Al-Qaeda fighters in Syria kill rival rebel leader
BEIRUT: Al-Qaeda fighters killed the leader of a rival Islamic brigade in a twin car bombing near Syria’s northern city of Aleppo, an attack likely to further exacerbate rebel infighting […]
The last thing a 3-year-old Syrian said before he died: “I’m gonna tell God everything”
This picture is haunting and it’s been floating around the internet with the sentence: The last sentence a 3-year-old Syrian said before he died: “I’m gonna tell God everything” And […]
‘Talks’ and killing fields
STORY SUMMARY A week of rhetoric and tension has finally concluded in Switzerland, and Syria’s warring sides are no closer to moving in a direction that may bring relief for […]
‘Ice is breaking’ in Syria talks: UN mediator
GENEVA: The ice is slowly breaking in peace talks between Syria’s warring sides, UN mediator Lakhdar Brahimi said Wednesday, warning though that no substantive results were expected during this round. […]
Syria foes say Geneva talks ‘positive’
GENEVA: Syria’s opposition said peace talks with President Bashar Assad’s regime in Geneva took a step forward on Wednesday with discussions on a transitional government after four days of deadlock. […]
Syrians discuss aid, prisoners
ASSOCIATED PRESS ARABNEWS.COM Published — Monday 27 January 2014 GENEVA: Syrians on opposite sides of their country’s civil war tried again Sunday to find common ground, with peace talks focusing on the release of prisoners and an aid convoy to a besieged city that once more came under mortar attacks […]
Britain will accept some ‘vulnerable’ Syrian refugees – UK foreign secretary
British Foreign Secretary William Hague said Sunday that the government is actively considering which Syrians should be allowed to come to Britain. His comments come four days after Prime Minister David Cameron said that he is now open minded about accepting injured Syrians, particularly children. Cameron’s statement was made after […]
Syrian civil war foes meet for first time, focus on aid
STORY SUMMARY By Tom Miles Syria’s civil war foes held their first face-to-face meeting on Saturday at the start of talks to end nearly three years of conflict which has […]
U.S. senators urge admission of refugees
STORY SUMMARY Democratic and Republican U.S. senators called Tuesday for the country to take in more of the millions of people forced from their homes during Syria’s nearly three-year civil war. Only 31 Syrian refugees – out of an estimated 2.3 million – were allowed into the United States in […]
Prince Turki calls for UN resolution to pull out Shiites from Syria
DAVOS, Switzerland: Prince Turki Al-Faisal, chairman of King Faisal Center for Research and Islamic Studies, has criticized the US over its policy on Syria, and called for a UN resolution […]
Syrian opposition refuses to meet govt face-to-face at Geneva 2 talks
The first day of talks in Switzerland, on Wednesday, was riddled with harsh denunciations made by both sides of the other’s lack of compromise and brutality on the ground during a fierce civil war. Meanwhile, other participants defended their own prerogatives. Western countries, Arab states, and Turkey supported the opposition […]
U.N. to offset refugee crisis by buying Lebanese
STORY SUMMARY The Industry Ministry in cooperation with U.N. agencies will advise Lebanese businesses on the procedures to participate in U.N. tenders to purchase goods for refugees, Sabounjian told The Daily Star. Pasini, who participated in the meeting with Sabounjian and Watkins, said the workshop aimed at bridging the gap […]
SYRIA: Montreux peace talks stuck over Assad’s future
Matthew Lee and Zeina Karam, Montreux MACAU DAILY TIMES Syrian peace talks began yesterday in Switzerland with a bitter clash over President Bashar Assad’s future. U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said Assad’s decision to meet peaceful dissent with brutal force had robbed him of all legitimacy while Assad’s foreign […]
Syria report: One is reminded of Nazi Germany
Everyone knows that the Assad regime – from father Hafez onwards – has employed torture and executions to preserve the doubtful purity of the Baath party by Robert Fisk, The Independent The pictures are horrific, the torture details revolting, the numbers terrifying. And the integrity of the three former prosecutors […]
Hope in Montreux? A Starting Point for Peace in Syria
By Christoph Reuter SPIEGEL.DE Violence in Syria has been appalling in the run up to this week’s peace talks in Switzerland, where rebel and government representatives are to sit down together. Secret meetings in recent months give cause for hope. A bag filled with pieces of bread is dangling from […]
Syria Geneva II peace talks witness bitter exchanges
Syria’s government and main political opposition have traded bitter accusations on the first day of a major peace conference in Switzerland. The opposition and US said President Bashar al-Assad had […]
Pope issues peace appeal to Syria conference
STORY SUMMARY Pope Francis is urging delegates attending the Syria peace conference in Switzerland to do everything they can to negotiate a cease-fire and launch “decisive” steps toward reconciliation and reconstruction. Read more: http://dailystar.com.lb/News/International/2014/Jan-22/244908-pope-issues-peace-appeal-to-syria-conference.ashx#ixzz2r7suFgPx (The Daily Star :: Lebanon News :: http://www.dailystar.com.lb)
Syria and Iran come to fore at Davos summit
The bloody civil war in Syria and Iran’s efforts to come in from the diplomatic cold will drive the agenda this week as world leaders, business chiefs and celebrities gather […]
Breaking News: UN retracts invite to Iran for Syria peace talks
The UN has withdrawn an invitation for Iran to the January 22 Geneva 2 peace conference after Syria’s main western-backed opposition group threatened to pull out of talks if the Islamic Republic attends. Earlier on Monday, the Syrian National Coalition gave the UN until 1900 GMT to withdraw the invite […]
Yarmouk: A camp without hope for a people without a land. Of its 250,000 Palestinians, scarcely 18,000 now remain; up to 1,500 are dead, many of them due to hunger
by Robert Fisk, The Independent, UK Not long after the start of the Syrian civil war, from the heights of the Qasioun mountain north of Damascus, I watched with Syrian friends as the first shells exploded upon the Yarmouk Palestinian camp. The Syrian army artillery behind us fired lazily, maybe […]