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![Children carry portraits of the Syrian President Bashar al-Assad during a gathering to celebrate the capture of the city of Qusayr by Syrian regime forces on June 6, 2013. [AFP]](http://www.rawstory.com/rs/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/Children-carry-portraits-of-the-Syrian-President-Bashar-al-Assad-during-a-gathering-to-celebrate-the-capture-of-the-city-of-Qusayr-by-Syrian-regime-forces-on-June-6-2013.-AFP-230x105.jpg "Children carry portraits of the Syrian President Bashar al-Assad during a gathering to celebrate the capture of the city of Qusayr by Syrian regime forces on June 6, 2013. [AFP]")
Seventy-one Syrian army officers defect to Turkey
ANKARA (Reuters) – Seventy-one officers, including six generals, have defected from the Syrian army to Turkey, a Turkish official said on Saturday, the biggest single mass desertion of senior soldiers from President Bashar al-Assad’s security forces in months. It was not immediately clear why the group had deserted. Just hours…
Syrian Prime Minister Wael al-Halqi survives assassination bid: state TV
Syrian Prime Minister Wael al-Halqi escaped an assassination bid on Monday, surviving a blast against his convoy in Damascus, in the latest attack on top members of President Bashar al-Assad’s regime. The attack came as Republican lawmakers in the United States stepped up calls for American action after claims Assad’s…
Syrian opposition leader resigns, castigating global ‘inaction’
AFP - Syrian opposition chief Ahmad Moaz al-Khatib is determined to step down in the face of what he sees as world “inaction” as government forces recapture territory from the rebels, colleagues said on Sunday. Troops loyal to President Bashar al-Assad made advances outside the capital and near the Lebanese border,…
Syrian president’s new amnesty offer waives death penalty for war crimes
Syria’s President Bashar al-Assad has issued a general amnesty for crimes committed in the war-torn country prior to Tuesday, state news agency SANA reported. “President Assad has issued decree number 23, granting a general amnesty for crimes committed before April 16, 2013,” said the agency. Under the decree, “the death…
UN: More than 60,000 killed in Syrian conflict
More than 60,000 people have been killed in Syria since the uprising against President Bashar al-Assad’s regime broke out in March 2011, a top UN official said Wednesday. Navi Pillay, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, said that an exhaustive analysis carried out by data specialists showed that 59,648…
Switzerland freezes more assets of Syrians with connections to Assad
Switzerland on Friday adopted new sanctions against Syria, falling into line with decisions taken by the European Union, a statement from the economy ministry in Bern said. It also took action against two men suspected of links with Al-Qaeda and the taliban. Switzerland, which is not part of the EU,…
Russia claims Syria rebels have U.S.-made Stinger missiles
MOSCOW — Syrian rebels battling the regime of President Bashar al-Assad have shoulder-launched missile systems, including US-made Stingers, Russia’s top general claimed Wednesday, prompting a strong denial from Washington. Russian chief of staff General Nikolai Makarov, whose country is the Damascus regime’s top arms supplier and has refused to back…
Syria media warn of ‘fake email’ saying VP sacked
Syria’s state news agency SANA said on Saturday that a fake email had been sent out in its name claiming that Vice President Faruq al-Shara had been sacked. Speculation has swirled since last week over the fate of Shara, the most high-ranking Sunni Muslim official in President Bashar al-Assad’s Alawite-led…
Syria reportedly ‘ready to discuss’ Assad’s exit
Syria said it is ready to discuss the departure of President Bashar al-Assad as part of a negotiated settlement to the increasingly ferocious conflict but the US reacted with skepticism. The surprise comments Tuesday by a Syrian envoy visiting Moscow emerged after Russia bluntly told the West not to meddle…
Syrian opposition: try Assad for ‘massacres’
The head of the exiled Syrian opposition said on Saturday that President Bashar al-Assad should be tried for “massacres” insisting that he should not be offered asylum in any future solution. “The Yemeni example can’t be applied in Syria,” Syrian National Council chief Abdel Basset Sayda told reporters in Abu…
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