Latest in Tag: syrian revolution Highlight

Advertising Area



Latest in Tag: syrian revolution


Syrian troops clash with rebels in eastern city

By Bassem Mroue / AP BEIRUT: Syrian troops clashed with army defectors in an eastern city Thursday, leaving at least one person dead, while government forces bombarded rebel-held neighborhoods of the central city of Homs, activists said. The renewed violence comes as the international community struggles to salvage a week-old cease-fire that is seen as …

DNE

Syria bids to reassure UN over shaky truce

By AFP DAMASCUS: Syria sought on Wednesday to reassure the United Nations over its willingness to implement a ceasefire despite violence and casualties still reported in various parts of the country. Foreign ministry spokesman Jihad Makdisi told AFP a protocol outlining a UN mission to oversee the fragile six-day ceasefire was nearly completed and that …

DNE

Despite truce, Syrian troops resume attack on Homs

By Karin Laub / AP BEIRUT: Nearly a week after a cease-fire took effect, Syrian troops pounded a rebel stronghold Wednesday as the country’s foreign minister met with his Chinese counterpart in Beijing during the latest round of talks aimed at preventing the truce from unraveling. Despite the persistent violence in Homs and other cities, …

DNE

On the brink: Can non-violence bring Syria back?

By Michael Nagler and Stephanie Van Hook PETALUMA, California: When the Arab Spring was initiated by Mohamed Bouazizi’s self-immolation in Tunisia, it ignited longings for freedom throughout the region; more than that, it took hold of the creative imaginations of non-violent activists and millions of dissatisfied individuals around the world. Has this hope ground to …

DNE

Activists: Syrian troops widen shelling attacks

By Karin Laub / AP BEIRUT: The Syrian regime widened shelling attacks on opposition strongholds Tuesday, activists said, targeting a second town in a new sign that a UN-brokered cease-fire is quickly unraveling despite the presence of foreign observers. The truce is part of an international plan to launch talks between President Bashar Assad’s regime …

DNE

Shelling in Syria as UN monitors begin mission

By Zeina Karam / AP BEIRUT: An advance team of UN observers was negotiating the ground rules with Syrian authorities Monday for monitoring the country’s 5-day-old cease-fire, which appeared to be rapidly unraveling as regime forces pounded the opposition stronghold of Homs with artillery shells and mortars, activists said. Even though the overall level of violence …

DNE

Syrian truce marred as Assad forces kill four

By Dominic Evans / Reuters BEIRUT: Syrian forces loyal to President Bashar Al-Assad killed at least four people as the opposition tried to stage protests after Friday prayers, marring a ceasefire brokered by UN-Arab League peace envoy Kofi Annan. Syrians took to the streets across the country in small demonstrations after prayers, trusting that the truce, …

DNE

Clashes as Syrian government claims troop pullout

By Zeina Karam / AP BEIRUT: Loud explosions reverberated across the central Syrian city of Homs and clashes were reported in several areas across the country Wednesday, just hours after the government said it has started to withdraw troops from some cities in compliance with an international cease-fire plan. Activists said a 50-year-old man and his …

DNE

Egypt says arming Syria rebels could cause civil war

By Reuters CAIRO: Egypt’s foreign minister warned on Monday that arming Syria’s opposition could lead to a full civil war and argued instead to give an Arab League peace plan a chance to succeed. Qatar and Saudi Arabia have advocated arming rebels seeking to oust Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad. Egypt and some other Arab states …

DNE

Syria forces hit rebel bastions despite peace moves

By AFP DAMASCUS: President Bashar Al-Assad’s regime pressed its deadly campaign to crush dissent on Monday, reportedly pounding northern rebel strongholds as it brushed off a “Friends of Syria” meeting as a failure. An explosion ripped through central Damascus on Monday morning, injuring several people and damaging shops near a police station, Syrian television and …

DNE

Syria fighting rages, Annan urges immediate ceasefire

DAMASCUS: International envoy Kofi Annan urged Syria’s President Bashar Al-Assad to immediately implement a ceasefire, as fighting raged Friday even after the embattled leader said he had accepted the peace plan. UN-Arab League peace broker Annan made the appeal as monitors said shells rained down on Homs, a main rebel bastion which has been the …

DNE

Islamists find foothold in Syria revolt

By Erika Solomon /Reuters BEIRUT: Sheikh Abu Abdullah Zahed, a Lebanese Muslim cleric with influence amongst radical youth, is part of a growing effort to push the uprising in Syria towards militant Islam. Hardline Sunni Muslims in Lebanon are maneuvering for influence over Syrians across the border who have spent the last year fighting to topple …

DNE

Spillover from the Syrian uprising: three scenarios

By Akeel Abbas How the uprising in Syria will effect Iraq depends largely on how events unfold in Syria — and on whom you ask in Iraq. So far, one sure effect of the Syrian uprising on Iraq has been its “clarifying” quality on the nature of politics in the new Iraq. Prior to the uprising, …

DNE

Forging Syria’s opposition

By Itamar Rabinovich TEL AVIV: Syria’s crisis is now a year old, with close to 10,000 people, mostly civilians, dead — and no end in sight. The country is at a stalemate: the opposition is unable to topple President Bashar Al-Assad’s regime, and Assad’s forces are unable to quash the resistance. Both sides are adamant: the …

DNE

Towns hit, rebels eye Damascus after UN peace call

  DAMASCUS: Regime forces on Thursday pressed assaults on rebel zones around Syria, despite a UN Security Council statement urging both sides to implement “fully and immediately” envoy Kofi Annan’s peace plan. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said a 17-year-old boy was killed and dozens wounded in an army assault on the town of …

DNE

What to do about Syria? Turkey wavers

By Christopher Torchia / AP ISTANBUL (AP) — Turkey stands at the forefront of calls for the ouster of Syrian President Bashar Assad, but there are an awful lot of red lines that it won’t cross to realize that goal. Like its Western allies, Turkey says it won’t arm outgunned Syrian rebels, and has no plans …

DNE

UN aims to press Syria, new clashes in Damascus

DAMASCUS: The UN Security Council was to weigh a draft statement on Tuesday warning Syria of “further measures” if it fails to cooperate with peace envoy Kofi Annan, as fresh violence struck Damascus. Russian support for a daily humanitarian truce had raised hopes of a breakthrough at the Security Council but on Tuesday Moscow made …

DNE

Damascus blasts kill 27 as Syria gears up for monitors

By AFP DAMASCUS: Two huge bomb blasts killed at least 27 people in Syria’s capital on Saturday, as special envoy Kofi Annan warned of regional fallout from the year-long bloodshed. An Arab diplomat told AFP Saudi Arabia has started delivering arms to Syrian rebels through Jordan, a claim denied by Amman, while rival Iran is …

DNE

Syria protesters urge military intervention

By AFP DAMASCUS: Anti-regime protesters called on Friday for foreign military intervention in Syria, as UN-Arab League envoy Kofi Annan prepared to brief a divided UN Security Council on his peace efforts. Ahead of UN participation in a Syrian-led humanitarian mission to protest cities at the weekend, Annan was to give a videoconference briefing to …

DNE

Syrians have a long memory

By Murhaf Jouejati Assuming that the Assad regime is about to collapse — many indications support this assumption — Russian-Syrian relations are set to go south in the post-Assad era. This conclusion is based on what one Syrian opposition leader who prefers to remain anonymous described as “outrageous” Russian behavior throughout the Syrian uprising that began …

DNE

Army gains ground on anniversary of Syria uprising

By Crispian Balmer and Dominic Evans / Reuters BEIRUT: Syria marked the first anniversary on Thursday of an increasingly bloody uprising against President Bashar Al-Assad, with recent army gains unlikely to quell the revolt and no diplomatic solution in sight. Official media announced government forces had cleared “armed terrorists” from the northwestern city of Idlib and …

DNE

Syria forces attack town; Annan receives Assad response

By Khaled Yacoub Oweis / Reuters AMMAN: Heavily armed forces loyal to President Bashar Al-Assad pounded the southern city of Deraa with anti-aircraft fire on Wednesday, reasserting control over rebel strongholds a year after the start of the Syrian revolt. On the diplomatic front, the UN-Arab League envoy Kofi Annan was considering Damascus’s response to “concrete …

DNE

Arab League: Syria commits crimes against humanity

By Agencies CAIRO: The Arab League chief said the Syrian regime’s killing of civilians amounts to crimes against humanity and called for an international inquiry. Nabil Al-Araby said Tuesday that it would not be ethical or moral to allow those behind the killings in the cities of Homs and Idlib to get away with their …

DNE

Syrian forces press anti-rebel assault in Idlib

By AFP DAMASCUS: Syrian troops Tuesday pressed an assault on rebel strongholds in the Turkish border region, as the opposition urged foreign military intervention after dozens of women and children were killed in Homs. The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said Syrian forces used heavy machineguns to rake the town of El-Baraa in the …

DNE

Syria opposition demands ‘urgent’ military intervention after massacre

By AFP ISTANBUL: The opposition Syrian National Council called on Monday for an “urgent” foreign military intervention in Syria after reports that 47 women and children were killed in a Homs “massacre.” “We request urgent Arab and international military intervention,” top SNC leader Georges Sabra told a news conference in Istanbul. Reading from a prepared …

DNE