near East Affairs Jeffery Feltman stated Friday that the United States wants peace in the region to include Lebanon and Syria, but added that there are great problems and challenges thwarting this aim. Addressing...
 
Syria: Any Attack Would be Faced by Strong Response
9/1/2010
Syrian sources have warned that any Israeli aggression on its Arab neighbors or Hizbullah and Hamas would be faced with a strong counterattack. "If Israel takes military steps in the region against Syria or resistance movements in Lebanon or the...
 
Top Russian spy’s body washes up 'after swimming accident’
9/1/2010
Major-General Yuri Ivanov, 52, was the deputy head of Russia’s foreign military intelligence arm known as GRU which is thought to operate the biggest network of foreign spies out of all of Russia’s clandestine intelligence services. His badly...
 
Exclusive: A bid to pull Damascus out of "chronic ruin", Europeans propose capital transfer to Homs!
8/30/2010
A well-informed source in the Ministry of Local Administration reported that the Ministry had received the European expert team that was working on an organization plan for Damascus, or what is known as French Ecochard’s urban master plan, designed...
 
Syria: Prominent Lawyer Turning 80 in Jail
8/15/2010
(New York, August 14, 2010) – President Bashar al-Asad of Syria should immediately release from prison the prominent lawyer and human rights activist Haytham al-Maleh, Human Rights Watch said today. Al-Maleh, who will celebrate his 80th birthday...
 
Syria releases opposition figure at end of jail term
7/29/2010
DAMASCUS — Syria released from jail on Wednesday the opposition figure and former MP, Riad Seif, at the end of a sentence for damaging the image of the state and publishing lies, a rights group said. Seif, 64, was among 12 people who signed what...
 
Syria debates reported ban on student veils
7/21/2010
DAMASCUS (Reuters) - Reports that authorities had banned fully veiled Muslim women students from university campuses have caused a rare public debate in Syria. Two Syrian websites reported that the Ministry of Higher Education last week prohibited...
 
Epidemic Spreads Among Recruits,Syrian Army Reserve Withdrawn
7/21/2010
Well-informed military sources told Nidaasyria website that the General Staff Command of the Syrian Ministry of Defence had begun this month to call up enlistees to join army units as reservists. Our correspondent in Damascus reported that these...
 
Assad: 10 years in power marked by US pressure
7/14/2010
Analysts stress Syria is not out of the eye of the storm despite rapprochement with West. By Roueida Mabardi - DAMASCUS After years of enduring intense international pressure, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad has engaged in a process...
 
Damascus: Jasmine, substitute for drug Valium
7/11/2010
Syria (Damascus) - German Researchers said the jasmine fragrance can be used as a substitute of the drug valium. Instead of a sleeping pill or a mood enhancer, a nose full of jasmine from Gardenia jasminoides could also help: in collaboration...
 
Ambassador to Syria: Who is Robert Ford?
7/11/2010
On February 16, 2010, President Barack Obama announced his intention to nominate Robert Stephen Ford as the next U.S. ambassador to Syria. This was a significant gesture because the United States has been without such an official for five years,...
 
Transocean, BP's drilling partner, linked to Iran, Syria
7/9/2010
Transocean, the world's largest drilling company and owner of the exploded Deepwater Horizon drilling rig leased by BP, conducts business with some pretty bad people. The NYT report adds that Transocean is not only under investigation for skirting...
 
Damascus teams up with Turkey to fight Kurdish aspirations
7/9/2010
With economic and political ties cemented over the last 12 months, the Syria-Turkey alliance has now appeared to move on to the realm of security. Reports from Turkish state media say Syria has arrested around 400 Kurds with links to the Kurdistan...
 
Syria's Assad warns that war is near
7/7/2010
MADRID, July 6 (UPI) -- Peace in the Middle East is a long way off because of the simmering dispute between Israel and Turkey, the Syrian president said in Madrid. Syrian President Bashar Assad met with Spanish leaders in Madrid following his...
 
Canada condemns jailing of Syrian human rights lawyer
7/7/2010
OTTAWA — Canada on Tuesday urged Damascus to release 79-year-old Syrian human rights lawyer Haytham al-Maleh on humanitarian grounds, charging that he had been jailed merely "for practicing his right to peaceful and free expression." Maleh, who...
 
Iran moves radar to Syria: US official
7/4/2010
WASHINGTON — Iran has moved radar to Syria that could provide early-warning against a possible surprise Israeli air attack against Tehran's nuclear sites, a US defense official said on Friday. The radar transfer was first reported in the Wall...
 
Russian FM: We won't sell advanced weapons systems to Iran, Syria
6/30/2010
President Shimon Peres met with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov in the President's Residence in Jerusalem and reminded him that Russian committed in 1998 not to sell arms to countries in the region that would alter the balance of power. ...
 
Twitter Musings in Syria Elicit Groans in Washington
6/30/2010
WASHINGTON — When two young State Department officials took a delegation of Silicon Valley executives to Syria recently, they billed it as a chance to use the promise of technology to reach out to a country with which the United States has long had...
 
Syria sends rights activist to jail
6/23/2010
A leading Syrian lawyer who won an international human rights award for defending opposition figures has been sentenced to three years in prison. Mohannad al-Hassani, 43, was arrested last year after campaigning against the charge on which he...
 
Report: Hezbollah and Syria are organizing the Lebanese flotilla
6/22/2010
A report by the Intelligence and Terrorism Information Center reveals the true organizers and supporters of the Lebanese provocation flotilla to the Gaza Strip "We estimate that the purchase of the ships and the organization of the flotilla...
 
UN distributes food aid in drought-hit Syria
6/21/2010
DAMASCUS — The World Food Programme said on Sunday that it has begun handing out food to almost 200,000 people in severely drought-stricken northeast Syria. More than 2,900 tonnes of food rations, made possible by a two-million-euro donation (2.5...
 
Gaza flotilla raid has increased risk of war, Syrian president says
6/18/2010
The Syrian president, Bashar al-Assad, today said Israel's raid on an aid flotilla bound for Gaza had wrecked the chances of a peaceful settlement in the region and increased the risks of war. The Israeli commando attack on the flotilla, in which...
 
Years of Fear: Forced Disappearance Incidents in Syria. 17000 Missing Amidst Astounding Legal Negligence. Tallas Signed Executions. Muslim Brotherhood Focused on Statistics, Neglecting the Issue
6/18/2010
Main Points Reported: - About 17000 missing; 1000 died in Palmyra massacre (1980); 16000 believed liquidated in regular organised executions. - Women are the most vulnerable immediate victims of forced disappearance. - Astounding legal...
 
SYRIA: Three dissidents released from jail
6/15/2010
Three Syrian dissidents were released from jail on Sunday after serving 30-month jail terms for signing a declaration that called for sweeping democratic reforms in the country, the London-based group Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said in a...
 
Syria Establishes Scud Arsenal Near Lebanon
6/13/2010
The Middle East Newsline has confirmed that Syria has established an arsenal of extended-range Scud-class ballistic missiles along the border with Lebanon. Western intelligence sources said the regime of Syrian President Bashar Assad has overseen...
 
Syria still lives with Hafez Assad's legacy
6/10/2010
DAMASCUS // Syria’s imposing statues and ubiquitous poster-portraits serve as a constant reminder of the late president, Hafez Assad, physical relics of a man whose spirit remains woven into the fabric of this country. More than that, he remains...
 
Syria, North Korea in talks to boost ties
6/7/2010
DAMASCUS - Syrian Foreign Minister Walid Muallem has held talks with visiting North Korean deputy foreign minister Kim Hyong-Jun on bolstering bilateral ties, officials said on Monday. The meeting, which took place in Damascus on Sunday, was centred...
 
Nuclear head singles out Iran and Syria 'special cases'
6/7/2010
The head of the International Atomic Energy Agency has singled out Iran as a "special case" for his monitoring teams because of Western suspicions that it might be hiding nuclear weapons programmes. IAEA chief Yukiya Amano faulted both Islamist...
 
Syria grapples with surging population
6/4/2010
Reuters) - Ibrahim Issa, a jovial Syrian taxi-driver who wears a blue robe over an ample belly, has nine children from two wives. He plans to marry a third wife soon. He says it is up to Allah whether more children arrive, and not for him to...
 
What does the future hold for Syria-Lebanon ties?
6/4/2010
BEIRUT: Lebanese-Syrian relations were once again the center of attention at a talk held on Wednesday. At a discussion organized by the Issam Fares Center for Lebanon, entitled: “What does Syria want from Lebanon? – a Lebanese Perspective,”...
 
Defense Minister: Iran, Syria Pose Missile Threats to Bulgaria
6/3/2010
A major conventional threat to Bulgaria’s national security are missile attacks against strategic establishments on Bulgarian soil, according to Defense Minister Anyu Angelov. Speaking about the development and adoption of a national security...
 
Syria conducted nuclear experiments: IAEA document
6/1/2010
VIENNA — Syria has told the UN atomic watchdog about past nuclear experiments, but is still refusing to cooperate over allegations that it was building a secret nuclear reactor with North Korea's help, a new report revealed Monday. In a restricted...
 
'Hizbullah has missile base in Syria
5/29/2010
Satellite photos show that Hizbullah terrorists have been living in armed bases stocked with surface-to-surface missiles in Syria, The Times of London reported Friday. The photos show the Hizbullah members moving freely at a base in the Syrian...
 
Syrian Army on Alert: Air of Expectation after Israeli Military Manoeuvres
5/29/2010
The Syrian Foreign Minister, Walid al-Mo'allem's speech yesterday was not mere statements, while expressing the Syrians' grave concern over the Israeli military exercises, dubbing it "beating the drums of war". Al-Mo'allem's statements came after...
 
N Korea 'exporting nuclear goods'
5/28/2010
North Korea is exporting nuclear and ballistic missile technology and using multiple intermediaries and overseas criminal networks to avoid UN sanctions, a report has said. A UN panel monitoring the implementation of sanctions against North Korea...
 
Iran Supported Syria-Israel Indirect Peace Talks, Assad Says
5/28/2010
Syrian President Bashar al-Assad said Iran supported his country’s decision to pursue indirect peace talks with Israel two years ago, adding that he’s ready to re-start the negotiations. “Iran supported our efforts to achieve, to get back our...
 
Nasrallah threatens ships going to Israel in future war
5/26/2010
Reuters) - Lebanon's Hezbollah chief Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah said on Tuesday the Shi'ite guerrilla group would attack all military, civilian and commercial ships heading toward Israel's Mediterranean coasts in any future war. World "If you...
 
Reforms transform Syrian economy, but not politics
5/26/2010
DAMASCUS,Syria — After delivering a lecture on the increasing role of private banks in Syria, economist Mohammed Ayman al-Maydani got an uncomfortable request from members of the audience to elaborate on a brief reference he made to corruption in...
 
Syria Reimposes Its Patronage over Lebanon
5/25/2010
Introduction "...[Syria's] political return to Lebanon is taking place slowly but surely, by means of its allies in [this country], whose numbers are growing and whose voice is becoming stronger. It is regaining its influence [over Lebanon] quietly...
 
Syria: Obama has failed in peace efforts and lost influence in Mideast
5/25/2010
Syrian President Bashar Assad said Monday that the United States has lost its influence in the Middle East due to its failure to contribute to regional peace, in an interview with the Italian newspaper La Repubblica. U.S. President Barack Obama...
 
Syria Denies Scuds Transfer: They Are not Suited to Hizbullah Tactics
Syrian Foreign Minister Walid Muallem denied that Damascus had transferred Scud missiles to Hizbullah and said the Assad regime will not act as a policeman for Israel. "Did Israel ever stop arming itself, did it stop instigating violence or making...
 
Obama likely to raise Syria-Hezbollah arms transfer in talks with Lebanon PM
5/25/2010
U.S. President Barack Obama is expected to raise Washington's concerns about Syria arming Hezbollah guerrillas in Lebanon when he meets Lebanese Prime Minister Saad al-Hariri on Monday, a U.S. official said last week. Hariri's first official...
 
Obama, Hariri to discuss Syria arms concerns
5/22/2010
Reuters) - President Barack Obama is likely to raise U.S. concerns about Syria arming Hezbollah guerrillas in Lebanon when he meets Lebanese Prime Minister Saad al-Hariri on Monday, a U.S. official said on Friday. Politics Hariri's first official...
 
Russia shows US how to deal with Syria
5/20/2010
This has been a busy month so far for the Syrians. The US Congress blocked Obama's attempt to appoint Robert Ford as ambassador following reports of Syrian Scud missiles being transferred to Hezbollah, and on 3 May Washington renewed economic and...
 
Lebanon and Syria agree to back Hizbollah
5/20/2010
Damascus // Syria and Lebanon have agreed they will present a united front of opposition to Israel and support for Hizbollah, when the Lebanese prime minister, Saad Hariri, travels to Washington next week. Syria’s president, Bashar Assad,...
 
Russia Selling Syria Defense Equipment under 'Existing Contracts'
5/19/2010
NEWTOWN, Conn. | A visit last week to the Syrian capital of Damascus by Russian President Dimitri Medvedev signaled Russia's continued interest in cementing itself as a fixture in Middle East power politics. The Russia-Syria relationship stretches...
 
Hariri visits Syria amid spat with US, Israel
5/19/2010
DAMASCUS — Lebanese Prime Minister Saad Hariri arrived in Damascus on Tuesday ahead of a planned trip to Washington, which accuses Syria of supplying Lebanon's Hezbollah with missiles. Hariri, who has rejected those claims, met Syrian President...
 
'Syria turned down Peres peace offer'
5/18/2010
President Shimon Peres sent a message to Syria, offering to return the Golan Heights in exchange for a promise that Damascus would sever its ties with Iran and various terrorist groups, Syrian President Bashar Assad told the Lebanese As-Safir paper...
 
Kuwait, Syria Enhancing Joint Projects and Economic Ties
5/17/2010
Economic cooperation between Syria and Kuwait has been rapidly growing as a number of economic agreements have been signed in order to activate trade exchange and increase joint investment, The Syrian News Agency reported. The Syrian-Kuwaiti Economic...
 
Israel Criticizes Russia for Supplying Warplanes to Syria
5/17/2010
The Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman on Sunday criticized Russia for supplying warplanes to Syria, claiming that the move did not bring peace to the region. The statement came after a top military official told Russian news agency ITAR-Tass...
 
Syrian PM: We'll retaliate Israeli attack
5/17/2010
Muhammad Naji al-Otari says Jewish state knows it will suffer greatly should it decide to attack his country. Allegations regarding smuggling of Scud missiles to Hezbollah 'preposterous', he adds Syrian Prime Minister Muhammad Naji al-Otari...
 
U.N. seeks torture probes in Syria
5/15/2010
Reuters) - The United Nations torture watchdog urged Syria, Yemen and Jordan Friday to investigate what it called numerous and credible allegations that their police and prison authorities routinely tortured detainees. Its 10 independent experts...
 
'Russia to sell Syria weapons'
Russia will supply Syria with warplanes, artillery systems and anti-aircraft missiles, Mikhail Dmitriyev, head of the Russian Federal Service for Military-Technical Cooperation told media Friday night. Israeli officials reacted angrily to the...
 
Syria politician criticises West
5/14/2010
Beirut: A leading Syrian opposition figure said on Wednesday that the West, which is seeking better relations with Damascus, has turned a blind eye on what he called Syria's "worsening" human rights record. Maamoun Al Homsi, a former deputy who...
 
Israel refuses re-entry to 5 Druze who made condolence call in Syria
5/14/2010
Golan Heights residents stuck in Syria for more than six weeks after visiting family members in Suwara. Five Druze residents of the Golan Heights have been stuck for more than six weeks in Syria after Israeli authorities denied them permission...
 
U.S. Concerned by Possible Syrian-Russian Nuclear Collaboration
5/14/2010
The United States indicated yesterday that it was uncomfortable with the idea of Russia exploring areas for nuclear collaboration with Syria, which Washington has suspected of operating illicit atomic activities (see GSN, May 11). "What concerns...
 
Obama administration urges Supreme Court to reject Maher Arar's appeal
OTTAWA — The U.S. government is urging the Supreme Court to reject an appeal from Canada's Maher Arar, who wants to sue Washington for sending him to Syria where he was tortured. The Ottawa engineer was the victim of what's known as ``extraordinary...
 
Syria and Russia in talks on nuclear power
5/12/2010
Syria and Russia have discussed nuclear energy co-operation as Moscow seeks to boost its position in a region dominated by the US, Israel's principal ally. Speaking after talks with Syria's president, Bashar al-Assad, Russian president Dmitry...
 
Russia hints at Syrian nuclear plant aid
5/12/2010
RUSSIA may help build a nuclear power plant in Syria, president Dmitry Medvedev said yesterday, a step that could upset the West due to unresolved allegations Damascus tried to construct a potential nuclear weapons facility in secret. In 2007,...
 
President Medvedev to visit Syria, Turkey
5/10/2010
MOSCOW, May 10 (Itar-Tass) -- Russian President Dmitry Medvedev will go on a three-day Asian tour Monday to visit Syria and Turkey. High on the agenda of his talks in the countries is economic and humanitarian bilateral cooperation, development of...
 
Syria ready to resume peace talks with Israel -Turkey
5/9/2010
"Syria has said it is ready to resume talks where they were left off," Gul told a news conference. "However, we have not heard from the Israeli side. It is up to them." Speaking alongside Gul, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad said he was ready...
 
US Senate Republicans thwart Syria nomination
5/8/2010
WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama's Republican foes in the US Senate blocked a Democratic attempt Friday to confirm his nominee to be ambassador to Syria, amid an election-year feud over policy towards Damascus. Democrats sought to confirm...
 
U.S. Summons Top Syrian Diplomat
4/20/2010
WASHINGTON—The State Department summoned Syria's top diplomat in Washington to express the Obama administration's concerns about intelligence indicating Damascus transferred long-range guided missiles to the militant Lebanese organization Hezbollah. The...
 
In a new development, Senior US Diplomat: Syria is providing 'wider array' of missiles to Hezbollah
4/22/2010
WASHINGTON - Syria is providing a "wider array" of missiles to Hezbollah, a US diplomat said Friday, while stopping short of accusing Damascus of supplying Scuds to the Lebanese Shiite militia. "We are concerned with the broadening nature of...
 
Mourners attacked by Security forces in Syria
4/26/2010
The Media Institute of the Federation of Western Kurdistan Society announced on 23 April 2010 that a funeral was held for 19 freedom fighters who have been killed over time. It was arranged to take place in Hassei village in the Afrin area on 16...
 
Turkish-Syrian drill raises concerns in Israel
4/27/2010
Joint military exercise, similar to one held a year ago, signals tightening of ties between Ankara, Damascus. Israeli state officials fear Turkey may transfer Israeli technology to Syria joint Turkish-Syrian drill along the border the two countries...
 
Joint Syria-Turkey Military Drills Raise Concerns in Israel
4/29/2010
oldiers from the Syrian and Turkish armies are conducting joint military drills this week to improve security cooperation on their shared border. The warming relations between Ankara and Damascus are raising concerns in Israel. The drill’s specific...
 
Iran, Syria providing better arms to Hezbollah : Robert Gates
4/28/2010
Washington (UNN) Iran and Syria are providing Hezbollah militants in Lebanon with improved rockets and missiles that threaten to destabilize the Middle East, US Defence Secretary Robert Gates said. Gates did not elaborate on the types of missiles,...
 
Syrian president's younger brother dies
12/12/2009
Majd al-Assad, the younger brother of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad died on Saturday, state media reported. "Majd Hafez al-Assad died this morning in Damascus after a long illness," the official news agency SANA said, without giving further...
 
Veteran human rights lawyer faces up to 15 years in Syrian prison
5/11/2009
The Syrian authorities must immediately release veteran human rights lawyer Haytham al-Maleh, and drop all charges against him, Amnesty International said, as he appeared before a military judge in Damascus on Tuesday. He was charged with "conveying...
 
U.S. to Send Military Team to Syria
3/6/2009
In a sign of improving relations between Washington and Damascus, the United States is sending a military delegation to Syria in the coming weeks to discuss Iraq, U.S. and Syrian officials said on Wednesday. Separately, the Obama administration's...
 
Syria Criticizes Amendments Requested by Lebanon on 1559
9/4/2009
Syrian Ambassador to the United Nations Bashar Jaafari criticized the "logical framework" approach of U.N. Special Envoy Terry Rod Larsen's budget for the implementation of Resolution 1559. "Syria looks to the secretariat general of the U.N....
 
Syria will Win Lebanon's Elections
9/4/2009
Two months away from Lebanon's elections, we can begin to discern clarity amid the vapors of boiling ambition. Over 700 candidates are registered to contest 128 parliamentary seats, but the real story lies elsewhere. Whether it is the March 14 coalition...
 
Any Effort to Damage Iran-Syria Ties Doomed to Failure: Syrian MP
9/4/2009
Member of the Syrian parliament (Majlis al-Sha’ab) stressed on Wednesday that any effort made by the U.S., the Zionist regime or other countries to damage Iran-Syria relations is doomed to failure. “Syria would never give in to the will of big...
 
Golan Border Only Plausible Defense for Israel
8/4/2009
Security arrangements for an Israeli withdrawal from the Golan Heights considered by prime ministers Binyamin Netanyahu and Ehud Barak in the late 1990s would not provide Israel with sufficient security, a new paper being released by the Jerusalem...
 
Syria to Use Iran's Experience in Turning Gasoline Engines into CNG Type
3/31/2009
Syrian Oil and Mineral Resources Minister Sofyan al-Alaw Monday night emphasized need for taking advantage of Iran's experience in turning gasoline run vehicles' engines into systems capable of using condensed natural gas (CNG). Al-Alaw expressed...
 
Man's Plea for Wife Held in Syria
3/31/2009
A mother has been missing for more than two weeks since her arrest in Syria, her British husband has said. Maryam Kallis, 36, was handcuffed on a busy street in Damascus in front of her young son and has not been seen since, her husband Masood...
 
Lebanon-Syria: Damascus Nominates First Ambassador in Beirut
3/25/2009
Syria has nominated its first ambassador to Syria since the two countries formally obtained independence over sixty years ago, reported the Lebanese television station LBC. The broadcaster specified that the Lebanese president, Michel Suleiman,...
 
Bomb Found Near Gemayel's Home, Phalange Leader Confirms Threats Against him
3/24/2009
Security forces defused Tuesday night an explosive device in a vehicle parked near Phalange party leader Amin Gemayel's home in Bikfaya and arrested its Syrian driver. The Phalange party issued a statement after midnight, saying Gemayel's security...
 
Assassination Throws Limelight on Israel
3/24/2009
In a statement, the Lebanese Hezbollah slammed the Monday assassination of the deputy head of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) in Lebanon, Kamal Medhat, and his companions. The resistance force called for those behind the assassination...
 
Syria Appoints First Ambassador to Lebanon
3/24/2009
Syria has appointed its first ambassador to Lebanon and Lebanese President Michel Suleiman accepted his diplomatic accreditation Tuesday, according to a statement from the Lebanese presidency. The Lebanese presidency named the diplomat as Ali...
 
Assad Under Pressure
3/19/2009
While Syria will face the twin challenges of falling domestic oil production and lower crude prices this year, the government has moved to reinforce the competitiveness of the national energy sector by improving efficiencies within the country's...
 
Nine Schoolgirls Drown in Syrian Lake
3/19/2009
LAKE ZARZAR, Syria: Nine schoolgirls drowned Thursday in a lake near the Syrian capital when a boat they were on sank, witnesses said. Around 40 girls from a Damascus girls school, mostly aged around 14, were on the overloaded boat on lake Zarzar....
 
Syria's al-Assad Arrives in Amman for Coordination Talks
3/20/2009
Syrian President Bashar al-Assad arrived in Amman Friday for talks with Jordan's King Abdullah II on means of closing Arab ranks ahead of the regular Arab summit conference in Doha at the end of March. The visit is the culmination of moves by...
 
Iran on Morocco's Borders
3/19/2009
The distance between Tehran and the Moroccan capital of Rabat is no less than 5200 kilometres and Morocco is the furthest Arab country away from Iran. Yet the Moroccan government has complained about Iranian interference. How has a country of such...
 
Report: Riyadh and Damascus Agree to Remain 'Neutral' to Polls
3/19/2009
Syria and Saudi Arabia have agreed to remain "neutral" toward Lebanon's upcoming elections and believe that the country can only be governed through national consensus, As-Safir daily reported Thursday. Last week Saudi Arabia's King Abdullah...
 
'Syria Ready to Mediate Iran-West Talks'
3/19/2009
Syrian President Bashar al-Assad says he is ready to act as a go-between for Iran and the West if a 'concrete proposal' is offered to Tehran. Assad said in an interview with the Italian daily La Repubblica published on Wednesday that his country...
 
European Lawmakers Meet Hamas Leader in Syria
3/18/2009
A European delegation on Saturday met with Hamas leader Khaled Meshaal in Damascus in the first announced visit of a European delegation to meet with Hamas leaders, Democracy Now! reported Monday. Members of the delegation included British Parliamentarian...
 
Lebanese Embassy Opens in Damascus
3/16/2009
Lebanon opened an embassy in Damascus for the first time on Monday, after international pressure on Syria to establish diplomatic ties and treat its smaller neighbor as a full sovereign country. "The embassy demonstrates the strong and historic...
 
Corruption Remains Sky-High in Syria
3/13/2009
Syrian prime minister’s removal of customs chief accused of corruption fails to inspire public confidence. DAMASCUS -The recent dismissal of a high-ranking official accused of embezzlement is seen by many as a token move by authorities reluctant...
 
Syria Loyal to Iran after Riyadh Meeting
3/14/2009
Damascus says it will not abandon its strategic ties with Tehran, despite reports of a Saudi and Egyptian effort to distance the two allies. Syrian presidential adviser Bouthaina Shaaban, who recently accompanied Bashar Assad on a visit to Riyadh,...
 
Assad Says Syria Ready to Negotiate with Netanyahu
10/3/2009
SYRIAN PRESIDENT Bashar al-Assad made it clear yesterday that he is prepared to negotiate peace with an Israeli government formed by Likud leader Binyamin Netanyahu. Dr Assad told the Sharjah-based al-Khaleej Arabic daily that there is little...
 
US Congress Intelligence Committee Chief to Visit Syria Soon
3/15/2009
A delegation from the US Congress headed by the House intelligence committee chief Dianne Feinstein is scheduled to pay an official visit to Syria soon, Syria's Al-Watan newspaper reported Sunday. The anticipated visit to Damascus coincides with...
 
Syria Jails Dissident Despite Detente with West
3/15/2009
A Syrian court sentenced a 64-year old dissident on Sunday to three years in jail for "weakening national feelings" after he published articles critical of the political system, human rights activist said. The sentencing of Habib Saleh, who had...
 
Syria: Police State, Middle East Jewel
6/3/2009
People are incredibly generous. Last night I attended a concert to raise money for the children of Gaza. Sir Colin Davis, the 81-year-old conductor, and the English Chamber Orchestra gave their services free, and the Barbican in London provided the...
 
What's Behind Iran's Warning to Syria?
3/3/2009
By Tariq Alhomayed In a joint-press-conference with Syrian Prime Minister Mohamed Naji al-Otari, Iranian Vice President Parviz Davoudi called on Syria to be "more alert to the enemies' tricks." But the question is; who are these enemies? Of...
 
Russian Navy Back in Syria
2/27/2009
Russian warships have returned to the naval base in the Syrian port of Tartus, used by the Soviet Union since the late sixties, after more than a decade of absence. In August 2008, Syrian president Bashar Assad, during his visit to Russia, pointed...
 
Hariri Murder Suspects Languish in Jail Four Years On
2/26/2009
Four top Lebanese generals arrested over the 2005 murder of former billionaire premier Rafiq Hariri have been languishing in jail for going on four years without ever being indicted, much less tried. Another three suspects were only just released...
 
Clinton Says Improved Syria ties Uncertain
2/26/2009
Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton says it is too early to tell if Washington and Damascus can improve frosty relations, although a senior U.S. official was meeting with the Syrian ambassador Thursday. Syrian Ambassador Imad Moustapha was...
 
Syria Has Built Missile Facility at Suspect Site: Diplomats
2/25/2009
Syria has told the UN nuclear watchdog that a suspect site bombed by Israeli planes in 2007 is now a missile facility, diplomats close to the IAEA revealed Wednesday. The head of Syria's Atomic Energy Commission, Ibrahim Othman, made the revelation...
 
Syria Criticised on Human Rights
2/24/2009
Human Rights Watch has urged Syria to lift its state of emergency and abolish the State Security Court. A report by the New York-based group describes the court as "one of Syria's main pillars of repression". HRW also called on the EU and US...
 
The Forgotten Damascus Spring
2/22/2009
Syria may be coming in from the cold but we should not ignore the regime's human rights abuses President Bashar al-Assad of Syria may be feeling the effects of President Obama's promised "change". After years of US-imposed isolation, Assad has...
 

2/22/2009
Nadim Houry Syria may be coming in from the cold but we should not ignore the regime's human rights abuses President Bashar al-Assad of Syria may be feeling the effects of President Obama's promised "change". After years of US-imposed isolation,...
 
Pay Attention…Lebanon is in Danger!
2/23/2009
By Tariq Alhomayed What is currently taking place in Lebanon from the firing of rockets, to kidnapping and murder, can only be described as an indication of impending danger. The greatest indication [of looming danger] can be seen with the rockets...
 
Tehran and Damascus censured in Atomic Energy Agency report
2/20/2009
The Iranians continue to enrich uranium, and have hidden 209 kilos of it. They now have a ton, enough to make a bomb. It seems increasingly probable that the Syrians were building a secret nuclear reactor. Vienna (AsiaNews/Agencies) - In all likelihood,...
 
Assad calls USA to be the main arbiter in Mideast stalling peace process
2/18/2009
Syrian President Bashar Al Assad said that he expects US President Barack Obama to send an Ambassador to Syria soon to make good on a dialogue offer to countries previously shunned by Washington. In an interview with The Guardian British newspaper...
 
Israel OKs Golan Apple Export to Syria
2/17/2009
Truckloads of apples were sent from the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights to Syria on Tuesday after Israel authorised the export of 8,000 tonnes to its longtime foe. The first shipments went through the Kuneitra crossing on Tuesday morning, a military...
 
Sen. Ben Cardin (D-Md.) is Leading a Congressional Delegation to Israel and Syria
2/16/2009
WASHINGTON is leading a congressional delegation to Israel and Syria. The delegation, which left Thursday, will meet leaders of the Israeli government and the Palestinian Authority while in Jerusalem, and plans to meet with Syrian President Bashar...
 
Israel on the Verge of War with Syria
5/2/2009
A senior Israeli official has warned that Tel Aviv is on the verge of a military confrontation with Syria should peace efforts fail. "We're on a collision course with Syria," said Maj.-Gen. (res.) Amos Gilad, who heads the Defense Ministry's Diplomatic-Security...
 
Expert: Damascus to Remain Without Water this Year
3/2/2009
Syria spends 90% of its water on industry and agriculture, while Damascus residents are forced to buy water in black market, fear catastrophe. Transporting from Euphrates River costs $2 billion, can only be executed if funded by Japanese government...
 
Obama Tells Muslims That 'Americans Are Not Your Enemy'
1/27/2009
(RFE/RL) -- U.S. President Barack Obama has told Al-Arabiyah television that his message to Muslims is that "Americans are not your enemy" -- and said he stands ready to be judged by his actions. Obama chose the Saudi-owned television station...
 
Reports of More Ttrouble at Syria Jail-Rights Group
1/27/2009
LONDON, Jan 27 (Reuters) - The fate of inmates at a Syrian jail where guards used lethal force to quell unrest last year remains cloaked in secrecy and there have been reports of more violence at the prison, Human Rights Watch said on Tuesday. The...
 
Syria: Reveal Inmates' Conditions
1/27/2009
Blackout on July Unrest at Sednaya Amid Reports of More Violence (New York) - Syrian authorities should make public the fate of prisoners at Sednaya against whom military police used lethal force during unrest in early July 2008, Human Rights...
 
RI, Syria to form Special Commission on Illegal Migrant Workers
9/13/2009
SYRIAN WAY: Syrian Prime Minister Mohammed Naji Utari (left) speaks as Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono listens during a joint press conference after a meeting at Merdeka palace in Jakarta on Monday. AP/Achmad Ibrahim The Indonesian...
 
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