Bashar al-Assad

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UN Heads to Syria to Hunt Chemical Weapons

Officials to investigate weapons' use, but not who to blame

(Newser) - Following approval by Bashar al-Assad, a UN team is headed to Syria to investigate whether chemical weapons are being used in the country. "The departure of the team is now imminent," says a statement from secretary-general Ban Ki-Moon. Inspectors will remain in Syria "for a period of...

Coming Soon to US: Syrian Refugees

State Department agrees to allow 2K in 'major policy shift'

(Newser) - By most accounts, more than 2 million people have fled Syria in the last two years amid its civil war. In that time, the US has allowed maybe 90 of them to relocate to the US. Now, in what Foreign Policy describes as a "major policy shift," the...

Syrian Rebels: We Hit Assad's Motorcade

President's reps say attack missed him entirely

(Newser) - It's he said/he said in Syria today after rebels claimed to have struck President Bashar Assad's motorcade this morning with mortar shells, Al-Jazeera reports. A regime-linked TV station said shells did hit Assad's upscale Damascus neighborhood, hurting two guards, but presidential reps insist his presidential convoy was...

Syria Rebels Make Major Gains
 Syria Rebels Make Major Gains 
Aug 5, 2013 11:29 PM CDT

Syria Rebels Make Major Gains

Villages in Assad heartland captured

(Newser) - After weeks of losing territory to Bashar al-Assad's forces, Syrian rebels have scored two major victories against the regime. In northern Syria, rebels captured a major air base after almost a year of trying, capturing tanks and soldiers despite air raids from government warplanes, reports the New York Times...

Syria &#39;Now 3 Countries&#39;
 Syria Is 'Now 3 Countries' 
Aug 5, 2013 12:32 AM CDT

Syria Is 'Now 3 Countries'

'As a distinct single entity, Syria has ceased to exist,' analysts say

(Newser) - As Syria's bloody civil war grinds on, the country is now split into three parts—each boasting its own flags, security agencies, and judicial system—and the longer the conflict lasts, analysts say, the more difficult it will be to piece together a coherent Syrian state from the wreckage....

White House: Assad's Instagram 'Despicable'

@StateDept will not be retweeting

(Newser) - Ever abreast of the big issues facing a war-torn country like Syria, the US State Department has delivered a stern rebuke against President Bashar al-Assad's Instagram account , labeling it "nothing more than a despicable PR stunt," ABC News reports. In a press briefing, a department spokesperson told...

As Thousands Die, Assad Takes Selfies

Syrian president joins Instagram; fails to capture civil war

(Newser) - Syria is in the middle of a bloody civil war—not that you'd know it from President Bashar al-Assad's new Instagram account , which features Assad and his wife shaking hands, hugging, and chatting with smiling constituents and cheering crowds, reports CNN . With 100,000 people now dead in...

CIA Training Syria Rebels: Report

LA Times says secret work started last year

(Newser) - The White House may be moving too slowly in the eyes of some critics when it comes to helping the Syrian opposition, but the CIA and special ops forces have been at it since late last year, reports the Los Angeles Times . It says the Americans have been secretly training...

Egypt Severs Ties with Syria, Shuts Embassy

Morsi calls for Lebanon to follow suit

(Newser) - Egypt's president announced today that he was cutting off diplomatic relations with Syria, closing Damascus' embassy in Cairo, and withdrawing the Egyptian charge d'affaires from Damascus. The decisions were made amid growing calls from hard-line Sunni clerics in Egypt and elsewhere to launch a "holy war" against...

US to Provide Syria Rebels With Weapons

Decision follows conclusion regime used chemical agents

(Newser) - Now that the US has determined that Bashar al-Assad's regime used chemical weapons, the Obama administration intends to help arm Syrian rebels, officials tell the New York Times . The US will send light arms and ammunition; antitank weapons are also a possibility. Rebel leaders have called for antiaircraft weapons,...

US: Syria Used Chemical Weapons

NYT: Obama now convinced after new intelligence assessment

(Newser) - The Syrian war seems to have tipped lately in favor of Bashar al-Assad, but here's one development with at least the potential to change things: The US has concluded that Syria used chemical weapons on a small scale multiple times, reports the New York Times . President Obama has long...

Syria Apparently Lying About Russia's Missiles

Russian sources say they won't be there for at least a year

(Newser) - Bashar al-Assad must have been either mistaken or bluffing when he said Syria had already received its first shipment of S-300 air defense missiles from Russia, if reports appearing in Russian media today are true. Syria won't actually get the missiles until spring of next year, per a contract...

Syria Says It Killed a Michigan Woman

She was allegedly with rebels; US investigating

(Newser) - An unconfirmed report on Syrian TV says government forces killed a woman from Flint, Michigan, along with a British man and another unidentified Westerner, reports CNN . Syria's official news agency showed the driver's license of a woman identified as Nicole Mansfield, 33, and said the trio were fighting...

Assad: The Russian Missiles Are Here

He says in interview to air on Hezbollah TV channel

(Newser) - On the one hand, it's a fairly expected announcement: On the heels of Russia's confirmation of a missile deal with Syria, President Bashar al-Assad has confirmed that the initial shipment of S-300 air defense missiles was in fact delivered to his country, with the second portion of the...

Syria: OK, We'll Attend Peace Talks

Foreign minister says regime has 'agreed in principle' to go to Geneva

(Newser) - The Syrian government said today it has agreed "in principle" to take part in an international conference in Geneva next month aimed at ending the country's civil war. Syria's Foreign Minister Walid al-Moallem says his government believes that the conference, proposed by Russia and the United States,...

Hezbollah, Assad Make Massive Push Into Key Town

Israel threatens more strikes as battle for Qusair rages

(Newser) - Hezbollah fighters from Lebanon have taken their most prominent role yet in the Syrian civil war, fighting alongside Bashar al-Assad's forces as the military attempts to regain control of a strategic rebel-held city near the Lebanese order. Activists say at least 23 members of the Iran-backed militant group have...

Syrians Allege Chemical Attack: 'Suffocating Smell'

BBC thinks evidence begins to add up

(Newser) - Government helicopters dropped chemical weapons last month on the Syrian town of Saraqeb, eyewitness testimony strongly suggests. A BBC correspondent visited the town, and was regaled with accounts and videos of box-like devices being dropped out of helicopters and emitting deadly gas. "It was a horrible, suffocating smell,"...

Russia, US Agree to Try to End Syria War

John Kerry, Sergei Lavrov announce peace conference

(Newser) - Russia and the US haven't exactly been on the same page when it comes to dealing with Syria. That appears to have changed: John Kerry and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov announced at a midnight press conference that their respective countries have agreed to hold a peace conference "...

Syria's Internet Goes Dark

Online traffic disappears, with no official explanation

(Newser) - A major Internet security firm issued this ominous-sounding assessment today: "On closer inspection it seems Syria has largely disappeared from the internet." That's from Dan Hubbard at Umbrella Security Labs , and other monitoring companies have similarly reported that web traffic in the country has disappeared, notes the...

UN Suspects Syrian Rebels Used Nerve Gas

'Strong suspicions' but no proof yet, top investigator says

(Newser) - Another game-changer? One of the United Nations' chief investigators says evidence is building that sarin gas was used in the Syrian conflict—but by rebels, not Bashar al-Assad's regime. "Our investigators have been in neighboring countries interviewing victims, doctors, and field hospitals" and "there are strong, concrete...

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