Middle East
Latest stories
U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Panel Votes for Syria Strike

U.S. President Barack Obama's plan to conduct punishing military strikes on Syria passed its first congressional hurdle Wednesday, paving the way for full Senate debate on the use of force.

The Senate Foreign Relations Committee passed an amended resolution 10-7, with one senator voting present, that authorizes U.S. military intervention with a 90-day deadline and bars U.S. boots on the ground for combat purposes.

W140 Full Story
Kerry Says Arab Nations Offered to Pay for Syria Strike

An international coalition for action against Syria is growing, Secretary of State John Kerry told U.S. lawmakers Wednesday, adding that Arab nations had even offered to pay for any strikes.

"We are building support with ... other countries, among them the Arab League," Kerry said, as the U.S. administration tried to sell its plan for military action to punish Syria for its use of chemical weapons.

W140 Full Story
'No Military Solution' in Syria, Says Political Group

An international political grouping headed by former U.N. secretary general Kofi Annan came out against military action in Syria Wednesday, as the U.S. sought allies for strikes following alleged chemical attacks.

"There is no military solution to this conflict," said The Elders, a group founded by former South African president Nelson Mandela.

W140 Full Story
U.S. Aims for Psychological Effect with Strikes on Syria, Say Experts

Limited military strikes against Syria favored by President Barack Obama may have a psychological effect but little practical impact on the Damascus regime's firepower, experts said Wednesday.

Vowing to avoid large-scale, open-ended action, Obama has proposed a "shot across the bow" in a bid to punish President Bashar Assad for allegedly resorting to chemical weapons.

W140 Full Story
Russian Ships 'Able to React' in Case of Syria Escalation

Russian naval vessels in the Mediterranean are capable of reacting to an escalation in the Syria conflict, a military source said Wednesday, as Moscow fine tunes its maritime presence ahead of possible U.S. military action.

"Today we consider our presence in the eastern Mediterranean to be sufficient to solve the tasks. If necessary, together with submarine forces, they (the ships) are capable even today of influencing a military situation," a general staff source told the Interfax news agency.

W140 Full Story
French PM Calls On Parliament to Back Strikes on Assad

French Prime Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault urged lawmakers Wednesday to back military action against the Syrian regime in response to "the most massive and terrifying use" of chemical weapons this century.

The debate came as Syria's deputy foreign minister Faisal Muqdad ridiculed France as an American stooge.

W140 Full Story
Gorbachev: Obama Must Seize on G20 to Settle Syria Discord

U.S. President Barack Obama must seize the opportunity offered by the G20 summit to settle bitter differences over Syria with Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin, former Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev said Wednesday.

The G20 summit, which starts in Russia on Thursday, comes with many analysts describing U.S.-Russia relations as at their lowest ebb since Gorbachev helped end the Cold War two decades ago.

W140 Full Story
Obama Says World 'Cannot Be Silent' on Syria, International Community's Credibility 'at Stake'

U.S. President Barack Obama Wednesday urged world support for punitive strikes against Syria for its alleged use of chemical weapons, while Damascus vowed retaliation and resistance even if a third world war erupts.

Obama, fresh from efforts in Washington to secure bipartisan support for military intervention, said in Stockholm that the world had set "a red line" for Syria and it could not now remain silent in the face of the regime's alleged use of chemical weapons.

W140 Full Story
British PM Warns Danger of Fresh Syria Attack if No U.S. Strike

Blocked by his own parliament from taking military action against Syria, British Prime Minister David Cameron on Wednesday urged the United States to act or risk further chemical weapons attacks by the regime.

"(U.S. President Barack Obama) set a very clear red line that if there was large-scale chemical weapons use something had to happen," Cameron told lawmakers in the House of Commons.

W140 Full Story
Putin Warns U.S. Congress against Approving Syria 'Aggression'

Russian President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday warned the U.S. Congress it would be approving an "aggression" against Syria if it allowed U.S.-led military strikes against the regime of President Bashar Assad.

"They would be allowing an aggression since everything that is outside the framework of the U.N. Security Council is an aggression, unless it is self-defense," Putin told members of his human rights council in the Kremlin, Russian news agencies reported.

W140 Full Story