Injured Syrians pour into Jordan as border clashes rage
by Taylor Luck, Jordan Times. AMMAN/MAFRAQ — Some 1,750 Syrians crossed into Jordan early Monday, pushing the total number of new arrivals over the past four days to over 7,500, […]
U.S. policy on Syria is self-defeating (read my ‘Notes’!)
Story Summary By Rami G. Khouri At the start of my current trip in the U.S. the single question that preoccupies Middle East-watchers there is what to do about Syria, and whether or not the United States should provide military assistance to the opposition groups fighting to topple the regime […]
Maronite patriarch calls on Christians to remain in the region (‘Middle East’).
Story Summary Maronite Patriarch Beshara Rai issued a plea Sunday for Christians to remain in Lebanon and the Middle East to preserve their presence in the region. The Maronite patriarch […]
Assad Hits Out At UK Government In Interview
President Assad tells The Sunday Times that Britain’s involvement in the Syria crisis has been naive, confused and unrealistic Syrian President Bashar al Assad has heavily criticised the British government, […]
Well-armed jihadists raise fears of new war in Syria
AFP | Mar 02, 2013 | 23:09 Updated: Mar 02, 2013 | 23:09 DEIR EZZOR, Syria — Victory in Syria’s civil war is still up for grabs, but some rebel […]
Syria and Iran top agenda of Kerry and GCC ministers
RIYADH: GHAZANFAR ALI KHAN | Arab News Staff Sunday 3 March 2013 Syria, Iran and the Israel-Palestinian conflict will top the agenda at the meeting of the foreign ministers of […]
The West babbles on, and Assad is the winner
Talks in Rome did nothing to hide the fact Syria’s people have been betrayed by Robert Fisk, The Independent I sniff treachery. Because – let’s be frank about it – something is going very wrong with the narrative of the Syrian war. Our Western lords and masters – as untrustworthy […]
Fighters seize historic Aleppo mosque
Friday 1 March 2013 BEIRUT: Fighters seized control of the historic Umayyad Mosque in Syria’s second city of Aleppo yesterday after several days of fierce clashes that damaged the building, […]
US announces direct non-lethal battlefield aid for Syrian rebels
By Catherine Chomiak, Producer, NBC News ROME – In a policy shift, the United States on Thursday announced plans to channel non-lethal assistance directly to Syrian rebels in the battlefield […]
Hollande hopes for rapid ‘political solution’ on Syria within weeks
By Al Arabiya with AFP French President Francois Hollande said Thursday that he believed it would be possible to come to a political decision on the Syrian conflict in the […]
US reportedly considering direct aid to Syrian rebels
PARIS – The Obama administration, in coordination with some European allies, is for the first time considering supplying direct assistance to elements of the Free Syrian Army as they seek to ramp up pressure on Syrian President Bashar Assad to step down and end nearly two years of brutal and […]
Saudi Arabia Supplies Syrian Militants with Croatian Arms: Report
A new report has revealed that Saudi Arabia has supplied foreign-backed militants in Syria with large cargos of infantry and heavy weapons through Jordan. (Ahlul Bayt News Agency) – Citing anonymous American and Western officials, The New York Times newspaper reported on Monday that “the weapons began reaching rebels in […]
Syria says it’s ready for talks with armed rebels
Kerry urges Syrian opposition to attend Rome talks MOSCOW/LONDON — Syria is ready to hold talks with the armed opposition trying to topple President Bashar Assad, the country’s foreign minister […]
Zaatari refugees (in Jordan) torn between revolution, security
by Hani Hazaimeh | Feb 23, 2013 | 22:55 MAFRAQ — While hundreds of Syrians fleeing the violence in their country arrive at the Zaatari Refugee Camp daily, some camp residents want to return to their homeland for various reasons. Several Syrians interviewed by The Jordan Times last week complained […]
Navan (Ireland) teenager killed fighting with Syrian rebels
MARY FITZGERALD, Foreign Affairs Correspondent A teenager from Navan who joined rebels in Syria last year without his parents’ knowledge has been killed as fighting between the Assad regime and […]
The Islamic Urbanist Tradition Is in Danger of Going Extinct
by SARAH GOODYEAR Imran Aukhil describes himself as “a Muslim and a committed urbanist.” Those things, he says, should be complementary rather than contradictory. And yet Aukhil, who tweets as […]
The Character of Syria’s Upheavals
by Majid RafizadehFulbright teaching scholar, Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars HUFFINGTON POST The upheavals in Syria have generally been interpreted from a culturalist or structuralist perspective. Some attribute the emergence of the democratic uprisings to historic long-term tensions between different ethnic groups which include Alaawite, Syrian Turkmen, Armenians, Druze, […]
Thousands of Syrians find jobs in ‘abandoned sectors’ in Jordan
ZARQA — “Syria will never be the same as it was before the revolution.” Those were the words of Syrian refugee Abdullah Mzayyek, who fled the violence in his country […]
Syrian human rights violators ‘should face court’ (or: one-sided justice is no justice!)
The International Criminal Court (ICC) should take on the cases of “very high officials” who have perpetrated human rights violations in Syria, according to Carla del Ponte, a member of a special United Nations Commission of Inquiry (CoI). Del Ponte, a former Swiss federal prosecutor who also served as prosecutor […]
Jordan: Srour discusses Mideast peace with Palestinian lawmaker
AMMAN — Lower House Speaker Saad Hayel Srour on Monday received a letter of congratulations from the speaker of the Palestinian Legislative Council, Aziz Dweik, presented by Palestinian Deputy Mohammad Al Ghoul, according to a Lower House statement. During their meeting, Srour reiterated Jordan’s support for Palestinians in their quest […]