Syria

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White House Proposes $43B in Mideast Military Aid

Rice pitches strategy to help contain Iran

(Newser) - More than $43 billion in US military aid is earmarked for the Middle East, Reuters reports, part of a strategy to fight terrorism and counterbalance Iran. The outlays, which require congressional approval, include $13 billion to Egypt, $30 billion to Israel, and an unspecified amount to Saudi Arabia and other...

Iraq Refugees Spark Crisis for Neighbors

(Newser) - Over 2 million Iraqis have fled their war-torn homeland, with 50,000 more leaving each month for neighboring countries—primarily Jordan and Syria. A UN official is terming the exodus a "humanitarian crisis," and the organization is calling for extra funding to cover medical supplies and shelter for...

US Shuts Out Troublemaking Syrians
US Shuts Out Troublemaking Syrians
Jun 29, 2007 4:24 PM CDT

US Shuts Out Troublemaking Syrians

Travel ban represents vote of confidence in Lebanese government

(Newser) - President Bush moved to boost the Lebanese government today, barring officials who have acted to undermine the precarious regime from entering the US. The ban applies to some high-level Syrian officials and five former Lebanese cabinet ministers, Reuters reports. An NSC spokesman said the goal is "to demonstrate to...

Mossad Spy in London Mystery Death
Mossad Spy
in London
Mystery Death
Jun 28, 2007 4:50 AM CDT

Mossad Spy in London Mystery Death

Egyptian billionaire found crumpled under apartment balcony

(Newser) - Scotland Yard is investigating the death of an Egyptian billionaire suspected of being a Mossad spy. Ashraf Marwan's body was found yesterday on the pavement beneath the balcony of his fourth-floor London flat. Friends said Marwan, who was 62, feared assassination since 2004 when it was first reported that he...

Lebanese Mourn MP Slain by Bomb
Lebanese Mourn MP Slain by Bomb
Jun 14, 2007 7:09 AM CDT

Lebanese Mourn MP Slain by Bomb

Unrest builds; White House condemns assassinations of anti-Syrian politicians

(Newser) - Lebanon observed a national day of mourning today as a prominent anti-Syrian MP was buried in Beirut. The assassination yesterday of Walid Eido further destabilized the shaky situation in the country. President Bush condemned the "clear pattern of assassinations" of prominent Lebanese critics of Syria; Eido was the sixth...

Israel Cautiously Invites Syria to the Table

Olmert denounces war, hints back-door deals may end in peace talks

(Newser) - Israel's PM deflected fears of a war with Syria today, and fueled semi-official rumors that peace talks are going on furtively between the two hostile countries. Olmert says he wants a sitdown with Syria—which would be the first in seven years—but warned president Assad that talks would not...

UN Will Try Accused Assassins of Ex-Lebanese PM

Divided Security Council OKs tribunal

(Newser) - A UN tribunal will try suspects in the 2005 assassination of the ex-PM of Lebanon, raising fears of worsening unrest in the unstable country. Five members abstained from yesterday's Security Council vote, signaling a serious rift. And Syria, which has been implicated in the suicide truck-bomb attack that killed Rafik...

Iraqi Refugees Resort to Prostitution
Iraqi Refugees Resort to Prostitution
May 29, 2007 11:09 AM CDT

Iraqi Refugees Resort to Prostitution

Displaced women turn to sex trade to support families

(Newser) - As Iraqi refugees flood across the border into Syria, more and more women are turning to prostitution to support themselves and their families. The Times visits the Damascus area, where some women approach men on the street, some work at clubs known as "casinos," and some are even...

More Violence Looms in Lebanon
More Violence Looms in Lebanon
May 25, 2007 5:00 AM CDT

More Violence Looms in Lebanon

Palestinians enraged at Lebanese troops threaten uprising

(Newser) - Clashes between the Lebanese Army and a Palestinian militant group could spread throughout Lebanon, politicians, diplomats and refugees tell the Guardian. Anger is building among Palestinians  over civilian casualties from shelling of the Nahr el-Bared refugee camp during clashes with Fatah al-Islam militants last week.

Lebanon Seeks Aid in Fighting Islamists

Minister asks foreign governments for cash as troops shell refugee camp

(Newser) - Lebanon's finance minister appealed to Arab and Western governments yesterday, begging for money and supplies to help fight militants in a Palestinian refugee camp. Thirty Lebanese troops, 15 members of the group Fatah al-Islam, and more than 25 civilians have been killed in two days of clashes.

Clashes in Lebanon Kill 39
Clashes in Lebanon Kill 39
May 20, 2007 2:20 PM CDT

Clashes in Lebanon Kill 39

(Newser) - A gunbattle between the Lebanese army and al-Qaeda-linked militants in Tripoli  today left 22 soldiers and 17 insurgents dead, the AP reports. The fighting—the worst in the city in two decades— began when police raided an apartment occupied by militants. The army later shelled a Palestinian refugee camp which...

Iranian, U.S. Diplomats Meet Briefly

Three-minute discussion focuses on Iraq, hints at Bush administration policy shift

(Newser) - It didn't involve the American Secretary of State or the Iranian foreign minister, but a brief meeting of high-level diplomats today in Egypt signals a thaw in relations between the countries, the International Herald Tribune reports. U.S. ambassador to Iraq Ryan Crocker said the three-minute conversation concerned the situation...

Condi Sits Down With Syria
Condi Sits Down With Syria
May 4, 2007 5:56 AM CDT

Condi Sits Down With Syria

Rice talks with Syrian Foreign Minister about border security

(Newser) - Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice conferred with her Syrian counterpart Thursday in an unexpected half hour sit-down that ended a two-year cold-shoulder between the Bush administration and a state it considers a sponsor of terrorism. Rice asked asked Sryia's help in restricting the flow of foreign fighters across the Syrian...

Iraqi PM Begs for Debt Forgiveness
Iraqi PM Begs
for Debt Forgiveness
May 3, 2007 7:52 AM CDT

Iraqi PM Begs for Debt Forgiveness

US, Iran, Syria to cross paths at Egypt summit

(Newser) - Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki is begging other nations to write off Iraq's debt, saying the country needs reconstruction funds. He spoke today at a regional summit that will feature the first high-level talks between the U.S. and Syria since 2005; prospects of Secretary of State Rice sitting down with...

Pelosi Is Doing Bush's Job
Pelosi Is Doing Bush's Job
Apr 6, 2007 9:01 PM CDT

Pelosi Is Doing Bush's Job

Someone had to.

(Newser) - Taylor Marsh defends Pelosi's visit to Syria on the grounds that if Bush won't talk to Assad someone has to.  It turns out that all Syria wants is some R-E-S-P-E-C-T.  And Marsh makes the case that this is a good thing for America to be doing.

Israel Begs to Differ With Pelosi Statement

PM's office distances itself from speaker's promise of talks

(Newser) - The Israeli PM is backing off from Nancy Pelosi's suggestion yesterday that an Israeli-Syrian summit is in the offing. Pelosi told reporters that she had conveyed to  Syria's Bashar al-Assad a message that Ehud Olmert was "ready to engage in peace talks." Olmert's office quickly responded that it...

Wooing Syria Is Tougher Than Pelosi Thinks

Experts laud diplomatic offensive, warn of potential failure

(Newser) - The Wall Street Journal puts Nancy Pelosi's high profile visit to Damascus in perspective in a piece outlining the vexing complexity of relations between Syria and the U.S. A number of Pentagon and State Dept. counterterrorism officials support the  congressional effort  to moderate the President's hard line on Syria,...

Pelosi Says Syria Is Ready for Peace Talks

House Speaker ends US boycott and meets with Syrian president

(Newser) - House Speaker Nancy Pelosi says Syria is ready to resume peace talks with Israel, based on her meeting with President Bashar al-Assad, the BBC reports. Flying in the face of Bush's Syrian boycott, Pelosi and a congressional delegation are in Damascus meeting with top leaders. Bush said the visit undermined...

Iraqis Flee on the "Highway From Hell"

With the border to Jordan closed, 1,000 Iraqis a day hazard an escape to Syria

(Newser) - Every day, more than a thousand Iraqis risk their lives on a nightmarish journey from Baghdad to crowded, chaotic border crossings into Syria. Ambushes, murders, roadside bombs and kidnappings are common hazards along the 340-mile road   "Highway From Hell."

Iraqi Refugees Flood Into Syria and Jordan

Iraqis are fleeing to their neighbors by the millions, while the U.S. sits pretty

(Newser) - The Iraq war has created nearly two million refugees, and they're going largely ignored by world governments, the UN warns. "There has been an abject denial of the impact, the humanitarian impact, of the war," says a UN refugee agency spokesperson. Most of the refugees stream into neighboring...

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