Syria
Latest stories
Syria Rebels Postpone Iran Hostages Execution

Syrian rebels holding dozens of Iranian hostages since August and who threatened to execute them by Sunday have temporarily postponed their killing, a Free Syrian Army spokesman told Agence France Presse.

"Contact has been established with the Turkish authorities as part of indirect negotiations between the FSA and the Syrian and Iranian regimes," said Ahmed al-Khatib, spokesman for the FSA's Military Council in Damascus province.

W140 Full Story
Romney: Obama 'Has Failed to Lead' in Syria, Middle East

Barack Obama has "failed to lead" in the Middle East and the strained ties between his White House and Israel have emboldened Iran, presidential challenger Mitt Romney declared Monday.

In a major foreign policy speech, Romney warned the president's dithering had increased instability in a region clamoring for U.S. leadership and left both the United States and its Middle East allies less safe than they were.

W140 Full Story
Hizbullah Buries Fighter Killed in 'Syria Border Area'

More than 2,000 Hizbullah supporters gathered in the Bekaa Valley on Monday to bury one of their fighters who a security source said was killed in the border area with Syria.

Hussein Abdul Ghani al-Nimr, 35, "died while he was performing his jihadist duty," said a Hizbullah spokesman from the eastern city of Baalbek.

W140 Full Story
Residents Flee as Heavy Syrian Gunfire Targets al-Abboudiyeh

Heavy gunfire from Syria on Monday targeted the Akkar border town of al-Abboudiyeh, forcing residents to flee the area en masse.

"Two shells fired from Syria fell on al-Abboudiyeh and Hakr Janin while other towns are being targeted by heavy gunfire," Radio Voice of Lebanon (93.3) reported.

W140 Full Story
Syrian National Council Plans Massive Makeover

The opposition Syrian National Council, often accused of failing to represent the diverse blocs fighting the regime, is planning a major makeover at a meeting in Doha next week, a member said Monday.

"The secretariat preliminary meetings will begin on the 15th and 16th of October while the council members will hold a meeting on the 17th," SNC member Louay al-Safi told Agence France Presse.

W140 Full Story
Turkish Military Retaliates after New Syrian Shell

Turkey's military Monday struck back at Syrian military positions after a shell fired by the neighboring country landed in a Turkish border area, a Turkish official told Agence France Presse.

Turkey retaliated in kind after the Syrian shell landed in Altinozu district, in southeastern Hatay province, at around 1200 GMT, said the official speaking on condition of anonymity.

W140 Full Story
Yemen Busts Iran Spies Posing as Investors

Yemen has dismantled a spy ring that included Iranians who entered the country posing as investors looking to set up a factory, the defense ministry said on its website Monday.

The spy cell also had members from Syria and Yemen, the 26sep.net website said, citing an informed source.

W140 Full Story
Syria Blasts Turkish 'Gaffe' on Assad-Sharaa Switch

Syria on Monday accused Turkey of having made a "political and diplomatic gaffe" with its suggestion that Vice President Farouq al-Sharaa take over from the country's embattled President Bashar Assad.

"What (Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet) Davutoglu said amounts to a flagrant political and diplomatic gaffe," Information Minister Omran al-Zohbi said, quoted on state television.

W140 Full Story
Ban: Escalation on Syria-Turkey Border 'Extremely Dangerous'

U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon warned on Monday that rising violence along the Syrian-Turkish border and the effect of the Syrian conflict on Lebanon were extremely dangerous.

"The situation in Syria has dramatically worsened. It is posing serious risks to the stability of Syria's neighbors and the entire region," Ban said at the opening of the World Forum for Democracy in the French city of Strasbourg.

W140 Full Story
NGO: Syrian Rebel Strongholds Pounded, 23 Killed

A string of rebel strongholds, including in Daraa and Homs provinces and the commercial capital Aleppo, were rocked by shelling and clashes from dawn on Monday that left at least 23 people dead, a watchdog said.

Twenty of the deaths occurred when the army launched an intensive pre-dawn assault on the town of Karak al-Sharqi in the southern province of Daraa, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.

W140 Full Story