Syria

Read recent Syrian news stories and current events on Newser.com

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Syria Escalates Violence, Cease-Fire In Danger

Tanks roll into Damascus suburb in one of conflict's worst raids yet

(Newser) - Syria is just days away from its cease-fire deadline, but the regime sent tanks and troops into a Damascus suburb yesterday, escalating the conflict in defiance of the Kofi Annan-brokered peace plan. "Clearly the violence is still continuing at alarming levels," Annan told the UN General Assembly yesterday,...

UN: Syria Ceasefire in Place by April 12

Syrian troops have reportedly started withdrawing

(Newser) - Fierce clashes continue to erupt in Syria, even as the UN's deadline for a ceasefire looms a week from today. Kofi Annan's peace plan requires Syrian troops to withdraw from towns and cities by April 10 , and the UN expects both sides to stop fighting within two days...

Syria Agrees to Annan's Peace Plan

Plan to be implemented April 10, in theory

(Newser) - Bashar al-Assad's regime has agreed to begin implementing Kofi Annan's UN- and Arab League-backed peace plan by April 10, and to cease hostilities entirely 48 hours later, diplomats told reporters today. Syrian officials confirmed as much for al-Jazeera , but said the deal would fall through if Annan couldn'...

Syrian Rebels to Get Paychecks

'Assad must go,' declares Hillary Clinton at Syria conference in Turkey

(Newser) - It looks like rebels in Syria are not going to be fighting only for their freedom—now they'll be fighting for a paycheck, too. Sixty nations gathered in Turkey yesterday for a “Friends of the Syrian People” conference, pledging financial support for the Syrian Free Army to encourage...

Syria: 'Battle to Bring Down the State' Is Over

Top official also balks at Kofi Annan request to pull back troops

(Newser) - The Syrian government will not pull troops from cities and towns engulfed by the country's unrest before life returns to normal in these areas, a top official said. The statement by Foreign Ministry spokesman Jihad Makdessi was the first response to an appeal by Kofi Annan to Syrian authorities...

Syria Sells Oil to China—Thanks to Iran

Meanwhile, Annan has message for Assad: Cease-fire, now

(Newser) - With the West united against the Syrian government and implementing a series of punishing sanctions, it's Iran and China to the rescue—as Chinese state-run firm Zhuhai Zhenrong bought an estimated $84 million in crude oil, and Iran supplied the boat to transport it, reports Reuters . The Malta-flagged vessel...

Clashes Sweep Syria as Arab League Mulls Peace
Arab League Hems, Haws on Whether Assad Must Go
AS VIOLENCE RAGES
Mar 29, 2012 7:43 AM CDT

Arab League Hems, Haws on Whether Assad Must Go

At least 15 killed today as violence continues

(Newser) - Even as the Arab League met in Baghdad today to discuss implementation of a Syria peace deal, clashes between rebels and security forces continued, killing at least 15. With only 10 of 22 leaders in attendance, the League is apparently backing down from a call for Syrian President Bashar al-Assad...

Kofi Annan: Syria OKs Peace Deal

Tells Chinese that Assad has agreed to 6-point UN plan

(Newser) - Syria has agreed to a six-point peace deal that will implement a cease-fire in the bloody conflict that has claimed an estimated 8,000 lives in the past year, UN envoy Kofi Annan said today. In Beijing today, Annan told reporters that "I had received a response from the...

Turkey Closes Syria Embassy
 Turkey Closes Syria Embassy 
Mar 26, 2012 10:27 AM CDT

Turkey Closes Syria Embassy

And agrees with the US to provide 'nonlethal' aid

(Newser) - Turkey shut down its embassy in Syria today, and plans to join with the US to provide “nonlethal” aid to Syria's rebels. White House officials tell the New York Times that the two nations will provide things like communication equipment and medical supplies directly to opposition groups, and...

Medvedev: Annan Syria's 'Last Chance'

Russia backs UN envoy as only way to avoid war

(Newser) - Russian President Dmitri Medvedev today got definitively behind Kofi Annan's mission to end the yearlong violence in Syria, reports Reuters , calling it the " last chance for Syria to avoid a long-lasting and bloody civil war." Medvedev met with Annan, the UN envoy to Syria today in Moscow,...

EU Bans Assad's Wife From Travel, Shopping

Asma Assad will likely have to tone down free-spending ways

(Newser) - It may not mean much to the forces fighting Syria's government, but it's something: The EU decided today to impose sanctions on first lady Asma Assad, Reuters reports. That means she is no longer welcome for travel and her beloved shopping sprees, adds AFP . She and about a...

Syrian Rebels Accused of Kidnapping, Torture

Human rights group calls out freedom fighters for abuses

(Newser) - It's tempting to paint the conflict in Syria as a brutal regime fighting virtuous rebels, but Human Rights Watch today issued an open letter to the Free Syrian Army accusing insurgents of a variety of brutalities, including kidnapping and torturing security forces and government supporters. "The Syrian government'...

Russia to Syria: Stop Fighting— Temporarily

Red Cross needs humanitarian corridor to help the wounded, Russia says

(Newser) - Russia said today that Syria's government and rebels should halt their fighting once a day to give the Red Cross access to the wounded and that jailed protesters should be allowed to have visitors. The call from Russia, an important ally of Syria's, came after its officials met...

5 Questions to Ask Before Starting a War

Bill Keller offers lessons from Iraq

(Newser) - As the drum-beating grows louder on Iran and Syria, Bill Keller looks back on Iraq and beyond. To avoid a debacle, there are five questions we should ask ourselves before entering a war, he writes in the New York Times :
  1. "How is this our fight?" Are American interests directly
...

Things Get Ugly in Syria's Capital

Damascus witnesses report clashes in key neighborhood

(Newser) - Machine guns and explosions were audible as violence overtook a high-security section of Damascus last night, killing at least three and wounding 18 Syrian troops. Locals began hearing gunfire at about midnight and say "intensive gunfire" continued for hours in the Mazzeh district of the Syrian capital, an upscale...

Car Bomb Rocks Syria; Casualties Reported

Blast hits northern city of Aleppo ahead of uprising's 1-year mark

(Newser) - Syria's state news agency says a car bomb has gone off between two residential buildings in the northern city of Aleppo. The report today by SANA gave no information on casualties or damage, but called it a "terrorist bombing." Opposition sources tell the BBC that there were...

2 Bombs Rock Damascus

 2 Bombs Rock 
 Damascus; 
 27 Dead 
UPDATED
Mar 17, 2012 5:52 AM CDT

2 Bombs Rock Damascus; 27 Dead

Violence returns to Syrian capital, suburbs

(Newser) - Two car bombs rocked Damascus this morning around 7:30 local time, killing civilians and security forces, report al-Jazeera and AP . State media reports 27 dead and more than 100 injured. One bomb hit the criminal security department and the other the aviation intelligence department. The usual blame game unfolded:...

One Year On, Syria Rallies for Assad

Gov't increasingly confident of putting down opposition

(Newser) - One year after the start of violent uprisings in Syria, thousands of flag-waving supporters gathered in Damascus to show their loyalty toward President Bashar al-Assad, reports Reuters . Rallies were also reported in several other Syrian cities, as the military stepped up its assault on rebel strongholds such as Homs and...

Activists Spied On Assad's Private Emails

And now you can, too: Guardian posts them

(Newser) - The Guardian has a big Syrian scoop today in the form of what it says are more than 3,000 private emails from the accounts of Bashar al-Assad and wife Asma. Activists apparently had access to the accounts for months, sometimes using them to get wind of military maneuvers, until...

Russia: We Won't Stop Arming Assad

Assad's forces capture Free Syrian Army stronghold of Idlib

(Newser) - Russia has rejected calls to stop arming and training Bashar al-Assad's regime, despite evidence that its weapons are being used against civilians. "Russia enjoys good and strong military technical co-operation with Syria, and we see no reason today to reconsider it," Russia's deputy defense minister said...

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