This is Beirut, 20/12 22:05 - Reading : 2 minute(s)
Damascus United States Syria Jolani HTS
A senior US diplomat told Syria's new leader Ahmed al-Sharaa on Friday that Washington was scrapping a reward for his arrest and welcomed "positive messages" from their talks, including a promise to fight terrorism. Barbara Leaf, Washington's top diplomat for the Middle East, made the comments after her meeting with Sharaa in Damascus, the first ...
This is Beirut, 20/12 17:00 - Reading : 2 minute(s)
American forces killed an Islamic State (IS) group leader and another of the group's members in a strike in Syria, the US military said on Friday. Washington has stepped up military action against the jihadist group since the fall of Bashar al-Assad's government earlier this month, hitting areas that were shielded by Syrian and Russian air ...
This is Beirut, 20/12 10:45 - Reading : 3 minute(s)
Antony Blinken Barbara Leaf Damascus Donald Trump United States
US diplomats have arrived in Syria to speak directly to the new rulers, hoping to encourage a moderate, inclusive path and to find clues on missing Americans, the State Department said Friday. It is the first formal US diplomatic mission to Damascus since the early days of the brutal civil war that broke out in 2011 and culminated in a surprise ...
This is Beirut, 19/12 20:58 - Reading : 4 minute(s)
Damascus Women's Rights Syria HTS
In Damascus's Ummayad Square, hundreds gathered Thursday, demanding a democratic state that includes women in public life, marking the first such demonstration since Islamist-led rebels toppled longtime ruler Bashar al-Assad. Women and men, young and old, chanted slogans including "No to religious rule", "God is for religion ...
This is Beirut, 18/12 16:05 - Reading : 2 minute(s)
A Syrian civil defence official said Wednesday that White Helmets rescuers discovered unidentified bodies and remains in a medicine warehouse in Damascus southern suburb, 10 days after Bashar al-Assad's ouster. An AFP video journalist at the scene said the warehouse strewn with medicine boxes was located just around 50 metres (yards) from the ...
This is Beirut, 18/12 14:15 - Reading : 1 minute(s)
Damascus Emmanuel Macron Turkey
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan welcomed France's decision to send diplomats to Damascus after the fall of Syria's Bashar al-Assad, in a phone call with President Emmanuel Macron, the presidency said Wednesday. A French delegation arrived Tuesday at the country's embassy in Damascus, the first visit of diplomats from France since ...
This is Beirut, 18/12 14:10 - Reading : 2 minute(s)
Damascus United Nations United States USA
United Nations special envoy Geir Pedersen called Wednesday for "free and fair elections" in Syria and urged humanitarian assistance to the war-torn country after Bashar al-Assad's ouster this month. Addressing reporters in Damascus, Pedersen said, "There is a lot of hope that we can now see the beginning of a new Syria," which he expressed hope ...
This is Beirut, 18/12 12:00 - Reading : 3 minute(s)
Damascus Donald Trump USA Turkey
Bashar al-Assad's overthrow has cleared the way for US strikes against the Islamic State group in areas previously shielded by Syrian and Russian air defenses – but the jihadists may also try to exploit the vacuum left by his fall. The militant group,often referred to as ISIS or IS, rose out of the chaos of the Syrian civil war to seize swathes ...
This is Beirut, 18/12 11:00 - Reading : less than a minute
The first flight since the ouster of Syria's president Bashar al-Assad took off on Wednesday from Damascus airport to Aleppo in the country's north, AFP journalists saw. Forty-three people including journalists were on board the Syrian Air Airbus plane. Assad fled Syria as a lightning rebel offensive launched on November 27 wrested from his ...
This is Beirut, 18/12 09:25 - Reading : 3 minute(s)
Damascus Israel UN Security Council
A UN envoy has warned that Syria's protracted conflict "has not ended yet", even as victorious Islamist-led rebels stepped up contacts with governments that deemed ousted president Bashar al-Assad a pariah. The United Nations' special envoy for Syria, Geir Pedersen, said on Tuesday "there have been significant hostilities in the last two weeks, ...
This is Beirut, 17/12 15:30 - Reading : 6 minute(s)
Damascus European Union United Nations United States Syria Iran
The United Nations humanitarian chief said Tuesday that he was "encouraged" after meetings in Damascus with Syria's new leaders, saying there was a "basis for ambitious scaling-up of vital humanitarian support", as Western diplomatic missions prepare to return to Damascus. "Moment of cautious hope in Syria," Tom ...
This is Beirut, 17/12 11:55 - Reading : 2 minute(s)
Damascus European Union Turkey
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen on Tuesday began talks with Turkish leader Recep Tayyip Erdogan during a key visit following the overthrow of Bashar al-Assad. The talks in the capital Ankara come after the EU Commission announced the launch of an "air bridge" operation to deliver an initial 50 tonnes of health supplies to Syria ...