This is Beirut

Syrian Authorities Arrest Official Responsible for Saydnaya Death Penalties

This is Beirut, 2024-12-26 20:25 - Reading : 5 minute(s)

Syria's new authorities have arrested a military justice official who under ousted president Bashar al-Assad issued death sentences for detainees in the notorious Saydnaya prison, a war monitor said Thursday. The confirmation by the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights of his detention came a day after deadly clashes erupted in the coastal ...

Syria's Ahmad al-Sharaa Meets with Iraqi Intelligence Chief

This is Beirut, 2024-12-26 16:10 - Reading : less than a minute

Syria Iraq Ahmad al-Sharaa

Syrian official Ahmad al-Sharaa met with Iraqi intelligence chief Hamid al-Shatri, who was sent as an envoy by the Iraqi prime minister. The meeting, as reported by the General Command, also saw the participation of Syrian Foreign Minister Assad Hassan al-Shaibani and the newly appointed head of Syrian intelligence, Anas Khattab. The discussions ...

'No More Fear': Stand-Up Comedy Returns to Post-Assad Syria

This is Beirut, 2024-12-26 11:15 - Reading : 3 minute(s)

syria comedy damascus

In post-Assad Syria, stand-up comedians are re-emerging to challenge taboos, mocking the former president and his regime and even testing the waters with Damascus's new rulers. Melki Mardini, a performer in the Syrian capital's stand-up scene, is among those embracing newfound freedoms. "The regime has fallen," he declares from the stage, ...

Syria Monitor Reports 9 Dead in Clashes Over Attempted Arrest of Assad-Era Official

This is Beirut, 2024-12-25 22:57 - Reading : 4 minute(s)

Syria Syria Military Operations Administration Alawites

A Syria war monitor said nine people were killed Wednesday in clashes in Tartus province after security forces sought to arrest an officer under deposed leader Bashar al-Assad who was linked to a notorious prison. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) said "six members of the General Security force" of Syria's new ...

Syria Rescuers, Activist Say Site Outside Damascus Believed to Be Mass Grave

This is Beirut, 2024-12-25 16:45 - Reading : 2 minute(s)

Syria Bashar al-Assad

A key Syrian rescue group and an activist told AFP on Wednesday a burial site outside Damascus was likely a mass grave for detainees held under former president Bashar al-Assad and fighters killed in the civil war. In a vast walled area located near the Baghdad Bridge, some 35 kilometres (22 miles) from the capital, AFP journalists visiting the ...

Syria Authorities Say Torched 1 Million Captagon Pills

This is Beirut, 2024-12-25 14:35 - Reading : 2 minute(s)

Damascus Saudi Arabia Syria captagon

Syria's new authorities torched a large stockpile of drugs on Wednesday, two security officials told AFP, including one million pills of captagon, whose industrial-scale production flourished under ousted president Bashar al-Assad. Captagon is a banned amphetamine-like stimulant that became Syria's largest export during the country's more than ...

Syria Authorities Say Armed Groups Have Agreed to Disband

This is Beirut, 2024-12-24 15:01 - Reading : 1 minute(s)

syria HTS milicia

Syria's new authorities announced Tuesday that they had reached an agreement with the country's rebel groups on their dissolution and integration into the regular defense forces. Photos published by the state-run SANA news agency showed the country's new leader, Ahmed al-Sharaa, surrounded by the heads of several armed factions -- but ...

Qatar Says Sanctions on Syria Must Be Lifted Quickly

This is Beirut, 2024-12-24 14:40 - Reading : 1 minute(s)

Qatar syria sanctions Damascus

Qatar called on Tuesday for the quick removal of sanctions on Syria following the ousting of president Bashar al-Assad by Islamist-led rebels. "We call for intensified efforts to expedite the lifting of international sanctions on Syria," foreign ministry spokesperson Majed al-Ansari told a regular briefing. Qatar's call came a day after a ...

US NGO Believes Missing Journalist Austin Tice 'Alive' in Syria

This is Beirut, 2024-12-24 13:45 - Reading : 2 minute(s)

Damascus USA Syria Austin Tice NGO

US group Hostage Aid Worldwide said Tuesday that it believes journalist Austin Tice, who went missing in Syria in 2012, is still alive, though it did not offer concrete information on his whereabouts. "We have data that Austin is alive till January 2024, but the president of the US said in August that he is alive, and we are sure that he is alive ...

Turkey Says over 25,0000 Syrians Returned Home Since Assad's Fall

This is Beirut, 2024-12-24 13:00 - Reading : 1 minute(s)

Damascus Turkey Syria refugee

More than 25,000 Syrians have returned home from Turkey since Bashar al-Assad was overthrown by Islamist-led HTS rebels, Turkey's interior minister said Tuesday. Turkey is home to nearly three million refugees who fled the civil war that broke out in 2011, and whose presence has been an issue for President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's government. "The ...

Rights Groups Urge Protection of Evidence of Assad’s Abuses

This is Beirut, 2024-12-23 22:46 - Reading : 2 minute(s)

Syria Bashar al-Assad Human Rights Watch Amnesty International ADMSP

Three rights group on Monday appealed to Syria's new rulers to urgently preserve evidence of atrocities committed under former president Bashar al-Assad. Such evidence -- including government and intelligence documents as well as mass graves -- will be essential for establishing the fate of tens of thousands of people forcibly disappeared, ...

Erdogan Reaffirms Turkey’s Stance on Syria’s Territorial Sovereignty

This is Beirut, 2024-12-23 20:55 - Reading : 2 minute(s)

Recep Tayyip Erdogan Turkey Syria

Ensuring the protection of Syria's territorial integrity is an unchanging line for Turkey, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Monday. "Protecting Syria's territorial integrity and unitary structure under all circumstances is Turkey's unchanging line. We never step back from this," he said after remarks warning Israel that it would be "forced" to ...

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