Walid Al-muallem
Latest stories
Arab League Reportedly Offers Review of Syria Sanctions

The Arab League has offered to review its sanctions on Syria if Damascus agrees to a plan to send observers to the restive country, a league official told Agence France Presse on Monday.

Arab League chief Nabil al-Arabi has also indicated that the 22-member organization, which agreed a raft of sanctions on Sunday, would be willing to slightly modify the observers' mission.

W140 Full Story
Thousands in Syria Rally against Arab Sanctions

Tens of thousands of Syrians demonstrated in the capital Monday against the Arab League decision to impose crippling sanctions on President Bashar Assad's regime, an Agence France Presse correspondent reported.

Protesters waved Syrian flags and carried giant portraits of the embattled leader as they belted nationalistic songs in Damascus' central Sabaa Bahrat square.

W140 Full Story
Syria Requests Changes to Arab League Observer Mission

Syria's foreign minister has sent a letter to Arab League chief Nabil al-Arabi requesting changes to a proposal to send a 500-strong delegation of observers to Damascus, the Arab body said on Friday.

The pan-Arab body had agreed to send 500 members of human rights groups, media representatives and military observers to Syria, which said it would welcome them to see the situation on the ground and help implement a peace plan.

W140 Full Story
Assad Loyalists Attack Jordanian Embassy in Damascus

More than 100 demonstrators stormed the Jordanian embassy in Damascus and tore down the flag in protest at King Abdullah II's call for Syrian President Bashar Assad to go, Jordanian newspapers said Tuesday.

It was the fourth such protest against embassies of regional powers by angry Assad loyalists since the Arab League voted on Saturday to suspend Syria and impose sanctions against the regime over its bloody eight-month crackdown on peaceful protesters.

W140 Full Story
Syria Refuses to Change Position, Says ‘Plot Will Fail’

Syria's Foreign Minister Walid al-Muallem said Monday that the government in Damascus will not budge despite its suspension from the Arab League, which he warned was a "dangerous step."

"The decision of the Arab League to suspend Syria... represents a dangerous step," Muallem told a packed news conference in Damascus.

W140 Full Story
Miqati Denies al-Mustaqbal Report that he Visited Syria in Sept.

Prime Minister Najib Miqati denied on Tuesday that he visited Damascus earlier in Sept. ahead of his visit to Paris to join the "Friends of Libya" conference.

Miqati’s press office said in a statement that this report is false, noting that all the PM’s visits are official and declared “according to principles.”

W140 Full Story
Mansour Confirms Syria Will Surpass Crisis

Foreign Minister Adnan Mansour stressed on Saturday that the Syrian regime will surpass the crisis, urging “friends” to support it to implement reforms.

“I am sure that the Syrian leadership will pass the crisis by implementing reforms and the peoples’ demands,” Mansour said after a meeting with his Syrian counterpart Walid al-Muallem in New York.

W140 Full Story
Lebanon, Syria to Coordinate Stances Ahead of Security Council Meeting

Foreign Minister Adnan Mansour will hold a meeting with his Syrian counterpart Walid al-Muallem to coordinate stances concerning the developments in the Arab world, As Safir newspaper reported on Monday.

Mansour and Muallem will coordinate during a meeting next Saturday in New York the stances of their countries regarding the popular uprisings in the Arab world and the general situation ahead of a meeting at the U.N. Security Council and the General Assembly.

W140 Full Story
U.S. Blacklists Muallem, Shaaban, Syrian Envoy to Lebanon

The U.S. Treasury Department slapped sanctions on Syria's foreign minister and two other top officials Tuesday, adding new pressure on the embattled regime of President Bashar al-Assad.

Asset freezes and bans on business interactions were imposed on Foreign Minister Walid Muallem, top presidential advisor Buthaina Shaaban, and Syrian ambassador to Lebanon Ali Abdul Karim Ali, the Treasury said.

W140 Full Story
Muallem Warns French, U.S. Envoys Not to Visit Provinces

Syrian Foreign Minister Walid Muallem warned the French and U.S. ambassadors on Wednesday not to travel outside Damascus without permission from the authorities, after they both visited the flashpoint central city of Hama earlier this month.

"We will impose a ban on any (diplomatic) travel more than 25 kilometers outside Damascus, if the ambassadors continue to ignore (our) guidance," Muallem told the envoys at a meeting broadcast by state television.

W140 Full Story