By Ronen Bergman, Juliane von Mittelstaedt, Matthias Schepp and Holger Stark Spiegel.de As the battle against Syrian rebels reaches a new stage, Israel is worried that President Assad might use his vast arsenal of chemical weapons against his own people or neighbors — or perhaps even give some to Hezbollah. […]
RAMTHA — Hundreds of Syrians on Monday protested against their transfer to a recently opened refugee camp as authorities imposed new regulations restricting their movement within the country. The refugees […]
by Suleiman Al Khalidi | Reuters JORDAN TIMES REYHANLI, Turkey — Abdullah Ben Shamar, a Saudi student, puts a small copy of the Koran among his few belongings packed neatly in a holdall as he prepares to set off with a Libyan friend across the hilly terrain separating southern Turkey […]
Credit: NY Times BEIRUT, Lebanon — After weeks of mystery surrounding his intentions, Brig. Gen. Manaf Tlass, the former commander of an elite Republican Guard unit in Syria, announced his […]
A political analyst says the US, the UK, Israel and NATO are stoking up violence in Syria to justify direct military involvement there and an eventual aggression against the Islamic Republic, Press TV reports. “The stage is being set [in Syria] for another version of what happened in Libya with […]
Switzerland has pledged to assist Lebanon in housing refugees who have fled from neighbouring crisis-torn Syria. Swiss Foreign Minister Didier Burkhalter met with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees […]
Credit: Asia Times Turkish foreign policy, codified by Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu, used to be known in shorthand as “zero problems with our neighbors”. When Turkey started calling for regime change in Syria, it turned into “a major problem with one of our neighbors” (even tough Davutoglu himself admitted on […]
By Rami G. Khouri The Daily Star Two new men who appeared on the fast-changing stage of Arab politics this week: General Manaf Tlass, who defected from the Syrian regime, and Egypt’s newly appointed prime minister, Hisham Kandil. They may play pivotal roles in shaping evolutions in their countries. Some […]
By Regan Doherty, Amena Bakr DAILY STAR, LEBANON A Turkish F-16 fighter jet leaves its hangar for take off from Incirlik airbase in the southern Turkish city of Adana July 4, 2012. REUTERS/Umit Bektas DOHA/DUBAI: Turkey has set up a secret base with allies Saudi Arabia and Qatar to direct […]
By ROD NORDLAND CAIRO — Two foreign journalists captured by Islamic extremists in Syria and held for a week were rescued by Syrian opposition fighters, one of them said on Friday. A Dutch freelance photographer, Jeroen Oerlemans, contacted by telephone in Turkey, described a harrowing ordeal during which he and […]
AP | Jul 27, 2012 | JORDAN TIMES BEIRUT — In the recent sectarian violence in Syria, some observers see a grim pattern: Alawite fighters from President Bashar Assad’s minority sect, they say, are trying to carve out a breakaway enclave for themselves by driving out local Sunnis, killing entire […]
Source: Teheran Times TEHRAN – Iranian Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi said on Monday that Syria is heading for tranquility as the army is gradually suppressing the armed insurgent groups. “Enemies imagined that they can create a vacuum in the management of the country by explosions in Damascus but the […]
Washington Post: Come nightfall, a bucolic farming village begins to buzz with unusual activity. Shadowy figures emerge from olive groves, clutching small suitcases. Cars crowd the winding rural road collecting […]
PJMedia: by David P Goldman Over at the new Gatestone Institute, some longstanding friends and I conduct a regular electronic meetingto dissect crisis situations, and let the public read the results after we’re done. There are too many moving parts for any individual to follow, and Syria is a case in point: […]
There is a frightening aspect to the present crises in Palestine and Syria: It seems to be a belief among ‘fundamental’ Christians that there must be a ‘Seven Year Tribulation […]
July 24, 2012 By Jawad Boulos The Daily Star, Lebanon Syria is in the midst of a civil war. As the predominantly Alawite regime attempts to defend its waning power against an increasingly successful, mainly Sunni, insurgency, the struggle has degenerated into a bloodbath. Murder, torture, rape and destruction have […]
The latest antics of the Arab League have proved once again that the body is essentially sleepwalking through its duties, jerked awake occasionally by its need to prove it is still alive, before returning to its stupor. Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Hamad bin Jassem al-Thani appealed to President Bashar Assad […]
BBC News Middle East: Syria has said it will not use chemical weapons against its own people, but would do so against an external attack. Acknowledging their existence for the first time, Damascus said the weapons, stored and secured by the armed forces, would never be used “inside Syria”. Rebels […]
By Christoph Reuter and Abd al-Kadher Adhun Source: Spiegel.de Initially, the United Nations was convinced that the Syrian government was behind the brutal Houla massacre. But then, some began to […]
Credit: Asiatimes By M K Bhadrakumar Israel’s emergence from the woodwork can signal only one thing: the Syrian crisis is moving towards the decisive phase. The lights have been switched on in the operation theatre and the carving of Syria is beginning. What is going to follow won’t be a […]