This is Beirut, 14/12 17:50 - Reading : 5 minute(s)
Turkey reopened its embassy in Damascus on Saturday, nearly a week after president Bashar al-Assad was toppled by forces backed by Ankara, and 12 years after the diplomatic outpost was shuttered early in Syria's civil war. The move came as Middle Eastern and Western diplomats were meeting in Jordan for high-level talks on Syria, and a day after ...
This is Beirut, 14/12 10:25 - Reading : 1 minute(s)
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) war monitor said Israel launched strikes early Saturday targeting military sites in Damascus and its countryside, in the latest such raids since rebels brought down Bashar al-Assad almost a week ago. "Israeli strikes destroyed a scientific institute" and other related military facilities in Barzeh, ...
This is Beirut, 13/12 21:40 - Reading : 3 minute(s)
Damascus syria HTS Bashar al-Assad
Syria's Islamist-led rebel alliance had been planning the surprise ouster of President Basher al-Assad for a year, an opposition military leader told the Guardian in an interview published Friday. The Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) Islamist group, which says it has moved away from its roots in Al-Qaeda, has long-controlled a part of northwest ...
This is Beirut, 13/12 21:25 - Reading : 2 minute(s)
A delegation from Qatar is due to visit Syria on Sunday for meetings with officials in its transitional government following the ouster of President Bashar al-Assad, a Qatari diplomat told AFP Friday. "The first Qatari delegation visit to Syria is expected to happen Sunday where they will take the necessary steps to reopen the embassy and ...
This is Beirut, 13/12 13:05 - Reading : 3 minute(s)
Where should the crown be placed? In the courtyard of the Marist Brothers in Aleppo, one of the eleven Christian communities in Syria’s second city (northwest), the question that is sparking debates is about the Christmas tree. Just days after their swift conquest of power in Damascus on December 8, the new rulers of the country, former ...
This is Beirut, 13/12 12:45 - Reading : 1 minute(s)
The leader of the Islamist-dominated armed coalition that seized power in Syria on Friday called on residents to take to the streets en masse to celebrate the "victory of the revolution." In a video, Abou Mohammad al-Jolani, now using his real name, Ahmad al-Chareh, "congratulated the Syrian people on the revolution’s victory" and urged the ...
This is Beirut, 13/12 10:20 - Reading : 3 minute(s)
G7 leaders will attempt Friday to forge a common approach to the new government of Syria, which has pledged to protect the rule of law after years of abuses under ousted president Bashar al-Assad. Assad fled Syria after a lightning offensive spearheaded by the Islamist Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) group and its allies, which brought a sudden end to ...
This is Beirut, 12/12 22:40 - Reading : less than a minute
Turkey has named a new chief-of-mission to its long-closed embassy in Damascus, which it has pledged to reopen following the overthrow of strongman Bashar al-Assad, the Anadolou news agency said Thursday. Burhan Koroglu was named as Turkey's temporary charge d'affaires at its embassy, Anadolou said, quoting foreign ministry sources who did not ...
Elie Ziadé, 12/12 20:19 - Reading : less than a minute
Damascus Economy Syria Businesses
Commercial activity is picking up vigorously in the central markets of Damascus, where shops have reopened and are once again attracting customers. However, the recovery remains more hesitant in Christian neighborhoods like Bab Touma. Political uncertainty and a fragile economic situation are holding back merchants, who are still reluctant to ...
This is Beirut, 12/12 19:55 - Reading : 4 minute(s)
Damascus HTS Baath Syria Bashar al-Assad
Maher Semsmieh turned in his rifle on Thursday at an office of Syria's Baath party, more than 60 years after its oppressive rule in Syria began, and days after it ended. "We are no longer Baathists," Semsmieh, 43, said with a smile of relief, four days after Islamist-led rebels toppled the Baathist government of president Bashar al-Assad. "We ...
This is Beirut, 12/12 12:40 - Reading : 1 minute(s)
Iran must face new "realities" in Syria following the regime's fall, said Hossein Salami, commander of the Revolutionary Guards, on Thursday. Iran had been a close ally of President Bashar al-Assad, who fled to Russia. For decades, Syria has been a cornerstone of the land bridge between Iran and Hezbollah, a member of its anti-Israeli "axis of ...
Maurice Matta, 12/12 10:30 - Reading : 4 minute(s)
Banks Beirut Port Damascus Hezbollah Middle East
Syrian presence in Lebanon dates back to 1976, a year after the outbreak of the Lebanese civil war. Syrian forces entered Lebanon as part of the Arab Deterrent Forces, and the Syrian government successfully cemented its presence. This was later consolidated by the Arab League mandate under the Taif Agreement, signed on October 22, 1989, which ...