It was some six months ago that Syrian rebel commanders met US intelligence officers in Jordan to discuss the status of the war and, the rebels hoped, to secure supplies of the sophisticated weapons they need to overthrow President Bashar Al Assad. But according to one of the commanders present […]
August 10, 2013 – 15:42 By Oliver Holmes BEIRUT (Reuters) – Warplanes bombed a village in Syria’s north overnight in an apparent effort by President Bashar al-Assad to prevent rebels fighting him from advancing on communities in the stronghold region of his Alawite sect. Assad’s forces are on the defensive […]
Civil War, Sanctions and a Falling Currency Produce Soaring Prices as People Shop for Ramadan By SAM DAGHER DAMASCUS, Syria—On a recent morning, a woman stood in front of a stall lining Bab Serijeh, the capital’s biggest and most raucous food market, and expressed amazement at how prices of local […]
A Commentary By Omid Nouripour Spiegel.de With a new moderate president and increasing focus on the civil war in Syria, Iran is finally in a position to compromise on its nuclear program. The West should seize the moment and head to the negotiating table. Everyone seems relieved to see Hassan […]
STORY SUMMARY Iraqi Kurdistan’s leader threatened on Saturday to intervene to protect Kurds in neighbouring Syria, who are caught up in fighting between Kurdish forces and jihadists. Kurds in Syria […]
August 8, 2013 – 13:59 By Khaled Yacoub Oweis AMMAN (Reuters) – Syrian rebels said on Thursday they targeted President Bashar al-Assad’s motorcade heading to a Damascus mosque to mark the Muslim holiday of Eid al-Fitr, but state television showed him unharmed and the government denied he had been attacked. […]
Aug 07, 2013 | 23:38 JORDAN TIMES Jordan, a country with limited resources, has become the main refuge for Syrians fleeing the violence in their country, with thousands entering the Kingdom on a daily basis at one point. Recent studies indicate that there will be one Syrian for every six […]
(Reuters) – Saudi Arabia has offered Russiaeconomic incentives including a major arms deal and a pledge not to challenge Russian gas sales if Moscow scales back support for Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, Middle East sources and Western diplomats said on Wednesday. The proposed deal between two of the leading power […]
by Alex Ellefson | Aug 06, 2013 JORDAN TIMES AMMAN — Trucking traditional ice cream, while making sure it is kept below minus 20 degrees Celsius, on the 176-kilometre journey […]
BEIRUT (AP) — More than two years into Syria’s civil war, the once highly-centralized authoritarian state has effectively split into three distinct parts, each boasting its own flags, security agencies and judicial system. by Zaina Karam YAHOO NEWS In each area, religious, ideological and turf power struggles are under way […]
GLOBAL RESEARCH – Gearóid Ó Colmáin In an interview with the French TV station LCP, former French minister for Foreign Affairs Roland Dumas said: ‘’ I’m going to tell you something. I was in England two years before the violence in Syria on other business. I met with top British […]
August 03, 2013 Childhood memories of wartime Lebanon and street scenes from revolutionary Cairo: Lena Merhej and Mohamed Shennawy embody a trend in contemporary Arab graphic novels that draws its inspiration from real-life events. Aged 35, Merhej has a German and Lebanese background and works as a graphic designer and […]
August 03, 2013 12:21 AM By Rami G. Khouri The Daily Star STORY SUMMARY Hold on to your seats, for the four most powerful and influential Arab countries – Syria, Iraq, Saudi Arabia and Egypt – are all experiencing significant, sometimes violent, internal changes that touch on the most basic […]
Al Arabiya A sharia committee in a rebel-held area of Aleppo issued a fatwa deeming croissants ‘haram’ (forbidden in Islamic law) because of their “colonial” significance, pan-Arab daily Asharq al-Awsat […]
by Khetam Malkawi 29 July 2013 Jordan Times AMMAN — One year after the official opening of the Zaatari Refugee Camp in the northern Governorate of Mafraq, relief organisations see […]
Security Weekly THURSDAY, JULY 25, 2013 Stratfor By Scott Stewart The many and diverse efforts to arm the various actors in the Syrian civil war are really quite amazing to watch. These efforts are also quite hard to decipher — and intentionally so — since many of the arms transfers […]
The United States has been paying thousands of Syrian police officers who deserted the regime of President Bashar Assad. Officials said the administration of President Barack Obama has approved tens […]
Al Arabiya Ahmed Jarba, president of the Syrian National Coalition (SNC), said he expected the Geneva II conference to take place, adding that the United Nations-backed meeting and the formation of a transitional government may lead to the fall of the Syrian regime. In an exclusive interview with Al Arabiya’s […]
by Simon Bradley in Geneva, swissinfo.ch July 26, 2013 – 17:33 New Israel-Palestine peace talks and diplomatic efforts to hold an international conference in Geneva aimed at ending the conflict […]
Story Summary July 25, 2013 12:26 AM By Michael Young The Daily Star The Obama administration has time and again approached Syria by taking one step forward and two backward. That is very unlikely since President Barack Obama’s decision to send weapons is more an effort to avoid doing more […]