UN rights chief urges reconciliation process in first Syria visit
Damascus, Syria Reuters UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Turk called on Wednesday for a Syrian national reconciliation process to ensure justice for crimes committed over the past five decades of iron-fisted rule by the Assad family. President Bashar al-Assad was toppled by a lightning rebel offensive last month, ending 54 years of domination […]
Kurds, women must be included in Syria’s transition, European ministers say
Damascus, Syria Reuters All Syrian groups, including women and Kurds, must be involved in the country’s transition if Damascus wants European support, Germany’s foreign minister said after a closely-watched first meeting with the new de facto leader Ahmed al-Sharaa on Friday. In talks also attended by her French counterpart Jean-Noel Barrot, Germany’s top diplomat Annalena […]
Israel, at UN, warns Houthis risk sharing same fate as Hamas, Hezbollah
Reuters Israel’s ambassador to the United Nations issued on Monday what he called a final warning to Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthi militants to halt their missile attacks on Israel, saying they risked the same “miserable fate” as Hamas, Hezbollah and Syria’s Bashar al-Assad if they persisted. The ambassador, Danny Danon, also warned Tehran that Israel has […]
Syria eyes “strategic” ties with Ukraine, Kyiv vows more food aid shipments
Damascus, Syria Reuters Syria hopes for strategic partnerships with Ukraine, its new foreign minister told his Ukrainian counterpart on Monday, as Kyiv moves to build ties with the new Islamist rulers in Damascus amid waning Russian influence. Russia was a staunch ally of ousted President Bashar al-Assad and has given him political asylum. Moscow has […]
Syria’s de facto leader says holding elections could take up to four years
Cairo, Egypt Reuters Holding elections in Syria could take up to four years, Syria’s de facto leader Ahmed al-Sharaa said in remarks broadcast on Sunday, the first time he has commented on a possible electoral timetable since Bashar al-Assad was ousted this month. Drafting a new constitution could take up to three years, Sharaa said […]
Syria’s new rulers warn against incitement as tensions brew
Damascus, Syria Reuters Syria’s new authorities on Thursday launched a security crackdown in a coastal region where 14 policemen were killed a day before, vowing to pursue “remnants” of the ousted Bashar al-Assad government accused of the attack, state media reported. The violence in Tartous province, part of the coastal region that is home to […]
Fourteen Syrian police killed in ambush as unrest spreads
Damascus, Syria Reuters Fourteen members of the Syrian police were killed in an “ambush” by forces loyal to the ousted government in the Tartous countryside, the transitional administration said early on Thursday, as demonstrations and an overnight curfew elsewhere marked the most widespread unrest since Bashar al-Assad’s removal more than two weeks ago. Syria’s new […]
Syrian Christians attend Christmas Mass for first time since fall of Assad
Damascus, Syria Reuters Syrian Christians attended Christmas Eve services on Tuesday for the first time since the overthrow of President Bashar al-Assad in early December, in an early test of the new Islamist rulers’ pledges to protect the rights of the country’s religious minorities. The service was held amid tight security due to concerns of […]
Essay: Why Syria’s reconstruction may depend on the fate of its minorities
Expert on religious minorities, RAMAZAN KILINÇ, says – in an article first published on The Conversation – that the treatment of such groups will be a “critical indicator” of whether Syria can build an inclusive society…
US held “very productive” first meeting with Syria’s al-Sharaa
Washington DC, US/Damascus, Syria Reuters Senior US diplomats visiting Damascus on Friday met with Syria’s de-facto new ruler Ahmed al-Sharaa and held a “good” and “very productive” meeting with him about Syria’s political transition and decided to remove a bounty on his head. In their first in-person meeting with the leaders of Hayat Tahrir al-Sham […]