By REUTERS – Arab News AMMAN: Diplomatic pressure mounted on Syrian President Bashar Assad on Monday after Qatar, previously a major supporter, shut its embassy in Damascus and the European Union said it was considering tougher sanctions. Meanwhile, Syria saw its first outbreak of sectarian violence in four months of […]
By SHEYMA BUALI, LIFE.SYLLE@ARABNEWS.COM London’s three-week long Shubbak festival of contemporary Arab culture opened on Monday on a strong note from Tamer Abou Ghazaleh, Zeid Hamdan and Maryam Saleh, performing together for the first time in Europe. The first week of Shubbak sped by with music, history, film and literature […]
I am just wondering whether the readers are tired to read every day similar News of unrest in Syria, for instance… but the struggle continues… Syrians call for civil disobedience By REUTERS ISTANBUL: Syrians should wage a campaign of civil disobedience to try to force President Bashar Assad from power, […]
While church leaders pledge their support for the Assad regime, Christians in Syria are backing the protest movement for democratic change. The endorsement of the regime’s propaganda slogans by the representatives of the churches puts them in an increasingly precarious position, as Claudia Mende reports. Source: http://en.qantara.de/ In their official […]
By Hani Hazaimeh MAFRAQ/RAMTHA – Local authorities and citizens in Mafraq on Monday rejected as baseless a report by a human rights advocacy group claiming that over 100 Syrian refugees have illegally fled into the city through the border. Last week, the Arab Bridge Centre for Development and Human Rights […]
Attackers smash windows and raise Syrian flag at US compound, but are driven back by security guards at French embassy. Supporters of the Syrian government have stormed the US and French embassies in Damascus, prompting strong condemnation by the two countries’ officials. Witnesses describing Monday’s assault said the attackers smashed […]
DAMASCUS (Agencies) – Syria opened a “national dialogue” on Sunday that it hailed as a step towards multi-party democracy after five decades of Baath Party rule, but its credibility was undermined by an opposition boycott, Agence France-Presse reported. The foreign ministry, meanwhile, called in the French and US ambassadors to […]
By AIJAZ ZAKA SYED | ARAB NEWS Justice for the Libyans is welcome. What about the victims of war crimes in Iraq, Afghanistan and Pakistan though? Serves him right. That was my instant reaction to the International Criminal Court’s warrant for Muammar Qaddafi. The whole country has been on fire […]
The Syrian uprising has defied conventional expectations and patterns established elsewhere in the region from the outset. It happened, first of all, and to many that in itself was surprising enough. The regime was not alone in believing in a form of Syrian exceptionalism that would shield it from serious […]
Human rights group accuses Damascus over May siege of Talkalakh, while up to 22 reported killed in crackdown in Hama. Syria has drawn strong condemnation for its deadly crackdown on protesters in the central city of Hama, with human rights campaigners hinting at the possibility of the country’s leaders being […]
REUTERS Right in the middle of the Arab Spring, Germany plans to supply high-tech weapons to an undemocratic regime in the region. According to information obtained by SPIEGEL, Saudi Arabia is interested in buying up to 200 “Leopard” battle tanks. A sale would end Germany’s traditional restraint on arms sales […]
(CNN) — The Syrian president sacked the governor of a restive province, a day after tens of thousands of anti-government protesters took to the streets of its capital. President Bashar al-Assad discharged Dr. Ahmad Khaled Abdul-Aziz from his post as governor of Hama province, the third provincial governor to be […]
By ARAB NEWS MADINAH: Local livestock traders say there is a possibility that the price of sheep in the local market will increase dramatically in the near future. They attributed this mainly to the current political turmoil in some Arab countries, especially Syria which is regarded as a major exporter […]
By REUTERS DAMASCUS: The reception area is quiet at the Beit Zaman boutique hotel in the Christian Quarter of Old Damascus and the staff is visibly bored. Bellhops loiter in the lavishly decorated corridors of the $200-a-night hotel and a receptionist stares idly at his computer screen. Four months ago, […]
By Mohammad Ben Hussein AMMAN – Hundreds of Syrians living in Jordan gathered outside the Turkish embassy in Amman on Sunday to express gratitude for Turkey’s political and humanitarian stance concerning developments in their country. Carrying Turkish flags and pictures of Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, they thanked him […]
By Peter Apps Reuters LONDON – From the streets of Cairo and Madrid to online forums and social media sites, “leaderless” protests are on the rise. But the very qualities that led to their short-term success may condemn them to failure in the long run. Activists in Egypt, Tunisia and […]
By Rami G. Khouri The Daily Star, Lebanon My pleasure at speaking this week in Ottawa at a gathering at the International Development Research Center of Canada was compounded by the very thoughtful questions and comments that members of the audience offered. The audience raised new questions in my mind […]
BEIRUT (AP) – Hundreds of Syrians, some with gunshot wounds, crossed into neighbouring Lebanon in search of a refuge from the growing government crackdown in their homeland, a Lebanese security official said Saturday. Other Syrians marched in a funeral for victims of the crackdown outside Damascus, demanding President Bashar Assad’s […]
By Taylor Luck AMMAN – Iraqi refugees are at risk of being overlooked as victims of a forgotten conflict, a UN official in Amman warned on Wednesday. As the international community marks World Refugee Day – observed annually June 20 – donor countries and the greater global community risk suffering […]
DAMASCUS — Syrian Foreign Minister Walid Muallem on Wednesday rejected foreign meddling in his country’s internal affairs while stressing Damascus is keen to maintain good ties with longtime ally Turkey. “We are keen on maintaining good relations with Turkey with which we share a common border of 850 kilometres (528 […]