http://www.forsyria.org/ Latest news from the website www.forsyria.org. en-gb http://www.forsyria.org/latest_news_details.asp?id=180Majd 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... http://www.forsyria.org/latest_news_details.asp?id=179The 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... http://www.forsyria.org/latest_news_details.asp?id=178In 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... http://www.forsyria.org/latest_news_details.asp?id=177Syrian 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.... http://www.forsyria.org/latest_news_details.asp?id=176Two 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... http://www.forsyria.org/latest_news_details.asp?id=175Member 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... http://www.forsyria.org/latest_news_details.asp?id=174Security 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... http://www.forsyria.org/latest_news_details.asp?id=172Syrian 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... http://www.forsyria.org/latest_news_details.asp?id=171A 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... http://www.forsyria.org/latest_news_details.asp?id=170Syria 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,... http://www.forsyria.org/latest_news_details.asp?id=169Security 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... http://www.forsyria.org/latest_news_details.asp?id=168In 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... http://www.forsyria.org/latest_news_details.asp?id=167Syria 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... http://www.forsyria.org/latest_news_details.asp?id=166While 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... http://www.forsyria.org/latest_news_details.asp?id=165LAKE 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.... http://www.forsyria.org/latest_news_details.asp?id=164Syrian 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... http://www.forsyria.org/latest_news_details.asp?id=163The 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... http://www.forsyria.org/latest_news_details.asp?id=162Syria 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... http://www.forsyria.org/latest_news_details.asp?id=161Syrian 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... http://www.forsyria.org/latest_news_details.asp?id=160A 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... http://www.forsyria.org/latest_news_details.asp?id=159Lebanon 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... http://www.forsyria.org/latest_news_details.asp?id=158Syrian 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... http://www.forsyria.org/latest_news_details.asp?id=157Damascus 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,... http://www.forsyria.org/latest_news_details.asp?id=156SYRIAN 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... http://www.forsyria.org/latest_news_details.asp?id=155A 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... http://www.forsyria.org/latest_news_details.asp?id=154A 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... http://www.forsyria.org/latest_news_details.asp?id=153People 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... http://www.forsyria.org/latest_news_details.asp?id=152By 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... http://www.forsyria.org/latest_news_details.asp?id=151Russian 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... http://www.forsyria.org/latest_news_details.asp?id=150Four 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... http://www.forsyria.org/latest_news_details.asp?id=149Secretary 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... http://www.forsyria.org/latest_news_details.asp?id=148Syria 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... http://www.forsyria.org/latest_news_details.asp?id=147Human 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... http://www.forsyria.org/latest_news_details.asp?id=146Syria 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... http://www.forsyria.org/latest_news_details.asp?id=145Nadim 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,... http://www.forsyria.org/latest_news_details.asp?id=144By 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... http://www.forsyria.org/latest_news_details.asp?id=143The 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,... http://www.forsyria.org/latest_news_details.asp?id=142Syrian 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... http://www.forsyria.org/latest_news_details.asp?id=141Truckloads 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... http://www.forsyria.org/latest_news_details.asp?id=140WASHINGTON 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... http://www.forsyria.org/latest_news_details.asp?id=132A 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... http://www.forsyria.org/latest_news_details.asp?id=130Syria 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... http://www.forsyria.org/latest_news_details.asp?id=129(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... http://www.forsyria.org/latest_news_details.asp?id=127LONDON, 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... http://www.forsyria.org/latest_news_details.asp?id=126 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... http://www.forsyria.org/latest_news_details.asp?id=121SYRIAN 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...