Syria: Recent Stories and News - Page 61

Syria Studding
Refugee Routes
With Mines

Mar 13, 2012 7:04 AM CDT

Syria Studding Refugee Routes With Mines

Human Rights Watch cites eyewitness near Turkey, Lebanon

(Newser) - Earlier reports accused Syria of planting landmines along its Lebanese border, and according to witnesses, the practice shows no sign of waning. Mines are being placed along the routes refugees typically use to flee into neighboring Lebanon and Turkey, Human Rights Watch said today, citing eyewitness reports. One former...

Intervening in Syria Riskier Than Libya: US Officials

Mar 12, 2012 9:35 AM CDT

Intervening in Syria Riskier Than Libya: US Officials

Military intervention would likely require long, dangerous mission

(Newser) - Using the US military to intervene in Syria would be much more complicated and dangerous than the military intervention in Libya was, senior Pentagon officials say. President Obama asked the Pentagon for preliminary military options following increasing pressure from Republicans including John McCain , the New York Times notes. However, the...

45 Women and Children
Stabbed, Burned in Homs

Mar 12, 2012 6:27 AM CDT

45 Women and Children Stabbed, Burned in Homs

Government killings also reported in Idlib, other locations

(Newser) - Just hours after Kofi Annan told the press yesterday that he was "optimistic" about the chances for peace in Syria , at least 45 women and children were massacred in Homs, reports CNN . Opposition activists said that government forces broke into people's homes, stabbing them and burning the bodies....

Kofi Annan
'Optimistic'
After Meeting
Syria's Assad

Mar 11, 2012 9:21 AM CDT

Kofi Annan 'Optimistic' After Meeting Syria's Assad

But no peace deal yet

(Newser) - Kofi Annan left a second round of talks with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad today without a deal to stop the bloodshed, but "optimistic for several reasons," the UN-Arab League envoy tells al-Jazeera . "It's going to be tough. It's going to be difficult but we have...

Syria's Assad Rebuffs
Peace Effort by Annan

Mar 10, 2012 8:41 AM CST

Syria's Assad Rebuffs Peace Effort by Annan

Meanwhile, the army lays siege to city of Idlib

(Newser) - Hoping that Kofi Annan's meeting with Bashar al-Assad today might yield a diplomatic miracle and an end to violence in Syria? Not so much. Assad's regime released this statement afterward: "No political dialogue or political activity can succeed while there are armed terrorist groups operating and spreading...

More Syrian
Generals
Defect to
Opposition

Mar 9, 2012 2:13 PM CST

More Syrian Generals Defect to Opposition

Rebels slam Kofi Annan's calls for dialogue: He's 'on Mars'

(Newser) - More military leaders are defecting in Syria: Reuters reports that four high-ranking officers jumped ship and reached a deserters' camp in Turkey. One rebel leader says a total of seven brigadier generals have now joined the opposition. The AP also notes four military defections, though the ranks are different. Regardless,...

Snag to Syria Intervention:
Assad's Chemical Weapons

Mar 8, 2012 6:13 PM CST

Snag to Syria Intervention: Assad's Chemical Weapons

US, Jordan working on plans to secure them: Wall Street Journal

(Newser) - As the world community considers what to do about Syria, one serious complication keeps coming up: Bashar al-Assad's huge stockpile of chemical and biological weapons. In fact, the US and Jordan militaries have begun working together on a plan to secure the dozen or so sites where they are...

Syria's Deputy
Oil Minister
Defects,
Joins Rebels

Mar 8, 2012 4:55 AM CST

Syria's Deputy Oil Minister Defects, Joins Rebels

Abdo Hussameddin slams 'barbaric' Assad regime

(Newser) - A top Syrian official has decided to abandon Bashar al-Assad's "criminal regime" and join the uprising. Deputy oil minister Abdo Hussameddin is the highest-ranking civilian to defect since the rebellion began a year ago, reports the BBC . "I am joining the revolution of the people who reject...

UN Humanitarian
Chief Tours Homs

Mar 7, 2012 9:40 AM CST

UN Humanitarian Chief Tours Homs

As Syrian regime tries to scrub shattered city

(Newser) - UN humanitarian chief Valerie Amos arrived in Damascus to begin her tour of Syria today, and is now touring the flashpoints of Homs and Baba Amr, the BBC reports. The Assad regime was moving desperately to clean up evidence of the recent shelling assault on the city ahead of her...

John McCain:
It's Time to
Bomb Syria

Mar 5, 2012 5:36 PM CST

John McCain: It's Time to Bomb Syria

Senator makes plea on Capitol Hill as US, Europe approach Putin

(Newser) - A leading Republican senator today urged the US to launch airstrikes against Syrian President Bashar Assad's regime to force him out of power—a call for dramatic military intervention against the growing violence that was not supported by the Obama administration or its European or Arab partners. The statement...

Troops Rounding Up, Killing Civilians: Fleeing Syrians

Mar 5, 2012 11:14 AM CST

Troops Rounding Up, Killing Civilians: Fleeing Syrians

UN leaders to visit country this week

(Newser) - Following the departure of rebel fighters from the Baba Amr neighborhood , Syrian troops and pro-government militias have taken to the streets, rampantly grabbing, torturing, and killing men and boys, fleeing people tell the BBC . One woman said 35 males had been rounded up near her home, and two soldiers slit...

Syria Shells Homs,
Blocks Red Cross

Mar 3, 2012 5:24 PM CST

Syria Shells Homs, Blocks Red Cross

Civilians stranded without fuel or food in cold conditions

(Newser) - Syrian forces continued to pound the city of Homs today and blocked the Red Cross from reaching civilians who are enduring cold weather without fuel or food, Reuters reports. Syria is exacting revenge on Homs for harboring rebels who pulled out this week , according to a human rights group: "...

2 French Journalists
Finally Get Out of Syria

Mar 2, 2012 4:02 PM CST

2 French Journalists Finally Get Out of Syria

Injured Edith Bouvier and William Daniels return home

(Newser) - The long journey home ended today for two French journalists trapped for nine days in a besieged Syrian city, an experience one called a "non-stop nightmare." After landing outside Paris where the French president and loved ones awaited them, one was carried from the plane on a stretcher,...

Putin: I May Run Again in 2018

Mar 2, 2012 9:24 AM CST

Putin: I May Run Again in 2018

He also mocks UN Syria resolution

(Newser) - Russia isn't going to be rid of Vladimir Putin anytime soon. Putin hasn't even officially won his third term as president, but in an interview with six foreign newspapers today he was already speculating about whether he'd run again in 2018. "It would be normal, if...

Trapped French
Journalists
Escape Syria

Mar 2, 2012 6:31 AM CST

Trapped French Journalists Escape Syria

Edith Bouvier, William Daniels arrive in Lebanon

(Newser) - After being trapped for more than a week in Homs, a pair of French journalists have been smuggled out of Syria. "Edith Bouvier and William Daniels are currently safe on Lebanese territory and will within moments be under the protection of our embassy in Beirut," Nicolas Sarkozy told...

Arab Nations
Poised to Arm
Syrian Rebels

Mar 2, 2012 3:34 AM CST

Arab Nations Poised to Arm Syrian Rebels

But US worries about protracted civil war

(Newser) - Members of the Arab League signaled this week that they're about to arm Syrian rebels. But American officials fear that strategy will thwart their more cautious approach, and could fuel a bloody, protracted civil war. Saudi Arabia and Qatar aim to aid the opposition "as soon as they...

Syrian Rebels Retreat
From Homs Stronghold

Mar 1, 2012 5:23 PM CST

Syrian Rebels Retreat From Homs Stronghold

Government troops take over Baba Amr neighborhood

(Newser) - Syria's opposition forces made a "tactical retreat" from a crisis-torn section of Homs today. The rebels left Baba Amr after a month of fighting, hoping to curb the threat to the 4,000 civilians who have stayed in the area despite the violence, al-Jazeera reports. Syrian government forces...

Syrian Opposition
Forms Military Bureau

Mar 1, 2012 7:20 AM CST

Syrian Opposition Forms Military Bureau

Rebels say they have so far kept the government out of Homs

(Newser) - Syria's main political opposition group today announced that it was forming a "military bureau" to unify and coordinate the Free Syrian army and other armed opposition groups opposing Bashar al-Assad. Speaking in Paris, the Syrian National Council's leader said they had originally hoped for a nonviolent revolt,...

Syria Launches
Ground Assault
to 'Clean' Baba Amr

Feb 29, 2012 9:48 AM CST

Syria Launches Ground Assault to 'Clean' Baba Amr

Western journalists trapped inside city

(Newser) - Syrian ground troops advanced on Homs today, indicating that the regime was about to launch a ground assault to take the restive city. One Syrian official told the AP that the rebel-held Baba Amr neighborhood would be "cleaned" in a matter of hours. Three western journalists are still trapped...

13 Syrians Killed Saving Injured British Journalist

Feb 29, 2012 3:31 AM CST