Syria: Signs of peril and promise in a week of violence and diplomacy
ABBY SEWELL, of Associated Press, reports on a tumultuous week in the Middle Eastern nation…
Syria’s interim President signs deal with Kurdish-led SDF to merge forces
Cairo, Egypt Reuters The Kurdish-led and US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces, which controls much of Syria’s oil-rich north-east, signed a deal with the Damascus government on Monday to join Syria’s new state institutions, the Syrian presidency said on Monday. Photos showed interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa and SDF commander Mazloum Abdi shaking hands in Damascus on the […]
Syrian groups must disarm to take part in national dialogue, official says
Damascus, Syria Reuters Groups that refuse to lay down their arms and submit to the defence ministry’s authority will play no part in a national dialogue on Syria’s future, a committee set up to prepare for a national conference said on Thursday. The statement raises the prospect of the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), which […]
US tells UN: We cannot pay forever for Syria camps with Islamic State-linked prisoners
United Nations Reuters US assistance for managing and securing camps in north-eastern Syria with Islamic State-linked prisoners “cannot last forever,” the acting US Ambassador to the United Nations, Dorothy Shea, told the Security Council on Wednesday. Dorothy Camille Shea, Deputy US Representative to the United Nations gives an statement during a Security Council about the […]
New conflict in north-east Syria could bring “dramatic consequences”, UN envoy says
Beirut, Lebanon Reuters Tensions in north-east Syria between Kurdish-led authorities and Turkish-backed groups should be resolved politically or risk “dramatic consequences” for all of Syria, the United Nations envoy for the country Geir Pedersen told Reuters on Monday. Hostilities have escalated between Syrian rebels backed by Ankara and the US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces in the […]
France to host Syria meeting, cautious on aid, sanctions lifting
Paris, France Reuters France said on Wednesday it would host an international meeting on Syria in January and that the lifting of sanctions and reconstruction aid would be conditional on clear political and security commitments by the transitional authority. A team of French diplomats met an official from the Syrian transition team on Tuesday in […]
Essay: Assad leaves behind a fragmented nation – stabilising Syria will be a major challenge for fractured opposition and external backers
Middle East security expert SEFA SECEN, in an article first published on The Conversation, looks at the complicated situation in Syria following the ousting of the Assad regime…
Syrian rebels claim to reach key city of Homs while, in east, sources say US-backed Syrian Kurds seize eastern city of Deir el-Zor
Beirut, Lebanon/Amman, Jordan/Dubai, United Arab Emirates Reuters Syrian rebel forces said on Friday their lightning advance reached the central city of Homs, which could position the insurgents to topple another town strategic to President Bashar al-Assad’s grip on power. “Our forces have liberated the last village on the outskirts of the city of Homs and […]
Syrian rebels advance close to Hama city, piling pressure on Assad and his allies
Beirut, Lebanon/Amman, Jordan Reuters Syrian rebels advancing against government forces pushed close on Tuesday to the major city of Hama, rebels and a war monitor said, after their sudden capture of Aleppo last week rocked President Bashar al-Assad. Rebels and the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights war monitor said insurgents had captured villages including Maar […]
Essay: Syria’s earthquake survivors struggle in a disaster made far worse by civil war, bombed-out hospitals and currency collapse
In an article first published on The Conversation, US-based academic ORA SZEKLEY says the consequences of the earthquake in Syria can be explained in part by the country’s devastating civil war…