Bashar al-Assad

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Syria, Opposition Meet for First Time, Silently

They don't address each other, only the UN mediator

(Newser) - Small steps: The first face-to-face meeting between Syria's government and the opposition hoping to overthrow Bashar al-Assad started and ended after barely a half-hour today. The two sides faced each other silently as a UN mediator split the distance between them and laid groundwork for talks intended to lead...

Syria Peace Talks Open—Unpleasantly

Sides take firm stances in opening speeches

(Newser) - With more than 100,000 dead in a divided Syria, government and opposition leaders are in Switzerland today for year-in-the-making international peace talks. Direct talks haven't even begun yet (that comes Friday), but so far, the tone at the "Geneva II" talks has been far from friendly, the...

Invite Could Kill Year-in-Making Syria Peace Talks

Opposition threatens to pull out

(Newser) - This week's Syria peace talks in Switzerland have been in the works for more than a year, but they're in danger of falling apart before they begin. United Nations chief Ban Ki-moon has invited Iran to join the talks, sparking protests from the US and causing Syria's...

Kerry: Syria Opposition Must Join Peace Talks

Both sides must accept future leader, he says

(Newser) - John Kerry has urged the Syrian opposition to attend next week's peace conference in Switzerland, saying any individual chosen to lead a political transition in the war-torn country must be acceptable to both the government and opposing forces.The opposition groups, which will vote today whether to attend the...

Now European Spies Are Meeting With Assad

Opposition is concerned about cooperation

(Newser) - For the first time since Europe withdrew its ambassadors from Syria, European intelligence agencies met recently with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad to discuss extremists—and the move is sparking concern among Assad's opponents. The purpose of the meetings was to share information on European jihadists who are currently working...

Assad Backers Hack Microsoft Twitter... Again

Syrian Electronic Army tweets through 2 company accounts

(Newser) - Ten days ago, Syrian regime supporters the Syrian Electronic Army broke into Microsoft's Skype social media accounts; today, the group tweeted through both the Microsoft News and Xbox Support accounts, ZDNet and the Next Web report. "Don't use Microsoft emails(hotmail,outlook),They are monitoring your accounts and...

Volunteer Surgeon Held by Syria Is Dead

UK's Abbas Khan was due to be released this week

(Newser) - A young British doctor who traveled to Syria as a volunteer to treat civilians is dead under suspicious circumstances after more than a year in custody, reports the Daily Mail . The official story is that surgeon Abbas Khan, 32, hanged himself in his cell with his pajama bottoms, reports the...

Syria Fires Official After He Met With US

While peace talks become increasingly less likely

(Newser) - Syrian Deputy Prime Minister Qadri Jamil was yesterday given the boot for holding meetings "without coordinating with the government," the New York Times reports. The meetings in question? The one he had with the US ambassador to Syria on Saturday may be at the top of the list;...

Funny Time for Assad: I Deserved the Nobel


 Assad Makes 
 a Funny: 
 I Deserved 
 the Nobel 
WORST JOKE EVER
Oct 14, 2013 12:51 PM CDT

Assad Makes a Funny: I Deserved the Nobel

Meanwhile, terrible things continue happening in Syria

(Newser) - That Bashar al-Assad sure is a kidder. When asked today to comment on the Nobel Peace Prize—which was awarded to the UN group currently working to dismantle his chemical weapons arsenal—the Syrian ruler quipped that it "should have been mine," the AFP reports. The comment came...

Assad: I Won't Make Peace Deal With Rebels

But admits his gov't has made mistakes

(Newser) - Syrian President Bashar al-Assad admits he's made mistakes ... but gassing his own people wasn't one of them. "We did not use chemical weapons," he insists in a new interview with German magazine Der Spiegel . "This is a misstatement. So is the picture you paint of...

Assad: I May Run Again Next Year

But not if Syrians don't want me: interview

(Newser) - Syrian president Bashar Assad says it's still too early to say whether he'll run for re-election in next year's presidential vote. Assad says "the picture will be clearer" in the next four to five months because Syria is going though "rapid" changes on the ground....

Syria's Assad: I'll Comply With UN Resolution

Says he's open to talks with opposition if they give up their arms

(Newser) - Bashar al-Assad is vowing to stand by the terms of the United Nations' resolution last week to destroy Syria's chemical weapons, reports the AP . "Of course we have to comply," he told Italian television in an interview today. "This is our history to comply with every...

Syria's Weapons Inspections Start Next Week

Security Council adopts resolution, though it doesn't include penalties

(Newser) - The first international inspectors will be on the ground in Syria Tuesday to start assessing the nation's chemical weapons, reports Reuters . The move is part of a UN resolution adopted unanimously last night by the 15-member Security Council demanding that Bashar al-Assad's illegal arsenal be destroyed. The AP...

Russia Will Send Troops to Syria's Chemical Sites

5 key members of Security Council reach a deal on resolution

(Newser) - The five permanent members of the UN Security Council have finally agreed on the wording of a resolution that requires Syria to destroy its chemical weapons, reports the New York Times . As part of the deal worked out mainly between the US and Russia, Moscow and some former Soviet republics...

Assad's Chemical Weapons List 'Surprisingly Thorough'

Officials call it a 'serious document'

(Newser) - Bashar al-Assad handed over a document containing the locations of "dozens" of chemical weapons sites over the weekend, and it's apparently not half bad. Western officials yesterday categorized it as a "serious document" that's many pages in length and, in the words of the Los Angeles ...

Al-Qaeda Militants, Syria Rebels Call Truce— in One Town

Syrian regime, opposition ceasefire may not be far off either, says Assad official

(Newser) - The fighting between al-Qaeda militants and Syrian rebels, which "has raised fears of a war within a war," may now be over, at least in one town, the BBC reports. After seizing the town of Azaz this week, the al-Qaeda-linked Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) agreed...

Al-Qaeda Militants Capture Syrian Town—From Rival Rebels

It's more evidence of infighting among Assad's enemies

(Newser) - Al-Qaeda militants seized a town near the Turkish border today after expelling Western-backed rebels from the area, demonstrating the growing power of jihadis as they seek to expand their influence across opposition-held Syrian territory. The infighting—now engulfing many parts of northern Syria—threatened to further split opposition forces outgunned...

For the Record, Obama Has Done Pretty Well on Syria

But you wouldn't know that from all his critics: David Ignatius

(Newser) - The many, many critics of President Obama's Syria strategy say it has amounted to nothing short of a national embarrassment. Which David Ignatius of the Washington Post find a little "puzzling" given how things have worked out. The threat of force got Russia invested in a resolution, got...

Assad Scoffs: 'Anyone Can Make Sarin in His House'

He tells Fox News his regime isn't to blame

(Newser) - Bashar al-Assad continues making the interview rounds and denying that his regime used chemical weapons. In the latest sit-down—conducted by Fox News , with former congressman Dennis Kucinich as one of the interviewers—the Syrian leader said it will take about a year to destroy his chemical stockpile, reports NPR...

Russia Rips UN's Syria Report: 'Biased,' 'One-Sided'

Says it has evidence rebels used chemical weapons—courtesy of Assad

(Newser) - Just when it seemed like the US and Russia were suspiciously close to seeing eye-to-eye on Syria, things move back to more familiar territory. A Russian government minister has slammed the UN report findings that chemical weapons were used in Syria as "biased and one-sided," while claiming it...

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