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Charlie Rose interviewed Syrian President Bashar Assad at the presidential palace in Damascus on Sunday morning. --- UPDATE (11:05 a.m.): Rose's preview of the interview as relayed by phone from Beirut, Lebanon, on CBS's "Face The Nation" on Sunday: [Assad] denied that he had anything to do with the attack. He denied that he knew there was a chemical attack, notwithstanding what has been said and notwithstanding the videotape. He said there’s not enough evidence to make a conclusive judgment. He would not say even, even though I read him the lead paragraph of the New York Times today in...

As'ad AbuKahlil—a political science professor at California State University, Stanislaus—spoke last month at a day-long "teach-in" at the University of California, Berkeley titled, "Building Solidarity with the Arab Spring." It consisted of a number of "workshop sessions" at the Valley Life Sciences Building, followed by a "plenary session" at the Multicultural Center, and was co-sponsored by the Arab Resource Organizing Committee, the Berkeley Muslim Students Association PAC, the International Socialist Organization, and the Syrian American Council. AbuKhalil's workshop on "The U.S. and the Arab Uprising" was held in a tiny, hot, windowless room filled with students wearing hijabs and keffiyehs....

new video posted on YouTube appears to show Syrian soldiers beating and stomping on detained men being transported on a bus. It’s unclear where in Syria the video was taken. The footage also appears to show the soldiers forcing the detained men to shout with them the slogan: “With blood and soul, we sacrifice for you Bashar... Allah, Syria and Bashar only.” Meanwhile, Syrian anti-regime activists have called for fresh protests following the weekly Muslim prayers on Friday.

FAYETTEVILLE FELON SENTENCED FOR UNLAWFUL WEAPONS POSSESSION RALEIGH - United States Attorney George E.B. Holding announced that in federal court today United States District Judge James C. Dever, III, sentenced ABDULAH ASAD MUJAHID a/k/a Brian Steven Sweeney, 33, of Fayetteville, North Carolina, to 300 months’ imprisonment followed by five years’ supervised release. A Federal Grand Jury returned a Criminal Indictment on November 24, 2009. On March 8, 2010, MUJAHID pled guilty to unlawful possession of a firearm by a convicted felon, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 922(g)(1) and possession of a stolen firearm, in violation of...

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MIAMI - Bond was set at $210,000 Friday for a North Toledo man who was taken off a Detroit-bound jet at Miami International Airport and arrested after making anti-Semitic threats. Mansor Mohammad "Mickey" Asad, 43, of 1216 Ontario St. was held Friday in Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center, Miami, in lieu of 10 percent of the bond, Janelle Hall, a Miami-Dade Corrections Department spokesman, said. A Northwest pilot said a passenger was disruptive and made such statements as, "I'm a Palestinian and I want to kill all the Jews." snipAsad's attorney, Frank J. Gaviria, said he will ask the judge...

MIAMI - A Toledo man remained in jail in Florida last night after being taken off a Detroit-bound jet and arrested for making racially threatening comments and taking a "combative posture" toward city police who responded at Miami International Airport, authorities said. Mansor Mohammad "Mickey" Asad, 43, of 1216 North Ontario St., was charged with disorderly conduct, threats against a public servant, and resisting arrest without violence after his Wednesday night arrest at a gate to which Northwest Airlines Flight 2485 had returned after taxiing onto a runway.

Syria's First Lady has exclusively told Sky News she would welcome the Obamas to Damascus. Asma al Assad's comments are the latest in a series of signs US Syrian relations are improving after years of tension. "The fact is President Obama is young," she said, "and President Assad is also very young as well, so maybe it is time for these young leaders to make a difference in the world". And she gladly envisioned welcoming Michelle Obama and her husband in a presidential palace in Damascus in the near future. "I can see myself hosting them in Damascus in the...

Iraqi Shiite radical cleric Moqtada Sadr met with Syrian President Bashar Asad on 12/2/06 in Damascus for the second time in a week. Sources close to him say his talks with Asad focused on the Iraqi-Syrian relations and the necessity of opening a Syrian embassy in Baghdad. Asad agreed. The talks also discussed the situation on the Syrian-Iraqi border. Sadr tried to know to what extent Syria is prepared to help block infiltration into Iraq. Asad agreed to help if the UN or the Coalition forces provide Syria with the necessary equipment. The talks also raised the subject of Syrian-Shiite...

Syrian - Iranian Bloody Hands in the region... Take a note at Syrian-Iranian tactics, the pattern: 1) Sending or "letting" terrorists to butcher Iraqis. 2) Sheltering Hamas to use kids as bombs or as shields and massacring in Israel. 3) Sending-helping Hezbollah assasins in Lebanon to ethnic cleanse the Christians.

FORT BRAGG, N.C. A New York soldier based at Fort Bragg died last week in Iraq. The Department of Defense says 45-year-old Staff Sergeant Regilio Nelom of Queens, died Saturday near Asad, Iraq, when an improvised explosive device detonated near his vehicle during an escort mission. Nelom was assigned to the 249th Quartermaster Compay, First Corps Support Command, at Fort Bragg, North Carolina.

May was a costly month in Iraq: 700 Iraqis and some 80 Americans died, making it one of the bloodiest months of the war. While bombings in Baghdad decreased over the last two weeks as the result of a major sweep by some 40,000 Iraqi soldiers and policemen, backed up by 10,000 troops (Operation Lightning/Operation Thunder), insurgent attacks against Iraqi civilians and police have resumed. The continuing attacks have generated the usual sort of stories in the U.S. press: America is mired in a Vietnam-style quagmire. Thus a recent Boston Globe report began by claiming: "Military operations in Iraq have...

Dust in the wind: A wall of sand moves through Al AsadSubmitted by: 2nd Marine Aircraft WingStory Identification #: 2005426134811Story by Gunnery Sgt. Shannon Arledge AL ASAD, Iraq (April 26, 2005) -- A dust storm similar to special effects on the big screen bellowed across the western desert of Iraq on April 26. The storm was spawned near the border of Syria and Jordan. Forward Operating Base Korean Village experienced tornadoes around 2 p.m. The storm moved in a northeasterly direction until it reached Al Asad, around 6:45. Weather forecasters here described the storm as a downburst. "A downburst...

BEIRUT: Emotions ran high at Martyrs' Square on Saturday evening, where thousands of demonstrators listened to Syrian President Bashar Assad's much anticipated speech in the Syrian Parliament. Broadcast on two large screens flanking the stage used by organizers of the ongoing sit-in at the square, Assad's speech was interrupted by several bouts of booing and chants of "Syria Out!" Amid the sea of Lebanese flags were banners calling for Syrian withdrawal from Lebanon and national unity, as well as pictures of slain former Premier Rafik Hariri. Skepticism was in the air from the outset. "Alright, let's hear what [Assad] has...

John Kerry is showing us that he would have been a Jimmy Carter-like President, had he been elected. Playing kissy-face with Batthist dictator Bashir Assad in Damascus, Kerry said: >>>"I think we found a great deal of areas of mutual interest, some common concerns and some possibilities for initiatives that could be taken in the future to strengthening relationship between the U.S. and Syria," Kerry told reporters after meeting with al-Sharaa. "I can assure you that I leave here with a sense that we can improve our relationship. There are significant possibilities, particularly with the elections in Iraq and the...

Now that most of the fighting in Iraq is over, as Donald Rumsfeld has said, the day of rebuilding Iraq’s tattered country has begun. However, one must remember that our war on terrorism has not paused, just like we didn’t stop after dealing with Afghanistan. As the administration keeps pointing out, there is yet another country in that very same region that we must deal with. And that is Syria. Syria is a country situated on the northern border of Israel. It is a country which has been under military-Baath Party rule since the 1963 “March Revolution” when it came...