syria

Support for Syrian Refugees: Lebanon Says Stop

Lebanon, which is facing a prolonged crisis, is raising its voice once again. For more than 15 years, the Land of the Cedars has borne the direct consequences of the war in Syria, hosting more than two million Syrian refugees—nearly 40% of its population. According to the World Bank, the annual cost of this presence exceeds two billion ...

Lebanese Army Arrests 16 Individuals for Various Crimes

The Lebanese Armed Forces (LAF) issued a statement on Monday detailing a series of arrests and security measures conducted by its Intelligence Directorate in different regions of Lebanon. In the Lailaki area, the LAF arrested a citizen (H.H.) implicated in numerous offenses, including kidnapping, theft, drug abuse, causing disturbances, shooting, ...

Baghdad Divided Over Invitation of Syria's Interim President to Arab Summit

Several powerful pro-Iran Iraqi politicians have in recent days voiced opposition to a potential visit by Syrian interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa to Iraq for the upcoming Arab League summit. Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani said earlier this week that Baghdad has invited al-Sharaa to attend the summit, scheduled to take place in the ...

Syria Leader Hosts Republican US Congressman in Damascus

Syrian leader Ahmed al-Sharaa has met with a US congressman, the Syrian presidency said on Saturday, the first such visit by an American lawmaker since the overthrow of longtime ruler Bashar al-Assad. Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shaibani was also present at the meeting with Republican Cory Mills at the presidential palace in Damascus, a presidency ...

US To Withdraw Some 1,000 Troops From Syria

The United States will roughly halve the number of troops it has deployed in Syria to less than 1,000 in the coming months, the Pentagon said Friday. Washington has had troops in Syria for years as part of international efforts against the Islamic State (IS) group, which rose out of the chaos of the country's civil war to seize swaths of ...

Palestinian President in Damascus for the First Time in 16 Years

Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas met Syrian leader Ahmed al-Sharaa in Damascus on Friday, on his first visit to Syria in 16 years. According to a Syrian government source, the pair were expected to discuss reinforcing ties between Syria and the Palestinians, as well as the "threats" faced by both parties. According to the UN agency for ...

Syrian Interim President Meets With Iraqi PM for the First Time

Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani met with Syrian interim President Ahmad al-Sharaa in Doha, Iraqi state media reported Thursday, in their first meeting since Bashar al-Assad was toppled. Sudani made "a quick visit to Qatar, where he met with Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani" and Sharaa, the official INA news agency ...

Council of Ministers Approves UNIFIL’s Mandate Extension

Lebanon’s Cabinet approved the annual extension of the mandate of the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) on Thursday. The decision, made during a meeting at Baabda Palace chaired by President Joseph Aoun, sets the stage for the upcoming UN Security Council vote on renewing the peacekeeping mission for another year at Lebanon’s ...

Sharaa–Bin Laden: Reversed Paths!

Let it be crystal clear: no Syrian, no Lebanese, no Palestinian… regrets the fall of the Khmer Rouge of the Levant. The Assad dynasty, guilty of crimes against humanity and large-scale massacres against its own people, as well as those of “brotherly” countries, has finally fallen after fourteen years of civil war. The problem is that today, ...

Charity Says 400,000 Children in Syria Risk 'Severe Malnutrition' after US Cuts

Save the Children said on Wednesday that more than 400,000 children in Syria were at risk of "severe malnutrition" after the United States suspended aid, forcing the charity to slash operations in the war-torn country. Bujar Hoxha, Save the Children's Syria director, in a statement called on the international community to urgently fill the ...

Syria Ministers to Attend IMF and World Bank Meetings Next Week

Syrian ministers and the country's central bank chief are to take part in the International Monetary Fund and World Bank's spring meetings in Washington next week, two sources told AFP on Monday. Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shaibani, Finance Minister Mohammed Barnieh and central bank governor Abdul Qadir al-Hasriya were set to join the April 21-26 ...